It was sweet and sour. It was the taste of the pill Fan Xian had forced the empress dowager to swallow. The pill had always been kept close to Fan Xian's body. Even though he had experienced so many life and death battles these two years, entered the sea and climbed mountains, and was covered in wounds, Fan Xian did not lose these pills. He knew these pills were very important to him.
It had been a dozen years ago in Danzhou when Fan Xian's teacher, Fei Jie, had solemnly stuffed the medicinal pouch into his small hands. He was afraid that the Tyrannical zhenqi Fan Xian practiced would explode and cause him to die a tragic death.
However, in these dozen years, Fan Xian had never taken this medicine. After killing Xie Bi 'an by the Second Prince's side in the Jingdou government and fighting the Shadow head on, his zhenqi finally exploded in his body and he became a cripple. Even under these circumstances, he did not take the medicine.
He knew how Tyrannical this medicine was. It was a medicine that scattered martial arts.
Fan Xian was unwilling to disperse all the cultivation in his body, so he endured the pain of his meridians being torn and the stiffness of being unable to move. He persisted in not taking the medicine Sir Fei Jie had left behind. Fortunately, Haitang had later secretly brought the Heart of Tianyi Dao to Jiangnan. Only then could his strange injuries slowly heal.
Now, he had finally delivered this pill into the empress dowager's mouth. The medicinal properties of this pill were strong. It followed the path of scattering martial arts and gathering qi. It entered one's internal organs with unusual directness and gradually annihilated the body's vitality.
It had to be said that if Fan Xian did not have the Heart of Tianyi Dao, once his zhenqi exploded, he could only use this pill to disperse the overly violent Tyrannical zhenqi and exuberant vitality in his body.
However, the empress dowager was already old and weak. She did not have many years left to live. Taking this pill at this time was equivalent to the remnants of life in her body being gradually pulled out of her body by the medicine, speeding up the path of death. Her life gradually dimmed. Her old body could not withstand it and was already at its weakest point.
Fan Xian had a great fear, so he did not brazenly use poison on the empress dowager. However, the medicine Fei Jie had left behind was not poison. No matter which famous doctor in the world came to diagnose, they would not be able to find anything strange.
The Empress Dowager no longer had the strength to speak. Soon, she felt the burden on her body grow heavier and heavier. Even if she wanted to raise her arm, she couldn't do it. Unless another Great Grandmaster appeared in the world and forcefully used extremely pure zhenqi to help her reflect for an instant, the Empress Dowager could only miserably become a cripple who couldn't speak or move. Then, she would slowly wait for death to come.
It was not that Fan Xian was ruthless. It was not that Fan Xian's desire for revenge had burned away his rationality like wildfire. In the current situation and with Fan Xian's great hidden worry, he could only use this method to ensure his present and future safety.
Right now, the rebel army was surrounding the city. The Empress Dowager could be the God's card to weaken the rebel army's attack. But what about the safety in the future?
…
…
The Empress Dowager did not know how sinister and vicious the medicine she had taken contained. She only thought it was a mute medicine. She still looked at Fan Xian with hatred. Fan Xian did not meet the empress dowager's dim and angry gaze. Instead, he turned his cold gaze toward the two powers high above the palace walls. He looked seriously at Ye Zhong beside the Second Prince and the short and strong general. A strange light shone through his eyes. It was as if he was thinking endlessly about something.
The Dingzhou army had not entered the capital to present prisoners of war. As usual, there were only a few thousand soldiers. However, Ye Zhong and the Second Prince had led tens of thousands of people into Jingdou. It looked like they had long been prepared. However, he did not find Hongcheng's figure among the rebel army. This made Fan Xian feel a glimmer of relief.
Looking from a distance, the rebel army leaders seemed to be arguing about something. The Crown Prince remained silent. He used his worried eyes to watch the movements on the palace walls. He was worried about his mother and grandmother's safety. In his heart, he cursed Fan Xian, the Great Prince, Hu Shu, and the other old officials viciously.
Fan Xian suddenly narrowed his eyes. He saw that the rebel army leaders had stopped their discussion. The sound of horse hooves gradually rang out. The Qin and Ye families each split up their troops and pressed toward the two flanks. He abruptly turned his head and glanced at the Great Prince not far away. The Great Prince nodded at him to indicate that he had long been prepared. Only then did he relax.
It looked like the main direction of the rebel army's attack, other than the main gate of the Royal Palace, had chosen Taiping Square. The palace walls there were slightly shorter. Furthermore, it was a place where eunuchs and serving girls lived, so the entrance was never strictly guarded. The Great Prince had long predicted this. He had moved a large number of soldiers forward to guard it. He had also moved over seventy to eighty percent of the loyal generals he had raised from the Western Expedition Army.
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…
It was just petty cleverness. It was only to stall for time. He still hadn't caught the one that had escaped and could change the situation. Fan Xian's mind suddenly began to empty again. His eyes gazed at the densely packed rebel army below the palace walls. It was as if he had seen through their existence. He gazed at a place further away, at the past, and at the variable he had been waiting for but had never appeared.
30,000 against a few thousand. No matter how high the palace walls were, even if the rebel army didn't dare to release arrows, and even if they had to use people to fill in the gaps, they had to fill in the moat outside the Royal Palace. They had to fill in a human ladder, climb to a high place, and destroy everything in the Royal Palace. Looking at the busy arrangements of the rebel army and the gradually rising siege ladders, Fan Xian's pupils constricted slightly. He felt a glimmer of coldness at the bottom of his heart. The three-part ladder produced by the third workshop of the palace treasury had finally been moved over. The attack was finally about to begin.
These military equipment were all produced by the palace treasury. As the head of the palace treasury, Fan Xian couldn't help but feel a glimmer of absurdity. The things he had produced were going to be used to attack him, and he couldn't find any way to deal with it.
His heart began to beat faster. His scalp felt numb. His brows were furrowed tightly. Suddenly, he took a few heavy breaths. He felt that there was a problem with his breathing. His chest felt heavy. Leaning against the arrow hole made of bricks, he slowly crouched down.
The hearts of everyone on the palace walls jumped. They all rushed in his direction. The battle was imminent. If one of the main commanders, Fan Xian, suddenly had a problem with his body, it would, without a doubt, be a massive blow to the morale of the Imperial Army.
The Third Prince was close to him. Fearfully holding his left arm, he called out, "Sir, what is it?"
Without waiting for more people to gather around him, Fan Xian raised his right arm with his head down. In a tired voice, he said, "I need a quiet place to think about some problems. You all go prepare. Don't mind me."
Hearing this, no one could relax. Seeing his stubbornness and the fact that the rebel army was already preparing to attack, they could only accept their orders and rush to the area they were defending. The Great Prince stood in the commander's position and glanced at him from a distance. Seeing Fan Xian, who had been full of killing intent earlier, now crouching helplessly at the foot of the palace walls, he couldn't help but feel his heart dim.
"Hu the Scholar, I'll have to trouble you to buy some time."
Fan Xian lowered his head and spoke in a quiet voice. Hu the Scholar glanced at him with concern and sighed. He walked to the side of the palace walls and spoke in a loud voice.
The Third Prince anxiously stood guard by his side. He didn't know how Fan Xian was right now.
Fan Xian simply sat down on the foot of the palace walls and buried his head deeply between his legs. Breathing with difficulty, he looked very pitiful. He was like a homeless cat on a rainy night.
Faintly, Hu the Scholar's righteous and awe-inspiring words reached his ears. It seemed that he was carrying out his final conversation with the Crown Prince. Although these words floated into Fan Xian's ears, he was not able to hear a single word clearly. However, he had confidence in Hu the Scholar. Since he was buying time, he had to buy it for a while.
The problem Fan Xian faced was the chaos in his mind. After returning to the capital from Dong Mountain, he had done things step by step. In his confrontation with the Eldest Princess, there had been victories and defeats. Even when he was trapped in the Royal Palace, he was still full of confidence. The details of many events gave him a faint hint. The Eldest Princess and Crown Prince's rebellion had long been calculated by Chen Pingping. Since it was so, when things progressed to the final moment, there would always be a chance to turn the tables.
Just as he had thought in the early hours of the morning, there would always be someone coming to save him on colorful auspicious clouds. However, the morning clouds had already dispersed, and the red light was no longer there. Where was the person who would come to save him?
A heavy sniper rifle? No, if he hadn't thought through this matter clearly, Fan Xian would not use this trump card.
There was a problem. Fan Xian closed his eyes tightly. As he coughed, he quickly turned his head. In the end, he still could not grasp the important point that had flashed through his mind like a goose.
He had used up too much of his mind and energy. Fan Xian's coughing grew more and more severe. He slowly opened his eyes. His eyes were completely blood red.
After being injured by Yan Xiaoyi, forcing his way into the capital, forcefully breaking into the Palace, and laughing and talking without fear on the Royal Palace, he had already used up all of his energy. He was only relying on the Third Bureau's secret ephedra pills to forcefully stimulate his mind.
Fan Xian took a few heavy breaths. Using trembling hands, he took out two pungent ephedra pills from his clothes and brought them to his lips. He carelessly chewed a few times and swallowed them. He knew that this medicine was very damaging to the body. In such a dangerous situation, even if he had to drink doves to quench his thirst, he could only gladly endure it.
Although Li Chengping didn't know what his teacher was eating, he, who had been concerned about him the entire time, had already guessed that Fan Xian's body had reached the end of its life. His blood-red eyes represented an inauspicious omen. Involuntarily, he nervously and unhappily gripped Fan Xian's hands on his knees.
The medicine took effect quickly. Fan Xian's chest felt much more comfortable. It was as if each breath he took in was many times more air than usual. Naturally, his coughing also slowed. However, the lines of blood in his eyes grew denser. Compared to his slightly haggard but full of heroic spirit, he appeared to have a heart-palpitating charm.
With a slap, Fan Xian, who was sitting on the ground, suddenly pulled his hand out of Li Chengping's small hands. Like lightning, he reached to the left and grabbed the old woman's feet in the golden palace shoes.
Fan Xian didn't turn his head to look. He only coldly said, "You didn't dare to kill yourself in the Palace. Now, you want to use your death to provoke the Crown Prince into a fierce attack?"
When he stretched out his hand like lightning, the pair of feet in the palace shoes were trying to quietly stand on their tiptoes and move their owner's weak body toward the hard ground below the palace walls.
Li Chengping looked at this scene with great terror. He watched as the empress dowager's feet were forcefully pressed down by Fan Xian the moment before she jumped off the wall to kill herself.
…
…
The empress dowager had taken the medicine and was already at the end of her life. Fan Xian had not recovered from his heavy injuries. Forcefully increasing his power, he was also almost at the end of his life. However, a murderous aura of death still echoed between these two grandmother and grandson, who were both at the end of their lives.
It was always simple for a person to die. The empress dowager looked coldly and hatefully at the side of Fan Xian's face. Seeing the strange redness seeping out of his eyes, she gradually felt pleasure in her heart. No matter how powerful the wicked woman and her son were, in the end, they could not be allowed to exist in this world. This was something that had long been decided by fate. History had long proven this point.
However, after Fan Xian said those words, he unexpectedly sank into silence. His eyes stared blankly ahead and gradually furrowed his brows. His eyes gradually lit up, just like when he was looking at Ye Zhong earlier. It was as if he had finally thought through something and made up his mind about something.
The negotiations between Hu the Scholar and the Crown Prince had already broken down. The rebel army beat the war drums and began their first attack on the city. Far behind them, in the area of Taiping Square to the left, a heaven-shaking cry of killing rang out.
The war drums rang out. Although there was no rain of arrows, there were stray arrows flying through the sky with a whistling sound. Countless rebel soldiers pushed ladders and large carriages covered in oil cloth. Bravely, they braved the giant crossbows and sporadic rain of arrows. Against the rocks falling from the top of the palace walls, they charged forward.
In an instant, the foot of the palace walls was filled with wretched cries. The sight of blood flowing and the pain of fire burning filled the air. The morning sun had long risen into the slanting sky. Mercilessly, it watched Jingdou bleed again after a dozen years.
Fan Xian slowly rose and emotionlessly watched the scene in front of him. He didn't look at the empress dowager beside him. Instead, he said to her, "I've thought through many things."
When he pressed down on the empress dowager's foot, he couldn't help but think of his grandmother in Danzhou. He thought of the words she had always sternly told him, "The Fan family does not need to take sides because we will always stand on the Emperor's side."
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