As soon as Emperor Qianyu left, Ding Yun, with a pained expression, quickly used her mental power to block her pain nerve endings. It had truly hurt just now.
It had to be known that Ding Yun was not faking her serious injuries.
She was genuinely seriously injured.
While the miraculous elixirs had saved her life, they couldn't immediately alleviate her pain or rapidly heal her wounds. Previously, fearing that Emperor Qianyu would notice something amiss, Ding Yun hadn't dared to block her pain sensations.
Now that he was gone, she could finally block the pain.
And she began to target the repair of the more critical injuries within her body, preventing damage to her foundation and also allowing her to regain some mobility, so she wouldn't be bedridden and inconvenienced for everything she needed to do.
After nearly an hour of such efforts.
Ding Yun felt a bit better and had the inclination to take out the blank copy of the Book of Life and Death. She first used her mental power to write Emperor Qianyu's true name onto it.
And her Imperial Father was quite easy to identify.
As soon as the six characters, Zhou Yuyang and Emperor Qianyu, were written onto the blank copy of the Book of Life and Death, it precisely located the sole individual and revealed his details.
[Zhou Yuyang - Emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty]
Date of Birth: Huai De Year 138
Date of Death: Qianyu Year 220
Biography:..., Achievements:...
Among this large pile of information, the birth year was fixed and unchangeable, but the death date was constantly fluctuating. It currently displayed the lifespan limit of Emperor Qianyu under normal circumstances, but if there were any accidents during the process, or if he obtained any more longevity-extending elixirs.
The final death date would inevitably change.
Even if Ding Yun were to add decades to his lifespan now, it would only be a theoretical increase. It would be useless if he were killed, which could even extend his lifespan by ten thousand years.
It could be said that this blank copy of the Book of Life and Death involved some laws of life and death, but not to an extent that would make it destiny and unchangeable.
As for the other biographical details and achievements.
There were far too many.
An emperor who had lived for two hundred and eighty years would have experienced an immeasurable amount of events. The number of people born and who died because of him would also be immense. The details of the increase and decrease of merit and karma would number in the tens of millions.
Ding Yun was too lazy to look through them one by one.
She merely confirmed in the end that his merits outweighed his demerits and felt relieved, because when Emperor Qianyu's merits outweighed his demerits, extending his lifespan would consume less energy.
And she could feel more at ease.
Otherwise, it would feel like aiding and abetting evil.
However, it was only Qianyu Year 202 this year, meaning her Imperial Father still had eighteen years left to live. Thus, Ding Yun did not rush to extend his lifespan. Instead, she sat on the bed and continued to use her mental power to write everyone from the original body's memories onto the blank copy of the Book of Life and Death.
This was not the Death Note; writing names down wouldn't cause people to die. Instead, it allowed Ding Yun to accurately understand a person's life and distinguish between good and evil, as well as closeness.
Therefore, Ding Yun naturally wrote down names without any reservations, one after another. When she reached the seven hundred and sixty-fourth name, she finally managed to find the murderer of the original body with the help of this golden finger.
That's right, the blank copy of the Book of Life and Death, when filled with a specific name, could accurately display a person's complete life from birth until the present. This was perfect for investigating cases and finding murderers. Although the original body knew nothing about her killer, Ding Yun could guess that the killer was the killer and the mastermind was the mastermind. The killer might not know the original body, and the original body might not know the killer.
However, the mastermind was very likely someone the original body knew, whether it was a civil or military official, or a member of the imperial clan. The imperial clan was more suspicious.
After all, killing also involved interests.
The benefits of civil and military officials killing the original body were far less than those of the imperial clan killing her. Whether the original body lived or died, the entire court would not inherit the throne.
But the imperial clan indeed had this possibility.
Especially those with higher popular support.
However, Ding Yun was not entirely sure if the mastermind was someone the original body knew. So, she wrote down the names of people the original body knew one by one, only checking their recent life events.
Unexpectedly, she had good luck.
When she wrote down Prince Ning, Zhou Youde, his recent life events clearly mentioned that six days ago, the imperial clan had held a secret meeting. The meeting decided to unite resolutely against the establishment of a Crown Princess.
Prince Ning, Zhou Youde, however, believed that it was necessary to cut the weeds and remove the roots to make his elder brother, Emperor Qianyu, completely despair.
And to establish an heir as soon as possible.
Only then would his efforts over the past decade, of privately contacting ministers, strictly disciplining all his descendants, demanding they be both learned and martial, benevolent and virtuous, and severely punishing any deviation, even exiling several of his own grandsons, to cultivate the good reputation of the Ning family's descendants as benevolent and virtuous individuals, not be in vain.
And what was the purpose of his strenuous efforts, strictly disciplining his descendants with standards close to those of a saint?
Was it not to push his descendants, who were renowned for their benevolence and virtue, to the forefront when Emperor Qianyu chose an adopted son, so that they could inherit the throne in the future?
If a Crown Princess were to be established, wouldn't his efforts over the past decade be all in vain? Not only would the good reputation he had cultivated be wasted, but the expenses incurred in the early stages of winning over officials and even other members of the imperial clan would also be wasted. He would even have to worry that the widespread reputation of his family's benevolence and virtue might arouse suspicion from the new emperor.
That would truly be a complete loss.
Therefore, Prince Ning's resolve to have his descendants adopted by Emperor Qianyu was unshakable. And he was truly determined to see it through. Thus, four days ago, he had definitively decided to kill the original body.
As for the specific assassins.
He employed a grand eunuch left behind in the imperial palace by his birth mother, Concubine Yutai, who had passed away thirty years ago.
Despite his incomplete physique as a eunuch.
He had been promoted to Martial Saint many years ago.
That grand eunuch had swept the floors of Concubine Tai's palace for fifty years. Few people remembered him on a daily basis, and even fewer knew that while Concubine Tai was still alive, during a grand ceremony when she went to the mausoleum of the former emperor to offer sacrifices, he had used the strict formations within the mausoleum of the former emperor.
To successfully conceal the anomalies during his breakthrough to Martial Saint.
And he had been lurking in the imperial palace.
It wasn't until the day before yesterday that he received a secret order from Prince Ning and specially found an opportunity to kill the original body.
And after finishing the deed, he feigned his own death.
Seizing the opportunity to leave the imperial palace and enter Prince Ning's mansion.
A scapegoat had also been found. He had the old eunuch use the Nine Dragon Palm, a secret technique of the Nine Dragon Palace. After the former emperor destroyed the Nine Dragon Palace, he had bestowed this palm technique upon his fourth son, Prince Qin. Theoretically, only Prince Qin's lineage would know it afterwards. And Prince Qin was his greatest rival, so this was a perfect opportunity to frame him.
As for why the old eunuch knew the Nine Dragon Palm.
The old eunuch was a disciple of the Nine Dragon Palace. When the Nine Dragon Palace was destroyed, he escaped and was saved by Concubine Yutai, who had not yet entered the palace. The two young lovers, amidst the foam of their life-saving grace, soon developed feelings for each other and secretly pledged their lives.
However, one was a remnant of the Nine Dragon Palace.
And the other was the legitimate daughter of a fourth-rank official.
Their social statuses were mismatched, and neither had the courage to abandon everything and elope. In the end, it was naturally a tragic ending.
Concubine Yutai, unable to defy her parents and the emperor's command, participated in the selection and entered the palace. The Nine Dragon Palace disciple, wanting revenge and still caring for Concubine Yutai, devised a plan that would achieve both: he would injure himself and enter the palace with Concubine Yutai, both to protect her and to seek revenge.
What happened after that is unknown.
In any case, he failed to achieve revenge.
Not only did he loyally serve Concubine Yutai throughout, but he was also utilized by her son.
Therefore, he naturally knew the Nine Dragon Palm.
Regardless of whether Emperor Qianyu believed that Prince Qin's lineage was responsible, this matter would plant a seed of doubt in his heart. When selecting an heir, he would definitely bypass Prince Qin's lineage.