Crown Prince's Residence, Front Courtyard Study.
A series of hurried footsteps came from the courtyard. Several officials in the Crown Prince's faction immediately stood up and stared at the door.
Very quickly, the thick cotton curtain was lifted, and a gust of cold wind quickly entered from the outside, causing everyone to shiver from the cold.
It was Gu Cangping. He stomped his feet and shook off the snow on his shoulders, rubbed his hands and huffed.
Xiao Yueping hurried forward and took off his cloak, then handed it to a servant in the study to hang.
Xiao Yueping stared at Gu Cangping and asked anxiously, "What's the situation outside?"
Gu Cangping took a cup of hot tea from Ning Tongyi and drank it all in one gulp. He sighed. "Chaos, it's all chaos!"
Ning Tongyi quickly asked, "How is His Majesty?"
Gu Cangping shook his head. "I visited Imperial Physician Fang. His family said he has not returned for three days. The same goes for the other imperial physicians. They should all be serving His Majesty."
Ning Tongyi stomped his feet. "These quacks are harming the country!
They deserve to die! "
Gu Cangping waved his hand. "That's not the worst part. The worst part is that Princess Zhao Feiyue is bewitched. She insisted that Li Chengfeng investigate this case!
Sigh! "
Xiao Yueping was born a commoner. He had relied on his own abilities to climb to where he was today.
That was why he had a strong sense of enmity and disgust towards Li Chengfeng, who seemed to have a strong background. He sneered, "Hmph, this is the first case of rebellion in the country. Her Highness is too reckless, she actually let …"
"Be careful with your words!"
A low but authoritative voice came from the side. It was the leader of the scholars, Zhang Datong. He suddenly opened his eyes and glanced at Xiao Yueping sternly.
Xiao Yueping immediately bowed and took half a step back to show respect.
As the leader of the scholars, Zhang Datong was not only the leader of the Crown Prince's faction but also their spiritual pillar. He sat up slightly and said sternly, "Zhenren Li is now one of us. We should try our best to unite everyone that can be united and not destroy ourselves!"
Xiao Yueping bowed slightly and said in a low voice, "Yes, Grand Tutor is right!"
Zhang Datong said to Gu Cangping in a low voice, "Can you contact His Highness?
Who's in charge over there? "
Gu Cangping smiled bitterly and said, "No, I don't know who is in charge now. It looks like a group of dragons without a leader. The people on the Fourth Prince's side have spontaneously grouped up and attacked us."
Ning Tongyi, who had been silent the whole time, sneered, "Then you underestimate His Highness. He definitely has a way to send the news out from inside!
Although His Highness spends his days fooling around and neglecting his proper duties, he is actually very powerful!
His eyes and ears are everywhere in the Divine Capital, and his lackeys are everywhere. How can a mere Winter Palace lock him up? "
Zhang Datong sighed and said, "If that's the case, then this situation will be difficult to resolve. Sigh … with just this impeachment, the situation has completely gone out of control. Both sides are attacking each other like fire and water, and it's like a factional war. In such a situation … I'm afraid it's a sign of the country's demise!"
Ning Tongyi asked, "Grand Tutor, what should we do now?"
Zhang Datong was silent for a while before saying, "First, immediately think of a way to contact the Crown Prince. At the very least, contact the eunuchs and palace maids who are by his side. If anything happens, immediately rescue the Crown Prince!"
Xiao Yueping immediately said, "Just leave this matter to me."
Zhang Datong nodded and said, "Secondly, immediately put pressure on the Princess and ask her to urge Zhenren Li to solve the case quickly. No matter what method he uses, he must solve the case as soon as possible and clear the suspicion on the Crown Prince!"
Gu Cangping nodded and said, "I'll handle this matter!"
Zhang Datong looked at Ning Tongyi and said, "Immediately contact the Divine Arms Camp, Divine Arms Camp, and Divine Martial Camp around the capital. All the people we've planted in them over the years must be fully mobilized now. If anything happens, immediately mobilize the troops to rescue the Emperor!"
Ning Tongyi frowned. He knew that this was tantamount to treason, but in the current situation, the arrow on the bowstring had to be fired. He cupped his hands and said, "Yes, Grand Tutor!"
Zhang Datong glanced at them and said, "The current situation is dangerous. It's time to help each other and weather the storm together. I don't want to hear any disunity or unfriendliness here. Only by being united can we defeat the rebels, cleanse the city, and return the world to a truly prosperous and peaceful era!"
The others immediately put aside their prejudices and cupped their hands to each other, saying, "Everyone, let's advance together!"
…
After a short meeting between the officials of the Crown Prince's faction, the leaders went their separate ways. Zhao Feiyue immediately felt the pressure and persuasion from Gu Cangping's side.
Zhao Feiyue naturally knew where the entire case was stuck.
Just as what Little Bell had said, the Divine Capital had now become a burning barrel of incense. Everyone knew that the fuse in the barrel of incense had been ignited, and the flames sent out sparks and rapidly burned into the barrel of incense. However, everyone in the surroundings was fighting and killing each other. They knew that when the flames continued to burn, they would all be blasted away. However, none of them could stop. It was because they had lost the control of the King, the Crown Prince, and the Fourth Prince. The three most important influences in the capital had completely lost control, and there was no one who could step out to make them stop.
Did they want to stop?
Yes, they all wanted to stop because all of them knew that they would be finished if they continued like this. However, they didn't dare to stop because they suspected that once they stopped, the other party would immediately kill them and beat them to death while they were down!
Sometimes, the fights in the bureaucracy were much more brutal than in the cultivation world!
The fights in the cultivation world would usually only result in the destruction of a cultivator's body and soul, or a sect being destroyed. However, most of these fights did not involve family members. There were only a few rare cases where a sect would be uprooted in order to eliminate the weeds by the roots. However, most of the time, the fight would end after all the cultivators were eliminated.
However, the fights in the bureaucracy were different. Once one lost, one's entire family would be implicated. If it was light, one would be exiled to jail. If it was heavy, one's entire family would be executed. Such incidents were not rare in history!
Under such rules of the game, who would dare to be lenient?
Who would dare to hesitate in such a situation?
The unknown, fear, and suspicions pushed everyone to attack the other party crazily. They harbored the mentality that they could destroy the other party before they perished together.
Prime Minister Yang He had requested to meet Emperor Zhao Bairen a few times, but Zhao Bairen had always announced that he was bedridden and could not meet anyone. This rapidly deepened the suspicions between the various factions.
This kind of fear spread like a plague in the Divine Capital, gnawing at the hearts of every rational official, driving them into madness.
At this time, everyone knew that there were only three people who could stop this terrible political disaster. One was Li Chengfeng, who was supervising the investigation of the case, the other was the bedridden Emperor Zhao Bairen, and the last one was the high and mighty Leader of the Cosmos God Cult, Chang Yuan.
However, now that the Emperor had fallen, the Cosmos God Cult could not directly interfere with the internal affairs of the royal family. If they did, the consequences would be even more terrifying.
Therefore, the burden of the entire situation fell on the shoulders of one person.
Li Chengfeng!
Moreover, just as Li Chengfeng expected, as Zheng Qiuyun continued to investigate, a daughter of Xuan Mingliang's family went missing before the execution. Calculating her age, she should be in her early thirties.
Concubine Ming claimed to be in her twenties, but based on the current situation, it was very likely that she was hiding something!
However, if they continued to investigate like this, it would very likely become a mystery without any clues. It would take a lot of time, and what they lacked the most now was time!
Moreover, the most difficult thing was … she had to make Li Chengfeng make a very cruel choice, which was to risk sacrificing Su Yuehan to solve the case and rescue the Crown Prince!
Moreover, she could not even explain to Gu Cangping, who was looking at her eagerly, why she could not let Su Yuehan use an illusion to induce Concubine Ming to reveal the truth.