The Marquise: I Earn My Own Worship

Chapter 435 The Sober Emperor of Chu

The King of Chu had lost his appetite recently and sat on the dragon throne with a sigh.

With no one to take over the throne, his heart was as cold as a leaky house in the middle of winter.

As I get older, I don’t know how many more years I can hold on.

The Emperor of Chu was not suitable to be an emperor. It was not because he was incompetent, but because his character was lacking.

His father had no choice but to choose him as the next emperor.

Compared with his other sons, King Ping was still more pleasing to the eye.

Over the years, the Emperor of Chu's temperament has been tempered a lot, all because of the torture caused by those officials.

When attending court, he was able to remain calm and composed.

For example, now, when he heard the secret guard report about the series of shameful operations of Prince Cheng's Mansion, he didn't even want to call him an idiot.

Who is Prince Cheng? The Emperor of Chu had a bad memory and thought for a long time.

Oh, it seems he is the son of one of the late emperor’s concubines. It doesn’t matter, he doesn’t have much impression of him.

I used to lament that my sons were useless, but with this comparison, my own sons suddenly seem much more obedient.

When the Emperor of Chu first heard the rumors, he was a little angry. What did it mean to have a very good fate, a person chosen by heaven? Such a good fate should appear in the royal family.

After further investigation, I found that the jealousy turned into sympathy.

You are a royal palace, but you can't find a son-in-law, but you have to make things difficult for him and make things like this to annoy others.

In fact, the initial rumors in the capital were that the Duan family's son was destined to be extremely noble and wealthy, and was the chosen one by heaven. At that time, Kang Ge'er had disappeared, and it was only later that the story of Prince Cheng's palace seeking a husband for the deceased young princess came to light.

I don’t know who came up with this sinister trick. If the person is dead, it would be fine. Even if His Majesty is suspicious, he won’t say anything. After all, the person is gone.

But if the person is still alive and has made a contribution, this rumor will become a knife at the neck.

However, someone just took action and added a few words, but the meaning and purpose were very different.

The King of Chu sighed, he was not stupid and could not distinguish right from wrong, and he knew the whole story after a little thought.

The Emperor of Chu knew exactly how Duan Chengkang was doing now, but he only found out after the news of Duan Chengkang's death came back.

I still remember that when the Emperor of Chu heard that Duan Chengkang was dead, his face was full of disbelief.

If someone died in a fierce war, it would be understandable, but how could a healthy person die when a war broke out before we even heard the book?

For a moment, the King of Chu thought of how Duan Chengkang had looked since he was a child, and he was overwhelmed with grief and was very sad for a long time.

He felt a little sad, and Xiaoliu must be feeling very uncomfortable.

As expected, as soon as the news came back, the imperial physician was summoned to Xiaoliu's house.

When the imperial physician came back, he sent someone to ask about it. The doctor said that he was so sad and angry that he vomited blood and fainted.

That day was so miserable that the Emperor of Chu was not in the mood to ask his concubines to warm his bed. He lay alone on the dragon bed for a long time, unable to fall asleep.

When people get old, they have no internal heat, so the King of Chu is used to having his younger concubines warm his bed, like a small human heater.

Without someone to warm the bed, the Emperor of Chu felt that the bed was particularly cold.

When he couldn't sleep and was about to have someone give him some warm soup, his secret guard brought him a letter.

After reading the letter, the King of Chu will not be able to sleep tonight.

I was so angry that I couldn't sleep at all.

One good news, one bad news.

The good news is that Duan Chengkang is not dead. He is still alive, as if he has nine lives.

Bad news, one of his men betrayed him. No, maybe not a betrayal, but a traitor from the beginning.

There is a traitor. This is the worst news for the Emperor of Chu.

Or, it could be said to be bad news.

The people he gave to Duan Chengkang were all people he trusted very much, because he wanted to use Duan Chengkang to investigate some secrets in Mo Sheng.

However, the reason why Duan Chengkang almost died this time was because there was a problem with his manpower.

How could the Emperor of Chu tolerate this?!

After seeing Duan Chengkang say that he was certain that no matter it was the Chu-Mo battle, the previous flood corruption case, the palace incident, and the earliest incidents such as the queen's loss of her child and Prince Chun's premature birth, there was always the shadow of one person behind them.

But we still can't find out who it is, we can only confirm that it is related to the royal family.

This person is really good at hiding things.

I originally thought that the high priest of Mo Sheng was the mastermind behind this, but I turned out to be wrong.

Duan Chengkang originally thought that the high priest was the one stirring up trouble, so he had been paying close attention to inquiring about the high priest's deeds.

Until that day when he was interrogating the people who were chasing him, the other party mentioned a sentence, that is, as long as they received a letter from Da Chu, they should immediately stop their actions and obey orders.

Only then did he confirm that the man was still hiding in Da Chu.

After reading his letter, the Emperor of Chu felt as if a shadow was cast over his heart.

The enemy is in the dark, I am in the light.

The Emperor of Chu knew that Duan Chengkang was still alive, but he knew that the Queen and others did not know. When he saw them sad, the Emperor of Chu felt as if he was the only one sober while everyone else was drunk.

Especially Concubine Ning, she felt so uncomfortable that she didn't eat for several days and lost a lot of weight.

When the King of Chu went to see it, he was a little shocked.

"Your Majesty, I was thinking of the first time I saw Kang Ge'er. He was probably only this tall then, and he was round and chubby, so festive. Xiao Liu wasn't feeling well then, so seeing him like this made me happy. I just hoped that Xiao Liu could be as strong as him."

Concubine Ning kept talking, and the Emperor of Chu did not get impatient. He just sat there listening and occasionally agreeing with her.

"At that time, I still remember that at the banquet, you and I saw that guy riding on someone and punching him with his fists."

"Yes, such a lively and lovely child. Every time he came to the palace, the concubines would bring food and sit in the imperial garden, waiting for him to tell stories."

"He's quite good at telling stories. If he can't do well in the future, he can become a storyteller."

"Yes, if he were still alive..."

As Concubine Ning spoke, she began to cry. The Emperor of Chu then realized that he had said the wrong thing, and the words just came out of his mouth.

Not only Concubine Ning, but also the concubines in the harem shed a few tears in secret when they heard the news of Duan Chengkang's death.

That was the little boy who would come to the palace specifically to tell them stories about the outside world.

Why don’t good people live long?

After the Emperor of Chu appeased Concubine Ning, he ran to the Queen's place to hide away some time.

The Queen was fine, she didn't have any major emotions, but when she mentioned the Duan family, she sighed with some regret.

The Emperor of Chu watched and didn't think anything of it. The Queen didn't have deep feelings for the Duan family, so this attitude was normal.

After a while, the people from Duan Houfu who went to the border to call back the soul also arrived in the capital.

About ten days had passed since the news came back. During these ten days, the servants ran continuously without stopping, holding white flags and shouting all the way to the capital.

"Duan Chengkang, come back."