Infinite Terror: This Middle Continent is Rebellious

Chapter 310: Shen Gongbao Enters the Palace

Zhang Jie asked in surprise, "Didn't we tell her to keep a low profile? How did she attract the emperor's attention so quickly?"

Cheng Xiao shrugged. "Low-key? That's easy to say. Zhu Wen can't deliberately make a mistake, right? Otherwise, what if her reputation is ruined?"

Wang Xia said awkwardly, "The problem is, according to our original plan, Zhu Wen would spend a year or two building a reputation in Lin'an Prefecture, then travel around Zhejiang to spread her fame. Finally, we would stage a drama in the palace about a demonic rebellion, have Zhu Wen spread rumors that the country's demise would inevitably be caused by demons, and we would seize the opportunity to rise up in rebellion. She's attracted the palace's attention so quickly, and we're not ready to rebel yet."

It is not an easy task to build an uprising army that is legitimate and has the power to defeat the Song and Yuan soldiers within three years.

He bribed officials with money, bought mountains and land, and built a village to accommodate refugees.

By bribing local officials to turn a blind eye and train troops in the name of Zhongyi Xunshe, Zhang Jie specially brought the first three levels of Dragon Elephant Prajna Kung and Quanzhen Heart Method from Xiangyang.

Zhu Wen was sent to Lin'an Prefecture, where she was made famous through fortune-telling. Before the rebellion, she was allowed to build momentum through the stories of gods and ghosts.

……

The first two steps went smoothly, but the third step deviated from their plan.

It turns out that plans are not as fast as changes. I wonder what backup plan Chu Xuan has.

Cheng Xiao said, "That's why I came back to see if Chu Xuan has any instructions."

Zhang Jie stroked his chin, watching the figure disappear in the snowstorm. He said thoughtfully, "Speaking of the palace, the current emperor is Song Lizong Zhao Yun, right? When he first took power ten years ago, he still had some spirit of striving for good governance, but now he's become extravagant and dissolute."

Wang Xia said unhappily, "For the first ten years of his reign, he was controlled by the powerful Prime Minister Shi Miyuan, so he completely ignored government affairs, revered Neo-Confucianism, and indulged in sensual pleasures. After Shi Miyuan's death, he did something. He wanted to ally with the Mongols to destroy the Jin Dynasty and recapture the Three Capitals. After failing, he gave up. Not only did he indulge in pleasure, he also handed the government over to Jia Sidao and allowed Ding Daquan, Ma Tianji, and Dong Songchen to run the government in chaos. He bears a great responsibility for the Southern Song's decline."

Zhang Jie said excitedly: "The Great Song Dynasty, the Great Coward, how many decent emperors were there in the Song Dynasty? It's normal. But speaking of this, I have an idea."

"Do you have an idea? Let's go find Chu Xuan."

Cheng Xiao didn't think that Zhang Jie could have any good ideas.

"Listen to me! There was a Taoist nun named Yang Yuhuan who brought disaster to the country."

Cheng Xiao turned around to leave, but Zhang Jie grabbed him.

Hearing Zhang Jie's hidden meaning, Cheng Xiao asked in astonishment, "Yang Yuhuan? Are you planning to let Zhu Wen enter the palace as a concubine?"

Zhang Jie explained, "Zhao Yun is a lustful devil. If he were to meet Zhu Wen, he would definitely take her as his concubine. Then she would have to either obey or resist. Resistance is easy, but it would ruin the plan. It would be better to have Zhu Wen emulate Yang Yuhuan—no! emulate Su Daji, or even worse, Xi Shi! Mei Xi! Become Zhao Yun's concubine and seduce him, forcing him to build water conservancy projects and large-scale construction projects at inappropriate times. He would also demote virtuous officials and employ treacherous ones, hastening the demise of the Southern Song Dynasty."

Cheng Xiao rolled his eyes: "For a mere Zhao Yun, you let Zhu Wen sacrifice herself, are you crazy?"

Zhang Jie laughed and said, "Don't you have it?"

Cheng Xiao was startled and quickly shook off Zhang Jie's arm.

"What do you mean? Me? What do you want me to do?"

Cheng Xiao covered his butt and looked at Zhang Jie warily.

Zhang Jie laughed dumbly. "What are you thinking? Don't you have so many poisons and medicines? Give Zhao Yun some drugs, plant some poisons, and let him do it himself. Wouldn't that be enough for him?"

"I see... that's a solution."

Cheng Xiao seemed to be lost in thought.

Although Zhao Yun was incompetent and pursued sensual pleasures, he was not a fool. He really disturbed the people's peace when he built the Gongde Temple for Concubine Yan six years later.

Moreover, after discovering the strong dissatisfaction of the court and the public with his indulgence of treacherous officials, Zhao Yun acted decisively and demoted or killed those treacherous officials, leaving only his favorite Dong Songchen.

It is not easy to create a good opportunity for an uprising by following the steps.

"Let Zhu Wen play Shen Gongbao, and let Miao Ruoling's painter play Daji, Yang Guifei, and Mei Xi."

With an indifferent voice, Chu Xuan slowly walked over and made some minor modifications to the suggestion put forward by Zhang Jie.

Zhang Jie said unhappily, "That's too good of a deal for him."

Chu Xuan said calmly, "A demon concubine or a demon Taoist will only draw hatred from the people. Combining the demon Taoist's identity with that of a demon concubine will only lead to Zhao Yun's contempt. Besides, have you ever considered that the court also has experts, and even Zhao Yun himself is a martial arts master?"

Zhang Jie put on an expression of disbelief. "How could Zhao Yun be a martial arts master? All the masters in the imperial court would have perished together with Huang Yaoshi's apprentice. If there were a powerful master, Ouyang Feng and Wanyan Honglie wouldn't have been able to come and go freely during the time of The Legend of the Condor Heroes."

Chu Xuan said, "Even in The Legend of the Condor Heroes, Genghis Khan wasn't a master. Now that Genghis Khan has become the best in the world, will Zhao Yun's strength be weaker? Zhao Kuangyin's martial arts should have been passed down, and Zhao Yun is very likely to have learned the Hunyuan Wuji Dao. Some time ago, I put a surveillance camera into the palace and saw Zhao Yun practicing internal skills. Even if Zhao Yun is not talented and has no skills, he can still use his status as an emperor to obtain elixirs and treasures, and cultivate himself into a master who is not afraid of poison and drugs."

"Oh my god! Have you already made plans for the palace?"

Cheng Xiao was surprised.

Because of his habitual thinking, he didn't care what the palace looked like. He was mainly worried that he would see the licentious monarch or the filth in the deep palace and would not be able to control himself and destroy the palace. He didn't expect that when he was idle in Lin'an Prefecture and protecting Zhu Wen, Chu Xuan had already placed surveillance cameras in the palace.

"No matter how weak the Song court is, it is still our enemy. As an enemy, we cannot underestimate it. The world is not static."

Chu Xuan glanced at Cheng Xiao, as if sighing.

Cheng Xiao raised his hands in surrender: "Okay, okay, I'll do as you say. I wanted you to make the decision from the beginning."

"Okay, then let Zhao Yun enjoy himself more."

Although Zhang Jie was a little unhappy, he did not continue to object.

A quarter of an hour later, Miao Ruoling and Cheng Xiao left Jiangdi Manor together and continued with the plan updated by Chu Xuan.

Ten days later, in Lin'an Prefecture, a eunuch from the palace conveyed the emperor's order to Zhu Wen, ordering him to enter the palace to meet the emperor.

Zhu Wen had already received the news, so she had no objection. Miao Ruoling and Cheng Xiao entered the palace with Zhu Wen as his disciples.

In the imperial palace, inside the Daqing Hall, it was morning court time. All the officials were wearing court robes of different ranks and colors, each taking their place with solemn expressions. When Zhu Wen, Cheng Xiao, and Miao Ruoling walked into the hall, they could feel the solemn and grand atmosphere.

Zhu Wen and Miao Ruoling, who were at the bottom of the Zhongzhou team, were inevitably a little nervous in such an atmosphere, and Cheng Xiao's face also became solemn.

The atmosphere of the palace could not overwhelm him, but he could feel the layers of energy intertwined in the palace, locking the bodies of the three of them.

It was just as Chu Xuan said. There were many masters in the palace, maybe even masters at the first level of the Five Supremes. After all, this world seemed to continue the worldview of the legendary emperor.

Cheng Xiao sighed inwardly and prepared to take action.

With his strength, if a fight breaks out, even if he can't win, he can still take Zhu Wen and Miao Ruoling and escape.

Zhu Wen and Miao Ruoling exchanged a glance, immediately unlocking their genetic locks. Their expressions finally calmed down. Under the eunuchs' cries and the scrutiny of the officials, the three of them walked to the front of the hall. Zhu Wen, holding his whisk, bowed, saying, "Your Majesty! I bow to you!"

In the Daqing Palace, the middle-aged emperor in a red robe looked down at Zhu Wen, Cheng Xiao, and Miao Ruoling with interest in his eyes.

Especially when looking at Zhu Wen, his eyes became salty and wet, and his gaze was like a tongue, licking Zhu Wen's face.

After putting on makeup, the three of them look a little different from before.

But Zhu Wen's face shape was what made her look ugly, no matter how much makeup she put on. As soon as she entered the Daqing Hall, she attracted the desire of the old pervert Zhao Yun.

Seeing Zhu Wen's attitude, all the officials looked horrified. The eunuch Dong Songchen was furious and shouted, "How dare you, a woman like you, be so rude in front of His Majesty! Why don't you kneel down?"

Zhu Wen remained calm, "I am a layman, ignorant of worldly etiquette. I do not pay homage to the Emperor, nor do I visit the ministers. If I have been disrespectful, Your Majesty, please do not blame me."

Zhao Yun reached out to comfort his servant and smiled at Zhu Wen, "Don't be surprised, don't be surprised. I heard that there is a Taoist nun in Lin'an Prefecture who is very knowledgeable and knows almost everything. Many noble families rely on this Taoist nun to solve their problems. I wonder if this is true?"

Zhu Wen said calmly, "I have indeed helped you gentlemen solve some of your problems."

"Okay! In that case, why don't you calculate for the Great Song how many years of national fortune the Great Song has left and how much life I have left. If your prediction is correct, there will be a reward. If it's not correct... there will also be a reward."

Zhao Yun was also a ridiculous person. As soon as he said this, all the officials were shocked.

"Since Your Majesty has invited me, I will do the math for you."

Zhu Wen remained calm, responded, took out the crystal ball, and pretended to tell fortunes.

All the officials were even more panicked. No one could have imagined that one of them would dare to speak and the other would dare to calculate. It was too ridiculous!

Zhao Yun was also surprised. He originally wanted to tease Zhu Wen because she was beautiful, but who knew that Zhu Wen would actually agree.

Seeing this, he became more interested and looked at Zhu Wen with a smile, hoping that Zhu Wen could provide him with some different fun during his boring days.

Starlight twinkled in the crystal ball, and blurry images flashed through the crystal ball at an extremely fast speed.

After a while, the image in the crystal ball froze. Zhao Yun looked closely and saw that the image was exactly the scene where Genghis Khan's head was cut off by Zhao Yingkong.

Zhu Wen stood up and said bluntly, "Your Majesty, the fate of the Song Dynasty was about to be devoured by the wolf of the grasslands, but the wolf is dead, and the fate of the Song Dynasty is no longer in jeopardy. For three hundred years, no external enemy can shake the fate of the Song Dynasty. As for the period beyond three hundred years, my cultivation is not good enough to predict that far ahead."

"Three hundred years? What a great three hundred years! The Tang Dynasty didn't even have three hundred years."

Zhao Yun couldn't help laughing. He didn't take Zhu Wen's words seriously. He just thought Zhu Wen was saying nice things.

Although he is incompetent, he has self-awareness.

As for the picture that Zhu Wen created with the crystal ball, Zhao Yun didn't care about it. He just thought it was a magic trick and a change of internal force.

Zhu Wen ignored Zhao Yun's comments and continued, "As for the end of your Majesty's life, it will be in twenty-one years, when you will die of a serious illness."

"boom!"

Zhu Wen's casual words exploded in the Daqing Hall like a nuclear bomb.

"Be bold!"

"Monster! How dare you curse His Majesty!"

"You evil demon, you deserve to die!"

"This is extremely disrespectful! This is extremely disrespectful!"

"Please issue an order to execute this boy!"

……

All the officials were shocked and angry. They looked at Zhu Wen's expression as if they were looking at a monster. They all showed their anger and started scolding Zhu Wen.

No one expected that Zhu Wen could give such a divination result.

It would be fine if you didn't say "Long live the emperor!" After all, everyone understands that this so-called "Long live the emperor" is just an auspicious word.

But you didn't even say he would live a hundred years, and you gave him 21 more years to live. That's too much, and it's not just too much! It's like saying he deserves to die in front of the emperor!

Zhao Yun's face also turned gloomy.

Considering the appearance of this Taoist nun and the bonus of her uniform, he could forgive her divination error. Anyway, no matter what the answer was, he would take the Taoist nun into his harem.

However, saying that he would not live long really touched his sore spot!

A storm-like aura emanated from Zhao Yun's body, enveloping the Daqing Palace. Faintly, one could hear bursts of dragon roars, creating a strong sense of oppression.

"You, Kun Dao, I am magnanimous and have forgiven your disrespect. How dare you say such a disgusting thing?"

Zhao Yun directly turned Zhu Wen's words into a curse on him.

Although what Zhu Wen said was true, who could accept it?

Amidst the shouting and cursing, Cheng Xiao was wary of Zhu Wen and was ready to take her away if she made a mistake.

Miao Ruoling closed her eyes in panic. What to do next was entirely up to her teammates.

Zhu Wen looked up at Zhao Yun and said calmly, "I have a magical medicine and a magical recipe that can extend your life by ten years."

As soon as these words were spoken, the Daqing Hall suddenly became quiet, all the officials were speechless, and Zhao Yun subconsciously leaned forward.

"An elixir that can extend your life by ten years?"

Zhao Yun's breathing became heavy, and his eyes looking at Zhu Wen were filled with heat.

Reason told him that throughout the dynasties, no matter how powerful the monarch was, no one had achieved immortality, so the so-called immortality definitely did not exist.

However, every emperor is bound to have a lucky mentality - except Liu Bang.

What if immortality really exists?

What if the elixir of life this person talked about is real?
Zhao Yun was naturally no exception.

(End of this chapter)