"They cornered me in the rockery grotto by the inkstone-washing pool, ripped off my outer robe and splashed ink on me, and then beat me mercilessly on the bone with a ruler."
"Among all the teachers and eunuchs in the hall, who wasn't bowing their heads and pretending to be deaf and dumb? Who would dare to offend the powerful families for my sake?"
Gu Mochen raised his eyelids, a cold and fierce look appearing deep in his eyes.
"Only Chen Qing from the Chen Family of Yingchuan was bullied every day. Every time, after those aristocratic scions got tired and dispersed, he would crawl out of the snowdrift covered in bruises and carry me back to the side hall."
"Once, that bastard from the Lu Family tried to hit me with a bamboo stick. He pounced on me and took thirty blows on his back. For two months, I could only lie on my stomach and drink thin porridge."
At this point, Gu Mochen's back muscles tensed up suddenly, causing the iron chains on the stone pillar to rattle loudly.
"How could I not know that Chen Qing is selfish, greedy, and always scheming to climb the ranks?"
"But for someone who grew up soaking in ice water,"
Even a stray dog once sheltered me from the wind and warmed my hands on the coldest winter nights.
As long as I, Gu Mochen, am still alive, I will never point a blade at his neck.
"Besides, he treated me more like a real brother."
Zhou Huaili's lips moved slightly, and his fingers holding the bowl of water trembled slightly. He finally understood why Chen Qing always envied others for their tough bodies; it turned out he was afraid of being bullied.
In the end, he couldn't utter another word accusing Chen Qing.
The room was so quiet that only the crackling sound of the lamp oil popping could be heard.
After a long while, the desolation in Gu Mochen's eyes gradually faded, replaced by a hatred that seeped from his very bones.
"Furthermore, Old Zhou, do you really think that those scions of prominent families at Hall of Literary Learning back then were merely young, arrogant, and bullying?"
Zhou Huaili's expression changed slightly, and he raised his head.
"A few years ago, I sent people to investigate the backgrounds of those who accompanied me in my studies back then. The eldest son of the Wang Family, who led the beating of me, had a mother who was a distant cousin of that Empress."
Gu Mochen gritted his teeth, each word like a blade scraping against a stone slab.
"Later, the old Daoist priest who lured me to the Daoist temple outside the city to seek the Longevity Pill and then coaxed me into presenting it to His Majesty, after he escaped, found a gold-threaded hand warmer, a gift from the imperial treasury of the Palace of Phoenix Ceremony, under his bed."
"From beginning to end, it was that high and mighty Empress who cleared the obstacles in the path for her good son."
"She wanted me dead, but was afraid of sullying her imperial robes, so she used these insidious methods to slowly drag me into the mire."
Gu Mochen coughed violently, choking on a mouthful of black blood, his face turning a deathly pale purple.
"I'm afraid I can't make it..."
Just then, a series of rapid, heavy thuds of leather boots suddenly erupted on the long blue brick path outside.
The heavy iron-clad wooden door was pushed open.
A royal guard, clad in tattered leather armor and covered in blood, stumbled in, his knees slamming onto the puddle floor. He then held a long, black lacquered box, wrapped tightly in three layers of thick oilcloth, high in the air.
"Your Highness! The package has arrived via urgent courier from Yi Prefecture!"
The rough porcelain bowl slipped from Zhou Huaili's hand and shattered into seven or eight pieces on the blue bricks. Warm water splashed onto the hem of his robe, but he didn't even lower his head. He rushed forward and snatched the wooden box from the assassin's hand.
The tarpaulin covering the outside was stuck shut by dried horse blood.
Zhou Huaili drew the short blade from his waist, quickly cut the knot, and lifted the sheepskin soaked with sour sweat.
The wooden box popped open with a clatter, revealing a round pill completely sealed with thick white wax inside.
It was about the size of a longan, with a faint oily sheen.
Underneath the pill was a rough, yellowed sheet of Xuan paper, with rough, frayed edges still bearing traces of ink bleeding.
Zhou Huaili unfolded the Xuan paper by the flickering torchlight, his gaze falling on the rows of bold, expressive charcoal characters.
"This medicine is called ' Withered Wood Meets Spring Powder,' a secret medicine from the extinct royal family of Dali."
"If taken, it can seal off all the blood vessels in the body for three days with its extremely cold and domineering power, forcibly removing the bone-deep poison of the Bliss Pills."
"However, when the medicine's effects are excessive, it's like a wildfire spreading; the eight extraordinary meridians of the person who takes it will inevitably rupture inch by inch, and they will never be able to lift a knife or move their qi again for the rest of their lives."
"Moreover, the medicine's effects are detrimental; taking it will immediately shorten one's lifespan by ten years."
"The antidote is here. Death or crippling, Your Majesty, is the choice."
The letter trembled violently in Zhou Huaili's hand, the pages making a rustling sound.
The trusted advisor's face drained of all color in an instant, and he swayed, nearly collapsing to the ground.
"You vile woman! You scoundrel!"
Zhou Huaili let out a shrill curse and knelt heavily before Gu Mochen.
Clutching the white wax pill tightly in both hands, tears mixed with cold sweat streamed down her face.
"Your Highness! This is not an antidote at all; it's clearly the Third Prince's scheme to kill us all!"
"He's kicking you when you're down! He wants to use this potent drug to turn you into a cripple!"
"He wants to seize your power, take over your Haimen, and even shorten your lifespan by ten years! What kind of brother harbors such malicious intentions!"
"You mustn't take this medicine, Your Highness! You absolutely mustn't take it!"
If you consume it, how will you maintain your standing among the princes, and how will you hold your head high in the Great Yan Dynasty?
Zhou Huaili slammed his head against the ground with a muffled thud that echoed through the deathly silent room, leaving a dark red bloodstain on the blue bricks.
Gu Mochen, perched on the stone pillar, kept his head bowed, his gaze passing over Zhou Huaili's thin shoulders and landing on the letter.
His breathing was erratic, his broken ribs heaving with his chest, the pain excruciating, yet his expression remained strangely calm.
A moment later, a low, hoarse, and desolate laugh rolled out from deep within his throat.
The laughter started off very softly and harshly, but then grew louder and louder.
Finally, it turned into a burst of wild laughter that echoed throughout the room.
Two lines of blood-tinged tears welled up in Gu Mochen's eyes, flowing down his dirty cheeks and into the corners of his dry mouth.
" Old Zhou, Old Zhou... You've been with me for so many years, how can you still be so short-sighted?"
He stopped laughing, breathing heavily, his gaze fixed on Zhou Huaili like an icicle.
"If the third brother really wanted me dead, why would he go through all this trouble to send this wax pill?"
"He only needs to sit peacefully in the Prince Yi Prefecture's Residence, sipping his warm tea and embracing his beautiful concubine."
In three to five days, I, Gu Mochen, will tear my own intestines apart on this stone pillar, turning into a pool of stinking pus and blood!
"If he really wanted to harm me, he could have easily added a colorless and odorless poison to the pill, tricked me into swallowing it, and sent me to my death without anyone knowing."
Who can find even the slightest fault in him?