Chapter 300 Rejection

Chapter 300: Refusal

Xue Quan witnessed firsthand the influence of Master Miaoqing over Emperor Jingping and concluded that the Crown Prince was doomed.

"I'll send a matchmaker to the Yongqing Earl's residence to propose marriage. You and Qiu Heng should get married as soon as possible and then leave the capital. I've thought it through carefully. If something happens to the Crown Prince, and those backed by Master Miaoqing come to power in the future, the issue of the elixir will definitely be covered up. At most, they'll just silence me and won't pursue matters with you once you've left the capital. That would stir up too much trouble, which isn't what they want."

"Father, please stop bringing up the idea of me leaving the capital. The Crown Prince was taught from a young age to be a steady and magnanimous heir. If anything happens to him—whether a young prince ascends the throne or some other schemer seizes power—Great Xia will surely fall into chaos."

"Let it be chaotic then; it will settle down after a while. Don't worry yourself over this."

"Father, your son will stand with you until this storm passes."

"You stubborn fool." Xue Quan poked Xue Han on the forehead, rolling his eyes in exasperation. "If the Xue family line ends, it's all your fault!"

Xue Han's mouth twitched slightly. After urging Xue Quan to leave, he went to meet with Qiu Heng.

After Qiu Heng heard about what happened at the Eastern Palace, her disgust for the tyrant deepened.

"The Crown Prince was clever to replace the effigy with a clay dog. It avoided the calamity of witchcraft and stirred the tyrant's memory of past bonds of husband and wife and father and son. Yet Master Miaoqing's slick words sent the tyrant to the Eastern Palace to punish the Crown Prince again. This shows that under the temptation of immortality, the tyrant has little humanity left."

The situation was even grimmer than expected.

Hearing Qiu Heng call the monarch a tyrant, Xue Han was both amused and exasperated: "A Heng, it would be better to address him as His Majesty."

"Tyrant, tyrant, tyrant."

If Qiu Heng had ever felt any reverence for the monarch—a reverence ingrained in Great Xia citizens, not for Emperor Jingping but for the imperial authority itself over a millennium—it was now completely gone after hearing what the Crown Prince had endured.

The Crown Prince was someone she had saved and whose success was critical to her plans. Whoever wanted to kill the Crown Prince, she would kill them.

Even if it was Emperor Jingping.

"Xue Han, I need to see Eunuch Xue."

"When?"

"Today. As soon as possible."

"Alright."

When Xue Quan heard from Xue Han that Qiu Heng wanted to see him, he was surprised: "Why does Qiu Heng suddenly want to see me? Did you tell her I'm willing to send a matchmaker to propose?"

Hmph, he knew that girl was in a hurry.

If not for the circumstances, he wouldn't have let Han'er marry someone like her.

Xue Han was speechless: "You're overthinking it."

When they met, Xue Quan cleared his throat: "May I ask what business County Princess Suiyun has with me?"

"I heard that His Majesty spends all his time in the Hall of Eternal Life with Master Miaoqing."

Xue Quan whipped his head toward Xue Han.

Xue Han confessed honestly: "A Heng knows everything."

"'Everything'? What do you mean?" Xue Quan exclaimed in shock.

"Everything I know, she knows. It was A Heng who warned me about the elixir."

Xue Quan's head was buzzing. He stiffly turned his head to look at Qiu Heng.

The smiling girl had tender brows and a gentle, harmless expression.

"How do you know the elixir is problematic?" Xue Quan bit the tip of his tongue to compose himself and managed to voice the question.

"That, I cannot say. Just think of it as a special ability I have, Eunuch Xue."

"Special ability..." Xue Quan's eyes narrowed. The doubts he had harbored rushed to his lips, and finally, the moment to ask had come. "The former Palace Commander Han Wu—"

Qiu Heng nodded: "I killed him."

"Yuan Chenghai—"

"I killed him too."

"Chancellor Fang—"

Qiu Heng glanced at Xue Han and said flatly: "We all know why the Fang family fell, don't we?"

In extreme shock, Xue Quan stood as if frozen in place, unable to react for a long time.

He truly didn't know how to react, or even dare to move.

"Father, have some tea." Xue Han handed him a cup of warm tea, also caught off guard that Qiu Heng had revealed so much to his adoptive father.

A Heng hadn't told him she would disclose these things.

Xue Quan took the tea, dazed, and drank several big gulps.

The tea was bitter, with a slight aftertaste of sweetness that cleared his foggy mind a little.

He stared intently at the composed girl, feeling it was all so unreal.

"Eunuch Xue, doesn't His Majesty spend most of his time in the Hall of Eternal Life?" Qiu Heng asked again.

Xue Quan nodded, dazed.

"And you, Eunuch Xue? Do you stay by His Majesty's side?"

Xue Quan nodded again, a flicker of wariness rising: "Why are you asking about this?"

The expressionless girl lowered her gaze, reached into her pouch, and pulled out a small brocade bag, pushing it toward Xue Quan.

"There are a few incense pellets inside. Eunuch Xue, find an opportunity to drop them into the censer in the Hall of Eternal Life, and the Crown Prince's predicament will be resolved."

Xue Quan's eyes tightened with wariness: "What effect do these incense pellets have?"

The girl looked up, meeting his terrified gaze, and gave a look that said, "Why ask when you already know?" "Hasn't His Majesty been taking that dangerous elixir that depletes his vitality? The smoke from burning these incense pellets will accelerate the flow of blood in his body. Combined with the medicine, he will soon die."

"Hiss—" Xue Quan leaped to his feet, pointing at Qiu Heng: "You—what are you saying!"

Qiu Heng frowned slightly: "Eunuch Xue, keep your voice down, or someone might hear."

Xue Quan's face turned deathly pale. The bright, flower-like girl now seemed like a demon, making him tremble all over: "Just now you said—"

Qiu Heng tapped the brocade bag with her finger and said flatly: "I said that given His Majesty's current condition, with the help of these pellets, he will die soon. Once His Majesty is dead, Master Miaoqing will be unable to stir up any trouble."

"Are you planning to commit regicide?" Having confirmed he understood correctly, Xue Quan's teeth chattered.

How could there be such a terrifying person, speaking so casually about regicide!

Qiu Heng, seeing Xue Quan's reaction, realized that getting him to take action was impossible, but she still wanted to persuade: "His Majesty's body is already failing, and he has started taking that potent medicine. The difference is just dying sooner or later—"

"Shut up!" Xue Quan was both frightened and angry. "This is regicide! You will go to the eighteenth layer of hell. Do you think it's just killing some random person?"

Qiu Heng's gaze turned cold. "In my eyes, the life of a foolish ruler like His Majesty is no more noble than that of any ordinary person."

If she hadn't feared that the emperor's sudden death in public would cause turmoil, and had held onto the hope of letting the foolish ruler die from the medicine as originally fated, so they could claim he died of illness, then the arrow during the Lantern Festival would not have been aimed at Honored Consort Yu.

She had been too greedy. This path was fraught with difficulties from the start; how could there have been a perfect outcome?

Xue Quan was shaken by Qiu Heng's cold gaze, shaking his head repeatedly.

He could never have imagined such outrageous words. This girl is truly crazy...

"Eunuch Xue—"

Xue Quan suddenly raised his hand. "Stop talking. I can't possibly do this!"

"Father—"

"Shut up!" Xue Quan shot Xue Han a vicious glare, pushed himself up from the table with both hands, and walked away with unsteady steps.

The door closed behind him, and Qiu Heng quietly put away the brocade pouch.