Heroes of the Fantasy World

Chapter 650: Hill of Swords

(5)

"Announcement, Dali Temple Minister Yuchi Zhen, come to the court to see the emperor."

Mei Lin, the Prime Minister, summoned Yuchi Zhen to return to the officialdom. Seeing the civil and military officials whispering and standing in all kinds of positions, Yuchi Zhen had already drawn a line in his mind. He no longer stood outside the hall in strict accordance with the rules of the past, but instead formed a scattered group of people around his faction.

Yuchi Zhen remembered that the situation had not become so serious when he attended court last time. At that time, everyone at least still obeyed the law and etiquette and knew the hierarchy. How could it change so quickly?
"Everyone, where is your respect for the emperor?!" Yuchi Zhen couldn't hold back his grief and anger: "This is the palace, not a vegetable market!"

The civil and military officials were still discussing the matter, but they looked at Yuchi Zhen with a little contempt, but at most they just glanced at him, and then continued to discuss the topic they had just discussed.

Yuchi Zhen, who was so loyal that he was almost old-fashioned, was often ridiculed as a "running dog". Even after he had just said what he thought was absolutely correct, he could still hear someone whispering the word "running dog" to insult him. However, Yuchi Zhen was not angry about it.

"Hmph!" Yuchi Zhen snorted and walked up to the palace. Mei Lin saw that he had wasted a lot of time and scolded him, "What happened just now? You made a loud noise outside the palace for no reason. Do you still take the emperor seriously?"

"Your Majesty, now the people in the court and the country are in turmoil, with factions everywhere and everyone harboring their own ulterior motives. Please issue an order not to let these officials leave the capital without permission. The Dali Temple must eliminate all the rebels for the court!" Yuchi Zhen said.

"Shut up!" Mei Lin replied in a shrill voice, "The emperor hasn't spoken yet. How can you be here to order the emperor to do anything? Your Majesty, what do you think?"

The figure hiding behind the curtain remained unmoved. Yuchi Zhen bent slightly, trying to peek at what Emperor Gao Huan was doing.

"The Supreme Court Minister!" Mei Lin's voice suddenly became majestic and stopped Yuchi Zhen's plan: "What did you want to do just now? How can you be allowed to spy on the emperor's face?"

"I know I am guilty." Yuchi Zhen knelt down and bowed, saying, "The situation is changing so fast that it is unbelievable. The opportunity is fleeting. Please make a decision quickly, Your Majesty!"

Mei Lin stood there like a fool for a long time, and the figure behind the curtain did not move. It seemed that this man who had served Gao Huan in the court for more than ten years had some unspeakable secret.

"Yuchi Zhen, come here." Mei Lin suddenly said, as if he was afraid that Yuchi Zhen would not believe him, and emphasized: "The emperor asked you to come here."

Yuchi Zhen obeyed the order, tiptoed over carefully, and walked around the curtain, but saw a haggard body sitting there, with lifeless eyes, saliva dripping from his mouth, and white hair and wrinkles all over his face. He wondered if this old man still remembered that he was once a powerful figure and had ambitions to conquer the world decades ago?

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty?" Mei Lin was extremely excited. His lips were trembling unconsciously and tears were streaming down his face. "Your Majesty, the people are here. The people who can help Da Qi eradicate the evildoers are finally here!"

"Your Majesty, what happened?" Yuchi Zhen asked.

"It has been several years. Ever since the Taiping Dao came to power, the Emperor has been refining elixirs and cultivating immortality with Sima Tu all day long. He has clearly become insane, but he always says that he is getting younger and younger. In the past few years, the Empress has been acting as the head of state affairs. However, the Empress's health has been unstable since the assassination attempt a few years ago. I have been watching all this from behind, and I feel powerless to do anything."

"Now, I finally understand why the Prime Minister is willing to help." Yuchi Zhen bowed and said, "May I ask the Prime Minister, when will you take action?"

"Today, either Sima Tu dies or we die!" Mei Lin said, "You just go straight to the Taiping Dao headquarters. I will send people to lead most of the Taiping Dao away. Most of them are patrolling outside the palace and have almost no defense. If you go today, you will definitely succeed."

"Then I'll take my leave first!" Mei Lin stopped Yuchi Zhen before he could finish his words.

"Wait! If I knew you were planning something bad to the emperor, I would kill you first." Mei Lin's calm and strange tone frightened Yuchi Zhen, but fortunately he was always loyal and had no second thoughts. Then, Mei Lin wiped Gao Huan's sweat with a wet silk scarf, muttering, "Your Majesty, do you still remember your dream of unifying the Central Plains?"

After saying this, Gao Huan's body twitched violently.

"Your Majesty!" Yuchi Zhen and Mei Lin both fell to their knees in panic, but there was no follow-up. Gao Huan's old body was still sitting there, lifeless.

Yuchi Zhen suddenly realized that Mei Lin was crying. His feelings for Gao Huan seemed extraordinary. Perhaps there were more unknown stories between them besides being ministers and servants. At this moment, Yuchi Zhen had no time to discuss these. He said goodbye quietly and went to the Purple Bamboo Forest to find Bai Feng and Tong Yun.

Even the civil and military officials in the court and the public began to act together according to their factions, and the palace naturally could not escape this cycle of cause and effect. The Purple Bamboo Forest was the only "territory" that the eunuch Mei Lin still controlled.

Bai Feng and Juexin have been waiting for an opportunity in the Buddhist temple here.

“This is indeed a place full of memories.”

Yuchi Zhen sighed in his heart as he climbed to the top of the mountain. This was the place where he and Mei Xinghe first met. Before this, he only dared to look at Mei Xinghe from afar but did not dare to approach him.

After that, Yuchi Zhen had many, many friends. Although none of them could be said to be good or bad, and their purposes were completely different, they were all helping him to shape himself and make himself more and more like himself. Perhaps only such friendship could last long.

Bai Feng and Tong Yun were both sitting in the Zen temple, looking very calm, not as if they had just experienced life and death.

"You two, it's time to leave." Yuchi Zhen came to the door and greeted, "Are you all ready? When the time comes, I will work with Mr. Mei's people to create opportunities for you."

Tong Yun asked: "Aren't we waiting for Master Juexin? Even though we got separated in the chaos, it's better to have one more helper than none at all, right?"

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Bai Feng replied: "No need to wait, Juexin has nothing to do with this matter, his mission is just to bring Sima Tu back to where he should be."

"My fellow heroes!" The old abbot of the temple suddenly came up and said, "There are some things in the temple that Mr. Mei left for you. They look like..."

Yuchi Zhen took Bai Feng and Tong Yun to take a look and found that they were actually some very sophisticated armors.

"Privately keeping armor is a serious crime." Yuchi Zhen made an inappropriate joke, but to others it was more like a threat: "Old monk, where did you move your temple from?"

"It's a long story." Before the old abbot finished speaking, Tong Yun interrupted him and said, "Then don't talk about it anymore. Hurry up and change, Brother Bai?"

Bai Feng packed up his throwing knives, projectiles and other equipment, wiped his sword and dagger, and said, "I don't need armor, you can wear it."

"As expected of a hero, your whole body is covered with lethal weapons." Tong Yun smiled at Yuchi Zhen and said, "Armor is only needed by those of us who value our lives, right?"

Yuchi Zhen said: "Then be careful, Bai Feng, we are all supporting you behind the scenes."

Bai Feng said: "Master Yuchi, you actually started to say some sensational words? Well, I must come back alive. No matter what prophecy or fortune-teller it is, the future they give me is not what I want!"

Bai Feng finished tidying up, stood up, took a long breath, and walked out of the temple first.

"Brother Bai, won't you wait for us?" Tong Yun followed him out with only hand and leg armor on, wondering, "You don't want to be alone?"

The solitary swordsman disappeared into the bamboo forest.