Chapter 126 Opposition 1
The seventh royal family member was about to be worshipped in the Coronation Hall. Karen's cousin was holding a bouquet of star flowers.
She bent down and handed the flowers to the gilded vase beside the coronation platform, and the hem of her skirt swept across the ground, making a slight friction sound.
At this moment, in the coronation broadcast covering all star regions of the empire, the barrage of comments was scrolling rapidly:
"The new emperor's dress is so gorgeous! When will the Emperor Star Gem be set in it?"
"Wait, why are only these royal family members paying homage? And they're all cousins?"
"Yes, why didn't the other three princes come? Logically, everyone must be present at the coronation ceremony!"
Before the doubts in the barrage of comments could be heard for long, a very soft voice suddenly rang out from the parliament hall.
It was like someone whispering something beside my lips, yet it penetrated the silence between worshippers precisely:
"Why don't the other three princes come to pay homage?"
The voice was not loud, but it was like a needle that pierced the solemnity of the ceremony.
Karen, who was adjusting her dress, suddenly stopped moving, her fingers tightened instantly, and her knuckles turned white;
The eighth member of the royal family, who was bowing to pay homage, froze in his place and subconsciously looked up and around;
The Royal Guards on the eastern platform all turned their heads, the muzzles of their energy rifles slightly rotating, trying to find the source of the sound.
Lin Yao stood in the waiting area holding a tray, and clearly saw the nobles in the front row exchanging looks of astonishment. General Cang Lin raised his eyebrows slightly.
The broadcast commentary instantly exploded, and the confusion turned into a torrent of questions:
"Who spoke just now? Did I hear correctly?"
"I'm really asking about the other princes! Where did they go?"
"Karen wouldn't put them under house arrest, would he? He's too hasty to succeed the old emperor right after his death!"
"Is there any insider who can give me some information? Did something happen to the other three princes?"
Karen's face visibly darkened, and he suddenly cleared his throat.
A short cough was amplified over the loudspeaker, trying to drown out the whispers from the audience:
"Continue to worship without distraction."
But there was a subtle tension in his voice, which made more people notice the abnormality.
The third prince, who had been confident of victory, was now a little panicked.
"Dear guests, please be patient." The etiquette officer immediately stepped forward, holding a gilded process book and speaking for Karen, his voice was deliberately steady.
“The royal family members pay their respects according to the order of precedence.
The eldest prince, a recluse, was unwilling to participate in the celebration; the second prince was on a mission and was unable to return in time; the fourth prince was unwell and could not attend;
The ceremony is solemn, please do not believe false rumors that may affect the progress of the ceremony."
These words seemed reasonable, but they did not dispel everyone's doubts. At least they had to take some action!
Even if they used holographic communication? It's impossible for him to just miss the coronation ceremony without showing up, right?
The whispers in the audience grew louder, the rubbing of fabrics mixed with low-pitched discussions, and their eyes were full of inquiry.
Lin Yao lowered his eyes and his gaze fell on the ground beneath his feet, where a tiny imperial emblem was engraved, and a light dust accumulated in the patterns.
His fingertips touched the edge of the tray. The questioning voice just now was from Lin Ruheng.
The purpose is to break the perfect appearance of the ceremony and arouse suspicion among the people and guests present.
Just as the etiquette officer was trying to guide the next member of the royal family to continue the worship, Ye Heng's brief and sharp words suddenly came into Lin Yao's earphone:
"action."
There were no extra instructions, but it was like a switch was pressed.
Lin Yao slowly raised his head, his eyes swept across the noisy guest seats, and looked at the side of the council hall where the screen was not in use.
At this moment, it is emitting a very faint blue light in the afternoon sun, as if an electric current is quietly awakening the dormant pixels.
The next second, a slight "sizzling" sound of electricity was heard, and the star screen suddenly lit up with a dazzling white light, instantly dispelling the surrounding shadows.
The moment the light particles condensed, the face of the Second Prince Vic was clearly projected in the center of the screen.
He was wearing a ceremonial uniform of a prince, with a royal emblem pinned on his collar.
Her hair was carefully groomed, and there was a nonchalant smile on the corner of her mouth. The mockery in her eyes was like a poisoned knife, stabbing straight at Karen on the coronation platform.
"Wow, this coronation stage is quite impressive."
Vic's voice carried throughout the council hall through the screen's loudspeaker, carrying the slight electric current characteristic of starship communications, but it did not affect the mockery in his tone at all.
"Brother, congratulations! As your elder brother, how could I possibly miss your coronation ceremony?"
Karen's body suddenly stiffened, and her right hand tightly grasped the belt around her waist.
He stared at Vic on the screen, his Adam's apple moving rapidly twice.
According to their plan, the starship where Vic was was under surveillance.
How could it break through the communication shield and appear directly on the backup screen in the parliament hall?
He could feel the eyes of the audience instantly focused on him. Those originally doubtful gazes now turned into inquiries, like needles piercing his back.
"What a pity," Vic smiled and shook his head.
His fingertips tapped twice on the control console outside the screen. The faint hum of the starship engine could be heard in the background.
"I was stopped at the last jump node on the Central Star under the pretext of an inspection, and was unable to bring the gift in person." The words expressed regret, but anyone with ears could tell from the tone that it was gloating.
"But it doesn't matter. Some gifts can be given from a distance."
His tone was too relaxed, even with a hint of teasing from an older brother to his younger brother, and even the curve of his eyes seemed particularly sincere.
The commotion in the parliament hall suddenly died down. The nobles who had been whispering to each other all looked up, their eyes switching back and forth between Vic on the screen and Karen on the coronation stage.
The members of the Royal Guard on the east platform also relaxed their vigilance, and their hands holding the energy rifles drooped slightly. The attitude of the Second Prince clearly showed that he accepted Karen's succession to the throne.
The broadcast barrage instantly reversed, and the "Where are the other princes?" and "Are they under house arrest?" that had just been flooding the screen,
In the blink of an eye, it was covered by new comments:
"The Second Prince is here! Even though he didn't show up at the scene, this attitude shows he has accepted it, right?"
"My brother is even jokingly sending his blessings. Were my previous doubts overthinking it?"
"It seems that the Third Prince's succession to the throne is truly a matter of course. Otherwise, why would the Second Prince be so calm?"
"That questioning voice just now was probably someone stirring up trouble. Now that the Second Prince has come out, the rumors are self-defeating!"
"Looking forward to the gift from the Second Prince! Royal brotherhood still exists!"
Karen's tense back relaxed slightly, and he suppressed the uneasiness in his heart.
He forced a smile at the star screen: "Second brother is thoughtful. After the ceremony, I will send the honor guard to pick you up..."
—
Everyone was talking about the "brotherhood" between the second and third princes, except Lin Zhixiong, who frowned.
Lin Zhixiong was aware of Vick's measures.
Even with that kind of protection, Vic was still able to break through and appear on the screen, which only meant that Vic cooperated with someone and borrowed some strength from them.
Thinking of this, Lin Zhixiong gestured to the people around him,
The man approached casually, and after Lin Zhixiong whispered something, the man left without saying a word.
"Lin Zhixiong has moved." Lin Yao's voice came into Lin Ruheng's ears through the equipment.
Lin Ruheng's head did not move at all, and she kept looking at the platform, as if she was really just a curious spectator, but the corner of her eye caught the direction in which the man left.
Lin Ruheng clenched his right fist and touched the tip of his nose. The people he left outside quickly caught up with Lin Zhixiong's men.
—
"Don't rush to pick me up." Vic decisively rejected Karen's advances, and the teasing in his smile became even stronger.
"The gift hasn't been delivered yet! This thing wasn't easy for me to get. It's a gift from 'Gamma Star'."
As soon as the three words "Gamma Star" fell, the air in the parliament hall suddenly became quiet.
Then there was a whisper of discussion. No one was unfamiliar with this name. It was the battlefield where the Empire and the Zerg fought a desperate battle five years ago.
The entire empire still remembers how difficult that battle was:
The Red Shadow Legion fought fiercely with the Zerg in the ruins of Gamma Star, with more than half of them killed or wounded.
After the reinforcements from other legions arrived, they were able to drive the Zerg out of the colony.
However, the issues of planetary resettlement and battlefield cleanup left behind after the war are still the focus of criticism throughout the empire.
No one could understand why Ye Heng would abandon the expeditionary battlefield on the Sphenoid Bone side and fight, resulting in so many casualties among the sentinels.
Even after receiving compensation, the families of the deceased sentries continued to curse Ye Heng, saying that he was really crazy about wanting military merit.
—
Chen Yan was also watching the coronation ceremony. His scheme against Lin Yao had caused Ye Heng to put pressure on the Shen family, and he was severely punished.
But Chen Yan did not regret it. After all, his brother died in the battle to recapture Gamma Star while serving in Chiying.
Chen Yan has always wanted to seek revenge on Ye Heng, but he can't get close to Ye Heng.
But he thought that God must have mercy on him and let him meet Lin Yao during the assessment.
But he didn't expect that he would hear the three words "Gamma Star" while watching the coronation ceremony.
—
No one understands why the second prince mentioned these three words at the coronation ceremony?
He also said he would send a gift from Gamma Planet. What does that mean?
General Cang Lin frowned, his fingertips unconsciously stroking the cuffs of his military uniform.
The White Tiger Regiment was responsible for dispatching support for the Gamma Star Battle and was well aware of the brutality of that battle and the casualties suffered by the Red Shadow Legion.
Although they did not understand Ye Heng's decision, as soldiers, they all paid tribute to the soldiers who died heroically.
Cangye also looked at the screen, his eyes full of confusion. He had participated in the rescue after the Gamma Star War, and had never heard of any "special gifts" left.
Only Karen on the coronation stage seemed to be under a spell.
His face faded from pale to dead white at a speed visible to the naked eye, and even his lips lost their color.
He stared at Vic on the screen, his pupils filled with shock, cold sweat running down his forehead, soaking the collar of his dress.
He thought that the things that happened on Gamma Star five years ago had long been buried with the ruins of the battlefield and the wreckage of the mecha stolen by the pirates and would never be seen again. How could they be dug out by Vic?
Vic saw Karen's loss of composure clearly, the teasing on his lips became more intense, but a hint of cold pleasure flashed across his eyes.
Before Karen could come to her senses, Vic's face on the screen disappeared instantly.
Instead, there was a video of a battlefield with snow noise, and the background of the picture was the cratered ruins of Gamma Star.
The hissing of the Zerg and the blast of the energy guns came through the loudspeakers, so harsh that it made people's scalps numb.
In the video, the young Karen, wearing a uniform, was hiding behind a broken star rock, his face pale as he screamed into the communicator.
Suddenly, a giant Zerg pounced over, and Karen almost instinctively pushed the sentry beside him away.
The sentry didn't even have time to react before the Zerg's giant claws pierced his chest, and blood splattered all over the camera.
Karen took advantage of the moment when the Zerg were biting the sentinel and crawled into a deeper bunker without even looking back.
The discussions in the council hall died down instantly, and everyone held their breath, their eyes fixed on the screen.
The faces of the military generals were completely gloomy. On the battlefield, it was a serious crime for a general to abandon his troops to protect himself, not to mention personally pushing his subordinates to the Zerg as bait!
General Cang Lin's hands were on his waist, his knuckles turned white from the force, and his eyes were filled with incredible anger.
The video continues, and the scene switches to a temporary medical station.
Countless wounded soldiers lay on simple medical beds, some with broken arms, some with Zerg bone spurs stuck in their legs, but no one received treatment.
Karen stood at the entrance of the medical station and gave a cold order to several of his confidants:
"These people saw things they shouldn't have. I've already requested assistance from the Central Star. Chiying will be here soon. If they stay, they'll be a hidden danger."
He paused, his voice devoid of warmth, even with a hint of cruelty:
"Kill them all, leaving no one alive."
As soon as he finished speaking, the confidant in the picture raised the energy gun and pulled the trigger at the wounded soldier who had no ability to resist.
The gunshots echoed in the parliament hall, hitting everyone's heart like a hammer.
The comments on the broadcast went completely crazy. The previous "brotherly love" and "natural" feelings were long gone, and the screen was full of angry questions and curses:
"Is this our 'New Emperor'? He actually pushed the Sentinels to the Zerg!"
"Killing all the wounded? Only animals would do that!"
"Karen is a murderer!"
"So Marshal Ye and Chiying abandoned the expeditionary front just to clean up the mess left by this beast?"
"What the above person said is right! So many people died in Chiying, it was originally not necessary!"
"How can I have the nerve to become the emperor and rule the entire empire with him?!"
"We strongly demand that the coronation be canceled! How can such a person be worthy of being emperor?"
Karen stood on the coronation platform, trembling all over. He wanted to order the guards to turn off the screen, but found that his throat seemed to be blocked and he could not make any sound.
He could feel the anger, disappointment and contempt in the eyes of the audience.
Karen's gaze was like a drowning man grabbing a piece of driftwood, fixed on Lin Zhixiong who was standing on the edge of the noble seats.
He trembled even more violently, and the gold embroidery on the hem of his dress cast a chaotic light and shadow as he moved.
He looked in the direction of Lin Zhixiong, his eyes full of "Help me!"
The pride and dignity he had just displayed were completely shattered. At this moment, he was nothing more than a coward whose crimes had been exposed and who could only rely on his allies.
Lin Zhixiong's face was extremely pale, and his knuckles were tightly gripping the Lin family emblem, the cold metal edge almost embedding into his flesh.
He never imagined that what Karen was hiding was not a small trick, but a secret that could completely overturn him.
He said that a few months ago at the Jiuchen Auction, when Karen insisted that the Lin family use one-third of their working capital to bid for the "mecha wreckage", he felt something was wrong.
When I asked further questions, I only got the perfunctory answer of "keeping it for a souvenir." Now, watching the video on the screen, I finally realized:
The wreckage was not a memorial at all, but evidence of his crime that Karen wanted to destroy. It was irrefutable proof of his private actions and the disaster he had caused on Gamma Star!
But now is not the time to pursue the matter, the Lin family has already been tied to Karen.
If Karen falls, the Lin family will end up in a miserable end. Not to mention the seat in parliament, the entire family will be dragged down.
Lin Zhixiong took a deep breath and forced himself to suppress his surging anger and panic.
He stood up suddenly, standing out from the crowd. He walked to the side of the coronation platform and took the megaphone from the stunned ceremonial officer.
Lin Zhixiong's voice quickly spread throughout the parliament hall. He was so calm that he seemed unaffected by the chaos on the scene: "Everyone, please be patient!"
The timing of this shout was just right, drowning out the uproar of the guests and the angry curses in the barrage of comments.
Everyone's eyes turned to him instantly; even Karen on the coronation stage stopped trembling and looked at him eagerly.
Lin Zhixiong's eyes swept across the generals glaring at him from the military seats, then fell on the video looping on the screen, and a sneer appeared on the corner of his mouth:
"Do you really think this video is 'ironclad evidence'? Perhaps you've forgotten that this might be a means to prevent the Third Prince from ascending the throne."
He paused deliberately, waiting for his words to ferment among the crowd.
After all, the old emperor who issued the secret order is dead, and Ye Heng, who carried out the order, has rebelled. The conditions for confrontation have long been gone, so there is room for maneuver.
"Have you all never doubted it? This isn't evidence of a crime at all; it's pure revenge! Dissatisfied with the Third Prince's succession to the throne, they deliberately fabricated false evidence in an attempt to disrupt the foundations of the empire!"
These words were like a stone thrown into boiling water, instantly changing the tone of the discussion.
The people in the hall looked at each other, and many nodded subconsciously. Ye Heng's rebellion was a fact, and there was no way to verify whether the old emperor had issued a secret order.
Thinking about it this way, the claim of "fabricating evidence in retaliation" seems to be quite tenable.
At the military table, several originally angry generals frowned, and looked at the screen with a bit more doubt in their eyes.
Although they did not participate in the later operations on Gamma Star, they did hear about the conflict between Ye Heng and the royal family recently.
The comments on the broadcast also began to waver, and the originally one-sided curses were gradually mixed with voices of doubt:
"Yes, Ye Heng did betray the empire! Could it be that he really instigated the Second Prince to do something sinister?"
"No one has ever seen the specific content of the old emperor's secret order. Maybe there was no secret order? What if Ye Heng really holds a grudge?"
"Could the footage in the video be edited? After all, it's been five years. Who can prove it's real?"
"The Lin family has always helped the Third Prince, so they wouldn't lie, right?"
Karen looked at the doubts of the guests below the stage, and her heart, which had been hanging in her throat, finally relaxed.
He held onto the edge of the coronation platform, barely standing up straight, and finally squeezed out a voice from his throat. Although it was hoarse, it was full of confidence:
"Yes... yes! It was Ye Heng! He forged it! He's the one who's taking revenge on me! He's on my second brother's starship right now, and he hates me for sending someone to attack the Sphenoid Bone."
When Lin Zhixiong heard this, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, Karen was not completely stupid.
He raised his hand to signal the guards to turn off the screen, and then said to the audience:
"Rest assured, everyone! The Imperial Family will immediately contact the Technical Department to authenticate this video footage, and will provide a result within three days! Before then, anyone spreading this 'fake evidence' will be an enemy of the Empire!"
The threat in these words is self-evident.
The atmosphere in the council hall gradually relaxed. Although the military officials were still frowning, they no longer insisted on refuting.
The nobles sat down one after another, and suspicion gradually overwhelmed anger in the voices they whispered to each other.
Karen watched all this and looked at Lin Zhixiong with gratitude, but she did not notice the coldness deep in Lin Zhixiong's eyes.
Helping Karen to smooth things over is not to protect Karen, but to protect the Lin family.
Once this storm is completely over, it’s time for this idiot who couldn’t even hide the mess from five years ago to step down.
Lin Yao stood in the waiter stand area, taking in all of this. Ye Heng's deep voice came from the headset:
"Interesting, Lin Zhixiong is really good at confusing right and wrong. Ye Mang is here with the old emperor. Let's see how he can explain it."
Lin Yao nodded slightly. He looked at the screen in the parliament hall. Although it was temporarily turned off, it had quietly opened the prelude to another dispute.
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