Undercurrent
The following days went on as planned, and apart from the trap set by Ji Peiyan, there was almost nothing that frightened Wei Shao.
That day, Philo told him that he wanted to know his life experience, and he actually had a momentary impulse to tell Philo everything he knew.
But Ji Peiyan had reminded him long ago that this matter must be kept secret from Fei Luo at all costs, otherwise, with Fei Luo's character, who knows how many more things would be involved.
Wei Shao did not tell Philo immediately, but he did not give up the investigation either.
He reviewed Marshal Carlos' network of relationships during his lifetime, and found that most of those who were close to him were dead, and those who were in a better situation were in prison.
But not everything was lost.
The last pharmaceutical company that caught his attention suddenly transferred in a team leader five years ago. This team leader had served in Marshal Carlos' army when he was a teenager.
The reason why he was not implicated later was not only because he was not valued in the army, but also because his family stood on the side of His Majesty in the power struggle that year.
To put it more clearly, his joining Carlos' army was most likely a deliberate arrangement by his family, with the purpose of finding out information about Carlos and the Fifth Prince in order to help His Majesty.
Wei Shao had a hunch that when Marshal Carlos was convicted, this team leader must have known something.
What on earth could have caused Carlos and the fifth prince, who had a powerful army behind them, to anger the late emperor and directly change the choice of the crown prince?
He had a vague guess in his mind, but he didn't dare to confirm it for the time being.
He couldn't contact the other party directly to verify this guess because the other party's family was now in the same faction as Adrian.
To a certain extent, his actions would also represent Philo's position and might cause Philo unnecessary trouble.
-
Meanwhile, at the Satyad Palace.
The emperor sat on the chair, supporting his forehead with his hands and dozing with his eyes closed.
The eldest prince Fred stood upright below, looking up at the emperor on the chair from time to time. Unfortunately, apart from the initial sentence "Sit down", the emperor had no intention of speaking at all.
After a while, Adrian came back late: "Father, I'm here."
When he said this, he had already sat on a chair at the side, with his long legs crossed. He did not look like a prince, but more like a dandy young man from an aristocratic family.
The emperor finally raised his eyelashes and glanced down. Seeing Adrian's posture, he frowned and said, "Sit up straight."
Adrian smiled and said, "Why don't I just stand like my brother? Anyway, my father doesn't like me, so no matter how I sit, it will be wrong."
The emperor slammed the table and said, "Get out if you keep talking nonsense. Fred, sit down too."
Fred clenched his hands secretly at his sides, forced a smile, and slowly sat down.
The emperor glanced at them and said, "I called you here today because I have something important to tell you."
Fred bowed: "Please speak, father."
The emperor looked at him and said, "Fred, let me talk about you first. After your arrangement, the annual tax revenue paid by Lot Star has nearly doubled."
Fred finally smiled from the bottom of his heart. He pretended to be humble and said, "Father, you are too kind."
An imperceptible look of disgust flashed across the emperor's eyes. After a long while, he said, "Fred, I'm not praising you."
Fred's smile froze.
The emperor's eyes were cold and serious. "I handed the Loto Star Region to you, not asking you to withhold the meager income of the local insect people to supplement the national treasury. The biggest feature of Loto Star is that the local insects and the local climate are suitable for planting and breeding. You don't think about how to take advantage of this, but put the cart before the horse. Do you know how much the insect population of Loto Star has dropped sharply in the past two years?"
Fred turned pale and was speechless.
The disappointment on the emperor's face could not be concealed at all, and it made Fred's eyes hurt.
The emperor did not say any more to him, but instead brought up the main topic of the day: "Regarding the position of the commander of the Third Legion..."
The Third Legion is an elite force directly under the emperor. A few days ago, the emperor said that he was not as energetic as before in recent years and wanted to delegate direct control of the Third Legion to the prince.
Although the emperor did not say it explicitly, all cabinet ministers knew that the decentralization of military power this time could largely reflect the emperor's intention to establish a crown prince.
Fred's back teeth suddenly loosened their grip, and his heart began to lift.
Although he failed to guess the emperor's intentions this time and used his strength in the wrong direction, Adrian was not much better -
The emperor had previously sent Admiral Otto to the sea area, and had stripped half of the soldiers and combined them with the Seventh Army to hand them over to Adrian.
The Seventh Army is composed of aristocratic soldiers who are here to gild their own reputations and will never accomplish anything great. Although the newly assigned soldiers of Admiral Otto were strong, they were also arrogant. Adrian was unable to deal with those ruffians and actually sent the female soldiers who were unwilling to stay back to Admiral Otto.
Fred thought that in terms of the level of completion, Adrian was not qualified to be the legion commander.
Therefore, although Fred was nervous, he was still somewhat confident in his heart.
All eyes are on this result.
The emperor stopped talking halfway, his eyes fell on his two children, and when he saw Adrian's tight lips, there was a hint of smile in his eyes.
"The position of the Third Army Commander should be given to Lao Wu."
Adrian and Fred were both stunned.
After a few seconds, Adrian had calmed down, but Fred was gritting his teeth.
His king and father were really...really...he was so moved.
Because he could not find a reason to give the benefit to Adrian, he gave the Third Army to his young fifth brother.
What can the fifth brother do at that age? To put it bluntly, the military power is still in the hands of the emperor and there is no question of decentralization.
Adrian leaned back in his chair and suddenly said, "Father Jun gave the Third Army to Xiaowu. Aren't you afraid of causing trouble for him?"
Fred immediately followed up: "Yes, father Jun, how old is Xiaowu? Can he manage the army well?"
The emperor smiled and said, "If he can't manage it, can't I?"
Fred felt his stomach, intestines, spleen and liver were all burning with anger, but he couldn't show it on his face, so he could only smile and say yes.
The emperor waved his hand and said, "Okay, Fred, you go back. Adrian stay, let's talk about the Seventh Army."
Fred stood up and glared at Adrian sinisterly before leaving, but Adrian just yawned and ignored him.
After Fred left, the emperor slowly spoke: "Tell me, what do you think?"
Adrian raised his lips and said, "My father is so powerful, why ask me?"
There was some thorn in his words, but the emperor didn't get angry. He just looked at him seriously.
Black hair was rare among Zerg, and Adrian had loved his black curly hair since he was a child. He had always taken good care of it, and even specially consulted the hairdresser of the emperor for this purpose. But now, his hair has grown to his neck, and the strands on his forehead cover most of his eyes, but he is too lazy to cut it, making him look even gloomier.
The emperor said calmly: "Otto should be in a good mood towards you now, and I heard that the soldiers who stayed behind also listen to you."
Adrian's answer was exactly the same as Fred's: "Oh, you are too kind, my Lord."
The emperor stepped down from his high seat, stood in front of Adrian's chair, looked down at Adrian for a moment, then tucked his curly hair behind his ears.
"I remember you were the most naughty when you were little. Fred worked ten times harder than you, but he could never catch up with you. You are very talented, but you told me that you never wanted to be an emperor."
Adrian tightened his cheeks and said nothing.
The emperor laughed and said, "Of the five children, you are the smartest and most willful, and the most like him."
Adrian stood up with a thud, his chest heaving: "Father, if there's nothing else, I'll leave first."
"Do you hate me?" the emperor suddenly asked.
Adrian said expressionlessly: "What do you mean?"
"It seems that there is not only hatred, but also more than one..." The emperor sighed with a smile, "I could have arranged a male insect that was easy to control for Felix, but I chose a male master from the royal family for him, completely cutting off the possibility between you two. Adrian, you are very sad, right?"
Adrian closed his eyes and said, "Father, I can't really hate you."
The emperor was stunned.
Adrian's voice was a little hoarse: "But I will always, always hate you."
The emperor was silent.
After a while, he looked at Adrian and said, "Adrian, there is no impenetrable wall in this world. As long as you are in a high position, there will always be hands trying to pull you down and throw you to death. At that time, what you care about most is your burial objects."
Adrian whispered, "So when he was found, you chose to kill him directly to eliminate the trouble - even though you loved him, right?"
The emperor shook his head: "From the moment I chose to make him disappear, I no longer loved him."
Adrian showed an expression that seemed to be both crying and laughing: "You are so cruel."
The emperor calmly looked at his beloved child in front of him: "A soft-hearted person cannot be an emperor, Adrian. An emperor can have a noble status, tremendous power, endless killing, and heavy responsibilities...but he cannot-"
Adrian interrupted him: "I never said I wanted to be emperor!"
The emperor stroked his hair and said, "I haven't finished yet. The only thing an emperor cannot do is just be himself. But Adrian, there is no one in this world who can go against authority and be himself, except authority itself."
Adrien was slightly startled by this.
"Actually, I think you understand." The emperor looked at him meaningfully, then remembered something. "By the way, you've been to the Male Insect Protection Association too often this month. I'll issue an order tomorrow to give Fred a position there. You better tone it down."
The color drained from Adrian's face and his fists clenched tighter and tighter.
The emperor didn't even look at him and just left.
Soon, in a secret place on the Imperial Star.
Philo sat upright with a glass of water in front of him. Opposite him sat a man with a sullen face. It was Adrian, who had spoken to the emperor not long ago.
Adrian couldn't hide his anxiety, and said to Philo: "Father King gave the Third Legion to my fifth brother."
This matter would be announced sooner or later and was not a secret, so he did not hide it from Philo.
Philo's knuckles slowly bent and loosened, and finally said: "His Majesty still favors you, otherwise he would have directly given the Third Army to His Highness. This is not a bad thing now."
Adrian sneered, "Maybe, but we are in a difficult situation now. My father is afraid that I will become too powerful and he is very wary of you. Who knows what tricks Fred will come up with."
Philo's expression was still calm: "Your Highness may not be that capable yet."
Adrian stopped beating around the bush and said directly, "They've been spending money on that for almost five years, but they still can't make anything. Philo, can your idea really work?"
"Your Highness, I only know how to fight." Philo stated calmly.
Adrian's expression was obviously anxious, but he knew that this was not something Philo could decide, so he said gloomily: "The information at the research institute must be more complete. Back then-"
He paused before continuing, "The first version of the inhibitor was developed there back then. Although it was eventually banned due to excessive side effects, this shows that the institute's progress in all aspects is ahead of our laboratory."
Philo smiled lightly: "Then you can work hard to gain control of the Academy of Sciences, or get the information from the Institute."
Adrian glanced at him with a sullen face: "The Admiral really knows how to talk while standing."
This conversation was not pleasant. Adrian looked at Philo who was calm and composed, and finally couldn't help asking, "What do you want?"
He once thought that Philo secretly stood on his side because he wanted freedom like all female insects and wanted power like him.
But now that Philo has a lord who suits his heart and seems like a good person, he doesn't seem to be keen on power at the moment.
Adrian was not afraid that the bug standing behind him was too powerful. He just didn't want to be unable to understand the other party's desires, and he didn't want the other party to have no desires.
Those who have no weaknesses or desires are the most difficult to control.
Philo seemed a little surprised that Adrian would ask him this question. He thought about it and answered: "To protect what I want to protect, and..."
He lowered his eyelids: "I want the life of a bug."
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