Deep inside the palace.

Looking at the palace of Shangyang, it is better than the blessed garden of immortals.

Shangyang Palace, the emperor's residence.

The room was covered with heavy curtains, but still couldn't completely conceal the bitter smell of the medicine.

On the dragon couch, the middle-aged man still had dignity between his brows, with only a layer of white silk left on his body. The palace saint was getting old, and he became deaf from the day he was promoted to the imperial physician.

One by one, the needles pierced the skin. At some point, the master began to perform moxibustion. The smell made the woman in palace dress beside the dragon couch cough twice. She had no time to complain and continued to deal with the increasing number of matters.

In fact, ever since the rebellion in Jiangnan Dao, the emperor had fallen ill at the desk in his study. When the fourth prince died, he almost died. Accidents occurred one after another in Liyang. Most of them were very small, but in comparison, they were extremely bad, as if someone was constantly asking him for help from a distance.

"It's a pity that Your Majesty is not a warrior." There was an eerie calmness in Queen Zhao Zhi's tone.

Before the death of the Fourth Prince, they were a rare couple. Both sides knew very well what a luxury these two words were for them. However, Queen Zhao Zhi had only two sons. The eldest son, Zhao Wu, was on the front line, and the second son died. Both of them had no chance of becoming emperor. How could she not hate him at this moment?

The emperor avoided his wife's gaze. Every time they looked at each other, he could hear the deep hatred hidden in her.

He is the emperor, why can’t he protect his son!

"According to the date, the new Emperor Wu should be coming to Beijing." The emperor said with one breath. He had not been involved in affairs for a long time, but based on past experience, he could still infer the general trend.

"The word 'emperor' is so precious that even Zhuan'er is not lucky enough to enjoy it. Your Majesty, please stop testing my patience. You first conferred the title of prince and then granted him a harem. Prince Ji'an doesn't know what's good for him and ran off to Minister Cui's house."

"You are becoming more and more daring. This is not how you use friendship." The emperor sighed. He really didn't dare to imagine what would happen to the other side if Zhao Wu on the front line died. Now he is like a completely different person, whereas he was obviously very sensible before.

Queen Zhao Zhi covered her mouth and laughed, and her not-so-pretty face actually looked a little charming. The imperial physician who was lowering his head beside her shuddered. The emperor saw it out of the corner of his eye, but did not care about the other party's pretending to be deaf.

"My stupid husband, how can anyone reason with a woman who has lost her child?"

"Third time is better than last time." The emperor closed his eyes.

If you cross the line, you will die, even if you are a legitimate son or daughter. Different degrees of affection divide different boundaries, but he also knows that the friendship between the two sides is precious.

On the Yuyang front, the cavalry under Gu Xishu's command have already headed south to the Southern Tang Kingdom to hunt down the Cui clan members. As for the costs and problems caused, the queen, or to be more precise, a woman who has lost her child doesn't care at all. She just wants revenge, but because of her friendship with her husband, she barely maintains her sanity. Every day she deals with some annoying things like officials borrowing money from the Ministry of Revenue but not paying it back. How to deal with it? She can't kill them all. She can only slowly wear them down, which further wears out her patience.

After an hour or two, Queen Zhao Zhi broke the calligraphy brush in her hand.

The emperor opened his eyes and just slept for a moment.

The imperial physician ordered him to stand beside the dragon couch with his hands down. He really tried his best.

"The more magnificent and grand this palace is, the more gloomy and dark it becomes in the eyes of those who have lived here for a long time. How many more years will you and I live long enough to survive? My child, I am afraid that we will not be able to keep our ancestors' kingdom."

Queen Zhao Zhi leaned over and picked up the calligraphy brush. She touched the two ends together but still couldn't connect them. Her efforts were in vain. She still remembered that this was the gift he gave her when he first became the crown prince. There were only a dozen or so in the whole world, and most of them were lost in a pile of old papers.

"Since my son can't be the emperor, let your son be the emperor. Let's see which of your four sons is more capable."

"Who do you think is promising?" The emperor seemed to be talking about something that had nothing to do with him.

"I have never seen the illegitimate son Zhao Kai. I hate his mother less than other princes."

Queen Zhao Zhi picked up the memorial and left. If she didn't take it away, the emperor would not be able to help but look at it.

The imperial physician ordered him to bow and leave, as it was a great taboo to be alone with the emperor.

A dark shadow emerged from the heavy curtains.

"His Majesty."

He wanted to kill the imperial physician.

"Forget it. I was born to be the will of heaven and my death is also the will of heaven. Even an immortal cannot save me."

The emperor took out a box of elixirs left by the eunuch's ancestor from under his pillow.

Mayfly Pill, in exchange for three days of freedom, no regrets even if I die. The black shadow struggled violently, but in the end he watched the emperor swallow the pill.

"Your Majesty, why do you have to do this?"

The emperor sat up and saw a faint light through the curtain. He said to himself:
"What a great world! It really whets one's appetite."

Rather than having your flesh and blood scraped off by a knife and dying miserably, it is better to cut off your arm and survive in despair.

……

The fourth year of Qianyuan in Liyang.

A week after the death of the fourth prince, on the night when the three kings entered the capital, the emperor appeared in the six ministries.

The first decree was that the eastern camp of the capital city should immediately go to Beiliang and be dispatched by the King of Beiliang to resist Beimang.

The second decree allowed the King of Jiaodong to be the third official in Kaifeng Prefecture and guard the eastern battlefield.

The third decree dismissed Gu Jiantang from the post of King of Liaodong and conferred him the title of King of the South, ruling the secondary capital.

The fourth decree deposed King Xu Xiao of Beiliang and conferred him the title of King of Bei.

The fifth decree is that Jiangnan Province will not collect taxes in the next two years.

The sixth decree stated that Han Shengxuan and the Ministry of Revenue should collect 10 million taels of silver, hold the emperor's sword, and do whatever they want.

The seventh decree transferred Zhang Julu to be the Minister of the Central Secretariat and Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, and to act as the Administrator of the Imperial Guards.

The eighth decree pardoned the Jiangnan scholar group for their crime of treason and reinstated the head of the Lu family as the Minister of Rites.

The tenth edict was that all localities would fully restore the military merit system of the previous dynasty, and Zhao Gou would supervise the Ministry of Personnel.

The eleventh decree allowed the Jixia Academy to become an official academy, and candidates who passed the imperial examinations were exempted from paying taxes.

The twelfth decree was that the Ministry of Revenue should immediately send people to measure the land north of the Yangtze River, accompanied by four imperial guards.

Twelve imperial edicts were sent to various departments and regions overnight.

Spring of the fourth year of Qianyuan.

Great chaos and great order come at the same time.

……

Southeast Road, a wilderness.

The scholar in green shirt set up restrictions on mountains and rivers one after another to stop the pursuit.

The situation has changed and some people are desperate.

Cui Nan walked on the mountain road for more than ten feet with each step. He felt a little helpless in his heart. After all, he was not his complete self. He could not bear to see the Cui family being wiped out. This exposed his true identity and made him be targeted by that immortal named Zhao. Otherwise, if he had had more time, the one in the palace would have died of depression.

But no matter what, the last move did gain a glimmer of hope, and the whole chessboard is no longer lifeless as before.

Not far behind him, Zhao Huangchao waved his sleeves to break several layers of strange restraints, and immediately sped up a bit with an unsightly look on his face.

That scholar in green was extremely difficult to deal with. He had no cultivation at all, but was as slippery as a loach. The two sides had been chasing him for nearly a thousand miles, and even Tianren's Qi was beginning to lose its momentum.

And now, the other party is obviously planning to go to Yinshan next to the Grand Canal.

"Little bug! Who dares to save you!"

(End of this chapter)

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