Nine dragons fight for the throne, I don't want to sit on this throne

A few days later, the north wind swept across the ancient yellow sand road outside Pingyang City. Eighty thousand black armored soldiers were lined up like an inky Great Wall. The morning light reflected thousands of cold rays on the armor plates forged from fine iron.

Wu Zhao rode her horse to the front of the battle formation. Her bright yellow armor with dragon pattern shone with a gilded sheen in the winter sun. Her golden hairpin with nine phoenixes holding pearls trembled slightly with her horse's steps. The dangling oriental pearl just happened to hang above the blood jade between her eyebrows.

"Her Majesty the Empress of the Great Zhou is here in person!" The flag officer's deep voice pierced the sky.

Thirty-two coiled dragon flags were raised at the same time, and the dragon tails embroidered with gold thread fluttered violently in the north wind.

The defenders on the city wall looked at the black-armored army formation winding like a dragon on the horizon, and cold sweat unconsciously seeped out of their hands holding the guns - those silent cavalrymen even had their war horses covered with black iron face armor, and the long swords hanging next to the saddles were more than half a foot longer than the ordinary ones.

When Jia Yu led his generals out of the city to welcome them, he saw Wu Zhao raising her hand to adjust the golden crown in her hair.

This simple action caused the old Chu general Feng Anguo's pupils to shrink slightly - there was actually a seven-inch long steel blade hidden on the inside of the empress's wrist armor, and a cold light flashed when she raised her hand.

He knew that the Empress of the Great Zhou Dynasty was well prepared when she led the army in person this time!

"Chu minister Jia Yu respectfully welcomes the Empress of the Great Zhou." The purple-robed scholar bowed.

Guan Yun's beautiful beard behind him fluttered slightly in the wind and sand, and Ran Ming's heavy black iron armor made a dull friction sound.

Su Tingmei's face was half covered with a feather fan, but her eyes fell on the gilded phoenix-patterned chariot behind Wu Zhao - behind the hanging shark silk curtain, three rows of poison-tempered crossbows emitting a faint blue sheen could be vaguely seen.

Wu Zhao did not dismount, but tapped the horse's belly with her boots inlaid with night-shining pearls: "Where is the crown prince of Chu?"

As the warhorse paced forward, the ceremonial sword at her waist struck the gilded saddle, making a clear sound like a jade chime.

At the same time, eighty thousand Black Armored Soldiers took half a step forward. The sound of their iron boots hitting the ground made the flags on the city walls flutter.

Jia Yu's Adam's apple rolled: "After shooting Wang Jian a month ago, my prince has been in seclusion to recuperate..."

Before he finished speaking, Wu Zhao suddenly leaned forward, and the hanging east pearl of the Nine Phoenix Hairpin almost touched Jia Yu's forehead.

"Is it seclusion, or is it the poison taking effect?"

The empress's voice was as cold as the snow outside the Great Wall: "Then Divine Doctor Shen examined Chu Ning and repeatedly warned him not to use force. Why didn't he listen?"

Su Tingmei's feather fan suddenly stopped, and Ran Ming's muscles under his heavy armor instantly tensed up. Feng Anguo was about to speak, but was stopped by Guan Yun with his sword.

"The Holy Emperor is wise."

Jia Yu suddenly sighed, a worried look on his face, and bowed: "Your Highness insisted on using force to shoot Wang Jian and wanted to win as soon as possible, which caused the blood spider poison in his body to erupt. Now..."

When he looked up, Wu Zhao saw tears flashing in the eyes of this strategist who was famous for his wisdom.

"Now His Majesty does not allow anyone to enter his house because he is afraid of affecting the morale of the army."

The fingertips of Wu Zhao's armor lightly stroked the horse's mane, and a low horn suddenly sounded from the black armor army in the distance.

Twelve golden-armored warriors came over carrying a sedan chair with a phoenix pattern. The malachite inlaid on the sedan chair emitted an eerie green light under the sunlight.

"Lead the way, I will go to see him in person!" The empress's voice made everyone present shudder.

As the Zhou army began to move towards the city gate, Su Tingmei noticed that the cavalrymen's long swords were always kept raised high.

After the battle between Feihe City and the Qin army, this army has now fully grown.

Combined with the armor and weapons supported by their Chu State, the combat effectiveness of these 80,000 people will be far beyond that of the previous Zhou army.

If the Qin army still regards the current Zhou army as the previous Zhou army, it will definitely suffer in the upcoming decisive battle of Julu.

Of course, before that, the problem of the Crown Prince's poisoning must be resolved first.

Perhaps, at this moment, only the Queen of the Great Zhou can see the prince, and they can also know the prince's current situation.

The powerful Zhou army slowly entered the city, and Wu Zhao, led by Jia Yu and others, came to a big house.

"Your Highness, the Empress of the Great Zhou is here." Jia Yu bowed and reported outside the house.

"Please...the Queen of the Great Zhou comes in." Chu Ning's hoarse voice came from inside the room.

Wu Zhao's heart was shocked, and a solemn look flashed across her delicate face.

Without waiting for Jia Yu to speak, she rushed into the house.

Jia Yu and others tactfully retreated, leaving only guards outside the yard in the entire backyard.

The door opened and Wu Zhao swept in with the cold wind.

"Cough cough cough... cough cough..." Perhaps Chu Ning couldn't stand the cold winter wind and kept coughing.

Wu Zhao quickly closed the door and looked at Chu Ning.

This sight almost made her scream out.

Perhaps Chu Ning saw her coming, his pale fingers suddenly spasmed and grabbed the quilt. The moment his knuckles protruded, spider-web-like blood lines hidden under his skin suddenly appeared.

Those dark red veins spread upward from the neck, as if a living creature was gnawing at the whites of his eyes, eroding the originally pitch-black pupils into cloudy amber.

"Cough...cough cough..."

The broken coughs made the gauze curtain tremble. Wu Zhao raised her eyebrows and hurriedly picked up the jade bowl beside her.

There were tiny ice crystals floating in the blood foam that Chu Ning vomited, which made a tiny tinkling sound when it fell into the bowl - this was a sign that the blood spider venom had invaded the heart meridians.

He tried to prop himself up, but as soon as his back, which was covered with a thin layer of sweat, left the soft pillow, he fell heavily back onto the couch. The golden hair crown inlaid with luminous pearls slid off at an angle, revealing a few strands of gray hair.

"Chun Ning!"

Wu Zhao put down the jade bowl and rushed forward, only to see Chu Ning's withered wrist suddenly bent strangely, with his five fingers digging into the edge of the rosewood carved bed.

Dark red blood beads oozed out along the wood grain. Once those blood drops came into contact with the air, they condensed into spider-like threads, emitting an eerie blue light under the candlelight.

Wu Zhao was greatly shocked as she looked at Chu Ning, who was full of vigor and vitality and was shocking other countries.

At this moment, his thin undershirt was soaked with cold sweat, and the bloodstains spreading along his collarbone looked like a dying spider weaving its last web.

The most shocking thing was his lips - the lips that should have been bloodless were now as bright as vermilion. That was the paralyzing toxin that the blood spider injected into the host when laying eggs.

“You…are here.”

Chu Ning's Adam's apple rolled with difficulty, and the broken words were mixed with the sticky sound in the trachea.

Wu Zhao was stunned.

Because she found that the breath Chu Ning exhaled had a sweet and fishy smell like rotten meat, and the tassels hanging from the ceiling of the tent were withering and curling at a speed visible to the naked eye.

"You...how did you become like this?" Wu Zhao walked forward and held Chu Ning's hand with concern.

Chu Ning's cloudy eyes suddenly turned towards Wu Zhao, and his pupils, which had been corroded by the blood spider poison, suddenly shrank to the size of a needle tip.

The clarity of mind at that moment allowed the empress to see the throbbing blood vessels in his neck - there were clearly rice-grain-sized bumps wriggling under the skin.

"I only have three months left."

These words made the empress stand still. She never dreamed that the Prince of Chu, who looked like a withered old man, only had three months left to live.

There is not much time left for her and Chu Ning.