Chapter 115: Xu Zifeng has to show filial piety to me before I can treat him like a son

"Your Majesty, Zifeng is actually a good child."

Ji Lianyu said softly, her words filled with earnestness.

She had become increasingly skilled at serving Li Chen recently, knowing what Li Chen liked to hear and when he could listen to words.

These were skills Chu Ruoyan should have had, called "pillow talk," but unfortunately, Chu Ruoyan didn't understand these, and the Chu family didn't need her help for the time being.

Ji Lianyu was becoming increasingly dependent on Li Chen; she couldn't sleep last night and had been thinking.

According to what Li Chen said, the Wang Wang Shizi of Zhennan's chance of winning was really not high; if the Wang Wang Shizi of Zhennan really lost this time, then Xu Zifeng, this Crown Wang Wang Shizi, would also be implicated.

Why shouldn't she take the opportunity of being Li Chen's pillow companion to help Xu Zifeng leave a way out? After all, he was her sister's son, and she also treated Xu Zifeng as her own son.

As for the Wang Wang Shizi of Zhennan? Just a stranger.

Previously, Ji Lianyu supported the Wang Wang Shizi of Zhennan's camp only because of the Ji family and Xu Zifeng.

But now, feeling Li Chen's bravery, she felt attached to it and felt she should stand on Li Chen's side.

And according to Li Chen's statement, if the Wang Wang Shizi of Zhennan were dealt with, then the Ji family would rely on her to continue living, and would even be more brilliant; she felt she should support Li Chen and serve Li Chen well.

As long as she thought this way, her future actions would slowly begin to revolve around Li Chen.

Hearing Ji Lianyu say this, Li Chen changed his position and said: "I can give him a chance, but he has to achieve results himself. With his current performance, if I give him a chance, the court officials won't be convinced."

Li Chen meant that Xu Zifeng had to show filial piety to him before he could treat him like a son.

Now he was just a rebellious son; he hadn't dealt with him only for her sake.

Speaking of this, Ji Lianyu naturally understood; after her efforts, His Majesty had opened his golden mouth, so next, it would depend on Xu Zifeng's performance.

According to Ji Lianyu's plan, Xu Zifeng would also participate in the Spring Hunt, so she hoped Li Chen would pay more attention to Xu Zifeng during the Spring Hunt, so he could show his strength in front of the civil and military officials.

Xu Zifeng never dreamed that his aunt would backstab him at this time, leading him onto a path of no return.

And Li Chen didn't agree directly; he usually looked at Ji Lianyu's performance, so Ji Lianyu could only work harder to strive for an opportunity for Xu Zifeng.

At this moment, Xu Zifeng was discussing with Ma Hei in the jail how to make Li Chen look bad on the day of the Spring Hunt and then expose the Second Imperial Wang Wang Shizi, letting the two fight to the death.

The more chaotic the situation in the imperial capital, the more favorable it was for him.

Compared to Li Chen, Xu Zifeng hated the Second Imperial Wang Wang Shizi, Li Xian, even more—that despicable villain, actually going to find a constable to report him, really shameless.

After the discussion, he and Ma Hei lay in the jail to rest, waiting to be released the next day.

Ma Hei remembered that when he was sent over by the Witch King, the Witch King had also said earnestly: "You follow the Crown Wang Wang Shizi in the imperial capital, and you will likely enjoy wealth and glory, but don't be greedy for the prosperity of the world. If you want to go further, you must guard your original heart and restrain your nature."

At that time, Ma Hei promised that his goal was the Sage Realm, following the Witch King's footsteps and inheriting the Witch Gu Holy Land.

Coming to the imperial capital this time was a trial of the red dust and also an opportunity to prove his strength to his clansmen.

Ma Hei had prepared to resist the red dust—what enchanting beauties, what paper-drunken gold-obsessed life, what power that makes people addicted—come, let you all come to test me!

As a result, nothing came; Ma Hei came to this dark and damp jail.

This broken place wasn't as good as Southern Xinjiang; at least over there, he was one person below ten thousand in the holy land.

But then again, Ma Hei felt that the imperial capital was truly hiding dragons and crouching tigers; he could run into hidden experts just by clashing.

If it weren't for the mission, Ma Hei really wanted to have a hearty fight with Feng Wuhen.

In two days, there would be the Spring Hunt, and he also wanted to see how strong that Emperor was and if he was as powerful as the Witch King.

Anyone who could cultivate to the Sage Realm was definitely not a mediocre person; perhaps he could also explore a path of his own.

Because Ma Hei knew he couldn't replicate the Witch King one-to-one, so to cross this hurdle, he had to find a way himself.

Many cultivators stuck at the peak of the Heavenly Abyss Realm thought this way.

Eastern May Tian Ce Dynasty, Qingqiucheng.

This was a military stronghold of the May Tian Ce Dynasty and also the location where the Third Imperial Wang Wang Shizi stationed his troops.

The troops in Qingqiucheng generally deterred surrounding neighboring countries and coastal areas, so the pressure wasn't very high.

The Third Imperial Wang Wang Shizi, named Li Yu, grew up in the army and, relying on the cultivation of the Second Group Army Commander Yun Xu and his own ability to endure hardship, had a certain prestige in the southeast of the May Tian Ce Dynasty.

Li Yu couldn't compare to Li Xian in cultivation talent, but he wasn't bad either, and because the Crown Wang Wang Shizi had snatched his sweetheart, he hadn't married yet, so his cultivation speed was still okay.

His cultivation base had also reached the early-stage Observing Heaven Realm.

He had reached it only in the last few days, and now his body was somewhat weak due to the breakthrough and was slowly recovering.

Previously, Li Yu only compared himself to Li Xian and the Crown Wang Wang Shizi.

Since the Crown Wang Wang Shizi died suddenly, Li Yu felt his only opponent was Li Xian.

Li Xian's cultivation was very high, reaching the Observing Heaven Realm, but so what? Li Yu had many Heavenly Abyss Realm experts under his command, and the Heavenly Abyss Realm was one realm higher than the Observing Heaven Realm.

In Li Yu's view, what he and Li Xian compared were just strategic layout and the strength of their subordinates.

If you want to be Emperor, you can't do it without some means.

The reason he gritted his teeth and broke through at this time was also because of the shock brought by Li Chen.

Li Chen's Sage Realm cultivation had scared away so many people.

Things that the Heavenly Abyss Realm couldn't solve, the Sage Realm could solve.

Li Yu felt for the first time that it seemed cultivation really had benefits, so he gritted his teeth and broke through.

Fortunately, he succeeded without danger this time; otherwise, becoming a cripple would mean he could withdraw from the throne competition.

Actually, some things the Second Imperial Wang Wang Shizi Li Xian guessed correctly: the Third Imperial Wang Wang Shizi Li Yu had indeed received support from the Northern Wang Ting.

The Khan of the Snow Eagle Wang Ting had not responded to Li Chen, also because he wanted to see the internal chaos of the May Tian Ce Dynasty first, and then fight.

At this stage, whoever moved first would suffer.

After all, whoever made the first move meant they had to bear the main firepower of the May Tian Ce Dynasty's major group armies.

The Khan even sent a Sage Realm expert to help, just to give Li Yu support and let Li Yu have the courage to make a move.

It was like the Wang Wang Shizi of Zhennan and those remnants of the previous dynasty, and even forces hidden deeper, were the same.

They all wanted to take action against Li Chen, but none wanted to be the first bird.

Now they were just waiting for the impatient Second Imperial Wang Wang Shizi to move first, and then the Third Imperial Wang Wang Shizi certainly wouldn't be able to hold back.

As long as the two of them moved, the entire May Tian Ce Dynasty would surely be in chaos, and then these people could reap the benefits.

The Third Imperial Wang Wang Shizi had just been discussing with several trusted subordinates, including the Sage Realm helper, about the results that would appear after the Spring Hunt, so they could adopt coping strategies.

At this time, a subordinate came to report that someone from the imperial capital was asking to see him.

Li Yu thought, who has time to see people at this time? Just as he was about to refuse, the subordinate said it was the Minister of War.

Li Yu let his subordinates and the Sage Realm helper wait here, while he went out to see the Minister of War.

Speaking of this person, Li Yu did indeed know him, and it could be said that their relationship wasn't bad.

The Minister of War, named Zou Chong, was a relative of the Empress Dowager. Due to his good ability and having been in the imperial capital for decades, he was promoted to Minister of War by the late Emperor.

He was also the one sent by Li Chen on a heaven-defying mission to leave the imperial capital.

Zou Chong's mission was to capture the rebellious Third Imperial Wang Wang Shizi Li Yu and bring him to the capital; what kind of ghost mission was this? How could he complete it?

So he slowly made his way over, and it wasn't until today that he arrived at the Third Imperial Wang Wang Shizi Li Yu's station.

"Minister Zou, I hope you've been well."

Li Yu saw an old acquaintance, and naturally, he was very happy on the surface.

He mixed in the army and certainly needed Zou Chong's help; it was normal for the two to have some friendship.

"The Third Imperial Wang Wang Shizi is also becoming more and more brave."

Even if Zou Chong was in a bad mood, he didn't dare to vent it here.

Li Chen didn't tolerate him, but that didn't mean this one wouldn't tolerate him.

However, this one's attitude was indeed better; hearing he had come, he even came out to greet him personally.

After some pleasantries, Li Yu took Zou Chong into the hall to entertain him and wash away the dust of his journey.

At first, it was all talk of Tai Chi, and after three rounds of wine, Li Yu said: "I don't know what brings Minister Zou here."

Li Yu knew Zou Chong was sent by Li Chen to capture him, but that was just the surface meaning; Zou Chong was the Empress Dowager's person, so what did the Empress Dowager mean? Li Yu really wanted to know.

Because he had been trying to contact the Empress Dowager recently, wanting to get the Empress Dowager's help, but the Empress Dowager's statements were all vague, neither clearly stating she wouldn't help nor clearly stating she would. Zou Chong's arrival might be able to answer this question for him.

"There's a mission from above; I have no choice, I can only come here to mix around. Otherwise, why don't you go back to the imperial capital with me, Third Imperial Wang Wang Shizi?"

Zou Chong said casually; in fact, he knew even less about the Empress Dowager's meaning than Li Yu.

Logically speaking, on his way to Qingqiucheng, the Empress Dowager should have sent news indicating what he should do next, but the Empress Dowager just told him to watch and handle it, and he didn't know what to do.

So this old fox began to probe the Third Imperial Wang Wang Shizi; after all, we've had friendship for so many years, you wouldn't take action against me at your station.

"Hahaha, Minister Zou is joking. I will certainly return to the imperial capital, but not now."

At the banquet, the two just chatted idly, and neither could get any valuable information.

Finally, Li Yu could only find a place in Qingqiucheng to arrange for Zou Chong to stay, and then make plans.

However, Zou Chong's arrival did make Li Yu start to be on guard.

He had been trying to guess Zou Chong's intentions, but Zou Chong had no intentions; he was purely driven out, which made Li Yu feel that he was hiding something.

Southern May Tian Ce Dynasty, Wang Wang Shizi of Zhennan's Mansion.

!

In that quiet and elegant courtyard, the beautiful Princess of Zhennan sat alone.

The maids busily shuttled around, either holding tea or holding fans, carefully serving this peerless beautiful woman.

However, despite the maids' best efforts, they could never fill the resentment in her heart caused by the Wang Wang Shizi of Zhennan's long absence.

The Wang Wang Shizi of Zhennan was either busy fighting and winning over surrounding forces, or busy favoring other women.

When Xu Zifeng was there before, the Wang Wang Shizi of Zhennan would also come to visit every day.

Now that Xu Zifeng was gone, the Wang Wang Shizi of Zhennan was too lazy to come over.

The Princess of Zhennan was 70% similar to Ji Lianyu; they were sisters.

Compared to Ji Lianyu, she, having given birth to a child, was more mature and plump just right.

If Li Chen were to distinguish, it would be very difficult for him to distinguish who was who at first glance, and he probably wouldn't want to distinguish either.

At this moment, the Princess of Zhennan was holding a letter, reading it carefully.

The handwriting on the letter was delicate, as if every stroke contained the joy of the writer.

As the reading deepened, the Princess's face gradually revealed a hint of a smile.

The letter was naturally sent by Ji Lianyu from the imperial capital; seeing the content, the Princess knew Xu Zifeng was very safe in the imperial capital.

She only had this piece of heart meat, and it was safer to hand it to her sister.

Having lived for so many years, she now gradually began to understand that as long as Xu Zifeng could be safe and sound, it was more important than anything.

The Princess of Zhennan always felt that the Ji family owed her sister too much, and she didn't know how to compensate in the future.

"Sigh, I really want to see Zifeng. I don't know when I will be able to see him again."

Saying this, the Princess of Zhennan put away the letter.

At this moment, the Wang Wang Shizi of Zhennan was preparing for battle in the military camp; as long as the Third Imperial Wang Wang Shizi's army started, the Khan of the Northern Wang Ting would also take action, and the May Tian Ce Dynasty's central army would move north.

Then the Wang Wang Shizi of Zhennan would clash with his old rival, the Second Group Army Commander Yun Xu.

He didn't expect Yun Xu to step aside, and the Second Group Army certainly wouldn't leave its station.

Only by defeating Yun Xu could the army head straight to the imperial capital unimpeded, and then the throne would be within reach.

If facing the late Emperor, the Wang Wang Shizi of Zhennan might feel some guilt; he had a deep friendship with the late Emperor.

But this new Emperor Li Chen, sorry, not familiar.

Of course, Li Chen thought the same; when the two took action, there were no psychological obstacles, mainly just casual.

The next day, in the Imperial Study.

The Prime Minister Zhao Wenyuan had already submitted the Spring Hunt list to Li Chen; the number of people who signed up this time was unusually large, and the forces were complex, making him somewhat have a headache.

Some people, in order to participate in this Spring Hunt, even went to the Prime Minister's Mansion four or five times, begging Zhao Wenyuan in various ways.

According to Zhao Wenyuan's suggestion, they should bring more imperial guards this time to reduce the number of participants.

Only then could they ensure the safety of the Spring Hunt.

And Zhao Wenyuan also suggested that His Majesty only needed to wait for the results in a safe place, and there was no need to go deep into the Manghuang Mountain Range.

Those places were full of danger, and one could even ambush an army; he was indeed considering Li Chen's safety.

Li Chen roughly understood his meaning, which was that Zhao Wenyuan couldn't offend too many people, so the list was so long.

Just like this Spring Hunt, there were tens of thousands who were qualified to sign up; he had already rejected most, but there were still more than two thousand left.

This didn't include the subordinates these two thousand-plus people were bringing during the Spring Hunt.

By having him, the Emperor, personally cross out some names on the list, Zhao Wenyuan could also explain: I had already agreed, but His Majesty refused, and there's nothing I can do.

Li Chen said nonchalantly: "If they want to come, let them come. If we bring too many imperial guards, the imperial city won't be safe either. You just organize it normally; I'll handle other things."

Hearing Li Chen say this, Zhao Wenyuan nodded and went back to handle it.

As Prime Minister, he only needed to complete his task.

There was 1 day left until the Spring Hunt; today, even Xu Zifeng wouldn't cause trouble, fearing he wouldn't be able to get out tomorrow and miss something.

Xiao Ming had no interest in the Spring Hunt and was not qualified to participate in such a noble gathering.

He was slowly investigating some people related to the Crown Wang Wang Shizi's death according to the instructions of the Minister of Justice Pang Jin.

It had to be said that the Son of Luck was just lucky; this guy often, by chance, could find information that other Ministry of Justice experts couldn't find after investigating for months.

There was actually the help of the Sage's remnant soul here; Xiao Ming's experience wasn't enough, but this one was enough.

He became the breakthrough point for this case, but at this time he didn't know that what he was contacting was the Crown Wang Wang Shizi's death case he had dreamed of.

Pang Jin reviewed the information collected by his subordinates and speculated that the Crown Wang Wang Shizi's death case was likely related to the Empress Dowager.

Even if she didn't do it, she had helped in it.

But the problem was, he still couldn't find evidence to prove the Empress Dowager had a problem; he couldn't just go to Li Chen and talk about it based on speculation.

And even more bizarrely, investigating from the clues of the Crown Wang Wang Shizi's confidant, the imperial capital's first fast knife Fan Kuai, it was discovered that this matter was related to the Crown Wang Wang Shizi of the Wang Wang Shizi of Jing'an, Li Yang.

That is to say, after the Crown Wang Wang Shizi died, during the stage when Fan Kuai disappeared, the Crown Wang Wang Shizi of the Wang Wang Shizi of Jing'an Li Yang had seen Fan Kuai; at that time, Fan Kuai was not yet dead.

Pang Jin continued to review the materials; Li Yang was one of the Crown Wang Wang Shizi's party members, which many people knew.

The Wang Wang Shizi of Jing'an used to follow the late Emperor, and letting his son follow the Crown Wang Wang Shizi was understandable.

The Crown Wang Wang Shizi's death had no benefit to Li Yang, unless he wanted to be Emperor.

Pang Jin had also seen Li Yang at the last banquet; he was a playboy image who couldn't be supported by mud.

If he was acting, that was another matter.

"If he really is acting, he is indeed more like it than Xu Zifeng; maybe investigating him will have clues."

Pang Jin was thinking, what are those hidden forces pushing me to investigate the Wang Wang Shizi of Jing'an for? Could it be that he also has some unspeakable secrets?

As Minister of Justice, he had to investigate what should be investigated and couldn't fail His Majesty's trust.

Not long after, a young man with an extraordinary aura entered the place where Pang Jin worked.

"Subordinate Xiao Ming, see Minister Pang. I don't know why Minister Pang called me?"

Xiao Ming stood respectfully in front of Pang Jin, his eyes filled with admiration.

Every time he saw Pang Jin, Xiao Ming felt a rich uprightness and dignity rushing toward him.

Pang Jin sat behind the large desk, dressed in solemn official robes, his face cold and stern, those deep eyes seeming to be able to see through all the sins in the world.

Ever since entering the Ministry of Justice until now, Xiao Ming had taken becoming the Minister of Justice as his goal.

At that time, he would be in charge of the Ministry of Justice, and he would be able to hold absolute power and start his plan to be a powerful minister.

Most importantly, his new goddess Lin Yue'e's idol was Pang Jin, and his idol was also Pang Jin.

In Xiao Ming's view, Lin Yue'e could be matched with him in terms of strength and status, which meant he and she were simply a match made in heaven!

It wasn't that he had a change of heart; he also thought of Chu Ruoyan, but Chu Ruoyan had never praised him, and there were a bunch of sycophants around her, so he had no status.

Lin Yue'e not only praised him but also needed his help, and there were no sycophants around her, so the cost-performance ratio was really too high.

Just as Xiao Ming was letting his imagination run wild, Pang Jin's voice came out.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 116 =====