Jiuxi

Chapter 764: 762 [Winner is King]

"Sir...you..."

Even though the Fourth Prince was extremely bold, he was so shocked that he couldn't utter a complete sentence at this moment, and what followed was endless fear.

The scholar's proposal clearly exceeded his imagination.

Although the murder of Crown Prince Nalan was shocking, the Fourth Prince did not feel too much fear in his heart, because he had looked down on his introverted elder brother since he was a child, and felt that such a person was simply incapable of inheriting the throne, let alone allowing Dajing to purify the world and establish a lasting legacy.

But if the target was changed to the almighty emperor, the Fourth Prince would only feel cold limbs and powerlessness all over.

The father in my memory is upright and manly, a king at heart and a saint abroad. He used ruthless means to eliminate the hidden dangers within the Jing Dynasty and successfully concentrated power step by step in the hands of the royal family.

The Fourth Prince had the guts to murder his own brother, but he didn't have the courage to confront the Emperor.

The middle-aged scholar seemed to have expected his reaction, and said slowly: "Your Highness, don't you find it strange? The Crown Prince has been dead for nearly eight months, and His Majesty has confirmed that the murderer is the Third Prince, and has agreed to the marriage between Your Highness and Princess Yongping. In theory, the matter of establishing a crown prince can be put on the agenda. Even though the war in the southern border is fierce, it does not affect the affairs of the court. Moreover, the sooner the crown prince is established, the officials and people in the country will definitely feel more at ease. The reason why His Majesty has been dragging it out is that he is waiting for a suitable opportunity to settle accounts with Your Highness, and then use this incident to overthrow the Prince of Changshan."

The fourth prince's eyes were dazed and he still couldn't calm down.

The middle-aged scholar continued, "Think about it now. Your Majesty has already planned ahead of time to transfer 30,000 elite soldiers of the Xiashan Army to the northwest border away from the capital. Now it is not a question of whether Your Highness can make up your mind. No matter what choice Your Highness makes, His Majesty will definitely take your life in the end. If Your Highness does not die, His Majesty will not be able to take action against the Qingyu family. In fact, when Your Majesty agreed to this marriage, all the causes and effects were already determined."

The Fourth Prince remained silent, but his eyes moved slightly.

The middle-aged scholar changed the subject and bowed his head, saying, "I am wrong. I shouldn't have made suggestions that would embarrass Your Highness. I am just an ordinary person, and I am lucky to be favored by Your Highness. Although I have not been able to openly reveal my identity in recent years, I have enjoyed wealth and glory with Your Highness. This kindness makes me grateful. Man proposes, God disposes. Since God is unwilling to favor me, I am willing to accompany Your Highness to death."

"But before that, please send a few elite guards to protect me."

"I am not afraid of death, but I really don't want to fall into the hands of those lackeys of the main music department and be tortured."

"If things go wrong, please ask the guards to end my life."

The middle-aged scholar finished speaking in one breath and then bowed.

The fourth prince looked at the top of his head, sighed softly, and said faintly: "Sir, how could I not trust you?"

Of course he knew the deep meaning behind the scholar's request.

Selling out one's master for fame and fortune is not uncommon at all. In other words, a weak man like the middle-aged scholar could not withstand the torture of the chief court. I'm afraid that he could be pried open with just a little trick. The scholar used this request to show that he would never betray the Fourth Prince, whether voluntarily or forced. As long as there was an uncontrollable accident, the Fourth Prince's men could kill him first.

However, the middle-aged scholar lowered his head and said earnestly: "At this point, Your Highness can only trust yourself. Others, including me, are not worthy of Your Highness' absolute trust. You must have corresponding control measures. Only in this way can Your Highness find a glimmer of hope in this desperate situation."

These words moved the Fourth Prince greatly. He stood up and helped the middle-aged scholar up, and asked hesitantly, "Does the gentleman have a good plan?"

Seeing that his attitude had finally softened, the middle-aged scholar slowed down his tone and said, "Your Highness, it is now the end of July. At least before November, His Majesty will not act rashly."

"Oh?"

The fourth prince asked him to sit down and asked, "Why is this?"

The middle-aged scholar calmly analyzed: "Nan Yong Hou was defeated at Feiniao Pass, Wu Yan stayed behind and failed to achieve the pre-war goals, and Yaoshan Pass fell into the hands of Southern Qi. This battle was actually a defeat for our army. Your Majesty's most important task now is to let Wu Yan stay behind to shrink the front line, at least to ensure that Nanjing City will not be in danger. At the same time, the reform of the army will be gradually carried out. These things will take at least three or four months, so Your Majesty will definitely be patient for the time being."

The fourth prince nodded in conviction.

The middle-aged scholar continued, "His Majesty had previously set the wedding date for Your Highness and Princess Yongping at the end of the year, so he was certain that neither Your Highness nor the Prince of Changshan would make any unusual moves in the next six months. He just asked Tian Jue to secretly collect or fabricate evidence. This is exactly the opportunity for Your Highness."

"But……"

The fourth prince hesitated to speak.

The middle-aged scholar understood and asked, "Your Highness, are you worried about where to start?"

The fourth prince sighed and said slowly, "That's right. Father is a skilled martial artist. He may not be as good as the Prince of Changshan, but he is definitely one of the best. Ordinary assassins cannot succeed at all, not to mention that there are many guards around father. Those people will never betray father because no one can treat them better. In addition, after the prince was poisoned, the palace has become more vigilant about purchasing things, so it is basically impossible to start from this aspect."

The middle-aged scholar smiled slightly and said confidently: "Your Highness has indeed considered it carefully, but in my opinion, there is no such thing as a thief who can thieves for a thousand days. No matter how strict the defense is, as long as you observe carefully, you can find loopholes."

The fourth prince had a strange emotion in his eyes, and he seemed to be expectant, but also a little nervous. He asked, "What do you mean, sir?"

The middle-aged scholar whispered three words: "Tianqing Festival."

The Fourth Prince's face changed, and he couldn't help but fall into deep thought. Tianqing Festival was born more than 30 years ago, and now it has become the grand festival of Jinglian people second only to the New Year.

The reason why this festival with a very short history has become so important is because it is the birthday of Emperor Dajing.

Fifteen years ago, the Tianqing Festival of the Jing Dynasty was on the ninth day of the eleventh month. After the current emperor ascended the throne, the Tianqing Festival was changed to the seventh day of the eighth month.

According to the traditional customs of the Jinglian people, on the day of Tianqing Festival, Emperor Jing would bring civil and military officials and Jinglian nobles to the royal hunting ground in the northern suburbs, where he would personally hunt for wild game, hold a banquet for his ministers, and accept everyone's worship.

The emperor will certainly be accompanied by his personal army to protect him that day, but compared to the heavily guarded imperial palace, the vast royal hunting grounds are bound to have some loopholes.

The more crucial point is that there are now more than 50,000 elite soldiers loyal to the royal family in the capital city. The emperor can order them to eliminate those with evil intentions at any time. However, the royal hunting ground is outside the city, and it is impossible for this large army to be dispatched collectively.

Looking at the Fourth Prince's increasingly sharp gaze, the middle-aged scholar said at the right time: "I have already done a careful calculation for Your Highness. Now the main force of the Xiashan Army of 30,000 is in the northwest border, and the remaining 40,000 troops are far away from Dadu because of Your Majesty's transfer order. The Changshan County King can only mobilize 3,000 troops at most. Your Majesty will definitely not be too alert. The elite troops that will be dispatched on the day of Tianqing Festival will be at most 4,000 to 5,000. As long as Your Highness can control the overall situation in the hunting ground, plus the support of the Changshan County King, it will definitely be accomplished in one fell swoop afterwards."

The fourth prince pondered and said, "Will the prince support me?"

The middle-aged scholar smiled and said, "The prince has no other choice. His Majesty's attitude towards him is one reason, and the other reason is that on the day of Tianqing Festival, the prince will become His Majesty's accomplice."

The Fourth Prince looked at him suspiciously.

Although he was tempted, this was not an easy matter. How could Qing Yugong become his accomplice? Was he supposed to reveal the secret to him in advance?

If Qing Yugong disagrees, wouldn't the Fourth Prince be seeking his own death?
The middle-aged scholar asked leisurely, "Your Highness, have you heard of Dian Kuang and Lin Jie?"

The Fourth Prince was confused by him and couldn't figure out why he mentioned these two people. He could only nod and said, "I've heard of them. Dian Kuang is a master cultivated by Qing Yugong. It is said that he wanted to kill Lin Jie in Baotai Mountain when he was helping Yongping, but he failed and died there in a daze."

The middle-aged scholar said, "I am very interested in the affairs of the Changshan County King, so I secretly inquired about the whole story. Although Dian Kuang was ranked ninth on the Jianghu Martial Arts List, he was no match for Lin Jie, so he discussed with the Seven Stars Gang's insiders to poison Lin Jie first to destroy his martial arts, and then kill him. However, he did not expect that Lin Jie had been prepared, and the poison did not enter his throat at all."

The Fourth Prince's eyes gradually brightened, he had guessed the other party's intention.

As expected, the middle-aged scholar smiled and said, "I used some tricks to bribe the people in the Prince's Mansion, and got the details of this poison from them. I successfully got a batch of it a few days ago. This poison is called Gouchen, it is colorless and tasteless and cannot be detected. It will not cause much harm to the human body, but it is the nemesis of martial artists. Once poisoned, the internal strength of ordinary martial artists will be temporarily blocked, and even the top masters will be greatly reduced, and they can't even exert 30% of their strength. On the day of Tianqing Festival, at the royal hunting ground, at the banquet, no one thought that they would be poisoned by this."

At this moment, the Fourth Prince's voice trembled slightly: "In other words, both Father and the Prince of Changshan would become very vulnerable at that particular moment?"

The middle-aged scholar nodded and said, "What's more important is the origin of the poison! Once your Majesty dies, the Prince of Changshan will have no way to defend himself. Anyone else who dares to disobey your Highness will be killed! At the same time, your Highness will use the troops he has accumulated over the years to attack the royal hunting grounds, annihilate the imperial guards who are accompanying the emperor, and seize all the civil and military officials and dignitaries in his hands. Naturally, the overall situation will be settled!"

The fourth prince stood up again and paced back and forth in the room.

The middle-aged scholar kept silent and did not add any more information, because at this time the Fourth Prince had to make up his own mind.

After a long time, the Fourth Prince stopped and stared at the armchair beside the desk, as if it had turned into a throne in the imperial palace.

Thinking about the fate that would await him in a few months, his eyes suddenly turned fierce, and he gritted his teeth and said, "Just follow your words, sir!"

The middle-aged scholar looked at him with admiration, bowed deeply, and said loyally: "I am willing to follow Your Highness, and I will not regret it even if I die!"

"gentlemen!"

The fourth prince stepped forward and held his arms, saying with great emotion: "I am so lucky. If it weren't for you, I would have been a pile of bones long ago!"

"Your Highness!"

The middle-aged scholar was also very excited, but he was still able to maintain rational judgment, so he said without hesitation: "Time is urgent, I will definitely help Your Highness to make proper plans and help Your Highness rule the world and become the Supreme of Dajing. Thousands of years later, history books will definitely call Your Highness the greatest emperor of all time!"

"I wish to go down in history with you, sir!"

The Fourth Prince spoke sincerely, but there was a hint of murderous intent deep in his eyes.

If the day ever comes when his dream comes true... this middle-aged man who knows too many of his secrets...

The scholar lowered his head at this moment, seemingly unaware of the Fourth Prince's true thoughts.

He just had a faint smile on his lips.

His eyes were extremely calm.

(End of this chapter)