Zhu Wen, Emperor of Liang!

As he neared the door, Zhu Youning suddenly stopped.

He did not immediately choose to enter the palace and see Zhu Wen, because a thought had suddenly occurred to him.

Perhaps Zhu Wen did not intend to kill Wang Shifan merely to avenge him, but had considerations of his own.

Though Zhu Wen came from a martial background, he was no fool. Otherwise, he could never have risen from a commoner to the imperial throne.

In his youth, Zhu Wen had been no more than an ordinary man working as a servant in other people's homes. Living under another's roof, even his actions had been restricted at every turn.

Zhu Wen's ascent to the throne was by no means a stroke of luck!

Everyone said that Zhu Wen was a treacherous usurper who had brought ruin upon the realm, a man of utter absurdity. Zhu Youning could not refute that, for Zhu Wen's reputation and character truly left much to be desired.

However, in Zhu Youning's view, Zhu Wen was far more capable than those absurd and mediocre Tang emperors, Emperor Xizong and Emperor Zhaozong.

Just try putting Emperor Xizong or Emperor Zhaozong in Zhu Wen's position. They would have long since faded into obscurity!

To rise from nothing, become a hero among the common folk, and finally ascend the imperial throne was no easy feat!

Throughout history, there had been very few who had achieved such things. Of those Zhu Youning knew well, only Han Gaozu Liu Bang and Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang came to mind.

So even if Zhu Wen was absurdly lustful and cruel by nature, he was certainly no fool. If he wanted to kill Wang Shifan, he must have had his own reasons.

After pondering for a while, Zhu Youning increasingly felt that Zhu Wen might be wary of Wang Shifan's influence. Fearing that he might raise troops in rebellion again, Zhu Wen had found an excuse to kill him and eliminate the threat.

Yet Zhu Youning believed Wang Shifan would not rebel again.

First, Wang Shifan was in Luoyang, while his former subordinates were in Pinglu to the east. Without military authority, Wang Shifan did not have the strength to rebel.

Second, Wang Shifan cared greatly about his reputation. He would never imitate Lu Bu and become a fickle servant of three masters.

In his youth, he had already opposed the Tang. Later, he surrendered to Liang, then later rebelled against Liang under the Tang banner. Now that he had been defeated and surrendered to Liang once more, and the Tang had already fallen, if he rebelled against Liang again, he would be changing sides for the third time. Why put himself through that?

If he kept jumping back and forth like this, he would ruin his reputation completely. How could he still call himself a scholar-general famed for his stratagems?

After all, a servant of three masters had nothing to do with a scholar-general.

Of course, Zhu Youning could not be entirely certain of Wang Shifan's thoughts. This was merely his own opinion.

He might not be right. After all, no one knew what was right or wrong before putting it into practice.

He simply felt that killing Wang Shifan would do greater harm to Liang State.

It was said that during Wang Shifan's governance of Qingzhou, everything that had been neglected had flourished, and everyone praised him. If he were killed, public sentiment in Qingzhou might become unstable. Those hundred thousand surrendered soldiers might also grow anxious, and there was no telling what trouble might arise.

Therefore, Zhu Youning still planned to persuade Zhu Wen.

But how to make Zhu Wen change his mind was a problem.

In general, persuasion meant catering to one's preferences. What did Zhu Wen prefer?

Money and wealth? As emperor, the exalted Son of Heaven, he probably lacked neither. That only left women.

Women meant beautiful women. Zhu Wen did not lack those either, given the many consorts in his harem. Yet no matter how many beauties there were, a man was still limited by his own ability and physical condition. There would be times when his heart was willing but his strength was not.

At that thought, Zhu Youning immediately remembered something.

He opened the exchange list and filtered out a peculiar medicine.

[Great Buddha Stick: A peculiar pill of unknown origin and ingredients. It replenishes yang energy, strengthens the body, and prolongs endurance. Exchangeable for 5 Training Wave Counts.]

After secretly putting the various medicinal ingredients Wu Yi had found into his inventory and exchanging for a small bottle of Great Buddha Stick, Zhu Youning immediately hurried toward the palace.

As Zhu Wen's nephew and the commander of the Longxiang Army, one of the Six Armies, it was not difficult for Zhu Youning to obtain an audience with Zhu Wen.

The imperial palace guards also knew him, so they did not obstruct his audience.

Thus, Zhu Youning soon saw Zhu Wen in Jiaolan Hall.

Below the great hall, musicians struck their bells while dancers swirled their robes.

Above the great hall, a fat yet towering man sat upon the dragon throne, holding in his arms a ravishingly beautiful woman dressed in revealing clothes, her figure alluring and seductive.

This man was Zhu Wen, and the woman was Zhang Zhenniang.

As for the relationship between the two of them, it was truly not something to be spoken of before outsiders.

Zhang Zhenniang was, in fact, the wife of Zhu Wen's son, Zhu Yougui.

At that moment, Zhang Zhenniang held an ornate wine cup in one hand and fed Zhu Wen wine with it, while using a scented handkerchief in the other to wipe the wine that spilled from the corners of his mouth and ran into his unruly beard. Then she carefully peeled grapes before placing the fruit into Zhu Wen's mouth. Zhu Wen accepted everything without refusal, one arm around Zhang Zhenniang's slender waist as he opened his mouth and gently bit down on her fingers along with the grape.

When Zhu Youning arrived, the scene became exceedingly awkward. He could only lower his head.

Zhu Wen, on the other hand, did not seem uncomfortable in the slightest. Ever since Zhu Wen's mother and his first wife, Empress Yuanzhen, had died, no one dared make him uncomfortable anymore. No one dared advise him, much less successfully persuade him.

No matter how absurd or bizarre the things he did were.

Seeing that Zhu Youning had requested an audience, Zhu Wen waved a hand, signaling for all the musicians and dancers to withdraw. Then he looked at Zhu Youning.

"Nephew, weren't your injuries still unhealed? Why have you entered the palace?"

"Thanks to Your Majesty's blessings, this subject's health has improved greatly."

Zhu Wen glanced at Zhu Youning in surprise. "Last time, Meng Po told Us that your injuries had yet to fully heal, nephew. That was why We sent you some spiritual medicine. Who would have thought that in only a few days, your body would be well again?"

"It is all thanks to the spiritual medicine bestowed upon this subject by Your Majesty that this subject's health has improved. This subject will surely devote himself utterly and die only after exhausting all his strength, aiding our Great Liang in lasting for ten thousand generations."

Even though he knew Zhu Youning's words were mere flattery, Zhu Wen still beamed and burst into hearty laughter. Everyone was prone to believing what they wanted to hear, especially when such auspicious words came from one of his own juniors. Zhu Wen was practically blooming with delight.

It was like when an elderly person celebrated a birthday—though they knew their children and grandchildren's blessings were merely customary greetings, they would still smile so widely they could not close their mouths.

"Your Majesty, there is actually a reason I came to the palace today."

"Oh?" Zhu Wen looked at Zhu Youning with a smile and asked, "What is it?"

"I came to present this item."

With that, Zhu Youning raised a small bottle in both hands. Naturally, he would not immediately bring up Wang Shifan—not today, at least.

Such matters required gradual planning; haste would only spoil things. He had to let Zhu Wen taste a little sweetness first, make his heart bloom with delight, before he could properly speak of Wang Shifan. Like asking someone for a favor—you had to offer a gift first, didn't you?

By then, the eunuch had already presented the bottle to Zhu Wen.

"My nephew, what is this?"

Zhu Youning said, "Your Majesty, I searched all under heaven before obtaining this item. It was refined by an eminent Daoist. It is greatly beneficial for the blending of male and female yang, and for cultivating one's vital energy!"

"Oh? It has such remarkable effects?"

Zhu Wen truly deserved to be an old hand. He immediately caught the implication behind Zhu Youning's words, and his eyes lit up.

"If Your Majesty does not believe it, you may find someone to test it."