"Guards, drag this Ding, Ling and all those others out and behead them," the emperor ordered.
These people were unworthy of being called human. As officials, they were lackadaisical, never thinking about the well - being of the people or the Great Yan Empire. Instead, they were only concerned about petty gains. Staring at the concubines in the harem without the slightest sense of propriety, they might as well be reincarnated with a better pair of eyes.
It seemed that because he had been cultivating his character recently and his temper had softened, there were still those who were reckless enough to cross his path.
As for whether killing these people would incur karmic retribution?
Jun Wuyuan thought that the heavens should not be so blind as to consider his actions as creating bad karma. Maybe the heavens would even think he was doing a good deed!
The remaining ministers in the hall, looking at the emperor's undisguised majesty and coldness, wanted to speak up but found they couldn't utter a single word.
No one had expected that this little attempt at probing would end up with the emperor's thunderous rage.
With several lives lost in succession, it was clear that the emperor was still the cold, cruel and tyrannical ruler who rewarded those who obeyed and punished those who defied.
Even though there had been many changes recently. He killed fewer people, didn't sleep during court sessions, and the party of Grand Tutor Wang and the Empress Dowager had suffered repeated setbacks.
In particular, the tyrant had started to show interest in women and seemed to be infatuated with one particular concubine.
Not long ago, what had happened at the birthday banquet of the Virtuous Concubine had reached the ears of all the ministers.
Tsk tsk.
Today's attempt at probing was the doing of the Virtuous Concubine's father and the Wang family.
The Virtuous Concubine had lost so much face, and it was a disgrace to the Ning family as well. The Ning family was a noble family after all. How could they swallow the humiliation of being outshone by a concubine who had once been a maid?
However, it seemed that this attempt had ended before it even really began.
"My Consort Zhao is a member of the harem. It's not up to you to comment. If there's a next time, if anyone dares to keep their eyes on my harem, I won't mind sending them to the underworld to chat with these chattering fools!"
"Yes, Your Majesty. We will surely keep this in mind and never dare to offend again!"
Get out!
Jun Wuyuan looked at these ministers who were like indestructible cockroaches and felt nothing but annoyance.
After driving them away, he stared into the distance with a heavy look in his eyes, not moving for a long time.
Liang Jiusi felt a sudden chill down his back.
He murmured to himself: Could it be that His Majesty still hasn't had enough of killing?
After a while, he saw Jun Wuyuan withdraw his gaze and casually pick up a memorial to read.
Liang Jiusi quietly let out a sigh of relief.
Thank goodness. His Majesty's anger had finally subsided...
But the next moment, the memorial he had just picked up flew out right in front of Liang Jiusi's eyes.
Liang Jiusi's heart skipped a beat.
Before he could react, he heard the emperor's cold voice.
"Any news from Chang Wei?"
"Your Majesty, Imperial Physician Chang is still in the library and hasn't come back. I assume that..." Liang Jiusi replied carefully.
But before he could finish his sentence, Jun Wuyuan suddenly stood up.
"Fine. I'll go and check in person."
That Chang Wei had bad eyesight. It was better for him to go and supervise in person.
After walking a few steps, Jun Wuyuan thought that if it weren't for these stupid fools who had nothing better to do, if he had stayed in the library all this time, he might have already found what he was looking for!
These fools. He had been too soft - hearted!
The ministers who were walking out of the Yuhua Palace in twos and threes suddenly felt a chill on their backs, as if something bad was about to happen.
On the way, Jun Wuyuan suddenly stopped and stared in a certain direction.
Liang Jiusi almost bumped into him. He quietly took a breath and looked in the same direction. He sighed silently in his heart.
He couldn't help but pray in his heart: Please, Consort Zhao, don't let anything happen to you. Otherwise, we really don't know what earth - shattering things His Majesty will do.
Most importantly, he was afraid that just when there was finally someone to accompany His Majesty, if something really happened...
Just as he started to think about it, Liang Jiusi quickly shook his head in his mind.
May the heavens bless His Majesty and Consort Zhao to be safe and accompany each other for a lifetime.
In the library, Chang Wei was disheveled, his hair in a mess. He was sitting on the ground in a most unseemly way, his eyes as wide as copper bells as he flipped through medical books.
The sun slowly moved westward. The only sound in the library was the occasional flipping of pages.
I don't know how much time had passed when suddenly there was a loud "thud".
Immediately afterwards, there was a burst of laughter that seemed to be able to lift the roof of the library, scaring the maids and guards outside.
Chang Wei beamed as he held an old, yellowed ancient book whose words were almost illegible. He just wanted to let out a long sigh.
All's well that ends well. He had finally found it!
When Jun Wuyuan, who had just arrived at the library, heard the laughter, he couldn't help but stop in his tracks. A thought flashed through his mind.
The tension in his eyebrows eased, and he quickly walked into the library. Just in time, he saw Chang Wei holding a book and spinning around happily like a child who had eaten honey.
"Your Majesty, I've found it!"
Jun Wuyuan's eyebrows lifted in joy. "Really? Shanshan will be okay, right?"
Um -
Hearing this, the joy on Chang Wei's face froze.
Facing Jun Wuyuan's undisguised joy, he felt a sudden uneasiness in his heart. He swallowed twice quietly.
The thick joy that had filled the library gradually faded.
The joy in Jun Wuyuan's eyes froze. He narrowed his eyes and looked at Chang Wei, whose expression seemed a bit off. His tone turned cold.
"Chang Wei!"
Chang Wei was very bitter in his heart. He knelt down with a thud and pleaded guilty.
"Your Majesty, please forgive me! I'm guilty. I shouldn't have been so carried away by my momentary pride and misled Your Majesty. Please calm down and listen to me explain in detail."
Misled?
Just these two words made Jun Wuyuan's heart, filled with joy, fall heavily into the abyss.
His eyes instantly turned cold. He gritted his teeth and said,
"You'd better have a good explanation!"
Chang Wei shivered. "Your Majesty, I've found the reason for Consort Zhao's strange pulse. Combining with the medical books I've collected, I'm sure that the consort has been poisoned by a long - lost and strange poison, Bilo!"
Bilo?
So she had really been poisoned!
The first face that came to Jun Wuyuan's mind was that disgusting old hag!
Oh no.
Jun Wuyuan suddenly turned around and quickly walked out. He only had time to tell Liang Jiusi to take Chang Wei back to the Jiuzhou Qingyan Palace as soon as possible before disappearing from sight.
Liang Jiusi panicked. He didn't even have time to react. All he saw was Jun Wuyuan's rapidly disappearing back.
He knew that something big must have happened. Without any delay, he grabbed Chang Wei by the collar and used his light - footed skill to follow.
Chang Wei: "..."
The rapid wind kept blowing into Chang Wei's mouth. His already messy hair was blown all over his face.
His eyes were dry and painful. Chang Wei cursed in his heart, but he didn't show it at all on his face.
The emperor's sudden change of expression was so drastic and ugly.
It was obvious that something extremely serious had happened!