Due to Qi Rong's arbitrariness, Yun Xi had her first conflict with Qi Rong after entering the prince's mansion.
Although she was clear about the deal between them, she thought Qi Rong didn't need to constantly remind her in front of her.
However, one has to bow one's head under someone else's roof. Yun Xi decided to endure for the time being and wait for an opportunity in the future to pay him back!
The morning light was just dawning, and the sky was about to break. Yun Xi was still immersed in her dream, but suddenly a shrill scream came from the Divine Shrine Palace in the capital!
The sound resounded through the main hall. When people rushed over after hearing the sound, there was only a headless corpse lying in a pool of scarlet blood in the hall! After a long time, another panicked scream came from the main hall:
"The national teacher has been killed!"
Although the head of the corpse was nowhere to be found, judging from the clothes of the body and other physical characteristics, this person was none other than Qiu Daoji, the national teacher who was enshrined by Emperor Qi Hong of the Liu Kingdom a year ago and was now in high favor!
Qiu Daoji was well - versed in astronomy and geography. He could cast horoscopes and divine the fortune of the country. He could also refine pills for the emperor to strengthen his body and prolong his life. Therefore, he was highly valued by the emperor, and the emperor specially allocated a palace for him and renamed it the "Divine Shrine Palace".
But who would be so bold as to kill such a person who was hailed as a "divine official" descending to the mortal world?
Moreover, they even dared to kill someone openly in the main hall of the Divine Shrine Palace and take away the victim's head. How much hatred did they have for this person?!
With Qiu Daoji's death, the Divine Shrine Palace immediately fell into chaos. Before long, the news reached the imperial palace.
Emperor Qi Hong was lying in the arms of a beauty, lamenting that the night of love was too short and wanted to postpone the morning court again. However, unable to withstand the repeated urgings of the palace servants, although reluctant, he finally got up to change his clothes.
"Father - in - law Qin, you're old and should rest. From now on, replace you with a younger one."
Qi Hong stretched out his arms and let the beauty personally help him put on the dragon robe. His eyes were fixed on the beauty's delicate curves. His fingers caressed her waist, and there was always an ambiguous smile on his lips.
The person called Father - in - law Qin seemed to turn a blind eye. There was always a humble smile on his wrinkled face:
"This old servant is willing to serve Your Majesty even at the cost of his life. I'm just afraid that those young ones don't understand the rules and will annoy Your Majesty. So this old servant has to hold on for a few more years."
This person was Qin Dahai. He had always been by the previous emperor's side when the previous emperor was on the throne. If you asked why he dared to speak to the emperor so boldly, it was all because of the queen mother.
Qi Hong couldn't have usurped the throne without the help of the Li family, the queen mother's maternal family, and Qin Dahai also contributed at that time. So he was highly regarded by the queen mother, who specifically arranged him beside the emperor.
And he was supposed to constantly urge the emperor to be a diligent and good emperor and not let the hard - won country decline in his hands!
Before Qi Hong ascended the throne, he almost always obeyed the queen mother. However, after he became the emperor, seeing that the queen mother still controlled his every move like this, he had long been annoyed.
However, for the sake of the overall stability of the country, he had to endure for the time being. Anyway, the queen mother did this for his own good!
"Let's go!"
Qi Hong put on his dragon robe and motioned for Father - in - law Qin to lead the way for the morning court. However, just as he stepped out of the palace gate, he saw a Jin Yiwei officer rushing over. He knelt in front of Qi Hong:
"Your Majesty, just received the news that National Teacher Qiu in the Divine Shrine Palace has been killed!"
Qi Hong trembled. His eyes were full of surprise as he stared at the solemn expression of the Jin Yiwei officer. He said in a gloomy tone:
"I want you to say it again!"
Facing Qi Hong's cold and fierce eyes, the Jin Yiwei officer quickly lowered his head and repeated the matter. Finally, he added:
"The murderer not only killed National Teacher Qiu but also took away his head. The people in the Divine Shrine Palace searched everywhere but found no trace of the murderer. They don't even know where the murderer has gone!"
To quote the original words of the clergy in the Divine Shrine Palace, the murderer seemed to have disappeared into thin air. Except for the main hall, not a single drop of blood was found!
Hearing the words of the Jin Yiwei officer, Qi Hong frowned instantly, and a cold aura surrounded his body.
He first glanced at Father - in - law Qin, who was standing with his hands down beside him, and then coldly ordered:
"Keep searching! Even if you have to dig three feet into the ground, you must catch that murderer!"
Daring to kill someone in his divine palace was undoubtedly slapping him, the emperor, in the face!
As long as the murderer was caught by him, he would surely tear that person into pieces!
"Yes!"
The Jin Yiwei officer took the order and turned away directly. Father - in - law Qin watched Qi Hong standing still on the spot for a long time. He couldn't help but cough lightly and tentatively asked:
"Your Majesty, should this matter be immediately reported to the queen mother?"
Qi Hong frowned tightly and said in a gloomy tone:
"Not for the time being. It's still early. I will tell mother myself after the morning court."
The top priority now was to discuss this matter with the court ministers to see if any of them knew whether Qiu Daoji had ever had any grudges with others!
Hearing Qi Hong's words, Father - in - law Qin wisely shut up. But when he passed by a young eunuch on duty, he immediately gave the eunuch a look. The young eunuch understood and nodded slightly. Shortly after Qi Hong left, he took the opportunity of going to the toilet and directly ran to the queen mother's palace.
Qi Hong walked into the Hall of Heavenly Peace with a heavy heart and a solemn face. Then he sat on the dragon throne. Just as he was about to speak, he unexpectedly found that besides the civil and military officials kneeling on both sides of the hall, Qi Rong was standing in the middle of the hall!
He was tall and straight, wearing an official uniform and carrying a bundle in his hand. No one knew what was inside.
However, this was not the point!
"Seventh brother, why are you standing here at this time? Has the mission in Lingchuan been completed?!"
Qi Hong blinked his eyes to make sure he wasn't seeing things. There was a bit of harshness in his eyes as he looked at Qi Rong.
Qi Rong had received his order and should have been in Lingchuan building dams and bridges and constructing a commercial wharf. But now, without his permission and without him getting any news, Qi Rong had returned to the capital on his own initiative!
Even though the other party was now highly valued by him, this behavior was simply not putting his order in his eyes.
"Your Majesty, I returned to the capital yesterday. But due to some matters, I didn't have time to report to you in time.
"I originally thought that even if I didn't enter the palace, with such a big commotion in the capital, you should have received the news. After all, under the feet of the Son of Heaven, and with you in control of the Jin Yiwei, nothing can be hidden from your eyes..."
Seeing the emperor's increasingly gloomy face, Qi Rong's eyes also turned cold. Then, as if just realizing it, he asked rhetorically:
"Could it be that Your Majesty hasn't heard the news of my return to the capital?"
Under the feet of the Son of Heaven in the capital, the Jin Yiwei was the emperor's eyes in the capital, secretly in control of all the news in the imperial city.
For such an important event as Qi Rong's return to the capital, the emperor had no reason not to know, unless... his "eyes" were blind!
Once the Jin Yiwei directly under the emperor's control lost its function, it meant that the emperor's life was in danger and the imperial power was on the verge of collapse!