【？ ？ ？】
[What the hell? The emperor was dethroned? ]
The jailer stared at him for several seconds before he said coldly, "Master, now that the new emperor has ascended the throne, if you surrender as soon as possible, you can avoid further suffering, right?"
Is this considered persuading surrender?
But usually when a new emperor ascends the throne, he would follow the principle of rather killing someone innocent than letting them go. He should have wiped out the people of the previous dynasty long ago. Why did he have to keep him around to persuade them to surrender?
Since he was still addressed as "Sir" by the jailer, it means that the 73rd year of Chengli was not far away from now. But at that time, Emperor Cheng was still ruling well, and there was no sign of rebellion. Why did something happen now?
But if it was not a rebellion by someone in the country, but an enemy country that attacked the Great Cheng Kingdom, then he obviously agreed with the jailer's words when he said that Emperor Cheng was rebelled against.
Due to the severe trauma and high fever, Shi Yu had a severe headache and no strength in his body. Even after standing like this for a while, he was already sweating all over.
He lowered his eyelashes and thought for a long time. When the two jailers lost their patience, he finally said, "Xiang Yanchao."
The jailer took a sudden step forward.
Shi Yu sat back down against the wall: "Tell him in my name that since Sheng Yuantang was born in the General's Mansion, he naturally has the principles taught by his family for generations, and it is impossible for him to surrender easily."
The jailer frowned and asked warily, "What do you mean?"
"It's good that he knows." Shi Yu whispered, "It's just a message, it shouldn't be difficult for you. Besides, if you happen to please him, you may not have to stand here every day as the lowest-level jailer to guard me."
As he spoke, he closed his eyes, leaving the two jailers looking at each other in bewilderment. In the end, they came up with something and turned away.
The dead silence around them lasted for a while, but was finally broken by a sudden voice: "Brother?"
“…”
The voice pressed against the wall and lowered its voice: "Are you still awake?"
“…”
Shi Yu hadn't fallen asleep to begin with, and now he couldn't fall asleep any more: "You're in prison?"
“Yes!” Qu Liannian finally heard a familiar voice and was so excited that he almost shed two lines of tears. “I don’t know what stupid time the system chose to launch the node this time. When I opened my eyes, I found myself tied up in a cell. I wanted to ask the two jailers about the situation, but unfortunately they were as tight-lipped as clams and didn’t answer me a word. I couldn’t get out by myself, and I thought I was going to die in here!”
Shi Yu slowly filtered out his words, his mind slowed down for a moment, and then he asked, "You are tied up?"
Qu Liannian: “Hmm?”
Shi Yu: "What did you use to tie it?"
"Rope." Qu Liannian was wondering why he asked such a strange question. "Both my hands are tied, but luckily I can still walk. What's wrong?"
“…”
Shi Yu lowered his eyes to look at his bloody wounds, and for a moment he couldn't figure out whether this was a deliberate targeting by the Divine Realm, or if his luck was simply too bad.
Qu Liannian, who was only tied with his hands in the corner of the cell without any injuries, had no idea what the person next to him looked like now, nor how bad his physical condition was. He just wanted to express the questions that had been in his mind for a long time: "What is the situation now? The emperor was dethroned by his own people? So we were all implicated and put in prison? But who was so bold to suddenly rebel? Who is the new emperor they are talking about?"
Shi Yu's eyelashes were half closed, and his fingers were rubbing his temples. After a long time, he replied, "Prime Minister."
Qu Liannian was shocked.
He was confused for a long time before he asked in a trance, "The Prime Minister rebelled? Why? The last time I saw him in the palace, there was no sign of anything!"
Even if a random civilian can't bear it and rebels, he is more trustworthy than the prime minister!
Isn't that what's written in the books? The officials forced the people to rebel. Why would the prime minister, who is considered the top official, rebel? Is he just bored?
Shi Yu: “There are signs.”
Qu Liannian: “Hmm?”
"Young Master Xiang was assassinated in the 73rd year of Chengli." Shi Yu exhaled softly, the skin under his fingers burning hot, "A dozen well-trained assassins who are armed, organized and disciplined, and dare to commit suicide to protect their master at the critical moment are not something that everyone can produce. If it was an enemy country, the cost is high, the risk is high, and the income is low, so it is unlikely to bother. In this way, the scope of the people behind the scenes is fixed to Dacheng Country."
"Xiang Yanchao is the son of the prime minister, and also the eldest son. If he dies, there are only a few officials who can gain more benefits than the risk of assassination. The prime minister himself, the general, and the imperial censor."
"I have met the Prime Minister at the palace banquet. Let's not talk about their father-son relationship. Even if he is really dissatisfied with this heir, he has ways to get rid of a son under his wing without anyone noticing. There is no need to make such a big fuss. Taiwei Tang Linchuan is eliminated, and the remaining Imperial Censor is me."
Qu Liannian: "But aren't you also..."
"I know it's not me." Shi Yu lowered his eyelashes, "Then if we count the suspects further up, there's also Emperor Cheng."
Qu Liannian was stunned.
Shi Yu: "Emperor Cheng openly favors the prime minister, and everyone can see this; but privately, everyone who is close to Emperor Cheng says that the minister he trusts more is me. Assuming this is true, why would Emperor Cheng pretend to trust the prime minister the most? Why would he, as an emperor, be so hypocritical with a minister like himself?"
Qu Liannian realized something and his heart beat faster.
"The Prime Minister holds half the power, and being too successful is a taboo in the court." Shi Yu said, "The Prime Minister is now over 40 years old, with three daughters and four sons. Of the two illegitimate sons, one is weak and easily broken and is bedridden every day, while the other is a playboy and a womanizer. The second legitimate son died three years ago when he was just born, so there is only Xiang Yanchao. With his death, the Prime Minister will have no heir, and it is impossible for him to let an outsider take over such great power. Even if he temporarily gives birth to another child, it is not clear how difficult it is for a child with no power to grow up safely. Even if he really grows up, his ability may not meet the Prime Minister's expectations. If the Emperor wants to take back power, all he has to do is wait, wait for the Prime Minister to grow old."
"If the prime minister didn't want to die, he would of course try to rebel. As a result, you can see that Emperor Cheng was rebelled against. He succeeded and became the emperor himself. He changed the country's name from Chengli to Xuanli."
Qu Liannian was stunned for a while: "But if that's the case, why didn't he kill all of us officials from the previous dynasty?"
"A lean camel is bigger than a horse." Shi Yu said, "There are so many officials in the court. Even the emperor dare not provoke them with their combined strength, otherwise there will be no checks and balances. Moreover, the higher the official position, the greater the reputation in the court and even among the people, and the more troublesome it will be to make a move. The prime minister is not orthodox to begin with, and he needs the support of the people to keep his position."
【I admit that I was shocked.】
[Boss, do you think my kneeling posture is standard? ]
[This node launch has only been going on for less than 20 minutes? How on earth did he come up with all this?! ]
[The weirdest thing is that when I listen to other players’ reasoning, I just think those players are amazing, but when I listen to Master Meiren’s replay of the story, I always feel like I’m a complete loser. His tone always gives me the illusion that this is an elementary school question and that I can solve it with just a hand.]
[Sometimes we really have to admit that there are differences between people. ]
Qu Liannian's hands were pulled by ropes, and he tried to move closer to the next door: "So, what about Sheng Yuantang you just mentioned to the jailer? What does he have to do with this?"
Shi Yu: “It’s okay.”
Qu Liannian: “?”
His hands were so weak that he could not use any strength. Shi Yu simply let go: "If you don't say this, there will be no way to call people over."
Qu Liannian leaned against the wall and said in confusion, "But aren't they trying to persuade them to surrender? If we just tell them to give up resistance and surrender, won't they be able to leave naturally?"
"You might be able to, but I won't."
"Why?"
Because the new emperor has already lynched him, how can he ensure that he will not announce the new emperor's brutal methods to the outside world after he gets out? How can he ensure the new emperor's support for the people.
Moreover, as others had privately spread, since Emperor Cheng had been so fond of the Grand Censor in the past, the Prime Minister, who was feared by Emperor Cheng to have rebelled in the end, would never leave behind such a big threat as the mortal enemy of the previous dynasty.
As for why we haven't killed him yet, to put it bluntly, the time is not right.
When it comes to public opinion, it's a matter of both firmness and flexibility. Persuasion to surrender is necessary, but also killing the chicken to scare the monkey is also necessary.
There is probably no one in this court more suitable to be killed as a sacrifice to the monkey than him.
Shi Yu didn't explain anything, just said: "Don't make any noise, let me sleep for a while."
The weakness in his voice could not be concealed at all. Qu Liannian pulled himself out of the background story and finally realized that something was wrong: "Brother, what's wrong with you?"
There was no response.
"elder brother?"
Still no response.
Qu Liannian sat there and waited for a while. Suddenly, he moved his wrists slightly, freeing his hands from the ropes, and a small metal stick appeared in his hands.
He poked the metal stick into the keyhole, spent some time fiddling with it, and caught the huge iron lock that fell with a "click". He followed the shadow to the cell next door, fiddled with it a few more times, and caught the big lock of the cell next door again.
He walked quietly into the cell and squatted in front of the person lying on the ground.
Shi Yu had fallen into a coma. His lips were very pale, but his breathing and eyelashes were trembling. There were fresh, warm bloodstains on his face that he had gotten at some point.
Qu Liannian could see that this person was clearly at the end of his strength. If he wanted, the other party would not even have a chance to resist and would die at his hands.
Asking the jailer about the situation was false, and saying that he couldn't escape was also false. The only thing that was true was that he wanted to get some information.
Shi Yu's insight in this regard was amazing. Qu Liannian had specially observed other people in the two hours after the previous node's delivery ended. Therefore, he had no doubt that as long as Shi Yu was there, no one could surpass him in the rating of the background column of this game.
And now, anyway, he already knew everything he needed to know. As long as the other party died, he would be the one far ahead in progress.
Qu Liannian stroked the other person's neck with his fingers, and just as he was about to apply force, his hand paused.
...But why does he have to take action now?
The feeling of reaping the benefits without doing anything else is so wonderful. He has just experienced it, and is still enjoying the taste. If there is someone like this ahead to help him explore the way and dig up clues, wouldn’t it be better to take action when the game is about to end?
Thinking of this, he loosened his hand again, secretly took out a bug from the bracelet, and secretly stuck it on the back of the other person's neck.
The only ways for players in the Lower Nine Heavens to obtain items are treasure chests and perfect endings, and most of them are ordinary people who stick to their own life weapons. And apart from the deformed metal stick he just used to open the lock, this is the only thing he can use.
After cleaning up all traces along the way, Qu Liannian slipped back to his cell, picked up the burnt rope, leisurely tied a knot for himself that would loosen easily, and began to pretend nothing had happened.
[Help, this is the plot I hate the most. ]
[I am sick of this. It turns out that I can never reconcile with the freeloaders. ]
Shi Yu slept very restlessly. Fatigue dragged his body down into the abyss, sinking deeper and deeper.
Someone seemed to walk in while he was half asleep and half awake, and then a hand pinched his chin and poured something into his mouth. The taste was so bitter that it made him feel nauseous.
He didn't know how long he had been coughing because of choking. Only when his breathing became steady again did he have the strength to open his eyes, and a blue shirt came into his sight.
Someone said above his head: "Are you awake?"
Shi Yu raised his eyes and looked at the young man in front of him: "Young Master Xiang?"
Xiang Yanchao put down the ginseng soup bowl and said, "Master, I have heard a lot about you."
The tonic he had just drunk was barely enough to keep him alive. Shi Yu glanced at the jailer behind him.
Xiang Yanchao turned back and said, "You two, get out."
The jailer was stunned: "But Your Highness, we..."
Xiang Yanchao lightly flicked the empty porcelain bowl next to him with his finger.
The jailer paused.
“I don’t want to say the same thing a second time.”
"…I will take my leave."
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