Chapter 652: Ji Chang

Whoosh!

After a long time, Ji Chang let out a long breath of turbid air, the sorrow in his eyes turning into sharp cold light.

Putting away the mobile phone, he began to pinch his fingers to calculate.

Soon, the result came out.

Zhou Ji was truly dead.

Although there was a short video as proof, he trusted his own divination technique more.

Ever since the appearance of Feixun, he had many times subtly inquired about Yin Shang intelligence from Zhou Ji, but Zhou Ji always pretended not to know, so he could only set his sights on the maids around Zhou Ji.

These maids had served Zhou Ji since childhood, and their families were all in Xiqi.

Through their families, it was easy for Ji Chang to turn these maids, who frequently transmitted intelligence for him.

At this, he took out his mobile phone again, sent a message in the group, and summoned everyone.

Soon, Jiang Ziya, San Yisheng, Nangong Kuo, Ji Fa, Xin Jia, and other high-level officials of Xiqi all rushed over.

Ji Chang's eyes burned, and he said in a deep voice, "News has come from Zhaoge that Zhou... Zhou Ji has died. I just performed a divination using the Book of Changes, and the result is the same. You have all seen the short video I sent to the group."

Jiang Ziya and the others nodded upon hearing this.

Jiang Ziya stroked his beard and said, "Calculating the time, today is exactly the forty-ninth day. Marquis, since Zhou Ji has died, we should also take action. Send someone to Zhaoge and say we are entering the palace to deliver local specialties to Zhou Ji.

If we are not allowed, we will take the opportunity to make trouble.

If we are allowed, then we will question Zhou Ji's death and demand an explanation from Yin Shang."

Generally speaking, marriage is the foundation of an alliance between two sides.

If even the marriage partner is gone, or even plotted against, the other side will naturally mobilize troops to question them.

As for sending local specialties, this was an annual custom.

………

Zhaoge.

Shang Rong, Bi Gan, and others gathered, frowning one after another.

Mei Bo asked in a deep voice, "Prime Minister, Imperial Uncle, what exactly is going on? Why has the Great King avoided seeing us for these three days? Could something have happened in the palace?"

"Yes, yes, the Great King has always been diligent in government, yet he has refused to see us for three consecutive days; what exactly is going on?"

Others echoed one after another.

Everyone looked at Shang Rong, because Shang Rong's daughter, Shang Qingjun, was the Virtuous Consort, and now everyone had mobile phones, so passing a message was simply too convenient.

Shang Rong shook his head and sighed, "I have also sent a message to ask, but Qingjun just told me not to ask. I fear something big has happened in the palace, otherwise, the Great King would not have avoided seeing us for three days."

Hearing this, everyone's hearts sank.

In their impression, Yin Qi was a diligent person, working almost without rest all year round.

To not appear for three days, one didn't need to guess to know something big had happened.

Yang Ren thought for a moment and said to Bi Gan, "Imperial Uncle, why don't you enter the palace?"

"Good!"

Bi Gan thought for a moment and nodded solemnly.

Among those present, he was the most suitable.

He was not only a high-ranking official of the court and one of the three giants, but also Yin Qi's own uncle.

……

The Imperial Palace.

Kunning Hall.

Knock! Knock!

A crisp knocking sound rang out, followed by Princess Longji's voice, "Yin Lang, Imperial Uncle Bi Gan requests an audience; also, Xiqi has sent an envoy, saying they want to see the Empress."

"Good, I know."

Yin Qi responded to the outside and turned to say, "My lady, for the next few days, I must wrong you first."

"This concubine understands."

Zhou Ji nodded. She said this and lay back down.

Regarding how to deal with Ji Chang, Yin Qi had already told her everything, and she felt very complicated in her heart; on one hand, she hated Ji Chang for being so ruthless, but on the other hand, she had inexplicable attachments.

No matter what, that was her father; could she really watch him be ruined?

If it were Feng Yanran, or Huang Feiyan, they might truly have secretly tipped him off, but Zhou Ji saw it clearly, and this was also Yin Qi's final test for her.

If she tipped him off, it meant her heart was with Xiqi.

Although Yin Qi might not do anything to her afterward due to his tolerance, he would definitely treat her like a stranger, just like Xiao Yanzhi, who, although not thrown into the cold palace, was effectively the same as being thrown into the cold palace.

If she did not tip him off, then she would still be that Zhou Ji, that Empress.

She was a smart person and knew how to choose.

Although her father was important, her father had betrayed her first, and the one who had accompanied her through this life was Yin Qi.

Her husband was the most important person in her life.

Creak.

Yin Qi opened the door, having returned to his cold and composed state.

Princess Longji, Huang Feiyan, Feng Yanran, and Shang Qingjun all looked at Yin Qi with concern; waiting for three days had made them worried.

"Come here!"

Yin Qi looked at the four women and shouted outside.

"Great King!"

Soon, four personal guards rushed over quickly.

Yin Qi said, "You guard here; without my order, no one is allowed to enter."

"Yes, Great King."

The four guards agreed, their expressions solemn.

Only then did Yin Qi look at the four women, Princess Longji, and said, "You all go back first; don't guard here. I still have government affairs to handle, so I will leave first."

Without waiting for their response, he strode away.

Princess Longji and the four women wanted to say something but stopped, and all the words they had in their hearts turned into a sigh.

……

Zichen Hall.

"Great King."

Bi Gan bowed.

Looking at the expressionless Yin Qi, he could vaguely feel a sense of sorrow.

Yin Qi said, "Imperial Uncle, no need for formalities. These past few days, I have made everyone worry, but something happened in the palace, and I fear I have no heart for government affairs; you handle the military and political matters yourselves for now."

Bi Gan's heart skipped a beat, and he hurriedly asked, "Great King, what exactly happened?"

"Imperial Uncle, don't ask."

Yin Qi shook his head and said, "By the way, Xiqi has sent an envoy; you receive

Yin Qi feigned shock and hurriedly took out his mobile phone to check.

After a long while, he put down the phone and said in a deep voice: "Block the news; this matter must absolutely not get out. I will first notify the Prime Minister and the Second Young Master to discuss how to handle this."

……

Over a hundred miles west of Sishui Pass, there is a small town called You City. Because it is the first small city one encounters when heading west out of Yin Shang, commerce here is quite prosperous.

But today, it has become a massive military camp.

In order to transport troops quickly, Jiang Ziya had long ago let Yin Qi build a large number of teleportation arrays here.

He led the vanguard army and arrived first.

Although You City was equipped with over a hundred teleportation arrays, it would take at least half a month to transport all six million troops. However, Jiang Ziya was not in a hurry, and he did not even let Taiyi Zhenren take action to break the pass.

Because he knew that defeating Shang was not the goal; completing the Investiture of the Gods was the most important thing.

If the Jie Sect did not accept the challenge, even if he wiped out Yin Shang, his mission for descending the mountain would not be complete. Therefore, he naturally would not be in a rush to send troops; he needed to continuously exert pressure on Yin Shang to invite Jie Sect disciples as reinforcements.

But within this, there must be a limit.

He could not start a decisive battle with the Jie Sect right away; he needed to besiege a point to strike at reinforcements, thereby consuming the Jie Sect's strength.

After arriving at You City, he had just set up the commander's tent when he received a call from Yin Qi and instantly cried out in alarm: "What? The Marquis is stunned? How could this happen... short video, Zhou Ji is not dead..." (End of chapter)