Chapter 17

The magistrate stood up from the ground and pointed at him, berating sternly, “The Crown Prince wants to hide the truth and twist it. There are more than a hundred thousand people here. Can he kill them all?”

Bang!

Zhang Ronghua kicked him unconscious.

The people around him wanted to move, but when they saw that the Golden Dragon Sword was still dripping with blood, they remembered his iron-fisted methods just now and were too frightened to step forward.

A dozen huge buckets, all filled with well water, were placed beside him.

Putting away the Golden Dragon Sword, the nail of his thumb cut across his index finger, squeezing out more than a dozen drops of blood that fell into the huge bucket.

After fusing with the blood, the well water gained additional spirituality.

“One for each of them. Let them drink.”

Zheng Fugui rushed down with the Flood Dragon Guards, including these soldiers. He took a sip first to prevent himself from being infected by the plague.

The commoners saw hope and lined up to take a mouthful each.

After drinking the well water, the poison in their bodies was quickly expelled. Their faces returned to normal, and the stench around them dissipated.

Zhang Ronghua nodded in satisfaction. The Black Yellow Heaven Splitting Technique was powerful in all aspects and had no shortcomings. The poison-expelling effect was also strong. He was just giving it a try. He did not expect it to really succeed.

It took most of the day.

All the commoners drank the well water and the poison plague was resolved.

Zhang Ronghua said, “This is a huge conspiracy. Someone wants to poison you and frame the Crown Prince! When His Majesty learned of this, he sent the Crown Prince to deal with this. I was ordered by the Crown Prince to expel the poison in you.”

“Long live His Majesty!”

“Your Highness is wise!”

Waves of cheers soared into the sky, rising higher and higher for a long time.

Zhang Ronghua was very satisfied. He had to mention Emperor Xia in order to give praise to the Crown Prince. Otherwise, his contributions would surpass the emperor! It would lead to the emperor’s suspicions. This was disadvantageous to the Crown Prince.

The rest was left to the general and the others. They carried the county magistrate to a remote place and stopped to wake him up.

In less than three seconds, the county magistrate cowered and told him the entire story.

Someone instructed him to bring all the commoners of Chen County and force Emperor Xia to cripple the Crown Prince.

The nine-trace rat had created the plague. It was a demon with shocking poison.

At this moment, it was hiding in a residence in the East City. According to the plan, once the Crown Prince took over this matter, it would do the same and spread the poison before infecting the capital. It would use this to pressure the Emperor and force him to make up his mind.

Zhang Ronghua killed him with a palm.

“Follow me!” Zhang Ronghua ordered.

Soon.

He stopped outside a courtyard. This was where the nine-trace rat was hiding.

A deathly cold silence.

On the surface, it looked like nothing, but an array had been set up to fuse with the surroundings. The array hid a monstrous poison that was several times richer than the poison on the people of Chen County combined.

The other party seemed to know that they would come and deliberately prepared to wait here.

“I understand.”

“What do you know, Cousin?”

“The county magistrate is the bait. As long as it’s the Crown Prince’s men who interrogate us, they’ll speak and lure us here to be eliminated.”

There was another guess that Zhang Ronghua did not say.

It was very likely that they were targeting him. With the methods he had displayed during this period of time, they would eliminate the Crown Prince’s right-hand man first to remove the greatest obstacle in obtaining the throne.

“Going in?”

“No need.” Zhang Ronghua shook his head.

With a step, Righteousness Qi erupted from his body. Ten thousand golden lights illuminated the night sky and he roared, “Break!”

The power of extreme Yang appeared and suppressed the sky above the courtyard, restraining all negative forces.

Crack!

The array shattered and the poison evaporated. After dozens of breaths, the world returned to clarity without a trace of poisonous gas.

He rushed into the courtyard.

The nine-trace rat hidden underground instantly attacked. It opened its bloody mouth and its sharp teeth were three times sharper than a blade. They contained poison. Coupled with its Grandmaster Realm cultivation, its demonic might was peerless. Before Zheng Fugui and the others could rush in, they were sent flying by this violent aura.

“Hmph!” Zhang Ronghua snorted.

He stepped on it roughly, and a golden light appeared on his foot. He stepped on its head, broke its innate divine power, and severely injured it.

A nearly three-meter-long dark green rat, emitting poisonous smoke, lay on the ground on its last breath.

Its gaze was dull as if it was being controlled.

“Slave seal?”

Those or demons who were hit by the slave seal lost their minds and became puppets, becoming tools in the hands of others.

Even if he interrogated it, he wouldn’t get a clue.

He killed it with a palm.

Facing Zheng Fugui and the others who had rushed over, he said solemnly, “Let’s go back!”

…

In the East Palace.

The news of the plague outside the city came immediately.

Hearing this, the Crown Prince’s expression did not change as he heaved a sigh of relief. Zhang Ronghua had not disappointed him. Even his mood had improved a little. He did not have to bear any more huge pressure.

As for whether the culprit behind the scenes could be found, he did not have much hope.

During this period of time, they had sent many people but had not received any news. It was the same this time.

A palace maid came over with lotus seed porridge and handed it to Qing’er.

“Your Highness, have some porridge and wait!”

The Crown Prince took the porridge and stirred it with a spoon. He scooped a spoonful and ate it. Then he shook his head and placed the porridge on the table. He was not in the mood to eat.

Pffft!

A mouthful of poisonous blood spewed out of his mouth. His eyes closed and he fainted.

“Protect Your Highness!” Qing’er’s expression changed drastically as she hurriedly supported the Crown Prince.

Shuang’er rushed to the palace maid, grabbed her neck, and lifted her off the ground. Her killing intent soared. “Tell me! Where is the antidote?”

“No, there’s no antidote!”

Resisting the urge to slap her to death, she pressed again. “Who instructed you?”

“Feng Jingyao, the Military Governor of the Five City Defense Divisions’ middle army. If I don’t agree, he’ll kill my entire family.”

Poison blood flowed out of the palace maid’s mouth. It seemed that she had consumed poison before and died.

Dou Jianwu and Ma Ping’an rushed in with the Flood Dragon Guards. Looking at the chaos in front of them, they hurriedly asked, “Who did it?”

“Feng Jingyao from the Five City Defense Divisions!”

“How dare he attack His Highness? I’ll take him down now.”

While Qing’er and Shuang’er were not paying attention, Dou Jianwu instantly attacked. Internal energy circulated in his palms and he ruthlessly slapped over, severely injuring them.

Ma Ping’an reacted quickly and punched him in the back, severely injuring him.

The people from the Flood Dragon Guard also rushed up and fought Dou Jianwu in the hall with him.

A few minutes later, Dou Jianwu was killed.

Ma Ping’an hurriedly helped them up and asked with concern, “Are you alright?”

“I can still hold on!” Qing’er ordered, enduring her injuries.

“Bring the Flood Dragon Guard and the Crown Prince’s guards and take Feng Jingyao down!”

“Yes!” Ma Ping’an received the order.

He left some people to protect the Crown Prince and quickly gathered his men. They were fully armed and carried bows and arrows on their backs. They were prepared to go to the Five City Defense Divisions and take Feng Jingyao down.

However, as soon as they left the East Palace, 20,000 troops rushed up from all directions and surrounded them. The leader was Feng Jingyao.