The same promise was also given to the King of Jin.
In his letter, the Crown Prince told the Prince of Jin everything he had heard from Emperor An about the agreement between Jing Zhe and Kadan, which was the root cause of Kadan's betrayal of Jing Zhe.
The two discussed that Prince Jin and the traitorous Kadan would lead a large army under the banner of rebellion, starting from Jinxi and advancing eastward. Prince Jin's initial marching speed had to be slow because the Crown Prince would encourage Emperor An to write a letter guiding Jing Zhe from Jiangling to Ruzhou. At that time, Emperor An could never have imagined that his son had already planned how to kill him.
The Prince of Jin must kill Jing Zhe in Ruzhou and seize the Immortal Elixir from Jing Zhe. At that time, the Crown Prince will appoint the Prince of Jin as a hereditary prince and permanently cede Jinxi and Ruzhou to the Prince of Jin.
Of course, the Crown Prince did not tell the Prince of Jin about the effects of the Immortal Transformation Pill in Jing Zhe's possession.
Everything went smoothly. When the Southern Qi invaded, Emperor An and Duke Yu Sheng, under the guidance of the Crown Prince, went on the expedition, with the Crown Prince by their side. Subsequently, Duke Yu Sheng was assassinated during the battle. Although Emperor An was hit by an arrow, it did not hit any vital organs. As long as he recovered properly, there would be no problem.
It wasn't until the moment Emperor An died that he learned that the Crown Prince, who had always taken care of him, had already harbored ulterior motives. Before he could return to Jingzhou, the Crown Prince killed him in the carriage. Upon returning to Jingzhou, the Crown Prince lied that Emperor An had been seriously injured and died, and then proceeded to ascend the throne as a matter of course.
Everything was proceeding according to the Crown Prince and Prince Xiang's plan, and the two of them were transformed into the new Emperor of Anguo and a prince who was granted the title of Prince of Permanence.
As previously agreed, once Emperor An is killed and Su Lichen succeeds to the throne, Southern Qi will take the initiative to withdraw its troops, and Su Lichen will then cede Jiangling to Southern Qi.
But the Southern Qi Silver Thread Army is still outside Jingzhou City, which puzzles Su Lichen greatly. So he looked at the Prince of Xiang and asked, "Have you asked around? What exactly are they doing here?"
Upon hearing this, King Xiang shook his head with a similarly solemn expression.
"Your Majesty, I have inquired and the Third Prince of Southern Qi said that they have been fighting for many days and the Silver Thread Army is exhausted, so they need to rest here for a few days before making further plans."
"..."
Su Lichen was stunned after hearing this.
Tired? Need to rest? Or are you stuck in the same place?
Who the hell would believe such nonsense?
According to the agreement between Southern Qi and Su Lichen, as long as Emperor An died in battle, Su Lichen would send troops to fight again after succeeding to the throne. Southern Qi and An's armies would then engage in a few symbolic but insignificant battles. Su Lichen would then cede Jiangling to Southern Qi on the grounds that An's military strength was inferior to Southern Qi's.
After that, the Southern Qi should have withdrawn its troops.
But now, the battle has been fought and Jiangling has been ceded, yet the Southern Qi Silver Thread Army has no intention of retreating. They remain gathered outside the walls of Jingzhou. Fortunately, they are only gathered outside and have not launched an attack on Jingzhou. Otherwise, Su Lichen, who has just ascended the throne, would not be confident that he could defend Jingzhou.
When Prince Xiang, Su Limin, saw Su Lichen deep in thought, a cold smile flashed across his face, but it was fleeting.
Everyone has selfish desires and lives only for themselves.
The reason why King Xiang reached a consensus with Su Lichen was that he did not want to be King Xiang for the rest of his life, but he was also unwilling to be subordinate to Su Lichen for the rest of his life.
So he secretly contacted the Prince of Jin. After all, he had a good relationship with the Prince of Jin's heir, Su Xinping, and had a special channel to communicate with the Prince of Jin.
He told the Prince of Jin about the actual effects of the Immortal Transformation Pill, and made the Prince of Jin promise to give him one. He then told the Prince of Xiang to cooperate with him from the inside when the Prince of Jin arrived in Jingzhou, and kill Su Lichen. After that, the Prince of Xiang would discuss the matter with the Prince of Jin.
As for the Silver Thread Army outside the city, King Xiang was not worried, because the emperor belonged to Su Lichen, and he was the one who should be worried. He was even hoping that the Silver Thread Army would break in now and kill Su Lichen. Anyway, the Prince of Jin's army was about to arrive, and his own reinforcements were coming. Who was he afraid of?
It can only be said that everyone has their own ulterior motives.
...
"His Majesty!"
Just as Su Lichen and the Prince of Xiang were standing on the city wall, looking at the Silver Thread Army outside the city and thinking, the guards on the west city wall ran over.
"What's wrong?"
Su Lichen asked with a gloomy expression.
"Your Majesty, the combined forces of the Prince of Jin and the rebel army from the Western Frontier are attacking from beneath the western city walls!"
"???"
Su Lichen immediately went to look at the Prince of Xiang, who shrugged, seemingly indicating that he was also unsure.
At this moment, Su Lichen felt numb all over. He no longer cared about the Silver Thread Army outside the city, quickly went down the city wall, got into a carriage, and rushed towards the west city wall.
On the way, Su Lichen had already prepared for the worst.
Is the Prince of Jin still coveting the throne?
Su Lichen felt that Prince Jin was too greedy. With his current strength, he was no match for Prince Jin. If he tried to fight back, the result would be that Prince Jin would forcefully attack the city and kill him.
If he were to surrender voluntarily… well, that wouldn’t count as surrendering, Su Lichen thought. It could be considered a voluntary compromise. He could then ask the Prince of Jin to bestow upon him the title of Prince and allow him to govern a region. If he could also ask the Prince of Jin to give him a Transcendent Pill, he would then voluntarily relinquish the capital and the throne!
Although losing the throne was a pity, Su Lichen was ultimately a very content person. He wasn't too ambitious, so he was willing to live forever and rule a region.
This was the only option left; if he had any other choice, he wouldn't have ended up like this.
Moreover, he felt that the Prince of Jin would definitely agree to his conditions. After all, compared to taking the throne by massacring Jingzhou, it would be better to take the throne without firing a single shot. Besides, Jingzhou was already in chaos—Emperor An was injured and died, and the Southern Qi Silver Thread Army and the Jinxi rebels were attacking the city. It would be strange if the people weren't afraid!
At this point, it would be best to achieve victory without bloodshed.
Thinking this through, Su Lichen had already arrived at the west city wall.
Walking up the city wall and looking down, Su Lichen gave a bitter smile.
Look at the dark mass below the city wall, their momentum is even stronger than the Silver Thread Army below the East City Wall, how can we fight them?
"Prince Jin, what are you doing...?"
Su Lichen took the initiative to speak, preparing to mediate.
"Your Highness, it's been a long time!"
After so many years, Prince Jin returned to the outskirts of Jingzhou. Overwhelmed with emotion, he realized that he was only one step away from entering Jingzhou and seizing the throne. Thinking of this, he laughed excitedly.
Su Lichen's expression was rather unpleasant.
The simple phrase "Your Highness's nephew" completely revealed the Prince of Jin's true intentions!
You must understand that Prince Jin is still Prince Jin, while Su Lichen is already the new emperor of Anguo. Yet, when Prince Jin sees him, he shows no respect whatsoever for a ruler, completely disregarding him!
Although Su Lichen was unwilling, there was nothing he could do.
"Uncle, it has indeed been a long time!"
Su Lichen composed himself and said with a smile.
————
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