I am a prince in Zhutian Films

Chapter 119: The Lonely Princess and the Excited Second Prince

There was heavy wind and rain in Kyoto, and it was also a thunderstorm night in Xinyang.

In a room in the eldest princess' Xinyang villa.

A loud thunder broke through the night sky, waking up the middle-aged man who was sleeping in the room.

He sat up, wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, and stared blankly at the flickering candlelight in the room, dazed and stupid, unable to speak for a long time.

This middle-aged man was actually Li Yunrui's second... no, to be more precise, he should be the chief strategist, Yuan Hongdao.

Because the eldest princess's chief assassin Huang Yi was killed last winter, he was automatically promoted to the first strategist.

Moreover, on that winter night last year, not only Huang Yi was killed, but all the people who followed the princess back to Kyoto, except him and the personal maid, were killed in the Kyoto villa by people from the Sixth Department of the Supervisory Council.

It was Fei Jie who led his men to do the action. All the masters who went from Xinyang to Kyoto were poisoned by the smoke screen set up by Fei Jie while they were still in their sleep. Occasionally, there were a few masters with profound internal strength, but they also immediately fell into a deep sleep under the swords of the six swordsmen.

The yard in Beppu, Kyoto, was full of dead bodies.

Yuan Hongdao had done countless great things in his life. Even Prime Minister Lin Ruofu could be said to have been brought down by him personally. However, the scene that happened last winter night still makes him feel thrilling.

In a sense, all the people in the villa were killed by Yuan Hongdao. However, in everyone's cognition, he is still the confidant of Princess Li Yunrui and the backbone of the Xinyang Villa.

As for why he was able to escape from the Kyoto villa that day, it was naturally because Fei Jie was the leader of the team, otherwise he would have been killed by the people from the Sixth Department of the Inspectorate.

In fact, after escaping to a transit station of the Supervisory Commission, Yuan Hongdao did not think he could survive.

Because in the eyes of Qing Kingdom's most successful undercover agent, the fact that the Sixth Department of the Supervisory Council quickly killed the eldest princess's people means that His Majesty will no longer tolerate the eldest princess. Then, with the ability of His Majesty and Dean Chen to act, it is likely that the eldest princess's forces will be wiped out in less than a day.

If the eldest princess no longer poses any threat, then all traces of his existence as a dead spy will naturally be erased, and the best way to erase all traces of his existence is to kill her.

Although he knew he would die, Yuan Hongdao did not feel sad at all, because many years ago, when he was sent to work undercover beside Lin Ruofu, he was ready to sacrifice for the Qing Kingdom at any time.

However, when Yan Ruohai found him, he did not kill him. Instead, he took out all the customs clearance procedures and disguises prepared for him, and told him that Chen Pingping and Emperor Qing would never abandon any of their subordinates easily.

Then he met the eldest princess's personal maid.

He never imagined that this personal female official was also Emperor Qing's person!

Then, he was arranged to come to Xinyang and returned to the villa in Xinyang to take charge of the overall situation.

The reason why the Supervisory Commission was able to quickly wipe out Li Yunrui's power last winter was because the Supervisory Commission had already planted two nails next to her long ago.

Needless to say, the personal female official knew almost all of Li Yunrui's plans. In addition, as Yuan Hongdao was a strategist from Xinyang, he was very clear about Li Yunrui's strength and goals. It was normal for Li Yunrui to be defeated so quickly.

After all, the people she trusted the most were Emperor Qing and Chen Pingping's men, so it would be strange if she didn't fail.

Yuan Hongdao and the female official were both spurs sown at the beginning of the establishment of the Supervisory Yuan, as was Caiyun who assassinated Li Chengzong back then. After so many years of wear and tear, there are not many of those spurred nails left, but now each one can play a crucial role.

They were willing to die for the Qing Kingdom, but they didn't know that the current Supervisory Commission was no longer the same as it was back then.

Chen Pingping had long stood indifferently between them and Emperor Qing. This was probably what he meant by being sidelined. Everything was for the sake of Qing Country and the youth of these people. But in fact, everything for them had to be arranged by Chen Pingping.

It can be said that everything that happened in Qing Kingdom in the past two or three years was planned by Chen Pingping. Of course, Chen Pingping did not betray, he was still loyal to Qing Kingdom, he just wanted to kill Emperor Qing.

"Will there be any problems with Dongyi City and Beiqi?"

On that stormy night, Chen Pingping did not go to sleep. Instead, he looked in the direction of the palace and said to his closest comrade, "I don't want any mistakes to happen at the last minute."

Fei Jie, with messy hair, replied: "What problems could there be when the Fifth Master personally went to Dongyi City and Beiqi?"

Indeed, there will be absolutely no problem if the great master Wuzhu personally takes action.

But I am not afraid of a thousand things, I am afraid of the one thing that happens, if Li Chengzong appears...

Thinking of Li Chengzong, Chen Pingping hurriedly asked, "Have you found out any news about the Third Prince?"

"I found out. They are thousands of miles away in Xihu. Although they are on their way back to Kyoto, they can't catch up according to their schedule."

"That's good."

"In fact, I have never been able to understand why Your Majesty suddenly decided to go to Dadong Mountain to offer sacrifices to the heavens?"

Emperor Qing's sudden trip to Mount Dadong to offer sacrifices to the heavens actually disrupted Chen Pingping's arrangements, but it made their actions more conducive.

As for why Emperor Qing did this, Chen Pingping still had some understanding and couldn't help laughing: "Your Majesty is suspicious, you know, but at the same time, His Majesty is also very confident. He probably doesn't think anyone can kill him. And it just so happens that the current situation in Qing Kingdom has reached a point where a grandmaster is needed to boost morale, and it can also solve the problem once and for all."

Fei Jie nodded and continued to ask, "Should we inform Fan Xian?"

"He is a good kid. I always think that what the Third Prince said is very good. The grudges of the older generation should be resolved by the older generation. The younger generation should not be involved. Let him stay well in Jiangnan."

Chen Pingping’s idea was good. As long as Fan Xian did not get involved, even if they failed in the end, Fan Xian could escape Emperor Qing’s reckoning.

But man proposes, God disposes. He did not expect that Fan Xian would return to Danzhou to visit the old lady of the Fan family, nor did he expect that Fan Xian would meet Emperor Qing who went to Dadong Mountain to offer sacrifices to the sky.

No, to be precise, whether Fan Xian returns to Danzhou or not, he will actually be taken to Dadong Mountain by Emperor Qing.

Hearing Chen Pingping's praise of Fan Xian, Fei Jie showed a warm smile on his face and said happily, "That child is indeed good. You have a good successor, and I have a good student."

Chen Pingping nodded with a satisfied smile: "He has made a lot of progress in the past two or three years. I feel relieved to hand over the Supervisory Commission to him."

Fei Jie was silent for a moment, then a hint of murderous intent suddenly flashed across his face, and he said, "How about that?"

As a close comrade-in-arms for many years, how could Chen Pingping not know what Fei Jie meant? He closed his eyes and remained silent for a long time, and finally shook his head.

"After all, he is His Majesty's favorite prince. Once he finds out, we will not be able to escape the reckoning, and Fan Xian will also be in danger. Moreover, Fan Xian is also the child of His Majesty and the young lady, so he is qualified to sit in that position."

"Let's not talk about whether we can kill the Third Prince. Even if we can, the military will not support Fan Xian's ascension to the throne. By then, the Qing Kingdom will be in chaos, and the Central Plains will be engulfed in war. This is not what Miss wants to see."

Chen Pingping just wanted to kill Emperor Qing and didn't want Qing Kingdom to be divided up. After all, Qing Kingdom was the result of not only his hard work, but also Ye Qingmei's hard work.

More importantly, in his opinion, Li Chengzong and Fan Xian are the two people who are suitable to create the ideal world described by Ye Qingmei.

Li Chengzong is the leader and Fan Xian is the assistant.

Fei Jie felt a little regretful, but still did not oppose Chen Pingping's decision.

"Okay, but what if the Third Prince wants to kill Fan Xian?"

"Will not."

Chen Pingping shook his head affirmatively and asked, "What's the situation in the palace?"

"I just got the news that the princess was sent to the West City Courtyard. I thought His Majesty would kill her."

Fei Jie smiled and sighed, "Every move in the palace is within your calculations!"

"Your Majesty, if you didn't kill her right away last year, then you won't kill her. Even if we win in the end, as long as the Queen Mother is still alive, the Third Prince won't kill her. She is really lucky."

"The Queen Mother was also one of the murderers."

It was obvious that Fei Jie's implication was to kill the Queen Mother.

"He's almost dead. It doesn't matter whether he's killed or not. There's no need to offend the Third Prince."

"You have already offended him." Chen Pingping was stunned, and said with a wry smile: "I will give an explanation to the Third Prince at that time. Send the person to Li Yunrui."

In this way, Li Yunrui met the personal female official who was supposed to be dead in the west courtyard of the city.

When Li Yunrui saw his personal female official, his expression was very complicated.

Anger, realization, heartache and other emotions all turned into a miserable smile in the end.

"I didn't expect that you are also his majesty's man."

The personal maid opened her mouth but said nothing in the end.

"When Zong'er comes back, the overall situation should be settled. Go to Prince Ding's Mansion in the future, maybe you can save your life."

"Your Highness, when you die, that will be the day I accompany you."

Although she was an undercover agent, after all, she had been undercover for so many years, the personal maid still had feelings for Li Yunrui.

Li Yunrui didn't say anything and went into the room in the villa. His lonely figure revealed an indescribable loneliness.

From then on, the personal female official stayed in the villa in the west of the city to take care of Li Yunrui's daily life. It seemed that nothing had changed, and yet it seemed that everything had changed.

The news that Li Yunrui was imprisoned in the west courtyard of the city by Emperor Qing spread to all the major mansions the next day.

Then a carriage accompanied by guards left the palace from Fan Mansion, but no news was received, so they had to take the risk and come to the villa in the west of the city.

However, this carriage with the Fan family's Fangyuan emblem was stopped half a street away from the courtyard.

The curtain of the carriage was lifted, revealing Lin Wan'er's tired and slightly sad face. She went into the palace to see the Queen Mother. Although the Queen Mother said nothing, the atmosphere in the palace and some subtle abnormalities had let her know that the eldest princess was not allowed to visit.

She shouldn't have come today, and no one else would dare to come except her. But she couldn't help but come after all. Not only was her mother locked up inside, but more importantly, she had a hunch that if she didn't see that woman today, she might never see her again in this life.

"Madam, His Majesty has ordered that no one is allowed to visit the Princess."

An official from the Censorate stopped the carriage and said humbly, "Why don't you go to the palace and ask for permission before coming back?"

After some negotiations, the carriage of the Fan Mansion still did not move forward. Lin Wan'er had no choice but to give up. She shook her head and sighed, "I know."

Hearing these three words, the official from the Supervisory Council who stopped the car breathed a sigh of relief and quickly saluted to express his gratitude. If it were an ordinary minister or noble, even if the crown prince or a prince wanted to come to the villa to see the eldest princess, the people from the Supervisory Council would not be so kind and would directly drive them away. However, Lin Wan'er was different. She was not only the daughter of the eldest princess, but also the wife of their Supervisory Council Chief Fan Xian.

The latter identity made everyone in the Supervisory Council dare not be impolite. It can be said that the identity of Fan Xian's wife is even more impressive than her identity as a princess.

This is Fan Xian’s current power.

Lin Wan'er didn't see Li Yunrui, but she didn't leave directly. Instead, she stayed here, staring blankly at the familiar garden in the distance, silently shedding tears and praying for her mother.

The fact that the eldest princess was imprisoned naturally caused a great shock throughout the court and the country.

Although His Majesty swiftly cleared out the eldest princess's followers last winter, he did not impose any punishment on the eldest princess, so no one knows what will happen in the future.

Because no one dared to underestimate this woman who had controlled enormous power for more than ten years. Even if all her forces were eliminated by Emperor Qing, as long as Emperor Qing did not punish her severely, with her skills and scheming, she could quickly gather a large number of followers and influence the government of Qing again.

However, things are different now. Even if an imprisoned princess has extraordinary abilities, she cannot cause much trouble, and not many people will worry that there will be major changes in the government.

Some factions were happy from the bottom of their hearts about Li Yunrui's imprisonment.

For example: the Supervisory Yuan, the Ministry of Palace Affairs, the Secretariat, etc.

Some people feel sad and upset, and for different reasons.

For example: Lin Wan'er did it because of the mother-daughter relationship.

The prince was so angry that he was shaking when he got the news. He did not go to the other courtyard to visit, but stared at the direction of the imperial study in the palace with a stubborn and vicious look.

Of course, there are also people who feel scared and terrified.

For example: the second child, Li Chengze.

Fan Xian spent three years exposing the relationship between the eldest princess and the second brother, and clearing out most of the second brother's faction. Everyone knows that his backer is the eldest princess. Now that the eldest princess is under imprisonment, is he next?
The second brother squatted on a chair in the palace, no longer having the high spirits of the past. After learning the news this morning, he had been staring blankly at the gate of the palace, as if waiting for the eunuchs in the palace and the officials from the Taichang Temple to break into the palace, arrest him and imprison him.

Even after several months, he still couldn't understand why his father suddenly attacked his aunt, and what shocked him was his father's silent and thundering attack.

In fact, he was not the only one who couldn't figure it out. Many court officials couldn't figure out why Emperor Qing suddenly took action against Li Yunrui.

There is no way, because very few people know about the relationship between the eldest princess and the crown prince. Now, except for a limited number of people, all others have been killed by Emperor Qing.

Of course, it is meaningless to investigate why Emperor Qing attacked Li Yunrui now.

It is enough to know that when the emperor is angry, heaven and earth change color, and the situation in Kyoto changes silently.

Li Chengze now understood that the reason his father had not taken action was not because he was incapable of doing so, but because he was simply too lazy to do so before. It was he and his aunt who had angered a giant dragon that was too lazy to do so.

The second son didn't know what he would face, but what was certain was that His Majesty was well aware of the interest relationship between him and the eldest princess, as well as what he had done in the past two or three years. Perhaps he would never be able to make a comeback in this life.

"I regret not listening to my third brother."

Before Li Chengzong left, he was actually told not to have any more contact with Li Yunrui, but he obviously did not listen.

Li Chengze sighed, looked at Princess Ye Ling'er beside him, took out a piece of paper with words written on it and handed it to her, saying, "This is a divorce letter, keep it well. I think the emperor will not embarrass you for the sake of your great uncle."

The only power the second brother can rely on now is the Ye family. But after that winter day last year, he no longer had any communication or exchanges with the Ye family, because he knew very well that his every move was under the watchful eyes of his father.

Although he didn't know why his father suddenly took action against Li Yunrui, after Li Yunrui was suddenly defeated, he simply didn't have the courage to do anything, because he was worried that if he made any unusual move, it would make his father even angrier.

For the sake of your life, it's better to be safe. Maybe your father is just angry for the moment and won't blame your aunt. After all, your father didn't care about the smuggling incident.

This was Li Chengze's thought before today, but when he learned today that Li Yunrui was imprisoned, he knew that the situation was hopeless and the best outcome waiting for him was imprisonment, so he wrote this divorce letter this morning.

Even though he and Ye Ling'er were together because of Emperor Qing's order, they had been married for more than a year and they still had some affection for each other, and he didn't want to implicate Ye Ling'er.

On the other hand, Ye Ling'er looked at Li Chengze with worry on her face. She took the divorce letter and tore it up without even reading it.

She didn't know how to comfort him, nor could she do anything to help him, but she would not abandon her husband for fear of being implicated.

The second prince did not say anything about Ye Ling'er's actions. He waited obediently in the palace for his end to come. Everyone in Kyoto, from the government to the public, was also waiting for the day when the second prince would be finished.

However, after everyone waited for more than half a month, the imperial decree finally came down.

This decree shocked everyone speechless, and the second brother was even more shocked. The previous fear, sadness, and sorrow were all replaced by unprecedented joy.

The decree clearly stated that the crown prince would be under house arrest for half a year, so during the period when Emperor Qing went to Mount Dadong to offer sacrifices to the heavens, state affairs would be handled by the Second Prince.

Acting as the government agent.

This is a qualification only the crown prince has.

What does this mean?
This means that his father was determined to depose the crown prince, and he was the one to replace him.

How could Li Chengze not be excited as his long-awaited wish was about to become a reality?

(End of this chapter)