I am Master Maoshan

Chapter 2195 Surprise?

"What are you standing there for? Go and resist the thunder!" Liu Jun turned around and shouted.

Logically speaking, thunder tribulations shouldn't befall the middle to late stages of the Half-Step Divine King Realm. After all, this is just a breakthrough in a small realm, not a breakthrough in a large realm like the Divine King Realm. But Chu Liuying's situation is obviously unusual.

The Way of Heaven has its own rules in certain areas. Perhaps it was because Chu Liuying's breakthrough this time came too easily in the eyes of the Way of Heaven, and he reached the threshold of the late stage naturally after just a good sleep. The Way of Heaven couldn't stand it anymore, so it decided to send down a few thunder tribulations to "show its respect".

Purple-gold thunderclouds gathered thicker and thicker in the sky, with dazzling lightning flashing from time to time in the clouds, emitting a heart-pounding roar. The color was so strange that it didn't look like an ordinary thunder tribulation, but rather a precursor to some kind of heavenly punishment.

Chu Liuying walked out of the bedroom, looked up at the thundercloud, and a playful smile appeared on the corner of his mouth: "Interesting, the Heavenly Dao is here to celebrate for me"

"What's the point of celebrating? There are so many people within the range of this thunder disaster. You'd better change places quickly," Liu Jun said jumping up and down.

This thunder tribulation is right above the Palace of the God King. If the thunder tribulation determines that someone helps to overcome the tribulation, it will definitely increase the difficulty. By then, his Palace of the God King will be demolished by the thunder tribulation.

Before he finished his words, a purple-gold lightning as thick as a bucket struck down, and the dazzling light illuminated the entire Palace of the God King.

Chu Liuying was not in a hurry. He flew up in an instant and raised his hand to send out a sword energy. The two forces collided in mid-air, causing a deafening noise.

"boom--"

The wind wave swept over, blowing the tiles around. Liu Jun had to use his protective spiritual energy to barely stand firm.

He squinted his eyes and looked up, only to see Chu Liuying's figure looming in the lightning, appearing to be at ease.

"This guy," Liu Jun muttered to himself, "he looks elegant, but he's actually quite strong."

In the sky, the thunderclouds seemed to be enraged, rolling more violently. The second and third thunderbolts struck one after another, each one more fierce than the last. However, Chu Liuying became more and more courageous, and the long sword in his hand danced out afterimages, dissolving the thunderbolts one by one.

This sudden thunderstorm became a touchstone for him to test his strength. When the last bolt of lightning was shattered, the thunderclouds finally dissipated unwillingly, revealing the azure blue sky.

Chu Liuying sheathed the sword and instantly returned to the ground. He turned to look at the stunned Liu Jun and said with a smile: "See, I told you it's no big deal."

Liu Jun opened his mouth, but could only shake his head helplessly: "You can do it, you are awesome"

Seeing Chu Liuying overcoming the tribulation so easily, Liu Jun felt extremely unbalanced. What the hell, why did he get hit to death while he was overcoming the tribulation?

“By the way, go to the Platinum Temple. I have prepared a surprise for you. I guarantee you will like it. It will be a gift for you to advance to the late stage of Half-Step God King realm.” Liu Jun said with a smile, a cunning light flashing in his eyes.

Chu Liuying's heart skipped a beat when he heard this. He knew his majesty too well. Whenever Liu Jun showed this expression, it was definitely not a good thing.

Thinking that Liu Jun might set a trap, Chu Liuying became extremely alert and quickly bowed, with beads of sweat oozing from his forehead. "No, no, I dare not accept your Majesty's gift." There was obvious panic in his voice.

Although he knew that Liu Jun must have paid a huge price for him to survive this time, he could not just jump into the pit just because he knew there was a pit.

"It's okay, let's go and take a look." Liu Jun waved his hand, and his wide sleeves drew an elegant arc in the air.

"What? Or do you think my gift, Lord Chu, is not satisfied with it? Are you disgusted with it?" Liu Jun said with a deliberately stern face.

Chu Liuying's Adam's apple rolled and he swallowed his saliva. Liu Jun had said this, what could he do as a subject? He had to bite the bullet and agree: "Then I thank your Majesty first."

Thinking about the possibility of a big pit, Chu Liuying's voice became dry as if he had swallowed a handful of sand.

With a hint of trepidation and vague expectation, Chu Liuying walked through the palace corridors with carved beams and painted buildings. The sunlight shone through the colorful glazed tiles, casting mottled light and shadows on his black official uniform. He took a deep breath and pushed open the gilded door inlaid with gems in the platinum temple.

The next moment, his smile solidified on his face.

What came into view was a "small mountain" of memorials, which occupied almost two-thirds of the entire hall. The memorials were piled higher than a person, and looked shaky and ready to collapse at any time. In the middle of the "mountain" stood the haggard-looking cabinet minister Che Lei, whose dark circles showed that he had not had a good rest for a long time.

“First of all, congratulations to Military Advisor Chu for his advancement to the late stage of Half-Step God King realm.” Che Lei’s voice was hoarse as if it had been rubbed by sandpaper. He raised a cup of tea that had long gone cold and forced a smile that was uglier than crying. “Secondly, don’t just stand there, get to work.” As he spoke, he pointed to the empty desk beside him, on which pens, ink, paper and inkstone were already prepared.

Chu Liuying then noticed that Che Lei's official uniform was wrinkled, and there were ink stains on his cuffs. It was obvious that he had been fighting in this "mountain of memorials" for a long time. He turned his head stiffly and looked outside the palace. Liu Jun had been standing at the door without knowing when, leaning against the door frame and laughing. "Your Majesty!" Chu Liuying almost squeezed out these two words from his teeth. He felt his temples throbbing. "Is this the surprise you mentioned?"

Liu Jun wiped away the tears from his laughter and spread his hands innocently: "How can it not be considered a surprise? This is the job you like, and during the time you were unconscious, Che Aiqing took care of all the government affairs by himself."

As he spoke, Liu Jun stepped forward and patted Chu Liuying on the shoulder affectionately, "Now that you are awake, your strength has reached a new level. It will definitely be much easier to handle these memorials!"

Chu Liuying looked at the pile of memorials in front of him, and suddenly felt that the realm he had just broken through was not so good. He gritted his teeth and thought: If I had known this would happen, I would have been better off being struck to death by the thunder!
Inside the magnificent palace, sunlight shines through the carved window lattices and falls onto the smooth ground, forming patches of mottled light and shadow.

Cabinet Minister Che Lei took out a memorial from his sleeve at the right time, handed it to Chu Liuying respectfully with both hands, and said quietly: "Military Advisor Chu, take a look at this."

Chu Liuying was frowning slightly, as if thinking about something. Hearing Che Lei's words, he subconsciously took the memorial. He glanced at it casually, and his eyes, which had been calm before, suddenly widened in shock and confusion. His voice also unconsciously rose a few degrees: "What's going on? Brother Sima was thrown into prison by His Majesty?"

The tone was full of disbelief, as if he had heard the most incredible thing in the world.

Che Lei sighed slightly and added slowly: "Not only Sima Yan, but also Zhou Yan, the deputy general of the Fiery Army's vanguard, who was also his confidant, is now imprisoned together. The rest of the people related to them were either killed or captured." As Che Lei spoke, he shook his head gently, with a look of regret on his face.

"Why?" Chu Liuying turned around abruptly. His originally straight body tensed up instantly, and his eyes revealed a hint of anxiety and anger.

He walked quickly to Liu Jun, clasped his hands together, and said anxiously, "Your Majesty, this brother Sima is definitely an ambitious prime minister. He usually devotes his heart and soul to the major and minor matters of the Divine Realm, and the many suggestions he puts forward have benefited the Divine Realm a lot. How come he was suddenly thrown into prison?"

Chu Liuying became more and more excited as he spoke, and his voice trembled a little, as if he felt deeply indignant for Sima Yan.

Liu Jun curled his lips slightly, a complicated look flashed in his eyes, and said: "Guess how you were poisoned?"

There was a hint of questioning in the tone, and it seemed to be guiding Chu Liuying to think.

When Chu Liuying heard this, he was stunned for a moment, and his excited expression froze on his face. He stood there blankly, his eyes a little empty, as if he was trying to digest what Liu Jun said.

After a long while, Chu Liuying spoke slowly, his voice trembling with disbelief: "You, you mean, it was Brother Sima who did this to me? But some time ago, he even took me to drink and talk about life. We recalled the glorious years of the past and envisioned the bright future of the country. His eyes were so sincere and his words were so earnest. I never doubted him."

Although Chu Liuying was a man of extraordinary strategy and had mastered various military strategies, he was as innocent as a child when it came to making friends. He always believed that people should treat each other sincerely and trusted Sima Yan very much. He never thought that his closest friend would kill him. At this moment, his heart was full of pain and confusion, and he didn't know how to face this cruel reality.

Che Lei sighed softly and took out another secret letter from his sleeve: "Master Chu, please read this. This was found in the secret compartment of Sima Yan's study. It records your daily diet and daily life in detail, and even the brand of incense you usually use is clearly written."

Chu Liuying took the secret letter, and the familiar scent of ink was mixed with a strange sweetness. His eyes fell on the third page - it recorded which memorials were usually sent to him and which ones he would directly touch.

"That day." Chu Liuying suddenly remembered, "The incense I have was given to me by Brother Sima."

Liu Jun sighed: "Old Chu, you trust others too much. Sima Yan put Netherworld Powder on the memorials that you will handle, and gave you incense, which can easily trigger the Netherworld Powder and poison you, and then implement his plan.

Liu Jun pointed to the bottom of the memorial and said, "The secret guards have found out that Sima Yan is secretly colluding with the Tianzhu Temple and wants to use your poisoning to exchange for the deputy temple master Mo Wushang who I captured."

Chu Liuying was silent for a long time, and suddenly burst into laughter, but his laughter was full of desolation: "What a good time to drink and talk happily! What a good time to talk about the future"

Liu Jun frowned: "Old Chu, in the political arena, tears are sharper than swords. If Sima Yan didn't act sincerely, how could he have fooled you, Chu Liuying, who is so 'strategic'?"

A silence enveloped the hall. Chu Liuying walked to the window and looked at the wisps of green smoke rising from the direction of the prison in the distance - that was the smoke column from the daily burning of the filth in the prison. He suddenly turned around, with a sharp light in his eyes: "How does your majesty plan to deal with this?"

"Tomorrow at noon, at Caishikou." Che Lei whispered, "His Majesty, considering your friendship with Sima Yan, has allowed you not to watch the execution."

Chu Liuying dug his fingers deep into the window frame, and sawdust pierced his palm without him noticing. He recalled that when he was 20 years old, he and Sima Yan climbed Qingyun Mountain together and became brothers under the old pine tree on the cliff.

Sima Yan pointed to the lights of thousands of houses below the mountain and said, "If I succeed in the future, I will rule this beautiful land with Brother Chu."

"Your Majesty, I want to see him." Chu Liuying suddenly said, "One last time."

Cabinet Minister Che Lei frowned slightly, looked at Liu Jun's face, and sighed, "Why does Chu Junshi need to do this?"