Chapter 68 (2/2)

“Although the imperial power is difficult to fathom, the E Zhi from his post over the Imperial Guard and his power over the palace’s protection because of this one case aloneHe , but he is only venting his rage, and Co is able to endure thisUnfortunately, this beating is not the end, and if he does not solve the case within thirty days, or, if new cases continue to occur in the future, then the E Zhi will becoer…”

“New cases?”Nihuang was astonished“You’re saying there will be more…”

“This is only su reached out a hand and pulled Nihuang up to sit by his side, explaining, “Think about it, there must be a motive behind any uards?A crie?What kind of great enet him killed so publicly just outside the palace walls?Robbery?They would not have much money or any valuables on their persons, and their clothes were not disturbed……After eli the most co in the world of jianghu, and that is the fight between experts, where each tries to elevate his nauards were outsiders without any reputation, and did not have any martial art skills to speak of…… so in the end, the reason they were killed cannot be related to their persons, but rather to their positions”

Nihuang nodded as she listened“That is to say, the assassins only wanted to uards sent out of the palace by the Euard they killed”

“That should be the case”Mei Changsu was thinking aloud“But why did they want to kill iers?To infuriate the Eainst him?To test the power of the Imperial Guard, as a preparation for further action?Or…was it all along a direct bloards Meng dage, to shake the Emperor’s trust in hioal, they will not stop at killing these five guards”

“But…just from the information we have at present, there is no way to predict the true motive of the assassins?”

“Nihuang, you must reoing to fire his arrow, you must first protect that which isas you do not die by the first stroke, there will be time to take care of other su se, and once we have more infor as Meng dage still co worse than this can happen in the palace”

Nihuang thought it over, and gradually, her eyes brightened“I understandWe first presu, in order to verify what our next step should be”

“Very good,” Mei Changsu smiled in praise“Frouards does not really affect the safety of the palace, so their oal is to weaken the Eoal behind weakening the Imperial Guard is of course to control the palaceSo if we extrapolate one step further, the people ant to control the palace must naturally be those closest to the center of power”

“The Crown Prince and Prince Yu…”Nihuang murmured

“Yes, one of the twoBut Prince Yu does not have anyone in theZhi, he would not be able to find anyone he trusts to take over the positionAs for the Crown Prince…”Mei Changsu glanced“He does have someone…”

“The Marquis of Ning, Xie Yu!”Nihuang’s palether as she suddenly understood“Xie Yu is a first-ranked military marquis, is beloved of the Emperor, holds the Capital Patrol in his hands, and has plenty of people in his command, so if the I loses his position, he is the only one who can take over…”

“This is the logical conclusionBut……the Ereat a Zhi, and no es, he is still far frosu’s brorinkled“And so I think, if this is truly Xie Yu’s work, he will definitely have other plans in store…”

“Would it be as you said just now, creating an incessant downpour of new cases, murders every day, so that the Emperor will lose his trust in the Imperial Guard’s abilities?”

“Froanize his troops and tighten his control, so another murder will be difficult to accomplish…”

“But in such a large palace, there are always neglected places, and soainst people as malicious as Xie Yu”

“You have a point…”Mei Changsu closed his eyes, resting his head on the back of his chair as heas simple asZhi, then I et the Emperor’s weakness…”

Mei Changsu’s eyes flew open, his dark pupils staring for a moment before he suddenly rose from his chair

“Lin Shu gege?”

“The Esu took a deep breath and then spoke quickly“The reason he trusts Meng Zhi soZhi has always been completely loyal to him, and has never had private relations with those two little mastersBut if, at this crucialbefore the E Zhi, then the situation will deteriorate”

“Would Prince Yu fall into his trap so easily?”

“Prince Yu is too desperate for a swordEver since the Duke of Qing fell, he does not have a single shred of raspEven if everyone knows he is on good ter now, it is still only a symbolic support, but if he could attain the support of the Co in his sleep”Mei Changsu’s broere furrowing tighter and tighter“To trick hi this is not difficult at all, you only have to find a way to get the news to hi was scolded and beaten by the Emperor because this murder case took place within the palace boundaries, and that His Highness the Crown Prince hurried over in secret to protest against the unfairness of the treatment, and then do you think Prince Yu would be content to sit aside and let the Crown Prince steal away this precious means of support?He would definitely rush into the palace to defend Meng Zhi before the Emperor, so that, even if he cannot obtain the Coratitude, at least he will not let him be seized by the Crown Prince…”

As Nihuang listened, her face gradually paled“With His Majesty’s suspicious nature, and with the way the wind is blowing, as soon as he sees Prince Yu defending Co so fiercely, he will immediately suspect that there is some deep relationshi+p between themAnd if the Commander General of the I the palace, has any kind of relationshi+p with a prince who is fighting for the throne, then this is so the Emperor would definitely not tolerate”

“This is a ruthless gaet of the pieces is the Eritted his teeth“Xie Yu is actually capable of such a o immediately to the imperial Yu residence”

“Yes”Nihuang knew of Mei Changsu’s eloquence, and knew that stopping Prince Yu fro a trace of his own involvement would not be a difficult task for him, and so did not ask any further, but acco as he hurried onto his palanquin before turning to return to the study, suan over to discuss how best to conduct the next steps of their investigation

But neither Nihuang nor Mei Changsu could have predicted that, although they had already received the news very quickly, and had analyzed the situation and predicted the actions of everyone involved with perfect accuracy, they were still one step too slow

One hour before Mei Changsu arrived at his manor, Prince Yu had already left for the palace

Translator’s Notes:

Arghhhhhhhhhhhhhh is that a gli her by his side and explaining intricacies only his prodigious ay and politics?T__________Tmy heart

Also, knowing the kind of genius Lin Shu was, it says a lot about Nihuang and Jingyan that they were even able to be his peersIn the light of Lin Shu’s talent, we often forget how accoyan are, in their own rightNihuang’s ranked on the Langya Lists for her le-handedly took over coe of seventeenJingyan has wicked martial arts skills when he cares to show theeneral for all he is denied the proper rewards and acknowledge court official when he starts taking up royal duties and court politics after twelve years away froeniuses, not Lin Shu & co(Even Meng Zhi is wayyyy ive hiuy is just placed beside Lin Shu a little too often)