Such an obvious answer, if he still couldn’t see it, the Emperor’s brain must be useless!
Emperor gritted his teeth and said, "I knew it! I knew it would be like this! When I sent someone to assassinate Mu Houchu and only received news of his disappearance without any confirmation of his death, I knew that this matter was not simple. It was you guys! You all kept saying that I was overthinking, that Mu Houchu must have died in some remote wilderness. Now what?! How did this dead person cause such chaos in Rouyi?!"
The trembling servants kneeling on the floor of the room did not dare to lift their heads, their bodies shaking like sieves, blaming themselves for their misery. When the news of Mu Houchu’s disappearance came, the Emperor’s mood was already bad. If it had not been for them reassuring him that Mu Houchu had probably died, how could the Emperor have easily let them go?
Now they were turning the blame on them.
Whether it was fortune or misfortune, there was no escaping disaster. Now they could only accept their bad luck.
The Emperor’s wrath had to be borne by someone.
"Your Majesty, please spare us! It is our fault." The servants in the room begged for mercy, kowtowing repeatedly.
The Emperor cursed angrily, "Get out! All of you, a bunch of useless things, making me feel annoyed!"
Feeling like they had received a pardon, the servants hurriedly thanked the Emperor, "Thank you, Your Majesty!" Then they hastily retreated, crawling and rolling out.
As soon as the servants left, the Emperor angrily kicked over a chair, seemingly not satisfied, and wished he could smash everything in the room.
At this moment, the situation was really bad!
He had planned such a good scheme, first luring Mu Houchu out of Yu State, leaving it without a leader. Then he launched an attack on Yu State, joining forces with the imperial court and Rouyi’s army. He also arranged for an assassin to chase Mu Houchu.
There seemed to be no flaws to be found with this double-pronged approach.
Mu Houchu had to go to Lian City, which was firmly in the Emperor’s control. Taking Mu Houchu’s life on his home turf should have been easy. If he couldn’t do it on Mu Houchu’s turf, why couldn’t he on his own?
But who would have thought that Mu Houchu would really escape, traveling through Lian City without anyone noticing and even obtaining a pass from an unknown source to go to Rouyi and assassinate the Rouyi King, plunging the entire Rouyi Kingdom into chaos.
What’s worse, without Mu Houchu, Yu State was expected to be easy to conquer - with no leader, wouldn’t everything go smoothly? But, for every Mu Houchu gone, there was a Ji Xinhe!
When the Emperor thought of Ji Xinhe’s cunning tactics, his heart felt suffocated, and his face turned iron blue.
However, a strategist next to him quickly spoke, "Your Majesty, calm down. Now is not the time to lose your temper. It would be better to think about how to turn the tide in the current situation!"
Emperor narrowed his eyes: "How can I?"
They did not conquer Yu State, Mu Houchu did not die, and the Rouyi army withdrew from the Da Qian territory. Now the Emperor had nothing in his hands!
A good hand played poorly in the end!
But the strategist said, "Has Your Majesty forgotten? In Your Majesty’s hand, there is still a side consort of Prince Pingyang’s Royal Mansion." 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢
The Emperor hesitated for a moment, then waved his hand impatiently: "What’s the use of Song Yalin when Mu Houchu isn’t dead?!"
Unless Mu Houchu dies and there is no successor for the Princess Pingyang, the child in Song Yalin’s belly would be useful. How could he possibly recognize the bastard in Song Yalin’s belly if Mu Houchu does not die? Song Yalin is no different from a waste now!
But the strategist’s eyes flashed with brilliance, smiling and said, "Your Majesty is wrong. At this moment, Song Yalin may still have some use."
Emperor’s face showed a hint of suspicion, "What do you mean?"
The strategist smiled ingratiatingly, "Our current situation is indeed not good, but as long as we use Song Yalin well, there is a great possibility of turning the tables. Your Majesty, think about it. Mu Houchu is indeed domineering now, having killed the Rouyi King and plunged the whole country into chaos. Ji Xinhe is holding down Yu State like a fortress. But one thing is certain: Mu Houchu is still in Rouyi, and it would take at least half a month for him to return from there. In that time, would it not be enough for us to completely replace the Prince Pingyang Mansion?"
The Emperor’s eyes brightened, and he slapped the table, excitedly saying, "That’s right! How could I forget that? Mu Houchu is far away in Rouyi, while we are close at hand. We can clearly strike first in the Prince Pingyang Mansion affair!"
"Your Majesty is wise!" the strategist continued, "All we need to do is leak the news of Prince Pingyang’s death. Whether he’s alive or dead, in the eyes of the world, he’s a dead man! In this way, Song Yalin can naturally enter the Prince’s Mansion, pregnant. With Your Majesty backing Song Yalin, we can easily force Ji Xinhe, the Princess Pingyang, to yield her position. For example, ask a doctor to check her pulse and say the child in Song Yalin’s belly is a boy. Then, as the future master of the Prince’s Mansion, even if Ji Xinhe is powerful, she won’t be able to compete without Mu Houchu’s support and not having given birth to an heir."
Taking this opportunity to get rid of Ji Xinhe and place the Pingyang Prince Mansion under Song Yalin’s control, would it not be equal to placing it in the Emperor’s hands?
Emperor sneered, "Once Song Yalin legitimately becomes the mistress of the Royal Mansion, she will hand over all the military power of Yu State to the imperial court and wait for Mu Houchu to return... By then, Yu State will no longer belong to Prince Pingyang."
It would belong to the Emperor!
The strategist laughed, "It seems that Your Majesty’s move to reserve Song Yalin as a final card was indeed a wise decision."
Accustomed to this flattery, the Emperor enjoyed it very much, snorted coldly, and showed a bit of complacency. Now that there seemed to be a solution, the Emperor’s mood improved, and his face softened considerably, "Where is Song Yalin?"
"She has been placed in a restorative location and should be able to get out of bed in up to three days. At that time, we’ll be able to check her pulse to see if there’s any movement in her belly. If there is, everything will be easier; if not, drinking a concoction of fake pregnancy medicine will do the trick. In a time of emergency, we have no choice but to resort to such measures."
Whether Song Yalin was pregnant, whose child she was carrying, and whether it was a boy or girl, it didn’t matter to the Emperor or the people of the imperial court. She was just an inconsequential chess piece to them.
Emperor strode out directly, "I want to see her personally."
Song Yalin was now his last card. If anything went wrong again, there would be no chance of recovery.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
