As soon as these words were spoken, the air in the dungeon became colder and colder, with a suffocating and depressing feeling.
"Once the emperor knows that he has been bewitched, he will be furious. Countless people will be implicated. King Chen and Concubine Gu are the main conspirators, as well as the ministers of King Chen's party. Whether they are guilty or innocent, I am afraid that he will be slaughtered, blood will flow like a river, and the emperor will also have to bear the pain of killing his own son with his own hands. The King of War and Prince Qi have to consider the consequences."
Qian Qi sneered, "Besides, I don't think His Royal Highness the War King is such a cruel person. He shouldn't just watch so many innocent people being implicated and killed."
Qi Jin looked at him with pity: "It's a pity that you guessed wrong."
"Wrong guess?" Qian Qi was startled and suddenly had an ominous premonition in her heart, "What do you mean?"
"Your Majesty." Qi Jin turned to look at Emperor Mu, lowering his eyes slightly, "Do you want to interrogate me personally?"
Qian Qi's expression changed, and she looked at the bright yellow figure walking step by step in disbelief.
Five-clawed dragon robe, today?
The Nine-Fifth Supreme Lord actually left the palace in person to see him, a lowly sinner?
Qianqi huddled in the corner, her body stiff, as if she was shocked, and she had no intention of getting up to salute.
But the shock only lasted for a moment.
Qian Qi quickly calmed down. He was in such a situation now that his life or death depended on the emperor's thoughts.
If the emperor wanted to kill him, he would not be able to save his life even if he knelt down and kowtowed a hundred times. In that case, why should he suffer the consequences with his seriously injured body?
Emperor Mu stood outside the cell with his hands behind his hands and said in a majestic voice: "How many people have you bewitched?"
Qian Qi was silent for a moment, lowered his eyes and replied: "I have told His Highness the War King everything I should say before, and what the common people said is the truth."
"I want to hear it again with my own ears."
"I put a poison on King War, and the mother's poison is on Chu Yunjiao. This is the reason why King Chen has always been close to the concubine of the Chu family." Qian Qi said calmly, "Other than that, the only other people who have been poisoned are The emperor and his concubine.”
Emperor Mu's expression was cold and stern: "When did you start poisoning me?"
"three years ago."
"Where is Concubine Gu?"
Qian Qi was silent and frowned slightly: "The poison in the imperial concubine's body is actually about the same age as the emperor's."
Emperor Mu said coldly: "What benefits did King Chen give you?"
"It was just for money at the beginning. He gave a lot of money. To the ordinary people at that time, it was like a windfall from heaven." Qianqi told the truth, "At first, the ordinary people thought that by helping King Chen for a few years, they would be able to save a fortune. The large sum of money flew away, and from then on he lived a life of immortality. However, King Chen designed to lure the common people into gambling, so that all the common people's monthly silver taels were sent to the gambling houses. In these years, not even a tael of silver was saved, but instead It’s the gambling addiction that’s getting bigger and bigger.”
Emperor Mu frowned, as if he found it unbelievable: "You helped King Chen do such a treacherous thing, just for a little money?"
Qian Qi looked at him strangely: "Does your Majesty think money is not important?"
Emperor Mu was silent: "..."
"The world is so big, and most of the people are poor." Qian Qi leaned against the wall, her voice silent, "An ordinary family can earn at most three to five taels of silver a year, and the monthly expenses of a large family cannot be calculated in terms of silver. What they spent was copper coins, and many people may have never seen a hundred taels of silver in their lives."
"You can do many things with money, eat what you want but can't afford, visit brothels that you can't afford, sleep with beauties that you can't afford, and treat diseases that you can't cure... When you go in and out of brothels and casinos, then This feeling of spending money like water is a happiness that ordinary people cannot experience in their entire lives."
The cell was quiet, the smell was bad, and the air was not good.
Emperor Mu stood silently, looking at the man huddled in the corner in the cell. He originally expected to ask about some unavoidable reasons, or unknown secrets, or even the hatred that had been buried for many years.
The only thing he didn't expect was that the reason why this man took the risk of being executed by Ling Chi after the Dongchuang incident and used witchcraft to murder the King of War and the Emperor was just for a mere few hundred taels of silver.
Emperor Mu didn't know what to say for a moment.
"As long as the ordinary people help King Chen do something that is not difficult, he will give me a few hundred taels of silver every month. I can live a life of fine clothes and fine food, see the world of the rich and powerful, and spend a lot of money. After the squandering, I can follow Chen Wang Suoyao... He is a first-class prince, but in order to use my hand to achieve his goals, he still needs to talk to me nicely and coax me with money. This feeling is incredible for our status. Yes, it’s easy to get addicted.”
Emperor Mu's eyebrows were filled with a dark look, but his tone of voice was extremely calm: "But you should know that what you are doing is beheading, and the money is easy to use, so you don't have to worry about causing death?"
"I really didn't worry before." Qian Qi sighed quietly, with a hint of Qian Fan's exhaustion and regret in her voice, "At the beginning, the only person I wanted to control was War King, and War King was just a young man at that time and had not yet gone to the battlefield. I said it would take at least ten years for the poison to take effect. In fact, I just wanted to get some freedom and find a chance to fly away. But I didn’t expect King Chen to be so cunning. Not only did he not let me leave, but he tempted me to become addicted to gambling. I had even scarier thoughts."
"When he said he wanted to put a poison on the emperor, I was a little scared, but it was easier to get on the boat than to get off, so I couldn't help myself. I had the leverage in King Chen's hands. Whatever he wanted me to do, I would just do it. What can be done.”
"But I also became wary because of this. I was worried that he would silence me after his plan succeeded, so I found an opportunity to bewitch the imperial concubine. She is the biological mother of King Chen. No matter how rebellious he is, he will not ignore his mother. life and death."
Emperor Mu smiled, but the smile did not reach his eyes: "You are quite smart."
"Cleverness leads to mistakes." Qian Qi raised her head and looked outside the cell, "Does the Emperor want to kill me?"
"Is my poison easy to cure?"
Qianqi was silent for a moment: "It's not easy to explain at the moment, because the poison in the emperor's body has not yet formed, and it cannot leave the body on its own."
Qi Jin frowned: "Will the poison take effect?"
"Not for the time being." Qian Qi smiled faintly, "The emperor's chief steward Yang Dexi has a mother's poison on him. As long as he is intact and uninjured, the emperor will not feel any pain within a year or two."
Emperor Mu's eyes were filled with ice.
Having said that, no one likes to control their life in the hands of others, not to mention that there are at least four or five people who know that he has been poisoned.
For an emperor, this is an absolutely intolerable result.
Fortunately, Emperor Mu was used to strong winds and waves, so he did not panic at this time, nor was he carried away by anger.
He couldn't even kill the person in front of him yet.
But he had already asked clearly what should be asked, and he had no interest in staying here any longer.
Emperor Mu turned around and walked out of the cell. When Rong Cang and Qi Jin followed him out, he said calmly: "Lock him up first, don't let him die."
Rong Cang's tone was calm: "Ji Ziyi can undo the poison for my sons, and presumably my father, too. It's just that he just left the capital recently and returned to Langya City with his mother-in-law. I have to wait until the next time he comes to the capital to let him go." Think of a way."
Emperor Mu said calmly: "I have nothing to worry about. It's up to you to quickly establish a foothold in the court."
It would be good to be able to successfully remove the poison in the future.
If there is an emergency, or King Chen jumps over the wall in a hurry, he can respond in time and let Rong Cang supervise the country's governance and control the overall situation. Only then can the Chu country avoid sudden changes and avoid a civil strife to seize power.
"Yes." Rong Cang nodded, "I will do my best."
After leaving the Zhongyi Marquis Mansion, Emperor Mu got on the imperial chariot and headed back to the palace. Qi Jin and Rong Cang personally escorted Luan Jia to the palace gate. They saw the commander of the Royal Forest Army following the emperor to the Qinzheng Hall, and then the two of them resigned and left.
"The emperor seems to have lost his heart towards King Chen. King Yu cannot be reused, and the position of crown prince is already in His Highness's bag." Qi Jin's voice was light, "Winning the Sacred Heart is more important than anything else. Your Highness does not have to fight with them for power in the future. , as long as you go to court every day, show your face in front of the ministers, and take over all the things that can be done in the court, for ten days, you can not only win the hearts of the people, but also be able to hold the power of the court, and be respected by your ability."
"Prince Chen is already a dead person in my father's heart, and I don't take him seriously." Rong Cang said, turning his head to glance at him, "But you are suitable to be a powerful minister."
Qi Jin's mouth twitched with a subtle expression.
Powerful minister?
The King of War is not joking, right?
