Young White Horse: The Poison Sword Master of the Wen Family, Shocking the Apocalypse

Chapter 402 A Shocking Change at Pingqing Palace, the Poison Sword Immortal Returns to Tianqi City!

Apocalypse City, Imperial Palace.

As dawn broke, the light shone brightly on the red walls and golden tiles of Pingqing Hall.

Springtime deepened day by day, and the once solemn and dignified imperial palace became more vibrant. However, the master of this palace, Xiao Chongjing, was quite different from the springtime scenery.

Last time, Wen Yanzhao and Baili Dongjun, along with a few others, impersonated immortals and caused a ruckus in Tianqi City. They not only stole dozens of priceless treasures from the imperial palace, but also used the mud on their bodies as elixirs, giving the old emperor a harsh lesson.

Adding to the devastating news that Yunzhou City had fallen into the hands of Baili Luochen, Xiao Chongjing, who had been able to prolong his life by using Zhuoqing to regulate his breathing with true qi, suffered a sudden attack of anger and was bedridden for more than half a month after the two blows!

Even though Zhuo Qing worked tirelessly day and night to help the old emperor regulate his breathing and also dispatched imperial guards to seek out famous doctors and medicines, Xiao Chongjing's complexion still did not improve, and gradually he even became seriously ill.

Seeing this, Zhuo Qing had no choice but to send more people to search for Xin Baicao of Medicine King Valley in the martial arts world. However, another half month passed, and there was still no news.

……

The morning court session had already ended. Xiao Chongjing dismissed the assembled officials, but he himself did not leave. He simply sat on the dragon throne in Pingqing Hall for a long time without saying a word.

He held a secret letter in his hand, the dense, tiny characters on it making one's eyes dizzy.

Xiao Chongjing's face was gloomy, and his gaze was coldly fixed on the document. The muscles around his eyes and mouth twitched from time to time, which was really frightening.

Zhuo Qing knew that the memorial was definitely not a good thing, but he dared not ask or leave without permission. He simply stood beside Xiao Chongjing and served him.

Xiao Chongjing remained silent for the time it takes to drink a cup of tea before finally speaking.

He gripped the folded document tightly in his hand, his knuckles turning slightly bluish-white from the excessive force.

Xiao Chongjing's voice was low, yet it carried a hint of anger, as if it were being forced out from his throat:

"I am rich and powerful, ruling over all people! How come I don't even have anyone capable of fighting?!"

"Fortunately, I even bestowed upon him the title of Marquis of a province, and fortunately, he boasted of being from a family of generals who were skilled in battle! Incompetent! Incompetent! Baili Luochen is nearly seventy years old and will soon turn into a skeleton in his tomb, yet this Lu Ting'en, who is in the prime of his life, has been defeated by this old scoundrel!?"

"Zhuoqing...Zhuoqing, tell me, is this Lu Ting'en a good-for-nothing? Is he!"

"Good! Good! Good! Is this God's retribution for me? First there was Ye Yu, now Baili Luochen, my two good brothers..."

Xiao Chongjing's anger caused his blood to surge in his chest, leading to a violent cough.

"Cough...cough..."

Seeing this, Zhuo Qing quickly moved closer to the old emperor, pressed one palm against Xiao Chongjing's Xinshu acupoint on his back, and slowly poured true energy into his body.

"Your Majesty, you must not be angry. The fate of the Great Li Kingdom rests on Your Majesty's shoulders. You must not let the loss of a city or a place harm your health!"

Zhuo Qingbian comforted Xiao Chongjing and accelerated the circulation of true qi.

In just a few breaths, Xiao Chongjing, whose face had been deathly pale, regained some color.

Sweat began to bead on Zhuo Qing's forehead. He now roughly knew the contents of the secret report: Lu Ting'en had once again been defeated by Baili Luochen and lost the important southwestern city of Yunzhou...

As his inner energy flowed into his body, Xiao Chongjing took a few deep breaths and waved his hand:

"Zhuoqing, you should rest for a while too. We've been relying on you these past few days..."

Sigh... I don't know how much longer my body can hold on. Just having you regulate my breathing and circulate my energy every day isn't a long-term solution..."

Upon hearing this, Zhuo Qing slowly raised his left hand, withdrew his inner force, took two steps back, and bowed, saying:

"Your Majesty is too kind to this old servant. Serving Your Majesty is Zhuoqing's duty, and this old servant has never felt it was hard work."

Even so, the beads of sweat on Zhuo Qing's forehead were already the size of mung beans, and anyone could see that he had expended a lot of his inner energy these days.

Xiao Chongjing sat up abruptly, his hand snapping out of its grasp. The folded document he had been holding was now a crumpled piece of paper. He looked out of the hall and slowly asked:

"Is Feng'er still not planning to return to Tianqi City?"

Zhuo Qing raised his sleeve and quietly wiped the sweat from his forehead, then hesitated for a moment before saying:

"This... The person I sent last time reported that the Prince of Langya is currently staying in Chaisang City in the Southwest Province, which is the home of his third senior brother Gu Jianmen from the Jixia Academy. In the short term... His Highness the Prince of Langya probably has no intention of returning."

Xiao Chongjing hummed in agreement, then sighed, his eyes inexplicably becoming moist.

"Xie'er has been gone for more than half a year now. Without his chatter, I feel a little uneasy... Zhuoqing, I didn't have time to visit him last Qingming Festival..."

"In a few days, when the weather is nice, will you come with me to burn some paper money for Xie'er?"

Zhuo Qing's throat tightened slightly at his words. It had indeed been more than half a year since Xiao Xie died at Ye Ding's hands.

Although Xiao Chongjing was stubborn and suspicious, he can be considered an absolute tyrant throughout history.

As a father, the pain of outliving his son was indeed unbearable. Even though Prince Qing, Xiao Xie, was a dissolute and dissolute young master, he was still Xiao Chongjing's own flesh and blood, whom he had watched grow up.

The silence in Pingqing Palace lasted for a long time before it was finally broken by a palace guard who rushed in to report.

Seeing that the emperor and Zhuo Qing both looked rather grim, the guard became somewhat uneasy and hurriedly knelt down upon entering the main hall, performing a deep and respectful salute.

"Your Majesty, there is an urgent matter outside the palace!"

Xiao Chongjing calmly wiped his eyes, regained his composure, and asked:

"What's the matter?"

The guard dared not raise his head and remained kneeling inside the hall, replying:

"Your Majesty, the deputy commander of the Imperial Guard on duty outside the palace reports that Lu Ting'en, the Marquis of Yunzhou and concurrently the Commander-in-Chief of All Military Affairs, requests to enter the palace for an audience with Your Majesty. This is to report to Your Majesty!"

Upon hearing the guard's words, Xiao Chongjing's heart skipped a beat, and he narrowed his eyes, asking:

"Lu Ting'en? Why is he here in Tianqi instead of guarding the city in Yunzhou? How many men did he bring with him, and who else came with him?"

When the old emperor asked the question, the guard trembled with fear and said:

"Your Majesty, I only heard from the deputy commander of the Imperial Guard on duty that Lu Ting'en only brought a dozen or so riders, and no one else with him..."

Xiao Chongjing felt relieved upon hearing that there were more than ten riders. He had originally thought that Lu Ting'en had betrayed Beili and gone to Baili Luochen, and that he had brought troops to Tianqi to force him to abdicate.

But then he thought again, even if Tianqi City was not good, it was still the capital of a country, not to mention the Jinwu Guard inside the city and the Imperial Guard outside the city still had tens of thousands of elite troops.

How could Lu Ting'en, who had traveled thousands of miles, have arrived at the gates of the Imperial Palace so quickly? Xiao Chongjing breathed a sigh of relief, finding his earlier worry amusing.

"Are you sure he only brought a dozen or so riders? If so, order the deputy general on duty to remove his and his cavalry's weapons, and let only Lu Ting'en come to the palace to see me. Go!"

Upon hearing this, the guard quickly stood up and replied, "Your Excellency obeys the order!"

He then slowly withdrew from Pingqing Hall and headed towards the palace gate.

Xiao Chongjing's gaze shifted from the departing guard to Zhuo Qing. He stroked the string of bright red coral beads in his hand and asked:

"In your opinion, what brings Lu Ting'en here today? Is it because Yunzhou is running out of food supplies? Or has he already captured Baili Luochen and come to ask me for a reward and credit?"

Zhuo Qing pondered for a moment, then shook his head: "Your Majesty, please don't take offense. In this old servant's opinion, Lu Ting'en's arrival is probably not good news!"

"The lord of a city and the governor of a prefecture should not abandon his post without permission, which is a serious crime. Moreover, His Majesty ordered him to quell the rebellion of the Baili clan. How dare he take it upon himself to come to Tianqi City? This is clearly a disregard for His Majesty!"

Xiao Chongjing twirled the coral beads, not responding to Zhuo Qing's words, but the image of Langya King Xiao Ruofeng kept flashing through his mind.

The reason is simple: he desperately needs someone he can rely on!

Seeing him standing there in a daze, Zhuo Qing didn't dare ask any more questions. He beckoned to the eunuch beside him to brew another pot of ginseng tea, and personally poured Xiao Chongjing a hot cup, placing it before the imperial desk.

"Your Majesty, please have no worries. The ginseng tea is still hot. Drinking it now will greatly benefit your health."

Xiao Chongjing was startled, then quickly came to his senses. He took the ginseng tea, sipped it gently, and was about to put the teacup down when footsteps sounded outside the main hall—

"Your Majesty, Marquis Lu Ting'en of Yunzhou requests an audience!"

……