Chapter 1057: The Prince of Chu Dies Suddenly

With Xiao Jin's company, Emperor Jian Shi began to indulge himself, casting aside all thoughts of the Prince of Chu or the Heaven-Worship ceremony.

During this period, the Prince of Chu's condition took a sharp turn for the worse, leaving him hanging by a single breath.

According to Physician Mu's estimation, the Prince of Chu's life had reached its end, likely within a day or two.

Chen Guanlou secretly went to see the Prince of Chu one last time. Using the medicine prepared by Physician Mu, he awakened the sleeping Prince. "Your Highness, you are dying, silently and without pain. Do you have any final words?"

The Prince of Chu was dazed for a moment. "How much time do I have left?" The prolonged coma had left him extremely weak, yet at this moment, his mind was exceptionally clear—clearer than it had ever been.

"Only a day or half a day."

"Jiang Jiang Yucheng Chen is kind-hearted to come and see me off on my final journey. Take a message to the Princess for me. Tell her I have followed her arrangements and departed first; tell her not to be so irritable."

"Anything else?" Chen Guanlou asked in a low voice.

The Prince of Chu pondered for a moment and shook his head. "No! The Princess will arrange everything; I need not worry."

"Your Highness, do you know how to fight?" Chen Guanlou asked casually, not expecting an answer.

Unexpectedly, this casual question received a response.

"Fight? I avoid the heavy and seek the light; I cannot lift a blade nor hold a sword. What kind of fighting would I do? In this life, I have only known how to eat, drink, and play."

"Since you cannot fight, who then is the Prince of Chu on the battlefield?"

"Haha, anyone can be!"

Reaching the end of his life, in front of Chen Guanlou, the Prince of Chu had no more scruples.

"Anyone can be, anyone at all! Am I not formidable? So many people selling their lives for me. Hahaha... Jiang Jiang Yucheng Chen, do you feel surprised, pleasantly surprised?"

He laughed with great joy, as if a prank had succeeded.

As he laughed, he began to cough, his complexion shifting from ruddy to pale. In a short time, he lost all vitality, and even that last breath holding his life dwindled to half a breath.

"Anyone can be, anyone can be... I am omnipotent, I am a born God of War, I am invincible in battle and unconquerable... I, hahaha..."

Amidst his laughter, the Prince of Chu swallowed his last breath.

He died with his eyes wide open.

Chen Guanlou reached out and closed the man's eyes.

Physician Mu had warned him that forcibly awakening the Prince of Chu could lead to death at any moment. He just hadn't expected it to be so hasty and sudden. Fortunately, there was little pain before death. It could be considered fulfilling his previous promise.

There was movement outside; clearly, those outside had heard the Prince of Chu's laughter.

Chen Guanlou stood up and left.

When the door was thrown open and the people outside rushed in, they discovered the Prince of Chu had died suddenly—he was completely dead!

Even though the imperial physicians from the Taiyi Academy tried every possible method to resuscitate him, it was to no avail.

Minister Sun Daoning personally confirmed the Prince of Chu's passing, his expression filled with grief.

Afterward, he personally went to the imperial palace to report the Prince of Chu's death.

Emperor Jian Shi had been playing wildly these past few days; he was in a good mood but physically exhausted and listless. He originally did not want to see Sun Daoning, as he was truly too tired to deal with court officials.

Only upon learning that there was a report regarding the Prince of Chu did he reluctantly grant Sun Daoning an audience.

As a result, he was hit with a major blow.

"The Prince of Chu died of illness?" Emperor Jian Shi muttered to himself, seemingly unable to collect his thoughts, his soul still drifting in the wine-and-flesh pools of days past.

"How so quickly?"

Sun Daoning carefully observed the Emperor's reaction. Before coming, he had heard that the Emperor had been indulging himself for days, with dark circles under his eyes. Since changing the pills in the Yuquan Palace, the Emperor's energy was indeed lacking. Looking at this reaction, it was clearly several beats slower than a few months ago.

"Reporting to Your Majesty, the traitorous Prince of Chu was terminally ill, and medicine was ineffective; he passed away this afternoon. How should the traitorous Prince of Chu's funeral arrangements be handled? I ask Your Majesty to make the decision."

"He really died! What about the upcoming Heaven-Worship? He was the sacrifice I designated. Now that he is dead, where do you expect me to find a second sacrifice? Minister Sun, you were responsible for guarding the Prince of Chu; why did he die so sloppily, so unexpectedly? You cannot shirk the blame!"

"Reporting to Your Majesty, the Prince of Chu was severely ill; this was not something human effort could reverse. It was because the Prince of Chu had been frightened previously, leading to his illness. The physicians also said the Prince of Chu suffered a great shock to his spirit, damaging his heart vessels, and he harbored a will to die..."

"Are you blaming me? You all come to blame me. The Prince of Chu died, and you want to count it against me? This is simply outrageous. As subjects, you should be sharing my burdens, not slandering me."

Emperor Jian Shi was furious, yet his body failed him, lacking energy. As he flared up, he felt physically exhausted and drained. He wished he could lie down right now and have a good sleep.

Lacking energy, he couldn't even manage a proper argument.

How infuriating!

"Get out, get out, all of you get out!"

"Your Majesty, the Prince of Chu's funeral arrangements..."

"I told you to get out!"

Emperor Jian Shi was extremely irritable, grabbing a stack of memorials from the table and throwing them at Sun Daoning.

"All of you get out! Someone, medicine, the pills, bring the pills!"

Emperor Jian Shi urgently needed a pill to relieve the discomfort throughout his body; it was too unbearable. His head was spinning, his body was fatigued, and he could barely open his eyes, let alone use his brain to think about problems.

Dammit!

Today, Eunuch Gan was on duty and immediately offered the pill.

In his urgency, Emperor Jian Shi took a pill.

Whether it was psychological or not, once the pill hit his stomach, he felt comfortable all over. He lay directly on the floor, limbs spread out in a "big" character shape.

So comfortable!

His head wasn't spinning as much, and his thoughts seemed to be gradually clearing.

Several young eunuchs served on the side, some fanning him, others holding hot water.

Eunuch Gan leaned down and asked softly, "Your Majesty, would you like to bathe?"

"The Prince of Chu is dead, is he?" Emperor Jian Shi asked, thinking with his gradually clearing mind.

Eunuch Gan nodded. "Dead! Died of illness! I heard he didn't leave a single word before he died."

"And Minister Sun?"

"Minister Sun is just now leaving the palace."

"Go! Chase after him and tell Minister Sun that even though the Prince of Chu is dead, we cannot let him off. The funeral arrangements for the traitorous Prince of Chu must be handled strictly."

"Your Majesty, do you wish to have Minister Sun brought back?"

"Tell him to give him the death by a thousand cuts!" Emperor Jian Shi gritted his teeth. "Hack the Prince of Chu into ten thousand pieces, perform three thousand cuts, and show absolutely no leniency. Daring to rebel—this is the consequence! You, go and supervise it."

Eunuch Gan:...

Eunuch Gan was annoyed to death.

Last time it was the Prince of Cheng, and he was the supervisor then too. Fortunately, that was in winter, so it was barely tolerable.

Now, although it is already autumn, the ferocity of the 'autumn tiger' heat feels three times more intense than in summer. In this weather, to perform the death by a thousand cuts—and on a corpse at that—while he has to be the supervisor, he wishes he could just die!

Why does such bitter, dirty work always fall to him?

Wang De is truly lucky!