"Before the expedition, the criminal minister still has a hundred thousand urgent matters, and he wants to ask His Majesty for an answer. ”

Dongfang Shuo got up.

At this moment, his mood seemed to see the sun through the clouds, much brighter than before.

And when he asked, the emperor had already sat on the dragon chair.

"Aiqing, but it doesn't hurt to ask. ”

The Emperor said.

After Dongfang Shuo buttoned it again, he got up.

"Ten years ago, did the City Lord of Yuwei ever come to the Imperial City?" he asked.

This is a question he had wanted to ask for a long time.

It can even be said that everything that has happened in the past month has come for the answer to this question.

"The City Lord?"

The Emperor was silent for a moment.

But at this time, the look on his face undoubtedly showed that he knew the truth.

"Your Majesty, please. ”

Dongfang Shuo asked.

The emperor stretched out his hand and turned the dragon head on the armrest of the dragon chair, and a dark grid jumped out under the dragon chair.

And from the dark compartment, the emperor took out a finely carved wooden box.

Dongfang Shuo looked at the wooden box suspiciously, but did not say much, but quietly waited for what the emperor would do next.

"Dongfang Aiqing, come forward. ”

The Emperor said.

Dongfang Shuo nodded, then set off, walked up the stairs, and finally came to the emperor's approach.

Looking at the delicate wooden box on the table, he still didn't speak.

So, the emperor reached out and opened the wooden box.

When the wooden box was opened, a black and strangely shaped lump of flesh inside was revealed in front of Dongfang Shuo's eyes.

If it is a person who was born and raised in this world, then Dongfang Shuo may not know. But memories from Earth told him that the lump of flesh in the wooden box in front of him was a heart.

The black color of the meat ball is not pure black, but deep red and translucent black.

It's a complete human heart.

Seeing it, Dongfang Shuo couldn't help frowning. But at the same time, he was confused.

"This heart is the heart of a widow. The emperor said, "Ten years ago, the widow was robbed, and an assassination caused the widow's heart to be severely damaged, and his life was in danger immediately. ”

"Ten years ago? I remember...... Your Majesty was still suffering from a vicious illness that year, right?"

Dongfang Shuo asked.

The emperor smiled: "Suffering from a vicious disease? That is just to say that the people can hear it, and the assassination cannot be said." ”

Dongfang Shuo was puzzled, and glanced at the pitch-black heart in the box again.

"However, the heart is intact, and there is no wound at all. ”

He felt more and more confused.

The emperor said: "This is also the reason why the assassination cannot be said." The so-called heavy wound is not an injury in the general sense, but a kind of poison, a poison that specializes in the heart and lungs. That assassin was the poisoner of the Guihai Empire, and he came to assassinate the widow in order to prove his ability to the royal family of the Guihai Empire. ”

"Returning to the Sea Empire again?"

"There are too many borders between the Guihai Empire and us, so the entanglement is too deep. ”

"But what does this matter have to do with the city lord coming to the imperial city?"

"He came to the Imperial City and has nothing to do with this matter. But this matter is related to his death. The widow knows, you went to the city a few days ago, and now that you think about it, you should be going to find out the cause of the old city lord's death, right?"

"Yes, indeed. ”

Dongfang Shuo did not deny it.

At this time, the emperor touched his chest.

Seeing this scene, Dongfang Shuo's eyes narrowed.

"The heart in the widow's body at this moment is his. When he entered the imperial city, he was summoned by a widow to inquire about the situation because he made a mistake in the place. But at that time, the widow was assassinated, and it was his life that was exchanged for the widow's life. ”

He ...... Is it voluntary?"

Dongfang Shuo asked.

The Emperor nodded.

As a result, the progress of the taskbar jumped, proving that the emperor was not lying.

However, it seems that the truth has not yet been fully revealed.

"But since he did it voluntarily, why should he hide this matter?" Dongfang Shuo asked.

The emperor said: "That poison is too powerful, so powerful that there is no antidote so far, if that poison master succeeds, then he will inevitably be reused by the Guihai Empire." The consequences are unimaginable. It is impossible to have a heart that can be replaced forever by the side of the widow, after all, not anyone's heart can be replaced. ”

"Isn't that a success?"

Dongfang Shuo was puzzled.

The emperor laughed: "He succeeded, but the Guihai Empire didn't know it." The widow heard that after he returned to the Guihai Empire, he went to ask the royal family for merit, but he was gouged out of his eyes and tongue, and he was beaten out of the Guihai Palace with a stick. Later, the widow sent men to kill him while he was begging in the streets. ”

These words state the tragic end of an assassin who has both succeeded and failed.

Dongfang Shuo couldn't help but sigh when he heard it.

However, the content up to this point has nothing to do with the task, and Dongfang Shuo has no intention of asking further.

"But if you lose your heart, why can the old city lord go back alive?"

Dongfang Shuo asked.

The emperor said: "The Imperial Heart Talisman was originally used to regulate heart disease, but at that time it was enough to support him to live for ten more days. ”

"So, he didn't suddenly fall ill at all, but was doomed to death when he left the imperial city?"

Dongfang Shuo asked.

And only in this way can it be explained why so many doctors can't confirm the cause of the old city lord's illness. The so-called heart charm should have the same effect as the heart, so everything seems to be normal.

At this moment, Dongfang Shuo was finally able to sort out the ins and outs of the whole thing in his heart.

The old city lord was summoned to the imperial city due to his fault, and then exchanged his heart for the emperor, saving the emperor's life. Returning to Yuewei City with the Imperial Heart Talisman, he planned to deal with the aftermath, but he was helpless that ten days was not enough for him to settle the Yang family who was forced to serve the City Lord's Mansion, and he could only use a dying word to seal the way for the Yang family to ascend to the throne. But in the end, the Yang family, who made good use of the people's hearts, still got the position of city lord.

But even with that, the mission is not over.

At this time, a question immediately sprouted in his heart.

The other doctors were either powerless or didn't dare to try, and they all bluntly said that they couldn't be cured, but why did Su Jingsheng want to treat it? Can't he see that the city lord will die?

Don't...... Is Su Jingsheng killing himself?

"I get it, I finally get it. ”

Dongfang Shuo suddenly got up, and seemed to be a little excited, "Su Jingsheng died for the country!"

Bite!

As soon as he finished speaking, he remembered the sound of a task prompt in his mind, and a dialog box appeared in front of him.

[Congratulations to the host for completing the task, the reward has been distributed, and 2/3 of the system will be unlocked in the next stage.] 】

[Host obtains a new mission: Obtain the Dragon Forest Empire.] Quest Reward: The system unlocks the next stage. 】

Looking at the two dialog boxes, Dongfang Shuo's emotions quickly calmed down.

The next task coincided with what he was going to do, as if what the system was doing was just pushing the boat down the river.

"Dongfang Aiqing is so excited, why is it?"

"Because I know the cause of someone's death, I've been looking into it. Dongfang Shuo said, "Ten years ago, in the northern border of the empire, another ordinary Jianghu Langzhong made the old city lord of Yuwei City die a 'justifiable' death for the sake of the empire, at the cost of his own reputation and his family's life. In this way, no one will ever know that the poisoner of the Guihai Empire successfully assassinated, but only that the black-hearted man of a small border county in the Longlin Empire killed his own city lord. ”

Going around and around, Dongfang Shuo discovered another thing.

Among the three tasks in the next stage of unlocking the system, the first task 'Exploring the Cause of Wu Yi's Death' makes Dongfang Shuo need to get close to the Six Princes and make meritorious contributions in the Spirit Realm, and the second mission 'Exploring the Cause of Su Jingsheng's death' makes Dongfang Shuo need to get close to the Emperor and make meritorious contributions to the Empire.

And everything that these two missions do is logical, as if they are laying the foundation for the third mission, 'Seeking the Empire'.

The system only allowed Dongfang Shuo to explore the two true fragrances that were hidden in the snow, and then he entered the high-rise building in one fell swoop.

This can't help but make Dongfang Shuo more concerned about what the purpose of the system is.

And the third stage of the system, what awaits him.