It was in Duke Min's Mansion, Guiping.

Four hours ago, Eunuch Liu appointed his retinue to get into this mansion and deliver a few boxes of cakes and pastries. They were said to be the imperial foods awarded by the new emperor to Duke Min's families.

Duchess Min in the official suit felt so grateful and expressed her appreciation. She also took a silver ingot to the delivery eunuch and sent him off. Then she happily ate those cakes and pastries together with servants.

Therefore, the tragedy happened.

When Min Rui and Min Jun crazily galloped to the mansion, in Tangfeng Yard where Duchess Min lived, there stood crowds of people.

They stood on the porch outside the room, anxiously waiting for the result.

Soon, doctors lifted the curtain and walked out. All of them looked sad and worried, repeatedly sighing and shaking heads.

"How is it going? How is my wife?"

Min Rui staggered to them, grabbing one doctor and asking.

The doctor dodged in terror. Frequently waving his hands, he looked terrible,

"Duke Min, please forgive me! Please forgive me..."

"Wait..."

Seeing the doctor rustling out of the yard, Min Rui had no mind to catch him. He turned to another doctor,

"Tell me quickly, how is my wife?!"

That doctor trembled and quivered, repeatedly bowing,

"Please calm down, Duke Min. I am not competent enough..."

The last doctor who came out of the room was somewhat older. Wearing a serious expression, he had to move close to Min Rui, lowering his eyebrows and nodding,

"Duke Min, in this accident, total 27 people have died of poisoning. Although Duchess Min is in mild intoxication, we have no adequate antidote to the poison. Therefore, the poison has affected her internal organs..."

As his eyes dulled, Min Rui felt his head swam. Being held by Min Jun, he asked helplessly and weakly,

"... What, do you mean?"

The doctor showed grief and sorrow. In sadness, he held his folded hands and said in a trembling voice,

"Duchess Min could only live to this night. I am incompetent. Pardon me, please."

Then he rushed to flee there, not staying for a while.

Min Rui was instantly stunned in the yard. He impassively let himself be quickly rounded by all kinds of people, until the yard became vacant. There were only him and his son, Min Jun.

At that moment, Min Rui felt that both his mind and body were peeled. The sting and strike tortured him instantly to be a weak old. He tried to hold his old and senile body, and it seemed that he had never been strong and vigorous on the battle.

"Father... Father!"

Min Jun held his desperate father with his arms, crying and shouting,

"Father, please be quick to look at mother!"

Min Rui deeply stared at the ground, and blankly nodded. As his dried and pale lips trembled, he couldn't say a word. Then he was grabbed by Min Jun to rush into the room.

In front of the canopy bed, there surrounded six or seven maids and nurses, sobbing and wiping tears.

Duchess Min in blue official suit lied outstretched on the bed, quietly and silently. Her face looked green and terrible, with a wisp of grimy blood clotted on her mouth.

"Out! You all go out!"

Being terribly upset, Min Jun waved hands and dispelled all servants out of the room.

Min Rui slowly sat on the bed, staring at the motionless woman. Even in the state of unconsciousness, Duchess Min still showed ill and pain from her eyelashes. Seeing that, he appeared sad in his eyes.

"Madam..."

Min Rui softly called her, reaching his trembling hands. But then he stopped this behavior.

He was worried that he could awake this drowsy woman, not bearing to witness her being tortured by the poison again.

In his son's presence, Min Rui couldn't pocket his pride as a duke. Hence, he tried to refrain from his painful emotion. With fingers trembling and grabbing the messy and bloody valance, he laboriously stood up.

At that time, Min Jun was sobbing with his head leaning on the door frame. Suddenly, he turned around. As his eyes sharpened as chilling as the blowing wind, Min Jun roared,

"Father, the imperial court is immoral. Let's revolt..."

"Your Highness..."

A slight sound occurred from the bed.

Min Rui and Min Jun hustled to turn around, striding to Duchess Min.

"Madam!"

"Mother!"

Duchess Min slightly moved her body. Immediately, she felt her organs were seemingly poked and thrust by numerous swords, being ceaselessly aching and painful. The dark blood was spat out of her mouth and nose.

"Mother!"

Min Jun couldn't stand, bending on the bed and crying.

Duchess Min couldn’t keep her eyes clear and sensible. She toughly turned around, raised her cold and stiff fingers, and reached out to Min Jun trembling.

"Jun'er, don't cry. Go outside. I have something to talk about with your father."

Min Jun didn't dare to resist so he stood up. While wiping tears, he moved to the door. Before walking out of the gate, he turned around to look at Duchess Min again, shedding beads of hot tears.

As Min Jun walked out of the gate, Min Rui couldn't refrain from his emotion anymore. He rushed to the bed, lowering his head and sobbing.

This time, appointed by the imperial decree, he presided over the construction of Wangxian Rise, and led 80,000 soldiers of Dongqing Fleet to fight against the enemy in the south and gain the victory. In his view, he dedicated himself to the imperial court and was insistently loyal to it.

However, he didn't gain any reward, but poison murdering him and his family.

In full indignation, tears pushed their ways out of Min Rui's eyes, sorrowfully and anxiously flooding.

"Your Highness, could you please hold me up..."

Duchess Min tried to focus her blurred eyes, uprightly staring at Min Rui. With trembling hands, she touched his watery face. A smile occurred on her face, which seemed to be appeasing his sorrow.

Min Rui raised his head and wiped his face. Then he obediently followed her words, holding her feeble body and making her back on his chest.

"Madam..."

Min Rui wanted to say something to hear. But as soon as he sounded, all he could do was sobbing and groaning.

Duchess tried to hold up, wearing a soft but weak smile,

"Your Highness, please don't be sad. In sixteen, I was received into Duke Min's Mansion by your wedding sedan. In the following years, you took good care of me and we have been respecting each other as guests. You are the rank-top duke in the imperial court, but you have never received any concubine. You have been treating me so well, and I always keep it in mind."

Min Rui sadly closed his eyes, roughly shaking his head,

"I am not a good husband. For half of my life, I have been on the battlefield. Hence, my family suffered the pain of drifting from place to place. Eventually when I am just able to settle down, you..."

Min Rui grabbed her cold hands, blubbering like a child.

"Don't be so..."

Duchess Min breathed slightly but quickly. It seemed that her voice was stopped in the throat, as she couldn't blurt it out. Therefore, her sound was as slight as a wisp of smoke, probably disappearing in the air anytime.

"Your Highness, in my life, it's my great luck to accompany you. I have finished my wishes, but there are only two pities. Firstly, I am not blessed so that I can't live with you to old age. Secondly, in the year, I am so stupid. Just to protect Jun'er, I abandoned our daughter, Zhu'er. I owe her! Without that accident, she could never get into the Palace. She could never become a widow at a young age. Though she has been the Imperial Mother, she still has no child. It's my fault, I owe our daughter that most..."

The fact that when they got in the way to Guiping, Duchess Min made a hard decision of abandoning her daughter, was like a spike in her mind all the time. Every time she thought of that thing, her heart was terribly hurt. The sense of being gnawed by numerous pests and insects made her painful and terrible.

Now she was going to die, Duchess Min couldn't help expressing her regret to her husband, Min Rui. She cried and puffed dark blood again.

Min Rui held a handkerchief to wipe her blood up, being more sorrowful in his mind. He held her trembling and cold body closer in his arms, in a sad and weary look,

"I don't blame you and our daughter has also forgiven you. Why do you still bother to blame yourself?"

Suddenly, Duchess Min grabbed Min Rui's palm, with so great strength.

They looked at each other in their eyes. With determined eyes, she stared at Min Rui's face tightly. At that time, her eyes showed so clear and sensible.

As waves of chill flooded into Min Rui's back, he suddenly held his breath.

He quietly prayed it was not her last vigor.

"Your Highness... My husband... Promise me, don't revolt. Don't..."

The word "my husband" made Min Rui heart-struck,

"So, what Jun'er has said... is heard by you."

Duchess Min seemed unnaturally worried, anxiously shaking his hand and sadly repeating,

"Don't revolt. Promise me. You promise me. Or I will never die peacefully!"

"Madam..."

"Your Highness, it's just for our Zhu'er! She is still in the Palace, and her life is decided by the new emperor. Once you revolt, definitely she will be killed by the new emperor. Your Highness, don't revolt!"

Duchess Min fiercely coughed, vomiting plenty of dark blood.

Min Rui took a deep breath, in a deep and serious expression. It seemed that after a great struggle in his mind, he eventually made the determination.

As beads of clear tears rolled down, he said in a weary and slow voice,

"I promise you I will adopt an adequate idea..."

"Your Highness, don't forget... Don't forget..."

Duchess Min had run out of her last energy. His voice was as mild as a wisp of smoke, growing fainter and fainter until it died away. She weakly leaned in Min Rui's arms, peacefully closing her eyes.

"Madam? Madam!"

...

The darkness was just falling down. At that time, white silks and flags hung on Duke Min's Mansion around. The people of Duke Min's Mansion were all immersed in great sadness.

In the mourning hall, Min Rui blankly sat in front of the brazier, silently throwing piles of paper money into it.

At night, the wind quietly blew and rustled. As swaying ashes whirled and fell on the earth, there was melancholy and dreary.

As a dark figure quickly passed by him, one person walked in front of the incense table. The sound of stepping was too light to be easily heard.

After burning three incense sticks, he bowed in front of the memorial tablet and worshiped.

Min Rui just considered he was Cheng Wanli, who had adequately arranged Eunuch Liu and his members. And now Cheng Wanli got into his mansion to visit him.

"The new emperor is going to reach Wei Sea in person, what's the next plan of the Eastern Depot?"

Min Rui didn't particularly raise his head and look at the person in front of the incense table. Instead, he stared at the shimmering flames. In the shine of fiercely burning flames, his helpless and blank eyes were reflected scarlet, which was, however, chilling and terrible.

"For other people, you have already been a dead person. Therefore, you should pretend to be a real dead person. Only in this way can you successfully deceive the new emperor, isn't it?"

That voice didn't belong to Cheng Wanli!

Min Rui was much astonished. As he shifting his eyes, the person was just turning to look at him.

Wearing a black garment, the man stood uprightly and behaved elegantly. He smiled and appeared incomparably handsome.

It was just Commander-in-chief of the Eastern Depot Leng Qingtang, wasn't it?