Chapter 508: The Heart of a Venomous Snake

“You… how did you come back again?” Chen Hongzhi exclaimed in shock.
Li Fuguo patted his shoulder and said with a smile, “Don’t worry. I’m here to commend you.”
He turned and pointed at the boxes on the ground. “Look!”
Only then did Chen Hongzhi see two large wooden boxes on the ground, both open, filled with gold—bright yellow gold, at least a hundred ingots. He had never seen so much gold in his life. He was stunned, his eyes almost rolling back in his head.
Watching his expression, Li Fuguo couldn’t help but admire Li Heng’s discernment. Though young, this man was indeed greedy at heart. As the old saying goes, “People die for wealth!”
He walked over to the boxes, picked up an ingot of gold, and, like a venomous snake luring a bird, spoke softly, “This is fifty taels of gold, worth six hundred guan. There are five thousand taels in total—sixty thousand guan in all. This is a reward from the Retired Emperor. He praised you for your excellent work. Additionally, there’s a house in Pingkang Fang covering thirty mu, which also belongs to you. The deed is in the box.”
Chen Hongzhi felt his legs grow weak. All the displeasure and worry he had felt earlier had vanished. He slowly stepped forward and gently touched the gold. A strange glow shone in his eyes. What a face! It was like a blooming flower—those greedy, gleaming, demonic eyes wide open, mouth and nostrils flared as he greedily inhaled. He stared straight ahead, not just at the gold, but seemingly wanting to possess everything in sight—the earth, the sky, the sun, even the air.
Li Fuguo didn’t disturb him but stood behind him with his hands behind his back, waiting for him to come back to reality from his obsession. After what seemed like a long time, Chen Hongzhi finally returned to reality. He turned his head and asked in a hoarse voice, “Is all of this… mine?”
“Yes, it’s all yours. The Retired Emperor is very generous to those who are loyal to him. Your performance satisfied him greatly.”
Li Fuguo sat down and smiled. “Now tell me how you did it without being discovered.”
These words finally snapped Chen Hongzhi out of his dream of wealth. He lowered his head and said softly, “The Emperor really likes a kind of floral honey drink. I prepared it all by myself. I just added a little castor bean powder to it.”
“Hmm! Not bad. But didn’t anyone suspect you? Like the imperial physicians? Or were you never seen by anyone else?”

Chen Hongzhi lowered his head even further; his voice was barely audible. “Whether it’s the food served in the kitchen or the medicine prepared by others, it all has to be inspected by the imperial physicians, and that flower-honey mixture is no exception.”

“How then did you evade the inspection?”

“I… I was the last person involved. The imperial physicians would hand the items to me only after their inspection, and then I would serve them to the emperor. Moreover, to cover up his own negligence, Doctor Wang insisted that the emperor’s condition worsened because of catching a chill at night. The empress dowager also didn’t suspect me, as I had been by the emperor’s side since he was young. She could suspect anyone but not me.”

“I see!”

Only then did Li Fuguo realize that Chen Hongzhi was actually Li Shi’s most trusted person. It was as if heaven was helping them. A sly smile appeared in his eyes as he said, “Although you’ve done well, the retired emperor doesn’t want his grandson to have diarrhea. He just wants the emperor to remain unconscious for a while longer. You know, the court is re-electing officials, and the retired emperor doesn’t want the emperor to interfere in this matter. So, I need you to do this one more time.”

With that, he placed a small red crystal vial, about the size of a little finger, on the table. Chen Hongzhi’s expression changed drastically. To him, that red vial resembled the fang of a venomous snake. He stepped back several times, his eyes filled with terror, his whole body trembling.

“No! No! I won’t do it!”

Before he could finish speaking, Li Fuguo slapped him hard across the face and growled through gritted teeth, “You bastard! How dare you refuse? If you don’t do it, you’ll die! You stole the emperor’s jade Pixiu, and you put castor bean powder in his food. Do you really think you’re that loyal and noble?”

Chen Hongzhi collapsed. He seemed to hear the heavy sound of the door closing behind him—his escape route was cut off. He was like a fragile bird caught in the arms of a venomous snake.

“You’ll kill me to silence me!” That was what he feared the most.

Li Fuguo crouched down, gently patted his face, and smiled softly. “You’re really foolish! In the end, the emperor died because of his serious illness. If you die, won’t that reveal the truth to everyone? Don’t worry. Not everyone needs to be silenced. Take me, for example—I know more than anyone else. Then why hasn’t the retired emperor silenced me?”

“You’re different.”

“We’re the same. You silly child! You’re an eunuch. Only eunuchs can become the retired emperor’s confidants. Do you understand? Now you’re the retired emperor’s confidant, doing his most secret tasks. Do you get it now?”

Chen Hongzhi nodded half-understandingly. Li Fuguo stood up and said, “Alright. Before, since you weren’t the emperor’s close confidant, we intended to reward you with gold. But now that you’re one of us, there will be no such reward. We’ll settle this matter tonight, and then you can go study to become the head of the Imperial Study in the future.” With that, Li Fuguo left. After some time, Chen Hongzhi slowly stood up, locked the door, and staggered over to the bed. He stared blankly at the two chests filled with golden coins—five thousand taels of gold, worth sixty thousand guan. He had never imagined he would possess so much wealth. Gradually, the flame of greed ignited in his eyes once again. He suddenly turned to stare at the small red crystal bottle, which now seemed to him not just a venomous snake’s fang but a beacon illuminating his future.

……

Chen Hongzhi was also a eunuch with great power in Tang Dynasty history. Emperor Xianzong of Tang was killed by him. For a time, he held supreme power in the court. But history took a turn when he was young—he became a tool for Li Hen, helping to dig Li Shi’s grave.

As Chen Hongzhi watched Li Shi drink up a cup of bright red flower-honey juice, he realized he had changed history. He didn’t know when the effects of the poison would take hold, and his heart beat so tightly it seemed to stop.

“What’s wrong?” Li Shi asked, puzzled by his unusual expression.

“N-Nothing. These days, I may not have slept well. I feel dizzy.”

“Yes! I fell ill and caused you all so much trouble. I feel very guilty. Go rest! You’re not needed here anymore.”

The emperor’s concern nearly brought Chen Hongzhi to tears, but he knew there was no turning back. If he revealed even the slightest hint, it would mean death. He bit his lip tightly, suppressing his emotions.

Chen Hongzhi knelt down and kowtowed deeply, saying, “Your Majesty’s concern fills me with endless gratitude. I pray for Your Majesty’s speedy recovery so that I may serve you again.”

“I want to recover soon too. Ah! Reading all day has made my head ache. I want to go boating again. You should accompany me then.”

“Sure! I will definitely accompany Your Majesty,” Chen Hongzhi replied, his voice tinged with tears.

At that moment, a strong sense of drowsiness overcame Li Shi. He nodded and said, “I want to sleep now. Go ahead! Rest well. Come back and talk to me tonight.”

“Then I take my leave!”

Chen Hongzhi was so nervous that his heart seemed about to leap out. He slowly stepped back and quickly headed to his room. He was worried about his five thousand taels of gold, which were hidden under his bed. If something happened to the emperor, the palace would surely be searched, and if someone found it, he would be doomed. No, he had to bury the gold.

It was already dusk. In the courtyard where he lived, several eunuchs were cooking. When they saw him return, they smiled at him obsequiously and said, “Eunuch Chen, we have some fine wine here. Would you like to have some?”

“No need. I want to sleep. No one is allowed to disturb me.”

Just as Chen Hongzhi reached the door, a palace maid came over and bowed to him, saying, “Eunuch Chen, the retired emperor asks me to give you a jade artifact.”

“Shh!”

Chen Hongzhi was terrified. He glanced around; no one was paying attention to him, so he whispered, “Let’s talk inside.”

He pushed the door open and entered, and the maid quickly followed in. She took out a jade horse from her basket and placed it on the table, saying with a smile, “The retired emperor heard that you like jade, so he gave you this jade horse. It was brought as a tribute from Yutian—exquisite jade, as a reward for you.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty. Please tell the retired emperor that everything has been taken care of. He needn’t worry!”

“Is that so?” A hint of coldness appeared in the maid’s voice as she pointed under the bed and exclaimed, “Eunuch, where’s your gold?”

Chen Hongzhi was shocked. He turned to look under the bed, and indeed, his gold was gone. He was stunned. In that split second, a rope was wrapped around his neck and pulled hard, knocking him to the ground. He struggled desperately, flailing his arms in the air. His throat made gurgling sounds as he stared in despair at the maid behind him. He never imagined that a woman could be so strong.

“I said… don’t kill… me!” he managed to utter through his struggles.

“We don’t want to kill you, but you insisted on committing suicide. We had no choice.”

The maid’s voice was as cold as that of a venomous snake. Those were the last words Chen Hongzhi heard in this world…

A moment later, the maid quietly left through the back window. The room was locked, with only Chen Hongzhi’s frail figure swaying in midair.

…

Great changes had already taken place in the palace, but no one in the court yet realized that trouble was brewing there. Everyone’s attention was focused on the public selection process in the council hall. Tomorrow would be the deadline set by the regent for starting the public selection. From tomorrow on, there would be three days of selection. Everyone was tense, having forgotten about the seriously ill young emperor.

In Tang Dynasty politics, the Zhengshi Tang was essentially a consultative mechanism. Since the Zhongshu Sheng in the system of three departments and six ministries held immense power, including the authority to issue imperial edicts, the Menxia Sheng was established to oversee it. For an edict to be valid, it not only required the seal of the Zhongshu Sheng but also the official seal of the Menxia Sheng, hence the name “Seal of Zhongshu and Menxia.” If the Menxia Sheng deemed an edict from the Zhongshu Sheng inappropriate, it could directly reject it, forcing the Zhongshu Sheng to draft it anew. This posed two problems: first, the edict had already been approved by the emperor, so rejection would require another imperial approval; second, constant back-and-forth between the two departments could delay critical military and state affairs. To resolve this conflict, the Zhengshi Tang was created as a consultative body. The heads of the Zhongshu Sheng and Menxia Sheng would meet in advance to discuss matters, and only after reaching an agreement would the Zhongshu Sheng draft the edict. Additionally, the Tang Dynasty practiced a multi-prime minister system. Besides top-level prime ministers like the Zhongshu Ling and Menxia Shizhong, there were several second-level prime ministers—high-ranking officials with equal status to those of Zhongshu and Menxia, usually the ministers of various departments—who also participated in consultations at the Zhengshi Tang. Gradually, the Zhengshi Tang became the Tang Dynasty’s cabinet, wielding great power. Especially when the emperor was absent, the Zhengshi Tang became the de facto highest authority, making decisions on all major military and state affairs. Both Li Qing’an and Li Hen attached great importance to it. As dusk fell, several carriages stopped in front of Pei Min’s residence. These were key members of the Prince Zhao faction meeting to discuss strategies. Five people sat in Pei Min’s study: Pei Min, Cui Huan, Wei Tao, Lu Huan, and Zhang Gao, the vice minister of the Zhongshu Sheng. Zhang Gao had originally been part of the pro-empire faction, but the serious threat posed by Li Hen to Li Shi made him realize that only by aligning with the Prince Zhao faction could he better protect the young emperor. Thus, he switched sides. “The more I think about it these past few days, the stranger it seems. The three conditions proposed by Wang Gong are all unattainable for us. He clearly knows we won’t agree, so why bring them up? Obviously, their goal is to dissolve the Zhengshi Tang. This is Li Hen’s doing—I’m sure he’s planned this for a long time.”

Pei Min’s words left everyone in deep thought. At that moment, Cui Huan frowned and said, “According to the current power structure in the court, the Zhao King’s faction holds 40%, the pro-royal faction 20%, Zhang’s faction 10%, and the regent faction only 30%. If we follow this ratio to elect members for the Political Council, we can get three of the seven seats, one from the pro-royal faction, one from Zhang’s faction, and at most two from their regent faction. I don’t understand why they would dissolve the Political Council and hold new elections—it’s not in their interest. Why would they do this? Moreover, since they’ve already won over Zhang Yun, they’ll have four members in the Political Council, becoming the majority. Resolutions like dissolving the Land Department and returning land to its original owners can be passed easily. So why dissolve the Political Council? Don’t you find that strange?”
Wei Tao nodded and said, “Minister Cui is right. That’s what I think too. They really have no need to dissolve the Political Council. I believe Li Heng must have other motives.”
Pei Min walked a few steps with his hands behind his back and said, “Perhaps they do have other motives, but there’s another very important reason you haven’t considered—that is Zhang Yun himself. I don’t know what compromise they’ve reached with him, but one thing is certain: Zhang Yun is fickle and won’t support them in everything. He might only agree to resign with them and dissolve the Political Council. Anyway, he’ll definitely be part of the new election. For him, this is just a courtesy, which fits his style. But Minister Cui is also right. If they dissolve the Political Council at this time and take the great risk of holding new elections, they must have other plans. I have a premonition that something major will happen in the next few days.”
As soon as Pei Min finished speaking, there was a sound of hurried running outside. A servant shouted from outside, “Master, it’s bad news! There’s an urgent message from the palace—the Emperor has passed away!”