Seeing Qi Ling rushing off to the palace, the crowd didn't know why, but they had no reason to stop Qi Ling. After all, Xue Ke was Qi Ling's student, and it was only right and proper for Qi Ling to go to the palace.
But just as Qi Ling was about to leave Shrek Academy, a figure suddenly stumbled and fell at the academy gate, startling Qi Ling, because it was none other than the Poison Douluo, Dugu Bo, whom she hadn't seen for many days!
" Old Poison? What happened to you?!" Qi Ling was shocked when she saw Dugu Bo's appearance. His body was covered with wounds, many of which were deep enough to expose the bone. An ordinary person would have been dead long ago.
" Qi Ling? You're awake?" Seeing Qi Ling, Dugu Bo seemed to see a glimmer of hope. Ignoring his own serious injuries, he rushed over and said, " The Heaven Dou Imperial Palace is a trap! You mustn't go there!"
Hearing Dugu Bo's words, Qi Ling felt a chill in his heart. This was indeed as he had thought! But he couldn't care less about anything else and immediately took out a medicine bottle from his body and poured the medicine down Dugu Bo.
" Old Poison, don't panic, let me heal your wounds first." Qi Ling said, quickly leading Dugu Bo to the Dean's office. Only Flender was inside, and he was immediately shocked when he saw Dugu Bo's condition.
" Dugu Bo? How did you get so badly injured?" Flender exclaimed in surprise. "Wait a minute, I'll go get someone right away!"
"Don't go, Flender. We can't let too many people know about this!" Dugu Bo said. "It's enough that the two of you know."
As Qi Ling treated Dugu Bo's injuries, Dugu Bo said, " Qi Ling, the Heaven Dou Empire has encountered a major disaster this time! And it could be a catastrophe of utter annihilation!"
" Old Poison, tell me slowly, what exactly happened?" Qi Ling said.
"You all know about the passing of Xue Ye, right?" Dugu Bo said. "How do you think Xue Ye died?"
Qi Ling frowned and said, "The imperial announcement states that Xue Ye died of old age and in poor health, isn't that right?"
"Hmph, died of old age? Xue Ye could still ride horses and shoot arrows half a year ago, how could he have died of old age so soon!" Dugu Bo sneered, " Xue Ye did not die a natural death, but was murdered! That person was none other than the Crown Prince Xue Qinghe of the Heaven Dou Empire!"
Upon hearing this secret, Flender was speechless with surprise, but Qi Ling said without any surprise, " Xue Qinghe! It really is him!"
"But why would Xue Qinghe do this? He's already the crown prince; the throne will be his sooner or later. What is he after?" Flender asked, puzzled.
"We don't know for sure, but in any case, Xue Qinghe must have ulterior motives, so he must obtain the throne as soon as possible!" Dugu Bo said.
"Would he really kill his own father for this purpose? What's the difference between such a person and a beast!" Flender said angrily.
Upon hearing Flender's words, Dugu Bo sneered and said, "Calling him a beast is already giving him too much credit! The inhumane things he's done go far beyond that!"
" Qi Ling, I ask you, have you witnessed the prince's Xue Beng during this period of time?"
"I've never seen it before, Old Poison. What happened with the Xue Beng...?" Suddenly, Qi Ling's eyes widened, and she said, " Old Poison, you wouldn't be saying...?"
"That's right, the fourth prince of the Heaven Dou Empire, Xue Beng, has also been murdered! Just like his brothers, he was killed by Crown Prince Xue Qinghe!" Dugu Bo said. "And Xue Qinghe did this naturally to eliminate any future threats and ensure that he could obtain the throne."
"How could that be? Wasn't Xue Beng already pretending to be incompetent to avoid suspicion? How could he still let Xue Qinghe kill someone?" Qi Ling said.
"No matter what the Xue Beng is like, he is still a prince of the empire, and as long as he possesses the bloodline of Xue Ye, then he is a threat to me!" Dugu Bo said.
" Qi Ling, do you remember before, before the Divine Court attacked the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, when I was searching for Xue Beng? I suspected that Xue Beng had already been killed at that time! Xue Qinghe had already begun his actions back then!"
Qi Ling suddenly remembered that Dugu Bo had indeed searched for the Xue Beng for a long time, but in the end he still couldn't find it. It turned out that he had already been killed at that time!
"The reason why the empire's army, sent to resist the Divine Court, ultimately suffered a crushing defeat..."
Dugu Bo slowly said, "I only found out later that those people were Xue Ye's loyal troops, and at the same time, they were also inclined to support Prince Xue Xing!"
"So the truth is obvious: those people were all killed by Xue Qinghe! And the reason why only 50,000 remnants remained was because those remaining troops were all Xue Qinghe's subordinates."
"What a grand gesture!" Qi Ling said slowly. "But if that's the case, why did Xue Qinghe wait so long before making his move? Wouldn't it have been more advantageous to launch an attack together with the Divine Court?"
"Because his title is illegitimate, and his words lack legitimacy!" Dugu Bo said. "Without Xue Ye's edict, Xue Qinghe's reign as emperor is ultimately illegitimate and lacks legitimacy!"
"If that were all, it would be fine, since no one objected and no one would know what he was doing!" Dugu Bo said. "However, something happened afterward that greatly disrupted his plans."
"What is it?" Qi Ling asked.
" Xue Qinghe had previously tried to force Xue Ye to abdicate in his favor, but he was unsuccessful!" Dugu Bo said. "And it was at that time that Xue Ye secretly summoned Prince Xue Xing and handed him a secret edict!"
"Without a doubt, this is Xue Ye's edict! After learning of this, Xue Qinghe immediately began to capture Prince Xue Xing, but he miscalculated and Prince Xue Xing escaped!"
"That's why he wanted to eliminate all the other heirs, so that only he could inherit the throne. Even if Xue Ye passed the throne to someone else, it would be useless."
Hearing this, Flender sighed, "He really is ruthless! If such a person becomes emperor, it will be a disaster for the Heaven Dou Empire! For his own selfish desires, he can even kill his own brothers, let alone spare his own father. What else would he care about?"
Qi Ling then said, " Old Poison, I understand the general situation, but even knowing it's a trap, even if it's a matter of life and death, I must go!"
"What? Qi Ling, you know Xue Qinghe is that kind of person, why did you still go? He will definitely not let you go!" Dugu Bo said.
"It's simple, because Xue Ke is still there," Qi Ling said. "A teacher for a day is a father for life; I can't abandon my student!"