On the wedding day, my wife was abnormal

Chapter 1121 The Secret Alchemy Room

The tremors were so violent that the entire ancestral hall was buzzing, and dust was falling from the roof beams overhead, as if it were about to collapse completely at any moment.

Crescent Moon and the two hundred "Night Owls" who had just arrived were quite frightened by the scene before them. They all thought that they had triggered some kind of suicide trap, and subconsciously raised their crossbows to protect Lin Zhen.

"Don't move!" Lin Zhen's voice rang out at this moment.

His voice was weak from blood loss, but his undeniable authority made everyone pause.

Everyone looked on in surprise and disbelief, only to see Lin Zhen still standing in front of the ancestral tablet of the Kong family, his bleeding hand still pressed firmly on the tablet.

Blood flowed continuously down the lines of the memorial tablet, completely staining the small characters written in blood a glaring scarlet.

The violent tremor did not come from the walls of the ancestral hall, but from the ancestral tablets themselves!

Under everyone's watchful eyes, the enormous memorial tablet, carved from a single piece of golden nanmu wood, slowly cracked open from the middle!

The gap widened until the entire memorial tablet split open, revealing the cold, moss-covered stone wall behind it.

Immediately afterwards, the sound of "click, click" of the mechanism turning came from inside the stone wall.

On the stone wall, a hidden door, the same size as the memorial tablet, slowly recedes inward, eventually forming a bottomless, pitch-black passage.

A cold, damp air, carrying a strong smell of herbs and mildew, rushed out of the passage.

"Your Highness! This..." Ghost Shadow, Crescent Moon, and the others were all dumbfounded.

Who would have thought that there was a hidden world behind the ancestral tablets in the Confucius Ancestral Hall!

Lin Zhen didn't speak. He simply used a strip of cloth to haphazardly wrap the wound on his wrist, and then, as the first, stepped into the darkness.

"Your Highness!" Ghost Shadow cried out anxiously, trying to follow.

"You all stay outside and keep watch!" Lin Zhen's voice came from the darkness, carrying an unquestionable command. "No one is allowed to enter without my order!"

He had no idea what kind of weird stuff that madman Kong Zhiqian had left behind was hidden behind this passage.

He could no longer let these already wounded brothers go on adventures with him.

"But……"

"This is an order!"

Ghost Shadow and Crescent Moon exchanged a glance, both seeing helplessness and worry in each other's eyes.

They knew that no one could change the prince's decision. They could only bow and accept the order, leading everyone to guard the entrance of the passage, each with a tense expression, as if facing a formidable enemy.

The passage was long and dark.

Lin Zhen walked forward alone, leaning on his sword, his steps uneven.

He could feel the strength in his body being drained away little by little as his blood was lost.

He felt dizzy, his vision blurred, and every step he took felt like dancing on a knife's edge.

But he cannot stop, much less fall down.

There was only one thought in his mind.

Yan'er is still waiting for him.

Tens of millions of people are still waiting for him.

He didn't know how long he had been walking; perhaps a quarter of an hour, perhaps an hour.

Just when he felt he was about to give up, a faint light finally appeared ahead.

He perked up and quickened his pace.

The light drew closer, and as he stepped out of the passage, a bright and clear view opened up before him.

This place turned out to be a huge underground stone chamber, completely hollowed out from the inside of the mountain.

Dozens of lamps were lit around the stone chamber, illuminating the entire space as bright as day.

In the center of the stone chamber stood a huge alchemy furnace. The fire had long since gone out, but a strong medicinal smell still lingered in the air.

Around the stone chamber were rows and rows of tall wooden frames.

The wooden shelves were filled with all sorts of bottles and jars, as well as mountains of medicinal herbs wrapped in oil paper.

On a stone table at the deepest part of the stone chamber, there were also a large number of books, manuscripts and some strange-looking alchemical tools scattered around.

This is actually Kong Zhiqian's secret alchemy room!

Lin Zhen forced himself to walk to the stone table.

He picked up a manuscript and flipped through it casually.

The text above, written in an extremely messy hand, records Kong Zhiqian's research findings on various poisons and mechanical techniques.

Among them are detailed records of the highly toxic substance that was released into the canal.

This is a complex poison he named "Tears of Parting," which is colorless and odorless. Once it enters a water source, it decomposes rapidly and is extremely difficult to detect.

Initially, the poisoned person will not experience any symptoms, but after three days, the poison will suddenly take effect, damaging the internal organs and ultimately causing the person to die in extreme pain.

At the very end of the manuscript, Lin Zhen finally found what he was looking for.

The antidote to "tears of parting"!

Unlike the mysterious "phoenix blood" on that parchment scroll, this manuscript clearly records dozens of herbs needed to prepare the antidote, as well as detailed preparation methods.

What shocked Lin Zhen even more was that next to the antidote prescription, Kong Zhiqian had written a passage in an almost boastful and smug tone.

"The so-called 'phoenix blood' was nothing but a joke I played on that brat Lin Zhen. What I truly need is the 'dragon blood' of the previous dynasty's Li family. This bloodline is extremely peculiar; it can both attract and cure all poisons. However, how could I let him obtain it so easily? I have laid a net of heaven and earth, setting up a nine-linked deadly trap. If he wants to save the world, he can only use the empress's blood. At that time, the king will weep blood, and all the people will grieve together—wouldn't that be delightful? Hahahaha!"

Upon seeing this, Lin Zhen felt a surge of anger rise from the bottom of his heart once again!

This madman! He really wanted to force Yan'er to her death!

He suppressed his anger and continued reading.

At the end of the manuscript, there was a separate sheet of paper.

The letter read: "Lin Zhen, by the time you read this letter, you will have solved all my mysteries. I admire you, I admire you. You are indeed the only person in this world worthy of being my opponent. It's just a pity that our paths diverge, and we cannot work together. In this stone chamber, there is a 'gift' I prepared for you in advance—a finished antidote sufficient to save the people of Yangzhou. Consider this my final congratulatory gift from the loser to the victor. As for the people of other cities along the canal… well, that depends on your abilities and fate. Kong Zhiqian, my last words."

Beneath the papers lay a thick, beautifully bound diary.

Lin Zhen picked up the diary and opened it to the first page.

Above is Kong Zhiqian's familiar, unrestrained handwriting.

"I composed poetry at ten, could write prose at twelve, and was well-versed in the teachings of a hundred schools of thought by fifteen. Yet, the world only knows that I am a descendant of Confucius, but they do not know that what I hold in my heart is a raging fire that burns away the hypocrisy of this world..."

Lin Zhen's heart sank suddenly.

He knew that this diary must contain the deepest, darkest secret of Kong Zhiqian, this madman.

He must also be hiding his so-called final trump card!

……

Suzhou, inn.

It was very late at night.

Murong Yan was still wide awake. She sat quietly by the window, gazing at the distant mountains.

The phoenix-themed dress she wore, which served as her only nightgown, appeared even more profound in the dead of night.

The ultra-black Su brocade blended perfectly with the night outside the window, as if her entire being had become part of the boundless darkness.

Only the golden cotton velvet woven into it, and the giant phoenix embroidered with real gold thread, occasionally reflected a faint, star-like light under the cool moonlight streaming in from the window, quiet and persistent.

This cotton nightgown, woven with the light and breathable Suzhou brocade technique, did not appear cumbersome on her despite its large size. On the contrary, its soft texture clung tightly to her body, perfectly outlining her slender and thin figure, which appeared particularly delicate due to her worries.

The five-zhang-long (approximately 10 meters) long, dark gold Suzhou brocade train stretched from her feet all the way to the other end of the room, piling up on the rough wooden floor like a chaotic and silent sea of ​​clouds.

The moonlight shone upon it, and the golden phoenix patterns resembled giant beasts slumbering deep within the sea of ​​clouds, quietly waiting for their master to rise again from endless anxiety and anticipation.

She has been in this position for a very, very long time.

Du Ruhui tried several times to come in and persuade her to rest, but she waved him away each time.

She knew she wouldn't be able to sleep until she got definite news from Lin Zhen.

Half of her heart was in Jiangnan, and with the people waiting for her to save them.

Her other half had already flown to that unknown deep mountain, to the side of the man she longed for.

My husband, how are you?

Are you injured?

Are you... thinking of me just like I'm thinking of you?

Just as she was lost in thought and her mind was in turmoil, there was a sudden knock on the door.

"Your Majesty." It was Du Ruhui's aged voice, tinged with excitement and joy, from outside the door. "The Prince...the Prince has news!"

Murong Yan felt her heart skip a beat!

She suddenly stood up from the window, not even bothering to put on her shoes, and rushed to the door barefoot, pulling it open.

"How is he?!"