Distant Mountain Battle Song

Chapter 116: Poisoning
When Yun Ce was studying, he would read those chapters about so-called femme fatales who brought ruin to the country, and he always felt sorry for these beauties.

Men are the ones who fight for the world, men are the ones who protect the world, and men are also the ones who truly bring chaos and disaster to the country. However, as long as a particularly outstanding woman appears in this process...

Therefore, all the blame fell on the woman.

Yun Ce thought to himself that if he were the man behind that woman, he would never want her to take the blame.

The ultimate romance for a real man is nothing more than enjoying a meal cooked in five tripods.
Later, after leaving school, entering the system, and becoming a minor official, he gradually began to understand those men who pushed women to take the blame.

—Just a lover.

A person's heart doesn't harden in a day; it hardens gradually through life. Therefore, generally speaking, the older generation tends to have a harder heart than the younger generation.

Especially when it comes to the emperor, he can be ruthless and heartless, after all, the kings of the Qin Dynasty all referred to themselves as "I, the lonely one".

The emperor's concubine, a highly esteemed imperial concubine at that, became pregnant. This should have been a momentous occasion of universal celebration.
However, at the banquet prepared by the emperor for the imperial concubine, the imperial concubine left a letter and had it read aloud to the emperor in public, and then disappeared without a trace.

The person who read the letter was chopped into mincemeat by the emperor, and his entire family was exterminated. Later, still not satisfied, the emperor exterminated the entire family. Half a year later, the emperor was still furious, so he also killed the friend of the person who read the letter.

After hearing Zhang Min recount the contents of the letter, Yun Ce felt that what Emperor Liu Mu did was not excessive at all. He even thought that Liu Mu's ruthlessness in killing was not as great as that of Emperor Zhu Di of the Ming Dynasty. Zhu Di killed ten generations of Fang Xiaoru's family after suffering humiliation, while Liu Mu killed seven generations of Liu Chengfeng's family after suffering a great humiliation.

In her letter, the mad imperial concubine told Emperor Liu Mu that the child in her womb was not his at all, and that he, the emperor of the Han Dynasty, was not worthy of her to conceive. There was only one person in the whole world who could make her pregnant and willingly give birth to the child, and that was Huo Qubing. The child naturally belonged to Huo Qubing.

Emperor Liu Mu went mad after hearing this...

Yun Ce felt that if this happened to him, he would go crazy too.

Eji rested her head on Yun Ce's shoulder and solemnly told him that she would only give birth to his children in the future, and that she would guarantee that the children she gave birth to would have pure Yun blood.

Someone like Zhang Min, who spends all her time fooling around with men, is not so safe. After the child is born, a blood test will be conducted to verify paternity before the child can be enshrined in the Yun family ancestral hall.

Zhang Min no longer cared about Eji's slander. She knew that since Yun Ce had asked this question, he must have seen or had contact with Madam Yu.

So she asked cautiously, "Everyone says that Madam Yu is a femme fatale. Has the young master ever met Madam Yu?"

Yun Ce said, "I've met her, and more than once. In total, we've spent three and a half months together. She left seven days ago."

Zhang Min exclaimed in horror, "Three and a half months, seven days ago? These must be people we brought from Chuyun Prefecture. I know everyone from there. Who are they?"

Eji said nonchalantly, "Hengji."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Min immediately looked at Yun Ce and said, "You only took a liking to her beauty, which is why you risked bringing her out of Chuyun Prefecture?"

Yun Ce shook his head and said, "I brought her back from Chuyun Prefecture because I felt sorry for her."

"You really aren't infatuated with her?"

Yun Ce pulled E Ji's small hand and held it tightly, then kissed her pink lips, saying, "I'm quite infatuated with E Ji."

Eji immediately smiled and said to Zhang Min, "I'm much better than her."

Yun Ce nodded repeatedly, but Gouzi inappropriately said in his mind, "You've mistaken Eji for Lady Yu again."

Yun Ce composed himself and, feigning deep thought, asked Zhang Min.

"Huo Qubing was sent to the mausoleum six hundred years ago, so how did this Lady Yu become pregnant with Huo Qubing's child?"

Zhang Min replied matter-of-factly, "King Huo is omnipotent."

Yun Ce spread his hands in surprise and said, "I know that King Huo is invincible and that he is omnipotent, but we still have to talk about some objective laws. After all, King Huo has been dead for six hundred years."

Also, you looked so worried about me just now. Were you worried that I was being seduced by Heng Ji, or that our contact with Heng Ji would bring us annihilation?
After all, the emperor has gone completely mad because of this.

Zhang Min looked at Yun Ce suspiciously and asked, "Are you sure you haven't been poisoned by Madam Yu?"

Yun Ce kissed E Ji on the lips again and said, "No!"

Zhang Min sneered and said, "It would be better if it weren't. Back then, the Liu Chengfeng family was a renowned family in our Great Han, and Liu Chengfeng was a rare literary and romantic figure in our Great Han."

This is the man who, after being slashed seven or eight times by the emperor's sword, was covered in blood, yet still smiled and told those around him—"No regrets!"
If you've been poisoned by Madam Yu, you'd better tell us as soon as possible so we can run far away and avoid being implicated.

Furthermore, even after suffering such a humiliating disgrace, the emperor still issued an edict in the seventeenth year of the Yuanlong era, two years prior, pardoning Lady Yu, also known as Consort Yu, from all her crimes.

"You can tolerate this?" Yun Ce heard a clear crack in his voice.

Zhang Min nodded seriously, then asked worriedly, "Are you really not poisoned by Madam Yu?"

Yun Ce stubbornly shook his head. He felt he needed to face this matter properly now. In just a few moments, he had mistaken E Ji for Heng Ji twice. Perhaps, possibly, that woman really was poisonous.

When he was in Izumo Castle, he was going to steal the Shehuo, which was such a secretive and important matter. Even if he had encountered witnesses, he should have silenced them immediately. Moreover, before he met Hengji, he had basically killed all those who attacked him.

But when he encountered Heng Ji, he softened his heart and not only did he not kill them, but they also robbed him.

Furthermore, when Hengji asked to leave the Yun family manor, Yun Ce should have made his move a second time, but for some inexplicable lapse of judgment, he not only allowed her to take the child away, but also gave her a carriage for free...

If what Zhang Min said is true, and Heng Ji has the ability to leave Yun Family Manor without anyone noticing, why would she need to come all the way here to say goodbye?
"Just to seduce me?"

The thought had barely formed when it started raining. This rain was more like God urinating, trying to wake up this narcissistic guy.

Yun Ce scratched his wet hair in frustration.

The rain in Chang'an is simply insane. It rains every two days, and each time it's a long, drawn-out downpour. That little bit of rain might be enough to irrigate the gardens of wealthy families, but it's clearly not enough to irrigate crops.

"Check my head," Yun Ce ordered the dog.

The dog didn't move, but lazily told him that there was nothing wrong with his brain, except that his hormone secretion was a little too high.

"Prevent excessive hormone secretion."

"Get out of here! That stuff is something you produce on your own. How can I stop you? Or, should I just cut it off?"

Yun Ce pulled down his pants to look at his brother and found him quietly and peacefully nestled in the same spot, motionless. Killing him now would be too unjust, so he decisively said to Gouzi, "Closely monitor my body movements."

The dog agreed, and then said, "We have to go to the crater. The Shehuo was originally supported by the lights of thousands of families, but now it's just your family's lights. They can't keep up. Let's try going to the crater."

What if it triggers a natural disaster?

"You still care about this?"

"I am a moral person."

"Okay, try it carefully. If it doesn't work, then forget it. Let me tell you, Shehuo is very beneficial to my and Dragon Ball's evolution, and it can even change your body."

"Your body is now severely dragon-like. Don't be fooled by the incredibly sharp claws you've conjured, which can rapidly increase your strength. Have you considered that if this continues, you'll eventually become a half-dragon, half-human monster?"

"A half-dragon, half-human monster? I was hoping to become a dragon someday so I could travel through the universe and go home."

"I think you're overthinking it. Do you think a child born from a dragon and another creature can be just like a dragon?"

Yun Ce thought for a moment about the appearance of the Suanni, Baxia and other dragon descendants, and firmly shook his head, saying, "They are different."

The dog sneered and said, "The dragon's genes are too strong. If you are exposed to them for a long time, you will almost certainly become a half-dragon, half-human monster. I would call this kind of power the power of bestiality."

If you like this kind of power, then disregard what I said. If you still want to stand tall among the hundred races as a human, you'd better go to a volcano and make the Shehuo even stronger.

Shehuo (a traditional folk performance) is the essence of humanity. With this human origin continuously illuminating you, your human genes have a chance to overcome the dragon genes. Ultimately, like many things since ancient times, the dragon genes will serve you, becoming a power you can control.

"Okay, we'll go when we have the chance."

"Don't just go whenever you have the chance, go tonight."

Yun Ce felt that dogs were truly good teachers and helpful friends to humans. They didn't have proactive thinking, but they had powerful thinking. When people couldn't see the road ahead, they could clear away all the fog and point straight ahead.

Yun Ce is human, and it's fine that he considers dragons his ancestors, but he still wouldn't want to actually become a dragon, especially if he evolved into something like Baxia. He would be even more unwilling to do so.

When Yun Ce returned to his room that evening, he took a second look at E Ji. It was good that her face hadn't turned into Heng Ji's. The little girl was sitting under the oil lamp mending his clothes, her face flushed, exuding virtuousness.

"I need to go out for a bit."

"Okay, I understand. I'll leave the door open for you. Is it safe?"

"It shouldn't be dangerous, but if there's an earthquake, you should take the dog skin and run."

Eji looked up at Yun Ce and nodded seriously.

Yun Ce closed the door and left. E Ji stared blankly at the door, as if her gaze could see Yun Ce outside through it.

Seeing that Yun Ce had left, Goupizi crawled out from under the bed, looked at Eji for a while, then jumped onto the bed and licked her with its pink tongue until Eji's tears fell. Only then did it quietly lie down beside Eji, its pair of round, dark eyes seemingly trying to think of something.

(End of this chapter)