strictlysupreme Chapter 566 The Villainous Female Supporting Character Who Impersonated the Tyrant's Savior 21
Chapter 566 The Villainous Female Supporting Character Who Impersonated the Tyrant's Savior 21
Feeling feverish and restless, Xia Xizhi, in a daze, suddenly realized that she had been drugged with aphrodisiacs and hallucinogenic drugs, and instantly became more alert.
Damn it, someone's trying to frame her!
Xia Xizhi mustered her willpower and quickly took out an antidote needle from her spatial storage and injected herself with it.
As the poison subsided, Xia Xizhi instantly sensed an assassin removing tiles from the roof. Her eyes narrowed, and she flung out a poisoned needle in a second.
Meng Zixu, who was on the roof, heard faint moaning sounds from inside the room, and his expression changed.
He lifted the tile and looked inside. A poisoned needle was aimed at his eye. Meng Zixu was almost pricked by the needle, and cold sweat broke out on his brow.
A flicker of shock crossed his eyes, and his expression darkened. Regardless of whether he was male or female, to be able to remain conscious despite being poisoned—such willpower was truly extraordinary...
Fortunately, he was somewhat wary of Xia Xizhi's unpredictable nature and quickly dodged, otherwise he would have been blind this time.
Meng Zixu dared not linger and quickly climbed out of the courtyard.
After Xia Xizhi flicked out a poisoned needle, she quickly dressed. Once on the roof, she had vanished without a trace.
Xia Xizhi put the tile back and squinted at the distance.
Who's eyeing her? Meng Zixu?
She almost exposed her true identity as a woman disguised as a man.
It seems she'll have to be extra careful even when taking a shower from now on...
And she didn't even know when she was poisoned.
It shouldn't be Luo Bai. The drug she used wasn't an ordinary aphrodisiac; Luo Bai doesn't seem like the type to get his hands on something like that. Besides, to use such a poison on his very first day here—he wouldn't do something so stupid unless he was.
Her sixth sense told her that it was probably the treacherous and cunning Meng Zixu who did it.
He would definitely come into contact with some poison masters from the northern regions at the border, making it easy for him to obtain this kind of poison. It's quite possible that he suspected she was a woman, and that he unknowingly poisoned her when they met during the day.
We need to be more wary of this person from now on.
......
The imperial edict was issued shortly after the morning court session the following day.
The Zhenyuan Marquis's household was found guilty of treason, and all men and women there were to be beheaded three days later.
This imperial edict immediately enraged everyone in the capital. They surrounded the entrance of the Ministry of Justice to denounce Xia Xizhi, hurling very harsh insults. Only after being forcefully suppressed by the Imperial Guards did they dare to stop their disturbance.
Xia Xizhi pretended to be so angry at being surrounded that he deliberately picked a fight. At dinner time, he went to the Ministry of Justice prison and overturned their food, then mocked Gao Yu and General Meng.
Just as she finished her sarcasm, two of the "Imperial Guards'" instructors arrived pushing buckets of food.
As Xia Xizhi passed by, his eyes flashed, and with a flick of his wrist, two colorless and odorless sleeping pills that would dissolve upon contact with heat were flicked into the soup pot.
Then he pretended to leave the Ministry of Justice as if nothing had happened.
The drug wouldn't take effect immediately; it would take about three hours. That's why she told Meng Zixu to come at midnight.
The medicine doesn't need to take effect immediately to eliminate suspicion. Besides, it will evaporate in the soup after a few hours, so no one will be able to find out where it was drugged.
Not far away, three people were hiding in the shadows, observing the situation at the Ministry of Justice.
Seeing Xia Xizhi go in and then quickly come out again, Cheng Hu immediately lowered his voice and said...
"Master, that scoundrel is coming and going; could he really be plotting something? He said the Imperial Guards would be drugged, but who has the ability to drug all the Imperial Guards in the dead of night?"
An Qing: "If Xia, the treacherous minister, has that ability, he's here right at mealtime... He never plays by the rules; it's entirely possible he'll personally administer the drug, and then it might take effect in the middle of the night..."
Meng Zixu immediately thought of the secret drug he had given her yesterday and Xia Xizhi's soft moan, and his eyes changed color...
Cheng Hu snorted.
"I think it's more likely that he's setting a trap for his master, and might even be trying to wipe us all out! I think it's more reliable to wait until the day we're sent to the execution ground, and then I'll take the brothers and give it a shot."
An Qing shook her head in disagreement.
“I don’t think so. You said it’s a near-certain death if you take the risk. How can you possibly abduct so many people at once? So you can’t do that until the very last moment. Last time when we went back, Prime Minister Xia didn’t report to the tyrant about the master’s unannounced entry into the capital. Otherwise, the whole city would be covered with the master’s wanted posters. So I think we can’t miss this opportunity, even if it’s a trap, we have to try…”
......
In the middle of the night, Xia Xizhi was woken up from her sleep.
A messenger from the Ministry of Justice reported this.
"Your Excellency, something terrible has happened! Someone has broken into the prison and rescued all the members of the Meng family!"
Xia Xizhi feigned shock.
"What?! With so many Imperial Guards guarding the area, how could they have managed to kidnap so many people?"
"The Imperial Guards have all been drugged and are unconscious. We don't know how they were drugged, and we haven't been able to find out anything."
"A sleeping potion?!"
Xia Xizhi immediately became serious.
"If we can't find out, it must be the one who broke the prison! The one who broke the prison is probably a loyal subordinate of the Meng family. Quickly send people to chase after them. There are so many weak women, the elderly, the sick and disabled in the Meng family, they can't run that fast. They may not have even left the capital yet. Quickly send the Imperial Guards to chase after them!"
.......
Imperial Palace, Imperial Study Room.
Princess Mingsi, also known as Princess Junxun'er, rushed to the palace after hearing that Junze had ordered the execution of General Meng's entire family.
“Aze, General Meng’s family has obviously been framed. Xia Xizhi is a wicked and treacherous minister. Don’t believe him anymore! If the Meng family is sent to the execution ground, the people will curse you as a tyrant even more.”
Jun Xun'er wasn't originally called Jun Xun'er; she was called Qin Xun'er.
She was the orphan left behind by General Qin. The entire Qin family, loyal and heroic, had died on the battlefield. The late emperor brought this orphan of a loyal minister into the palace, bestowed upon her the title of princess, and even exceptionally granted her the imperial surname, bestowing upon her unparalleled honor.
Junze's mother was of humble birth and died young. He had a very difficult childhood in the palace, often going hungry and cold, and was constantly bullied by the other princes.
Jun Xun'er took pity on him and took good care of him, so Jun Ze's feelings for her were special. The first thing he did after ascending the throne was to make Jun Xun'er the eldest princess.
Many people have speculated that Junze is not getting married because Junxun'er is already married.
"Aze, quickly retract the imperial decree... Also, I suggest you get rid of that treacherous minister as soon as possible; he's a menace. To convict the Meng family based solely on the words of a maid and a few letters from who-knows-where is too hasty! It will break the hearts of loyal ministers!"
Junze lifted his eyelids and suddenly spoke.
“Starting three years ago, there were spies secretly communicating with the Silla Kingdom in the major battles that Meng Chengxiu fought. Although he won by a narrow margin each time, the spies' leaks caused many innocent soldiers to be killed or wounded, and even led to the massacre of entire counties by the enemy.”
"How could a great general like him not have noticed that there was a spy among his men? He must have noticed, otherwise he wouldn't have sent his wife back to the capital."
"With his wife Gao Yu back in the capital, the spies no longer had any strategic secret correspondence."
"He guessed that his wife was a spy, but he still covered it up for her. In his memorials, I did not see a single mention of the word 'spy,' nor did I see any mention of any casualties caused by spies. Not only that, his wife was a noblewoman from Silla, which he concealed and even arranged for her to be registered in a small border village."
Junze said coldly,
"For this crime of deceiving the emperor, am I wrong to convict him of treason?"