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"More or less!" Li Xiuyuan nodded slightly, took a sip of wine, and continued, "But Emperor Mingde found out about this, and since then, Zhuoqing has disappeared! It's hard to say whether he's dead or alive!"

Li Hanyi breathed a long sigh of relief and said, "So that's how it is!"

"You seem surprised?" Li Xiuyuan turned to look at Li Hanyi, a smile on his face!

Li Hanyi nodded slightly and said, "It is indeed quite unexpected! I thought that since Emperor Mingde was able to kill the Prince of Langya, he might also target Xiao Se!"

"This matter..." Li Xiuyuan shook his head slightly and said to Li Hanyi, "You'll know when we get to Tianqi City!"

In the distance, inside the carriage.

Upon hearing this, Xiao Se suddenly let out a long sigh of relief!

King Xiao Chong also shook his head slightly and said, "I hope so!"

……

Time flies, and three days have passed in the blink of an eye.

As the sun set, the blood-red sunset painted half of the sky above Tianqi City crimson.

Sitting atop the carriage, Xiao Se gazed at the towering ruins of Tianqi City, let out a long sigh, and said, "Tianqi City... I'm back!"

Beneath the black walls of Tianqi City, before the towering city gate.

Several eunuchs stood quietly, all of them highly skilled within the imperial palace. The one leading them was none other than Eunuch Jinwei, who had dealt with Xiao Se before.

When Eunuch Jinwei saw Xiao Se slowly approaching, he immediately went to greet him and said, "Your Highness Prince Yong'an, His Majesty has decreed that you must go to the palace immediately upon arriving in Tianqi City!"

"Alright!" Xiao Se nodded slightly, turned to look at Jin Wei, and then asked, "My father... how is he?"

Jinwei hesitated for a moment, then slowly said, "His Majesty... doesn't have much time left!"

Upon seeing Jin Wei's expression, Xiao Se immediately stopped hesitating and said to Lei Wujie and his group behind him, "I'm going to the palace!"

After saying that, he leaped into the air and headed straight for the palace!

Seeing this, Lei Wujie was about to go over, but Jinwei stopped him.

Seeing that Lei Wujie looked like he was about to get angry, Jinwei hurriedly explained, "His Majesty is in his final days. Whatever those two say... it's best if we don't get involved!"

Seeing this, Lei Wujie looked at Li Xiuyuan.

Li Xiuyuan took a sip of wine and said slowly, "You little fool, just wait and see!"

Seeing this, Lei Wujie had no choice but to sit back down in the carriage, feeling somewhat uneasy!

……

Inside the palace, Xiao Se slowly walked towards the bedroom where Emperor Mingde was located, and finally stopped outside the palace!

A palace attendant bowed slightly to Xiao Se and said, "Your Highness Prince Yong'an, please come with me!"

After saying this, he took Xiao Se and met Emperor Mingde.

At this time, Emperor Mingde was already terminally ill, his whole body was very weak, and his eyes were bloodshot. When he saw Xiao Se arrive, he nodded slightly and said, "You've finally come!"

“That’s right, I’ve come!” Xiao Se nodded slightly, looking at Emperor Mingde’s body, and sighed: “This medicine…”

"I had the imperial physician do it! He said I only have three days left to live!" Emperor Mingde was quite nonchalant, smiling as he said to Xiao Se, "At my level, living two more days or two less doesn't matter!"

Xiao Se was taken aback, and said, "You're quite carefree!"

Emperor Mingde was very pleased. He sat in his chair, looked at Xiao Se, and asked with a smile, "Did you come here for the throne?"

Xiao Se was taken aback, not expecting Emperor Mingde to bring it up so directly.

Seeing Xiao Se's reaction, Emperor Mingde shook his head slightly and said, "You don't need to be so reserved. Say whatever you want! I still have three days left to live. The only thing I can't let go of in this world is the Xiao family's empire!"

"The Xiao family's empire!" Xiao Se was taken aback, put his hands behind his back, paused for a moment, and said, "I came here not for the throne, but for the Prince of Langya!"

"I guessed it!" Emperor Mingde took out a scroll and slowly unfurled it.

Xiao Se stared at the contents of the scroll, his face filled with astonishment, and said, "This is... an edict of self-reproach?"

"I'm already a dying man, what's one more edict of self-reproach?" Emperor Mingde looked at Xiao Se, shook his head slightly, and said, "I know you have no desire for the throne, but we can make a deal!"

Xiao Se fell silent.

As a smart man, he immediately understood what Emperor Mingde meant!

It's nothing more than inheriting the throne!

Emperor Mingde put his hands behind his back and said slowly, "Bei Li is now beset by internal and external troubles, and it is a time of great turmoil. I know you want the White King to ascend the throne, but he... is not suitable!"

"How do you know he can't do it?" Xiao Se asked, somewhat surprised.

Seeing this, Emperor Mingde slowly sat down, looked at Xiao Se, and said, "The benevolent are invincible. If you ascend the throne, the world will recognize you as the emperor! You will not kill the White Prince, nor will you eliminate the other princes! If the White Prince ascends the throne, he will surely slaughter the other princes, and then all the princes will rise up and attack him. The White Prince... does not have that kind of resolve!"

"I don't think so!" Xiao Se shook his head slightly.

Emperor Mingde chuckled, then sat up abruptly, staring at Xiao Se, and said, "Have you ever been an emperor? Back then, I was the current Prince Bai! I had a very good relationship with the Prince of Langya, and he even offered me the throne! He had four sword immortals protecting him! But so what? He still died!"

Xiao Se's body trembled, and he couldn't help but turn his head away.

"In the martial world, people kill with knives, but the emperor never kills with a knife!" Emperor Mingde sat on his stool, sighed, and said, "From the moment I sat on the throne, I was constantly filled with fear, fear that my throne would be taken away by the Prince of Langya. For more than ten years, through countless days and nights... I made my decision little by little..."

Chapter 198 Prince Yong'an...is he dead?

Upon hearing Emperor Mingde's account, Xiao Se paused for a moment before slowly saying, "So, the Prince of Langya didn't commit suicide, but rather you orchestrated this step by step, exploiting his personality to force him to take his own life?"

"Indeed... At that time, Li Hanyi's sword was at my neck!" The emperor sat on the stool, his expression calm, and said, "After the Prince of Langya died, that was the first time in more than ten years that I slept soundly..."

Seeing this, Xiao Se sighed and said, "I... understand!"

Emperor Mingde was taken aback. Looking at Xiao Se with hopeful eyes, he asked, "So, you intend to inherit the throne?"

“No, if Prince Yong’an dies… the Emperor will probably be at ease!” Xiao Se blinked, picked up the edict of self-reproach on the table, glanced at it, and then asked, “Father, shouldn’t you abdicate?”

"Abdication?"

Emperor Mingde sat on the stool; he still had three lives.

Whether or not one abdicates, there is essentially no difference; however, he doesn't quite understand what Xiao Se means.

He raised his head slightly, looked at Xiao Se, and asked, "What do you mean by abdication?"

“You, abdicate in favor of the White King, and help him ascend the throne!” Xiao Se blinked, then continued, “After the death of the Yong’an King!”

Emperor Mingde was taken aback, and immediately understood what Xiao Se meant!

With the death of Prince Yong'an, among the remaining princes, the one with the highest prestige is Prince Bai!

If I abdicate in favor of the White King, then the White King will be the rightful heir to the throne, and I will naturally have no need to worry about losing the throne!

Anyone who tries to seize the throne is nothing but a traitor!

Thinking of this, Emperor Mingde suddenly breathed a sigh of relief, looked at Xiao Se, and asked with a smile, "How... do you plan to die?"

"You'll find out soon enough!" Xiao Se picked up the edict of self-reproach from the table, put it in his pocket, and continued, "Father, there's one last question!"

Emperor Mingde looked at Xiao Se, then suddenly smiled and said, "You mean... Zhuo Qing?"

"You asked him to destroy my hidden meridians?" Xiao Se looked at Emperor Mingde, his expression unchanged, but his eyes were full of tension.

Emperor Mingde looked at Xiao Se, shook his head slightly, and said, "It wasn't me!"

"Phew! I understand!" Seeing this, Xiao Se said nothing more, looked at Emperor Mingde, and slowly said, "Father, the next time we meet will be at the funeral of Prince Yong'an! From then on, there will be no Prince Yong'an Xiao Chuhe in Beili, only... Xiao Se!"

Upon seeing this, Emperor Mingde shook his head slightly and said with a smile, "I... understand!"

……

After leaving the palace, Xiao Se found Li Xiuyuan.

Upon seeing Xiao Se, Li Xiuyuan took a sip of his drink and asked with a smile, "Boss Xiao, have you found the answer?"

"Found it!" Xiao Se nodded slightly, then asked, "Has the White King left?"

“They’ve already left!” Li Xiuyuan, sitting on his horse, looked serious as he stared at Xiao Se and said, “Xiao Se, are you really ready?”

Xiao Se looked at Li Xiuyuan, shook his head slightly, and said, "You've been calling me Xiao Se instead of Prince Yong'an, Xiao Chuhe! Alright, it's time for Prince Yong'an, Xiao Chuhe, to disappear!"

As soon as she finished speaking, Tang Lian dragged a corpse to Li Xiuyuan and said to him, "Daoji, this is a death row inmate brought out of the prison! His height and weight are about the same as Xiao Se's! It's sufficient as the corpse of the Prince of Yong'an!"

Looking at the corpse on the ground, Xiao Se slowly said, "This corpse is enough as a substitute for Boss Xiao! It can be considered as accumulating some merit!"

"The person is already dead, why are you still talking about merit?" Li Xiuyuan shook his head slightly.

Then, with a swipe, the corpse's appearance was completely transformed, and it was dressed in bleak clothes.

Lei Wujie, standing to the side, couldn't help but exclaim, "This is incredible! If I didn't know the truth, I would have really thought Xiao Se was dead!"

"Oh no, I forgot something!" Xiao Se slapped his forehead and couldn't help but say, "I shouldn't have told this little blockhead! How wonderful it would be to see this little blockhead weeping and wailing at my funeral!"

The others couldn't help but smile when they thought about that scene!

Even Li Xiuyuan looked regretful and said, "Now that you mention it... it is indeed a bit of a pity!"

Lei Wujie glared angrily at Xiao Se and shouted, "Xiao Se, you've gone too far!"

Just then, footsteps sounded!

A mournful sword aura, vast and mighty, swept across all directions.

Turning his head, he saw the Lone Sword Immortal slowly walking over, dressed in green robes and carrying a long sword on his back.

Lei Wujie looked surprised and couldn't help but look at Xiao Se, asking, "The Lone Sword Immortal... what's he doing here?"

"He's the one who killed me!" Xiao Se glanced at the corpse on the ground, then turned to look at Lone Sword Immortal and said, "Senior, you've arrived?"

"Hmm!" Lone Sword Immortal nodded slightly, put his hands behind his back, looked at the "desolate" corpse on the ground, and said with some surprise, "It's quite similar!"

Li Xiuyuan took a sip of wine and said with a grin, "Of course, my cooking skills are always reliable!"

Seeing this, the Lone Sword Immortal nodded slightly, then looked at Xiao Se again and said, "You really don't intend to tell the White King?"

"If I tell him, then my death will have been in vain!" Xiao Se smiled slightly, glanced at the corpse on the ground, and said, "From now on, I'll have to trouble you, senior!"

"Ok!"

Lone Sword Immortal nodded slightly, then turned to Tang Lian and said, "I'll leave Junior Sister's matter to you!"

Tang Lian was taken aback, then nodded and said, "Don't worry, Senior Lone Sword Immortal!"

Without hesitation, the Lone Sword Immortal picked up the desolate corpse from the ground and headed towards Tianqi City.