In this way, Gu Xifeng and Houhou officially joined the Seven Kills Camp and continued to practice with Huang Xin. The difference was that the master changed from Huang Xin to twenty-nine, and Twenty-eight Su also participated in the training of the two.
After entering the Seven Kills Camp, the training becomes more rigorous. In addition to martial arts training, you also need to learn more systematically about movement, concealment, assassination and various shady methods.
During this process, physical and mental suffering was commonplace. Gu Xifeng and the two were tortured to death, and their strength increased day by day.
Pain and happiness.
Half a year after Gu Xifeng and his two men entered the Seven Killing Camp.
In the Taichu Imperial Palace, the entire palace was filled with a tense and depressing atmosphere. The maids and eunuchs in the palace were more cautious than before, for fear of making mistakes.
The only man in the entire Central Plains who dared to call himself emperor was currently lying on the dragon couch in his palace. His body was extremely weak. Every waiter around him was cautious and solemn, serving him carefully. If he didn't pay attention, he would be killed.
More than a dozen imperial doctors had cold sweat on their faces and were discussing treatment plans in panic.
Several of the emperor's favorite concubines stood on either side, with complex expressions on their faces, full of uneasiness, fear, sadness and other emotions that they dared not reveal.
The two princes were waiting outside the palace door. The second prince, Li Zhongkun, was pacing anxiously, his expression full of worry.
The eldest prince Li Boqian was more calm and stood waiting in front of the door with an expressionless face.
Emperor Taichu Li Jianshen was over fifty years old, but he was not in a hurry to establish a heir apparent, and the crown prince position was always vacant.
Li Jianshen succeeded to the throne at the age of twenty. He made no major mistakes in his life, but he was not very wise either. During his reign, it was very common in the Taichu territory to sell officials, fish for common people, and take human lives for granted. The court was full of smoke and smoke, and the people were miserable.
Fortunately, the neighboring countries are relatively stable and protected by the Xinghe Sect. In recent years, no major wars have occurred. Although the people's lives are difficult, they are not disturbed by the war.
Chief physician Sun Peizhi hurriedly walked out of the palace, lamented, and said to the two princes: "Your Majesty is seriously ill this time, and we have tried our best to save him. I'm afraid..."
"What? I'm going to see my father!" The second prince Li Zhongkun looked shocked and was about to walk into the palace.
The eldest prince Li Boqian raised his arm to stop the second prince.
"Second son, what's the point of breaking into the palace without being summoned by the emperor! Just stay outside. If the emperor wants to see you, I will definitely summon him." Li Boqian frowned and looked at the second prince with a displeased expression.
"But, brother emperor!" Li Zhongkun wanted to say something again, but when he saw Li Boqian's angry eyes, he flicked his sleeves and walked back.
He did not see that Li Boqian gave Sun Peizhi a meaningful look at this time, and Sun Peizhi returned to the palace with a solemn expression as if he had received a certain task.
"The Imperial Master has arrived!" the eunuch outside the courtyard shouted loudly.
A kind old man wearing a plain white star robe entered the courtyard, and the two princes immediately came forward respectfully.
"I've seen the Imperial Master." The two of them said almost in unison. The old man waved his hands slightly and said, "No need to be polite."
The person who came was none other than Chen Yaoguang, the contemporary headmaster of the Xinghe Sect. The Xinghe Sect was now honored as the main protector of the country in the Taichu Dynasty. Several headmasters were worshiped as national advisors by Emperor Taichu. Since Taichu had not yet established a crown prince, the status of the national advisor was still above that of the prince. , second only to the emperor himself.
"How is your Majesty?" Chen Yaoguang also looked anxious at this time.
"Father, his illness is very serious this time, and the doctors are at a loss what to do." The eldest prince looked sad and brushed his eyes with his sleeves.
"Why did your Majesty's illness come so suddenly? It's only been a few days..." Before Chen Yaoguang could finish speaking, the palace was in chaos.
"No, His Majesty has passed away!" A mournful eunuch's cry came from the palace. The palace was already filled with tears. The concubines, maids, and eunuchs were all lying on the ground, crying hard.
The three people outside the door hurriedly rushed into the palace.
The Taichu Emperor Li Jianshen, who was originally lying weakly on the dragon couch, was now gray-white, his cheeks were sunken, his eyes were rounded, he was staring ahead aimlessly, and he was no longer breathing.
When the two princes saw this scene, they immediately fell on the dead body and howled loudly.
Chen Yaoguang frowned as he looked at the corpse, thoughtfully.
"Two princes, please give way. This matter is a bit fishy. Let me take a look at it, Your Majesty."
The two princes cried and retreated to make room for the imperial master.
I saw Chen Yaoguang stretching out a hand, and a soft inner force wrapped around the palm, sweeping across Li Jianshen's head, chest and abdomen.
Chen Yaoguang frowned even more tightly and turned to look at the two princes.
"Your Majesty did not die of illness, but of poisoning! And it was not a poison, a slow poison. It was not fatal originally. Just now, Your Majesty took a poison called Setsuna. This was the real cause of His Majesty's death. .”
When the eldest prince heard this, he suddenly became furious and looked like a madman. He pointed at everyone present and said angrily: "Say! What did you feed my father?"
The imperial physician fell to his knees, his body all limp. Sun Peizhi said in a trembling voice: "Your Majesty just drank a bowl of the medicinal soup I was waiting to prepare."
"Get me all the people who have come into contact with this medicine from the medicinal materials, brewing, and feeding, and torture them to find out the truth!"
Everyone present who was related to the medicinal soup was taken away, and no one who had come into contact with the medicinal materials was spared. The end of these people is expected to be miserable.
It was important to find out the truth, and the emperor's funeral could not be delayed. The officiants hurriedly arrived and began to prepare for His Majesty's state funeral in an orderly manner.
At this time, apart from the funeral, the most important question before the Taichu Dynasty was who would inherit the throne.
I don’t know if it was because the morning sun was rising and the yin was declining in the early days, but the queen mother and empress died of illness one after another, and the emperor did not appoint a new queen among the concubines. At this time, there was no one who could make the decision in the early days.
As Taichu's Imperial Master, Chen Yaoguang was not allowed to participate in the emperor's family affairs, so he was arranged to rest in a side hall.
At this time, mourning was already being done inside and outside the palace, and the emperor's body in the palace had been cleaned and encased in small coffins and stuffed with nine-hole jade. The emperor's golden nanmu coffin had been made by skilled craftsmen before Li Jianshen's death, and it was currently staying in the funeral palace. within.
Si Tianjian has deduced that the auspicious day for burial will be three days later, and he will announce it to the world after dawn tomorrow.
Although the funeral system of Emperor Taichu was not one-tenth that of its heyday, it was still extremely complicated and everything was carried out in an orderly manner.
The two princes, already dressed in sackcloth, stood outside the palace.
"Brother, who killed my father? I wish I could eat his flesh and drink his blood." The second prince, Li Zhongkun, said fiercely, clenching his fists.
"It's still under investigation. Fortunately, the imperial master saw here that the emperor was poisoned, so we could respond in time. Otherwise, with the medical skills of these quack doctors, we would really think that the emperor died of illness."
"Second brother, a country cannot live without a king for a day, and we two brothers are not hiding each other. What do you think?" the eldest prince Li Boqian asked with a sincere face.
"Brother Emperor, you are the eldest son. Of course you will inherit the throne. I will just be an idle prince. If Brother Emperor respects me, I will give him an official position. I will fully assist Brother Emperor and listen to Brother Emperor's arrangements for everything. "Li Zhongkun looked very honest and spoke his mind.
"My good brother, we are the only two brothers left now. Together, you and I will live up to our ancestors' legacy!" Li Boqian patted Li Zhongkun's shoulders heavily with both hands and said loudly.
Everything looks harmonious.
