Chapter 911: Chapter 726: You Actually Faked Illness
Emperor Zhoulin’s body stiffened, and he turned around slowly, looking with fear at the woman standing not far behind him.
Gu Changsheng stood there, her face somber, her gaze piercing, her clothes fluttering in the wind, carrying an indescribable transcendence, but with a faint trace of anger.
Indeed, Emperor Zhoulin, perhaps sincerely, cared about Zhou Mu, but Gu Changsheng did not believe his intentions were purely out of care!
At the time when she and Zhou Mu were about to be married, Emperor Zhoulin invited her into the palace and delivered that seemingly heartfelt speech, even going so far as to offer up Great Zhou. It must be said that Gu Changsheng was touched, because even in The Imperial Family, there was someone who cared so much about her evildoer.
However, Gu Changsheng was no fool.
And neither was Emperor Zhoulin.
"Half a life as the emperor, a lifetime immersed in royal power, Zhoulin, your Emperor’s Mind Technique is indeed well-practiced." Gu Changsheng looked at Emperor Zhoulin and spoke coldly.
Royal power tactics, manipulating people’s hearts, today, she was plotted against by this old man, Emperor Zhoulin, wasn’t she?
After all, she was someone who had been the Southern Emperor. If she couldn’t even see through this, then she was nothing but a wooden club!
When she and Zhou Mu were deeply in love and discussing marriage, Emperor Zhoulin said such these words as if putting himself in Zhou Mu’s shoes just to make her feel touched and respond, right?
Emperor Zhoulin predicted her reaction, thus gaining what he sought, preserving Great Zhou and also protecting Zhou Mu!
"The Southern Emperor truly is a person of wisdom and grace." Emperor Zhoulin looked at the radiant woman in front of him, a slightly comforting smile appearing on his old face. "Even knowing what my intentions were, the Southern Emperor still fell for it, didn’t you?"
Gu Changsheng choked upon hearing this. Yes, she had sensed from the beginning that this old man dressed as a gardener had ulterior motives, but what could she say?
After Emperor Zhoulin spoke those words, she had no other choice!
Because she was resentful, she was angry, her love was looked down upon by Emperor Zhoulin, who stood up for Zhou Mu. How could she let Zhou Mu suffer unjustly?
On the scales of love, even if there wasn’t absolute balance, Gu Changsheng would never be the one to wrong Zhou Mu!
He loved her a little, gave a little, she would repay it tenfold!
"This way, I can rest assured..." Emperor Zhoulin looked at the sulking Gu Changsheng, letting out a long sigh of relief with a genuine smile.
The tactic of provocation, although not always successful, leads those deeply in love to leap in without hesitation, even if they know they’ve been provoked, right?
Just like when he tricked Du Ruo into following him to the capital, with just one line, "I am a prince, aren’t you afraid to love me?" She gave up the freedom of the Itinerant World and resolutely entered the palace with him, although later he failed to protect her.
The loss of true love is a lifetime’s regret.
There was a slight daze in Emperor Zhoulin’s eyes, vaguely tinged with sadness.
Gu Changsheng looked at the elderly man before her, whose face couldn’t hide its pallor and fatigue, frowning slightly.
Why, in that instant, did she suddenly feel that the old man before her was very sorrowful?
Sorrowful? The old man who could even use his own grandson as a pawn to provoke her could feel sorrowful? Gu Changsheng didn’t believe it!
She felt that Emperor Zhoulin was a competent emperor, competent to the extreme, who strategized everything only to ensure the eternal stability of Great Zhou, using every means possible!
Even though this made her despise him, she had no right to question him, the weight of the Crown she had experienced, and as fellow emperors, she understood Emperor Zhoulin’s plight; however, she was angry that he used Zhou Mu to provoke her, regardless of his sincerity, it was unforgivable!
"Truly, I wish I could tear you apart." Gu Changsheng spoke through gritted teeth, then swiftly moved closer to Emperor Zhoulin, raising her hand to grasp his wrist and feeling his pulse.
"What are you doing?" Emperor Zhoulin was momentarily stunned and wanted to struggle.
Because he had heard too many bad rumors about this woman: arrogant, presumptuous, would she kill him over this?
Emperor Zhoulin was extremely worried.
"The evildoer wants you to live another twenty years." Gu Changsheng’s response was simple, yet her frown was growing deeper.
Emperor Zhoulin’s pulse...
Hearing this, Emperor Zhoulin immediately breathed a sigh of relief, suddenly recalling that Gu Changsheng was once known as the Divine Doctor, renowned throughout the land, although now more people focused on her identity as the Southern Emperor, they ignored this aspect.
So she was diagnosing the pulse, but why was her frown getting deeper and deeper? Her bright little face wrinkled like a bun?
Could it be... he had some terminal illness?
"Girl..." Emperor Zhoulin suddenly felt a bit panicked, no one isn’t afraid of death, and people who become emperors are even more afraid of death.
Gu Changsheng frowned and glared at him, angrily shaking off Emperor Zhoulin’s hand and growled, "You sly one, you’re pretending to be sick!"
Clearly, there’s no major problem! That pulse, without me even lifting a finger, you could live another twenty years!
Definitely, it’s Emperor Zhoulin, this unprincipled old man, good at plotting human hearts, is showing weakness to manipulate my evildoer at home? Even fooled him into asking me for help!
"I..." Emperor Zhoulin was stunned, "I’m not actually terminally ill?"
"No, although the pulse is a bit weak, there is absolutely no hidden illness." Gu Changsheng frowned, staring at Emperor Zhoulin with an unkind gaze as if determining if he was lying.
Upon hearing this, Emperor Zhoulin immediately breathed a long sigh of relief, but then angrily met Gu Changsheng’s gaze, "I don’t have any terminal illness, then what was your expression just now?"
"A normal expression! If you didn’t pretend to be sick to show weakness to Zhou Mu, how could you manage to make him come to me for a diagnosis?" Gu Changsheng glared, feeling indignant. She felt as if she was being played.
"Ha! I’m pretending to be sick? I’m inherently weak, plagued with illness all day, who is pretending?" Emperor Zhoulin became furious, "Also, don’t speak so highly of my unworthy grandson, he’s a sinister character. Do you think he had good intentions by asking you to treat me? He wants to dote on you and avoids taking my place as the Emperor of Great Zhou, not allowing me to fall ill, to keep me here as a laborer!"
At this point, Emperor Zhoulin became angrier. He had worked tirelessly to nurture a grandson, only for him to disdain inheriting the throne, and to even scheme against his grandfather. Is there anyone more pitiful than him in the world?
"..." Gu Changsheng looked at the fuming Emperor Zhoulin with a puzzled expression, finding herself touching her nose involuntarily.
Okay, this really does sound like something my evildoer at home would do.
But still...
"Serves you right, being worked like a horse!" Gu Changsheng snapped, turning to leave the back garden.
Just as she was almost out of the back garden, Gu Changsheng turned and looked at the old eunuch Han Shan who was waiting nearby, beckoning him over, "Steward Han, my Han Qiu and Little Black Face miss you dearly, since I’m in the palace for once, come back with me to the Heavenly Palace and accompany them for a while."
"This..." Han Shan glanced at the fuming Emperor Zhoulin waving a flower shovel in the back garden, looking troubled, pondered for a moment, then bowed, "This old servant obeys."
Gu Changsheng nodded, then left with her retinue of female officials, leading Han Shan away.
"Gu Changsheng, you wicked girl! It’s one thing to slander and frighten me, but you even ran away with my close old eunuch! Come back here! I never recognized you as a granddaughter-in-law!"
Over there, Emperor Zhoulin was throwing a random tantrum and saw Gu Changsheng leading away his eunuch once he came to, so he jumped and shouted angrily.
"Aren’t you always the one fretting needlessly? Then keep on fretting, I’m just borrowing your old eunuch for a bit." Gu Changsheng waved her hand without turning back, leaving without a trace.
Leaving Emperor Zhoulin behind, directing curses to the sky, lamenting his unfortunate family.
The imperial carriage stopped in the distance; Gu Changsheng walked in front while Han Shan followed humbly by the side, not daring to overstep.
"Han Shan, your two nephews and I are as close as family, you needn’t be so cautious around me, come closer."
"This old servant is terrified." The old eunuch Han Shan bowed, feeling that the Southern Emperor wouldn’t summon him for no reason; he had just left the palace yesterday to see Han Qiu and Han Mo, so why would there be such longing?
"Han Shan, let me ask you, does that old man Emperor have any unresolved issues?" Gu Changsheng asked with a frown as Han Shan came closer.
Han Shan was stunned by the words, his eyes widening with disbelief, looking worried, "What does the Southern Emperor mean? Could it be that His Majesty..."
"A chronic buildup of unresolved issues, developing into illness over time, lingering pain that won’t go away, this is a heart issue, the hardest to heal, and it can take a life invisibly." Gu Changsheng’s expression darkened, speaking in a low voice.
Emperor Zhoulin isn’t pretending to be ill; he truly is ill.
But, as the Emperor of Great Zhou, with such unparalleled power, yet afflicted by a heart condition, this...
This made even Gu Changsheng hard to believe.
Hearing this, Han Shan was immediately shocked, looking anxious.
"Han Shan, you’ve been by that old man’s side for decades, surely there is no one in the world who understands him better, the evildoer hopes he can live a long life, and so do I, a heart condition requires a heart remedy, think carefully, what unresolved issue does he have that’s causing this condition?" Gu Changsheng stopped, frowning at Han Shan.
"Let this old servant think, let this old servant think, could it be the Eastern Palace fire..." Han Shan, flustered like an ant on a hot pan, anxiously spoke.
"No, the matter of the Eastern Palace, it’s Zhou Mu who has the unresolved issue, the old man Emperor Zhoulin still doesn’t consider himself wrong, so how can there be an unresolved issue?" Gu Changsheng shook her head, cultivating a qualified emperor at all costs, Emperor Zhoulin remains stubborn to this day.
"Then... is it the chaos in the Imperial Court caused by benevolent governance?" Han Shan spoke again.
"Everything is two-sided; all matters have pros and cons. The act of benevolent governance benefits all people, creating a golden era, the chaos in the court caused by decentralization must have been within the old man’s expectations, since it was expected, how could there be an unresolved issue?" On this point, Gu Changsheng had to admit that Emperor Zhoulin is a competent ruler.
"In that case, this old servant honestly cannot think of anything. His Majesty stands above all, with the vast territory of Great Zhou in hand, what could possibly be unresolved? How could there be an unresolved issue?" Even the old eunuch Han Shan was troubled.