Inside the royal palace.

All the nobles and ministers of the Kushan Empire gathered in the hall, their faces unusually solemn.

The old king was perfectly fine yesterday, but suddenly died last night. This is really too strange.

Naturally, everyone began to suspect Yu Zheng, who was personally treating the king.

After all, given her age, she wouldn't be able to act so recklessly without medication.

Subsequently, the king's guards also conducted a thorough search of the place where he had lived.

After learning that Yu Zheng had fled, all the noble ministers finally understood what was going on.

This is murder!!

Despite knowing the cause of the old king's death, the nobles and ministers had no interest in it anymore.

The old king died suddenly without leaving any will. Who should inherit the throne?

As mentioned earlier, the three princes had been fighting each other for many years, and the ministers in the Kushan court had long been divided into three factions. Naturally, the officials of these three factions wanted their supporters to sit on the throne.

Immediately, the nobles and ministers gathered in the palace began a heated debate, and some even started fighting.

Finally, the debate reached no conclusion, and the noble ministers all left the palace to contact their respective princes.

As for the old king, who was still naked and lying on the embroidered bed, no one paid him any attention.

After returning home, the nobles and ministers began to contact their respective factions and prepare for the upcoming struggle for the throne.

Everyone knows that what follows is very likely to be a life-or-death struggle.

Victory brings wealth and glory, defeat brings ruin and death!

For a time, the entire capital city was plunged into an extremely tense atmosphere.

All government offices have ceased operations, and no one is maintaining order!

Two days later, Yu Zheng, who had fled the capital, caught up with Xi Zhicai, who was heading to the Northwest.

After learning that Yu Zheng had succeeded, Xi Zhicai quickened his pace and headed towards Lanshan Pass, where Damoti was located.

At the same time, several messengers on horseback caught up with the eldest prince, who was heading towards the southwestern border.

"What? Father has suddenly died?"

Upon hearing the messenger's report, the eldest prince was utterly shocked.

The messenger said anxiously, "Yes, Your Highness, the Left Prime Minister has specially ordered me to come and urge Your Highness to return quickly to take charge of the overall situation!"

"Walk!!"

Upon hearing the messenger's words, the eldest prince immediately turned his horse around and headed towards the capital.

However, they hadn't gone far when another fast horse came galloping over.

The eldest prince recognized the visitor; he was one of Jia Xu's subordinates.

"Your Highness, the Master sent me to inform you that you must not rush back!"

"Why...why is this happening?"

Upon hearing the words of the visitor, the eldest prince was taken aback.

"The master said that the second prince has a large army and the third prince is preparing to raise an army. Even if you go back first and sit on the throne, they will definitely not be convinced."

If they lead their army to attack, your throne will be in jeopardy.

Right now, only force is truly reliable. Therefore, the sir sent me to inform you that you must proceed to the southwestern border as soon as possible and bring the 200,000 troops back to the capital!

Upon hearing this, the eldest prince's expression shifted, and he immediately nodded: "What you say is right, sir!"

Then, the eldest prince looked at the messengers beside him and said, "Go back immediately and inform the Left Chancellor and the others to prepare to welcome the army!"

"Yes, Your Highness!"

The messengers agreed and then headed towards the capital.

The eldest prince also hurried southwest on horseback.

After the messengers returned to the capital, they relayed the eldest prince's instructions to the Left Chancellor and others.

Regarding the eldest prince's dispatch of troops, officials who supported him began to collect supplies such as grain and cloth.

The southwestern army was only half a month's journey from the capital.

In their view, the moment of victory would be when the eldest prince returned with his army.

Therefore, when it came to gathering supplies, the officials of the eldest prince's faction became increasingly high-profile.

This move immediately caused unease among officials from the other two factions.

Immediately afterwards, Jia Xu also ordered people to spread the news that the eldest prince had gone to mobilize troops in preparation for seizing power by force.

The news immediately caused an uproar among officials from the other two factions.

They also knew that if the eldest prince led his army back to the capital ahead of schedule, those of them who had previously opposed him would surely die.

After discussing it, the officials from both factions decided that rather than waiting to die in the capital, it was more important to escape first.

Therefore, the officials of the second and third princes' factions also began to pack up their family's valuables and head towards the northwest and east.

Faced with this situation, the officials of the eldest prince's faction, although they wanted to stop them, had no troops at their disposal, and the royal guards only obeyed the king's orders. In addition, they were busy preparing to welcome the southwestern army, so they could only let the officials of the two factions leave.

April 15th.

After a long journey, Xi Zhicai, along with Dian Wei, Yu Zheng, and others, finally arrived at Lanshan Pass.

"Sir, what brings you here all of a sudden?"

Seeing Xi Zhicai suddenly arrive, the second prince, Damoti, was also puzzled.

"Your Highness, something terrible has happened in the capital. His Majesty suddenly died in the palace not long ago."

"I sensed something was amiss, so I immediately left the capital to inform Your Highness and prepare accordingly..."

"What? Father has suddenly died?"

Upon hearing this, Damoti's expression changed, and he quickly asked, "Did Father King leave any will? Who will inherit the throne?"

“It shouldn’t be!” Xi Zhicai shook his head and said solemnly, “Now that the Third Prince has joined forces with the two major families to go east, and the First Prince has also rushed to the southwest with a secret order to mobilize a large army, they must be preparing to take over by force.”

Your Highness, you should immediately issue a proclamation, pinning the blame for His Majesty's death on the eldest and third princes, then declare yourself king and, under the pretext of suppressing the rebellion, march south to annihilate them..."

"this……"

Upon hearing this, Damotti hesitated and said, "Sir, your suggestion is not bad."

However, the Xianbei and Xiongnu are currently only fifty li north of Lanshan Pass. If I lead my army away, they will surely take the opportunity to launch an attack.

"At that point, let alone suppressing the rebels, we might even be defeated by the Xianbei and Xiongnu ourselves."

Xi Zhicai said calmly, "Your Highness need not worry. You only need to send someone to negotiate with them. If possible, it would be best to win them over as well and get them to help send troops to deal with the eldest and second princes together!"

The eldest prince frowned: "But if that's the case, I'm afraid we'll have to pay a heavy price!"

Xi Zhicai's expression hardened: "Your Highness, what is any price compared to the throne?"