The iron arrow in the box, the note in the hidden layer, the “Wang Gouzi” who sneaked into the study… Was he referring to one of these, or to more conspiracies hidden in the darkness that he had not yet detected?
Was Yan Xiaohang truly prescient, or had he planned this long ago?
“My lord! My lord!”
While lost in thought, an old servant rushed into the study, gasping for breath, interrupting Fu Shen’s descent into madness. He pulled himself out of his inner demons, suddenly realizing he had become too extreme.
“What is it?”
Fu Boting hurriedly said: “An imperial edict! We have an imperial edict! The eunuch requests you to go receive it!”
Wei Xuzhou, very perceptive, immediately stood up: “Since my lord still has matters to attend to, I will take my leave.”
Fu Shen met his gaze and nodded in understanding: “Fu Bo, escort this gentleman out through the side gate. I will change into court attire and meet the imperial envoy.”
In the Hall of Nurturing the Heart.
After the Crown Prince left, Emperor Yuan Tai suddenly changed his form of address. Yan Xiaohang was stunned, then respectfully responded: “Your Majesty.”
Emperor Yuan Tai’s tone shifted: “This plan may or may not work. But after Fu Shen leaves, who can replace him as the commander of the Northern Yan?”
“The Crown Prince recommends Yang Sijing,” he shook his head, seeming to find it both amusing and somewhat helpless, and said lightly: “After all, he is young and his thoughts are shallow.”
Yan Xiaohan was almost laughing from anger at this father and son. Yang Sijing was the nephew of the Empress Yang, the Crown Prince’s cousin, who was granted the third-rank Right Nine Gates Guard General due to the Empress’s favor. No matter how fallen Fu Shen was, he was still the eldest son of the Ying Guo Mansion, a first-rank court official, and the Jing Ning Marquis who fought his way through battlefields. What was Yang Sijing? Just a pampered son promoted through nepotism – did he really think the Northern Yan’s 200,000 iron cavalry were dead?
A heir to the throne who could actually think of such despicable means to harm meritorious officials. The mere thought that such a person would become emperor was chilling.
