Chapter 1502 - Upheaval in the Middle East (2/2)
If he was only annoyed at Celestial Trade before, the old king was starting to despise the company.
“Your Majesty…” After Itami hesitated for a moment, he said.
Seeing how his intelligence minister was hesitant to speak, the old king slowly spoke.
“Go ahead.”
“Yerif is very close to Celestial Trade. If we change the crown prince now, will we risk angering Celestial Trade…? They have just won in Syria recently, and there are more than 10,000 mercenaries that have not been withdrawn from the Middle East yet, I worry…”
Old Salman’s gaze suddenly turned sharp as he focused on Itami, who hurriedly lowered his head.
After a long silence, the old king hid the sharpness in his eyes, thought for a moment, then slowly commented.
“This is exactly what I worry about.”
“I suggest that Yerif should be temporarily removed from the position of Minister of the Interior, and appoint him as the national security adviser to weaken Yerif’s power in the royal family…” It was very risky to interfere with the royal family’s internal business because it was easy to touch the king’s sensitive nerves. If it was not for the fact that Itami has been a long-time confidant, he would not make such a risky move.
Because he had already sensed that the power struggle of the royal family was intensifying. If the situation could not be effectively controlled, it was destined to set off a “sandstorm” that would sweep across the entire kingdom…
“You are right, Itami,” Old Salman sighed. “The Saudi Crown Prince should not be a puppet of a certain country or organization.”
After a pause, the sharpness pierced out from Old Salman’s eyes.
At this moment, he seemed to have returned to his glorious years, all the turbidity faded from his eyes and the wrinkles on his face disappeared. He had to make a decision to pave the way for his own son, otherwise, once he was gone, the whole country would be trapped in a vortex of power struggles…
“Get Yerif…”
Suddenly, the old king’s eyes widened.
Itami was taken aback for a moment, then the look on his face changed drastically as he hurriedly stepped forward.
“Your Majesty, Your Majesty!”
On this day, the entire palace was in chaos, and the entire city was under martial law.
Checkpoints were set up on the main traffic roads into the city, and heavily armed soldiers patrolled the streets. The citizens didn’t know the news of the King’s death for the time being but looked at the soldiers on the streets, as well as the armored vehicles and tanks driving past their homes in confusion.
Itami quickly walked out from the palace, ordered people to censor the news, and then quickly mobilized the troops stationed near the city to control the situation. After he finished all the steps, he then immediately headed to Yerif’s palace with a group of agents.
However, he did not find the former crown prince in his palace. After he questioned Yerif’s servants, he learned that Yerif had to deal with a business matter and he would return after a few days.
Itami surrounded Yerif’s palace, immediately went to see the young Salman. Itami arranged for him to ascend to the throne as soon as possible and in the meantime, also sent people to track down Yerif’s whereabouts.
But Itami didn’t expect that Yerif happened to be on the border at this moment, and he was staying with Celestial Trade’s mercenaries. After he learned that his palace was surrounded by the old king’s henchmen, he did not dare to go back. Instead, he went directly into the desert in the eastern part of Jordan and lived inside Celestial Trade mercenaries’ barracks.
It was not until the next day, one of his confidants risked his life to finally send a message to him.
Until then did Yerif finally learn all the things that happened in Riyadh in just one day.
No one thought that His Majesty the King would pass away at this critical moment…