hi, Account: Hot: Night:
Zhao Shun, the monarch of the Southern Dynasty, twenty-four years old, ascended the throne at the age of six, with his mother, Empress Zheng, ruling from behind the curtain. Empress Zheng passed away in his nineteenth year, returning the power to the emperor.
However, during Empress Zheng's reign, she heavily favored her relatives from the Zheng family, who became pervasive throughout the court, practically controlling everything. Coupled with the Empress's doting on Zhao Shun, who indulged in beauty and pleasure all day long, turning him into a second-generation idler, Zhao Shun remained uninterested in state affairs and continued to rely on his relatives, leading to widespread resentment both inside and outside the court.
But Zhao Shun didn't care. He even thought these were the days of the gods, with all the beauties in the world at his disposal, living a life of extravagance and enjoying the greatest honor on earth. With his mother having passed away and no responsibilities to bear, wasn't this just like living the life of a god?
"Apparently, that's all the memory I have." He couldn't even remember the names of the people around him...
"Tsk, the instance isn't willing to sell me any information..." Zhang Yuanqing groaned as he got up, only to hear an instance notification sound next to him:
[Main quest activated: Repel the Northern Dynasty army or defend the Southern Dynasty capital.
Ding! Side quest activated: Find the spy lurking in the palace.
[Ding! Side quest activated: Win the hearts of the people.
[Note: Each completed quest will unlock a portion of the inventory.
"This is too many quests..." Zhang Yuanqing's expression was a bit dazed as he listened to the continuous notifications.
One of the side quests was to survive for 24 hours, and the "Fallen Monarch" instance was a large-scale war instance. It was unlikely to end in 24 hours. If there were so many quests at the initial stage of the instance, what about the mid and late stages?
Also, his skills were sealed, his inventory was sealed, and his body had become weak and unable to care for himself. How was he supposed to survive with such a character?
"For others, this is an A-level instance, but for me, it feels like an S-level..."
Clearly, the "Fallen Monarch" was the core character of the instance, and he was unlucky enough to draw the most difficult character card.
"Alas, I wonder where the others have gone. Can I find my Left Guardian, Devil Eye, and Right Guardian, Little Fu? I need your protection..."
He had experienced this type of instance once before, during the Five Elements Chaos instance.
At this moment, the girl beside the pillow was awakened by the noise. She rubbed her eyes with her small hand, opened her snow-white arms, and wrapped herself around him, cooing, "Your Majesty."
Her newly developed delicate body gently twisted, making skilled seduction movements.
"You're so capable at such a young age. The evil feudal society..." Zhang Yuanqing preferred mature beauties and had no interest in this kind of young girl. He gently pushed her away and ordered, "Dress me!"
The girl nodded in agreement, quickly climbed out of bed, stuck out her fair little buttocks, picked up the palace dress from the floor. With her small hands moving and pulling, the complex garments were quickly put on.
"She's a palace maid..." Zhang Yuanqing guessed the girl's identity, looking at her slightly plain attire.
Also, if she were a concubine with status, she wouldn't be dressing him herself.
After getting dressed, the girl led the emperor to the screen and took down the casual clothes hanging on the screen one by one, skillfully helping Zhang Yuanqing put them on.
Throughout the process, all Zhang Yuanqing had to do was stretch out his arms and lift his feet, or remain still. It reminded him of his father helping him get dressed when he was a child. These were some of Zhang Zizhen's few memories.
Chen Shu was a fiercely independent woman, and her approach to raising her children leaned towards strictness and free-range. She started asking Zhang Yuanqing to dress himself at the age of three. Zhang Yuanqing couldn't dress himself, and in his memories, it was always a pair of large, warm hands that helped him put on his clothes.
Taking advantage of the palace maid's assistance in dressing him, Zhang Yuanqing started thinking about what he should do next.
"What were my side quests again? Crap, my memory is failing too..."
Zhang Yuanqing opened the attribute panel to check the instance quests. The main quest could be ignored for now. Among the three side quests, "Survive for 24 hours," "Find the spy," and "Win the hearts of the people" could also be ignored, as it was impossible to achieve them for now.
What needed to be done were the two side quests, but what did "Survive for 24 hours" and "Find the spy" mean?
"Survive for 24 hours means the palace isn't safe? These two side quests might be related. The danger comes from the spy lurking in the palace. Then, the next goal is clear: find the spy. But I must have enough information to support it. Hmm, first, I need to understand the situation in the palace..."
As he was thinking, Zhang Yuanqing heard a muffled urging from outside the curtain: "Your Majesty, it's time for your medicine. The imperial physician said that the medicine should be taken while it's hot, or its efficacy will be greatly reduced."
Outside the curtain, a burly figure appeared again.
"I know," Zhang Yuanqing replied impatiently. After the palace maid put a golden silk jade crown on his head, he went to the bronze mirror to examine himself.
A handsome youth, thin and weak, with a sickly pale complexion and dim, unclear eyes, a typical example of someone whose body had been hollowed out by wine and lust.
"An unhealthy body. In this era, if I encounter a sudden illness, it's easy to die..." Zhang Yuanqing muttered to himself.
This was nothing like the appearance of the favored one, the original Heavenly Venerate. Even if Guan Ya stood in front of him, she probably wouldn't recognize him.
He lifted the curtain and walked to the outer hall.
The hall was decorated with luxurious and expensive gold-thread carpets, famous calligraphy and paintings hung on the walls, pottery was displayed on the antique shelves, and the orchids by the windows were all precious varieties. On the round table covered with bright yellow silk was a bowl of medicine with dissipating steam.
A burly middle-aged eunuch knelt on one side, with crow's feet at the corners of his eyes and a hint of frost in his temples. His brows were furrowed with impatience, as if he were about to strike at any moment.
Zhang Yuanqing sat down at the table, picked up the bowl, took a sip, and found it bitter and foul, making him want to vomit. He deliberately said loudly, "What kind of medicine is this? It's comparable to fecal water. Take it away, take it away. I won't drink it."
His purpose in doing this was to maintain the image of a foolish monarch, not to start a conversation and gather information in a reasonable way.
The middle-aged eunuch with frosty temples frowned and said, "Your Majesty, the toxins in your body have not yet been removed. The imperial physician said that it will take at least ten days to fully recover. In these days, you you'd better not get close to women."
The palace maid who had served him last night shrank her head, her face full of fear.
"Toxins?" Zhang Yuanqing's eyes lit up. He deliberately said loudly, "Toxins? What toxins? I am the true dragon, the supreme being, immune to all poisons."
The middle-aged eunuch with frosty hair raised his eyebrows, took a few steps closer, and stared down at him.
Although Zhao Shun, this foolish monarch, lived a life of pleasure and debauchery, the fact that even a eunuch could give him a look meant that he had no real power.
"The eunuch might also be from the Zheng family... I was poisoned three days ago. It seems that the spy has already made a move once..."
"Within 24 hours, I will encounter another assassination. This is the method of the person who poisoned me. If I can't find the spy, it's likely that they will continue," Zhang Yuanqing thought, sighing inwardly again.
"Devil Eye, Little Fu, I need you to protect me!"
"This medicine is too difficult to drink. Take it away." Zhang Yuanqing pushed the bowl aside. Since the original owner almost died from poisoning, he absolutely couldn't touch anything in the palace again. Maybe the spy was in the bedroom, maybe among the palace maids and eunuchs present. Any carelessness would lead to his death on the spot.
The burly middle-aged eunuch said angrily, "Your Majesty, if you don't take the medicine, I'll have to force you."
"You dog slave..." Zhang Yuanqing simply smashed the bowl on the ground with all his might, roaring in anger, "You birdless eunuch, how dare you threaten me!"
The middle-aged eunuch's chest heaved for a moment before he stormed off.
Watching the middle-aged eunuch leave, Zhang Yuanqing's eyes flickered slightly. He dismissed the others, summoned the palace maid who had served him last night, and asked coldly, "Who is he?"
In the vast palace, he currently only trusted this little palace maid.
If she were a spy, Zhao Shun would already be dead. It was difficult to guard against the person closest to you.
The little palace maid should be a safe and reliable NPC in the instance. He could get some information from her.
"He's Eunuch Li..." The little palace maid was somewhat bewildered, not understanding why His Majesty would ask such a question.
"Eunuch Li, is he trustworthy?" Zhang Yuanqing asked.
The little palace maid's expression became even more confused: "Eunuch Li is an old-timer from Empress Dowager's palace. Before her death, the Empress Dowager arranged for him to serve you. Eunuch Li is definitely trustworthy, but he has a bad temper."
"Someone from Empress Dowager's side, then he shouldn't be a spy!" Zhang Yuanqing thought, and asked,
"He just said that I was poisoned, is this true?"
The little palace maid nodded repeatedly.
"A few days ago, Your Majesty did suddenly fall ill, suffering from severe abdominal pain. It was Eunuch Li who noticed your abnormality and invited the imperial physician to diagnose you."
"Before I was poisoned, where was I?" Zhang Yuanqing asked again.
The little palace maid lowered her head and pondered for a moment, then said with difficulty: "Your Majesty has been to many places and has been in contact with many concubines and palace maids."
The subtext was that you have too much fun, and no one knows how you were poisoned.
"This is a bit of a headache..." Zhang Yuanqing thought for a few seconds, and with his profound literary and historical knowledge, he had an idea: "I want to see the daily records."
The little palace maid then said: "Your Majesty can ask the Secretary for it."
The official in charge of the emperor's daily records was called "Recorder," and Recorders belonged to the Secretary Province.
Zhang Yuanqing waved his hand: "Not that daily record, but the one that records my activities in the palace."
The emperor had two copies of the daily record: one was recorded by the Recorder, including conversations with ministers and life in the harem.
The daily one was recorded by the eunuchs.
The little palace maid replied: "Your Majesty can ask Eunuch Li for it."
"I'm afraid he'll hit me..." Zhang Yuanqing ordered, "You go get it."
The little palace maid pouted in fear and said aggrievedly, "Yes!"
She lowered her head and walked quickly, leaving the bedroom.
A quarter of an hour later, the little palace maid returned with a stack of thick books, offering them with both hands.
Zhang Yuanqing picked up the daily records and nodded in satisfaction: "Well done. You will serve me tonight."
The little palace maid was immediately overjoyed. Whether they were concubines, palace maids, or even singers in the palace, who wouldn't want to serve the emperor?
As long as they could conceive a dragon's child, they could soar to the top and become a phoenix.
Zhang Yuanqing waved the palace maid away, sat up, and began flipping through the daily records, reading attentively. The text in the daily records was in standard formal script, and there was no difficulty in reading it for a high-achieving student from Songhai University.
The daily records recorded the people Zhao Shun had been in contact with and the things he had done. There must be clues.
After reading a few pages, Zhang Yuanqing felt a headache. He realized that he had underestimated Zhao Shun's licentiousness.