Murong Yunqian's face instantly turned ashen with rage. Disregarding the blood in his mouth, he pointed at the "Ninth Prince" and shouted, "He's not my ninth imperial brother! He's an impostor!"
Immediately, some ministers who supported him started to stir up the situation. "Your humble servant clearly remembers that His Highness the Ninth Prince was extremely poor at martial arts. How could he suddenly become so..."
Someone quickly picked up the thread. "Exactly! Your humble servant also remembers that His Highness the Ninth Prince was in poor health since childhood and had been raised deep in the palace. Logically speaking, he should be weak and powerless!"
Luo Xunlong sneered coldly. "What? Only you, the Tenth Prince, are allowed to feign madness and bide your time? Am I not allowed to follow your example and hide my true self?"
His words left everyone speechless.
The old prince, Shangguan Yun's father, stared intently at Pin Hao, who was dark and thin. There was a glimmer of tears in his eyes. He reached out to take the imperial edict and announced loudly in public, "Yes! According to the late emperor's edict, the throne shall be passed on to the Ninth Prince, Murong Yuchen! Please ascend the throne in front of the late emperor's spirit, Your Highness the Ninth Prince!"
These words silenced everyone. The prince, who had always stayed out of politics, suddenly spoke up so firmly at this moment. It shocked the supporters of the Tenth Prince. They looked at each other in dismay and then turned to look at the Prince of Rui and Murong Yunqian, not knowing what to do.
The Prince of Rui's face looked extremely grim.
Pin Hao took the imperial edict and bowed respectfully to the prince. Then he turned and walked towards the Empress Dowager.
Murong Yunqian propped himself up and roared, "Everyone, don't be deceived by him! He is definitely not the Ninth Prince, Murong Yuchen! Moreover, if Father Emperor had wanted to pass the throne to him earlier, why would he have delayed summoning him back? Instead, he let this prince handle the state affairs when he was seriously ill!"
Murong Yunqian's words made the ministers look at the Ninth Prince with obvious suspicion.
Wei Dongling, who was sitting on the eaves watching the show, was not willing to be outdone and retorted, "There were rumors a few years ago that the Tenth Prince, Murong Yunqian, had already gone mad and died in the Ten Thousand Buddhas Pagoda! Who knows if you're just a puppet secretly brought into the palace by the Zhao family? Perhaps Father Emperor saw through your conspiracy on his deathbed and that's why he wrote the imperial edict with his own hand! Yet you're still here spreading fallacies to deceive the masses!"
As soon as Wei Dongling said this, the whole audience was in an uproar. Were there such old secrets in the harem? Everyone looked at Murong Yunqian with skeptical eyes.
Seeing Wei Dongling spouting such nonsense and arousing people's suspicion, Murong Yunqian was so angry that his face turned green.
The Ninth Prince, played by Luo Xunlong, knelt in front of the Empress Dowager, clasped his fists and said, "Your humble grandson received a secret order from Father Emperor and that's why he rushed back to the capital! In Father Emperor's secret letter, he told your humble grandson that he had been poisoned for a long time and might not have much time left. That's why he urged your humble grandson to come back in a hurry! Unfortunately, your humble grandson was still a step too late... Wuwuwu..."
Poisoned for a long time? The ministers were even more shocked.
This matter had always been suppressed in the palace and never announced to the outside world. After Luo Xunlong said this, everyone suddenly realized. The emperor was still in his prime. How could he suddenly fall ill and pass away? Maybe he was really poisoned by a chronic poison!
Both Murong Yunqian and the Prince of Rui stiffened. They glanced at each other. The Prince of Rui glared at the "Ninth Prince" and roared, "Don't spout nonsense! The late emperor clearly died of a heart palpitations attack!"
Luo Xunlong stood up, snorted with his hands behind his back and said, "Why is Uncle Rui reacting so strongly? People who don't know might think it was you who poisoned my father!"
As soon as he said this, the ministers were in an uproar. The Prince of Rui was so angry that his face turned ashen.
"Presumptuous!" Murong Yunqian shouted sharply, "Who do you think you are? How dare you slander Uncle without any evidence?" With that, he leaped over and slapped Luo Xunlong hard.
Luo Xunlong quickly protected the Empress Dowager and stepped back a long way. He told her, "Grandmother, please be careful. The Tenth Prince might have had another bout of madness! Your humble grandson will go and fight him now!" With that, he leaped out and fought with the Tenth Prince.
Damn it! It was you who bullied my Wei girl, wasn't it? It was you who beat my brother, Cheng Hao!
Luo Xunlong and Murong Yunqian fought back and forth, making it hard for the onlookers to keep their eyes off them.
The more Murong Yunqian fought, the more flustered he became. He never expected that this "Ninth Prince" would be so quick in his moves and reactions. Several times when he thought he could take down his opponent in one fell swoop, the man slipped away like an eel and even counterattacked him. This made Murong Yunqian more and more vigilant.
Luo Xunlong knew that the Tenth Prince was very good at palm techniques, so he naturally didn't dare to take it lightly. He hadn't met such a powerful opponent for a long time. He had to focus on every move and didn't dare to slack off at all.
The whole audience stared at the fight between the "Ninth Prince" and the Tenth Prince in stunned silence. Wherever their fists and feet reached, the inner force stirred up gusts of wind, making the paper money flutter in the air. It was so dazzling that people couldn't keep their eyes on it.
The Prince of Rui watched the two people fighting in the middle. His face gradually darkened. The attainments of these two young people in martial arts were quite remarkable. They had been fighting for a long time but still couldn't tell the winner. After more than fifty moves, the Prince of Rui gradually noticed that the Tenth Prince was beginning to show signs of exhaustion.
Strangely enough, none of the imperial guards in the whole audience dared to go up and separate the two.
Murong Yunqian also began to feel flustered secretly. Although he had super explosive power, his physical strength was still slightly inferior. A long - term battle would do him no good at all.
The Prince of Rui scanned the whole audience and his eyes fell on the first - class imperial guard. This young man, who was burly but not good - looking, was the martial arts champion who had won the first place last year. At this moment, he was guarding the corridor of the Taiji Palace, watching the two princes fight with great interest.
"Yu Mo!" The Prince of Rui waved to the martial arts champion and coldly ordered, "It's really disgraceful for the two princes to fight like this at the late emperor's funeral. It's really a laughingstock for the world. Go and separate them!"
"Yes!" The martial arts champion, Yu Mo, bowed and accepted the order. Then he flashed up.
The Prince of Rui was his master. He naturally knew what his master meant by this order. Without saying a word, Yu Mo stepped forward and kicked the two of them hard.
Seeing Yu Mo come on stage to protect him, Murong Yunqian didn't say a word and quickly stepped back several steps. The man who looked like the Ninth Prince seemed to have innate divine strength. The inner force contained in each of his moves made it hard for Murong Yunqian to keep up. Every move he took was extremely dangerous. Murong Yunqian knew very well that if he continued to fight, he would surely lose sooner or later. So as soon as he saw Yu Mo come to his rescue, he didn't say a word and retreated.
Luo Xunlong didn't expect that when the two of them were fighting fiercely, someone would suddenly step in and even take a punch from him.
Luo Xunlong couldn't help but be secretly shocked. This man was extremely fast. After easily taking a punch, he could quickly counterattack, forcing Luo Xunlong to take two steps back. The man in the guard's uniform didn't give him any chance to catch his breath and attacked one after another.
The onlookers were secretly surprised. Wasn't the martial arts champion supposed to go up and stop the fight? Why did he start fighting instead?
Wei Dongling curled her lips. Seeing that the Tenth Prince was beginning to be at a disadvantage and couldn't beat Uncle Luo, they just changed someone to fight? How shameless!