People in the Qin Dynasty, entertained during the Warring States period

Consort Ya looked at Zhao Jia with a cold expression and indifferent face, and said resolutely, "The future of Zhao must not fall into Zhao Qian's hands!"

Zhao Jia, on the verge of tears, said, "But brothers killing each other..."

Even if he weren't deeply influenced by Confucianism, he still couldn't have done it.

Ya Fei sneered, "Who said you could kill him?"

Zhao Jia was still struggling to get over the hurdle in her heart, and stammered, "Then what about Father..."

Consort Ya said calmly, "Do you remember that our ancestor, King Wuling, knowing his health was failing, abdicated the throne to our grandfather, King Huiwen, ahead of schedule?"

Zhao Jia certainly knew about this matter, which could be considered the root cause of his ancestor King Wuling's starvation death in Shaqiu.

Because of poor health, he abdicated the throne early to his ancestor, King Huiwen, thus separating military and political affairs. He allowed King Huiwen to manage political affairs, while he carried out reforms, managed military affairs, and became the retired king, realizing the grand ambition of Zhao to become a hegemon.

Unfortunately, before the reforms could achieve any significant results, he discovered that no ministers were paying attention to him and had all started following their sons.

In order to regain power, he planned to appoint his eldest son, Prince Zhang, as the king of Dai County, in order to restrain his second son, King Huiwen.

As a result, the ministers and nobles under King Huiwen were all furious.

Therefore, in the fourth year of King Huiwen's reign, taking advantage of King Wuling and Prince Zhang (who had not yet been enfeoffed as the Prince of Dai) visiting the Shaqiu Palace with King Huiwen, they directly forced King Huiwen to abdicate. Using the pretext that Prince Zhang intended to assassinate King Huiwen, they compelled King Huiwen to act prematurely, eliminating Prince Zhang and starving King Wuling to death. This stabilized the throne and guaranteed the collective interests of the ministers and nobles.

"Auntie, are you saying you're forcing Father to abdicate?" Zhao Jia asked in a hoarse voice.

Consort Ya remained calm. "That's right. Kill Zhao Qian, force my brother to abdicate, and let him recuperate in the inner palace."

Inspired by Cao Ze's story, this was the only solution she could think of.

She could not stand by and watch the Zhao state decline step by step.

Li Ji and Xue Nu sat obediently, their little hands resting on the big belly. They looked at Ya Fei as if they were meeting her for the first time, their eyes filled with both admiration and worry.

Zhao Jia remained silent for a long time, then sighed, "Aunt, can you please not kill anyone?"

Consort Ya frowned deeply. Only now did she truly understand why Cao Ze had said that character determines destiny.

"Your brother wants to seize your throne and wants you dead, yet you can't bring yourself to do it. Learn from your ancestors!"

Zhao Jia shook his head and remained silent; he simply couldn't bring himself to kill his own brother.

"Aunt, why don't I stay in Qin for a while and then go back later? Maybe things will take a turn for the better..."

"Fool!" Ya Fei hurled her teacup at Zhao Jia, exasperated. "Can you afford to gamble with the fate of the nation?"

"It is now the dead of winter, and Qin will certainly not be able to send troops. If you take the throne now, you will still have time to handle state affairs and stabilize Zhao. Once you miss this opportunity, it will be too late to regret it!"

After finishing her sentence in one breath, Ya Fei said, "This matter is no longer up to you to decide!"

Seeing that Zhao Jia was still struggling with her decision, she took a deep breath and was about to scold her when she suddenly realized why Zhao Jia was resisting.

"Don't you want brothers to kill each other?"

Zhao Jia nodded. "I don't want to repeat what our ancestors, King Wuling and King Huiwen, did."

After calming down and thinking about it, Ya Fei realized that this made sense.

"Alright, I won't kill Zhao Qian, but you must take the throne. At that time, Zhao Qian will be sent to Qin as a hostage."

Zhao Jia asked, "Will the Qin state agree?"

Ya Fei replied without hesitation, "Then let's add Guo Kai to the list!"

It's a good opportunity to get rid of these two scourges together.

After a long silence, Zhao Jia sighed, "That's good, Aunt. What's the next step?"

Ya Fei calmly said, "The military affairs of Zhao have always been controlled by Generals Pang Nuan and Li Mu. They are not in Handan now, but most of the city's defenses are their people. I will write to them immediately and ask the city guards to support us."

Zhao Jia said, "But if the city guards are mobilized, it will be easy for Guo Kai and others to notice and arouse their vigilance."

Ya Fei smiled slightly, "We need to thank Cao Ze for this."

Li Ji held up the ink tablet, "I need the help of the Mo family."

Snow Maiden shook her head slightly, "The Mohist school has never participated in the conflicts between nations."

Ya Fei's expression remained unchanged. "There is no need for the Mo family to participate. Cao Ze previously helped Lian Cheng and his group unify the underground gangs in Handan. I heard from Zuo Che that Lian Cheng has been training his gang members in the same way he trains an army. This is a force that cannot be ignored."

"Therefore, I plan to find out the palace's defenses in the next few days. Then, I will have Lian Cheng and Zuo Che lead the attack. We will cooperate from the inside and outside to take control of the palace in the shortest time. Then, we will cooperate with the city defense army to take control of the royal city, cut off the wings of Guo Kai, Zhao Qian and others, and finally force my brother to abdicate ahead of schedule."

"This plan must not be leaked at all. Before we take control of the palace, we must not tell anyone but us."

Then, Consort Ya looked at Zhao Jia and said, "After this matter is over, you will ascend the throne, issue a proclamation to the six kingdoms, and begin to do everything in your power to stabilize the domestic situation. For now, you are still the Crown Prince, so you won't face too much trouble. Is this acceptable?"

Zhao Jia knew he had no other choice. His aunt had already arranged things to this extent, and if he retreated, he could only watch helplessly as the Zhao Kingdom declined.

……

A few days passed in the blink of an eye.

Coincidentally, this day was the first day of the Lunar New Year, which later became the first day of the Chinese New Year.

Early in the morning, there were few people in the city of Handan.

Li Zuoche and Lian Cheng met outside the palace, their sleeves rolled up, and exchanged a glance.

"Is everything ready?"

"Ready, just waiting for Sister Yafei's signal flare."

Lian Cheng took a deep breath and slowly exhaled a white snake-like mist.

He brought a small group of people, less than three hundred.

After a year of training that was even more intense than that of the army, and at a cost of nearly a thousand gold coins, these people could basically be considered elite soldiers.

Fortunately, he listened to Cao Ze's advice and spent the money on core elites and cultivating core members; otherwise, he really wouldn't have been able to gather so many skilled fighters.

Li Zuoche couldn't help but rub his hands together. His grandfather had told him to make the decision himself, so of course he did it. If it succeeded, it would be a great achievement.

He might become a great general of the Zhao state someday.

As Ya Fei emerged from the Dragon Terrace Palace, she glanced back at the towering hall, her beautiful eyes gazing leisurely at the pale gray sky, before slowly walking toward the palace gate.

"My brother has ordered you to go out of the city to welcome General Pang Nuan into the city! Someone will take your place."

Ya Fei took out the token she had taken and shouted.

The palace guards had no suspicions; they all recognized the king's most beloved sister, and with the king's warrant in hand, they obeyed and left.

Seeing nearly a hundred knights rushing out, Lian Cheng began to call out to the members of the Fierce Tiger Gang, who were still unaware of what was going to happen.

Li Zuoche began to imitate Cao Ze's deception, saying, "I am the grandson of General Li Mu. I received news that someone in the palace wants to harm the king, so I specially sought out Brother Cheng to lend a helping hand. After the matter is accomplished, everyone will be richly rewarded, and those who make great contributions will be granted a noble title."

No sooner had the words been spoken than a signal from the palace came the sound of a fire meteor.

Lian Cheng said, "Follow me and charge to the emperor's aid!"

Without a second thought, the hundreds of gang members, having undergone a year of military discipline training, drew their swords and bows and crossbows and charged forward with their leader.

Li Zuoche breathed a sigh of relief and, instead of following them into the palace, headed straight for the city guards.

The city guard leader was a trusted subordinate of my grandfather. General Pang Nuan's army was stationed outside the city. If he wanted to firmly control Handan, he would need the support of the army.

With an indifferent expression, Consort Ya held a standard military longsword in her hand and, with lightning speed, killed the remaining dozens of soldiers at the palace gate in a short time.

Blood stained her elegant clothes, and some blood also stained her fair face.

Even Cao Ze didn't realize that Ya Fei had unknowingly entered the realm of a half-step Grandmaster.

Lian Cheng led several hundred gang members into the palace.

Consort Ya shouted, "There is a traitor named Guo Kai, who intends to rebel. Follow me and kill this traitor!"

Within Handan city, there were few who didn't recognize Consort Ya, the mistress of Feixue Pavilion. Everyone knew she was the younger sister of the King of Zhao, and no one suspected a thing. They all charged ahead in the fight.

Lian Cheng shouted, "Hurry! Hurry!"

Before long, the group rushed to Longtai Palace.

After a fierce battle, Consort Ya, sword in hand, led her men through the many palace gates, killing anyone they encountered.

Zhao Yan, looking sickly, heard the commotion outside and said weakly, "Jia'er, outside..."

Before she could even ask, Ya Fei, dressed in a blood-stained white dress, pushed open the door.

One of the two top-tier experts guarding Zhao Yan was severely injured by Ya Fei in the midst of the shock.

Lian Cheng then made his move, striving to kill Zhao Yan's close attendants in the shortest possible time.

The two top-tier experts were not weak, but they were killed in just a dozen breaths by Lian Cheng, the archer, and Ya Fei, who was at the half-step Grandmaster level.

Zhao Yan stared wide-eyed in disbelief at his younger sister, who had just been concerned about his health.

Ya Fei sheathed her longsword, wiped the blood from her cheek, and her once neatly tied hair was now disheveled.

She stood before Zhao Yan's sickbed, her voice firm and resolute: "Please, Your Highness, abdicate!"

……

Chapter 253 The Decisive and Efficient Consort Ya

Everything happened very quickly.

In the short time it takes for an incense stick to burn, Ya Fei had already resolved all the obstacles.

Han Cang, Zhao Yan's most loyal advisor, was not afraid of the blood-covered Consort Ya at all. He jumped out and shouted in a shrill voice, "Zhao Ya, are you trying to rebel?!"

Ya Fei suddenly swung her longsword, pinning Han Cang to the ground, yelling, "Shut up!"

Han Cang never understood why Zhao Ya dared to rebel until his death.

Zhao Yan lay on the sickbed, clutching his chest, his eyes bulging.

"Why...why!"

Zhao Jia knelt to the side, head bowed, "Father..."

Zhao Yan stared in disbelief at Zhao Jia kneeling on the ground, never expecting that he would conspire with his aunt to commit such a heinous act.

Remembering Guo Kai's assessment that he was virtuous and cautious, but somewhat weak and needed to be tempered in Qin, Zhao Yan coughed heavily, his voice trembling slightly as he said, "You wretched child!"

Zhao Jia remained kneeling with his head bowed, letting Zhao Yan hurl his insults.

Consort Ya calmly said, "Please, Your Highness, step down!"