"You!" Shao Deng Yun pointed at Ruan Shi: "How dare you appear before me? Cut them both down!"
The guards who rushed over didn't know what to do. Were they really to kill them?
Zhong Yang Xu: "Brother Shao, it's clear they are pawns of Niu You Dao. Killing the witness will achieve nothing. There are already many witnesses. Is there any way to make him retract his words? Perhaps something can still be salvaged."
In truth, he himself didn't believe anything could still be salvaged. Such a huge commotion had already erupted. The eldest son was ruthless; would the third son now let go of his elder brother? Would he ever want to keep his elder brother alive?
Zhong Yang Xu still didn't believe that the mother and second brother were unaware of this. It was difficult to silence one, let alone the others.
And now, the problem wasn't with him. It wasn't that he forgot old friendships; it was that the Shao family themselves had started an internal struggle.
Shao Deng Yun calmed down and clung to the last shred of hope for saving his eldest son. Pointing at Shao Fu Bo, he angrily said: "Do you hear? This is all Niu You Dao's trickery, to make you all fight among yourselves. Do you not know what will happen next?" He was already thinking of kneeling and begging his son to shut up.
At that very moment, Shao Fu Bo angrily shouted: "Father, elder brother brought this doom upon himself. Who asked him to offend the Ice and Snow Palace? Can one truly hide from the Ice and Snow Palace? I am doing all this for the sake of the Shao family! At this moment, you are still protecting elder brother. Why? Do you truly wish to destroy the entire Shao family? As long as your son is here, I will not permit the family's destruction! Ask your advisors what to do!"
He had clearly dug his heels in and had no intention of letting go of his elder brother!
Zhong Yang Xu sighed.
Shao Deng Yun, trembling all over, whispered: "Brute, brute, brute!"
"Brother Shao, if it has come to this, then I am powerless here. Please forgive me!" Zhong Yang Xu said with regret. He turned his head, just about to give an order to his disciples, when he suddenly felt his hand firmly gripped.
He turned his head and saw Shao Deng Yun, holding his hand, slowly shaking his head. In his eyes was a plea: "His mother was intelligent. You also called her 'little sister'. She perished long ago. Brother Zhong, for her sake, please let him go."
"The sect has commanded it!" Zhong Yang Xu looked into Shao Deng Yun's eyes for a long time, then slowly said. He gestured to his disciples to carry out the order.
He could not gamble on this. Nor did he have the right to be a player in the Shao family's gamble.
"Yes, Master!" The disciples nodded and quickly left.
Shao Deng Yun seemed to lose all his strength. He swayed, stumbled back, and collapsed into a chair!
The mother and son continued to wail.
Shao Fu Bo wept, but inwardly he rejoiced. He had clearly heard Zhong Yang Xu's words and understood that his elder brother would finally perish now. Finally, they would avenge their grievances.
Zhong Yang Xu looked at the mother and son, then slowly turned and was about to leave. As he reached the door, he heard Shao Fu Bo's cry.
"Mother! Mother! What's wrong?"
Zhong Yang Xu turned his head and saw that Ruan Shi had collapsed to the floor. Her face was contorted in agony.
"What's wrong with her?" Zhong Yang Xu whispered to himself. Then he saw black blood flowing from Ruan Shi's nose.
Zhong Yang Xu was immediately startled. He flashed over and quickly felt Ruan Shi's pulse.
In the room, all the soldiers and guards immediately surrounded them.
By this time, Ruan Shi's face had turned black. She had clearly been poisoned. Zhong Yang Xu touched Ruan Shi's body with his fingers and saw the poison spreading. Then, from a porcelain flask, he quickly took out antidote pills. He immediately forced them into Ruan Shi's mouth.
And still, black blood flowed from Ruan Shi's nostrils. She clutched at her son's sleeve and, as if sensing her demise, whispered with her last strength, looking into his eyes: "Don't touch him. You... are no match for him."
Clearly, the antidote pills had been given too late. Ruan Shi's body went limp; she lost all strength and stopped breathing.
Zhong Yang Xu froze in terror. She had been poisoned with a potent venom! Once the poison manifested, it was already too late to neutralize it.
"Mother, Mother, Mother! What's wrong with you???" Shao Fu Bo, holding Ruan Shi in his arms, cried out mournfully. This time, it was real. He clutched Zhong Yang Xu tightly and begged him: "Master, I beg you, save my mother! Please, save her! Save her!" This time, he was truly sobbing.
Zhong Yang Xu shook his head. He was already powerless.
At this moment, Shao Deng Yun came to his senses. He looked at the situation, then immediately stood up and pushed away everyone surrounding them. Seeing the deceased Ruan Shi, he immediately embraced his wife and cried out mournfully: "Ruan, Ruan..."
Recalling his mother's last words, Shao Fu Bo cried out mournfully and furiously: "Jackal! Bitch! I hate you!" As he screamed this, he suddenly clutched his stomach and let out an agonizing groan.
Shao Deng Yun and Zhong Yang Xu hadn't noticed this. However, the other subordinates noticed and cried out in alarm: "Third Young Master! Third Master!"
Shao Deng Yun and Zhong Yang Xu turned their heads and also noticed black blood flowing from Shao Fu Bo's nose.
"My son!" Shao Deng Yun cried out mournfully.
Zhong Yang Xu quickly retrieved a pill and forced it into Shao Fu Bo's mouth. But the situation repeated itself, just as with Ruan Shi. Once the poison was discovered, the victim could no longer be saved!
In shock, Zhong Yang Xu took out two more antidote pills. He took one pill himself and forced the other into Shao Deng Yun's mouth.
If anything happened to Shao Deng Yun, there would be trouble in Beizhou. All commanders were loyal to Shao Deng Yun. Dachang Mountain could not control such a vast number of people. And if Shao Deng Yun perished, who knew if the soldiers might rebel? Then the Han Kingdom and Yan Kingdom would seize the opportunity!
Just then, a person rushed in from outside: "Master, this is bad! Something has happened to the Second Young Master." However, as soon as the person who rushed in saw the scene, they immediately fell silent.
Everyone looked at the person who had rushed in.
In Lingbo Palace, Shao Ping Bo sat calmly in a chair. There were bloodstains at the corners of his mouth. He calmly watched the setting sun.
Dachang Mountain disciples were walking around him. Huang Dou and Ling Hu approached from the side and had already taken Shao Ping Bo into custody.
Shao Ping Bo closed his eyes. He looked calm and at ease. Only the bloodstains at the corners of his mouth were visible.
Huang Dou and Ling Hu sighed. They had served together for so many years and never thought something like this would happen.
The two men had already warned him about the Ice and Snow Palace, but Shao Ping Bo hadn't listened. Now he would have to reap the consequences!
At this moment, a disciple arrived and said seriously: "Fellow disciples, master has ordered us to carry out the sect's command!"
Huang Dou and Ling Hu exchanged glances, then Ling Hu sighed and said: "Eldest Young Master, an order cannot be defied. Please forgive us!"
Huang Dou also sighed and said: "Eldest Young Master, if the opportunity arises, we will definitely settle accounts with Niu You Dao. We will avenge you!"
Shao Ping Bo calmly said: "Settle accounts? There's no need. I will settle everything myself. Before I leave, I would like to bathe. If I wish to preserve my dignity, there's no harm in that, is there?"
The two men exchanged glances. In such a situation, they weren't afraid that anything untoward would happen.
They extended their hands: "Please, Master!"
They wanted to support him, but Shao Ping Bo opened his eyes and waved his hand: "I won't fall. I can walk on my own!"
The two men watched as he, leaning on the chair, stood up and slowly walked towards the bath.
He reached the bathroom, and the two men followed him. They helped him undress down to his undergarments and then opened the bath. Shao Ping Bo smiled and said to them: "You won't be joining me in the bath, will you? I won't run away, and it's unlikely I'll take my own life."
The two men exchanged glances. He was unlikely to run away. And if he took his own life, they wouldn't have to kill him. The outcome would be the same.
The two men stepped back and watched Shao Ping Bo enter the bath.
After a while, Shao San Sheng rushed in with clean clothes. He nodded to the two guardians, then entered the bath.
When he placed the items near the bath, Shao San Sheng nodded to Shao Ping Bo, indicating that the task was done.
Shao Ping Bo closed his eyes. He sighed, no longer worried that anything would happen in the ruler's residence. That was why he had stalled for time.
When he opened his eyes, he looked pleased and calmly said: "And yet, the mother and sons acted so abruptly, and I wasn't mistaken. Someone definitely whispered this to them. Who have they been whispering with lately?"
Shao San Sheng was surprised. However, seeing Shao Ping Bo's satisfied expression, he replied: "Earlier, I was fully occupied with the young master's affairs, so I didn't notice. But now I recall that today, the son of the assistant county magistrate of Pingchuan County came to visit the two masters. Truth be told, Wu Tian Nan should not have appeared in the ruler's palace."
Could anything truly be hidden in the ruler's palace from our eyes?
Shao Ping Bo calmly said: "Your oversight. Find out everything immediately!"
"Understood!" Shao San Sheng took the towel and exited.
Huang Dou and Ling Hu saw that Shao San Sheng had clearly gone out to carry out some tasks. But they didn't understand, did anything still matter now?
Shao Ping Bo calmly took his bath.
After a while, Shao San Sheng returned and reported: "Eldest Young Master, I've already handled it."
"Change my clothes!" Shao Ping Bo stood up and began to dry himself.
Later, Shao Ping Bo looked like a young, ambitious man once more, and the bloodstains on his lips were gone.
He didn't wait for Huang Dou and Ling Hu to start urging him. He exited the bath and said: "I forgot to tell the two masters that in Ruan Shi's residence, Shao Wu Bo and Shao Fu Bo have already perished!"