Dugong

Chapter 44 The Dragon Heir Dies Young
A side hall of Kunning Palace.

Green smoke curls up and clouds and mist linger.

The setting sun shines through the window frame onto the chest of the Buddha statue, creating a dazzling golden glow, making it appear even more solemn and sacred.

The Buddha's head stood tall, resting against the dim beams. His lowered eyes were kind and deep, gazing at the believers kneeling before him.

"Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva practices profound Prajna..."

The queen was wearing a plain long gown with cloud patterns. She was kneeling on a cushion, chanting scriptures in a low voice with her lips and teeth moving slightly, and the Buddhist beads slipped through her fingers one by one.

Ever since the crown prince plotted treason and was demoted to a commoner, the queen blamed herself for not teaching her son well and delaying the succession of the dynasty. She devoted herself to worshipping Buddha every day to atone for her sins.

At this time.

The palace maid on duty outside the door reported: "Your Majesty, Eunuch Chu requests an audience."

The queen paused for a moment, and the chanting stopped.

"Let Xiao Chuzi come in and talk."

Eunuch Chu pushed open the door and his fat body was barely able to squeeze in, but after taking four or five steps, his breathing became slightly rapid.

"This servant pays homage to the Empress."

"You have such a hard time even bending over, so there's no need to be so polite."

The Queen raised her head and met the Buddha's eyes, muttering, "How is the matter at Zhaoyang Palace going?"

Eunuch Chu shook his head and said, "I have tried many methods, even resorting to assassination by assassins, but nothing worked. Please punish me, Your Majesty."

"It's not your fault. His Majesty is protecting it, so it's not easy to get it."

The Queen said coldly, "He's truly a cheap bastard from the military. He's taken so much Liang Gong San, his body is weak and cold inside, yet he's still able to maintain a stable pregnancy."

Eunuch Chu said, "That person must have taken many high-quality tributes to maintain a stable pregnancy. I sent someone to secretly administer medicine, but it had no effect."

The queen was silent for a while, the rosary beads on her fingertips turning rapidly.

"This is one last try. If it doesn't work, wait until she gives birth to a son, and then look for another opportunity. Your Majesty has had thirty-two children since you retired to the palace. How many of them have grown up?"

Eunuch Chu, who has always been cruel and ruthless, couldn't help but shudder.

Princes and princesses are born with dragon energy. As the saying goes, great luck brings oppression, so they have been prone to young death since ancient times, and nearly 30% do not live to adulthood.

However, less than half of today's children survive to adulthood.

The other children died for various reasons. No matter how many investigations were conducted by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Pacification, they all died in accidents. Even His Majesty did not have too many doubts. He just took in more concubines to give birth to more children to ensure that there would be successors.

Eunuch Chu had no evidence, but was certain that the cause of death was related to the Queen. The Queen, who seemed kind-hearted and vegetarian, was actually extremely vicious and cruel.

The method of mixing Lianggongsan into the meals to make Concubine Yuan childless was done by the Queen.

The Queen waved her hand and said, "Go and do your work. I still need to recite scriptures to tell your sons and grandsons that a mere little prince is nothing."

"The servant understands."

Eunuch Chu bowed and accepted the order. After a slight hesitation, he advised, "A few days ago, Brother Rui sent someone to deliver a gift. He said that he regretted not being able to celebrate the queen's birthday and presented a longevity book as a token of his filial piety."

The Queen raised her eyelids and scolded, "You are just doing useless superficial work!"

Eunuch Chu said, "Your Majesty, Rui has been intelligent since childhood and is very much loved by His Majesty..."

The Queen interrupted, "After the Crown Prince was demoted to a commoner, does he still have a chance to ascend to the throne?"

Eunuch Chu lowered his head and said nothing. Not to mention that the prince had completely lost the emperor's favor by rebelling, even if he sat firmly in the Eastern Palace, he might not be able to survive until he ascended the throne.

Your Majesty is in good health and the imperial physician says you can live to be a hundred years old.

"I have no time to bother with my grandchildren who have no chance of ascending the throne. Tell Zhao Rui to farm the land in the imperial farm. When his uncle ascends the throne, he will be given the title of Marquis."

After the queen finished speaking, she turned her rosary beads and continued to chant Buddhist scriptures.

Only by chanting Buddha's name while harming others can the cause and effect be balanced and impartial.

……

It's late at night and the place is quiet.

Eunuch Sun sneaked into the tribute treasury and drugged the people several times without any problems, which made him feel a little contemptuous and thought that the palace restrictions were nothing special.

"What the outside martial arts masters see as a dangerous place is a den of dragons and tigers, but we can move in and out with ease!"

He expertly found the shelves of tribute items like ginseng and royal jelly, pulled out a porcelain bottle from his pocket, and poured a drop of purple-red liquid into each one. After confirming that nothing was left out, he returned to the imperial kitchen along the same route.

After a while.

Li Ping'an emerged from the darkness and looked at the drugged tribute.

"Finally, we have solid evidence. Our family has also pledged our allegiance. We can either join the Zhaoyang Palace or we can follow our godfather and gain meritorious service and promotion!"

After putting away the poisonous tribute and preparing to leave the warehouse, he suddenly felt a prick in his back, and broke out in a cold sweat.

"Who?"

Li Ping'an circulated his true energy and his body turned into green smoke. He instantly crossed a distance of several feet and landed behind a shelf.

The place was deserted, and after a careful inspection of the ground, no traces of footprints were found.

"Could it be that I sensed it wrongly at the critical moment?"

Li Ping'an frowned slightly. When the cultivation of martial arts true qi reaches a certain level, the internal and external feelings will produce mysterious sensations, and one can know good and bad luck in the dark.

He used the technique of standing upright without a shadow and turned into green smoke and left.

Soon.

Li Pingan returned to the warehouse and observed secretly for a while. He found nothing unusual and said with relief: "My cultivation is really not up to par yet. I must have sensed it wrongly."

He left again for a while, then returned for the third time and continued to watch until dawn.

It was not until the eunuchs in the warehouse showed up to work that Li Ping'an's doubts dissipated and he finally left.

A few days later.

The palace was strangely quiet. The usually arrogant eunuchs and maids in Zhaoyang Palace were perhaps restrained and scolded by their masters, and spoke and acted in a low-key manner.

When the boy under the command of Master Xiang came to get medicine, Li Ping'an personally received him, handed over the inspected tribute, and skillfully stuffed a silver note into his hand.

"Little Fan, you've worked hard. Come and have some tea with us when you have time."

The little boy, also a eunuch, accepted the banknote with great trepidation and said, "Thank you, Eunuch An, for the reward. I will definitely tell the master about it."

Li Ping'an nodded slightly, some things don't need to be said too much.

Since Master Xiang worked for Zhaoyang Palace, he naturally understood the meaning of this. It was also a way to test the waters so as not to make his surrender too abrupt.

July came in a flash.

According to the date, Princess Yuan is about to give birth.

Due to the assassination attack, Emperor Wude ordered his men to guard the palace strictly and carefully check people entering and leaving the palace to protect the safety of his beloved concubine and the heir.

Seeing this, Li Ping'an felt that Princess Yuan was safe.

With the support of her mother's family and the favor of His Majesty, if she gives birth to another prince, he will be able to ascend the throne after training for ten or twenty years.

"The Third Prince is tyrannical and cruel, and the Fifth Prince is lustful. Neither of them is worthy of a ruler. What we have done is by no means treasonous, but is truly for the benefit of the people of the world!"

Li Ping'an comforted himself with a few words, and the slightest bit of guilt for betraying his godfather disappeared.

This day.

The chief office of the Tribute Department.

Li Ping'an was listening to Xiao Yuzi's report on the recent accounts. Several young eunuchs were tempted to embezzle money.

"Hehehe, we said it right away, it doesn't matter if we make money, but we must be included in the share!"

Li Ping'an sneered a few times, looked at the name on the account book, and pointed at one at random with his eyes closed.

"Little Flag, this time we'll use him as an example to scare the monkeys. It's just like our godfather said, we have to kill someone from time to time to prevent the subordinates from being disobedient."

Little Yuzi nodded repeatedly, feeling a little scared of his grandfather whom he had never met.

While speaking.

Little Mencius hurried in, his face full of joy.

"Godfather, news came from Zhaoyang Palace that the noble lady had a miscarriage!"

Li Ping'an's eyes widened, and he couldn't help but circulate his inner energy. The account book in his hand shattered into ashes with a bang.

(End of this chapter)