I am the villain in the book

A quarter of an hour later, the eight people, including Li Kan, had read the letters once, and their expressions had already become shocked, whether sincerely or feigned.

“Your… Your Majesty, the Liu family actually…”

The speaker was of the same rank as Li Kan, holding the official title of Vice Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, named Cen Jian'an.

These details are not important. What is important is that he is also a member of the Same Boat Society.

“Minister Cen.”

Ning Yongnian turned his gaze to him and casually asked, “What are your thoughts?”

“Your Majesty, I… I dare not make a rash judgment on this matter!”

Without saying a word, Cen Jian'an knelt down, making it clear that he did not want to offend anyone.

Ning Yongnian raised his eyes and swept over the others one by one. Seeing that the remaining seven people had similar expressions, he couldn't help but sigh softly after a moment of silence.

“Alas, my ministers, do you know why I summoned you to discuss this matter?”

“This…”

Everyone actually knew the answer to this question, but no one answered.

However, Ning Yongnian was not angry, but smiled and said:

“You people are all good at playing dumb when you know perfectly well.”

“Forget it. If you don't want to speak, I will speak for you.”

“Now, the court is filled with officials surnamed Liu or Wei. To be honest, I don't trust them.”

“Yes, I can indeed make all the decisions myself.”

“But there are times when I can't understand or see things clearly.”

“That's why I want to hear what you think.”

“And if you all don't speak, then I will truly be alone.”

“…”

Although these words were spoken in a joking tone, they contained some self-deprecation and helplessness.

Cen Jian'an and the other seven looked at each other. After a long while, Li Kan took a step forward, took a deep breath, and bowed, saying:

“Your Majesty!”

Although he didn't offer any constructive suggestions, Li Kan's words at least made his attitude clear.

After hearing this, Ning Yongnian pondered for a moment, then suddenly asked:

“What if these letters are fake?”

“Fake?”

Li Kan was stunned for a moment, and after thinking for a while, he replied, “Your Majesty, I don't think they would be fake.”

“The Xu family now occupies Ji Province, and the Great Feng has also launched an attack in Yuan Province.”

“The longer the Liu and Wei families fight, the longer the world will be in chaos, which will be more beneficial to the Xu family.”

“They have no reason to frame the Liu family at this time.”

The candles in the Shiqu Pavilion were brightly lit, reflecting Li Kan's awe-inspiring face.

“Hmm.”

Ning Yongnian nodded slightly, seemingly moved by Li Kan's explanation.

At this moment, Cen Jian'an, who had just stood up from the ground, also spoke:

“Your Majesty, I think whether this matter is true or false is actually no longer important.”

“Oh?”

Ning Yongnian's expression froze: “What do you mean by this?”

“Your Majesty…”

Cen Jian'an lowered his head very low, his voice was not loud, but it was sincere enough: “Now, our Great Ning has internal rebels who have not been pacified, and strong enemies are attacking from the outside. At such a critical moment, the Liu and Wei families are unwilling to stop, and they are still fighting endlessly in and out of the court.”

“If this continues, how can officials and commoners alike devote their full strength to quell the rebels and drive out the foreign enemies?!”

“So, regardless of whether the Liu family is truly rebelling, and regardless of who was right or wrong between the Liu and Wei families before, the most important thing right now is to stop the Liu and Wei conflict!”

“Your Majesty, this is what I want to say!”

“…”

Regardless of truth or falsehood, regardless of right or wrong, one of the Liu and Wei families must fall immediately.

Although Cen Jian'an did not explicitly say who the family that should fall was, given the current situation, I'm afraid anyone would know that the answer can only be the Liu family.

“Hmm, Minister Cen is right.”

Ning Yongnian nodded again, then looked at the five people who had not yet expressed their opinions.

“What about you?”

“Say what you think, no need to be evasive.”

“…”

“Reporting to Your Majesty! I think what Lord Li and Lord Cen said are both reasonable!”

“Given the current state of Great Ning, we can no longer allow the Liu and Wei families to continue fighting like this…”

“Perhaps we can first investigate whether the matters in the letters are true…”

“…”

Soon, the remaining five people also expressed their opinions.

Unexpectedly, including the three people who did not belong to the Same Boat Society, although the eight people had different perspectives on the problem and the wording was either clear or vague.

But everyone's attitude was surprisingly consistent.

That is—the Liu family should be finished.

It is hard to say what Ning Yongnian thought about this result, but his expression did not reveal anything.

“My ministers, you may return for now. I will think about this matter carefully.”

“…”

Li Kan and the others exchanged glances, and without saying anything more, bowed and withdrew from the Shiqu Pavilion.

The hall was quiet for a moment, until Ning Yongnian looked at Li Huaizhong, who had appeared out of nowhere, and casually asked:

“Old Li, do you think what they said makes sense?”

“Your Majesty, this old servant really doesn't know.”

Li Huaizhong replied softly: “But since all the adults think so…”

“What? Could it be that they colluded in advance?”

Ning Yongnian interrupted, but quickly laughed and denied himself: “Haha, just pretend I didn't say that.”

“To be able to simultaneously recruit these eight people for my own use… If there really is someone with such extraordinary abilities, then I might as well just hand over the throne.”

Although it was a joke, it was also Ning Yongnian's true thoughts at the moment.

If he had only met with one person tonight, he might have suspected that this person was colluding with the Wei family.

But when eight important ministers who had always remained neutral had the same attitude, then this doubt no longer existed.

Then…

“Old Li.”

After a long while, Ning Yongnian finally made up his mind.

“Summon Wei Xianzhi to the palace.”

Two hours later.

When Wei Xianzhi walked out of the Shiqu Pavilion, he had one more item on him than when he came.

A token engraved with the word “Forbidden.”

Although most of the Imperial Guards are now in Ji Province, nearly ten thousand people still remain in the capital.

More importantly, there are also Flower Plume Guards incorporated from the Hanging Mirror Division.

Therefore, what Ning Yongnian gave Wei Xianzhi was not just the authority to mobilize the Imperial Guards, but also a “sword of authority.”

A sword of authority that could behead the entire Liu family.

“…”

Walking out of the palace quickly, Wei Xianzhi calmly bent down and got into the carriage.

In fact, when Li Huaizhong went to the Wei residence to summon him to the palace, he knew that Wei Changtian's plan had succeeded.

Two days.

Two days later, only one of the three major surnames of Great Ning would remain.

That is “Wei.”

Half a year ago, Wei Xianzhi would never have imagined that this day would come so quickly, as if there was a giant hand in the dark pushing everything to accelerate, accelerate, and accelerate again.

Speaking of which, if we were to find a starting point for all these changes, when would it be?

The Spring Dragon Poetry Society?

Changtian killed Liu Yuanshan?

It seems to be a little earlier…

For some reason, a picture suddenly popped into Wei Xianzhi's mind, and it was completely out of instinct that it seemed that from that moment on, everything became different.

It was near dusk, and he was drinking tea with Qin Caizhen in the lakeside pavilion.

Changtian suddenly ran over, first unusually said “Thank you” to his mother, and then said softly in a very restrained manner:

“Dad, I want to kill someone.”

That's right, my son was indeed a little abnormal that day.

The appearance of wanting to say something but hesitating, as if he had never done such a thing as killing someone before.