Ke Boming had also intended to save the person, but he was stunned for a moment and was two steps too late. By the time he reacted, Su Muqing was already leaning into the arms of a white-haired man, their relationship appearing quite intimate.
He must be that Young Master Lu. Seeing the two approaching Ke Biqing, Ke Boming hurried forward, crouched down to check King Qing's breathing, and found that the man had indeed stopped breathing. He frowned and withdrew his hand, realizing the situation was becoming increasingly complicated.
Lu Yuzhi supported her as they walked over. Although the hope of saving him was slim, Su Muqing still placed a healing elixir into Ke Biqing's mouth, then dripped some undiluted spiritual spring water onto his lips.
After doing this, Su Muqing carefully scanned Ke Biqing from head to toe. As her gaze swept over his left shoulder, she found a large area of soft tissue contusion. The injured area was roughly the same size as the cross-section of the broadsword he had been wielding. This was likely the wound caused by the rebound of the steel blade.
She then looked towards Ke Biqing's chest and discovered a very thin steel needle inserted at the location of his heart meridian. This meant that this was the cause of his death. Su Muqing withdrew her gaze and looked up at Ke Boming, who had been standing behind Ke Biqing at the time, along with Ke Biping.
Suddenly! Su Muqing lunged towards his neck. Ke Boming reacted swiftly, blocking the attack with his fan and retreating a few steps. He stood firm, looking at the person before him with confusion. "Princess, what is the meaning of this? Why did you suddenly attack me?"
Su Muqing stared at Ke Boming for a few moments. The dot representing him on her detector showed no emotional fluctuations. She began to wonder if the detector was malfunctioning, or if this person was simply too skilled at concealment, showing no flaws.
"My apologies for my rudeness just now!" Su Muqing casually cupped her fists in an apology and then turned towards Ke Biping's corpse.
Ke Bite clasped his hands together, looking at the headless body on the ground and the head that had been retrieved by his subordinates, unsure of what to feel.
In front, a large group of people knelt on the ground, bathed in darkness. In addition to the three royal households' forces, there were surprisingly two contingents of troops who were supposed to be stationed in the suburbs.
Thinking of this, Ke Bite's expression turned extremely grim. Glancing sideways, he saw Lu Yuzhi approaching with Su Muqing, and he took two steps forward.
As he drew nearer, he discovered that Su Muqing was covered in blood. Given her excellent martial arts skills, how could she have been so badly injured? "Muqing, you are so severely wounded… why not go into the palace to rest for a while? I will handle things here."
"Uncle, there is no need to worry. After I have clarified the cause of King Qing's death, I will accompany you to the palace to see Father Emperor," Su Muqing said, nodding to Ke Bite before continuing forward.
It was then that Ke Bite remembered that his elder brother, Ke Biqing, was also dead! Those people had also claimed to have witnessed it themselves, stating that King Qing had been killed by a single palm strike from Su Muqing.
What was happening today?
First, Na'er had suddenly appeared in the palace and attempted to assassinate the Emperor. Fortunately, Lu Yuzhi had returned in time to prevent the situation from escalating. Immediately after, various factions had converged on the imperial city.
Then, in less than the time it takes to brew a cup of tea, the newly appointed Princess Ning'an had killed two of her brothers. With so many startling and sudden events occurring in one afternoon, it was overwhelming.
He watched Su Muqing's retreating figure for a moment, his gaze passing by Ke Boming. He turned and walked towards King Qing's corpse. Looking at the face with blood streaming from all seven orifices, and recalling the severed head on the other side, Ke Bite forcefully closed his eyes and ordered people to bring two stretchers, instructing them to place King Qing's body properly first.
After giving the instructions, Ke Bite turned back to his original spot. He suddenly remembered what Su Muqing had said earlier: she wanted to clarify the cause of King Qing's death. Could it be that her elder brother was not killed by her palm strike?
That made sense! Although this girl was capable, she was by no means a bloodthirsty and tyrannical person. When he had clashed with Su Muqing before, her approach had been primarily defensive, avoiding engagement.
Now that they were her nominal uncles, even for the Emperor's sake, she wouldn't have resorted to killing them immediately. Moreover, given Su Muqing's martial arts prowess, if she had truly intended to kill, she herself would not have sustained such severe injuries.
It seemed there was likely a hidden story behind all of this!
The guards of Prince Ping's manor and Prince Qing's manor all knelt in place with their hands clasped behind their heads. Seeing Su Muqing approach, they all gritted their teeth, their expressions conveying a desire to devour her alive. However, they were currently controlled, and a group of prisoners could only express their anger through their eyes.
Su Muqing paid no attention to their ravenous gazes. She reached out to turn Ke Biping over, inadvertently pulling on the wound on her arm, causing her to wince in pain.
Although the bleeding from her several wounds had stopped and they were slowly healing, she had been pierced through. The wounds were real, and the pain was real. She swallowed uncomfortably, her forehead covered in fine beads of sweat.
Lu Yuzhi did not know what she intended to do, but he could somewhat guess from her actions and expression. He reached out and turned the corpse over. Su Muqing then half-knelt, leaning most of her upper body against the chest of the person behind her, her hand rummaging through Ke Biping's body.
Seeing Su Muqing rummaging all over Ke Biping's corpse, some loyal guards of Prince Ping's manor could no longer stand it. Seeing the Regent King also approaching, and thinking that this was, after all, a brother of the king, surely he would not allow this vixen to insult the king. Thus, they began to curse her vehemently.
"You wicked vixen, you are truly audacious! Not only have you caused the king's death, but you are now disrespecting his corpse. You are truly deserving of death. I curse you to descend into the eighteen levels of hell after your death!"
…
Su Muqing ignored their curses, and Ke Bite made no reaction. Instead, Lu Yuzhi, who was beside her, could not bear it any longer. He turned to look at the one who was scolding the most fiercely and flicked a stream of internal energy towards him with his hand.
"Ah…!" After a scream, the guard lowered his head, blood continuously flowing from his lips.
He tried to close his mouth tightly, but he couldn't hold on for long before spitting out a mouthful of blood. Simultaneously, there was the sound of pebbles falling. Everyone looked up and found several teeth within a pool of blood.
When everyone looked back at the guard, they all gasped in admiration. This Young Master Lu was truly ruthless!
Two pieces of flesh were missing from between the guard's upper and lower lips, creating a bloody hole larger than a gold coin. His front teeth were also bare. Several of his front teeth had just been knocked out. If the sky had been brighter, one could probably have seen the guard's throat at a glance.
Lu Yuzhi scanned the guards who were cursing, and seeing them all trembling into silence, he withdrew his gaze.
After searching Ke Biping's body for a long time, Su Muqing finally found something strange on his wrist. She stepped forward and pulled back his sleeve, revealing that Ke Biping's wrist was bound with a leather wristband, and near his palm, a small piece of hard iron was also tied.
Lu Yuzhi turned Ke Biping's wrist over, and the few of them saw that several steel needles were arranged on the iron piece.
Su Muqing pulled out one of the needles and then asked someone to bring King Qing over. After he was brought over, the two corpses were placed side by side in front of the soldiers of both manors.
The medicine had been administered for so long; if he still had a glimmer of hope, it should have taken effect by now. Su Muqing also hoped that King Qing could create a miracle.
Unfortunately! Spiritual spring water could save lives, but it could not bring back the dead. If only from the beginning… forget it! Since the person was gone, dwelling on the beginning was of little significance.
"Brother Lu, please remove King Qing's clothes and expose his back," Su Muqing said, then stood up and stepped back two paces.
Ke Bite and Ke Boming exchanged a glance. They did not interrupt, unsure of what Su Muqing intended to do.
Lu Yuzhi reached out to remove King Qing's clothes, and the people of King Qing's manor almost popped their eyes out.
"Vixen! The King has been murdered, and what else do you want to do? You are not allowed to touch him…"
"You… you are simply going too far…"
"Regent King, are you just going to allow them to insult the King's corpse like this, preventing him from resting in peace?"
… The scolding continued unabated, and even Ke Bite was constantly being called out.
Su Muqing's head ached from the deafening noise. She raised her hand and smashed a nearby stone pedestal, finally quieting the scene. "Why are you roaring? I am doing this so that you can understand the true cause of King Qing's death. You all claim that I killed King Qing. Do you not even allow me to prove myself? Or are you simply afraid that I will prove that I am not the murderer of King Qing, and that is why you are obstructing me?"
King Qing's personal guard, his eyes bloodshot and his expression fearless, roared, "So many of our eyes saw it clearly just now. What else do you want to prove? I think your true intention in taking these actions is to destroy evidence!"
"Shut up!" As soon as the guard finished speaking, Su Muqing abruptly turned and pointed at him.
"Others might have the right to accuse, but you do not. Did you think no one saw you and Ke Biping secretly exchanging glances just now? You are mistaken!"
"I only exchanged a single blow with King Qing. After he fell, although his blood surged, it was not severe enough to be fatal. I recall him taking two steps forward afterward, his demeanor and expression perfectly natural."
"Moreover, before King Qing could speak, Ke Biping gave you a signal, and you immediately stepped forward to target me, even labeling me an assassin and attempting to overpower me with numbers. Is that true or not?"
"Heh heh! I find it strange. Everyone says loyal servants do not serve two masters. I even suspect which prince you are a loyal guard for. Why don't you listen to King Qing, but instead, you look to Prince Ping for instructions?"
After Su Muqing finished speaking, the guard's expression changed drastically, turning from green to white like a palette. At this moment, his heart was filled with fear.
How was this possible? In such darkness, and at such a distance, how could she have seen? If she could see so clearly, then the vixen! The King was right, she was definitely a vixen!
After a period of internal turmoil, the guard slowly calmed down. Fortunately, both princes were now dead, and it was unlikely that anything would be traced back to him.
At this moment, Lu Yuzhi had already removed Ke Biqing's upper garment and turned him over, exposing his strong back.
Ke Bite and Ke Boming both stepped closer. After carefully examining Ke Biqing's back, they found a tiny red dot on the back, corresponding to the position of his heart, looking like a needle prick.
The needle prick on King Qing's back, the steel needles on Prince Ping's wrist. The two exchanged a fearful glance. Could this be the evidence Su Muqing had spoken of…
Everyone was intelligent. With these two clues combined, the truth of what had happened was self-evident. However, this outcome was somewhat difficult for the two to accept!
They had imagined countless possibilities, but they had never considered that Ke Biqing would be secretly murdered by Ke Biping…
Just then, the Emperor emerged from the palace gates seated in his sedan chair. Although his injuries were not serious, he had lost a lot of blood and his complexion and lips appeared somewhat pale.
The Emperor had been resting in his chambers. He had heard that Su Muqing was also returning soon, but Lu Yuzhi had gone out to meet her and had not returned for a long time.
The Emperor could no longer lie still. Disregarding the Empress's劝阻, he insisted on coming out to see. The Empress could not persuade him, so she could only accompany him.
Wang Defu flicked his horsetail whisk and announced in his distinctive voice, "The Emperor has arrived! The Empress has arrived!"
"The Emperor is here!"
"The Emperor is alright?"
"It really is the Emperor…"
"Long live His Majesty, ten thousand years, ten thousand years, ten thousand thousand years! May the Empress live for a thousand years, a thousand years, a thousand thousand years!"
The assembled captive soldiers became very excited upon hearing of the Emperor's arrival. In the evening, news had spread that the Emperor had been assassinated by Ke Binan, the son of the Regent King, and was in critical condition.
The palace had also been occupied by the Regent King, and the Empress had ordered them to return to the imperial city immediately to rescue the Emperor. It was because of this news that they had returned to the city without being summoned.
The Emperor swept his gaze across the kneeling crowd, his gaze suddenly falling on Su Muqing, who was dressed in blood-red attire. Seeing that her clothes were still dripping blood, he was instantly furious. Without regard for the moving sedan chair, he jumped down from it.
"Your Majesty, be careful…"
"Your Majesty, be careful, you… your body…" Wang Defu was also frightened and reached out to catch the Emperor, almost exclaiming about his injuries in his haste.
The Emperor walked quickly forward, his hands both eager and gentle, "taking" Su Muqing from Lu Yuzhi's embrace and carefully leaning her against himself.
"Ning'an, who has injured you like this…? Guards! Quickly summon the imperial physicians to treat the Princess! If the Princess suffers any harm, I will surely punish you severely!"
It was only then that the Empress saw the wounds on Su Muqing's body. She covered her mouth in surprise, her eyes immediately welling up with tears. She wanted to step forward to hug her but was afraid of causing her pain, feeling immensely pained.
Su Muqing endured the pain and gave the two a bright smile. "Father Emperor, Mother Empress, you do not need to worry. I have already taken medicine, and I am fine now."
The Empress wiped the tears from the corner of her eyes. "No! Look at your clothes, they are all stained red. You have lost so much blood, how can a single pill replenish it! We still need the imperial physicians to examine you, otherwise, how can Father Emperor and Mother Empress be at ease."
Su Muqing emerged from the Emperor's embrace, reached out, and hugged the tearful Empress. "Alright, alright! Daughter will listen to you! Mother Empress, please stop crying."