Zheng Ya followed the imperial eunuch to the Taihe Palace to meet the retired emperor. De Quan turned around and rushed to the imperial study, approaching Emperor Chengping who was reviewing memorials, and reported: "Your Majesty, the retired emperor has ordered De Zhu to bestow the title of Viscount upon Ya and summon him to the Taihe Palace..."
With a "smack," Emperor Chengping angrily snapped the writing brush in his hand, turned his head, glared at him, and hissed, "What are you good for?"
"Your Majesty, please calm your anger. How dare this servant act on my own initiative, offending the Emperor Emeritus and causing Your Majesty to suffer? I beg Your Majesty to see the truth!" Dequan knelt down and reported.
Emperor Chengping rose angrily and paced back and forth in the imperial study. After a moment of contemplation, he said, "Father, you have already bestowed upon him the title of Ya, so what is your purpose in summoning him to Taihe Palace?"
"Your Majesty, this servant dares not criticize the Emperor Emeritus, but I wish to share Your Majesty's worries. I dare to speculate that the Emperor Emeritus has taken a liking to the Qian Yuan Immortal Sect behind Fu Ya, and is using the sect's elixirs to repair his damaged foundation and cultivate to attain enlightenment..." De Quan replied with concern.
Emperor Chengping stopped, turned around, waved his hand, and said, "Get up. I'm afraid Father Emperor still wants to depose me and reclaim the throne?"
"Your Majesty, please calm down. The Emperor Emeritus already controls the military, which hinders Your Majesty's ability to exercise power."
"If the Emperor were to obtain the foundation-restoring pills from Fu Ya, I fear he would use the power of the entire nation to dominate the cultivation world, leaving no chance for Your Majesty to rise again..." De Quan rose in alarm to offer his advice.
When Emperor Chengping ascended the throne, he was forced into a situation where he had no choice but to accept the consequences of a palace coup.
At that time, only Emperor Chengping was in the palace and was not affected by the palace coup. The other princes were either dead or injured, which made the retired emperor mistakenly believe that Emperor Chengping was the mastermind behind the coup. If he did not pass the throne to Emperor Chengping, the entire royal family would probably face the danger of destruction.
Moreover, the various legions are eyeing the throne with covetous intent, seemingly waiting for the Second Prince to return from the border to inherit the imperial throne, and a major battle is brewing beneath the surface.
Considering the threat of external enemies and the potential destruction of the Dali Dynasty should internal strife break out, the retired emperor was forced to abdicate in favor of Emperor Chengping. He was then seriously injured and fell into a coma.
Emperor Chengping's ascension to the throne was illegitimate, so he had to issue an edict to collect miraculous medicines and elixirs and to summon the most famous doctors in the land to treat the retired emperor and consolidate his imperial power.
When the Second Prince rushed back to the capital, the Emperor Emeritus woke up, forcing the Second Prince to reluctantly conceal his ambition to usurp the throne.
In order to maintain balance in the political situation, the retired emperor dared not relinquish power to Emperor Chengping, which triggered mutinies among the various military forces and evolved into a situation where two suns hung in the sky.
Emperor Chengping had no military power and became a puppet emperor. After many years of hard work, he barely managed to control one-third of the Imperial Guard Qilin Legion's military power, but his efforts were fruitless and he was constrained at every turn.
If Emperor Chengping gains the support of the immortal sects, he will be able to realize his grand ambitions.
Unfortunately, Emperor Chengping's imperial power was limited, and he was also testing the Qian Yuan Immortal Sect behind Zheng Ya. He complied with the requests of his civil and military officials, rewarded Zheng Ya, and waited to see what would happen before making a move.
Instead, the retired emperor reaped the benefits.
Dequan was well aware of the gravity of the situation and risked his life to speak out.
Emperor Chengping asked with surprise and doubt, "Am I forced into a corner and have no choice but to act?"
“Your Majesty, hesitation will only lead to trouble!” Dequan leaned closer and made a throat-cutting gesture as he spoke.
Emperor Chengping nodded slightly: "Good, very good. I do not want to be a puppet, much less be replaced and die violently in the palace."
Tell me, which chess piece should I use?
"Your Majesty, we have readily available pawns for using someone else to do our dirty work: the Prince of Donglin, or perhaps we should make Prince Rong take the blame."
Or perhaps we should have the Fu clan enter the game as a test by assassinating Fu Ya, thus provoking the immortal sect behind Fu Ya and forcing them to choose His Majesty to achieve merit and become the royal immortal sect of the Great Li Dynasty, with the world at their feet just around the corner?” Dequan excitedly offered his advice.
Emperor Chengping sat back on the dragon throne and said with mild anger, "You eunuch, stop trying to bewitch me."
What I need is absolute certainty. Hurry up and analyze for me how to proceed!
"Your Majesty, the retired emperor has seized power, and the court is filled with factions of both civil and military officials. The ambitions of the various princes and dukes are obvious, forcing Your Majesty to be controlled by others at every turn."
But this is also His Majesty's opportunity to stir up trouble and use someone else to do the dirty work.
The first knife: Of the twelve palace attendants, not one is loyal to His Majesty; they are all opportunists who are outwardly friendly but inwardly hostile.
Since they favored one side, they used the promise of great benefits and framing to force them to assassinate Fu Ya and Princess Wu, thus enraging the Qian Yuan Immortal Sect.
The second culprit is the Prince of Donglin, who has now become a tool for poisoning the Seventh Princess. Regardless of whose interests or the truth are involved, he is the perfect troublemaker.
The third accusation is that Prince Rong's plot to rebel had been brewing for some time.
Although he was His Majesty's younger brother born of the same mother, he secretly supported the Second Prince, acting as an inside agent to plot the usurpation of the throne.
It is likely that the case of the Prince of Donglin poisoning the Seventh Princess was a cover-up orchestrated by him to frame the Prince and conceal his conspiracy with the Second Prince to usurp the throne.
"Half of the palace servants are probably their people, making them perfect for Your Majesty to use as a tool to kill someone." Dequan leaned closer to Emperor Chengping to analyze the situation.
Emperor Chengping nodded slightly and changed the subject: "How is the situation in Jiangnan?"
"Your Majesty, rest assured, the total revenue from the Jiangnan Salt Administration, amounting to 7.82 million taels of silver, has already been secretly transferred to the capital and is available for Your Majesty's use." Dequan oversees the nation's finances and manages the Emperor Chengping's purse.
Unable to intervene in military and political affairs, they started with business, penetrating all walks of life.
They primarily dealt in salt, iron, and grain, and secretly established a commercial group to financially suppress various forces, with remarkable results.
Emperor Chengping smiled slightly: "What's Earl Dai's attitude?"
"Your Majesty, Earl Dai is a military general who is both civil and military, promoted by the Emperor Emeritus. He is stationed in Jiangnan, overseeing the salt administration, and pays the Emperor Emeritus about 30 million taels of silver every year."
"This servant has repeatedly sent people to hint that he should pledge allegiance to Your Majesty, but he has always pretended to be confused and has not made any clear statement. Your Majesty, perhaps..." Dequan once again made a throat-cutting gesture as he offered his advice.
Emperor Chengping shook his head slightly and said, "Earl Dai's ancestors followed the late emperor in conquering the world, made great contributions, were ennobled and passed down the title of marquis to the family, and have been loyal and virtuous for generations."
Earl Dai is much like his grandfather and is a rare talent in the dynasty.
It would be a pity to kill her, but I'm very curious about the reason why Count Dai's eldest daughter, Daiyu, broke off her engagement with Fuya.
"Your Majesty, based on my understanding of Earl Dai, it is impossible for him to agree to the marriage and then break it off, thus tarnishing the reputation of the Dai family and becoming a laughingstock to the world."
His daughter, Daiyu, was intelligent from a young age. She gained the favor of the Zixia Sect, which took her in as a disciple and taught her the Dharma. Her cultivation had reached the eighth level of Qi Refining. Her talent and fame spread throughout Jiangnan, and she once became a marriage partner for powerful people and cultivators.
This servant believes the problem lies with Daiyu.
It wasn't that some people were plotting to marry Daiyu and assassinate Fuya, but rather that some force was using this as an excuse to disrupt the situation and wait for an opportunity to act. "Dequan, who was in charge of the Dali Chamber of Commerce, had an intelligence network that covered the whole country, and he analyzed the root of the problem from it."
Emperor Chengping smiled faintly and asked, "Daiyu, what is the scale of the Zixia Sect?"
"Your Majesty, the Zixia Sect is similar to the Qianyuan Immortal Sect that Fu Ya mentioned. Only two people from the sect walk in front of the world, both of whom are at the Foundation Establishment stage."
However, their Zixia Sect never allows anyone to enter the Daoist path, cultivate, or achieve the Fire Spirit Root of Princess Wu, or the ability to defy fate like Fu Ya.
"I'm afraid the Emperor himself has taken a liking to the Qian Yuan Immortal Sect because they possess miraculous elixirs that can bring the dead back to life and rebuild one's cultivation foundation, which is why he summoned Fu Ya?" De Quan analyzed with concern.
Emperor Chengping stood up and coldly ordered, "Kill!"
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