Chapter 1313: The Mermaid in the Mansion
"what!"
Faint screams broke the silence of the palace, and an indescribable fishy-sweet smell filled the air.
Even the emperor, who was lying on the bed with degraded senses, could smell it and frowned in disgust.
"Mermaids are indeed beasts, so fishy..."
"It's my fault. I should have dealt with her outside the palace and just taken Linglongxin back." The prince knelt beside her and apologized obediently.
The emperor thought that he would be able to regain his health soon, looked at the strong and healthy prince, and thought of the people's admiration for him, he couldn't help but snorted.
"I know that you wish I would die sooner, but unfortunately I am blessed by God and will ruin your plans. Ahem…"
He spoke hurriedly, and after he finished speaking, his face looked even worse as he started coughing.
"Your Majesty is wise. I would never have such an intention!" The prince leaned his head against the cold ground in fear, but a faint smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.
No one noticed.
After coughing for a while and taking a breath, the emperor, with an even uglier expression, looked at the prince coldly and snorted, obviously not believing what he said.
"As long as I am alive, the prince will always be the prince. Don't think about things you shouldn't think about."
"Yes." The prince didn't dare to look up. He knelt stiffly on the ground, extremely terrified.
The father and son confronted each other like this. After about a cup of tea, the eunuch most trusted by the emperor came up with a tray and a happy face.
"Congratulations, Your Majesty! The medicine is ready!" On the tray brought over by the eunuch was a small jade bowl filled with half a bowl of pitch-black medicine juice that emitted a strong fishy smell.
The emperor was overjoyed. When he picked up the medicine bowl, he suddenly remembered something and looked at the eunuch in confusion, "Where is Mr. Su?"
"Your Majesty has forgotten that Mr. Su had to use his own blood to make medicine. The imperial physician is bandaging his wound now. He will come to congratulate Your Majesty after he has dressed up." The eunuch answered fluently, with an expression that showed he was happy for the emperor.
The emperor no longer had any suspicions, and he remembered that Su Sheng had said that the medicine must be taken while hot. He no longer hesitated, and drank the half bowl of the fishy-smelling medicine in one gulp despite the scalding heat.
After drinking it, he no longer lay down, but sat up, waiting for his body to recover.
But what the emperor did not expect was that when he sat up, the prince, who had been crawling on the ground, also stood up.
The emperor looked at the prince's calm and composed appearance, and felt a sense of uneasiness in his heart.
"Prince, you are so brave! I haven't let you get up yet!" The emperor didn't care about his weak body and glared at the prince with a fierce look on his face.
The prince said nothing, his eyes slowly fell on the empty bowl in the emperor's hand, and a faint smile appeared on his lips.
"In the fifth year of Jianyuan, there was a drought in the south. My father built a milk pond to win the smiles of the beauties in the harem."
"In the eighth year of Jianyuan, my father built a temporary palace and increased taxes by 30%, which angered the Grand Tutor to death..."
"What are you saying this for?"
The emperor interrupted the prince and clenched the jade bowl in his hand suspiciously, "Where is Mr. Su? What did you do?"
"The Grand Tutor is not only the Grand Tutor, but also the Queen Mother's father and the grandfather of this minister."
The prince ignored the emperor's questioning and continued to recount the emperor's actions over the years. Every detail was too numerous to list.
The emperor wanted to interrupt him, but his heartbeat suddenly became violent, and he couldn't make a sound even when he opened his mouth. Even though he gasped for air, he still felt extremely suffocated.
By the time the prince finished speaking, the emperor could no longer sit down and fell heavily onto the noble dragon bed.
"I was taught by my mother since I was young. When I was fourteen, the Grand Tutor told me that the emperor is the son of all the people in the world and should care about the people of the world."
"Father, I am ashamed of you."
The prince's voice was very soft, and after each word he took a step forward. Finally he walked in front of the emperor and looked down at his purple face.
"You... humph... what on earth did you do? Mr. Su... Mr. Su..."
"It doesn't matter, Father."
The prince did not answer him, and a trace of sadness appeared on his handsome face.
"It's time for my father to die."
As a son, he could not personally send the emperor off, so he stood by with his hands behind his back, waiting silently.
The emperor's face turned increasingly purple, and the time between his breaths grew longer and longer.
In the end, he took his last breath unwillingly.
The eunuch who had been standing in the corner came up and carefully glanced at the prince's face.
Seeing the prince nod slightly, he stepped back a few steps, walked to the door, and shouted loudly -
"Your Majesty—is dead—"
The death knell rang throughout the imperial capital.