I just reached the maximum level, and you want me to be a puppet emperor?

Chapter 209: Fates begin to intertwine, and the heyday begins? (Please subscribe, please vote)

The prison of the Ministry of Justice was dark and damp, with a musty smell in the air.

The flickering candlelight here illuminates many sad faces.

Recently, many dignitaries who were arrested for the second prince's treason and harboring the remnants of the previous dynasty have been detained. They were once the most powerful people in the imperial capital, but now they have ended up like this.

Perhaps when they chose their side, they expected this day to come.

The jailers shuttled between the cells, and occasional scolding added to the oppressive atmosphere.

Guo Poyun, dressed in casual clothes and carrying good wine and meat, strode into the Ministry of Justice.

Even though he was the commander-in-chief of the three armies and a general, he did not have the right to directly enter the Ministry of Justice's prison. This was a different system.

The person he wanted to meet was also an important person, so Guo Poyun could only greet Pang Jin, the Minister of Justice, and said, "Minister Pang, I'm here to see Prince Jing'an. Can you give me some convenience?"

When Pang Jin saw that it was Guo Poyun who came, he naturally put down the file in his hand and stood up to greet him.

He is an old minister, a legend of the Tiance Dynasty, and he just returned from a victorious battle.

But the person he wanted to see made Pang Jin frown slightly, and he said: "General Guo, with your identity, why do you want to get involved in this mess? If His Majesty finds out, I'm afraid..."

How could Pang Jin not know how serious this matter was? Many royal families and powerful people had lost their heads recently, and anyone involved would be killed.

Guo Poyun laughed and said, "Don't worry, I know what to do. I will explain it to Your Majesty when the time comes."

Seeing this, Pang Jin didn't want to stop him anymore, so he nodded and signaled the jailer to let him go.

Guo Poyun walked into Prince Jing'an's cell and saw Prince Jing'an Li Longyu sitting on a pile of straw in the corner with a haggard face.

When he saw Guo Poyun, a hint of surprise flashed in his eyes, and then he smiled bitterly.

"Old Guo, why are you here? Aren't you afraid of being implicated?" asked Prince Jing'an.

Guo Poyun put the wine and meat on the table and said, "Nonsense, of course I am afraid, but what kind of relationship do we have? Besides, I didn't get all these military merits for nothing, so I won't be implicated so easily."

The two smiled at each other, as if they had returned to the days when they fought side by side many years ago.

They began to eat meat, drink wine, and talk about the past.

As they chatted, Guo Poyun suddenly teased, "Look at you. You wrote to me and scolded me every day. If I hadn't taken your daughter to the northern battlefield, and she had made so many military achievements, she might have been imprisoned with you."

"It is true that I am short-sighted. Ling'er is lucky and has military merits. His Majesty will not punish her. But I also have to thank you sincerely. I heard that Ling'er has made many contributions. I, as her father, don't even have time to celebrate with her." Prince Jing'an said with emotion.

Guo Poyun nodded and smiled: "Yes, this girl has a promising future. If she hadn't performed amazingly many times, our Northern Army wouldn't have made such rapid progress."

At this point, Guo Poyun began to talk about how brave Li Ling was in the north, and how many wonderful ideas he had, which were very amazing. He also discovered the underground passage of the Holy Mountain City. He made great contributions and had wisdom beyond his peers.

Prince Jing'an was also extremely surprised. He didn't expect his daughter to be so successful. It was truly a surprise.

But actually, this was all thanks to Chen Xuannan. This guy didn't want any credit at all and gave it all to Li Ling, doing a perfect job of hiding his achievements and fame.

Prince Jing'an sighed and said, "Ling'er's ability is dozens of times better than mine."

Here Guo Poyun expressed his affirmation of Li Ling, and even said that Prince Jing'an was a drag in the previous emperor's camp, so it was normal that your daughter was better than you.

This made Prince Jing'an speechless. It's fine to praise my daughter, but why are you insulting me?

The two chatted about the war in the north, and Prince Jing'an praised Li Chen's great talent and strategy.

As they chatted, Prince Jing'an's expression darkened and he said, "My son is hopeless, but I still need you to take care of my daughter. I hope you can keep her safe while I'm in prison."

Guo Poyun patted Prince Jing'an on the shoulder and said, "Don't worry, as long as Ling'er doesn't make a big mistake, I will definitely protect her."

At this time, Guo Poyun changed the subject and said, "The Tiance Dynasty and the Sassanid Dynasty have already gone to war. I guess I will have to go to the western theater soon. At most, I can only come to see you this time."

Prince Jing'an smiled bitterly and said, "How many more times do you want to see me? I just don't want you to sit next to me and accompany me."

Guo Poyun laughed and said, "Why do you have such a bad mouth? I came to see you with good intentions, but you cursed me."

The two chatted for a while, and then Guo Poyun stood up and said goodbye.

He couldn't stay here for long and make things difficult for Pang Jin and the jailers.

It is estimated that it won’t be long before the news of his visit to see Prince Jing’an will reach Li Chen.

He would not blame Pang Jin either, after all, this was Pang Jin's job.

The Minister of Justice is a close minister of the Emperor, and there are many things he cannot hide. Guo Poyun has been an official for many years and can understand this.

On the other hand, when Liu Hao was fighting at the front, he received help from Wu Qi, an official from the Ministry of War, and obtained a lot of supplies.

Wu Qi not only relied on his connections, but also on his financial resources, and it can be said that he helped a lot.

After Liu Hao returned victoriously, he invited his good brothers to have a drink at Zuixianlou. While thanking his good brothers, he also took the opportunity to show off his contributions to the Northern Expedition.

Also present were Xiao Ming, the promoted head of the Ministry of Justice, and Lin Mo, who had been hanging out with Xiao Ming recently.

They are all so-called geniuses and chosen ones, and now they have all entered the court as officials.

The four of them sat around a table and started drinking and chatting.

After exchanging pleasantries for a while, Liu Hao excitedly boasted about his achievements in the north and even showed his wounds to his brothers.

Wu Qi sighed that Liu Hao was lucky. Although Xiao Ming was a little dissatisfied, he still praised him. Lin Mo praised him even more, making Liu Hao feel embarrassed.

The four of them got along better and better as they talked, and they all drank a lot of wine.

At this moment, Prince Xu Zifeng of Zhennan walked into Zuixian Tower alone.

Xu Zifeng was so depressed that he went out to drink and relax after dinner.

He originally planned to call Ma Hei, but Ma Hei was busy at that time, so he came to Zuixianlou alone to drink, and met Liu Hao and others.

After all, Liu Hao knew him and they were colleagues, so he asked Xu Zifeng to come over and drink with him.

Seeing this, Xu Zifeng thought it would be boring to drink alone, so he agreed and walked to the table.

Liu Hao thought to himself at that time: I just called out to you casually, and you really came.

Although he had some thoughts about it, he was still very enthusiastic in introducing Xu Zifeng to his brothers.

Thus, the younger generation of officials in the imperial capital gathered together for the first time.

The five people sitting here drinking may seem to be having a good time on the surface, but in fact, there are undercurrents and everyone has their own ulterior motives.

It can be said that five people have a hundred ideas.

Some wanted to get promoted, some wanted to rebel, and some were afraid of being discovered to have connections with the remnants of the previous dynasty.

But no matter what, everyone came here to drink, and they were just acquaintances, so they didn’t talk about their inner thoughts.

Just then, there was a sudden noise nearby.

The five people looked in the direction of the sound and saw that two groups of practitioners were quarreling and seemed to be about to fight.

One of the groups appeared to be disciples of the General's Mansion, and the other group was the people of Anxi King Li Ji.

As an official from the Ministry of Justice, Xiao Ming instinctively stepped forward to stop it.

But these guys didn't give them face, especially the second-generation rich kids in the general's mansion, whose dads had just returned from victorious battles and were in high spirits.

Liu Hao and Xu Zifeng were upset when they saw their good friend being bullied.

They stepped forward and revealed their identities, saying that they were all generals on the northern front, in an attempt to intimidate these second-generation rich people.

One of the second-generation rich got drunk and wanted to provoke Liu Hao and Xu Zifeng.

But another second-generation rich man who was more sober stopped him and said that they would give them some face today and they were ready to leave.

Just then, King Anxi's men stopped them.

The leader said, "You were disrespectful to King Anxi just now, how can you leave like this?"

King Anxi himself stood aside, looking very imposing.

King Anxi looks very young, and in fact he is very young. He is Li Chen’s brother and the fourth child.

That was the more honest prince that Li Xueying mentioned. He ran away to his fiefdom to become a prince early on, did not participate in the competition for the throne, and did not even take sides.

In fact, Li Chen was almost old enough to become a prince, but he became the emperor before he even got there.

After Xiao Ming inquired about the situation, he found out that these second-generation rich kids had just drunk too much and accidentally bumped into King Anxi, spilling alcohol all over him.

The King of Anxi is very low-key, but that doesn't mean he is easy to mess with.

As a royal family, you still have to have some dignity. You can't just let it go like this.

This bunch of second-generation rich kids are on the rise recently. They are used to being arrogant and are the type that no one cares about at home, but they act arrogantly when they come out.

Therefore, both sides are arguing here.

Xiao Ming observed carefully for a while and found that there were indeed wine stains on King Anxi's body. These second-generation rich kids also avoided the matter and hesitated.

Xiao Ming also got angry. After all, I am a close confidant of Minister Pang Jin and a mid-level cadre in the Ministry of Justice. Can't I deal with you second-generation rich kids?

How can I survive in the future? How will Lin Yue'e look at me when she comes back? Besides, Lin Yue'e has only been away from the capital for a while, so no one is watching over you second-generation rich kids, right?
As he spoke, Xiao Ming showed the badge given to him by Pang Jin.

This is Pang Jin’s personal badge. Holding this badge means that Pang Jin is here in person.

Although it is not as scary as Li Chen's badge, Pang Jin is the Minister of Justice and a close minister of the emperor. Many princes and nobles have been arrested during this period, and there are also royal family members in the Ministry of Justice prison. Who would dare to mess with Pang Jin if they have nothing to do?

If you are targeted by Pang Jin, you will basically be in big trouble.

Seeing this, Xiao Ming didn't want to spoil the Northern Expedition Army's enthusiasm, so he asked these second-generation rich people to apologize.

After all, his authority is indeed not as terrifying as Lin Yue'e's.

If Lin Yue'e were there, these people would definitely have gone in.

The second-generation rich knew they were in the wrong, and as there were more and more people on the other side, and each one was difficult to deal with, they had no choice but to apologize.

King Anxi then waved his hand and asked them to leave.

Xiao Ming pretended a little and prepared to go back and drink with his brothers.

However, King Anxi took the initiative to come over. He wanted to make friends with Liu Hao, Xu Zifeng, Xiao Ming and others.

Because Xu Zifeng and Liu Hao had just revealed their identities, they were both vanguard generals who had just made military achievements.

Xiao Ming is a middle-level official in the Ministry of Justice.

There were two others who did not reveal their identities, but King Anxi felt that they should be of high status.

After all, birds of a feather flock together. To be able to drink with these three, he must be no small figure.

Even though he was the King of Anxi, he was only in a remote corner and did not have much military or real power.

This time I came to the imperial capital, in fact, it was also to watch the fighting in the western war zone of the Tiance Dynasty and to ask Li Chen for a job.

We are all brothers and we have no grudges against each other. I have never thought of becoming an emperor. I just want to gain some military merits and improve my status.

If you can just have a pure sense of presence in the Tiance Dynasty, you won’t be so pathetic.

I heard that my aunt Li Xueying is back, so I came to visit her.

So King Anxi really wants to make friends with Xu Zifeng and Liu Hao.

King Anxi then asked the waiter to continue serving wine, and putting aside his status as a prince, he began to take the initiative to toast these people.

After all, he is a prince. He is so polite that Xiao Ming and others feel a little flattered.

After three rounds of drinks, everyone got to know each other.

However, no one dared to call Anxi King Li Ji a brother, as that would be a great disrespect to Li Chen.

Everyone told each other their addresses and the party came to an end.

These people with different identities, by chance, the gears of fate began to collide with each other.

After the performance, Wu Qi also left Zuixianlou.

On his way home, he lamented that his two acquaintances had done so well while he was still at the bottom of the military department.

Today I also met a prince, the Prince of Zhennan, who is the vanguard general of the Northern Army.

As a person from the Ministry of War, Wu Qi knew something about the affairs of Prince Zhennan, so he did not intend to have close contact with Xu Zifeng.

After all, if Li Chen determined that Prince Zhennan was rebelling, then Xu Zifeng would most likely be implicated, and it would not be good to implicate himself at that time.

As a minor official with no background, Wu Qi had to be extremely cautious in order to survive in the officialdom.

As for King Anxi Li Ji, he can move around more when he has time.

Take some time these days to visit with some gifts and build good relationships.

He is a prince after all.

Thinking of this, he had already arrived at Changqing Street and returned home.

As soon as I opened the door, I saw an incredible scene.

It is understandable that grandpa and aunt are here, after all, they are all members of the Wu family.

But the most difficult thing to understand is that His Majesty Li Chen is also here!

This made Wu Qi feel incredible, and he wondered if he was just drunk and his eyes were blurry.

Wu Qi was shocked and immediately knelt down to meet Li Chen.

Li Chen asked him not to be polite and told him that he was just here to relax.

Li Chen had just freed himself from a pile of memorials and came out for a stroll with Wu Nanzhi.

Wu Nanzhi wanted to come back and see Old Man Wu, so Li Chen followed him.

Then a scene appeared that Wu Qi found extremely horrifying.

"Your Majesty, why are you here? Grandpa and Auntie, how can you be so casual next to Your Majesty?"

Wu Qi was shaking even as he spoke.

But this scene made Mr. Wu and Wu Nanzhi laugh.

During the following conversation, Wu Qi was even more surprised.

It turns out that my aunt is actually the imperial concubine!

Grandpa has also broken through to the Saint realm!

And he also made great achievements in the northern battlefield!

Huh? So I'm the only one who didn't know about this?
You guys have been hiding this from me for so long. I've been eating and sleeping in the Ministry of War all day long and I'm almost dying of exhaustion.

Wu Qicai felt as if he had just gained access to the Internet.

Just now, because of my low status, I was planning to please everyone at the banquet, but now I am also a royal relative!
Even the emperor is in his own home, so one can imagine the value of this royal relative.

Wu Qi didn’t know if it was because he drank too much or because everything was too surprising, but he always felt a little dizzy.

Since the family members are being promoted, Wu Qi's official position must also be promoted.

Li Chen asked him to go to the Ministry of War to work as a Staff Officer tomorrow, which is a middle-level cadre!
Wu Qi kowtowed to express his gratitude, his heart filled with excitement and gratitude.

Only then did he realize how strong his background was.

I can't wait to go back and pull Liu Hao and Xiao Ming back to show off my sense of superiority.

Wu Qi also didn't expect that when he was drinking with Li Chen, he just mentioned it casually, saying that his aunt was a beauty, but he didn't expect that his aunt would actually become the imperial concubine.

Since Wu Qi already knows about it, the reward will come down, which means that in a few days, Wu Qi will become Liu Hao's neighbor.

Wu Nanzhi is very favored, and the reward given by Li Chen will not be low.

Wu Qi also got up, but while some were happy, some were sad. Li Ling was undoubtedly the one who won the battle but was not happy at all.

She paced anxiously in Guo Poyun's majestic mansion, her hands clenched and her eyes filled with anxiety.

Guo Poyun's son Guo Zhenwei stood beside her, comforting her softly, "Li Ling, don't worry, my father will be back soon, why don't you eat something first?"

"Thank you for your kindness, Major General." Li Ling turned to look at Guo Zhenwei, a hint of gratitude in her eyes.

Guo Zhenwei looked at Li Ling with mixed feelings.

In fact, Guo Zhenwei had liked Li Ling before, but he had not achieved any military merits and Li Ling already had a husband, so he could only bury this relationship.

He also knew that Li Ling had been waiting in the mansion in order to gain more military merits and help his father get out of prison as soon as possible.

After dinner, Guo Poyun strode into the hall. He was dressed in casual clothes, looking dignified but a little tired.

Li Ling hurried forward and knelt down to pay his respects: "General Li Ling, I pay my respects to General Guo."

When he was in the Northern Army, Li Ling was at least a soldier under Guo Poyun, so he could indeed be called that.

Guo Poyun helped Li Ling up, his eyes full of praise and sympathy, and said: "Li Ling, I also know about your father's affairs. His Majesty is a person who clearly distinguishes rewards and punishments, and he will definitely not blame you."

This was just a polite remark. Li Ling immediately expressed her gratitude to Guo Poyun for his cultivation, and then expressed her desire to participate in the Tiance Dynasty's Western Expedition, which was also her main purpose of coming here.

Finally, Li Ling said earnestly: "General, for my father and the Tiance Dynasty, I am willing to go through fire and water. Please take me to the western battlefield and let me make new contributions to the dynasty."

This statement is relatively official, and it is believed that the main reason was due to the merits of the Tiance Dynasty.

Guo Poyun was silent for a moment, then slowly spoke: "Your father and I are old friends, and I will do my best to fight for an opportunity for you, but I just returned from the northern battlefield, and the commander of the three armies in the western battlefield has not yet been determined. I can give you an answer after the court tomorrow morning."

Li Ling felt disappointed when he heard this, but he had no other choice. Li Chen had the final say in the Tiance Dynasty, and he couldn't make things too difficult for Guo Poyun.

Seeing that the daughter of his former subordinate and old friend was now somewhat lonely, Guo Poyun hinted, "By the way, your aunt has returned to the imperial capital. You should go visit her. It would be best if you could bring some gifts."

(End of this chapter)