I Only Want to Lie Flat But Am Forced to Cultivate Immortality-Chapter 94 - 73: Turning the Page

In a large and deeply secluded mansion, there were inevitably schemes and rivalries, let alone people coming out of the Imperial Palace.

Those eunuchs and palace maids were incredibly bold and brazen. To please their masters, they would resort to any filthy and despicable means!

In the back yard of the Prince’s residence, Li Zhong, who held secrets in his heart, was coaxing the Crown Prince into taking the Five Grains Immortal Pill, determined to confirm whether the Crown Prince was truly afflicted with hysteria.

Over at the mortuary, Xu Qing, in contrast, kept company with corpses, savoring the tranquility of time.

From this session of requiem, he had accumulated a bunch of strange gadgets: the Eighteen Legs Springing Skill, Bone-Dislocating Hand, Sleeve Arrow, Flying Locust Stone, Bedroom Technique, Midwifery Skill, postnatal care...

It seemed he had delivered many souls, but in actuality, most rewards were of a lower grade, nothing particularly rare or extraordinary.

Xu Qing didn’t mind, as even a mosquito’s leg is still meat.

Besides performing requiems, he had another pastime—eavesdropping on the Celestial Heart Sect’s secrets.

These rebels carried secrets on them, and any one of them, when exposed, could cause a great sensation! ƒгeeweɓn૦vel.com

Xu Qing had seen the collusion between Xiang Province officials and bandits, the killing of innocents to claim false credits, and the massacre of vagrants. He had also witnessed an army rising in rebellion from a thousand miles away.

Massacring vagrants, labeling them as rebels to receive rewards from the Imperial Court, transforming areas stricken by the Celestial Heart Sect’s chaos into models of governance.

The Celestial Heart Sect did not lose a single person, and the local officials’ political achievements had, in fact, significantly improved.

There were more places than just Xiang Province where vagrants could be ’properly settled’ while maintaining orderly governance.

Xu Qing viewed the entire Dayong Dynasty through the eyes of these fleeing corpses.

Finally, through the smoke-filled mountains and rivers, he understood one thing—

This Dayong Dynasty was doomed!

Besides the external chaos, the internal power struggle over imperial succession was equally intractable.

When Xu Qing was performing requiem for the bodies of the Celestial Heart Sect rebels, he learned that in last night’s assassination attempt on the emperor, a mysterious Martial Arts Grandmaster with an unknown identity, cloaked in a black robe, was involved.

There weren’t many Martial Arts Grandmasters in the entire Dayong Dynasty; Prince Zhu Sheng counted as one, the Holy Master of the Celestial Heart Sect counted as another, and the rest were either elusive or served as enshrined guests in the Imperial Palace.

The Grandmaster last night was clearly not aligned with the Celestial Heart Sect. When he helped Bai Luo escape, Prince Zhu Sheng was still accompanying the Crown Prince at the banquet!

Xu Qing thought it over and concluded that there was only one possibility: a struggle for the throne.

The current Emperor Longping was over eighty. As the saying goes, at seventy-three and eighty-four, even King Yan couldn’t call you, you’d go yourself.

These two ages were the hardest ’thresholds’ to cross in a lifetime.

Emperor Longping was currently perched atop one of these thresholds. As the Crown Prince, awaiting the day the Imperial Palace bells tolled would mean ascending the throne and inheriting the supreme power.

Now, with the Crown Prince gone, the throne couldn’t be left vacant. A substitute from the royal family would have to take his place...

Xu Qing looked at the Grandmaster in his mind’s eye, and the more he saw him, the more he seemed to be from the palace.

He just didn’t know from which Prince’s residence he came or which royal palace brought him in.

After consuming too many secrets of rebellion, Xu Qing’s head felt a bit swollen, perhaps from the overindulgence in requiem for too many bodies.

Fortunately, it was time to rest outside. Many officials and constables gathered outside the Moon Cave to enjoy the meals delivered from the Prince’s mansion kitchen.

In the midst of it, someone quietly gossiped that the Crown Prince had gone hysterical and wouldn’t consume grains, so he ate something unusual.

"What exactly did he eat? Don’t leave us hanging, stop teasing us..."

In the middle of the conversation, there was rice mixed with arsenic.

The person saw his colleague put down their rice bowl, dared not speak loudly, and whispered secretly, "It’s that thing..."

"Such filth!"

Some who were eating immediately found their food less appetizing.

"How could the Crown Prince eat such a thing?"

"Who knows? It’s said that someone close to the Crown Prince suspected the Crown Prince was pretending to be mad and used that thing to test him on purpose."

"Would the Prince tolerate that?"

"Not a chance! When the Prince found out, he broke the person’s leg. If he wasn’t under the Crown Prince’s protection, he wouldn’t have spared his life!"

As they spoke, they saw a group of people approaching the courtyard gate, led by someone with a bruised face, leaning on a crutch as he walked into the yard.

Xu Qing remained silent, thinking this had nothing to do with him. If Prince Zhu ever regained his sanity, he shouldn’t blame Xu Qing.

Blame only the many schemers in this world of fame and fortune, whereas he, a mere zombie, was the most innocent.

The old eunuch Li Zhong limped up the steps, and when a stoic-faced guard tried to help, he quickly evaded.

Zhang Jun, his adopted son, swiftly stepped forward to support Li Zhong.

"Careful on the steps, Godfather."

Li Zhong glanced at those who were gossiping earlier, then turned to the Chief Official and said, "Our family will soon transfer the Crown Prince’s coffin back to the capital. The details of the Crown Prince’s assassination still need to be sorted out by Your Excellency quickly so that when we return to the capital, we can present the case records to His Majesty."

Upon leaving, Li Zhong specifically kept Zhang Jun behind to assist in overseeing this case.

Xu Qing watched Zhang Jun, noticing that he seemed different from before.

Back in Linhe, Zhang Jun was still a kind-hearted, clean-faced young man. Now, he had grown a beard and acted much more steadily than before.

At that moment, Zhang Jun also saw Xu Qing among the forensic doctors, paused for a moment, then nodded in acknowledgment.

Their friendship seemed to be limited to this.

At night, Xu Qing sat alone in a room, through the thin paper window, he could faintly see the guards patrolling outside with lanterns and torches.