Chapter 2: Empress He

  The queen summons, and naturally needs to go as soon as possible. Although Liu Xuan and the current Queen He have no relationship with each other, since they are already part of the royal family, they cannot do things poorly, lest they provoke some noise and annoyance.

  After bathing and dressing, Liu Xuan also did not bring too many people, only letting Cao Jiao follow him to the residence of the empress.

  At this time, there were two palaces in the city, called Nan Gong and Bei Gong. The emperor and empress lived in Bei Gong, and Liu Xuan also lived here. Without having to walk too far, he arrived at the palace where the empress lived in a short while, and after calling Cao Jiao to inform her, he stood there waiting.

  The empress dowager was looking for him for some reason, but he already knew through the white crane, and now that he had a bottom line, he wasn't in a hurry.

  Just then, a young man about twelve or thirteen years old came out of the palace of the empress dowager. It was none other than his own second brother, Liu Bian.

  He originally had nothing to do with this younger brother, and he didn't deliberately get along with this younger brother, but for some reason, this younger brother seemed particularly close to himself. Liu Bian, who was normally quite taciturn and not fond of communicating with others, always liked to talk to him.

  At this time, Liu Xuan also walked up with a happy face, asked for a while and then stood there chatting with him.

  "Is the emperor's brother here?"

  "The empress dowager summoned the emperor's brother to discuss matters, and was waiting for the transmission. This sentence originally didn't mean much, and following the rules like this was normal, but unexpectedly Liu Bian heard it and directly said: 'I'll just bring my imperial brother in, why wait here?'"

  I really don't understand why Liu Bian is so close to himself. Sometimes Liu Xuan would also secretly wonder, "Could it be that this kid has seen the extraordinary side of me?"

  He didn't know that when Liu Bian was still young, because the emperor disliked him and he had a slightly melancholic personality, he didn't have any friends of the same age in the palace, so usually he could only play by himself. It just so happened that one time when he was flying a kite, it got stuck in a tree, and just as he was at a loss for what to do, Liu Xuan passed by, saw the situation, and with one kick on the trunk of the tree, shook the kite down from the tree.

  Just like that, an indelible mark was left in the child's heart. Liu Bian had great admiration for his older brother Liu Xuan, and this admiration did not fade with age, but instead grew stronger and stronger.

  Unfortunately, Liu Xuan did not know these things, and he had even forgotten that he had done such a "great thing" in the first place. However, this was just his personality - if you treated him warmly, he would treat you warmly too. So the two brothers chatted for a while, and it was quite an enjoyable conversation.

  They didn't stop talking until someone invited themselves in.

  "Since my imperial brother has come, I'll stay a bit longer!" Liu Bian saw that Liu Xuan was about to chat with his mother and wanted to accompany them, but unfortunately, there were palace maids who knew about today's events next to Empress He, so they persuaded him to stay, and he reluctantly went back to his own bedroom.

  Liu Xuanyi was clear in her mind, but didn't show it on her face. After bidding farewell to Liu Bian, she followed the palace maid into the empress's chambers, paid her respects to Empress He according to etiquette, and after Empress He returned the courtesy and sat down, she knelt down on the prepared seat. From start to finish, there was not a single mistake in the ceremony.

  At this time, the palace maid brought up the food and wine that had been prepared long ago. Empress He took a bite first, then sat there, looking at Liu Xuan with an even more provocative gaze in her eyes, as if she had already determined that Liu Xuan did not dare to touch the food in front of him.

  The situation in the palace is simple and yet complicated.

  The son of Empress He, Liu Bian, is the current heir apparent. Although he is not the eldest son, the status of this heir apparent is crucial, and it is only natural that his son should inherit the throne without any suspense.

  The emperor did not like this son, and later another young child was born who was very much favored by the emperor, which made Empress He extremely dissatisfied.

  Fortunately, the young child was clever and lively, but his body was not strong enough, and he would get sick every now and then. It was unknown whether he could make it to adulthood, so she temporarily put her thoughts aside.

  But unexpectedly, the old emperor would rather leave his not-so-favorite eldest son Liu Xuan in the palace and never agree to make Liu Bian the crown prince. Empress He was not of good birth, but she was no fool either, and she had long seen through the meaning behind this, so she kept thinking of ways to cope with it.

  It's a pity that she killed Wang Meiren back then, which made the emperor furious. In recent years, her words have also gradually lost their effect. If it weren't for her brother still holding power, I'm afraid the position of empress would not be secure anymore.

  She thought she had to wait for the opportunity slowly, but unexpectedly the emperor's body suddenly deteriorated, and his illness worsened day by day. If she didn't make a move quickly at this time, she was afraid that the throne would have nothing to do with her son.

  It's because of these reasons that we have this dinner party today.

  Looking at Liu Xuan sitting quietly over there, Empress He was also thinking about everything related to this young man.

  In her impression, the eldest son of the emperor was born out of wedlock and his mother's appearance was mediocre. If the emperor hadn't been drunk at that time, this thing wouldn't have happened. So he wasn't favored by the emperor, and his position in the palace over the years hasn't been high either. Within two years after birth, his mother passed away, and without any backing in the palace, it can be said that almost every family ignored this eldest son of the emperor.

  However, due to his low-key behavior, he usually doesn't go out much and often hides in his own palace reading books. So at first, Empress He didn't think of dealing with him, thinking that he would naturally leave the palace soon.

  But unexpectedly, Liu Xuan lived in the palace for year after year, and now he is almost at the age of majority, but he has never been granted a kingdom and left the imperial palace. This situation made Empress He very dissatisfied. At this time, the emperor was seriously ill, and Empress He had power both inside and outside the palace. If she could drive Liu Xuan out of the palace at this time, it would also increase her son's chances of succeeding to the throne.

  "He's just a young man who has never seen the world, scaring him a bit is all that's needed!"

  The Empress Dowager spoke after some small talk, "Staying in the palace all the time will inevitably lead to illness. It's better to go out and take a walk. If you can travel around, you can also gain more experience!"

  Liu Xuan understood the meaning behind Empress He's words as soon as he heard them, and knew that she was telling him to leave the palace immediately.

  The queen's words, however, made him secretly scornful, and he muttered to himself: "In the past, this prince would often go into seclusion for a hundred or two hundred years at a time. I wonder if immortals are all otakus in some sense?"

  She rambled on in her mind, but remained silent on the surface, waiting for Empress He's next words.

  As expected, seeing him not speaking, Empress He continued: "It's getting more and more chaotic these years, even in the palace it's not peaceful!" While saying this, she was still playing with the wine cup in front of her, a faint cold smile rising at the corner of her mouth, seemingly hinting at something.

  Empress He had poisoned Wang Meiren with poisonous wine years ago. If it weren't for Emperor Ling's rage and sending Liu Bian to his birth mother, Empress Dowager Dong, the young child would have also escaped death. This matter was not a secret in the palace, almost everyone knew about it. Now, Empress He deliberately made this gesture, just to remind Liu Xuan that if he didn't behave himself, she could also offer him a cup of poisonous wine.

  Moreover, the current situation is different from back then. Back then, the Emperor was in good health and could still summon Empress He after the incident. Now, the Emperor is seriously ill, and it's uncertain whether he can recover or not. Even if Liu Xuan really poisoned him to death, I'm afraid no one would care. Besides, Liu Xuan doesn't have any powerful connections within the palace, so who would speak up for him?

  Empress He thought that by saying so, Liu Xuan, who had not seen the world, would be scared enough and estimated that he would leave the palace in a hurry after returning - she never thought that Liu Xuan had the idea of competing for the throne, because she thought that unless Liu Xuan was an idiot, it was impossible to covet the emperor's position that could not be obtained by him.

  In fact, Liu Xuan was really thinking about the emperor's position, because the emperor's position is related to his own cultivation of the heavenly dragon energy, and this method is related to whether he can recover his cultivation, or even further, to avenge the hatred of being stabbed in the back by someone that year.

  So, Empress He's actions today can be said to have been in vain. Not only did she fail to intimidate Liu Xuan, but she also provoked a burst of laughter from him. Especially that face of his, which showed not the slightest concern, enraged Empress He.

  "If you don't know what's good for you, then don't blame me for being ruthless!"

  The Empress He had made up her mind, and with a wave of her hand to the palace maid beside her. The maid who had been standing by held out a tray in both hands, on which something was covered with white silk, and presented it to Liu Xuan's face, only then lifting the white silk to reveal the cup filled with wine underneath.

  Liu Xuan took a look at the wine jug already placed in front of him, and sneered inwardly: "Poisoned wine again? Can't you come up with something new for once?"

  But he didn't know that at this time, his face was hanging with a light smile, and an expression of not being surprised at all, even a 'as expected' appearance made Empress He more angry, opening her mouth to say: "The palace happens to have fine wine, please let the Crown Prince taste it!"

  She only thought that Liu Xuan would show a hint of fear this time, because she couldn't think of anyone who wouldn't be afraid of death, and maybe the next moment he would kneel down and beg for his life.

  "If he begs for mercy, let him go!" Anyway, as long as Liu Xuan leaves the capital, there will be no more threats. Moreover, she would be willing to spare Liu Xuan's life also because of her son Liu Bian, and didn't know why, but her son seemed particularly close to this brother.

  Just waiting for Liu Xuan to beg for mercy, but unexpectedly the next moment saw Liu Xuan raise his hand and lift the cup, tilt his head and drink the poisonous wine cleanly, even turning the wine jar upside down, indicating that there was not a single drop left. Empress He saw this scene, stunned and sat there with her eyes wide open, looking like she couldn't believe it.

  "Could Liu Xuan be an idiot?"

  She stood there in a daze, only to see Liu Xuan get up with a smile and bow to Empress He: "Thank you, Your Majesty, for the fine wine!" Then he bid farewell to the empress and turned around to leave.

  This made Empress He even more terrified, the poison in the wine was the most toxic substance under heaven, ordinary people wouldn't be able to walk normally after drinking it, let alone finish half a cup without dying, yet Liu Xuan drank that poisonous wine as if it were water, seemingly unaffected. This completely unbelievable situation left her utterly stunned.

  Liu Xuanke wouldn't bother with so much, and directly returned to his own palace. After waiting until the screen had retreated and there was no one around, he took out a jade token from under his tongue.

  Only to see that the white jade token seemed to have a faint layer of ink color, and there was an eerie fragrance emanating from it. After examining it for a while, Liu Xuan secretly said: "Although this detoxification jade token has not been fully refined yet, it is already enough to deal with ordinary poisons!"