Chapter 282: Breaking The Stalemate
The masked man removed the human skin mask from the “Emperor,” and upon seeing the true face underneath, his expression turned ugly.
This person was not the Emperor, but a confidant by Prime Minister Wang’s side.
No wonder Zhou Wangshu was so fearless; clearly, he had planned everything meticulously, and they couldn’t grasp them at all.
“How could this be? We clearly schemed everything perfectly.” Prime Minister Wang said unwillingly, “Cough cough…”
Black smoke poured in from outside.
Seeing that the situation was hopeless, the masked man held a dagger to Prime Minister Wang’s neck and said to Zhou Wangshu outside, “I was coerced by him; none of these things were voluntary. Lord Zhou, let me go, and I’ll hand Prime Minister Wang over to you.”
“You treacherous thing, you actually dare to use me to make a deal with him. Cough cough… Do you think that if I’m caught, you claws can escape? I’ve schemed for so long, yet I still fell into their hands.”
“Come out, and I can spare your life.” Zhou Wangshu said, “If you don’t come out, then there’s only…”
The masked man, holding Prime Minister Wang hostage, walked out.
When they exited the secret chamber, they saw many Imperial Guards blocking the way ahead.
As for Prime Minister Wang’s personal guards, not a single one was visible; they were probably already dead.
“Prime Minister Wang, what a scheme. You didn’t directly usurp the throne but wanted to swap faces with the Emperor and ascend directly. You knew my father-in-law was close to the Emperor, so if you didn’t deal with my father-in-law, it would be easy to discover the clues. You sent him away to facilitate your actions. Additionally, you cooperated with the enemy country, using their people to eliminate my father-in-law, leaving you with no further worries.”
“You’re very clever, but what’s the use of being clever? Distant water can’t quench near thirst. Your good father-in-law should already have reported to the King of Hell by now.” Prime Minister Wang said smugly, “Even if I die, having that archenemy accompany me in death is quite a bargain!”
The Emperor walked out, served by the eunuch.
He looked coldly at Prime Minister Wang: “I’m afraid you’ll be disappointed. I just received an urgent military report from eight hundred li away—General Su achieved a great victory. However, General Su did not immediately return to court; he plans to charge directly into the enemy’s lair and expand our territory. I’ll keep you alive so you can hear with your own ears how my good general does not fail the imperial grace, returning to me with resounding military merit.”
“How did you discover my plan?”
“General Su being transferred away wasn’t suspicious in itself, since it was for military affairs. After General Su left, there were too many personnel changes in various positions; even if it was to fill vacancies, it was too obvious. Also, your good son-in-law committed a crime, yet you didn’t save him. With your power, as long as you spoke a few words for him, the Emperor would surely show mercy, but you didn’t. I also found out that your son-in-law was ostensibly exiled to Xilin City, but the one who went to Xilin City was just a body double; the real one went to the border…”
“These are only part of the suspicions. Also, these days the Emperor has been ill for no reason, many new faces have appeared among the Imperial Guards in the Imperial Palace, and my people also saw this evil doctor. This evil doctor once wanted to swap my Madam’s face with another woman’s. For him to appear in the Imperial Palace and become the Emperor’s doctor is the most suspicious of suspicions.”
“We held our position to see what tricks you could pull. Your good son-in-law’s mansion had a large number of weapons; going through the secret passage leads right into the secret passage of that previous temple. You connected the underground areas, making it both your escape route and your secret base for scheming in the dark. I wonder if I’m right?”
Prime Minister Wang never imagined that after scheming for so many years, it would end so quietly.
“My troops… there were clearly over twenty thousand…” Prime Minister Wang couldn’t comprehend.
Over twenty thousand troops aren’t many at the border, but in the capital city, they were definitely a considerable force; starting something quietly wouldn’t be a problem.
“While you quietly schemed these past half month, we weren’t idle either. While you quietly laid out your plans, we quietly broke the situation.” After Zhou Wangshu finished speaking, the Commander of the Imperial Guards ran over with his subordinates.
Prime Minister Wang saw the Commander of the Imperial Guards, his eyes burning: “You’re just in time—kill them all for me.”
The Commander of the Imperial Guards knelt and paid respects to the Emperor: “This humble subject arrived late to rescue Your Majesty; please forgive me, Your Majesty.”
“You… you’re the Emperor’s man!” Prime Minister Wang’s eyes widened, “I married my niece to you, and this is how you repay me?”
“Don’t say it’s just one niece—even if it were your own daughter, it wouldn’t be worth betraying His Majesty. If not to gain your trust, I would never have married the woman you arranged. Rest assured, when you go underground, I’ll send her to accompany you.”
That woman was a Yangzhou slim horse cultivated by Prime Minister Wang, specifically to seduce the people he wanted to win over. Two years ago, Prime Minister Wang betrothed her to him; he endured his disgust and accepted her. Heaven knows, he had never touched her. To win her trust, he even took medicine that made him impotent, just to make her believe he didn’t touch her out of necessity. All this was because he had his childhood sweetheart lover.
Today it was finally over; he wanted to rush back immediately to hold the wedding ceremony for the girl he truly loved.
“Commander Xu, no need for more nonsense with him—take them down.”
The masked man threw out a handful of medicinal powder to escape, but after running only a few steps, Zhou Wangshu swung his blade onto his neck.
The mask fell, revealing a familiar face.
Xiao Yanci? No, not him. He resembled Xiao Yanci somewhat, and also resembled Zhou Wangshu somewhat.
Zhou Wangshu saw the color of the birthmark behind his ear; though only a tiny bit, it still reminded him of one person.
Yang Quan.
The cosmetics master with a black birthmark all over his face whom Jiang Yihuan had once taken in.
Wasn’t he the one who made rouge and cosmetics?
Right, he seemed to have once asked Jiang Jing if the birthmark on his face could be removed, and Jiang Jing said it was impossible unless swapping faces.
“Yang Quan, right? Tell me, how did you learn the face-swapping technique?” Zhou Wangshu held the blade to his neck, “If you don’t talk, I won’t kill you, but I’ll slash your face to pieces, then throw you onto the street for everyone to watch, letting all know you’re an ugly monster.”
“I’ll talk… I’ll talk…” Yang Quan said tremblingly, “Don’t ruin my face; I finally have a face like this. Huan’er likes this face of mine so much; she even got pregnant with my child for me. Huan’er…”
“Stop pretending to be mad.” The blade in Zhou Wangshu’s hand pressed against his face.
“When I was a servant in the Prime Minister’s Mansion, I accidentally discovered it in his study room. After discovering it, I studied it, experimented on many people, and later gained the Prime Minister’s appreciation with this ability. The Prime Minister had me swap faces for him and the Emperor, so he could become the Emperor without lifting a finger. If this method didn’t work, he would raise troops in rebellion.”
