As soon as the main door of King Xia Jie's bedchamber closed, the two men left outside wore extremely gloomy expressions.
Qi Shuhuan trembled with rage. The deep wrinkles on his aged face quivered in his extreme anger, looking eerie in the night.
Xia Yonglin stood beside him, clenching his fists tightly. His blood - shot eyes were fixed on the vermilion - painted door. He gritted his teeth and hissed, "Damn it..."
Qi Shuhuan kept silent with his head down. He had no time to deal with Xia Yonglin at the moment. Just now, he had almost gotten hold of the imperial edict in Chen Qi's hand, the one from King Xia Jie. But that Shen Qingfeng had rushed into the bedchamber with Xia Chuli, claiming they could save the king!
How could they save him?
Even the imperial physicians were at their wits' end. What could they possibly do?
However, when a person is approaching death, even the most remote hope will be instinctively craved, and King Xia Jie was no exception.
Qi Shuhuan still remembered the glimmer of hope that had flashed in King Xia Jie's eyes just now. Then the king had opened his mouth weakly, his voice barely audible as he gasped out the command to them following Shen Qingfeng's request: "Get out!"
Before he left, Qi Shuhuan had looked up and seen the sneer on Shen Qingfeng's lips, a sneer like that of a victor looking down on ants. It was like a red - hot iron rod stabbing into Qi Shuhuan's chest, searing his pride.
"Damn it!" Xia Yonglin stood in front of the door, growling in a suppressed voice. He was just separated from the people inside by a single door. He dared not make too much noise, but the indignation of having his almost - achieved goal snatched away at the last moment filled him with great fury. Xia Yonglin was now trembling all over, his eyes glaring angrily. He glanced red - eyed at the guards and maids around him, struggling to restrain his frayed nerves from the impulse to rush in and snatch the imperial edict.
Qi Shuhuan waved over a maid and whispered something in her ear. The maid looked surprised but nodded meekly and scurried away.
Then he walked up to Xia Yonglin, bent down and whispered in his ear coldly, "The imperial edict has been drawn up. As long as King Xia Jie dies, the world will naturally be yours."
Xia Yonglin shivered. He slowly turned his head to look at Qi Shuhuan. There was a flicker in his eyes, and then he slowly widened them, as if he had understood what Qi Shuhuan meant.
Qi Shuhuan squeezed his shoulder and said coldly, "Chen Qi is on our side. Those two people in the room must not be allowed to leave this room tonight."
Xia Yonglin paused and said, "But what if they manage to cure the king..."
"Your father's health has been failing for a long time," Qi Shuhuan said. "A dying man can't be cured all of a sudden, unless the Heavenly King himself comes!"
"So, what the Assistant Prime Minister means is..."
"I've already sent for Li Yanqing to lead troops here. When Li Yanqing surrounds this place with his troops, we just need to claim that Shen Qingfeng and the crown prince killed your father. Then, with Chen Qi's testimony and the imperial edict, your succession to the throne will be a certainty." Qi Shuhuan laughed sinisterly.
Xia Yonglin said, "General Li can't just lead his troops into the Bian Palace, can he? The imperial guards will stop him. That Tian Che is a tough nut to crack. How are you going to persuade him?"
Qi Shuhuan snorted, "Tough nut to crack? There's no one in this world without a weakness. I sent someone to investigate him a few days ago and found out that his father - in - law lost hundreds of taels of silver gambling a few years ago. Don't be fooled by that guy's ascetic lifestyle. He's been saving money to pay off his father - in - law's debts!"
Xia Yonglin's eyes lit up. "The Assistant Prime Minister is really brilliant! We can use this to get Tian Che under our thumb!"
Qi Shuhuan said proudly, "Then, let Li Yanqing claim to be protecting the king. Although leading troops into the palace is a bit over the line, as long as King Xia Jie is dead, it won't matter! By then, Xia Chuli will be branded as a regicide and can be executed. With no king in power in Li Xia, the imperial edict will be the only standard, and you can rightfully inherit the throne."
Hearing this, Xia Yonglin rubbed his hands excitedly. His eyes glowed with greed, as if the person about to die in the plan was not his father but just an insignificant obstacle on his way to the peak of power.
As they were talking, the maid returned and whispered something in Qi Shuhuan's ear.
Qi Shuhuan curled his lips into a smile and said proudly, "Everything is arranged, Prince Cheng."
He straightened up complacently, tugged at his collar, and assumed a victorious stance. "How ridiculous of Shen Qingfeng and Xia Chuli. They dared to break in here, thinking that if they saved King Xia Jie, they would gain his favor and the chance to succeed him. What fools! As long as the king dies, there will be no way to prove otherwise!"
"Yo, Assistant Prime Minister Qi, you seem to be in a good mood?" Suddenly, a third voice came from behind them.
Qi Shuhuan and Xia Yonglin both turned around and saw Shen Shiqiu leading a few senior officials from the Prime Minister's Mansion walking towards King Xia Jie's bedchamber.
Qi Shuhuan was startled. King Xia Jie had originally intended to give him the imperial edict in private tonight, so his entry into the palace was a secret. Shen Shiqiu shouldn't have known about this.
Qi Shuhuan stared at Shen Shiqiu who was slowly approaching him. His heart was filled with a chill. All his preparations had been carried out secretly. After all, his biggest opponent was Shen Shiqiu, who had the support of the Prime Minister's Mansion. But now, the plan he thought he had carried out away from Shen Shiqiu's sight had run into the man himself.
Did that mean Shen Shiqiu had seen through his plan? But how could that be!
"Prime Minister, it's so late. Why aren't you back resting?" Qi Shuhuan tried to keep his expression calm as he casually bowed to Shen Shiqiu and said coldly.
"I came to talk to the king about some matters," Shen Shiqiu said. "As for you, Assistant Prime Minister Qi, I didn't expect to see you pacing back and forth in front of the king's bedchamber so late at night."
"I don't think I need to tell you, do I?" Qi Shuhuan said, feeling increasingly uneasy.
Shen Shiqiu looked at him. Thinking of the plan Shen Qingfeng had suddenly told him not long ago, he had been skeptical at first. But now that he saw Qi Shuhuan, a surge of anger welled up in his heart. He snorted a few times, stepped forward and stood beside Qi Shuhuan. He gave Qi Shuhuan a cold look and said, "Do you really think you can get away with this without telling me? Li Yanqing at the palace gate was your doing, wasn't he? Should I let him in so you can play out this farce more completely?"
Hearing this, Qi Shuhuan gasped and stared at Shen Shiqiu in disbelief.
Tian Che did have debts, and he had indeed been threatened by Qi Shuhuan's men. But Qi Shuhuan never expected that Gong Tan, the deputy general of the imperial guards, was an old friend of Lu Yan's from many years ago. Only Shen Qingfeng knew about this, and it was Lu Yan who had told him in person. Since it had been a long time ago, and Qi Shuhuan didn't specifically look into this direction without knowing about it, he naturally couldn't find out.
Tian Che was a dedicated man. Although he didn't want to get involved in the power - struggle between the two factions, he didn't dare to be negligent about such a major event as leading troops into the Bian Palace. So, at Shen Qingfeng's persuasion, Tian Che temporarily delegated the power to command the imperial guards for tonight to Gong Tan.
Without being threatened by Qi Shuhuan, Gong Tan could act freely. He promptly mobilized the imperial guards and blocked Li Yanqing's men outside the Bian Palace.
Not long ago, Gong Tan received Shen Shiqiu's order. He stared blankly at Li Yanqing, who was sitting on his horse under the banner of "protecting the king", for a long time. Then he raised his hand and ordered the imperial guards, "Stop blocking. Let them in."
Unaware that there was a bigger threat behind, Li Yanqing gave Gong Tan a haughty look as if to say "That's right" after hearing this. Then he grinned smugly and rode away with his troops.
Xia Yonglin stood beside them, listening to every word of the conversation between Shen Shiqiu and Qi Shuhuan. The thought of being caught red - handed for plotting regicide and framing someone was enough to make his face turn pale and his legs tremble so much that he could barely stand.
He looked at Qi Shuhuan beside him pleadingly, hoping for some instructions. But the latter looked back at him with a gloomy face, as if he too had been caught off guard by Shen Shiqiu's move.
In the distance, the noisy sound of Li Yanqing leading his troops could be heard.
Shen Shiqiu slowly stroked his beard and sneered, "Look, Assistant Prime Minister Qi, the reinforcements are here."
Qi Shuhuan felt as if he had been thrown into an ice cellar. With Li Yanqing leading his troops here and Shen Shiqiu present, their previous plan was doomed to fail. And the heinous crime of Li Yanqing leading troops into the Bian Palace couldn't be covered up with the king's death as planned. He had made a wrong move after all.
Qi Shuhuan gritted his teeth and stiffly took a step forward, as if resigned to his fate. He didn't even spare a glance at Shen Shiqiu.
Li Yanqing, who had thought he was coming into the palace to help Prince Cheng frame Xia Chuli, was shocked to see Shen Shiqiu standing in front of King Xia Jie's bedchamber from afar when he rode closer. He quickly pulled on the reins, raised his fist to stop his troops from advancing, then dismounted from his horse. He looked nervously at Qi Shuhuan who was striding towards him, as if seeing a savior. He stepped forward and said, "Assistant Prime Minister Qi, what's going on..."
Before he could finish his sentence, Qi Shuhuan had already rushed up. Li Yanqing only felt a blur in front of his eyes, and then heard a "slap". A burning pain spread across his face.
Qi Shuhuan slapped Li Yanqing hard and roared, "You dare to rebel, Li Yanqing!"