Rebirth As a Fatuous and Self-indulgent Ruler

Liu Suifeng curled his lips. “Considerate for him.”

“Of course, my master is considerate,” Ying Feng said naturally.

Liu Suifeng couldn’t help rolling his eyes when he heard this. “You adore your master with your life, don’t you?”

Ying Feng didn’t respond.

Liu Suifeng waved his hand. “Okay, you can go now. Just leave this place.”

Ying Feng nodded and left Liu Suifeng silently…

The Third Prince was assassinated and died afterward.

The news soon spread throughout the Imperial City.

At that time, Long and Shi had also returned to their room to rest.

Although it was afternoon, and they didn’t even have dinner yet.

Long took the lead with a smile, “I didn’t expect Ying Feng to seize the opportunity so well.”

Shi looked up at him. “With your excellent arrangement, coupled with the good timing, he could naturally seize the opportunity.”

As the leader of the Shadow Guardians, Ying Feng was naturally extraordinary.

Long laughed, showing exactly how he was proud of his subordinate.

Shi rolled his eyes. “You are very proud of that?”

Long coughed and said righteously, “Of course not, Qingzhou, why should I?”

Shi glanced at him faintly. “Now that the plan is successfully implemented, a chaos in the Imperial City is expecting.”

“Isn’t it?” Long stroked his chin, “What do you think the officials who used to take refuge in the Second and Third Princes would do?”

“They only have two choices,” Shi pointed out.

“Not necessarily.” Long smiled. “Two sons died, and there is another son who Lord Zhou really favors. So, now is the time to push Zhou Suye out.”

Shi paused, pondered for a moment, and nodded. “Indeed, it’s the right time.”

“However, even if Lord Zhou himself wants these sons to become cannon fodder, he probably only wants to do it himself, or lead them to kill each other. Now that they are killed by the outsiders, he would definitely be furious.”

Shi looked at him. “So, what do you think he would do?”

“Push Zhou Suye out and have him investigate the case in a place like the Ministry of Punishments so that he may find the murderers. The result doesn’t matter actually. If he finds the murderers later, of course, he will be able to give a warning to the ones behind this as well as expand his influence and reputation through this; but if he fails, he will fake one so that he could earn his reputation and revenge his brothers at the same time. In this way, he will soon find his position in court. Also, if I’m right, Lord Zhou will transfer most of the Second and the Third Princes’ powers to Zhou Suye. Meanwhile, he will weaken the power of the Crown Prince but support Fang Shuoyang in the meantime so that they can form a power tripod.”

Shi was silent.

Long continued, “However, that’s just how it seems to be. In fact, Fang Shuoyang and Zhou Suye, the later ones, are definitely not as powerful as the Crown Prince who has been operated on this for many years. Well, does Lord Zhou really know about the Crown Prince’s temperament? Of course he does. So, the final result should be that Fang Shuoyang and Zhou Suye will be forced to band together under the pressure of the Crown Prince.”

Shi’s gaze flickered slightly. “Band together…”

“Exactly. And the two will do it under Lord Zhou’s nose. What’s more? Lord Zhou will even help them secretly.

The Crown Prince is destined to be nothing but cannon fodder, but in Lord Zhou’s heart, after he eliminates the Crown Prince, he would keep Fang Shuoyang until the end to help sharpen Zhou Suye’s growth. During this process, Zhou Suye will have his own team. In the end, when Zhou Suye really grows up, it will be the end of Fang Shuoyang, the last son of Lord Zhou.”

Shi took a deep breath. “What you said almost showed me what will happen next.”

“Yeah, Qingzhou. I’ll tell you what, I’m also confident that Fang Shuoyang will be the one who leads the queue during the Worship Ceremony in Western mountain. After all, even if Zhou Suye is pushed out right after this incident and it is very likely that he will catch the murderers before the ceremony, he is too inexperienced to get this chance. Fang Shuoyang, on the contrary, has done his job remarkably recently, so he will get the position.”

Shi sneered upon hearing this. “I assume it’s not because of his remarkable performance, is it?”

“You got me.” Long stroked his nose and smiled. “Lord Zhou will do this only because he wants the Crown Prince to hold hatred against Fang Shuoyang, instead of Zhou Suye, who is too weak to fight right now.”

“Lord Zhou really takes great troubles for Zhou Suye,” Shi jeered.

“Yes, here is something he would never have foreseen. Even if Fang Shuoyang would be resented by the Crown Prince because of the opportunity Lord Zhou offered… Fang Shuoyang could still do a lot. For example, make all the people in the Imperial City believe that Fang Shuoyang himself is the reincarnation of a real dragon!”

“Huh?” Shi blinked. “What do you mean?”

“The Worship Ceremony really matters in this country. According to my study on the history of the Eastern Darkness, during the Grand Progenitor’s reign…” Long took out a roll of bamboo slips as he spoke.

Shi took it over. It recorded the day when the Grand Progenitor succeeded to the throne in the Worship Ceremony in Western mountain, the mascot of their country appeared.

There was even a real dragon flashing in the sky.

The weather was fine all year round.

And the Grand Progenitor’s prestige was very high.

Shi narrowed his eyes. “You want to recur what he had done before?”

“Uh-huh.” Long nodded. “We should at least let Lord Zhou know what it feels like when he goes out for wool but comes home shorn, don’t you think so?”

Shi frowned slightly. “That’s a good idea indeed, but I’m afraid it’s too difficult to implement.”

Long smiled. “Among the small potatoes we have bribed, there are exactly three people that can be used.”

Shi’s heart jumped fiercely. “Is it a coincidence or did you think of this a long time ago?”

Long touched his nose. “In fact, our original plan was too crude at the time. We can easily kill all the royal family members during the Worship Ceremony, or follow Fang Shuoyang in and kill them. Although they would be killed in either way, in this case, the Eastern Darkness will be in chaos. Hmm… However, if it’s chaos here, it doesn’t mean no one will trouble us later. They may not turn against us within a few years because they have their own troubles to deal with, but after a long time… the superior ones surely won’t be easy to control, right? In addition, the Northern has been bothering Tianlong Dynasty all this time. Although your father is on guard, the generals in our Tianlong Dynasty are too young to cut the mustard independently for the time being. Therefore, the more we root out our threats in the Eastern Darkness, the better.”

Shi nodded. “So, after I arrived, you changed the following plan and intended to play it nice and easy, right?”

“Yes.” Long smiled. “We can’t really put Fang Shuoyang in danger, right? So, we should wipe out some threats for him. Meanwhile, he should succeed the throne in a rightful way. Well, at least the civilians in the Eastern Darkness should find no flaw on his way to the throne!”

Shi paused, and then suddenly said, “Lian Qingyang is dead.”

“Huh?” Long blinked. “When did this happen?”

“Five days ago.”

“Huh.” Long blinked again as if he was shocked. “Why don’t I know that?”

“I intercepted it,” Shi said lightly.

“Why?” Long was puzzled.

Shi replied with a faint smile, “I wondered when you would think of him.”

Long blinked innocently. “Why should I think of him? Besides, Qingzhou, he has never been a problem, right?”

Shi smiled faintly upon hearing this. “You are right. He has never been a problem.”

“Huh, huh,” Long smirked and then held Shi in his arms, “Qingzhou, did you give the order to kill him?”

“I only ordered that if he has any contact with the Eastern Darkness, the Shadow Guards are free to kill him directly whether this is any evidence.”

“Has he been in contact with anyone in this country?”

“Yeah. He worked for the Third Prince.”

“The Third Prince… now is dead,” Long sighed.

Shi agreed faintly.

Long kissed Shi’s cheek. “Forget it. Anyway, Qingzhou, we still have the following plans to make.”