Chapter 281 Astonishing words from the person with ice mask
“Gao Shenjun!” Zhu Quan glared and asked sternly, “Why did you do that! I trust you so much. Why did you hurt my woman and my child! Why did you trick me!”
Gao Shenjun laughed, “It is you who hurt them, not me. I am here to help you. A man who has the ambition to be the emperor can never be impeded by his women and children, nor can he be vulnerable.” Then, he turned his head to Shangguan Ming Ri, who was standing next to them angrily, and then said sarcastically, “These ideas of setting up Concubine He all came from your loyal servant, Ming Ri. He was afraid he couldn’t persuade you, so he wanted my help. When I came here and met Concubine He, I found that she was just an ordinary woman. However, I really didn’t like her eyes... I always felt that I have seen her eyes before. In a word, they are eyesores.”
Zhu Quan turned to Ming Ri and asked word by word, “Why? Why did you do it?”
Shangguan Ming Ri seemed to sense the murderous intent from Zhu Quan, so he quickly knelt on one knee to defend himself, “She may not have an affair with Wang Ke, but she is not innocent as well! Maybe she sneaked out to meet other men!”
“Maybe?” Zhu Quan’s handsome face was distorted. “You killed my beloved concubine because of an unwarranted charge!”
Shangguan Ming Ri quickly lowered his head and changed his excuses, “My Lord, I have to tell you something. The relationship between Concubine He and the Taoist Sage was by no means simple. Last time, you saw her walking out of the mansion secretly, and she went to the Taoist Sage’s home. She was looking around for something there. Maybe she wanted to find the evidence of adultery. I stained her dress with ink, but she immediately found a change in the Taoist Sage’s home. If they were clean, why would she place her dresses there? Maybe...”
Shangguan Ming Ri’s words ended abruptly because Zhu Quan punched his head. That handsome head flew into the air. Then Zhu Quan made another attack, which immediately broke it into blood rains and brains. The body without the head still maintained a kneeling posture. His right fist was still touching the palm of his left hand. Everything happened in a flash. He Danggui hadn’t caught on yet, and she just stared at the headless body of Shangguan Ming Ri.
Instantly, He Danggui breathed a sigh of relief. Since Shangguan Ming Ri died before her in the previous life, everything she saw in Fantasy Dream was fake. She couldn’t be raped by Zhu Quan after death. That was not true.
Gao Shenjun let out a hoarse laugh. He laughed for a long time before speaking, “He has been following you for nearly 30 years. My Lord, you are cold-blooded enough to be entrusted with the great cause.”
Zhu Quan’s eyes were crimson, and he yelled at Gao Shenjun while rushing toward him. He missed a hit, but he continued his move one after another, crying, “Go to revitalize your country by yourself! I quit! I will cut you an arm for my daughter!” Just an arm? He Danggui frowned. What was Gao Shenjun’s story? Why was he able to dodge Zhu Quan’s angry attacks?
Gao Shenjun said sarcastically while he was unhurriedly dodging Zhu Quan’s attacks, “If you can touch me, I would love to give it to you as a gift. Come on, show me your ability. I want to see what Yang Hua’s son can do.”
Zhu Quan shouted and pointed to the sky with his right hand. After a while, a blue sword suddenly appeared in his hand. Of course, it was not a substantive sword but one made of his Zhenqi. He Danggui had never seen this kind of sword. She only read it once in a book. She didn’t expect that someone in the world could use it. However, that person, by coincidence, was once her husband.
It was clear that Gao Shenjun was much stronger than Zhu Quan in Kungfu. Although his eyes under the ice mask showed surprise, he continued to take strange steps to dodge attacks without fighting back. Wherever Zhu Quan’s sword came, houses collapsed in pieces and trees fell. But, after two hundred rounds, Zhu Quan didn’t even cut a piece of Gao Shenjun’s clothes.
That sword was fierce, but its consumption was so huge that it was unimaginable. After another hundred rounds, even Zhu Quan gradually couldn’t support it. He panted heavily and fell to the ground on one knee. Gao Shenjun watched him from a distance for a moment, and then continued to persuade him to focus on his great cause and not to be so obsessed with a woman. As the last descendant of the Mongolian royal family, he should shoulder the responsibility of rebuilding his country and not let down his mother’s last wish. Zhu Quan said nothing. The next moment, he took out an unsheathed knife from his sleeve and raised it to his neck. He shouted in a deep voice, “I will kill the last descendant. You and Zhu Di should go to hell!”
Gao Shenjun was shocked and flew to save him, but the red blood had already splashed out. Gao Shenjun lowered his head to check Zhu Quan’s wound. However, Zhu Quan raised his head and thrust the knife into Gao Shenjun’s heart. Gao Shenjun stepped back three steps, looking at him in disbelief, “Why?”
Zhu Quan proudly showed his left wrist. The blood there was already soaking in the cuff. He smiled, “I only cut my wrist. After you die, I will make good use of your resources to continue our great cause. When I become the emperor, and my Yiyi becomes the empress, I will miss you and give you a supreme posthumous title. Mr. Gao, you can continue to be a slave for my mother and confess to my daughter down below. By the way, my knife is poisonous without any antidote. You are dying.”
Gao Shenjun threw back his head and laughed. Then while vomiting blood, he shouted, “Fabulous! Yang Hua, our son has grown up. He can kill me already! Now I can die in peace! Hahaha!”
Zhu Quan’s expression changed drastically. He looked at Gao Shenjun and cursed, “Nonsense! I am not your son! Don’t involve my mother!”
Gao Shenjun smiled and asked, “If you weren’t my son, why would I work so hard to let you be the emperor? With my ability, why don’t I kill Zhu Yuanzhang and take the throne myself? Zhu Quan, I am very pleased to see you become so excellent, and you even know how to use both schemes and deceptions. Although I am worried that you are not as good as Zhu Di yet, and I can’t see you be the emperor myself, I’m still proud of you. Besides, I am extremely happy to see Yang Hua.” As he said, he slowly closed his eyes and died.
The manipulator and conspirator behind the scenes, a minister of the Yuan Dynasty, died standing up, even straighter than the living.
He Danggui was as stunned as Zhu Quan. Zhu Quan was not Zhu Yuanzhang’s son? But he had the same temperament as Zhu Yuanzhang! Or was it a lie made up by Gao Shenjun to make Zhu Quan regret it? But why did Gao Shenjun hate her and want her eyes?
Who was “Gao Jun” who killed Tenth Princess many years ago? He could enter and go freely in the Imperial Palace with a night suit and a long cloak. He must have sneaked into the Imperial Palace, so he was a master of Kungfu.
They had the same level of Kungfu, the same surname “Gao”, the same word “Jun” in their names, the same murderous disposition and the same identity of Mongolians. Were Gao Jun and Gao Shenjun the same person? Gao Jun killed Tenth Princess, and Gao Shenjun planned to kill Concubine He. He Danggui frowned, her previous two lives might have been ended by the same person. In addition, that person was possibly Zhu Quan’s father?!
Zhu Quan stepped back and sat down on the ground, watching Gao Shenjun in a daze for four hours. At the same time, He Danggui also leaned against the wall and waited to see if Gao Shenjun’s ice mask would melt. This man might have killed her twice, but she didn’t even know what he looked like.
The world inside the wall began to flutter heavy snow. Zhu Quan and Gao Shenjun with the ice mask became two snowmen before long. He Danggui was a little disappointed. However, she remembered that she died in the coldest time of the year when dripping water would turn into ice. No wonder that ice mask did not melt.
“My Lord.” A little eunuch poked his head out of the ruins and called with great care. Zhu Quan turned his head slightly to prove that he was alive. Then, the little eunuch continued, “Concubine He is...”
Zhu Quan put his sharp black eyes at the eunuch, but he couldn’t sweep the hidden fatigue in the sharpness, “What’s wrong with her?”
“She’s gone.”
Zhu Quan quickly stood up, “Impossible!” He had just checked the Water Dungeon yesterday, and he even locked it himself!
“Maybe she died and sank to the bottom…”
Zhu Quan’s eyes darkened, and his figure suddenly disappeared. The eunuch who had never seen Zhu Quan show his arts of lightness was struck dumb.
The sky was full of snowflakes. Zhu Quan appeared outside the Water Dungeon in the back garden. He broke the meteoriciron railing and jumped inside to find Concubine He. No matter how cold it was outside, the water in the dungeon would never freeze. It was strange. Zhu Quan had searched for a long time. According to He Danggui’s memory, Zhu Quan was never a good swimmer, and it might be difficult for him to dive underwater. Of course, that could be another disguise for him. After all, he was a man living under masks.
He Danggui sneered. If he couldn’t find her, then she must have died and sunk to the bottom of the water. Why did he want to find her? Zhu Quan, your daughter was still lying on the bottom.
The Water Dungeon was rebuilt twice, covering a very large area. Zhu Quan had tried hard but found nothing. Then, he waved his hand and slapped the water violently. After that, the water in the dungeon turned into columns and shot out of the door above his head. Freezing rains was falling outside. Soon, the water in the dungeon was drained, and there was only a small black object in the corner. He Danggui shed tears because that was her daughter.
“Yiyi! Yiyi!” Zhu Quan shouted. His voice echoed in the Water Dungeon. He only saw an empty cell. His Concubine He was not there. A special power controlled him so that he forgot to breathe at this certain moment.
Where was her? Where was her body? This was a question shared by Zhu Quan and He Danggui.
Zhu Quan jumped out of the Water Dungeon and quickly walked to the front yard. He ordered everyone in the mansion to look for her, and sealed the gate of the mansion and the gate of the city. Concubine He was so tricky. She must have thought of a way to escape from here! Zhu Quan walked so fast that he overlooked the road. He stepped on a soft object by accident. When he looked down, he saw a pale face buried under the newly fallen snow. That was Concubine He, but her eyes closed tight. Except for her hair, the entire face was the same color as the snow.
Zhu Quan squatted down next to her, trying to wake her up. However, every inch of her skin was cold, with no warmth left. “Wake up!” He patted her face.
No response from her. She seemed to be asleep.
“Damn it. Concubine He, wake up!” Zhu Quan gritted his teeth and shouted with a low voice, “I have something to ask you. Wake up now!” He still got no response. He suddenly reached out to try her snort and then let out a sigh of relief. He Danggui frowned suspiciously. She was not dead yet? When did she get out of the Water Dungeon? The last impression she had when she passed out was the sharp pain and the endless cold.
Knowing that Concubine He was wronged, Zhu Quan still arrogantly and sternly commanded, “Wake up! Now! I will forgive you and treat you as usual!” He Danggui was speechless. How could she accept him after she suffered these?
Suddenly, Zhu Quan became smarter, knowing to feel the pulse and protect Concubine He’s heart with his Zhenqi. However, the battle just now consumed his Zhenqi too much. It was also possible that he was too stingy to use his Zhenqi on Concubine He. After a few minutes, he took back his hand and shook Concubine He’s shoulders sharply. He shouted, “I have forgiven you. Wake up! Wake up!”
He Danggui laughed sarcastically and thought, “Zhu Quan, why did you think that you had the right to forgive me? Why did you think I could wake up? I was locked in the Water Dungeon for three months. I had to eat the raw fish and shrimp occasionally rushing over from the moat for a living. I was not an immortal. I couldn’t survive! The reason why I didn’t die soon was that I wanted to see your punishments! I’m so happy to see you kill your true father today.”
Zhu Quan picked skinny Concubine He and stumbled to the nearest house. Chunks of snow were falling from her hair and her tattered clothes, leaving a winding white trace, almost undetectable on the snow-covered ground.
“Anybody here!” Zhu Quan yelled while he was panting, “Are you deaf? Bring me the stove and hot water!” He walked to the door of a house and kicked it open. Then, he put Concubine He on the bed, tore away her clammy and tattered clothes, and wrapped her in a quilt. He yelled at the door again, “Stove and hot water!”
The stove and hot water were delivered immediately. After Zhu Quan drove away those people and closed the door, he soaked the naked Concubine He in a bucket of hot water.
He Danggui thought that Zhu Quan was really a fool. People who suffered frostbite couldn’t immediately get warmed or touch the hot water. Zhu Quan called himself the scholar knowing everything, but he didn’t know this most basic common sense?
“Stop!” Someone kicked in and shouted like a thunderstorm, “You can’t warm her up! You are killing her! She is poisoned!”
Updat𝒆d fr𝒐m freew𝒆bnov𝒆l.c(o)m