A life of two souls traveling through time

Chapter 161 The Night is Long and Dreams Are More

In the study of the Lu Mansion, Prime Minister Lu Xiang fell into deep thought after listening to the little prince Ying Yan's detailed account of what happened in the palace yesterday.

Although he was distressed by His Majesty's current stupidity and arrogance, and his obsession with beauty, he had to be cautious about Prince Xian's rebellion. If it was just that Concubine Xue who was arrogant and reckless and fabricated it out of thin air, he could have worked with the Crown Prince to prove Prince Xian's innocence. He was afraid that there would be trouble without smoke, and Prince Xian really had the intention of rebelling.

After hearing that King Xian, who was well-read in the books of sages and a gentleman of great elegance, had become decadent and indulged in wine and women all day long, Lu Xiang was shocked but could not help but sigh at how fast King Xian had changed. Now that there were reports of rebellion again, he no longer dared to make any guarantees for King Xian easily.

"Prime Minister, please say something!" When Crown Prince Yingyan saw that Prime Minister Lu was just staring out the window in a daze and remained silent, he became even more anxious.

"Your Highness, this matter needs to be handled with caution..." Lu Xiang turned back to look at the little prince and tried to comfort him patiently, but before he could finish his words, he was interrupted by the prince anxiously:

"The crime of treason is no small matter. Throughout history, those who died for this crime have been bloodied and horrible to watch. I cannot watch my uncle being framed like this!"

"Then what can the Crown Prince do? If His Majesty could listen to His Majesty's advice, you wouldn't have rushed to my Lu Mansion." After all, the Crown Prince is still young, and it is understandable that he loses his temper when encountering a little thing. So Lu Xiang saw that the other party was choked for a moment after his sharp words, so he tried to comfort him again: "Your Highness, please be patient. This matter really shouldn't be based on only the one-sided words of Concubine Xue, but now His Majesty has believed it, and we don't have any evidence to exonerate the King of Xian at this time. At present, we can only let the King of Xian come out to defend himself."

"Even you, the Prime Minister, don't trust the Emperor's uncle anymore?" Ying Yan looked at the old Prime Minister whom he had always respected with red eyes, feeling powerless.

“Your Highness, not everyone can remain true to their original aspirations after experiencing hardships and setbacks. In just a few months, Your Highness must have heard about the changes in Prince Xian. This time, I dare not speculate about Prince Xian at will, but whether the conspiracy to treason is groundless still needs to be verified. Before that, Prince Xian must come back to explain.” Lu Xiang came to the little prince Ying Yan with a solemn expression, bowed respectfully, and sighed.

"No, I don't believe it. I don't believe that my uncle would rebel." Ying Yan took a few steps back in disappointment, and fell into a chair, shaking his head and talking to himself as tears as big as beans fell down. From childhood to adulthood, the person he admired most was not his father, but his uncle who accompanied him to study and practice calligraphy every day and taught him the way of being a king.

In Fengling City, there are lush trees in the palace of Xian Wang, and the summer breeze is blowing gently. Two elegant young men are playing chess in the pavilion. One is dressed in white clothes as white as snow, and he is as elegant as a poem despite his young age; the other is dressed in elegant blue clothes, as noble as jade, but there is a bit of ambition in his bright eyes.

"When did your people discover me?" Jiuyi suddenly asked curiously. He was traveling alone and had disguised himself halfway. He thought he was very low-key, but he didn't expect that he would be kidnapped when he changed back into white clothes and was about to visit King Xian in Fengling City.

"Someone will follow you when you leave Xuan'an City." Li Xu said with a gentle smile.

"So, every move of Xuan'an City is under your control?" Jiuyi's heart trembled. Is this still the King Xian he knew? Or is this the brother Lixu in Luoying's eyes?

"There is no way to place spies except in the imperial palace, but many ministers in the court have contacted me secretly. Therefore, I will be able to know about any move Ning Xi makes." Li Xu sighed as if he was used to it.

"Now, Xiyue Kingdom and Jingsong Kingdom are both eyeing Lang Kingdom covetously. Does King Xian want them to reap the benefits?" Jiuyi frowned and asked worriedly.

Although he also thought that Li Xu was more suitable to be the emperor of Lang State than Ning Xi, Lang State always emphasized the order of seniority. Although Ning Xi had caused many dissatisfaction among the ministers, he was the eldest son of the previous emperor and the legitimate heir to the throne. If Li Xu tried to seize power, he would subvert the order and cause dissatisfaction and even opposition from the conservatives. This would inevitably lead to chaos in Lang State. At that time, other countries would sit on the sidelines and watch the civil war in Lang State. When Ning Xi and Li Xu were both defeated and Lang State was exhausted, they would take the opportunity to invade.

"So I'm waiting, waiting for an opportunity that's favorable to me, waiting for the moment when Ning Xi loses all the support of the people." Li Xu placed the black chess piece in his hand on the chessboard as if he had it planned out, and said with a smile.

"Even if Ning Xi has lost the support of the people, there is still Crown Prince Ying Yan. Where will King Xian put him?" Jiuyi asked nervously with his eyes gradually turning cold.

Li Xu's smile froze, and after a while, he said calmly: "He is still young and cannot shoulder this great task."

Jiuyi didn't say anything else, but just sighed helplessly.

"Why is Jiuyi sighing? Ning Xi is obsessed with beauty, favors villains, bullies his fellow countrymen, and is so arrogant that he forced three dynasties' elders to death. Are you sighing for such a ruthless and immoral monarch?" Hearing Jiuyi sigh, Li Xu couldn't help but frown and said sarcastically.

"I just feel sorry for Luoying and Yingyan. How innocent are they? Yet they have to watch their closest people turn against each other." Jiuyi shook his head and continued to sigh.

Li Xu's hand holding the black chess piece stopped in mid-air, a trace of pity flashed in his eyes, but it was quickly swallowed up by ambition. He could not turn back now that he had come to this point.

"Your Highness, there is a letter from Xuan'an City." At this time, the butler Hua Lan walked lightly to the outside of the pavilion and said respectfully to Li Xu.

"I have lost. Let's stop here for today." Li Xu took a look at his black chess pieces that were surrounded by enemies, sighed, and stood up to leave.

Jiuyi didn't care about King Xian's departure, but looked at the black chess pieces on the chessboard thoughtfully.

"Whose letter is it?" Li Xu asked after taking the letter handed over by the housekeeper when he arrived in the study.

"The chief eunuch, Eunuch Lu."

"Eunuch Lu?" Li Xu was surprised and quickly opened the letter to read.

When my father was alive, Eunuch Lu was on good terms with me. However, since Ning Xi ascended the throne, in order to avoid suspicion, they have each performed their duties and no longer have a private relationship. Today, Eunuch Lu suddenly contacted me, it must be something important.

"What?" Li Xu, looking at the letter, suddenly exclaimed again and his face changed drastically.

"Your Highness, what happened?" Butler Hua Lan asked hurriedly upon seeing this.

"As expected, the longer the night, the more dreams you have. Ning Xi found out about our recruitment of soldiers in Fengling City. He has ordered me to return to Beijing alone. The imperial edict should arrive tomorrow. Fortunately, Eunuch Lu wrote to me in advance." Li Xu handed the letter to Hua Lan and sighed coldly.

"What should we do now? The prince must not return to Beijing alone. This is obviously a trap set by Emperor Lang!" Hua Lan couldn't help but worry when he heard this.

"Go and call Lord Qian, Lord Yi and General Zheng as soon as possible." Li Xu calmed down and remained calm. He must not lose his composure at this moment.