"Are you sure you know what this king wants?"
Hearing Yun Sheng's words, Qi Rong's eyes darkened, and he couldn't help sneering.
What he wanted had always been only Yun Xi!
And what he was doing now was to fulfill the mission he shouldered.
Seeing Yun Sheng acting mysterious and not answering his question directly, Qi Rong couldn't help scoffing at Yun Sheng's cunning.
As far as he knew, although Yun Sheng had endured severe torture in the imperial prison, he had never said a single word about Longchang.
If the other party really knew the secret of Longchang, he could have used it to curry favor with Qi Hong. Even if he couldn't get what he wanted, Qi Hong would have been overjoyed by this secret and thus released Yun Sheng.
So, there were only two possibilities now:
First, Yun Sheng was acting mysterious and trying to extort him, but actually didn't know the secret of Longchang at all.
Second, Yun Sheng knew the secret but had always held this trump card even when he was in the imperial prison. There must be a greater scheme in his heart!
Now, because of Yun Xi's matter, he had hastily taken this to trade with him?
Qi Rong crossed his arms in front of his chest, looking down at Yun Sheng contemptuously with a disdainful look in his eyes.
"The prime minister really has a good plan. Deliberately making your words ambiguous, trying to get something for nothing!"
"Your plan is good, but didn't you think that this king won't fall for it at all?!"
Before confirming how much Yun Sheng knew, he wouldn't negotiate with him.
After Qi Rong finished speaking, he pretended to leave. Yun Sheng gritted his teeth and said,
"The strange phenomena in Longchang were not caused by the Li family at all. It was you who had long been in control of the situation in Longchang and took advantage of the characteristics of the mines. You set off explosives in the dilapidated mines, which is why the mines collapsed one after another."
This was also the main reason why there were no casualties when the mines collapsed one after another.
Because Qi Rong's purpose was not to kill people, but to create trouble and attract the attention of the higher - ups!
"Go on, Prime Minister."
Qi Rong raised his eyebrows, with a half - smiling expression on his face, looking completely nonchalant, which made Yun Sheng frown.
"You took advantage of the salt lake and the iron mine in Longchang. You ordered people to secretly dig through the mountains, allowing the water from the salt lake to flow through the iron - ore mountain. So the two changed color, forming the terrifying blood - red waterfall. You spread the word that it was a sign of harming the dragon vein and made the emperor pay attention through Qiu Daoji!"
So, Qiu Daoji was not originally a member of the Li family, but an undercover agent that Qi Rong had placed beside the emperor early on.
As for why Qi Rong had killed Qiu Daoji later, although he wasn't sure, he could guess some of the reasons.
"But you probably didn't expect that the emperor would send me personally to investigate Longchang. So you deliberately sent people to obstruct my progress and forced me to return to the capital earlier. I designed to hide my whereabouts, and then you used Yun Xi's elopement with you to force me to show up."
"You've succeeded, but you've also made me see your true feelings for Yun Xi!"
The more Yun Sheng spoke, the more indignant he became.
He didn't care about the strife between the imperial powers and wouldn't take sides. However, he couldn't tolerate Qi Rong using his daughter!
Listening to Yun Sheng's words, Qi Rong couldn't help but admire him.
The corners of his cold lips lifted slightly, and he slowly clapped his hands.
"The prime minister is really amazing. In such a short time, you've pushed all the blame onto this king. Since that's the case, why don't you just tell His Majesty about this?"
"In this way, you don't have to negotiate with this king, and you can get your daughter back!"
Qi Rong's expression was sarcastic, but he didn't admit it.
Because he couldn't leave any handle for Yun Sheng to grasp before everything was properly handled!
Actually, he had long known that Yun Sheng was not an ordinary person, so he had placed many secret guards around the prime minister's mansion.
However, despite all his precautions, Yun Sheng had still managed to obtain so much information, which was beyond his expectations!
No wonder his father, when he was on the throne, often sighed in his ear:
Yun Sheng was a man of great talent. Never make an enemy of him!
Therefore, his father had highly valued Yun Sheng and finally formed a marriage alliance with him, betrothing Yun Xi to him early on.
But his father had failed to see Yun Sheng's true character. Perhaps, in the end, he never expected that this man would be so greedy for life and afraid of death that he would abandon his old master at a critical moment for wealth and glory!
"According to what the prime minister said, why would this king take such a risk to create all those strange phenomena in Longchang? What's in it for this king?"
He wanted to know how much more Yun Sheng knew.
Hearing that Qi Rong refused to admit it, Yun Sheng snorted.
"It doesn't matter if you don't admit it, because I won't be deceived by you."
"You made such a big fuss in Longchang. Naturally, it wasn't just to embarrass the emperor. The most important purpose was to drive out the Li family!"
"Maybe the Li family knew some secrets about Longchang. So, you've spared no effort to use the emperor's people to get rid of the Li family's informants in Longchang and prevent them from interfering in Longchang's affairs!"
Yun Sheng stared steadily at Qi Rong's still calm face. A sharp look flashed across his eyes, but he didn't finish his sentence.
Just as Qi Rong had his bottom - line, he couldn't reveal all his cards to the other party in a hurry, lest he lose his final bargaining chip!
Although Yun Sheng didn't make it clear, Qi Rong already knew that Yun Sheng must have grasped the truth. A trace of annoyance rose in his heart.
Perhaps, he had always underestimated Yun Sheng.
How did this man manage to find out so many truths under his blockade?
Moreover, what power did the other party rely on to know all these? It was really something to be on guard against!
While Qi Rong was lost in thought, Yun Sheng glanced at the figure on the window lattice at the door and slowly said,
"For Yun Xi's sake, I really won't tell the emperor about this, because now Yun Xi is in the Prince Xian's mansion. I won't let her be affected. I think you kept Yun Xi in the Prince Xian's mansion to hold me back. In this regard, you've really succeeded!"
"But I won't let it go. If you change your mind now, I can promise you any condition. From now on, we'll go our separate ways!"
Yun Sheng looked directly into Qi Rong's eyes and spoke seriously.
Qi Rong came back to his senses from his previous thoughts. Looking at Yun Sheng, who seemed to be confident of success, his face was full of irony.
"Any condition?"
The corners of Qi Rong's cold lips curled up, and he arrogantly glanced at Yun Sheng.
"Yes. As long as I can do it, I will definitely meet your requirements!"
Yun Sheng nodded, his tone very firm.
In his opinion, nothing in the world was more important than his daughter!
Seeing Yun Sheng's determined look, a sneer curled up in Qi Rong's heart. He suddenly got up and walked in front of Yun Sheng, looking down at the other man from a high position.
"This king wants the tiger tally. Can you afford to give it?"
Yun Sheng had originally been prepared to agree to whatever request Qi Rong made. However, when he heard the words "tiger tally", his face suddenly changed greatly.
"Is this why you got close to Yun Xi?!"