Chapter 1654: It has begun

Even without solid evidence, as long as the Yao King became suspicious, the actions Qingyang had planned would face unprecedented resistance!

Many of her arrangements would become useless. The key to the success of this operation relied on the Yao King's trust in Bai Tan. Bai Tan himself had spent nearly twenty years cultivating an image of a staunch royalist with absolute loyalty; once that image wavered, all previous efforts would be wasted!

It could be said that from the moment the Yao King sent palace guards to arrest Shi Song Wei, Bai Tan was in danger of exposure. Regardless of whether the Shi family members were caught or whether they implicated him, he could only have two endings:

Either the uprising succeeded, and the Yao King was overthrown; or he was suspected by the Yao King, thrown into prison, and eventually implicated Qingyang.

"However, the Shi brothers' network of relationships is complex, and as the Yao King's 'loyal minister,' Bai Tan will likely be the last to be suspected." Qingyang's thinking was clear. "We were already fully prepared; now, while the Yao King is distracted, we strike immediately!"

Bai Tan's performance over these years had been praised even by the stubborn and suspicious Yao King; not long ago, he even snatched up the first-row refined residences at the Quiet Lake Shanzhuang, giving the Yao King a huge, high-profile show of loyalty!

Throwing out those tens of thousands of taels of silver was effective.

Moreover, his recent suppression of the refugee riots had been excellent, earning him further commendation from the Yao King.

It would take the Yao King much longer to become suspicious of him.

This is what is called "darkness under the lamp."

Qingyang had to seize this gap and launch a fierce attack! Otherwise, the opportunity would vanish in a flash, and time would not wait.

In truth, the best opportunity for the uprising was the night of the Imperial Flowing Nectar. But the Yao King was already suspicious of her, and she wouldn't get that night's celestial timing anyway, so it was better to just move it up by a few days and finish him off directly!

The water mirror displayed only one word:

"Good!"

Then, it returned to a normal mirror surface, and the water vapor vanished.

Yuan Xuan said in a low voice, "Commandant Bai hasn't returned yet."

The plan had been moved up suddenly, and Bai Ziqi could not make it back to Tianshui City in time.

Qingyang sneered: "Why wait for him? He Xiao is no longer important."

Implementing her plan was the top priority! Yuan Xuan hesitated, which Qingyang noticed: "Speak."

"You once asked me to keep an eye on the market price of self-heal. I just received feedback that no one in the towns and counties around Mang Continent has purchased large quantities of self-heal. The production of self-heal in that area is also very small; no herb farmers grow it specifically, and it is only sporadically collected in the wild." Yuan Xuan paused. "I also sent people to check the places where the Great Emperor of Nine Nether appeared earlier, and there is no record of this herb."

Qingyang hummed: "It seems it is not the Snail Toad."

After all, the Yao nation was not Beijia; it did not have extremely rich produce and had very few vertical, specialized fields. In Beijia, many rare medicinal herbs could be grown on a large scale, whereas in the Yao nation, they could only be collected in the wild, making production very unstable.

Then, what method did He Xiao's subordinates use to kill the Red Hut Master's Skin-Turning Toad? Did that thing open its mouth wide to catch explosives? Thinking of this, another question flashed through her mind: what role did He Xiao play in this recent series of events?

Had he been making trouble in the dark again?

Qingyang pressed her forehead.

Whenever she thought of He Xiao, she easily became distracted.

No, she had to focus her attention on her own great cause and could not worry about this mere individual.

No matter who He Xiao was or what he had done, Bai Ziqi would deal with him later.

She only needed to complete the mission given to her by the Emperor and the Heavenly God! "Plan launched," she said to Yuan Xuan. "Prepare the carriage! Go invite the envoy."

……

The Quiet Lake Cottage was very large; it took more than a quarter of an hour to drive from the residence where she was staying to the main gate of the villa.

The Quiet Lake Shanzhuang across the way had stopped construction; the south bank of the Quiet Lake was currently a half-finished construction site, a complete mess.

However, the villa's main gate and main road had already been completed. As a vanity project, it had to be built to be both imposing and exquisite, with small hills, lakes, flowers, plants, and woods; there was never a shortage of fish, insects, birds, and beasts.

Soon, Regent Qingyang's carriage slowly drove near the exit, intending to leave through the villa's main gate, with guards riding horses alongside—

Once outside the gate, there was only a stone-paved road, and one had to walk more than a hundred zhang to connect to the official road.

Riding in the carriage with Qingyang was the envoy from Beijia.

Every two or three years, Beijia would send envoys to make routine visits to the Yao nation, traveling thousands of miles to exchange goods.

Because the journey was long and arduous, envoys were often rewarded with promotions after completing this trip and returning home. Therefore, countless officials in Lingxu City hoped to travel across the ocean to obtain this gilded resume.

The officialdom in Lingxu City was also very competitive.

This time, the Beijia special envoy was surnamed Wu; he had arrived in Tianshui City just two days ago and had first come to pay his respects to the old State Preceptor, while simultaneously applying to the Protocol Office for an audience with the Yao King.

In terms of the relationship between the Yao nation and Beijia, this was not a breach of protocol.

Qingyang happened to be entering Tianshui City, so she invited Special Envoy Wu to ride in her carriage and travel together. The dozen or so guards accompanying Special Envoy Wu also rode alongside the carriage with the Green Guards.

The two sides chatted in the carriage, very pleasantly.

This Special Envoy Wu was the nephew of the Empress Dowager of Qu Nation; he had studied at the Imperial Academy in Lingxu City for three years and then remained in Lingxu City to enter officialdom, making him a lucky one among thousands of students.

Qingyang was reserved, gentle, and polite in her conversation, making Special Envoy Wu feel flattered.

During his time in Lingxu City, he had only seen State Preceptor Qingyang from afar and had never dealt with her, but he had heard that this old State Preceptor was noble, dignified, and arrogant; once, a monarch of a small nation went to visit her and waited for seven days without being able to see her.

Now that she had come to the Yao nation to be the Regent, her performance was contrary to the rumors.

"Is the Emperor well recently?" Qingyang looked at the scenery outside the window; those who knew her would know this was her expression of being distracted.

She was calculating the aftermath and cleanup issues after tonight.

The Yao nation and Beijia had always had inextricable links. So many children of noble families in the Yao nation went to study in Lingxu City when they were young, and after completing their studies, they returned to their country to enter officialdom, knowing full well the strength of Beijia. Some even invested their family wealth in Beijia, and they were full of awe for Qingyang, who represented the power of Beijia.

Even though the Yao King used the two projects of Quiet Lake Shanzhuang and the Tianshui Eastward Expansion to kidnap most of the officials onto his war chariot, the nobles were still unwilling to offend Beijia, and she still held many pieces of leverage in her hands.

Therefore, many Yao nobles still worked for her, either openly or secretly.

Thus, Qingyang's control over the situation in Tianshui City was actually far beyond what outsiders imagined.

As for the Yao royal court, she was no longer an "outsider."

So, after the inevitable chaos of tonight passed, how much say would she have in the Yao nation and Tianshui City? At that time, the Goddess would inevitably want to foster her own candidate, and since Qingyang represented the interests of the Demon Emperor, who should she choose? She actually had several backup candidates in her hands.

Special Envoy Wu did not notice her distraction and answered earnestly: "The Emperor is dignified and wise, as always! I heard that the trade route from Giant Deer Port to the Yao nation has seen a decrease in bandits over the past six months and is already very peaceful. The Emperor hopes……" ===== CHAPTER 1655 =====