Jiuxi

Chapter 773 [The Emperor’s Heart is as Strong as Iron]

The smoke cleared.

The middle-aged scholar Du Wei was lying three feet in front of the throne, face up in a pool of blood.

Emperor Jing was pushed back onto the throne by the impact of the gunpowder explosion. His majestic black dragon robe became tattered, and his entire chest and face were covered in bloody wounds, looking extremely terrifying.

The gunpowder of the Jing Dynasty at this time had limited power. It was difficult to cause fatal damage to Emperor Jing, who had reached the pinnacle of martial arts. The problem was that Du Wei had attached a large number of sharp broken iron nails to the gunpowder. After being ignited by the gunpowder, it was like flowers scattered by a fairy, countless times more ferocious than the most skilled hidden weapon master of the time. This was the real killer move.

At such a close distance, Emperor Jing had no way to dodge or evade. He hastily protected his throat and heart to avoid irreparable injuries to vital parts. He could only rely on his strength to defend against other parts of the body.

Even though Emperor Jing was a martial arts master with great internal strength, he was still unable to withstand the killing weapons that were so close to him.

As for the palace servants behind the throne, none of them survived.

"Father!"

"His Majesty!"

"Where is the imperial physician?"

The princes, civil and military officials, and Jinglian nobles rushed forward, but they could not see Emperor Jing up close because at the moment of the explosion, the well-trained and loyal Hezha warriors surrounded Emperor Jing. At this time, no matter who dared to approach Emperor Jing forcibly, he would be regarded as an assassin by the Hezha warriors and strangled to death.

Therefore, they could only wait anxiously outside, and more than a dozen princes knelt on the ground with tears streaming down their faces.

Amidst the chaos, a cold voice came from inside.

"I can't die."

The tone was not loud, but it instantly suppressed the noise in the venue.

At this time, the three imperial doctors who came with the emperor were allowed to pass by the Hezha warriors, and hurried into the inner circle carrying their medicine boxes.

Upon seeing the horrific condition of the emperor, the three skilled and experienced imperial doctors could not help but look horrified.

Roughly speaking, the emperor had seven wounds on his chest and three on his face, especially the cut on his left cheek, where the skin and flesh were turned inside out, which was shocking.

"Stop the bleeding first. These are just external injuries, not too serious."

Emperor Jing leaned back on the throne, his voice deep.

"Yes, Your Majesty."

The three imperial doctors quickly agreed and divided the work.

Fortunately, the emperor protected his vital parts at the critical moment, otherwise he would not only be seriously injured, but it would be hard to say whether he could survive.

The imperial doctors carefully helped him stop the bleeding, and Emperor Jing watched the whole process indifferently, with a hint of suppressed pain occasionally appearing between his brows.

"Is the wound contaminated with poison?"

His nerves were as cold as steel, and he took the initiative to remind the imperial doctors.

One of them immediately changed color, and hurriedly observed the wound carefully. He then found a scattered iron nail nearby and checked it. Then he quickly said, "Your Majesty, the poisoned weapons must be used within a short time to ensure that the poison will not be lost. The assassin mixed these hidden weapons with gunpowder, and they must have prepared them at least one or two days in advance. Even if there is poison, it will not work. Please rest assured, Your Majesty."

Emperor Jing said nothing more and allowed three imperial doctors to help him stop the bleeding, clean the wound simply and then bandage it.

The conditions here are limited, so we can only deal with it temporarily and then carry out in-depth treatment after returning to the palace.

Even so, the three of them were busy for more than half an hour, and by the end they were pale and weak, and the clothes on their bodies looked like they had been fished out of the water.

They were tired and scared, and the group of people waiting outside were distracted.

There is only one exception.

That is the fourth prince Hai Ge, who is still controlled by the Hezha warriors.

From the moment Du Weizhen confessed his identity as a Qi person, the Fourth Prince became embroiled in an indescribable entanglement.

He could imagine what kind of image he would be portrayed in later history books.

As the legitimate son of the royal family, he was bewitched and used by the people of the enemy country. He first poisoned his elder brother who was born to the same mother, and then colluded with the Jiagu clan to rebel. He was a disloyal, unfilial, unkind and unjust person.

It would be fine if he was the final winner, but everything he did was within the emperor's expectations, and the scholar who was extremely loyal to him was just using him. The other party even knew that this rebellion was bound to fail, but still pushed him forward, just to find an opportunity to vent his hatred.

And the role played by the Fourth Prince was so ugly and incompetent.

However, at the moment of the explosion, the Fourth Prince's already dead heart suddenly jumped up.

He believed more than anyone else that his father would not die, but he also knew that his father would definitely be injured. Under the current situation, his father must appoint a crown prince as soon as possible to stabilize the situation, otherwise he would not be able to suppress the undercurrents in the court and the country. In this way -

However, before the Fourth Prince could figure this out, a familiar voice came from afar.

"Allihehaige poisoned the crown prince and plotted treason and assassination. Although he was deceived by the traitors of Southern Qi, he is a prince who is so sinister and vicious. His crime is unforgivable. He will be imprisoned in Youdao for the time being, and will be punished after all the details are found out."

The Hezha warriors dispersed to both sides, and everyone could finally see the emperor again.

Emperor Jing was still sitting high on the throne. The wounds on his body had been bandaged, but his face had only been simply treated. It was obvious that he did not want to present a weak image with his face wrapped in gauze in front of his ministers.

Hearing the emperor's words, the Fourth Prince felt as if he had fallen into an icy cave.

Emperor Jing looked at him from a distance and said in a deep voice, "Jiao Lu."

"Chen is here!"

An armored general stepped forward. He was the commander of the two thousand armored soldiers who had ambushed on the eastern mountain before. Naturally, he was also a trusted aide of Emperor Jing.

Emperor Jing said slowly: "You personally take people to escort Alihehaige to the underworld, and then you will be in charge of his care. Without my order, he is not allowed to see anyone or talk to anyone, including you. Anyone who violates this will be charged with treason."

"The minister obeys the order!"

Jiao Lu took over the Fourth Prince from the Hezha warriors without hesitation, then led five hundred soldiers and left, quickly returning to Dadu.

All the civil and military officials and the nobles were silent and dared not make a sound.

Although the emperor was seriously injured and his voice was no longer as strong as before, he was still able to clearly judge the situation and issue orders. With nearly twenty years of accumulated power, he was still the king that most of his subjects dared not disobey.

Emperor Jing's deep eyes swept over the princes kneeling in front of him, and he said lightly: "I will return to Dadu later. You don't need to wait in the palace. Just go back to your own palace to pray for me. Starting from tomorrow, you can all come to the palace to pay your respects at the beginning of the morning hour, and the rest of the time you can cultivate your body and mind in your own palace."

This decree instantly calmed the anxious princes. Regardless of their age or knowledge, they all knew that the situation in the court would definitely not be very stable at the moment when their father was injured by an assassin. At this time, they only needed to stay in the mansion honestly and would not be easily caught up in the turmoil.

"My son obeys the order!"

The princes responded in unison, except for the third prince Wu Yan, who seemed to be hesitant to speak.

Although he had been imprisoned in Youdao for more than half a year, he had no resentment in his heart, because he was not treated harshly in Youdao. On the contrary, the emperor had someone secretly told him that he knew the death of the prince had nothing to do with Wu Yan, and just asked him to be patient for the time being.

What Wu Yan is most worried about right now is the Fourth Prince Hai Ge. The injury of the Emperor is likely to attract some ambitious people, and Hai Ge is their easiest target.

However, looking at the wound on his father's face, Wu Yan said nothing in the end, because he really couldn't bear to propose killing Brother Hai at this critical moment, which would cause his father's injuries to worsen.

Emperor Jing did not notice the change in Wu Yan's expression. He paused for a moment, not thinking about the problem, but suppressing the severe pain that was tearing at his body.

His eyes fell on the body of the middle-aged scholar not far away, and an extremely complicated emotion arose in his heart.

He knew his own business, and his injuries were far from as simple as he showed. As a martial arts master, he was well aware of the damage these injuries had caused to his body, and it was almost certain that he would never be able to recover to his former peak state.

For an emperor, martial arts skills are not the most important ability. Even a strong man like Qing Yugong could not kill the hundred Hezha warriors in front of him without any damage, not to mention the more than a thousand elite soldiers on the periphery. When Emperor Jing returned to the palace in Dadu, there were still nearly a thousand Hezha warriors and more than three thousand heavy armored soldiers, and there were tens of thousands of loyal troops in the city. No one dared to act rashly.

However, the assassin paid the price of his life to break the halo of Emperor Jing. From then on, the world knew one thing: the emperor could also be injured and die. Those ambitious nobles would stand up straight and raise their heads because of this.

Compared with the weakening of martial arts and physical damage, what Emperor Jing was most worried about was that the scholar's behavior was like a fuse that could trigger countless unpredictable twists and turns.

Thinking of this, Emperor Jing looked at Du Weizhen's body and said something that no one could have expected.

"Although this assassin is a spy of Southern Qi, he has remained determined for thirty years and even succeeded in injuring me. He can be considered a warrior. If the men of Dajing can emulate his courage and perseverance, our dynasty will surely be able to pacify the world. Tian Jue, bury him to the north of the hunting ground and erect an anonymous monument. This way, it will remind me all the time and I must not slack off for even a moment."

Tian Jue bowed deeply and replied respectfully, "I obey your order."

All the princes, civil and military officials, and nobles were in awe, looking at the emperor on the throne with reverence.

Emperor Jing fell silent again, trying his best to regulate his breath.

At this moment, Qing Yu Huaijin stepped forward and said firmly: "Your Majesty, I have something to say."

Emperor Jing narrowed his eyes and said calmly, "Speak."

Qing Yu Huaijin raised his head and said sincerely, "From childhood to adulthood, Your Majesty has treated me very kindly, and I dare not forget it for a day. Today, Your Majesty was injured by an assassin, and I am extremely worried and terrified. I only regret that I can't be injured in Your Majesty's place. Yongping dares to say that in my heart, Your Majesty is not only the emperor of Dajing, but also an elder with deep kindness. Now that Your Majesty is injured, Yongping is willing to serve you wholeheartedly, to repay Your Majesty's care for so many years, and to show my filial piety."

The ministers had different expressions; none of them had expected that this young princess had such courage.

Emperor Jing looked at the girl steadily, and saw a bit of pleading in her eyes, so he smiled faintly and uttered two words with seeming relief.

"Accurate."

(End of this chapter)