Published: March 4, 2025
Chapter 46: Beginning from This Moment
On the main road, a carriage was slowly moving forward, with eight knights riding stoically in front and behind. An elderly coachman, with grizzled hair and narrowed eyes, held a whip as he indifferently stared ahead, the sound of the whip cracking echoing behind them, leaving a trail of dust in their wake.
Inside the carriage sat a gaunt old man, slightly frowning while lost in thought.
This old man was none other than Du Shiqing, the renowned number one divine doctor of the age. This time, he was traveling from the Great Zhao Empire to the Iron Cloud Nation.
“Mr. Du, your mission on this trip to Iron Cloud is singular. You must do your utmost to use your heaven-restoring divine hand to help the ailing ruler of Iron Cloud prolong his life for as long as possible. Above all, do not let him die too early!”
This was a message delivered earnestly by the imperial chancellor, Diwu Qingrou, during their meeting before departure.
Du Shiqing understood why they wanted the ruler of Iron Cloud to hold on longer. Although the crown prince was currently in power, he was still not the emperor, and there were certain matters where his authority was not fully legitimate.
As long as the ruler of Iron Cloud clung to life, Iron Cloud would never be a solid block! Tie Butian, despite being extraordinarily talented, would be left helpless as long as he dared not kill his father to ascend to power.
If Tie Shicheng could hold on for another month, it would afford the Great Zhao Empire another month of time! It was best to drag it out until everything was in place for war. By that time, the major drawback of Iron Cloud having a crown prince who was not truly a monarch would manifest itself most vividly!
However, this mission was incredibly difficult.
Only Du Shiqing knew how challenging it truly was!
He let out a bitter laugh and sighed. Back in the days when Tie Shicheng was in his prime, fighting fiercely against the Great Zhao Empire, Diwu Qingrou was just a cabinet scholar, monitoring the military as part of his duties. Yet, he secretly invested heavily in hiring the number one archer in the world to assassinate Tie Shicheng, successfully shooting him amidst the chaos of battle!
The arrow was even laced with deadly poison!
At that time, Tie Shicheng was momentarily blocked by his guards; the arrow pierced through a guard before striking him, leaving its impact relatively weak. But that poison nearly cost Tie Shicheng his life!
Diwu Qingrou had secretly hired him with considerable sums, asking him to serve the nation, yet it was to treat Tie Shicheng’s injuries... In his life, he had only done one thing that went against his medical ethics: he healed Tie Shicheng’s poisoned wound, but implanted another type of incurable chronic poison within him!
This deadly poison slowly eroded Tie Shicheng’s body, just as, over the years, the Great Zhao gradually encroached upon Iron Cloud.
Wounding him without killing him. Able to swallow yet not swallowing; over these years, through the continuous conflicts with Iron Cloud, Diwu Qingrou amassed achievements, increasing his prestige and resources, becoming the number one in both military and political realms! To this day, he stood as the foremost figure below the emperor of the empire!
He had continuously achieved victories in battle, yet he still allowed Iron Cloud to retain its ability to resist, preventing its annihilation. He treated Iron Cloud as a base for his own accomplishments, and only now did he start to truly deal with Iron Cloud because he was at his peak! With Diwu Qingrou’s current power, even the emperor could do nothing against him!
Diwu Qingrou’s cunning strategies and scheming methods had reached a level of extraordinary sophistication.
As things stood, Tie Shicheng’s health was already beyond recovery! He was just barely hanging on. Had it not been for the emergence of the remarkable heaven-mending crown prince, Iron Cloud might have already become an extension of the Great Zhao Empire!