In the upper study room of Shengjing, Liu Ziqi looked at Gu Yun and Yu Qizhe who were kneeling on the ground with determined expressions, and rubbed his brows tiredly. He had been troubled by that old man Shen Tian for the past two days. The mess in the palace had not been cleaned up yet, and these two people came to the palace frequently to ask for orders.

Throwing down the memorial in his hand, Liu Ziqi said to Gu Yun: "I summoned you back to the capital, not to let you cause trouble."

Gu Yun knelt down and pleaded again: "Your Majesty, please allow me to send troops to Xianyang to escort the princess back to the palace."

Liu Ziqi held his forehead helplessly, looked at the two men and said, "We haven't found a way to deal with the thunder yet, and you want me to send troops. Aren't you disregarding the lives of the soldiers in the army?"

"I am eager to save my wife, and I hope Your Majesty will agree." Yu Qizhe bowed his head with a determined look in his eyes.

Liu Ziqi's voice softened when he heard him say this: "I know you are worried about Yu Jiao."

He handed a memorial to the two of them and said, "I received a secret report yesterday that Ji Wudao has made unusual moves and is gathering troops to head towards Kyoto, as if he is planning a counterattack. Even if we want to send troops to Xianyang, we have to wait until Ji Wudao is captured."

Cheng Ying could not cause any big trouble while being trapped in Xianyang City, but Ji Wudao still had an army of more than 100,000 under his command. The Weining Army set up defenses in Datong, but only caused Ji Wudao to lose 10% of his troops. Ji Wudao was Liu Ziqi's biggest concern.

"Suppressing the rebellion and capturing Ji Wudao is the most important thing." Liu Ziqi explained, "It's not that I don't care about Yu Jiao's safety, but judging from the conditions proposed by Cheng Ying, he should be reluctant to hurt Yu Jiao."

After reading the secret letter, Gu Yun was a little hesitant. Ji Wudao led his army north, and protecting Kyoto was indeed the top priority.

Yu Qizhe only glanced at the memorial indifferently. The 100,000 Lingnan troops brought by Gu Yun were stationed in the pass 50 miles away. The Jinyiwei, the three major camps in the capital, and the garrisons transferred from various places totaled more than 100,000. Ji Wudao failed to capture the capital with his large army last time, not to mention that he now has a good general and a large army.

"With General Xiao and Lord Gu leading the troops to guard the capital, it will be easy to capture the rebels. I beg Your Majesty to allow me to go to Xianyang." His face was calm, but underneath the calmness there was a stubbornness.

"Are you really going to force me to agree?" Liu Ziqi sneered.

"I dare not." Yu Qizhe said he dared not, but his attitude did not give in at all.

Gu Yun saw that Liu Ziqi had a hint of annoyance on his face, and said, "What Shaoqing Yu said is very true. With my father and General Xiao in charge, I'm sure Ji Wudao will not return. Although Cheng Ying can't stir up any trouble in Xianyang, Zhu Kuang is still in his hands. If he dies, it's fine. But if he is still alive and used as a raft by Cheng Ying, the former dynasty will be in turmoil again."

What Gu Yun said made some sense. Most of the people in the previous dynasty were old ministers, and there were quite a few of Shen Tian’s disciples alone. These people now knew how to handle current affairs, but what if Cheng Ying brought the still-alive Zhu Kuang back to Beijing?

The old man Shen Tian instigated the Fourth Prince and his mother to cause chaos last time, and he was forced by him to recuperate at home in the name of avoiding suspicion. Although he did not attend the court, he caused him a lot of trouble in secret.

A few days ago, he instigated the Fifth Prince to cause trouble at the ancestral worship ceremony, refuted his wolfish ambitions and attempted to usurp the throne, and even said with certainty that he would go to Xianyang to welcome his father back to the court.

Liu Ziqi was upset by the chaos caused by the ancestral worship ceremony, and ordered his men to imprison the fifth prince in Zhaoyu.

He did not want to be accused of being an unkind monarch, otherwise he would have dealt with the concubines and princes left behind by Zhu Kuang long ago.

The Imperial Guards also discovered that Shen Tian was getting close to the Sixth Prince, and he did not try to conceal his rebellious intentions at all.

Liu Ziqi was actually a little confused. He had already ascended the throne, and it was impossible for Shen Tian to instigate Zhu Kuang's sons to fight for the throne. Anyone with a discerning eye could see that it was impossible.

But Shen Tian seemed to do it on purpose, to make things difficult for him, and to instigate those idiots to act like clowns.

As long as Zhu Kuang is alive, it will always be a source of worry.

Liu Ziqi turned the ring on his thumb, thought for a moment, and then said, "Forget it. I also want to bring Yu Jiao back as soon as possible. Gu Yun, I will allow you to transfer 20,000 troops from the Lingnan Army to Xianyang to quell the rebellion and take the position of commander."

He paused, his eyes fell on Yu Qizhe who was kneeling on the ground with a straight back, and said, "Yu Zhanxing will take the post of commander-in-chief and lead the troops to Xianyang."

Gu Yun was delighted when he heard this, and he and Yu Qizhe kowtowed together: "I obey your order."

Liu Ziqi called the two men to stand up and warned them as before: "If you capture Xianyang, try your best to capture Cheng Ying alive and spare his life."

Although Gu Yun was puzzled, he knew that Liu Ziqi had his reasons for giving such instructions.

Then Liu Ziqi changed the subject and said, "As for Zhu Kuang, I think he must be dead forever."

Gu Yun's eyes flickered slightly, and Yu Qizhe said, "I think so too."

Seeing that Yu Qizhe's expression was calm, Gu Yun hesitated a little and echoed, "Zhu Kuang has been silent for such a long time, he must be dead."

Liu Ziqi's expression relaxed slightly, and a smile appeared on the corner of his lips. He said seriously, "Cheng Ying has a thunderbolt in his hand, which is extremely powerful. You two must be careful. If you can't take it down by force, don't force it and try another way."

The two of them naturally responded.

The king and his two ministers talked for a while, and then Yu Qizhe and Gu Yun left the Yangxin Palace.

"Thank you for your help, young marquis." After leaving the palace, Yu Qizhe bowed to Gu Yun and thanked him sincerely.

Gu Yun looked awkward and said, "This isn't for you."

Yu Qizhe said indifferently: "No matter who the young marquis is for, I will remember this favor if you can go with me to ask the emperor for permission to send troops to Xianyang."

"Don't say such sour words to me." Gu Yun said quickly, "I will go and mobilize the troops and meet at the South Gate at 15:00."

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