Xuanxia

Chapter 1116: Zhao Liang's Story

Zhao Liang, do you still have such a dream?

Fu Qingzhou always felt something strange.

He had a vague feeling that this was still some extremely powerful illusion and still not real, but there seemed to be something blocking his thoughts, preventing him from thinking deeply about this matter.

"I have no interest in debating with you."

Fu Qingzhou temporarily put aside his messy thoughts and said calmly: "Anyway, I don't agree with your digital life, so I'll just kill you."

After saying that, he began to walk towards Zhao Liang, his steps getting faster and faster.

"Is it?"

Zhao Liang stood there, calm as usual, motionless: "If you beat me to death, everyone here will die too, right?"

"They were already dead the moment you extracted their souls!"

Fu Qingzhou's pace became faster and faster, turning into a trot: "It's you, kill them!"

The next moment, he kicked forward suddenly, the ground exploded, his body was as fast as lightning, and his punch blasted towards Zhao Liang's face!
"Your 200,000 troops will also die." Zhao Liang said calmly.

hum!
The fist stopped in front of Zhao Liang. The violent wind blew off his bun, causing his long hair to fall down, and even left bloody marks on his face, but he remained calm and composed, and even his pupils did not flicker.

"The physical simulation in your virtual space is quite realistic."

Fu Qingzhou stopped in front of Zhao Liang and said in a cold voice: "Your son Zhao Hao is also among the 200,000 troops."

"I have severed all ties with him, so how can we talk about father and son?"

Zhao Liang raised his lips at this time: "It turns out that you still have weaknesses."

"Everyone has weaknesses. Without weaknesses, there is no point in living." Fu Qingzhou put away his fist and narrowed his eyes: "You are right, I have weaknesses. I don't want those 200,000 people to die. I don't want Hong Ruohai, Ning Wushu, Zhao Hao and others to die."

He crossed his arms over his chest and took two steps back, as if he was not the one who had just thrown the punch: "So, what do you want to do?"

"I don't want any instability in my kingdom."

Zhao Liang smiled and said, "I want to try my best to persuade you to become a member of the Immortal Kingdom. If the negotiation fails, I hope you can withdraw or get a result that satisfies both parties."

Fu Qingzhou raised his eyebrows: "When you led the Xishuo Army to rebel, you didn't say that."

"That is not what the King meant."

Zhao Liang said softly: "That is what my brother meant."

Fu Qingzhou raised an eyebrow.

"If you don't mind, could you please listen to a story I tell you?" Zhao Liang spread his hands, acting harmless.

Fu Qingzhou smiled and said, "Okay, let's see what you have up your sleeve."

Zhao Liang turned around and began to walk leisurely along the street, and Fu Qingzhou followed him.

"Strange, I always feel like something is wrong..."

Fu Qingzhou pondered, "Qi Ran said he wanted me to experience the deepest hell, but were those illusions before hell? I don't think it's that simple..."

"This is the Xishuo Palace."

Suddenly, Zhao Liang spoke, interrupting his thoughts.

Fu Qingzhou raised his head and looked forward.

In front of me is a simple courtyard with blue bricks and black tiles. The four characters "Xishuo Palace" on the lintel are thin, strong and majestic, and look like a plaque of an academy. A few old plum branches protrude from the courtyard wall, with branches as hard as iron and flower buds just beginning to bloom.

"It doesn't look like a palace, but more like a school." Fu Qingzhou commented.

Zhao Liang brushed aside the drooping plum branches and said, "When I was young, I really wanted to be a teacher."

After crossing the threshold, the layout of the courtyard is indeed like that of a college.

The main hall was converted into a library, and plaques with the words "investigating things" and "seeking knowledge" were hung in the side rooms. Several "common people" holding bamboo slips walked in the corridor, and when they saw Zhao Liang, they bowed respectfully - there was no fear of the vassal king in their eyes, but rather it was like students meeting their teachers.

"Interesting." Fu Qingzhou narrowed his eyes: "These people are still studying in the illusion?"

"This king has said that this place is not an illusion."

Zhao Liang pushed open the carved wooden door of the library and said, "They are living the same life they used to live in Xishuo City. There is no change."

The building was filled with sandalwood incense and dozens of eternal lamps hung from the dome. The people walking among the bookshelves were not servants but old men in plain clothes holding classics.

The most eye-catching thing is the frontier topographic map outlined in cinnabar in the central sand table, with small black and white flags inserted on the map.

Fu Qingzhou held up a black flag: "Isn't this the Xishuo Army and the Yi Army... the Beijiang Army and the Beiyi?"

"That's right." Zhao Liang walked to the second floor without even turning his head. "You may not know that I once served in the Northern Frontier Army."

Fu Qingzhou raised his eyebrows and followed him up to the second floor, where there was a chessboard next to the window.

"That winter month, my brother played three rounds of hand-to-hand games with me here."

The black and white pieces were frozen at the final moment. A cup of cold tea was placed next to the chess basket, with half a tea leaf still stained on the rim of the cup.

Zhao Liang stepped forward and swept his sleeves across the chessboard. The black and white pieces suddenly came alive and moved on their own. The black pieces gathered into eight small hills, and the white pieces turned into dragons entwined among them.

"The late emperor had eight sons, and I am the youngest." Zhao Liang pointed his finger at the edge of the black hill and said, "My second brother Zhao Song is good at chess. He often lets me count the pieces, but he still manages to win by half a point."

Zhao Song...

Fu Qingzhou narrowed his eyes. This seemed to be the name of the late emperor.

The chess pieces suddenly collided violently, and five black hills collapsed one after another. Of the remaining three, two were gradually swallowed up by the white dragon, leaving only the shortest black hill connected to the white dragon head to tail.

"When the five men fought for the throne, we thought it was a chess game that would last for decades."

Zhao Liang said calmly: "So Wuli Village was prepared as a robbery material, and Jiang Baichuan was also an idle pawn... I won't go into details about this matter, you know it all."

Fu Qingzhou smiled and said, "So at that time, you were preparing Wuli Village, Wulin League, and Xiyu Pavilion, all for the purpose of fighting for the throne."

"The fight for succession is much more cruel than you imagine."

Zhao Liang said calmly: "Brothers kill each other, and every sword is bloody... If you don't kill others, others will kill you. I have no intention of taking the throne, but have become an assistant to my second brother. During those years, I have also killed many of my brothers."

The chess pieces continued to change.

The white dragon suddenly raised its head, and the black hill retreated to the corner of the chessboard. Then, a white piece as bright and smooth as jade fell from the sky and landed steadily at the position of the dragon's eye.

"It's Ning Baimei." Fu Qingzhou recognized the aura of that chess piece: "He is the finishing touch?"

Zhao Liang smiled coldly: "Yes, when the old Palace Master of your True Immortal Palace was severely injured by Long Dabei and abdicated, and Brother Ning succeeded to the throne, we had just set up a plan to slaughter our great brother."

He suddenly pushed the chessboard in disarray: "Who would have known that the late emperor would collapse that night?"

"At that time, Ning Baimei was still Brother Ning. He had a good relationship with my two brothers. Suddenly, he succeeded the Sword Master and became a young man with great power in the court. He became one of our most important bargaining chips."

"It is only natural that the Second Brother takes the throne."

Zhao Liang picked up the teacup and said calmly, "After that, I will confer the title of Xishuo upon you."

"To avoid suspicion?" Fu Qingzhou asked.

Zhao Liang nodded: "Yes and no... After experiencing the succession struggle, it is difficult for people to have enough confidence in the relationship between brothers and sisters, but this prince cherishes the relationship with his brother very much."

"Please seal off the remote area like Xishuo, mainly to avoid future conflicts," he said.

Fu Qingzhou narrowed his eyes.

He had seen in Zhao Yuan's memory that the late emperor had said that he wanted to hand over the throne to Zhao Liang, but Zhao Liang declined and chose to support Zhao Yuan...

From this we can see that what Zhao Liang said at this time was mostly true. The brotherly relationship between this prince and the late emperor was quite sincere, and he really did not want to be emperor, which made what happened afterwards even more difficult to understand.

Fu Qingzhou suddenly noticed a letter on the table.

He unfolded the letter without hesitation, and saw written on it "Prince Yuan, symptoms include high fever and delirium, should be used", the latter half of which was blurred by blood.

"Zhao Yuan's illness..."

Fu Qingzhou frowned.

Zhao Yuan’s journey through time began with that illness.

Zhao Liang suddenly laughed: "Everything started from that illness, right?"

He raised his head suddenly and looked directly into Fu Qingzhou's eyes: "The soul in Zhao Yuan's body is from another world, just like you!"

(End of this chapter)