He was the supreme Qingyan Emperor, wielding the power of life and death and controlling the fate of all Qingyan people. These two ministers actually dared to plot against him and manipulate him at will; they were truly audacious.
"Your Majesty, Prime Minister Li wants to save his grandson's life, and just now he devised a treacherous scheme to plot against Your Majesty, but I did not agree..."
In his rage, the emperor used great force, kicking Yu Xin so hard that his chest felt heavy and his body went limp, leaving him powerless. He gasped for breath, enduring the discomfort, straightened up, knelt on the ground, and hurriedly explained, his body trembling.
Li Fan is a spoiled brat, good for neither literature nor martial arts. Wherever he goes, he only causes trouble. Yu Xin doesn't think much of him and has no intention of saving him. Those few words he just said were just to appease Prime Minister Li. He didn't expect the Emperor to hear them. What bad luck! The matter was started by Prime Minister Li and has nothing to do with him. He must clear himself of any wrongdoing.
"Shut up! Do you think I didn't hear what you said? You clearly gave in about Li Fan's matter, wanting to collude with Prime Minister Li to deceive me." The emperor's sharp eyes flashed with cold light. His ministers were not thinking about how to help him govern Qingyan, but about how to deceive him and protect their good-for-nothing relatives.
To say that divination is a divine instruction? Ha! Heaven ignores the royal family and the people of Qingyan, yet it protects a spoiled brat who can't distinguish right from wrong. It's obvious there's something wrong with this. Prime Minister Li actually came up with such a flawed plan. He's incredibly stupid. Does he think I'm a foolish ruler who can't see the truth?
"Your Majesty, I am not agreeing, but I would like to persuade Prime Minister Li to pull back from the brink..." Saving Li Fan was Prime Minister Li's wishful thinking. Yu Xin never agreed from beginning to end. He did not want to bear the death penalty for deceiving the emperor, nor could he bear it.
"Leave Li Fan's matter aside for now. The 'Asking the Heavens' ritual was your doing. You set up a grand deception, completely fooling me. You're quite the expert." The emperor looked down at Yu Xin, his sharp eyes burning with fury.
The natural disaster that destroyed the Dragon Throne, and the person in the year and month that suppressed the natural disaster, were all fabricated by Yu Xin, deceiving everyone. It's unbelievable that he, the Supreme Ruler of Azure Flame, couldn't see through the tricks of a mere subject. How despicable!
Yu Xin was shocked, his body trembling like a leaf. The Emperor had heard everything. No matter how eloquent he was, he could not refute the truth. Their painstaking plan had been exposed before it could even be put to use. How could this be?
Deceiving the emperor is a capital offense, he could be beheaded! What could he do? He didn't want to die!
In his anxiety, he suddenly remembered that the mastermind behind the ritual to question the heavens was Prince Zhan. He had not mentioned him when he spoke with Prime Minister Li, and the emperor believed that he was the mastermind. He thought that the emperor himself wanted to control Qingyan by placing those people born in the years of Yang and the months of Yang.
As an emperor, one should be most wary of disloyal subjects. If he learns that the prince is plotting to usurp the throne, the emperor will naturally be furious. Prince Zhan is the emperor's biological son, skilled in both literature and martial arts, and possesses the demeanor of an emperor. The emperor also greatly admires him. If the emperor knew that Prince Zhan was the one manipulating everything behind the scenes, he probably wouldn't be so enraged.
"Your Majesty... performing rituals to consult the heavens is actually..."
"Lord Yu, His Majesty is a wise ruler with his own judgment. You should stop hiding the truth, connect the dots, think carefully, and then confess the truth."
Prime Minister Li coldly interrupted Yu Xin, giving him a warning look. In that instant, he clearly saw that Yu Xin was cowardly and afraid of death, and was trying to betray his master and implicate Dongfang Zhan.
Dongfang Zhan is the emperor's biological son. His scheme will not only fail to soften the emperor's heart, but will also intensify his anger. At that time, things will be interconnected, and all the forces under the Prime Minister's Mansion and Zhan Wang Mansion will be affected. In more serious cases, years of hard work will collapse and be destroyed in an instant, and there will be more than just one or two unfortunate people.
Sweeping across Prime Minister Li's sharp gaze, Yu Xin also came to his senses. Prince Zhan was incredibly capable and knew the Emperor's weaknesses. He was proficient in magic and could be of some help to Prince Zhan. Prince Zhan would not abandon him and would probably try to find a way to rescue him. If he implicated Prince Zhan, Prince Zhan would also become a prisoner. As a subordinate who participated in the ritual to consult the heavens, he could not expect a good outcome.
“Your Majesty, I am skilled in divination. The natural disasters that befell Qingyan were not unfounded. My placement of those people born in the years of Yang and the months of Yang was indeed for the sake of Qingyan…”
"Nonsense! Those people joined the army and brought no benefit whatsoever. They even used their status to oppress the people. Are you protecting Qingyan's safety or creating trouble for Qingyan?"
Yu Xin admitted his selfish motives, which infuriated the emperor even more. He trusted Yu Xin so much, entrusting the safety of the Qingyan Kingdom to him, but Yu Xin actually set a trap and made him run around in circles. He was incredibly audacious and utterly despicable.
"Your Majesty, those five are just a small part of the corrupt officials; most of the people born in the year of Yang are still quite good..."
The secret guards of Prince Zhan entered the army with missions and performed very well. They also had a good relationship with the soldiers. One reason was to obtain more information, and the other was to win over more people. Those five parasites were no match for them at all.
"Shut up! Those people were secretly planted in the army after you deceived me. They are your forces, your subordinates. If it weren't for those five parasites, I wouldn't have seen your wolfish ambitions." The better Yang Nian and Yang Yue performed in the army, the less wary the soldiers became of them. Gradually, they would have the entire army under their control. Qingyan would be their new world, and the Qingyan royal family would change their surname from Dongfang to Yu.
"Your Majesty, I had no such thought, really no..." Yu Xin was startled and immediately regretted it. He had been too hasty and said the wrong thing. As the most respected of the nine princes, the emperor was naturally suspicious. If his people performed well in the army, the emperor would definitely be wary and his misunderstanding of him would deepen. What should he do? How could he explain himself to dispel the emperor's doubts?
The emperor turned around and looked at the guards surrounding the courtyard, his sharp eyes flashing with a cold glint: "Yu Xin, you are just a minor official in the Imperial Observatory, yet you have so many powerful guards in your residence. You must have long harbored ambitions to usurp the throne, haven't you?" Fortunately, the five corrupt officials were exposed, and he became suspicious of the people born in the year and month of the Yang family. Otherwise, he would probably have been kept in the dark until his death.
Yu Xin's gaze sharpened as he looked up at the circle of strong, muscular guards in the courtyard, each wielding a long sword. They were all hand-picked, highly skilled in martial arts, and numbered at least thirty.
Looking at the emperor again, he saw that he was alone, with only an old eunuch behind him who knew no martial arts and was not a threat. Suddenly, an absurd thought popped into his mind: if the emperor died, he could not be punished. With the abilities of these thirty men, killing the emperor would be a piece of cake...
"Yu Xin, do you intend to kill me?" The emperor's icy voice echoed eerily in his ear like a ghost. Yu Xin was startled and hurriedly shook his head: "This humble subject dares not... dares not..."
He was secretly surprised. How could the emperor know his thoughts?
"You're already plotting to usurp the throne, what in this world wouldn't you dare to do, Yu Xin?" The emperor looked at Yu Xin with a chilling smile. He had seen countless people and could tell what they were thinking just by looking at their eyes. The expression on Yu Xin's face was unpredictable, and the fleeting murderous intent in his eyes was directed at no one but him.
"Yu Xin, how dare you!" The emperor suddenly raised his voice, startling Yu Xin so much that his mind went blank. He stammered, "Your Majesty, please investigate! This humble subject had no such thoughts, truly no..."
He was torn between his conscience and his conscience. The current emperor was just an empty shell. Killing him would not be difficult. However, if the emperor died, Qingyan Capital would definitely be in turmoil, and things would not end well. Should he take action?
"Bang!" The tightly closed courtyard gate was suddenly smashed open, and a large number of imperial guards rushed in, surrounding the guards who were standing in the courtyard. The crown prince, dressed in a silver military uniform, was handsome and outstanding. With a slightly cold expression, he strode up to the emperor, bowed and said, "Your subject has arrived late to save Your Majesty. Please forgive me, Father."
"No need for formalities!" The emperor looked arrogant as he coldly watched the Imperial Guards arrest all the guards. Qingyan was his domain. So what if he broke into the Yu residence alone? He was the supreme ruler and was not afraid of his subjects harming him.
Yu Xinze was pale, his eyes were lifeless, and his body was trembling like a leaf. When did the Imperial Guards arrive? He hadn't noticed at all. Fortunately, he hadn't killed the emperor, otherwise, he would be dead by now.
However, the emperor is convinced he plots to usurp the throne and will not let him off easily. What to do? Reveal Prince Zhan? He is the mastermind behind it all, and the one who wants to be emperor, not himself…
Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of a figure in azure blue. He was startled, blinked hard, and looked again. Dongfang Zhan stepped into the courtyard and strode towards the emperor. His lifeless heart was instantly filled with joy. Prince Zhan had arrived; he was saved.
"Your Majesty, please investigate thoroughly. This humble subject was wholeheartedly devoted to the country. My placement of those people born in the year of Yang and the month of Yang was entirely for the sake of Qingyan. I truly had no intention of usurping the throne..." Yu Xin deliberately raised his voice so that Dongfang Zhan could hear the whole story clearly.
The moment Dongfang Zhan stepped into the courtyard and saw the guards being held tightly by the Imperial Guards, he understood the whole story. He was furious. His plan to question the heavens was flawless. Besides him, only Yu Xin and Prime Minister Li knew the truth. He hadn't uttered a single word. The only ones who could have leaked the secret were Yu Xin or Prime Minister Li. He was truly more trouble than he was worth.
Those were all elites he had painstakingly cultivated, and they had been ruined by them. He was furious, furious.
"Yu Xin, you first plotted to usurp the throne, then tried to assassinate me, and now you dare to try to deny it?" The emperor looked down at Yu Xin, his stern aura commanding respect.
"Your Majesty, I am innocent, truly innocent..." Yu Xin knelt on the ground, kowtowing and begging for mercy, his gaze intentionally or unintentionally drifting towards Dongfang Zhan.
"Father, Your Majesty, I see that Your Excellency has the bearing of an immortal, transcending the mundane world, and your demeanor is like that of a carefree hermit. You do not seem to be the kind of ambitious person who would usurp the throne. Is there some misunderstanding?"
Yu Xin was incredibly foolish to leak secrets. Dongfang Zhan was extremely unwilling to help him, but the people that Fa Wentian had planted were all his loyal subordinates. Now they were being treated as Yu Xin's accomplices. If Yu Xin got into trouble and died, they would also be held responsible. By protecting Yu Xin, he was actually protecting his own elite guards.
Yu Xin secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Zhan Wang was always clever and his methods were very sophisticated. The fact that he was willing to plead for him meant that he was still useful to him and that he would not abandon him.
"Zhan'er, appearances can be deceiving. I overheard Yu Xin's words clearly outside the study. He orchestrated the ritual to question the heavens, his aim being to place those born in the year of Yang and the month of Yang into the army, secretly seizing command of my Qingyan Army. When the time is right, he will plot to usurp the throne."
He sent people to secretly monitor those born in the year and month of the Yang, and the palace guards covered almost the entire capital of Qingyan. Half an incense stick later, a guard reported that a strange man had entered Yu Xin's residence in a mysterious manner and asked him if he was following him.
First, Yu Xin made a ritual to question the heavens, and then those guards in the year and month of Yang appeared. If the guards had problems, Yu Xin could not escape blame. The eunuchs around him also felt that there was something wrong with Yu Xin, and even believed that the man who sneaked into Yu Xin's mansion was not simple.
He suddenly had a whimsical idea and quietly came to the Yu residence. Unexpectedly, he overheard that shocking secret outside the study. It was like a bolt from the blue. His most trusted minister had actually deceived him, played him for fools, and even wanted to seize his empire. It was hateful that he had never discovered Yu Xin's ambition. It was a great disgrace.