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

The night wind howled, and the candlelight in the Taifu Mansion flickered, illuminating Dugu Xin's old and gloomy face.

Chu Ning stepped into the inner room, with Zhao Yu behind him escorting Zhou Yan, who looked as pale as death. The sound of armor colliding was particularly harsh in the silent room.

Dugu Xin was originally half-leaning on the bed. Seeing the prince in person, he struggled to stand up and was about to salute. However, the moment he saw Zhou Yan, his pupils suddenly contracted and his face became completely gloomy.

He knew that he had been exposed.

"Master."

Chu Ning spoke coldly, his voice as cold as ice: "I came here tonight to ask only one question - why do you want to kill me?"

Dugu Xin was silent for a moment, then suddenly laughed softly. His laughter was hoarse, like the rubbing of dead wood.

He slowly raised his head, his cloudy eyes gleaming with deep hatred. "Why? Your Highness, you actually ask me why?"

He coughed violently a few times and gasped, "My Dugu family has been a single-line family for three generations. The only bloodline left is my grandson, Dugu Yan, who died last year at the hands of the remnants of the Zhao State! He wasn't even twenty years old!"

Zhao Yu frowned and shouted, "Your grandson died at the hands of the remnants of the Zhao Kingdom. What has that got to do with Your Highness? Are you planning to kill the king for this?"

"What's the matter?"

Dugu Xin suddenly flew into a rage, and slammed the edge of the bed with his bony hands, causing the teacup to fall over.

"If Shen Zhengqing hadn't colluded with the remnants of the Zhao Kingdom, how could my grandson have died?"

"And Shen Zhengqing——"

He stared at Chu Ning intently and spoke word by word, "They are the remnants of the previous dynasty, personally cultivated by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. They are the Crown Princess's family!"

Chu Ning frowned slightly, and a complicated look flashed in his eyes.

Shen Zhengqing was indeed a young general promoted by him. He was in charge of the Chu State's city defense camp, but was later executed for colluding with the rebels.

He said in a deep voice, "Shen Zhengqing colluded with the remnants of the Zhao State. I have personally ordered his execution. This matter has long been resolved."

"Finished?"

Dugu Xin laughed loudly, his laughter revealing madness. "The only bloodline of my Dugu family is gone, and you tell me what 'end' means?"

Chu Ning's eyes darkened slightly as he looked at Dugu Sheng standing beside him. "Minister Dugu is in his prime. If you are worried about the extinction of your family line, you can remarry to continue your lineage."

Dugu Sheng's face turned pale, and the hatred in his eyes became even stronger: "Your Highness, do you think I haven't tried it?"

His voice was hoarse, filled with suppressed anger. "I've married thirteen wives and concubines, but none of them can bear children! The imperial physician diagnosed that I... am infertile!"

He suddenly raised his head, his eyes bloodshot, and he almost roared: "Once Dugu Yan dies, my Dugu family will have no descendants!"

The last sentence was like a thunderclap, and the whole room fell into dead silence.

Chu Ning was silent for a moment, and finally spoke slowly: "Even so, if you want to kill me, I can understand, but -"

His eyes suddenly sharpened. "Why are you colluding with the barbarians of Southern Xinjiang? Do you know that this is treason?"

Dugu Xin sneered, his old face looking particularly ferocious in the candlelight: "Why? Because I want more than just the life of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince!"

He slowly stood up, his eyes flashing with madness: "I want the Chu royal family to also taste the bitterness of extinction!"

"If the southern border barbarians invade, the remnants of the Zhao Kingdom in the north will surely take advantage of the chaos and rise up. How can the Han Dynasty in the west, the Tang Dynasty and the Wei Kingdom in the east just sit back and watch?"

"When the three kingdoms besiege us, Chu will surely perish!"

He laughed hoarsely: "My Dugu family has no descendants, and your Chu royal family will also be extinct!"

Zhao Yu flew into a rage, drew his sword, and shouted, "Old thief! You're courting death!"

Chu Ning raised his hand to stop him, his eyes as cold as ice: "Grandmaster, do you know how many people in Chu will be destroyed by your thoughts?"

Dugu Xin sneered: "People? What does it have to do with me? My Dugu family is gone, and the Chu State is destroyed!"

Chu Ning closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, there was no warmth in them.

He didn't expect that the Taifu who protected the Chu State in the past would become like this because he had no descendants.

"Dugu Xin colluded with foreign enemies and plotted to murder the crown prince. His crime is unforgivable."

He slowly drew the sword from his waist, the blade gleaming coldly in the candlelight, "Today, in the name of the Crown Prince of Chu..."

"You are sentenced to death, and your entire family will be executed."

As soon as he finished speaking, cavalrymen on white horses rushed in from outside the door, and the flash of their swords filled the whole room.

Dugu Xin laughed wildly, while Dugu Sheng collapsed to the ground with only despair in his eyes.

However, when the white horse cavalry just rushed into the Taifu Mansion, a cold smile suddenly appeared on Dugu Xin's old face.

He pressed the edge of the bed with his skinny right hand. With a "click" sound of the mechanism, the blue brick floor under Chu Ning and Zhao Yu's feet suddenly collapsed!

"Your Highness, be careful!" Zhao Yu reacted very quickly and grabbed Chu Ning's arm.

But it was too late, and they both fell into darkness.

At the moment of falling, dozens of short arrows with a cold blue light suddenly shot out from the surrounding walls, and they were obviously poisoned.

"Ding ding dang dang--" sparks flew in the darkness.

Chu Ning's long sword was like a dragon, drawing a silver light curtain in front of him, and Zhao Yu's two swords flew, turning into a sword net.

The two men stood back to back and shot down all the poisonous arrows.

"Dugu old thief!"

Zhao Yu raised his head and roared, his voice echoing in the narrow passage: "You are prepared!"

Dugu Xin leaned on his cane and came to the edge of the trap. He looked down at the two trapped people and sneered:

"If I hadn't been fully prepared, how could I dare to attack the Crown Prince?"

The wrinkles on his face looked particularly ferocious in the flickering candlelight: "I have been preparing this secret passage for a whole year, waiting for today!"

At the same time, Dugu Sheng, who had just been slumped on the ground, suddenly jumped up.

He jumped up from the ground and quickly pulled out a sword with a cold glow from the secret compartment in the wall.

The sword was dark blue all over, and it was obviously poisoned.

"Chu Ning! Today is the day you die!" Dugu Sheng's eyes were red and he was about to jump into the trap.

At this time, the white horse cavalry outside rushed in.

"Stop them!" Dugu Sheng shouted sternly.

Suddenly, more than ten servants from the Taifu Mansion rushed in from outside the door, each holding a sharp blade, and surrounded the remaining white horse cavalry.

These servants are agile and are obviously well-trained warriors.

Under the trap, Chu Ning and Zhao Yu stood back to back.

With the faint light coming through from above, Chu Ning discovered that this was actually an inclined slide. The walls around it were as smooth as a mirror and impossible to climb.

What’s even more terrifying is that a pungent liquid is slowly oozing out of the ground - kerosene!

"Your Highness, it seems they want to burn us alive." Zhao Yu said in a low voice, gripping his swords tighter.

A cold light flashed in Chu Ning's eyes, and he suddenly took out an exquisite copper whistle from his arms, put it to his lips and blew it.

The whistle is sharp and piercing, with great penetrating power.

"It's useless, Your Highness."

Dugu Xin sneered from above, "This secret room is three meters deep and surrounded by specially designed soundproof walls. Your whistle won't be heard."

However, at this moment, a burst of rapid horse hooves and shouts of killing suddenly came from outside the Taifu Mansion.

Dugu Xin's face suddenly changed, and he turned his head to look out the window. He saw dozens of white horse cavalrymen coming outside the house.

"How is that possible?" Dugu Sheng was horrified. "Our plan is flawless!"

"Do you think I would come to the Grand Tutor's Mansion unprepared?"

Chu Ning sneered in the trap: "Even before entering the mansion, I ordered people to ambush reinforcements outside."

Dugu Xin's face turned pale, and he suddenly pulled out a fire stick from his sleeve: "In that case, I will send you off now!"

As he said this, he was about to throw the tinder into the trap.

At the critical moment, a feather arrow broke through the window and hit Dugu Xin's wrist accurately.

The tinderbox fell to the ground and was extinguished by the white horse cavalrymen who came over.

"Protect the prince!" The white horse cavalry rushed into the inner room and fought with the servants of the Taifu Mansion.

Seeing that the situation was hopeless, Dugu Sheng suddenly raised his sword to commit suicide, but the flying knife thrown by Zhao Yu from the trap knocked his sword off his sword.

"Want to die? It's not that easy."

Chu Ning's cold voice came from the trap: "I want you and your son alive and to apologize to the world on the execution ground!"