Chapter 1 Palace Conspiracy

Inside the imperial palace, in a side hall.

"Zheng Longtu, are you the one who poisoned me? Your Zheng family owes everything it has today to me. What benefit would you gain from my death?"

Zhang Yuanqing leaned against the lattice door, afraid to move. Yuan Shi Tianzun had experienced life and death, and even in the face of death, he would not be timid or fearful, but he was now a foolish emperor.

To be honest, the development of the plot once again exceeded his expectations. Logically speaking, the Zheng family was an in-law clan, and in-law clans depended on the emperor. Zhao Shun had no children. Once he died, the new emperor would definitely weaken the Zheng family's power. There was no reason for the Zheng family to murder the emperor.

"Benefit?" Zheng Longtu sneered. "The benefit, of course, is the vast land of the Southern Dynasty. Don't be afraid, I won't kill you with a sword. There are only you and me in the hall. If you die by the sword, I won't be able to wash myself clean even if I jump into the Yellow River."

With that, he retracted his long sword, grabbed Zhang Yuanqing's neck, and dragged him to the table.

Then, Zheng Longtu took out a wooden box from his arms, opened it with a snap, and inside the box was a purple pill the size of a longan.

"Your Majesty, you are the ruler of a country. It is not dignified enough to die by sword. I will leave you a whole corpse. Take this pill, and you will die at the hands of an assassin, which has nothing to do with me." Zheng Longtu pried open the emperor's mouth and stuffed the pill in.

Zhang Yuanqing choked, refusing to swallow.

Zheng Longtu grabbed the kettle on the table, pinched his nose, and rudely poured water into the foolish emperor's mouth.

"Cough, cough..." Zhang Yuanqing choked on a few mouthfuls of water, and suddenly stopped resisting, his throat rolling, and he swallowed the poisonous pill.

Zheng Longtu put down the kettle with satisfaction.

Zhang Yuanqing held onto the table, coughing violently for a moment, panting and said:

"Is your Zheng family crazy? The Northern Dynasty is about to invade the capital. If I die, the court will be in turmoil, and the army on the front line will retreat to the capital. Your Zheng family wants to usurp the throne, it's a daydream."

Zheng Longtu glanced outside the door, saw that the battle was still going on, and then continued:

"The army on the front line will not be able to return. The Northern Dynasty will hold back Yang Ce for us."

"The Zheng family is also colluding with the Northern Dynasty? Seeking skin from a tiger, aren't you afraid of being eaten until there's nothing left?" Zhang Yuanqing sat at the table,捂着喉咙, his face pale.

"It's all your Majesty's fault." Zheng Longtu said in a deep voice:

"After the death of the Empress Dowager, you favored the Queen, heavily employed the Yang family, and appointed Yang Ce as the Grand Marshal of the Armed Forces despite the opposition of our Zheng family. If he defends Linxia City and repels the Northern Dynasty army, then the situation of the Zheng and Yang families in the court will be completely reversed. The Zheng family has to plan for the future.

"Only if you die at the hands of an assassin can the Zheng family take over the court, and with the Imperial City Guard in hand, no one in the court will dare to oppose the Zheng family."

Zhang Yuanqing snorted, "Ridiculous. The Imperial City Guard is the elite of my imperial family, not your Zheng family's private soldiers. They obey you because you are the commander of the Imperial Guard. Once you rebel, you will become an enemy."

Zheng Longtu smiled and said, "You don't have to worry about that, Your Majesty. The National Preceptor will support the Zheng family. Besides, the absurd things you have done over the years have already aroused public resentment. All the officials hate you and wish you would die sooner. My father's ascension to the throne is in accordance with the general trend and the will of the people."

National Preceptor? Who is the National Preceptor? Zhang Yuanqing had no relevant information in his memory, but seeing Zheng Longtu's confident look, this National Preceptor seemed to be a big figure.

"Even if the National Preceptor supports the Zheng family, what about the Northern Dynasty army? Why does your Zheng family think you can defend the capital?" Zhang Yuanqing asked.

The corner of Zheng Longtu's mouth curled into a smile:

"My father has already secretly reached an agreement with Tuoba Guanghe. After he ascends the throne, he will represent the Southern Dynasty as emperor and negotiate peace with the Northern Dynasty, cede land and pay tribute, and be forever subservient.

"Tuoba Guanghe rose too quickly, and he has many political enemies in the court. He needs military achievements, but he is also worried that the Northern Dynasty will kill the dog after the hare is dead. Leaving a Southern Dynasty that is badly damaged is only beneficial to him."

Maintaining power through war, huh! Zhang Yuanqing thought to himself.

"Eh?" Zheng Longtu looked at the foolish emperor in surprise, frowning and said, "Why hasn't the poison taken effect yet?"

As soon as he finished speaking, he suddenly coughed violently, coughing so hard that it tore his heart and lungs. His forehead was burning hot, and his breath was full of scorching heat.

No, no, it's the plague. He staggered to his feet, drew his saber, and his eyes were full of confusion.

"Pa-da!"

A drop of water fell from the top of his head, dripping on the back of his hand.

Zheng Longtu looked up and saw, through the horizontal and vertical beams, that trickles of water were seeping out from the tiles, like a leaky roof.

These trickles of water fell on the ground and quickly condensed into a burly woman with a round face, copper bell-like eyes, thick eyebrows and lips, and a masculine physique. She was truly a good man.

It was Consort Wan.

Consort Wan stretched out her palm, pressed it against Zhang Yuanqing's chest and abdomen, and wiped upwards.

Zhang Yuanqing "Oof" sounded, and spat out the poisonous pill wrapped in tea.

The poisonous pill had been wrapped in tea all along, so Zhang Yuanqing had not died of poisoning. Of course, he had no water control ability. It was Consort Wan who secretly took action, using her water control ability to wrap the poisonous pill.

Zhang Yuanqing felt the abnormality of the tea water when he swallowed it, so he swallowed the poisonous pill with confidence.

Zhang Yuanqing had the eunuch invite Consort Wan. The three beauties' assassination attempt was indeed unexpected. On the one hand, the time to enter the instance was too short, and the information collected was limited.

On the other hand, who would have thought that the task received by his teammates was to assassinate him?

This had exceeded the scope of "wisdom" unless he could foresee the future, no one could have predicted it.

But as Yuan Shi Tianzun, as a high-level player who had continuously conquered S-level instances, the moment he escaped from the palace, he was thinking, who exactly was the spy in the mission?

Obviously, it could not be the three beauties. The three beauties were his teammates. This was a multi-player cooperative instance, not a competitive one, so teammates could not be mortal enemies. This was not in line with the Spirit Realm mechanism.

The spy was someone else.

In other words, the 24-hour survival crisis had not really ended.

So Zhang Yuanqing thought of Consort Wan. In Consort Wan's character story, this strong woman who could stand people on her fists and run horses on her arms, rescued Zhao Shun before the Imperial Guard after he fell into the water.

Ordinary people, no matter how gifted, could not be stronger than the masters in the army, so Consort Wan must not be an ordinary person.

In addition, Consort Wan, who had saved him once, was a bodyguard that the foolish emperor could rely on and trust.

This was a hint given to him by the instance.

The facts were as he expected. Consort Wan was the foolish emperor's bodyguard, a bodyguard given by the instance.

Only by understanding this hint could he pass the crisis without any danger.

Looking at Zheng Longtu, who was coughing violently and whose limbs were weak, Zhang Yuanqing smiled:

"I knew you had a problem a long time ago, but since my Consort Wan hadn't arrived yet, I have been playing along with you and didn't expose it. Thank you, Commander Zheng, for telling me so much information."

The main quest of the instance suddenly became clear.

During the day, Zhang Yuanqing was bored and looked at the memorials, which were all impeachments against the Yang family and Yang Ce. From the feedback in the memorials, it could be seen that the Zheng family was very anxious and eager to suppress the Yang family and Yang Ce.

Just now, Zheng Longtu dragged him into the side hall, but did not arrange for the Imperial Guard to guard outside the hall. From this point alone, it was not an attitude of protecting someone.

So he realized that there was a problem with the Zheng family, but he had not yet guessed that it was a spy. When Zheng Longtu held the sword against his chest, Zhang Yuanqing was indeed frightened into a cold sweat.

Zheng Longtu gritted his teeth and said, "Foolish emperor, I will kill you."

He picked up his iron sword and stabbed.

Consort Wan cut in horizontally, blocking Zhang Yuanqing, allowing the long sword to pierce her heart, splashing a faint spray of water.

"Your Majesty, get out of the way!" She turned around and pushed, pushing the weak and helpless emperor to the ground.

Consort Wan grabbed Zheng Longtu's wrist. In an instant, thin white mist condensed in the surrounding air, and wisps of it drilled into her mouth and nose.

Moisture deprivation!

Zheng Longtu's skin quickly wrinkled and shriveled. He struggled violently, revealing a look of despair. After a while, the expression of despair solidified on his face.

He had completely become a mummy.

(End of this chapter)