FID – Chapter 823

Chapter 823: Restless in Death

Xue Honglian was from Baicao Valley, skilled in both crafting and neutralizing poisons. Before Feng Qingbai could escape, he absolutely couldn’t allow him to get near the Dongyue Emperor.

With his grip firmly on the emperor, Feng Qingbai slowly retreated.

Having one’s throat seized and life held in another’s hands was a deadly humiliation for any emperor, an ultimate disgrace.

Overwhelmed by fury, the Emperor’s eyes burned with rage. “Feng Qingbai, you dare hold me hostage? I will remember this hatred!”

“As you should. I imagine this will be the only time in Your Majesty’s life you’ll go through something like this—hard to forget even if you wanted to.” Feng Qingbai smiled faintly. “As for me, I don’t particularly mind. There’s no shortage of people who want me dead. One more makes no difference.”

Around them, elite soldiers held their swords at the ready, eyes locked on Feng Qingbai, but none dared to make a rash move.

Feng Qingbai wasn’t concerned about these men. What gave him pause was the one across from him—that mysterious Mr. Xue, who had just revealed himself.

Unfortunately, Feng Qingbai still hadn’t seen his true face. Like Xue Honglian, he also wore a mask.

Still, he’d be easy to recognize—a man in a wheelchair stood out anywhere.

“Your Majesty, we can’t let him leave. Once Feng Qingbai escapes, there may never be another chance to capture him,” Mr. Xue said calmly, wheeling himself forward.

“My life is in his hands right now! That takes priority! Mr. Xue, are you suggesting we risk my life to get him?!” the Dongyue Emperor roared in fury.

Held hostage was one thing—but now, even his own strategist was disregarding his safety and urging the attack on Feng Qingbai.

Utterly absurd!

If anything happened to him, all that he had fought so hard to gain would be handed over on a silver platter—and he’d be left shouldering the blame and scorn of the world!

He had underestimated Feng Qingbai and never expected him to resort to such lowly tactics to break free!

Suddenly, the sound of the wheelchair wheels stopped. Mr. Xue looked directly at the Dongyue Emperor and slowly shook his head. “No, Your Majesty. Your life means nothing to me.”

With that, he waved his hand, and shadows burst from all corners of the hall. Shadow guards dressed in black surged toward Feng Qingbai.

“Xue Zhong!” the Emperor bellowed, voice laced with fury and disbelief.

He hadn’t even known Xue Zhong had shadow guards—much less that they had been stationed inside his own palace!

If Xue Zhong had ever wanted to assassinate him, he wouldn’t even know how he died.

He had raised a tiger, only to be bitten!

In his ear came the cold, mocking voice of the man opposite him: “Seems Your Majesty and your advisor aren’t exactly of one heart.”

“Feng Qingbai! Let me go, and I’ll let you leave! I swear, once this is over, I’ll immediately withdraw the army!” The Emperor wasn’t stupid.

If he couldn’t see now that he’d been used, he might as well have no brain at all.

Feng Qingbai’s grip on his throat tightened slightly. While fending off the black-clad attackers, he said coldly: “Order your men to stop them—or even if I let you go, that advisor of yours won’t!”

The emperor’s eyes flickered. Seeing Xue Zhong still standing calmly at the edge of the chaos, he gritted his teeth and roared: “Men! Arrest that traitor Xue Zhong! Kill all the black-clad assassins in this hall—leave none alive!”

At that moment, he believed in Feng Qingbai.

He had raised a venomous snake—and today, he’d seen its fangs.

There was no way he could allow it to live!

With the elite guards joining in, Feng Qingbai finally caught a brief moment to breathe. Fighting as he retreated, he calmly searched for a way out.

Outside the crowd, Xue Zhong watched the composed man in the chaos with an icy gaze. His eyes gradually turned cold as he ordered, “Honglian.”

Xue Honglian shot out from behind him like a streak.

At that moment, a sudden burst of white mist filled the hall, blinding everyone’s vision.

Nothing could be seen—only the clash of blades and the occasional splash of warm blood hitting faces could be heard and felt.

When the mist finally dispersed, Feng Qingbai was gone from the circle of soldiers. Left behind was only the Dongyue Emperor, thrown to the ground.

The poison had sapped his strength—limbs powerless, he lay there helpless, at the mercy of whoever chose to strike. And around him, the ground was littered with the corpses of his own elite guards.

A wheelchair rolled up before him. He looked up into those cold, ruthless eyes, and the emperor’s face contorted with fury.

“Feng-Qing-Bai—!!”

Thud.

A blade sank into flesh with a dull, heavy sound.

The man slowly pulled the dagger out. Blood spurted from the emperor’s chest.

“Forgive me, Your Majesty. After everything that’s happened… if I don’t let you die, then you’ll make sure I do. So… rest in peace.”

The air was thick with the stench of blood. Nothing remained but corpses scattered across the floor. And amid them, the man in the imperial golden robes lay lifeless—his eyes wide open in rage, refusing to close.

He died with grievances.

“This is Dongyue territory. I’ve stationed ambush troops around the palace. Feng Qingbai won’t get far.”

Outside the palace, Xue Zhong looked around calmly and added: “Honglian, go after him. Just bring me his head.”

“Yes, Uncle.”

The imperial palace bordered the frontier town, and within a radius of ten miles stretched a vast reed marsh.

Among the tall reeds—killing intent hung heavy in the air.

Feng Qingbai had not been able to rendezvous with Wei Zi; every path was ambushed.

As for the usual poison tactics employed by Baicao Valley, they hadn’t been used—perhaps because they knew poison wouldn’t work on him.

He didn’t know whether to thank Xue Qinglian for leaving him with so many universal antidote pills back then.

And by that same logic, his poisons were useless against Baicao Valley people as well.

He could only fight his way through a blood-soaked escape.

There were three escape routes—east, south, and north.

The southern path led directly to Yigu City, but it was heavily guarded.

That left only the north and east as viable options.

Hiding in the reed marsh, Feng Qingbai didn’t move right away—he waited for nightfall.

His hand gently brushed the herbal sachet at his waist, and his eyes softened for a moment.

If Shengsheng knew how dangerous things were right now, she’d be so worried. Thank goodness he didn’t bring her along this time.

At this hour, she was likely in the King’s Manor, refining medicine, or perhaps preparing herbs.

I promised her I’d return safely. I absolutely can’t break that promise.

Shengsheng… wait for me.

Meanwhile, Wei Zi, leading two squads of elite soldiers, stood guard on the main road from Yigu City to the Dongyue palace. Until night fell, no one returned.

Watching the sky grow darker, Wei Zi’s expression sank with it. “Ready the troops and stand by. Follow me—we’re heading to the vicinity of the imperial palace! Send someone back to the garrison command to inform General Cheng. Tell him to bring the full army—we’ll demand the Dongyue Emperor hand him over!”

“But Lord Wei, sneaking near the palace won’t be easy. We’d have to pass through the Dongyue army’s fortifications. If we’re discovered, it’ll be tantamount to declaring war—a full conflict will break out!”

“This is an emergency! We can’t worry about all that right now! Once we reach the enemy’s perimeter, stay outside and wait. Pick a few with strong skills to go in with me. The Prince may be in danger!”

“Yes, My Lord!”

In the Yangxin Hall, just after dinner, Liu Yusheng stood up when she was suddenly kicked hard in the belly by the little troublemaker inside. The kick was so forceful that it made her heart skip a beat.

“Imperial Aunt, what’s wrong?” Feng Mohan quickly asked upon noticing her change in expression.

The Empress Dowager also furrowed her brows and looked over.

“It’s nothing. The little one inside just kicked me. With that kind of strength, it’s probably going to be a little strongman once born.”

“Strongman? What if it’s a baby girl?”

“If it’s a girl, then she’ll be a little strongwoman, of course.”

The playful exchange between the two made little sense, and the Empress Dowager huffed, “The baby isn’t even born yet—how can you tell if it’s a boy or a girl? Girls are delicate. That kind of strength clearly means it’s a boy.”