Ming Dynasty: I am truly not the Emperor of Longevity

"The King of Ying?"

Li Dali thought for a moment.

"The Crown Prince is too young. Zhu Houcong wants to focus on his seclusion and cultivation, so he can only send the Prince of Ying to the capital to assist the Crown Prince in overseeing the country."

But the Prince of Ying was only the emperor's younger brother. The emperor had three sons, so the throne could not possibly be his.

While the emperor is alive, things are fine, but once he passes away, the Prince of Ying's position immediately becomes very awkward.

After Crown Prince Zhu Zaiyi ascended the throne, the Empress Dowager and ministers could not tolerate Prince Ying, who was the young emperor's uncle, continuing to stay in the capital.

It's likely that the first edict issued by the new emperor after his ascension to the throne will be to order his uncle, Zhu Houyu, back to his fiefdom of Yunyang Prefecture.

"It's a great honor. Although I am still in good health, I am over sixty years old and cannot take care of you for the rest of my life."

Zhang Yin sighed softly.

"In recent years, you have gradually been put in charge of all the affairs of the church, both big and small."

Logically speaking, it wouldn't be unreasonable to directly pass the leadership of the cult to you.

Do you know why your father didn't do that?

"My father is in good health, and I have never had such thoughts."

Li Dali quickly stood up and explained to Zhang Yin.

"There's no need for this between you and me, father and son."

Zhang Yin waved his hand.

"Although I had several children, you are the only one left in this world."

If this position of leader isn't passed on to you, are you going to pass it on to an outsider?

The fact that I am not passing the leadership to you for the time being is naturally related to the fact that my sect is about to launch another uprising!

The more than 5,000 officers and soldiers of Taiyuan Left Guard are the main force in this uprising. As the commander of Taiyuan Left Guard, it is impossible for me to stay out of it.

To mobilize followers to cooperate in the uprising, the leader must also step forward and call to action.

Success would be best, but if I fail again, the Ming court will never let me, the "chief culprit," off the hook!

On the surface, you are just a staff member of the Taiyuan Left Guard, so you are not a big target and it is not easy for you to get away.

If the situation really comes to this, you will succeed me as leader in accordance with my dying wish.

Dali, all these years you have been under your father's protection and have never truly stood on your own.

If your father sacrifices himself for the great cause of our sect, the first thing you should do after succeeding as the sect leader is to kill Zhao Xixian!

This person is highly talented and ambitious.

He has seen me use my martial arts skills and knows that if I wanted to kill him, it would be as easy as turning my hand.

As long as I'm alive, he shouldn't dare to rebel.

But if I am not here, I am afraid you will not be able to control him. Rather than let my sect fall into division and infighting, it would be better to kill him to eliminate future troubles.

Since joining my sect, Zhao Xixian has been diligently practicing martial arts, but the set of techniques he practiced could only produce a trace of qi, and after that, he could not make any further progress, making it completely unusable in actual combat.

His personal combat strength is about the same as that of an ordinary martial artist without internal energy.

Although your aptitude for practicing internal martial arts is not good, you have still managed to develop internal strength, and over the years you have achieved some minor success.

Although even now, his internal strength is still less than 20% of what his father possessed, which is insufficient in the face of truly great masters, defeating Zhao Xixian should still not be difficult.

Great gifts reveal that human nature cannot withstand the test of power.

I'm certain that if that day comes, even if you don't make a move, Zhao Xixian will.

He is the right protector I taught, second only to you, the left protector.

Even though he has no dying wish for me to succeed him as the leader, he can still gain the support of many core members of the sect and ascend to the position of leader once you die.

That's how I got my position as the leader!

If it were a fair and square duel, Zhao Xixian would certainly be no match for you, but he is not pedantic and will use tricks and schemes.

"This is a great gift; you must strike first and not hesitate!"

"Your father is farsighted and insightful; I admire him."

Li Dali bowed deeply to Zhang Yin.

"If that day ever comes, I will remember my father's teachings today."

"If even the leader of my Maitreya sect is in such a state, what about the emperor?"

Zhang Yin helped his son up.

"Do you know what would happen in the capital if the emperor suddenly died?"

"What does Father mean?"

Li Dali's expression changed slightly.

"Prince Ying, Zhu Houyu, would not willingly allow Empress Fang to control the situation and would be sent back to Yunyang Prefecture after the Crown Prince ascended the throne."

He will... rebel?!

"Hmph! In the Zhu family's parlance, this is called 'serving Heaven to quell the rebellion,' or 'purging the court of corrupt officials!'"

Zhang Yin snorted coldly.

"The Prince of Ying was the emperor's younger brother. According to the patriarchal system, his succession order was only after the emperor's sons!"

Moreover, during the emperor's seclusion, he was already the de facto regent prince.

What reason would Empress Fang have to prevent the emperor's younger brother, who was in the capital, from going to the scene of his sudden death?

Even if she issued an imperial decree to stop him, the Prince of Ying refused to obey. Would anyone dare to stop him?

If the emperor's sudden death occurred in the Western Garden or the palace, the three major military camps guarding the capital would likely have no say in the matter.

Those who could control the scene were likely only the Tengxiang Four Guards, who belonged to the Imperial Horse Administration and were responsible for protecting the Imperial City, and the Great Han General, who belonged to the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

These people are loyal to the emperor!

The emperor died, and the empress and the emperor's younger brother got into a dispute. Would they dare to take sides?

Ultimately, Empress Fang did not have her own loyal troops.

In contrast, the King of Ying had his own Imperial Guard.

Although they numbered only six or seven hundred, they were a force capable of influencing the succession to the throne, given that other armies in the capital dared not intervene in the struggle between the Empress and the Prince of Ying.

In my estimation, after the emperor's sudden death, Empress Fang will be no match for Prince Ying, and Prince Ying will quickly take control of the situation!

After that, it's up to the King of Ying to decide what he wants!

If one were to act in a less respectable manner, one could use the excuse that the crown prince is too young to justify succeeding the throne as emperor.

However, this would lead to opposition from many ministers. Even if the King of Ying could suppress these people, his reputation would not be good, and his advisors would also advise him against it.

It is unlikely that the King of Ying would do such a thing.

More likely, he would first establish a facade of respectability, support the seven-year-old crown prince to ascend the throne as emperor, and then formally assume the position of regent prince.

In any case, the late emperor had already appointed him to assist the crown prince in overseeing the country while he was still alive, so it was perfectly legitimate.

At this time, his position as regent was completely on behalf of the emperor, without any constraints, a situation completely different from what it is now.

In a few years, the entire court will be filled with people loyal to him.

The young emperor will never rule in his own right; he will either die before reaching adulthood or "voluntarily" abdicate in favor of his uncle.

In any case, the throne is already his.

"Father is absolutely right."

Li Dali carefully considered Zhang Yin's words.

"But what if Empress Fang loses control of the situation after the Emperor's death? Wouldn't the actions I instructed be a waste of Zhu Houyu's talents?"

"Exactly!"

Seeing that his son had finally understood, Zhang Yin stood up.

We absolutely cannot let this happen!

With Empress Fang's cooperation, it wouldn't be difficult for the people I taught to infiltrate the palace. It shouldn't be difficult for Chen Furong to organize the palace maids to cause trouble and take the emperor's life.

However, as the operation in the palace begins, we must do something else at the same time!

Assassinate Prince Zhu Houyu of Ying!