Three days later.
A piece of news suddenly shook Heaven Dou City.
Xue Ye was gravely ill.
There had been no warning.
He had still been handling affairs of state the day before, but by the next morning, he was bedridden.
Within a few short days.
Court physicians.
Healing-type Soul Masters.
Several renowned physicians from Heaven Dou City.
All had entered the palace.
The result came down to four words.
Nothing could be done.
Xue Ye's illness grew worse and worse.
By the fifth day, he could no longer even leave his bed.
The entire Heaven Dou court descended into utter chaos.
It was at this moment.
Crown Prince Xue Qinghe put forward a suggestion.
Invite the head of the Nine Heart Begonia clan-Ye Lingqiu.
And Poison Douluo-Dugu Bo.
To enter the palace together.
One practiced medicine.
The other, poison.
If neither of them could do anything, the Heaven Dou Empire likely would not find a third person capable of saving Xue Ye.
The message soon reached the Ye Clan.
That afternoon.
Ye Lingqiu arrived at the crown prince's residence.
But the instant she stepped into the study.
Her footsteps stopped.
In the seat of honor.
Xue Qinghe sat upright.
His expression was gentle.
No different from usual.
Lin Yuan stood behind him.
And on either side-
Six people.
Guang Ling.
Qian Jun.
Jiang Mo.
Dugu Bo.
Snake Lance.
Pufferfish.
Six Titled Douluo!
Snake Lance and Pufferfish in particular.
These two had always concealed themselves as guards of the crown prince's residence.
But now.
They concealed nothing at all.
Though the presence of the Titled Douluo was restrained, it still made the entire study feel unbearably oppressive.
Ye Lingqiu stood in the doorway.
For a long time, she said nothing.
She was no fool.
Six Titled Douluo.
Three of whom were even consecrators of Spirit Hall.
And Lin Yuan besides.
If, even now, she still could not see what was happening-
She might as well stop being the Nine Heart Begonia clan leader.
Ye Lingqiu slowly looked toward Xue Qinghe in the seat of honor.
"Your Highness..."
Xue Qinghe smiled faintly.
"Clan Leader Ye."
"Please sit."
Ye Lingqiu did not sit.
She merely glanced at Lin Yuan.
Suddenly, she understood.
A few days earlier.
Lin Yuan had asked her-
Which side the Nine Heart Begonia intended to stand on.
She had said.
She was willing to follow His Highness's commands.
But now, it seemed.
What she had truly chosen...
Had never been the Heaven Dou Crown Prince.
It had been Spirit Hall.
Ye Lingqiu fell silent for a moment.
At last, she sighed softly.
"It seems this old woman still knew far too little."
Lin Yuan said calmly:
"It isn't too late to know now."
Things had already come to this.
What else could Ye Lingqiu do?
Go back on her word?
Six Titled Douluo stood right here.
Besides.
Xue Ye's indulgence of those dealings between Xue Xing and the Hall of Relief had already disappointed her to the utmost.
Ye Lingqiu finally sat down.
"What do you need me to do?"
Lin Yuan said:
"Save His Majesty's life."
Ye Lingqiu glanced at him.
She understood.
An hour later.
The imperial palace.
Xue Ye's bedchamber.
The heavy palace doors slowly opened.
Crown Prince Xue Qinghe walked at the front.
Ye Lingqiu and Dugu Bo followed behind him.
Lin Yuan had changed into ordinary clothes and temporarily accompanied them as Dugu Bo's assistant.
The smell of medicine hung heavily in the bedchamber.
The curtains were tightly drawn.
On the dragon bed.
Xue Ye's face was pale.
His breathing was faint.
He looked as though he had aged more than a decade all at once.
Hearing footsteps.
He opened his eyes with difficulty.
Upon seeing Dugu Bo and Ye Lingqiu, his clouded eyes finally brightened a little.
"Your Eminence Dugu..."
"Clan Leader Ye..."
Xue Ye's voice was weak.
"I must ask you both..."
"To treat me..."
Ye Lingqiu looked at him.
She did not step forward.
Instead, a trace of complexity flashed through her eyes.
Xue Ye's brow furrowed slightly.
Just then.
A voice tinged with mockery came from the other side of the bedchamber.
"Save you?"
"You old thing."
"You've sat on that imperial throne for so many years."
"It's about time you took a rest."
Xue Ye's pupils abruptly contracted.
"Who?!"
Footsteps sounded.
A figure slowly emerged from the shadows.
White hair.
An ice-blue longbow.
The robes he wore unmistakably bore the emblem of Spirit Hall.
Guang Ling.
Xue Ye's expression changed drastically.
"Spirit Hall?!"
"How dare you!"
He struggled to sit up.
"Guards!"
"Someone!"
"Guards!"
His voice rang out.
No one answered.
The entire bedchamber.
Was deathly silent.
Xue Ye finally realized something was wrong.
He whipped his gaze toward the doorway.
"Someone!"
Still, no one answered.
Guang Ling scoffed.
"Stop shouting."
"Even if you shouted your throat raw."
"No one would come in today."
The color drained completely from Xue Ye's face.
He abruptly turned his head to look at Dugu Bo.
As though grasping the last straw that could save his life.
"Your Excellency Dugu!"
"Spirit Hall has trespassed into the imperial palace!"
"Please take action, Your Excellency!"
"Kill this man!"
Dugu Bo did not move.
Xue Ye froze.
"Your Excellency?"
Dugu Bo slowly raised his eyes.
His gaze held none of his usual courtesy toward the emperor.
Only cold indifference.
"Your Majesty."
"There's something you've probably never understood."
A chill suddenly rose in Xue Ye's heart.
A cold sneer tugged at Dugu Bo's lips.
"The poison in your body."
"I was the one who administered it."
Boom!
It was as though an explosion had gone off in Xue Ye's mind.
"You..."
"What did you say?!"
He abruptly turned toward Ye Lingqiu.
Ye Lingqiu merely stood there.
There was a hint of pity in that gaze.
No denial.
No surprise.
Not even a single word spoken on his behalf.
Xue Ye finally panicked.
"Why..."
"Dugu Bo!"
"I've treated you well!"
"Ye Lingqiu!"
"I am the Heaven Dou Emperor!"
"Are you trying to rebel?!"
Just then.
Xue Qinghe, who had been standing by the bed all this time, suddenly smiled.
"Father."
"Stop shouting."
Xue Ye abruptly turned toward him.
The next moment.
His entire body went rigid.
Because that voice-
Had changed.
It was no longer Xue Qinghe's gentle, refined male voice.
Instead, it was a cool female voice.
Xue Ye's eyes widened.
"Qinghe?"
"No..."
"Who are you?!"
"Xue Qinghe" raised a hand.
Fingertips settled against the side of her face.
Then.
Under Xue Ye's utterly horrified gaze.
She gently peeled away the disguise she had maintained for six whole years.
Qian Renxue gently peeled the disguise from her face.
Golden hair spilled down.
The face belonging to Xue Qinghe finally vanished.
She looked at Xue Ye on the bed, her voice very soft.
"After pretending for so many years."
"I finally don't have to pretend anymore."
Xue Ye stared fixedly at her.
The shock in his eyes quickly turned to fury.
"Spirit Hall!"
He abruptly turned his head, looking at Ye Lingqiu and Dugu Bo again.
"You..."
"You've all joined Spirit Hall?!"
"Fine!"
"What a Spirit Hall!"
"Such wolfish ambition!"
"You-"
"Enough."
Dugu Bo cut him off outright.
"Your Majesty."
"Spirit Hall saved my life."
"And besides-"
"Old Poison."
Lin Yuan suddenly spoke.
"Why waste words on a dying man?"
Dugu Bo paused.
Then fell silent.
Lin Yuan stepped out from behind.
He walked all the way to Xue Ye's bedside.
Xue Ye looked at this unfamiliar young man, his gaze dark.
"And who are you?"
Lin Yuan looked down at him.
"That doesn't matter."
"What matters is."
"Old man."
"The Hall of Relief has expanded unchecked throughout Heaven Dou all these years."
"Using living people to refine medicine."
"Nobles have been trafficking refugees, slaves, and commoners."
"Xue Xing has even been delivering people straight into their hands."
Lin Yuan's gaze grew colder little by little.
"You knew."
"But you kept pretending you didn't."
Xue Ye's expression changed drastically.
"Nonsense!"
"I-"
"Stop acting."
Lin Yuan cut him off outright.
"It wasn't that you didn't know."
"You just didn't want to intervene."
"Because the Hall of Relief could keep the nobles in line for you."
"It could prolong those old fossils' lives."
"As long as the dead weren't members of the imperial family."
"As long as no one carried the corpses before you."
"You could keep being your wise ruler."
Xue Ye's chest heaved violently.
"How dare you!"
"Your Spirit Hall is plotting to seize the empire!"
"And you still have the nerve to stand here-"
Lin Yuan laughed.
"So you're qualified to accuse Spirit Hall of wolfish ambition?"
With that single sentence.
Xue Ye's face turned ashen.
Lin Yuan could not be bothered to listen anymore.
He simply turned away.
"That's enough."
"Old man."
"Sleep in peace."
"Your court."
"We'll take control of it for you."
"You-!"
Xue Ye struggled to get up.
"Spirit Hall!"
"You won't meet a good-"
Dugu Bo stepped forward.
He seized Xue Ye's chin.
"That's quite enough."
With a flick of his fingers.
A pitch-black pill was shoved straight into Xue Ye's mouth.
Gulp.
Xue Ye's pupils abruptly contracted.
He had just tried to spit it out.
When Dugu Bo pressed a palm against his chest.
The pill went straight into his stomach.
The next moment.
Xue Ye's body convulsed violently.
The fury in his eyes rapidly turned to terror.
"You..."
Before he could finish.
His body had already gone limp.
His breathing rapidly weakened.
At last.
It stopped completely.
The bedchamber fell silent.
Qian Renxue glanced at the corpse on the bed.
Without any lingering attachment.
Then she turned sideways.
She looked toward the patch of shadow in the corner of the bedchamber.
"Grandpa Qian Jun."
"Grandpa Jiang Mo."
"The rest-"
"I'll leave to you."