Prince! The political conspiracy is not a play, the show is real

Lu Che met Chu Huanjun's smiling eyes and said coldly, "This is my only condition. I won't say good things twice."

Chu Huanjun's expression changed slightly and he turned to look at Tao Yao.

Tao Yao also looked at him with a flickering gaze.

Neither of them knew whether they understood the other's feelings.

Even in this season of sudden change from warm to cold, the wind blowing on her body made her bones feel cold, and Tao Yao kept shivering.

With him around, she felt strangely at ease. He had said he would never let her fall into danger again, even though he was a man of lies and schemes, and even though she no longer dared to trust anyone easily.

But when Chu Huanjun appeared, Tao Yao suddenly felt that the coldness around her body had subsided.

Chu Huanjun sighed softly, retracted the fan that was resting against Lu Che's collarbone, and said calmly, "The safety of these two hostages has nothing to do with me, and it's even more unreasonable for me to decide their life or death."

After saying that, he took a few steps back and turned to look at Shi Yiqian: "General Shi, these two are your daughters. It's up to you to decide who should go and who should stay."

Tao Yao's heart sank, and her eyes followed Chu Huanjun as he walked farther and farther away. He never looked back.

Shi Yiqian pulled the axe from the ground, his anger, which had been suppressed for a long time, about to explode. "My two daughters have always been law-abiding and have never had any grudges against anyone or any force. Whether as their father or as the Marquis of Zhenbei in the Great Chu State, I want to ask you: why did you kidnap them and turn swords against them?"

Shi Yiqian, holding an axe, approached Lu Che step by step.

Lu Che had long heard that General Zhenbei Hou was incredibly powerful, as imposing as a standing diamond, and now he saw that his reputation was truly well-deserved. Most martial arts schools in the Jianghu prioritized agility and swiftness, but Shi Yiqian's martial arts were the opposite of that.

He doesn't need to be as nimble as a swallow, because he is as strong as an ox, and his body of copper and iron can withstand any moves; he doesn't need to be as fast as a rabbit, because he is strong enough to lift a tripod, and his extraordinary strength can easily shake thousands of troops.

Lu Che quickly mentally calculated how to deal with the giant-like, imposing Marquis of Zhenbei. Compared to him, his only advantages were being lighter and faster, and the two hostages he held were his enemy's weak spot.

Zhining's request was simply for them to take Shi Lanxin away and give up Shi Taoyao.

Lu Che knew that unless he forced Shi Yiqian to the last hurdle, he would not be willing to make this choice.

Shi Yiqian stopped only three feet away from Lu Che and said, "If you're coming for me, put down the knife and the innocent child."

After saying that, Shi Yiqian loosened his hands and the huge axe in his hand suddenly fell to the ground.

Shi Yiqian spread his hands, indicating that he had surrendered himself, and said, "I'm here, you can do whatever you want with me."

Lu Che shook his head and said, "I don't have any other conditions to discuss. Everyone, make your decision quickly."

As soon as he finished speaking, he lowered his head, picked up the short whistle hanging around his neck, held it between his lips and teeth, and blew a piece of music with a strange tune.

"Beware!"

Chu Huanjun's fan flew from the air and knocked the whistle in Lu Che's mouth to the ground with one blow.

"Can you use Gu?" Chu Huanjun asked, his brows gradually furrowed.

Lu Che snorted coldly and whispered, "My skills are still young, but they are enough to deal with ordinary people."

Before he finished speaking, Shi Yiqian's expression suddenly turned ugly. His Adam's apple kept rolling up and down, and his wide-open eyes instantly filled with bloodshot. His face suddenly turned a strange purple-red. His lips were pale, and white foam gradually flowed from between his lips. This was a sign that the poison had taken effect.

“You…! What did you do?!”

But in an instant, Shi Yiqian's voice even became hoarse.

Once the poison is planted, it can penetrate into the blood vessels and meridians in a moment, and finally poison the heart, causing mild disability and severe death.

Lu Che said, "I told you, good things never come easy. The poison can be cured, as long as you make a choice right now—choose one of these two people and take him away."

Shi Yiqian clutched his neck and took a few steps back in pain. Chu Huanjun quickly stepped forward and swiftly wiped his fingers across Shi Yiqian's forehead, rubbing some of the cold sweat between his fingers. Soon, the originally transparent beads of sweat turned a deep red on his fingertips, and Chu Huanjun immediately had the answer.

This is the withered Gu unique to Chunfeng Tower, and only the specially trained dancers in Chunfeng Tower can use it.

Chu Huanjun knew full well that Lu Che had lied. There was no antidote for this poison; the person who had instilled it in someone must have been determined to kill them.

The withered Gu's venom was lingering, like a thin knife repeatedly slicing through a person's flesh. Such agony would have been unbearable for anyone else. However, Shi Yiqian was a prominent general, having fought on the battlefield for many years and experienced the bitterest and most toxic things in the world. Therefore, even after being poisoned by the extremely toxic Gu, which Chunfeng Tower strictly forbids its use under normal circumstances, he was able to endure it.

But the more he tried to hold on, the faster the poison would multiply and spread in his blood vessels and meridians, and the consequences would be disastrous.

Shi Yiqian's face was pale, his lips, cracked and bleeding from the poison, moved slowly up and down, and he squeezed out a few words with difficulty from his throat: "I just want... just want to take my daughter... away..."

At that time, Chu Huanjun raised his hand and placed it on Shi Yiqian's back, quickly pressing three acupoints, causing Shi Yiqian to freeze in place.

“When you’re old, you’ll offend many times.”

After saying that, Chu Huanjun took out a sandalwood brown pill from the brocade bag on his waist, stuffed it into Shi Yiqian's mouth, and then made a few dots on his chest to help him swallow it with ease.

"Forcing yourself to use your internal energy to endure the pain will only make the poison more severe." Chu Huanjun patted Shi Yiqian's shoulder and said calmly, "Don't worry, just leave this matter to me."

As time went by, the night darkened and the wind grew stronger.

Lu Che knew that Zhining's patience was limited and that she couldn't continue to waste time like this.

Sure enough, a few shrill and strange cries of hawks and falcons suddenly came from the shadows of the trees high in the sky not far away. This was Zhining's warning.

Lu Che was startled and could not help but tighten his grip on the knife in his hands, moving a few inches closer to the hostage.

Everyone knows that we can't delay any longer.

If Lu Che had moved the knife a little further back, not only would one life be exchanged for another, but the three lives present, Tao Yao, Shi Lanxin, and Shi Yiqian, would all have been lost.

A sacrifice has to be chosen.

But no one was willing to give in - it seemed that everyone still had a glimmer of hope in their hearts, waiting for this little hope to come.

At this time, Tao Yao spoke.

"Choose my sister."

She looked indifferent, with a kind of calmness that made her feel like she had given up.

Tao Yao knew better than anyone that she had to be the abandoned pawn.

If she stayed, Lu Che might be able to give her a chance to survive; but if Shi Lanxin stayed, everyone would suffer.

Tao Yao could feel Lu Che's sharp gaze fixed on her. The gleaming knife in his hand instantly flashed to her earlobe, and with a swift movement, he shaved off a strand of her hair.

"enough!"

After being silent for a long time, Shi Yiqian finally spoke.

"Choose, choose... choose her."

Shi Yiqian's features suddenly twisted strangely, his expression agonizing to the extreme. He raised his index finger with difficulty and pointed it crookedly at Shi Lanxin on the banyan tree.

After making the decision, he collapsed to the ground like a deflated ball and fainted.

At this time, Lu Che turned to look at Chu Huanjun.

In late winter and early spring, the weather is always changeable and unpredictable.

I don’t know when, but night fell completely, and a light rain suddenly fell from the sky, falling on my body, feeling cold.

Chu Huanjun stood not far away, his long sleeves of lake-blue robe fluttering in the wind, almost blending into the ink-like night.

He stood tall, his hands behind his back. The only remaining glimmer of light, like a thin mist, stretched his shadow to the same length as the shadows of the surrounding trees.

Once upon a time, Lu Che first witnessed the cold-bloodedness and ruthlessness of the Prince of Chu, also on such a cold night with rain and snow.

However, that year, he had no way to protect the person behind him. Now, the situation has changed. Even though he knows that he is weak, he must keep her by his side.

Lu Che turned the blade that was originally across Shi Lanxin's body and pointed it at Chu Huanjun. His voice was dull and cold: "You, too, want to choose."

Whether it was Lu Che or Tao Yao, it seemed that everyone had a firm answer in their hearts.

From a public perspective, Shi Lanxin was the legitimate daughter of the Zhenbei Marquis, the Great General's household, a precious legacy left behind by the friendly relations between the Jin Shen Kingdom and the Great Chu. As the crown prince of the Great Chu Kingdom, Chu Huanjun should be fully aware of the extraordinary significance of this.

Personally, Chu Huanjun wanted to make friends with Shi Yiqian. It was well known that Shi Yiqian was partial to Shi Lanxin, so he should save Shi Lanxin for both moral and logical reasons.