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Xiao Heng closed his eyes without denying it.
For no reason, how could a person suddenly undergo such a drastic change in character and even become more intelligent?
It was all because of the “He Xin Gu”.
The “He Xin Gu” was extremely sinister and malicious. The carrier of the “Yang Gu” would lose one point of intelligence, while the carrier of the “Yin Gu” would gain one point of intelligence.
With the dominance of Yin and the decline of Yang, one would thrive at the expense of the other. The “Yin Gu” and “Yang Gu” resonated with each other within the same city and could not be separated.
Xiao Heng couldn’t stay away from Chu Zhaoyou for long, as it would trigger the onset of the Gu poison. The Yin and Yang were like the Tai Chi, mutually dependent, but upon closer examination, it was very much a double standard.
If the Yang depended on the Yin, Xiao Heng wouldn’t live long if Chu Zhaoyou died.
If the Yin depended on the Yang, if Xiao Heng’s intelligence ultimately dissipated, the “Yin Gu” in Chu Zhaoyou’s body would fall silent.
The young Emperor was like a blood-sucking leech hanging on Xiao Heng until his death.
So when Xiao Heng learned of Chu Zhaoyou’s disappearance, his first reaction was that the young Emperor knew something and was deliberately causing trouble for him at a critical moment of the Gu poison’s onset.
The first thing he did upon returning to the palace was to verify whether Chu Zhaoyou had become more astute. The best way to do that was to give him a task, such as breaking off the engagement.
Xie Chaoyun opened his mouth, dumbfounded: “We originally thought that the dominance of Yin and the decline of Yang was just a groundless rumor…”
The effect of the “He Xin Gu” was indeed too absurd. Where in the world would such a thing exist? They had initially questioned it, thinking that at most it would bind the lives of two people together, but beyond that, it would gradually make the Regent foolish.
However, Chu Zhaoyou’s change had come as a shock to them.
The “He Xin Gu” was truly the ace up the sleeve left by the late Emperor, a fatal blow!
If the proud and powerful Regent truly reached that point, he would never live in disgrace.
Over the years, Xie Chaoyun vaguely knew that Xiao Heng was actually preparing for the end, perhaps after the second onset, or maybe after the third.
Xiao Heng was unwilling to leave his name in the history books, and Xie Chaoyun couldn’t know what kind of ending he had prepared for himself.
He also didn’t know if Xiao Heng would bring down the Chu empire along with him.
Until the final moment, Xiao Heng couldn’t answer this question.
The ancestral temple bore the name of Chu, but the land and the people were the fruit of the Regent’s labor over the years!
The innocent people should not suffer. He couldn’t bear to destroy them.
He was unwilling to make clothes for his enemy, fulfilling the late Emperor’s wish. In comparison to destroying the world, usurping the throne was a compromise. He would rather hand over the kingdom to a beggar than let the Chu family end.
Many times, Xiao Heng wanted to directly end Chu Zhaoyou’s life, but reason stopped him each time.
He had to repeatedly tell himself that these were the late Emperor’s doings, and the young Emperor was innocent, even if he sang the opera that Xiao Heng detested every day. For this reason, Xiao Heng never paid attention to the young Emperor, except during court sessions.
Chu Zhaoyou was innocent, yet not innocent. He was truly benefiting from it.
Over the years, Xiao Heng rarely thought about these things. The more he thought about it, the more he felt uneasy. At the same time, he became more and more unrestrained in his actions, and to outsiders, he seemed just a step away from seizing the throne.
He found that Chu Zhaoyou had become more astute. Even though he knew the real reason, he still looked at him with admiration. He still felt angry when he saw Chu Zhaoyou, but the disgust had unconsciously diminished.
The night before the volcano erupted, he deluded himself for no reason, painting a false picture of peace.
Perhaps Xie Chaoyun couldn’t bear to watch anymore.
“The birds have flown, and the bow is stored. The cunning rabbit is dead, and the running dog is cooked,” Xiao Heng’s thumb ruthlessly crushed the ink blot on the paper, and he closed the memorial with self-mockery.
Xie Chaoyun couldn’t bear to watch anymore and tightened his grip on his sword. “What about the divine physician of the Moon Hua Mountain? After so many years of searching, is there still no trace of him?”
“I heard that he appeared near the capital, but no one knows what he looks like, so there’s no way to find him,” Xiao Heng said, unwilling to say more. He stood up and opened a box on the table. “You’ve come back just in time. There’s something I need to trouble you with.”
Xie Chaoyun knew that Xiao Heng’s current state of mind, his restraint from going mad, was the result of countless nights of painful tempering and acceptance. He didn’t want to provoke him further and went to look at what was inside the box.
Xiao Heng: “When I was found by the Imperial Dragon Guards after being missing for three days, I was lying unconscious in a dilapidated house in Lianhua Village. I have no recollection of those three days, but I vaguely feel that someone was taking care of me. These are all the items found in the house, and they should belong to her.”
When Chu Zhaoyou left the dilapidated house, he cleaned up all the traces he had left. The house was drafty, and after a few hours, the smell had dissipated. The house even collapsed in the middle of the night, causing a cloud of dust, so the Dragon Guards wouldn’t have any specific thoughts about what they were looking for. Therefore, the investigation ordered by Xiao Heng yielded nothing but a set of clothes.
The clothes purchased by Chu Zhaoyou were a popular style in the capital, and Li’s Clothing Store could sell a hundred pieces in a day.
Xie Chaoyun picked up the clothes and examined them, frowning. “Ordinarily, a young lady would take good care of her clothes. Judging by the wear and tear on this garment, it has been worn for some time.”
If it wasn’t newly purchased, then it would be even more difficult to find her.
The Regent didn’t remember, so he nodded in agreement. “Yes, this matter can’t be publicized. I can only ask you to privately search for her.”
Only Xie Chaoyun knew about the poisoning of Xiao Heng, and there was no third person. Although the Regent held sway over the court, there were still many ambitious individuals lurking in the shadows. If the news leaked, those people would pounce and try to take advantage.