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Chapter 738 Poisoning Outbreak
Lu Ze's eyes showed a hint of panic. He turned to look at the middle-aged man beside him: "This... will it really work as you said before?"

“Absolutely true,” the middle-aged man replied, a cryptic smile playing on his lips as he carefully concealed the ruthlessness in his eyes.

"Fine! There's no turning back now, so let's do it your way!" Lu Ze gritted his teeth, steeled his resolve, and shouted down to the city walls, "My two elder brothers, you forced me to take this action. You insisted on making things so ruthless, so don't blame me!"

The middle-aged man behind him clapped his hands, and his subordinates immediately took out tinderboxes from their pockets, blew on them to light the flames, and threw them into the huge incense burner in front of them.

The contents of several incense burners were instantly ignited, and wisps of bluish smoke billowed out.

The smoke was strange; it didn't dissipate with the wind or rise like ordinary smoke. Instead, it seemed like a waterfall of smoke, cascading down the wall before slowly spreading out.

A somewhat familiar fragrance wafted over, and Zhu Yu frowned upon smelling it, quickly turning his head to look at the group of important court officials behind him.

Those people's attention was still on the palace. They were extremely surprised by Lu Ze's words and actions, as well as by the smoke pouring out of those strange incense burners.

But now, the expressions on their faces had completely changed.

These people's faces turned red, veins bulged on their foreheads, and their bodies swayed, making it seem as if they couldn't even stand up straight.

Lu Chao frowned as he looked at the ministers who were stumbling, groaning, and falling to the ground.

"This is what you've been warning me about, isn't it?" he asked Lu Qing.

Lu Qing nodded: "Exactly."

"Despicable." Lu Chao glanced disdainfully at the palace.

"Do you see that?! These people are suffering because of you! Can you bear to see these veteran officials, these pillars of the court, tormented because of you?!"

"They brought it on themselves."

There are only two reasons why these people were able to fall for this: either they were secretly poisoned when they colluded with Zhao Bi in the past, or they were ambushed when they tried to curry favor with him.

They're all a bunch of self-serving people, never caring about loyalty to the emperor or the people. This suffering they're enduring is nothing to them.” Lu Qing's tone was light and indifferent. “If I were you, I'd ignore everything else and rush to see my mother.”

Lu Ze was somewhat puzzled and turned to look at Consort Duan.

He had previously feared that having his mother in the harem would make him vulnerable to others, so he tried every means to get her out and stay with him, just for the sake of safety.

So when he first heard Lu Qing say those words, he thought that Lu Qing was cheating again.

But when he saw Consort Duan lying on the ground, he was truly shocked.

Large patches of cloud-like red spots had appeared on Consort Duan's face and neck at some point. She seemed to be in great pain, collapsing to the ground, her tightly wrapped cloak loosening as she writhed in agony. Only then did Lu Ze notice that large clusters of cloud-like red spots were also distributed on Consort Duan's exposed arms, ankles, and calves.

"Mother! Mother, what's wrong with you?!" Lu Ze was so frightened that he rushed over and knelt down to support Consort Duan, trying to stop her from rolling around in pain like that.

But as soon as his hands touched Consort Duan's body, she let out a painful scream, as if what touched her was not her son's hands, but a pair of red-hot irons.

"What's going on?!" Lu Ze finally realized something was wrong. He looked up at the middle-aged man beside him. "Why is my mother like this?!"

The middle-aged man stood there with a gloomy expression, looking at him coldly: "It's not surprising why your mother is like this, the real question is why you're alright."

I knew it! That bitch Gu Lingyun did have some feelings for you back then! She secretly switched the sachet that was supposed to be given to you; otherwise, you'd be rolling around on the floor with your mother right now.

As he spoke, he coldly pointed down: "Just like those people!"

"You...you actually dared to scheme against me!" Lu Ze was, after all, a young man in his early twenties. In the past, he had overestimated his courage and wisdom because of his arrogance. Now, looking at Consort Duan, who was in so much pain that she was barely breathing, and then at the "servant" whose attitude had suddenly changed, he was both anxious and panicked.

"Why not?" At this moment, Ishan, who no longer cared about being subservient, showed no trace of feigned respect to Lu Ze, only utter disdain. "You're stupid enough, yet you think you're clever enough. You're not smart enough but you have a big appetite. You're greedy enough. Aren't you the most suitable person for me to scheme against?"

If it weren't for the fact that although you can be incredibly stupid at times, you're generally obedient and still somewhat useful, do you really think you'd be standing here today?!
"So, you refused the chance to escape. You promised to relieve the siege of Brahma, but you betrayed your promise at the crucial moment. Then I have no reason to keep such a disobedient fool like you around any longer."

As he spoke, he drew a short knife from his waist and glared at Lu Ze with disgust: "If it weren't for that bitch Gu Lingyun interfering, I wouldn't even have needed to get the knife dirty."

Lu Ze's chest heaved violently, his face alternating between pale and flushed. He shouted hoarsely at Ishaen, "I order you to give the antidote to my mother! Now!"

"If you'll give my mother the antidote, I'll make sure my two brothers withdraw their troops from Vatican City!"

“You think too highly of yourself,” Ishan sneered. “Besides, I don’t need to waste my antidote. Your mother is already poisoned; no one can save her.”

As if to confirm his statement, before Ishaen finished speaking, Consort Duan breathed her last, no longer struggling. Covered in horrifying red spots, she lay lifelessly on the ground, motionless.

"Mother! Mother!" Lu Ze cried out in terror, reaching out to check Consort Duan's breath. He let out a mournful wail, drew his sword, and charged at Ishaen. "You despicable traitor, I'll kill you!"

Ishan just stood there, watching Lu Ze rush towards him, without any intention of resisting.

Just as the tip of Lu Ze's sword was only about a foot away from his chest, two gleaming silver blades suddenly emerged from Lu Ze's chest.

He froze, his eyes bloodshot and filled with disbelief as he looked down at the two knives that had pierced through his chest from behind.

The knife tip was pulled out from behind, and blood gushed from Lu Ze's chest. He didn't even have time to turn around and look at the two Ishan's men before he fell to the ground with a face full of resentment and unwillingness.