"The Imperial City Guard plundered the people."
"Interesting, very interesting. Is my father practicing demonic arts?"
"And the reason he went into seclusion until the people disappeared was because of the Empress's appearance."
"The identity of this empress is probably very questionable."
A cold glint flashed in Li Jing's eyes as he spoke in a cold voice.
Li Jing could not possibly be unaware of the Empress of Yan.
This person was a woman of unparalleled elegance and beauty.
This one is also incredibly mysterious. In his memory, he only saw her once, on the day she was made Empress of Yan.
Nangong Qingyue lowered her head and remained silent. She also felt that there was a big problem with the identity of the Queen of Yan.
"Go get to work."
"Investigate her background thoroughly."
Li Jing remained silent for a while, then waved his hand at Nangong Qingyue and said.
"Yes, I'll take my leave."
Nangong Qingyue responded and withdrew.
"There is still one hour until noon!"
After Nangong Qingyue left, Li Jing said quietly.
Not long after Nangong Qingyue left, Zhao Li returned and stood outside the pavilion with a look of awe, saying, "Your Highness, this old servant has delivered the invitations to Wenyuan Pavilion and the capital garrison."
The Prime Minister and the General of the Capital Garrison both accepted His Highness's invitation.
"But I'm not sure if they'll even come."
The Wenyuan Pavilion was where the Prime Minister of Yan and the Ministers of the Six Ministries handled official business. At this time, Prime Minister Yu Shixiong must have been in the Wenyuan Pavilion.
The same was true for Zhang Zhentian, the Grand General of the Beijing Garrison.
"They will come."
Li Jing smiled calmly and said.
Based on his understanding of Yan State Chancellor Yu Shixiong and Beijing Garrison General Zhang Zhentian, both of them were true neutrals, and they would go to any banquet invited by any prince.
But none of them will support it.
Since Li Jing had invited them to the banquet, given their personalities, they would naturally give him face.
Noon.
The Ninth Prince's residence, main hall.
Yu Shixiong and Zhang Zhentian sat upright in the hall. They looked at each other and were both puzzled that Li Jing had invited them to the banquet but had not personally greeted them.
In the past, whenever a prince invited them to a banquet, he would go to great lengths to please them, even if it was just a superficial gesture.
Only Li Jing's situation is completely different.
"His Highness has arrived..."
A voice came from afar.
"They're here!"
Yu Shixiong and Zhang Zhentian also harbored a degree of curiosity about Li Jing, the extremely low-profile Ninth Prince.
Li Jing walked in from outside the hall, followed by Zhao Li, the steward of the Ninth Prince's residence.
"I apologize for failing to greet Prime Minister Yu and General Zhang properly upon their arrival. I hope you will both forgive me."
As Li Jing walked, he smiled and spoke to Yu Shixiong and Zhang Zhentian.
"You're too kind, Ninth Prince."
"It's normal that the Ninth Prince didn't know we were coming and didn't greet us."
Yu Shixiong and Zhang Zhentian stood up and spoke with utmost politeness.
"You two must be wondering why I invited you here today, right?"
Li Jing smiled slightly, sat down in the main seat, and said.
"Please speak frankly, Ninth Prince."
Zhang Zhentian remained calm and composed.
Although Yu Shixiong did not speak, his gaze remained fixed on Li Jing.
"It's very simple. My father has been in seclusion for ten years, neglecting state affairs. I think that's extremely inappropriate."
"After all, a country cannot be without a ruler for a single day."
What do you two think?
Li Jing said calmly.
"..."
Yu Shixiong and Zhang Zhentian stared at Li Jing in astonishment, neither of them expecting him to be so direct.
In the past two years, the princes of Yan have been trying to win over the civil and military officials in the court, all vying for the throne.
However, their desire to vie for the throne does not mean they intend to directly seize it from Emperor Li Chengfeng of the Yan Kingdom.
What they were actually fighting for was the position of Crown Prince of Yan.
This one's intentions are clearly different; he wants to directly seize the throne from Emperor Li Chengfeng of Yan.
Moreover, these words came from the mouth of Li Jing, the ninth prince who had absolutely no presence and no influence in the Yan court.
Is he going insane?
Otherwise, why would someone be so delusional?
"This old minister does not quite understand what the Ninth Prince means."
Yu Shixiong coughed and said to Li Jing, "As the Ninth Prince should know, this old minister is old and his hearing is not very good."
"This humble general does not understand what the Ninth Prince means either."
Zhang Zhentian was silent for a moment before speaking.
Looking at Yu Shixiong and Zhang Zhentian, who were pretending to be deaf and dumb, Li Jing said directly: "As the leaders of our Yan Kingdom, you two must know that since our father went into seclusion, there have been cases of people in remote areas of our Yan Kingdom disappearing without a trace, right?"
Villages disappeared one by one, and even towns disappeared one by one.
I'm sure you all know this, right?
Upon hearing this, Yu Shixiong and Zhang Zhentian's expressions changed drastically.
They certainly couldn't be unaware of this matter, but they dared not mention it, much less speak of it.
This matter was initially discussed in the imperial court, but after a general at the Enlightenment Realm level was dispatched to investigate, the general disappeared without a trace.
Not only this general, but several officials in the court who proposed investigating the matter also mysteriously disappeared.
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