Villain Lady

"I understand." Yang Xian cupped his hands then looked at the officials. "Please excuse me, I have to go."

"It's fine, Strategist Yang."

"Don't make His Majesty wait."

They all exchanged some pleasantries as they watched Yang Xian entered the inner palace with the eunuch.

Prime Minister Xie stroke his lower chin. He glanced at Prime Minister Wei, who was standing not far from him. "Who do you think the Emperor will place at the throne?"

Prime Minister Wei only sent a cold look. The Emperor was originally unconscious for days, but he regained his consciousness yesterday. It was hard to say how his current condition was, but the physicians were still skeptical over his condition.

"You're not going to win this battle, Prime Minister Xie."

"You shouldn't be so confident before it's clear who the winner is," Prime Minister Xie retorted.

"Heh."

The two prime ministers sent each other cold glare. Ever since the death of the second prince, there were more ministers who adopted neutral stance. Many of them were unwilling to be pulled to the battle of the officials and chose to stay far away. They simply did their duties.

However, the two prime ministers were at the eye of the storm. Prime Minister Xie was very supportive of Prince Ji Tian while Prime Minister Wei was very supportive with Prince Ji Shu. It could be said that their support was also influenced of their children as Prime Minister Xie's brother's daughter was Prince Ji Tian's wife. On the other hand, Prime Minister Wei's first daughter was Prince Ji Shu's wife.

At first, the wanted to pair Prime Minister Xie's first daughter, Xie Feng, with the first prince. But because of the difference in age, they chose to settle with another girl who still had some relation with him.

With that, it was awfully clear that the two prime ministers will never meet eye to eye.

While the two prime ministers were clashing, Yang Xian was following the corridor to head inside. She was looking to a distance and noticed that there were only a few maidservants and eunuch was staying in the large inner palace.

'The Emperor is keeping the number of people who can see him as low as possible.'

Yang Xian didn't know the reason, but he could speculate. There were several possibilities as to why the Emperor didn't want to meet with other people.

"Your Majesty, Prince Ji Sheng's right hand, Strategist Yang is here."

"Come in."

Yang Xian's eyes narrowed when he heard the voice. It was not the voice of the Emperor but the Imperial physician. Was the Emperor's condition so bad that he was unable to speak?

As the door slowly opened, smell of herbs was carried out. It was pungent and filled with many mixed herbs. Yang Xian furrowed his brows as he looked at the room's overall condition. It didn't look that good since the smell of medicine was so strong. It was as if the Emperor could only live by relying on medicine.

His line of sight fell on the bed. The Emperor was lying there with the Imperial Physician standing not far from him.

"Strategist Yang."

"Yang Xian greets His Majesty," Yang Xian gave his formal greetings.

"Stand up," the Imperial Physician said while looking at the Emperor's lips. "Thank you for coming here, Strategist Yang."

Yang Xian stood up and watched their interaction. With his martial arts, he could faintly sense the Emperor was trying hard to move his lips and spoke to the Imperial Physician, who would relay his message to Yang Xian.

"I have a task for you, Yang Xian."

"Please speak, Your Majesty, I'll do my best to fulfill it."

The Emperor moved his hand as his finger pointed to the table. Following what he pointed at, Yang Xian could see a scroll on the table.

"Your Majesty, that…"

"Give it to Ji Sheng," the Imperial Physician said while looking at the Emperor's lips. "He'll understand."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"You won't be able to leave the capital city without arousing suspicion, so stay here and act."

The Emperor stopped speaking by this time. He was looking at the ceiling of his room and closed his eyes. Even though he was trying his hardest to keep his rein on the throne, the day still came when he needed to face his son trying to kill him to get the throne.

As for who it would be… he didn't know.

Either one could have a chance to kill him, yet he couldn't possibly change his decision for the heir so suddenly.

Yang Xian took the scroll and kept it inside his robe. It was quite small, but he could guess that the content must be an Imperial Edict. As for what the content was, he didn't want to peek inside before it was the time for Prince Ji Sheng to see it by himself.

"Please rest, Your Majesty."

"You may leave," the Imperial Physician said. He looked at the Emperor and noticed that the Emperor had fallen asleep, so he turned his head to look at Yang Xian. "Strategist Yang, it wouldn't be peaceful here. If it's possible you should stay as low as possible."

"No matter how low I tried to be, there will be people aiming for my head. Thank you for your warning, Imperial Physician."

"I wish the best of you."

Yang Xian cupped his hand and then turned around. His robe was quite thick since it was nearing Winter, so it was easy for him to hide the scroll. However, this meant that he needed to be careful to make sure that he never revealed it to anyone.

Looking at the condition of the Emperor, Yang Xian knew that the Emperor would die soon. When it truly happens, all hell would break loose.

Brutal war would surely ensue in Han Shi Kingdom all in the pursuit of power.

"Strategist Yang, please follow me."

Yang Xian nodded and followed the eunuch. The room was sound proofed, so he knew that the only one who knew the conversation just now was the Imperial Physician. Still, he was worried that things might not be going that smoothly.