Chapter 165 He Never Had a Rebellious Intention

Ye Guhong's words angered the emperor so much that he couldn't sleep for several days.

But this person is elusive, appearing and disappearing like a dragon, impossible to catch, leaving people helpless.

I never expected that this guy would be Wen Zhiming's master.

Wen Zhiming has given him far too many shocks today.

He sneered angrily, "If he's so powerful, why doesn't he intend to kill you? He's keeping you around to inform me when you come back, just to annoy me."

That's true.

But Ye Jian didn't dare to answer that directly. He lowered his head even further.

"Prince Wen asked me to pass on a message to the Emperor, but I dare not speak it."

"Dare not speak?" the Emperor said coldly. "What is there to be afraid of? What storms haven't I weathered? Do you think I'd be intimidated by a mere traitor? Speak!"

Having no other choice, Ye Jian could only whisper, "Prince Wen said that your reign on the throne is over. He wants you to clean your neck so he can give you a quick death."

"Outrageous traitor! Too outrageous! This traitor is a hundred times more despicable than his father!" The Emperor paced back and forth on the ground in anger: "With such audacity, issue my decree to strip Prince Anshun and Prince Wen of their titles. Immediately, make every effort to capture these two traitors, regardless of their lives!"

The emperor was furious. After saying this, he clutched his chest and felt like he couldn't breathe. He even had difficulty speaking again, so he could only beckon Ye Jian to come forward.

But before Ye Jian could even reach him, he became breathless and fainted from anger.

Ye Jian cried out urgently, "Quickly, summon the imperial physician! The Emperor has fainted!"

The emperor was unconscious for the entire night, plagued by nightmares.

I dreamt of the people he had previously killed, who were chasing him in droves, wielding large knives.

He has always been sensitive and suspicious, and after being intimidated by Wen Zhiming, this problem has become even more serious.

He began to feel that everyone around him could be a traitor, someone who might suddenly appear behind him with a knife and stab him in the neck at any moment.

Only after taking the sedatives prescribed by the imperial physician could I feel a little better.

The imperial guards searched all night, both inside and outside the palace, but still could not find any trace of Prince Anshun and the other four.

The Emperor knew very well that Prince Anshun and the others had been taken away by Cao Ran and had already left the capital.

Even the Prince of Anshun couldn't be captured, let alone Wen Zhiming, who was already a martial arts master.

What surprised him most was that even the relatives of Ren Yang, Cao Ran, and Deputy Commander Liu were not captured. Of the more than one hundred people in the three ministers' homes, only three empty houses remained. Even the two dogs and three cats kept in Ren Yang's mansion disappeared without a trace.

Without a doubt, Wen Zhiming guessed that he would cause trouble for these three traitors, so he moved all their families in advance.

Normally, such a major event in the capital would certainly attract the attention of the city's guards. However, yesterday, a wedding banquet was being held in the palace, and the city's guards were less vigilant than usual, allowing them to succeed so easily.

He planned to use a wedding banquet to make everyone laugh at the Anshun Prince's Mansion, so that the Anshun Prince and Wen Zhiming would never have a chance to rise again.

As a result, Wen Zhiming not only rescued the people of the Prince of Anshun's mansion through this wedding banquet, but also abducted his ministers and troops.

The emperor was filled with shame and indignation at the thought that even the Prince of Anshun had fallen to such a state of destitution, yet so many people were still willing to serve him.

Thinking about how he had always treated Wen Zhiming like a fool, only to be tricked by Wen Zhiming in the end, he was filled with righteous indignation.

He desperately wanted to send a large force to hunt down Prince Anshun and his son, but although there were still about 200,000 troops stationed in the capital, at least 80,000 to 90,000 troops would be needed to completely deal with the 60,000 elite troops that Cao Ran had taken away. The remaining troops would be left to defend the capital alone, while also guarding against the other four kingdoms taking advantage of the situation. The risks were too great.

In other border areas, the garrison forces cannot be moved at will.

The emperor was caught in a dilemma and had no choice but to summon his officials to discuss a solution.

...

After meeting Ye Jian, Wen Zhiming quickly caught up with Cao Ran's group.

The group traveled through the night and found a place to rest temporarily about sixty miles outside the capital.

Anshun Wang and the others had awakened and were both nervous and excited to find that they had escaped.

Wen Zhiming exchanged a few words with Princess Anshun and her two concubines, then had them go to rest, as he had important matters to discuss with the Prince of Anshun.

Princess Anshun couldn't get enough of her son and wanted to chat a little more, but thinking that there would be plenty of opportunities in the future, she didn't want to disturb her son's important affairs, so she nodded in agreement.

Consort Lu was extremely relieved to learn that Wen Kehao was still alive.

Wen Weizhu wanted to make some requests and express her opinions, but Consort Jiang coaxed and pulled her away.

After the women withdrew, only Prince Anshun, Wen Zhiming, Ren Yang, Cao Ran, and Deputy Commander Liu remained.

Cao Ran spoke first: "Your Highness, Your Highness, we are safe for the time being. The most urgent thing is to declare ourselves kings so that we have a legitimate reason to fight. Otherwise, when the emperor issues the decree to strip us of our titles, we will inevitably be called a traitor."

Deputy Commander Liu continued, “The Emperor is tyrannical and cruel, and the people of Jin Yue Kingdom have suffered under him for too long. Your Highness has spent your life on the battlefield and has countless military achievements. As long as you raise your voice, many righteous people will come to your aid. Now that we are preparing to go to the Northern Frontier first, why don’t you officially change your title to the King of the Northern Frontier?”

Prince Anshun's face was grave as he sighed, "I swore before the late Emperor that I would never kill my own brothers. If I break this oath, may I be struck by lightning! I made this vow beforehand and cannot break my promise to the late Emperor."

Upon hearing this, Cao Ran and the others' expressions changed.

They were determined to rebel against King Anshun, and risked losing their heads and the extermination of their entire family to rescue the man. Surprisingly, King Anshun had no intention of rebelling.

What are they supposed to do then?

Ren Yang, who had remained silent until now, could no longer hold back.

"Times have changed. It was the current emperor who broke his promise first. Even if you go to the underworld one day, you will have no regrets when you see the late emperor. Now, General Cao is leaving the capital with the Tiger Flying Army at the same time as you. Even if you have no intention of rebelling, you have already taken on the name of a traitor. If we have no legitimate reason to fight, we will be wiped out by the capital's army sooner or later."

At that time, not only the three of them and their relatives, but also the lives of 60,000 Tiger Flying Army soldiers will be lost.

The Prince of Anshun sighed helplessly and said, “No matter what, I cannot break my oath. Besides, I have been drinking day and night in Dongling Pavilion for the past few months, and my health is not as good as before. The imperial physician said that I have at most two years to live. I can no longer fight on the battlefield, let alone be a ruler of a region.”

His mental state is indeed far worse than it was a few months ago, but he hasn't reached the point where he's completely unable to control himself.

Ultimately, it was because he didn't want to be enemies with his elder brother, the emperor.

They had no desire to compete for that supreme position.

During the months he was imprisoned, although he did hate his brother's heartlessness and indifference, he never had any thoughts of rebellion.

His reluctance to become emperor was not an excuse.

He was tired of the intrigue and backstabbing in the court, tired of the power struggles in the harem, and even more tired of having to deal with a mountain of government affairs every day.

So many years ago, he clearly told the late emperor that he would never covet the throne. Unfortunately, his elder brother still suspected him and imprisoned someone who was least likely to rebel on charges of treason, which has led to the countless troubles that follow.