He wore a wicked smile on his face, and the black - clothed men behind him burst into lewd laughter.
With Shi Muyuan's permission, he quietly approached the bed. He stretched out his hand, trying to lift the quilt. But the next moment, a cold weapon was pressed against his neck.
"You!" The King of the Western Region stared in horror with his eyes wide open. His subordinate had already lifted the quilt, but there was nothing inside except a pillow.
He thought that Shi Muyuan had already noticed his plan and had ambushed behind him in advance. So, he calmly let out a soft laugh.
"Empress Dowager, don't struggle in vain. Now the entire epidemic - stricken area is under my control. Do you think you can escape? It's better to surrender obediently. In the future, you and your brother can serve me and be my concubine. I can guarantee you a life of luxury."
Hearing this, Shi Muyuan couldn't hold back any longer and sneered, "Has the King of the Western Region never looked at a mirror? Coincidentally, the thing I have the most here is a bronze mirror. Today, let you take a good look at your own face."
Saying so, Ziyi brought a bronze mirror in front of him.
The King of the Western Region was stunned as soon as Shi Muyuan made a sound. He clearly heard Shi Muyuan's voice coming from another direction.
Then at this moment, who was the person holding the sword against his neck? A sense of foreboding welled up in his heart, and now he just waited for it to be confirmed.
"You've already calculated everything. You were just waiting for me to take the bait?"
"It seems that the King of the Western Region is not too stupid."
Shi Muyuan walked out from the shadow beside. Her dress fluttered in the wind. Clearly it was the most charming scene, but at this moment, it was more like a death warrant to him.
He also saw clearly the person behind him in the bronze mirror. The last time there was a ruckus at the palace gate, he didn't have time to take a good look at this national teacher. Only now did he realize that there might be a big gap between himself and this man.
No, it's not right. How could his plan fail? The King of the Western Region didn't believe it. He gritted his teeth, his face full of unwillingness.
"I clearly calculated everything, even your escape route. How did you know my plan?"
"It seems that the King has forgotten the flaws in your own plan."
A familiar voice came from afar. When the King of the Western Region saw the face clearly, if he still didn't understand, he would be the biggest fool in the world.
"You! How dare you! I saved your life and helped you get to your current position, yet you dare to betray me. If I had known this would happen, I should have killed you long ago."
His expression of hating iron for not being steel was seen by himself. Lan Xi actually felt an unprecedented sense of relief.
"What kind of heart do you have to be able to say such shameless words? Back then, my entire family was wiped out because of your so - called jealousy. And then I was poisoned by the Gu because of your petty thoughts. For so many years, I've had to live under your coercion and inducement. If it weren't for the Empress Dowager, I'm afraid I would have lived like a dog for the rest of my life."
"I did all that for your own good. I was just afraid that you would be misled by your parents if you were by their side. Can't you understand my intentions?"
"Stop looking for such ridiculous excuses. Now that you've fallen into our hands, just hand over the Western Region obediently."
Hearing this, the King of the Western Region immediately got angry.
"Why? The Western Region has finally got on the right track under my governance. Now that you see the Western Region getting better and better, you want to reap the benefits without doing any work. So this is the reason you bribed the people around me, Lan Xi! Don't be deceived by these hypocritical people. At least I was really good to you before, although my methods were a bit extreme."
He seemed to be really thinking for the people in front of him, shouting hoarsely. Even the people outside heard that something was wrong inside.
Some of the black - clothed men were about to rush in when they thought of their master, but the people in the dark quickly showed up and blocked them outside the tent.
Only then did the King of the Western Region realize that he had fallen into a trap. Everything was within these people's calculations.
He struggled unwillingly, but was quickly caught.
Just like this, the King of the Western Region and his subordinates were escorted outside the tent. There were curious commoners all around.
"What's going on? This man looks a bit familiar."
"Of course he looks familiar. Didn't we see him at the palace gate a few days ago?"
"Do you mean the King of the Western Region?"
"Can't you tell? This is the King of the Western Region that day. But why did he bring so many people in today?"
Hearing the commoners' discussions, Shi Muyuan didn't plan to hide the truth for the King of the Western Region.
"Everyone, take a good look. This is our so - called ally. Back then, the Western Region invaded the Great Liang. It took us a lot of effort to suppress them with force. Now they are still not satisfied and actually poisoned the commoners in Changjing City."
As soon as these words were spoken, there was an uproar. The commoners around didn't expect such a result.
They immediately thought of the strange plague recently. Could it be related to the King of the Western Region?
Of course, some commoners quickly asked this question.
"Empress Dowager, is the disease we've got related to the Western Region?"
"Yes. Now the court has clear evidence that the King of the Western Region secretly masterminded all this and poisoned the commoners in Changjing City."
When Shi Muyuan said this, the commoners all wanted to rush forward and tear the King of the Western Region to pieces.
"He's simply a brute. I didn't expect that we even pitied your situation before and wanted to seek justice for you. It turns out that you were the one behind all this. You deserve to die."
"Yes. We were blind back then. We actually didn't believe the court, the Empress Dowager and the Emperor because of you. Empress Dowager, why don't you kill this damned man today to eliminate future troubles."
"No. First make him hand over the antidote. He must hand over the antidote before he can die."
Finally, someone got to the point. Although Shi Muyuan didn't say a word, Xiao Xiao directly kicked the King of the Western Region into the crowd of commoners.
The commoners swarmed up and surrounded the King of the Western Region. He tried to struggle but to no avail. His hands and feet had just been tied up, and all his efforts were in vain.
Watching the commoners punching and kicking the King of the Western Region, no one stepped forward to stop them.
It was not until he was almost dead that Cui Qizhou sent people to pull the commoners away.
The man's cold voice rang in their ears, "He can't die yet. If he dies, the people of the Western Region may take the initiative to attack us."
The commoners could only retreat embarrassedly, but they were still not willing.
"Are we just going to let this matter go? National Teacher, the Western Region must pay the price for this. The people there must have known what the King of the Western Region did."