Chapter 111: Chapter 111: Who Wants to Kill Me

The great hall was instantly surrounded, sealed as tight as an iron drum.

The concubine who had been kicked from her high seat collapsed to the ground. Black blood gushed from her mouth, and her body convulsed uncontrollably. She looked to be in extreme agony.

This was poison!

The sudden turn of events was so abrupt that everyone in the hall turned pale. They all fell to their knees, burying their heads low.

"Which of you wants to kill me?!"

Gao Qian snatched a sword from the waist of an imperial guard. His eyes were bloodshot as he descended from the high platform step by step, sword in hand.

The entire hall fell deathly silent, broken only by the fading groans of the concubine on the floor.

Liang Wan kept her head down, her hands slick with sweat.

"Who is it?!"

Shaking with fear, no one dared to answer.

Gao Qian said viciously, "You won’t talk? Fine! Then I’ll kill you one by one!"

The previous emperor had been killed by poison. Gao Qian’s face was pale; he was terrified.

A cold laugh suddenly rang out. He reached out and yanked up a trembling Palace Attendant by his feet. With a swing of his longsword, the man’s gasp was cut short. THUD. A head fell to the floor. Blood sprayed across Gao Qian’s face. He let go, and the remaining half of the body toppled over.

"Guanglu Doctor!" Gao Qian raised a hand to gently wipe his face. He stared at his blood-red palm and slowly walked forward. "You tell me," he said sinisterly. "Who is it?"

Lou Xiao was startled and quickly lowered his head. "I do not know."

"You don’t know?" Gao Qian gave a dark smile, grabbed a person nearby, and with a flash of his sword, another body fell.

"General of Cavalry!" Gao Qian turned his head and smiled at the other side. Covered in blood from head to toe, he looked like an Asura Evil Ghost. "Who do you say it is?"

"I do not know, but perhaps we could—"

As if expecting the same answer, Gao Qian killed another person as Cao Jun spoke, forcing him to cut his sentence short.

"It doesn’t matter if you don’t know. I’ll just kill everyone one by one. I’m bound to get the right person eventually." His eyes were filled with brutal fury.

Everyone’s heart pounded in terror. If he killed them one by one, no one would escape...

"Your Majesty, I’m scared—" another concubine prostrated on the floor sobbed softly. Her waist was slender, her shoulders trembled, and her face was deathly pale.

Gao Qian followed the sound and helped her up from the floor, murmuring, "Wanhua is scared. I’m scared too..."

Suddenly, a cold, sinister smile appeared on his lips. "But if Wanhua dies, you won’t be scared anymore. And I won’t have to be scared either."

The longsword pierced her chest. The sound of tearing flesh and blood was mind-numbing.

Even though she was used to seeing him kill, Liang Wan couldn’t stop herself from shivering with cold fear.

She gritted her teeth, her eyes fixed on the ground.

Suddenly, a warm hand gently covered hers. She timidly looked over and saw a calm and composed face, which gradually soothed her terrified and furious heart.

"Grand Commandant!"

The subtle movement did not go unnoticed.

Lu Xiu squeezed her hand, then rose to his feet with unhurried grace. His expression was devoid of alarm. "I am here."

"You tell me, who was it?"

"Your Majesty!" Lu Xu stood up from the floor, his face tense. "I do not believe you will find the answer this way."

"Does the Minister have a better idea?" Gao Qian’s eyes were blood-red. He glanced at Lu Xu as he pulled the longsword from the concubine’s chest. Red liquid dripped down the blade. DRIP. DRIP. DRIP.

"We need only investigate those who behaved suspiciously during the banquet just now."

Everyone knew an investigation was needed, but no one dared say so, terrified the longsword would be pointed at them next.

"Fine, investigate!" Gao Qian looked at them one by one. "If you can’t find the culprit tonight, you will all die!"

All who came for an audience with the emperor were required to remove their armor and weapons. Even those who held military power and possessed exceptional skills were now surrounded by the imperial guard and could only submit.

With the Emperor’s Order, the imperial guard began to interrogate everyone one by one.

Soon, all those who had left the banquet at some point were shoved into the middle of the hall. They knelt on the ground in a line, and Liang Wan was among them.

Lu Xiu watched her with a heavy gaze.

Liang Wan lowered her head. In her peripheral vision, she could see members of the Imperial Family, courtiers, Palace Attendants, and eunuchs...

Gao Qian stood before them, holding the bloody sword. Starting with the first person, he pressed the blade to their neck and interrogated them one by one, demanding they state their whereabouts.

The first was Princess Yuzhang’s Prince Consort. Gao Qian asked a few questions, but the man didn’t answer. Princess Yuzhang hurriedly stood up from her seat, wanting to plead for him, but he just kept stammering. Gao Qian lost his patience and was about to strike when a Palace Attendant shuffled forward on her knees.

The Palace Attendant couldn’t hold back her tears, her eyes red from crying. She confessed that the Prince Consort had drunk too much at the banquet and, when the Princess wasn’t looking, had dragged her outside and forced himself on her.

After she finished, Princess Yuzhang was furious. She looked at her Prince Consort and saw shame in his eyes. But thinking that at least he had nothing to do with the attempted regicide, she held her tongue.

Gao Qian nodded. "The matter of the poisoning has nothing to do with you."

The Prince Consort and the Palace Attendant both showed expressions of joy.

But their joy lasted only a moment before the Prince Consort collapsed. Princess Yuzhang rushed forward.

Gao Qian merely glanced at the sword he had just pulled out and smiled at Princess Yuzhang, who was weeping over the corpse. "This entire Daqi is mine. If you want something, you need only ask me for it. But to take without asking... that’s a crime punishable by death!"

The moment he finished speaking, the kneeling Palace Attendant was also beheaded.

He went down the line, interrogating them one by one. No one was spared. The floor was littered with corpses, just like in her previous life.

Liang Wan knew that Gao Qian was deeply suspicious. He wouldn’t rest easy until he had killed every single one of them.

She was next. Everyone was waiting to see her fate.

Liang Wan kept her head bowed.

Footsteps approached. Gao Qian stood directly in front of her, his tall frame casting her in shadow. Then, the bloody tip of his sword lifted her chin, and the thick stench of blood assaulted her nostrils.

"It was you."

Liang Wan suppressed her panic and calmly met his eyes. "Yes, Your Majesty. It’s me again."

"This time, what did you go off to do?"

His bloodstained face glanced toward Lu Xiu. He smiled faintly, a truly terrifying sight.

"I just went to stand outside the hall for a moment."

A strange light glinted in his eyes. "You didn’t go anywhere else?"

Liang Wan blinked her clear eyes, a troubled expression on her face. "This matter... Your Majesty will have to come a little closer for me to tell you."

"Oh?" Gao Qian studied her thoughtfully.

Liang Wan knew what he was worried about. She lifted her sleeves and showed her hands, which were as slender and pale as spring onions. She tilted her face up, her gaze frank. "I truly have something to tell Your Majesty in private."

Gao Qian was briefly stunned, then his eyes narrowed into a smile. He glanced at Lu Xiu. "This Lady is truly interesting. No wonder she has our Grand Commandant so utterly captivated."

Liang Wan beamed at him.

Gao Qian kept the smile on his face, his gaze boring into hers, but his guard was not lowered in the slightest. He slowly leaned down.

In a flash, Liang Wan quickly grabbed Gao Qian’s hand, forcing the sword he held to thrust diagonally to the side.

The Palace Attendant kneeling beside her realized the blade was coming at her too late. The longsword plunged straight into her abdomen. But the wound wasn’t fatal. She sprang up, raising a short dagger to strike down.

With quick eyes and nimble hands, Liang Wan shoved Gao Qian aside and swiftly moved to block him. Just as the dagger was about to fall, the Palace Attendant was kicked away.

Lu Xiu took two steps forward, lowered his head, and pleaded for forgiveness. "I have allowed Your Majesty to be frightened."

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