Not even a candidate
As the lanterns were lit, Liu Dan’s personal guards hastily arranged some food on the table.
A plate of sliced braised beef, three large plates of steamed buns, and a few servings of boiled cabbage.
There was no cook in the house, and the cooking methods preferred by the soldiers were naturally not presentable; the cabbage was overcooked, with a layer of white froth floating on top. Including Liu Dan, picking up a bun and dipping it into the vegetable broth made for a flavorful bite.
They thought they had posed a challenge to the unexpected guests in the mansion, but the outcome was entirely different from what they had anticipated.
The second and sixth princes, though frowning, did not slow down their eating in the slightest.
The one truly unable to pick up his chopsticks was Meng Qi, but the steamed buns were acceptable, so he and Mo Li sat side by side, slowly sharing one bun—indeed, it was Dr. Mo who had torn it into two, tasted it, and then passed it to Meng Qi.
From a distance, if one ignored the identities of the people sitting at this large table, it looked quite harmonious.
Liu Dan ate slower and slower, almost unable to swallow.
Anyone housing two princes and a former imperial teacher would be as troubled as he was.
The trouble didn’t stop there; outside the mansion, the imperial guards were watching, seemingly ready to place him under house arrest.
“Cough.”
Liu Dan cleared his throat, and upon seeing Meng Qi’s gaze, his imposing aura nearly dissipated.
—Unlike the sixth prince, the imperial teacher could truly snap his neck.
Liu Dan was not afraid of death, but he did not want to die ignominiously at home! He still had many soldiers and old subordinates in Pingzhou, brothers he had brought out from the battlefields of the northern frontier; he could die, even vanish, but what would become of those men?
“Imperial teacher, I have made up my mind. As soon as the city gates open, I will immediately lead people to flee the capital,” Liu Dan declared, picking up a cup of wine and adopting a resigned yet fearless demeanor, speaking loudly, “The world is vast; where can one not find a place to live? I, Liu, do not necessarily need power or wealth. Living as a hunter in the mountains, free and easy, is not impossible.”
Mo Li paused in his movement.
When mountains were mentioned, he thought of Shimo Mountain Village.
Mo Li remained silent, continuing to eat his bun.
—Shimo Mountain Village was special, home to a group of people who had once struggled to find food and were looked down upon. They were very hostile towards outsiders, and Mo Li would not casually reveal the path to the mountains or the secrets of the village.
The second prince was an exception because he might be Yan Cen’s biological brother, and given the second prince’s temperament and his ability to discern directions, it was impossible for him to escape Shimo Mountain Village with a group intending to besiege it.
Liu Dan was different; he was not alone, and even if he truly no longer wished to hold office, bringing a dozen or so military men from the battlefield to Shimo Mountain Village would be either seeking refuge or seizing power. Even if he had no such intentions, conflicts would arise between the two groups.
“The world will not be thrown into chaos without me, General Liu Dan, just as the Qi dynasty will not be saved by my presence alone,” Liu Dan said, draining his cup in one gulp, his expression bitter.
Meanwhile, the two princes continued to eat their buns, heads down.
Imperial teacher Meng watched the other half of the bun in Dr. Mo’s hand.
Liu Dan: “…”
It was not that the general was not convincing; it was that these people were too cunning.
General Liu believed that even the most seasoned and tactful officials would be infuriated to the point of smashing their cups at this moment.
“Second Brother, you couldn’t possibly have been starving for days, could you?” The sixth prince taunted as he failed to grab any dishes.
Lu Min did not bother responding; wasn’t it better to eat more while talking?
Most of those dining together were of military background, and in terms of grabbing food, Lu Min was already at a disadvantage.
The only plate not affected by the “melee” was on Meng Qi’s side.
As the dish was about to be emptied, everyone’s eyes inevitably turned towards the untouched plate, hesitating for a moment before Lu Min made his move, promptly leading to chaos.
Meng Qi watched expressionlessly as the entire plate, along with the dish, was taken away.
Mo Li, observing from the side, was secretly amazed at how the second and sixth princes managed to grab food while keeping their sleeves free from broth, maintaining their composure throughout.
“……Lu Min, don’t you hate eating cabbage?” Mo Li seriously doubted his own memory.
“This depends on who I share the table with.” The Second Prince laid down his chopsticks contentedly, rubbing his belly.
Having missed the last bite of cabbage, Liu Dan’s personal guard said in wonder, “Your Highnesses truly have a good appetite. I didn’t expect you to take so kindly to the coarse food of us soldiers.”
This time, both the Second Prince and the Sixth Prince remained silent.
Though they lived poorly, they still wanted some semblance of dignity and were unwilling to admit that when they were out of luck in the palace, their meals weren’t much better than this. Ingredients might be more expensive, with meat and fish, but when they turned cold and lost their flavor, they might not even compare to this bowl of boiled cabbage with floating oil droplets.
As princes, they had tasted exquisite delicacies, but during unfortunate times, they did not lack bitter experiences.
This kind of neglect was not the intention of Lu Zhang; it was just slighting.
The Sixth Prince’s mother died, and the Second Prince was always punished by being locked in solitary confinement. If they were picky, not accepting this or that, they probably wouldn’t have survived until today.
“What exactly happened with this treason in the capital?” The Sixth Prince glared at Lu Min.
Liu Dan looked over upon hearing this, and all the personal guards also stopped their chopsticks.
The Second Prince was somewhat embarrassed. After all, he had carefully planned the palace coup and treason, but it ended in utter failure. His subordinates died cleanly, and even the martial arts experts he had lured to assassinate the Emperor were gone. Now, with a bald spot on his scalp, following Master Meng around like a servant to scrounge for meals at the General’s mansion, how could he have any face left?
But shame or not, he had to speak.
If he spoke himself, he could still save some face. If Master Meng spoke for him, he might lose face completely.
Mo Li, adhering to the slow and deliberate eating taught by Elder Qin, waited until he finished half a bun. By then, the Second Prince had also stutteringly finished describing the unfortunate rebellion.
“It’s all because of the astronomical phenomena!” Lu Min slammed the table in annoyance, full of complaints, “Everything was fine, and then suddenly, a black dragon appeared in the sky, followed by a golden dragon, and they fought fiercely. In an instant, a torrential rain poured down. Just like that, following this, Father Emperor began to mobilize the imperial guards and seal the city gates, forcing me to start the uprising hastily.”
“Is there such a thing?” Liu Dan was immensely shocked.
The Sixth Prince was skeptical, sarcastically saying, “What golden dragon and black dragon, probably just clouds in the sky! Father Emperor must have sensed something, thus using this as a pretext to force you into a trap.”
Lu Min jumped up, angrily retorting, “There were clearly two dragons, seen clearly by tens of thousands in the Capital. If you don’t believe it, go out and ask around. See whether it’s you who are ignorant or I who am speaking nonsense!”
The clear existence of two dragons: “……”
Afraid of what he might hear, Liu Dan tentatively asked, “Has the doctor seen any omens?”
General Liu chose to ask Mo Li because he knew Mo Li was easy to talk to.
Meng Qi’s smile was faint, his gaze sharp, giving off a vibe of sending anyone who dared to ask to their death. Liu Dan wasn’t foolish.
“I didn’t see it that day due to certain reasons.”
Mo Li was very calm as he said lightly, “I heard that in Shangyun Mountain, there are often sightings of auspicious clouds and strange lights. Maybe this time it was the same, nothing unusual.”
Lu Min’s eyes were almost bulging out. The two lifelike giant dragons fighting each other that day, and that was not unusual?
“The doctor didn’t see it, but the servants in General Liu’s mansion surely did.”
The Second Prince couldn’t stand the look of idiocy from the sixth, insisting on proving the extraordinariness of that event.
There are two types of servants in the mansion: one type is responsible for managing the house, sent by the Imperial Household Department, who can occasionally also serve as the Emperor’s spies, and the other type is naturally the family servants brought by the mansion’s master.
To prevent information leaks, Liu Dan had ordered the former to be detained early on, and those called for questioning now were old subordinates with disabilities and nowhere else to go, who voluntarily claimed to be Liu’s servants to help Liu Dan gather information in the capital.
Speaking of the dragons in the sky that day, their spirits lifted, and they spoke even more exaggeratedly than the Second Prince.
“That black dragon was indeed about to tear apart the golden dragon, the two dragons entangled head to tail, claws against claws, fighting intensely… General, could this be a sign of great chaos in the world, the beginning of a battle between Qi and Chu?”
Mo Li subtly pressed down on his chest with internal force.
—Embarrassed, he almost burped.
He had eaten half a bun earlier, without drinking a drop of water.
Just then, Meng Qi passed him a cup.
Mo Li instinctively picked it up, then frowned slightly.
The cup was not filled with tea but with liquor, and not just any liquor, but the most famous burning knife wine from the frontier and Pingzhou. The alcohol was extremely strong, just the smell of it was suffocating.
“I picked the wrong one.”
Meng Qi timely offered another cup of plain water.
In the General’s mansion, aside from burning knife wine, there’s Fen liquor, not even coarse tea can be found.
“How could there be dragons?” the Sixth Prince murmured to himself, his hands clenched.
If the nation’s fortune is symbolized by dragons, could it be that his father really has the protection of dragons?
The Sixth Prince, grabbing the Second Prince, asked anxiously, “What exactly is happening in the palace now?”
“Weren’t you the one who ran out from there? You don’t know?” the Second Prince said, annoyed.
“I barely had time to escape, how could I find out anything?” The Sixth Prince felt wronged too; if he had the time and chance, would he not seek out the Crown Prince instead of running to the General’s mansion?
Lu Min’s eyes flickered as he edited and boasted about what Meng Qi had said these days.
Something about the Emperor being gravely ill, several key officials in the Wenyuan Pavilion controlling the court politics, all aiming to place the Third Prince on the throne, so the current search within the city is not strict, but soon the court will stir up huge waves, and the civil and military officials will consider pledging loyalty to the new sovereign.
“Wait, what did you say? The Emperor is seriously ill? Why is he seriously ill?”
Liu Dan was utterly confused; he remembered clearly that Lu Zhang was in good health, certainly not to the point of being angered to death by his son.
At this moment, Meng Qi casually interjected, “Oh, I did that.”
Everyone: “……”
Meng Qi pointed at the Second Prince and said, “The assassin he found, I disliked his martial arts skills, so I killed him and then went to find Lu Zhang myself. When the Emperor was found, I realized that without Lu Zhang, the Qi dynasty would be even more chaotic, so I had no choice but to beat him up and leave helplessly.”
The Sixth Prince jumped up, and before he could speak, Mo Li methodically said, “Besides, the Crown Prince has something hidden in the palace, intended for the Sixth Prince.”
“What is it?”
Everyone asked in unison, with Lu Min’s voice especially loud.
Mo Li worried that after telling Lu Min, the Second Prince might start fighting with the Sixth Prince again.
Having just finished eating, it was not appropriate to engage in such brawls, so Mo Li swallowed what he was originally going to say, first spoke about the Crown Prince’s illness, then mentioned the hidden ailment of the Second Prince.
“After treating the Second Prince for a while, once there’s some improvement, I’ll leave the Capital with Brother Meng…”
“No, Doctor! Is my eldest brother really beyond help with medicine?”
The Sixth Prince looked at Lu Min, his expression complex, yet unable to let go of the Crown Prince.
Mo Li pondered for a moment, then said, “The Crown Prince’s illness can only be temporarily relieved by internal force. It’s hard to say how many days he can live. Nowadays, with frequent chaos in the Capital, as long as he does not die, the court officials cannot justifiably push the Third Prince to ascend the throne.”
“The Third!”
Lu Min and the Sixth Prince gritted their teeth in shared animosity.
“No, I must enter the palace!” The Sixth Prince stood up with a slam, “I cannot let those people’s plots succeed!”
Liu Dan drank his third cup of liquor, then reminded, “Your Highness, have you forgotten? The Emperor is only injured, not seriously harmed.”
“Then kill him!” The Sixth Prince blurted out.
Liu Dan and all the personal guards: “……”
Finally, the true intentions of this prince were revealed.
“It seems the throne can only be occupied by the Crown Prince!” Liu Dan laughed bitterly, not realizing before meeting these princes how capable the sickly Crown Prince was, to have won over his brothers.
“How can a dying man become the Emperor?”
“If the Crown Prince himself could practice internal force, how long could he hold on?”
Mo Li was momentarily stunned upon hearing this, then pondered deeply for a moment before hesitantly saying, “Actually, I’ve thought about this for more than three days. The Crown Prince has never learned martial arts, and now that his illness has worsened, it’s even less possible for him to start. If someone closely related by blood is willing to give up all their hard-earned internal energy, they could protect the last bit of vital energy in the heart and lung meridians. But even after all this, it might not necessarily save the Crown Prince’s life; it’s only a possibility. Even if successful, the illness would not lessen, it would just be dragging on, and how long he could live would still depend on fate…”
“I can!”
The Sixth Prince said with shining eyes.
Mo Li looked at him for a long while before saying, “Your martial arts are too weak.”
Meng Qi communicated through a whisper, “Could it be you’re suggesting Yan Cen…”
“No, Yan Cen himself has an unusual body, relying on internal energy to regulate his meridians. How could he do it?” Mo Li immediately dismissed the idea without hesitation.
“So, it seems the Crown Prince is truly beyond help?”
“This… unless Lu Zhang has another prince lost to the world, who has mastered martial arts and is willing to give up all his skills for the Crown Prince.”
It was clear that such a person could not possibly exist in the world.
Meng Qi sighed and said no more.
Not even a candidate
As the lanterns were lit, Liu Dan’s personal guards hastily arranged some food on the table.
A plate of sliced braised beef, three large plates of steamed buns, and a few servings of boiled cabbage.
There was no cook in the house, and the cooking methods preferred by the soldiers were naturally not presentable; the cabbage was overcooked, with a layer of white froth floating on top. Including Liu Dan, picking up a bun and dipping it into the vegetable broth made for a flavorful bite.
They thought they had posed a challenge to the unexpected guests in the mansion, but the outcome was entirely different from what they had anticipated.
The second and sixth princes, though frowning, did not slow down their eating in the slightest.
The one truly unable to pick up his chopsticks was Meng Qi, but the steamed buns were acceptable, so he and Mo Li sat side by side, slowly sharing one bun—indeed, it was Dr. Mo who had torn it into two, tasted it, and then passed it to Meng Qi.
From a distance, if one ignored the identities of the people sitting at this large table, it looked quite harmonious.
Liu Dan ate slower and slower, almost unable to swallow.
Anyone housing two princes and a former imperial teacher would be as troubled as he was.
The trouble didn’t stop there; outside the mansion, the imperial guards were watching, seemingly ready to place him under house arrest.
“Cough.”
Liu Dan cleared his throat, and upon seeing Meng Qi’s gaze, his imposing aura nearly dissipated.
—Unlike the sixth prince, the imperial teacher could truly snap his neck.
Liu Dan was not afraid of death, but he did not want to die ignominiously at home! He still had many soldiers and old subordinates in Pingzhou, brothers he had brought out from the battlefields of the northern frontier; he could die, even vanish, but what would become of those men?
“Imperial teacher, I have made up my mind. As soon as the city gates open, I will immediately lead people to flee the capital,” Liu Dan declared, picking up a cup of wine and adopting a resigned yet fearless demeanor, speaking loudly, “The world is vast; where can one not find a place to live? I, Liu, do not necessarily need power or wealth. Living as a hunter in the mountains, free and easy, is not impossible.”
Mo Li paused in his movement.
When mountains were mentioned, he thought of Shimo Mountain Village.
Mo Li remained silent, continuing to eat his bun.
—Shimo Mountain Village was special, home to a group of people who had once struggled to find food and were looked down upon. They were very hostile towards outsiders, and Mo Li would not casually reveal the path to the mountains or the secrets of the village.
The second prince was an exception because he might be Yan Cen’s biological brother, and given the second prince’s temperament and his ability to discern directions, it was impossible for him to escape Shimo Mountain Village with a group intending to besiege it.
Liu Dan was different; he was not alone, and even if he truly no longer wished to hold office, bringing a dozen or so military men from the battlefield to Shimo Mountain Village would be either seeking refuge or seizing power. Even if he had no such intentions, conflicts would arise between the two groups.
“The world will not be thrown into chaos without me, General Liu Dan, just as the Qi dynasty will not be saved by my presence alone,” Liu Dan said, draining his cup in one gulp, his expression bitter.
Meanwhile, the two princes continued to eat their buns, heads down.
Imperial teacher Meng watched the other half of the bun in Dr. Mo’s hand.
Liu Dan: “…”
It was not that the general was not convincing; it was that these people were too cunning.
General Liu believed that even the most seasoned and tactful officials would be infuriated to the point of smashing their cups at this moment.
“Second Brother, you couldn’t possibly have been starving for days, could you?” The sixth prince taunted as he failed to grab any dishes.
Lu Min did not bother responding; wasn’t it better to eat more while talking?
Most of those dining together were of military background, and in terms of grabbing food, Lu Min was already at a disadvantage.
The only plate not affected by the “melee” was on Meng Qi’s side.
As the dish was about to be emptied, everyone’s eyes inevitably turned towards the untouched plate, hesitating for a moment before Lu Min made his move, promptly leading to chaos.
Meng Qi watched expressionlessly as the entire plate, along with the dish, was taken away.
Mo Li, observing from the side, was secretly amazed at how the second and sixth princes managed to grab food while keeping their sleeves free from broth, maintaining their composure throughout.
“……Lu Min, don’t you hate eating cabbage?” Mo Li seriously doubted his own memory.
“This depends on who I share the table with.” The Second Prince laid down his chopsticks contentedly, rubbing his belly.
Having missed the last bite of cabbage, Liu Dan’s personal guard said in wonder, “Your Highnesses truly have a good appetite. I didn’t expect you to take so kindly to the coarse food of us soldiers.”
This time, both the Second Prince and the Sixth Prince remained silent.
Though they lived poorly, they still wanted some semblance of dignity and were unwilling to admit that when they were out of luck in the palace, their meals weren’t much better than this. Ingredients might be more expensive, with meat and fish, but when they turned cold and lost their flavor, they might not even compare to this bowl of boiled cabbage with floating oil droplets.
As princes, they had tasted exquisite delicacies, but during unfortunate times, they did not lack bitter experiences.
This kind of neglect was not the intention of Lu Zhang; it was just slighting.
The Sixth Prince’s mother died, and the Second Prince was always punished by being locked in solitary confinement. If they were picky, not accepting this or that, they probably wouldn’t have survived until today.
“What exactly happened with this treason in the capital?” The Sixth Prince glared at Lu Min.
Liu Dan looked over upon hearing this, and all the personal guards also stopped their chopsticks.
The Second Prince was somewhat embarrassed. After all, he had carefully planned the palace coup and treason, but it ended in utter failure. His subordinates died cleanly, and even the martial arts experts he had lured to assassinate the Emperor were gone. Now, with a bald spot on his scalp, following Master Meng around like a servant to scrounge for meals at the General’s mansion, how could he have any face left?
But shame or not, he had to speak.
If he spoke himself, he could still save some face. If Master Meng spoke for him, he might lose face completely.
Mo Li, adhering to the slow and deliberate eating taught by Elder Qin, waited until he finished half a bun. By then, the Second Prince had also stutteringly finished describing the unfortunate rebellion.
“It’s all because of the astronomical phenomena!” Lu Min slammed the table in annoyance, full of complaints, “Everything was fine, and then suddenly, a black dragon appeared in the sky, followed by a golden dragon, and they fought fiercely. In an instant, a torrential rain poured down. Just like that, following this, Father Emperor began to mobilize the imperial guards and seal the city gates, forcing me to start the uprising hastily.”
“Is there such a thing?” Liu Dan was immensely shocked.
The Sixth Prince was skeptical, sarcastically saying, “What golden dragon and black dragon, probably just clouds in the sky! Father Emperor must have sensed something, thus using this as a pretext to force you into a trap.”
Lu Min jumped up, angrily retorting, “There were clearly two dragons, seen clearly by tens of thousands in the Capital. If you don’t believe it, go out and ask around. See whether it’s you who are ignorant or I who am speaking nonsense!”
The clear existence of two dragons: “……”
Afraid of what he might hear, Liu Dan tentatively asked, “Has the doctor seen any omens?”
General Liu chose to ask Mo Li because he knew Mo Li was easy to talk to.
Meng Qi’s smile was faint, his gaze sharp, giving off a vibe of sending anyone who dared to ask to their death. Liu Dan wasn’t foolish.
“I didn’t see it that day due to certain reasons.”
Mo Li was very calm as he said lightly, “I heard that in Shangyun Mountain, there are often sightings of auspicious clouds and strange lights. Maybe this time it was the same, nothing unusual.”
Lu Min’s eyes were almost bulging out. The two lifelike giant dragons fighting each other that day, and that was not unusual?
“The doctor didn’t see it, but the servants in General Liu’s mansion surely did.”
The Second Prince couldn’t stand the look of idiocy from the sixth, insisting on proving the extraordinariness of that event.
There are two types of servants in the mansion: one type is responsible for managing the house, sent by the Imperial Household Department, who can occasionally also serve as the Emperor’s spies, and the other type is naturally the family servants brought by the mansion’s master.
To prevent information leaks, Liu Dan had ordered the former to be detained early on, and those called for questioning now were old subordinates with disabilities and nowhere else to go, who voluntarily claimed to be Liu’s servants to help Liu Dan gather information in the capital.
Speaking of the dragons in the sky that day, their spirits lifted, and they spoke even more exaggeratedly than the Second Prince.
“That black dragon was indeed about to tear apart the golden dragon, the two dragons entangled head to tail, claws against claws, fighting intensely… General, could this be a sign of great chaos in the world, the beginning of a battle between Qi and Chu?”
Mo Li subtly pressed down on his chest with internal force.
—Embarrassed, he almost burped.
He had eaten half a bun earlier, without drinking a drop of water.
Just then, Meng Qi passed him a cup.
Mo Li instinctively picked it up, then frowned slightly.
The cup was not filled with tea but with liquor, and not just any liquor, but the most famous burning knife wine from the frontier and Pingzhou. The alcohol was extremely strong, just the smell of it was suffocating.
“I picked the wrong one.”
Meng Qi timely offered another cup of plain water.
In the General’s mansion, aside from burning knife wine, there’s Fen liquor, not even coarse tea can be found.
“How could there be dragons?” the Sixth Prince murmured to himself, his hands clenched.
If the nation’s fortune is symbolized by dragons, could it be that his father really has the protection of dragons?
The Sixth Prince, grabbing the Second Prince, asked anxiously, “What exactly is happening in the palace now?”
“Weren’t you the one who ran out from there? You don’t know?” the Second Prince said, annoyed.
“I barely had time to escape, how could I find out anything?” The Sixth Prince felt wronged too; if he had the time and chance, would he not seek out the Crown Prince instead of running to the General’s mansion?
Lu Min’s eyes flickered as he edited and boasted about what Meng Qi had said these days.
Something about the Emperor being gravely ill, several key officials in the Wenyuan Pavilion controlling the court politics, all aiming to place the Third Prince on the throne, so the current search within the city is not strict, but soon the court will stir up huge waves, and the civil and military officials will consider pledging loyalty to the new sovereign.
“Wait, what did you say? The Emperor is seriously ill? Why is he seriously ill?”
Liu Dan was utterly confused; he remembered clearly that Lu Zhang was in good health, certainly not to the point of being angered to death by his son.
At this moment, Meng Qi casually interjected, “Oh, I did that.”
Everyone: “……”
Meng Qi pointed at the Second Prince and said, “The assassin he found, I disliked his martial arts skills, so I killed him and then went to find Lu Zhang myself. When the Emperor was found, I realized that without Lu Zhang, the Qi dynasty would be even more chaotic, so I had no choice but to beat him up and leave helplessly.”
The Sixth Prince jumped up, and before he could speak, Mo Li methodically said, “Besides, the Crown Prince has something hidden in the palace, intended for the Sixth Prince.”
“What is it?”
Everyone asked in unison, with Lu Min’s voice especially loud.
Mo Li worried that after telling Lu Min, the Second Prince might start fighting with the Sixth Prince again.
Having just finished eating, it was not appropriate to engage in such brawls, so Mo Li swallowed what he was originally going to say, first spoke about the Crown Prince’s illness, then mentioned the hidden ailment of the Second Prince.
“After treating the Second Prince for a while, once there’s some improvement, I’ll leave the Capital with Brother Meng…”
“No, Doctor! Is my eldest brother really beyond help with medicine?”
The Sixth Prince looked at Lu Min, his expression complex, yet unable to let go of the Crown Prince.
Mo Li pondered for a moment, then said, “The Crown Prince’s illness can only be temporarily relieved by internal force. It’s hard to say how many days he can live. Nowadays, with frequent chaos in the Capital, as long as he does not die, the court officials cannot justifiably push the Third Prince to ascend the throne.”
“The Third!”
Lu Min and the Sixth Prince gritted their teeth in shared animosity.
“No, I must enter the palace!” The Sixth Prince stood up with a slam, “I cannot let those people’s plots succeed!”
Liu Dan drank his third cup of liquor, then reminded, “Your Highness, have you forgotten? The Emperor is only injured, not seriously harmed.”
“Then kill him!” The Sixth Prince blurted out.
Liu Dan and all the personal guards: “……”
Finally, the true intentions of this prince were revealed.
“It seems the throne can only be occupied by the Crown Prince!” Liu Dan laughed bitterly, not realizing before meeting these princes how capable the sickly Crown Prince was, to have won over his brothers.
“How can a dying man become the Emperor?”
“If the Crown Prince himself could practice internal force, how long could he hold on?”
Mo Li was momentarily stunned upon hearing this, then pondered deeply for a moment before hesitantly saying, “Actually, I’ve thought about this for more than three days. The Crown Prince has never learned martial arts, and now that his illness has worsened, it’s even less possible for him to start. If someone closely related by blood is willing to give up all their hard-earned internal energy, they could protect the last bit of vital energy in the heart and lung meridians. But even after all this, it might not necessarily save the Crown Prince’s life; it’s only a possibility. Even if successful, the illness would not lessen, it would just be dragging on, and how long he could live would still depend on fate…”
“I can!”
The Sixth Prince said with shining eyes.
Mo Li looked at him for a long while before saying, “Your martial arts are too weak.”
Meng Qi communicated through a whisper, “Could it be you’re suggesting Yan Cen…”
“No, Yan Cen himself has an unusual body, relying on internal energy to regulate his meridians. How could he do it?” Mo Li immediately dismissed the idea without hesitation.
“So, it seems the Crown Prince is truly beyond help?”
“This… unless Lu Zhang has another prince lost to the world, who has mastered martial arts and is willing to give up all his skills for the Crown Prince.”
It was clear that such a person could not possibly exist in the world.
Meng Qi sighed and said no more.
