After their minds were read, the entire court trembled with fear.

Chapter 246 The Golden Money Tree

The old emperor, who had been on the throne for over twenty years, had not felt this intense tension in a long time.

Shen Zhiyi could tell from her eyes that what was in the big basin was no good!

Is his mother going to drug him?

Not to the point.

The old emperor's rationality told him it wouldn't come to that.

But Shen Zhiyi's excited eyes made no attempt to hide it!

The old emperor stared intently at the potted object, but before he could even open the lid and see what was inside, a burst of laughter erupted in his mind.

The Empress Dowager's face contorted slightly as she experienced this for the first time.

The old emperor glanced at Shen Zhiyi amidst her burst of laughter, and the next second, he froze.

He silently stretched out his finger and pointed.

"Mom, what's this?"

Blood!

"Blood."

The old emperor spent all his energy suppressing the urge to swear.

I can't say it, because to say it would be a great act of filial impiety.

but!

"Mother, why are you giving your son blood, a whole basin of blood at that!"

"And even if you give your son a basin of blood, can you at least cook it into a dish and serve it to him? Just bring him the steaming hot blood; you can't expect me to just drink it straight from the bowl."

【Ugh~ That's absolutely disgusting.】

The old emperor nodded in agreement.

Shen Zhiyi, this child, has finally thought of him.

"What pig's blood?"

The Empress Dowager frowned.

Before she could answer, Shen Zhiyi spoke first.

[It's definitely not pig's blood, this is live deer blood, extremely nourishing! Hehe, the Empress Dowager is afraid the old emperor isn't up to par, so she brought out such a huge basin of deer blood right off the bat. If he's not up to par, he has to be exceptionally strong.]

The old emperor looked at his mother in shock.

The Empress Dowager nodded affirmatively.

“My son, this is deer blood. If you drink it, you’ll be back to thirty-three.”

Whether it will return to the age of thirty-three is unknown; perhaps it might return to the embryonic stage.

The Empress Dowager slammed her hand on the table in anger.

What did that voice mean? How dare it curse her son to die!

The old emperor quickly reached out his hand and said urgently, "Mother, this is unacceptable!"

[The Empress Dowager is angry! The old emperor values ​​his mother highly; he might actually drink it. How can that be allowed?]

This deer blood was just taken from a live deer, without any processing. Who knows how many bacteria and viruses it might harbor? Blood is known to be very dirty.

[And even if it were disposed of, if the old emperor drank just this much, he'd be running to the toilet for days and nights, vomiting until he was dizzy and disoriented.]

[Tsk tsk tsk, the Empress Dowager's approach is exactly the same as the old folks back home. If someone says something is good for your health, they'll feed it to you like crazy without any restraint, completely unaware of the principle that too much of a good thing can be bad.]

The old emperor glanced at his mother and then nodded firmly.

Feeling guilty, the Empress Dowager had a small bowl of soup served to the old emperor.

"It's all a little something from your mother."

The old emperor looked at the bowl of blood before him, but still couldn't bring himself to drink it.

"Hurry up and drink it while it's hot. After you finish, Mom will have something else for you."

The old emperor said he didn't want to drink.

"Mother, have you dealt with it?"

"What should we process? Naturally, the best results come from preserving the original flavor."

The Empress Dowager believes in folk remedies, so even if the imperial physicians come and say it can't be drunk directly, it won't work.

[Tsk tsk tsk, should I start writing about when the old emperor will die? This man in his sixties is drinking unprocessed deer blood; I wonder if he'll get some serious illness.]

The Empress Dowager did not like to hear these words.

What does that court attendant mean by repeatedly cursing her son to die?

The Empress Dowager had just gotten up when the old emperor forced her back down.

"You're getting on in years, you shouldn't do anything too strenuous."

"What do you mean I'm too old? I'm only eighteen!"

[Yes, yes, yes, eighteen reversed, is eighty this year.]

The Empress Dowager tried to stand up again, but the old emperor forced her back down.

"Alright, alright, Mom, you just turned eighteen this year."

The Empress Dowager liked to hear these words.

"Alright, alright, you're being really sweet today. If you don't want to drink this blood, I'll have someone make it into soup for you."

Blood soup~

The old emperor's lips twitched. It was as if some things tasted different when they reached Shen Zhiyi's lips.

After the deer blood was taken away, the Empress Dowager couldn't wait to take the old emperor to her storeroom.

The old emperor's eyes widened at the sight of the overflowing gold.

"Mother, please tell your son the truth, where did all this money come from?"

“Look at your eyes. Son, don’t worry, your mother has never embezzled the people’s hard-earned money.”

The old emperor was relieved and then began to inquire where all the gold came from.

[Where else could it come from? The most direct way is your father's tomb.]

The Empress Dowager didn't hide anything and said directly, "Since you've already stuffed some fake goods into that old man's hands, I might as well sell all the rest of the real ones. Son, aren't you short of money? These are all prepared for you by your mother. You can use this money for whatever you want when the time comes. Giving it to that old man as burial goods is a waste of resources."

【ox!】

Shen Zhiyi couldn't help but silently give a thumbs up.

This also shows that the Empress Dowager truly loathed the late Emperor.

"As for that tomb raider, killing him directly would be too hasty. When Mother gets tired of him, you can drag him out as a scapegoat and say that he stole everything in the imperial tomb and that he was the one who put the fakes in."

Wow, that's amazing! That's a pro.

But the old emperor shook his head and rejected it.

"No, no, if this gets out, wouldn't I have to replace the items in the imperial mausoleum to save face?"

After all, so many people are watching.

The Empress Dowager thought about it for a moment and nodded, saying, "As expected of my son, what you said makes perfect sense. Alright, let's just write a passage about this in the history books and be done with it. If anyone in later generations finds out, it won't be good for your reputation."

Zhang Sheren and Chen Decai, standing to the side, pinched their thighs desperately, trying to suppress their laughter by recalling all the saddest things they had ever experienced.

Empress Dowager, the Emperor's reputation is long gone.

The old emperor was speechless for a moment.

He was obviously thinking of some things Shen Zhiyi wrote in the daily records, as well as the unofficial histories secretly written by Zhang Sheren.

What reputation.

Long gone.

"Mother, I understand."

"It's good that you know. Come here, there's a money tree made of pure gold in this storeroom. I saved it especially for you."

[A money tree? A golden one?]

Shen Zhiyi was excited and looked at the Empress Dowager with longing eyes.

Even though the money tree won't be mine, it's good to see it.

The Empress Dowager was delighted to hear this and said happily, "I specially commissioned the best craftsmen in Luozhou to make that money tree; it's a full two meters tall."

Two meters?

Shen Zhiyi's eyes widened as she looked around. All she could see were gold bars; there was no golden money tree to be found.

The old emperor glanced at the empress dowager.

Empress Dowager: "How could such a thing be placed here directly? It's on the second floor of the storeroom."

Oh, there aren't any on the second floor.