Star Trace Gate

In the small garden.

Ren Ye thought for a moment and replied, "That's right. I have been secretly investigating the rebels in the court because of the emperor's trust. When I entered Zhangzhou, I was indeed forced to enter the tomb of Concubine Jing."

When Jun An heard this, he stood up immediately, and his pretty face revealed an urgent look: "What did you see after entering the tomb? Are there any... letters or relics left in my mother's coffin?"

"None." Ren also shook his head and asked, "How did Your Highness know that I had entered the tomb of Concubine Jing?"

Jun An's eyes dimmed, and a look of disappointment appeared on her pretty face: "I am favored by my father, and I don't know how many powerful officials are actively trying to curry favor with me. This kind of news is not something too secretive, and I will know it if I want to...!"

Even when she was sad, she didn't forget to show off her favored status. With this kind of IQ and personality, if it weren't for Emperor Wanwu's protection, she would definitely not survive a single episode in the palace.

"The body of my mother?" Jun An asked again in a rare gentle tone, "I heard that her body is missing."

After a brief silence, Ren Ye nodded and said, "Yes. I indeed did not see Concubine Jing's body in the tomb."

"Have you found any clues? Did those tomb robbers provide any important clues?" Jun An asked again.

Ren Ye looked at her quietly without replying.

"Say it, say it!" Jun An asked urgently.

"Princess, the emperor ordered me to investigate this case. I really can't reveal the details of this case." Ren Ye looked at this stupid little girl and couldn't help but ask, "Princess Jun'an, if you want to know the result of this case as soon as possible, you can also tell me some secrets. For example, some abnormal things before your mother passed away, etc.!"

Jun An pursed her red lips and said, "She passed away when I still had no memories. How could I remember anything unusual? And many people in the palace said... that it was my mother who plotted to murder my second brother. I dare not talk about it too much, and I have no way to find out. But these must be slanderous words. I clearly asked my father, and he said in person that my mother was very virtuous and not a wicked person at all."

If she really loved you, she would definitely not tell you. Who could have the heart to tell a silly girl that your mother is not a good person, who tried to kill people and is extremely sinister at heart?

Ren also muttered to himself, and then asked in a guiding way: "Your Highness, Princess, I see that you are also very concerned about this matter, but you have been in the palace for such a long time, haven't you noticed anything unusual?"

"When you mention that, I remember something." Jun An blinked his wise eyes and said with his hands behind his back, "I have inquired privately. Before the Queen passed away, she had actually become insane and talked nonsense all day long."

Ren Ye instantly grasped the point: "You mean, the queen went crazy before she died?!"

"I didn't say that, you said it." Jun An felt that he was very smart and emphasized with a smug look on his face.

The queen went crazy? She didn't die of a normal illness... Then this is a new clue.

Not in vain.

Ren also digested this information and continued to ask, "Anything else?"

"Gone."

"Oh, think about it, this is very important to the case."

"what!"

Jun An suddenly blinked his clever eyes, raised his eyebrows and said, "You dog official, I called you here to ask questions, why are you asking me questions instead?"

"Please watch your words. I'm not your dog official." Ren Ye emphasized unconvinced.

"Then I'll call you the Dog King, okay?" She was like a little child, always fond of bickering and unwilling to admit defeat when she spoke.

Ren was too lazy to argue with her: "If it's gone, Xiao Wang will go first."

"Wait a moment, I...I have two things to tell you, and you are not allowed to tell anyone else." Jun An said with a stern face.

"what's up?"

"If you find any clues about my mother, please send me a message secretly and explain it clearly." Jun An whispered, "When you are free, you must take me to my mother's tomb. I...I will go to take a look first."

"Your Highness, I cannot comply with these two requests. This case involves a rebel faction in the court. I can only report the specific details to the emperor." Ren refused without hesitation: "As for taking you to the imperial concubine's tomb, it is even more impossible. You are a princess, and you leave the capital without permission. What if something goes wrong...!"

"Someone, carry it out."

Jun'an only listened halfway and then put her hands on her waist and shouted.

"What is your highness going to do?" Ren Ye asked curiously.

"You keep quiet."

"Your Highness, why did they carry out so many boxes?"

"Oh, it's so annoying, please stop talking."

"..."

"Your Highness, what exactly do you mean by placing these boxes of star sources in front of me?" Ren Ye waved his sleeves and shouted, "You are wrong. I am not that kind of person."

As the two were talking, six young eunuchs had already carried four large boxes to the center of the courtyard. When they opened them, white light shot up into the sky, and inside were neatly stacked Star Source Stones.

Princess Jun'an looked at Ren Ye, smiling charmingly, "I heard that you are not lustful, nor do you covet power, but you only love money. I will not let you work for nothing. I am rich enough to rival a country, and I can reward you. There are one million star sources in these six boxes. Take them, and if you perform well later, I will give you a big reward."

Ren Ye gritted his teeth and said, "You act like this! It's simply... irresistible!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he quickly walked over to the box, and with just a raise of his hand, he collected a full million star sources into his consciousness space.

Jun An was stunned for two seconds, shook his head and murmured, "I am not wrong to call you Lord Dog. When you saw Xing Yuan, you were no different from that vicious dog looking for food."

"Thank you for the compliment, Your Highness."

"Dog King, since you have accepted the money, you must work for me."

"As long as I find any clues about the imperial concubine, I will inform you in time." Ren Ye clasped his fists and said, "As for exploring the tomb of Concubine Jing again, you have to give me some time. This matter requires careful planning."

"I can give you some time, but if you dare to lie to me! Even if I castrate you here, I can guarantee that you will not be punished by your father." Jun An warned with bared fangs and claws. She felt that she was very fierce, but in Ren Yede's eyes, she was no different from a Chihuahua pretending to be fierce.

"Yes."

"Oh, right." Jun An waved his hand and picked up a wooden box on the table, and said softly: "I heard that my second brother was seriously injured in Sunset Town. Here are some elixirs given to me by the elders of the clan. They are all extremely precious. Please give them to him for me. Let him take good care of himself and don't show off."

"Your Highness, you and the Second Prince have a really good sibling relationship." Ren Ye was very surprised, thinking to himself, damn, these two people, they can still get along so well even though they are fighting so badly.

Jun An smiled slightly: "Of course, my second brother has always loved me very much. I am also thinking about him...!"

What a messed up family, I can't understand it.

Ren also laughed awkwardly and clasped his fists and said, "Okay, I will definitely give it to him!!!"

"Okay, go ahead. I also need to take a bath and change clothes." Jun An stretched out his little hand, pointed at Ren Ye and said, "Remember this, Dog King. In addition to working for your father, you also have to work for me."

"The little king will definitely keep it in mind."

"Oh, you are really greedy for money." Jun An shook his hair and walked away.

……

Ren was inexplicably called to Miaoyin Palace; he was inexplicably ridiculed; and finally, he inexplicably got one million star sources, as well as precious elixirs that Jun An gave to the second prince, but he had to handle them himself.

Damn it, this fortune is unstoppable.

Of course, Ren also felt that this was also related to the stability of his own character. Now the entire royal family of Southern Xinjiang knew that he was extremely greedy for money, so whenever there was any trouble, they would throw money at him.

This feeling is so refreshing...

This time, in addition to money, Ren also found an important clue, which is that the queen went crazy before her death.

This is really strange. Even if the fat dragon is seriously ill and bedridden for more than a year, the mother of a country should not be able to bear this much, right?

What's more, she obviously still had two princes. Even if one of them was really gone, she should comfort herself for the sake of the remaining one, so as not to fall into grief and sink completely...

Why is she crazy?

Ren also wrote this matter down in his little notebook. He always felt that he was very close to the truth, even just one step away from breaking the window paper.

……

After the You hour, the Taiji Hall held a ceremony.

After all the civil and military officials entered the palace, Emperor Wanwu sat on the dragon throne and said with a serious expression: "Today, I will raise an army of 250,000 and march north to attack Shangyu County to avenge the massacre in Sunset Town!"

As soon as these words were spoken, it was like a cannonball hitting the court, causing an uproar in an instant.

Honestly speaking, the ministers who were able to attend the court meeting today, as well as the clan elders of the Wushen Clan, actually knew very well in their hearts and had heard that the emperor was going to use military force against Daqian, and his attitude was very firm, and it was almost impossible for him to change his mind.

However! This group of ministers and clan elders still had a very unified attitude of threatening to die in protest.

Starting from the chief minister of the cabinet, Yao Qingshan, to the officials of the six ministries above the third rank, almost all of them were opposed to the use of military force, and their words were unprecedentedly sharp.

Many people even pointed out directly that if Emperor Wanwu insisted on using military force, he would be a tyrannical and cruel ruler.

Although they protested till their death, they also gave very sufficient reasons.

There are probably three reasons. First, there is a serious bandit problem in southern Xinjiang. Once an uprising is launched, if we cannot win, there may be internal chaos and the country will be unstable.

Secondly, the overall national strength of Southern Xinjiang is much worse than that of Daqian, whether it is the money and grain in the treasury, the stability of various regions, or the military combat capability.

Third, the reasons for Emperor Wanwu's dispatch of troops and the benefits he wanted to gain were not enough to convince the people. In addition to revenge, he also made it clear that after attacking Shangyu County, the place would be handed over to Qingliang Prefecture led by Prince Xiao Huai.

This was what made all the ministers completely furious. All the civil and military officials in the court felt that Qingliang Prefecture was weak and had not contributed much to the war, and that after they had conquered the territory in Southern Xinjiang, they wanted to give it all to them. This behavior was no different from that of a fool.

As a result, all officials stood on a rare united front and began to refute Emperor Wanwu with a barrage of criticism. Some even wanted to hit their heads against the dragon pillar in court to demonstrate their reputation as loyal ministers.

In this game between the emperor and his ministers, Yao Qingshan led all the officials and always had the upper hand. However, there was only one person who fought against everyone on behalf of Emperor Wanwu.

That is - Mad Dog No. 3.

Ren finally understood what it meant to be a loyal minister. No matter whether it was right or wrong, as long as the majority agreed, I would oppose it; as long as the majority disagreed, I would also oppose it. In short, I would stand against everyone and let the flash light shine madly on me alone.

Mad Dog No. 3 tried to speak human language and argue with reason at the beginning, but he was attacked too much later, and both sides became more and more excited, so he also started to swear.

"Do you know why the Yulin Party of Daqian can enter and leave our southern border as if it were flat ground? Do you know why they dared to leave in such a swagger after killing someone?"

"It's all because of you, a bunch of cowards!! You old bastards with no blood in you!"

"Because they know that my Southern Border court is getting old, and everyone is a coward! So, you dare not say a word when I kill your people! You dare not say a word when I steal your national treasure - the Sealing Stone Slab!"

"Oh, God, please open your eyes and take a look! There is not a single man with eggs among all the civil and military officials in this court! Oh, no, except for my father and me, no one has eggs!"

"How sad! How painful! I really want to crash my head into the Immortal Peak, to wake up the whole world, to wake up all the civil and military officials in this hall!"

"...!"

He cried and howled, roared with tears and snot, and his strength overwhelmed all the civil and military officials in the court. Ren was stunned and thought that this third brother was really something. He led the whole audience without repeating a single swear word.

Just when the ministers were tired of scolding and were sweating profusely.

Emperor Wanwu, who had been gloomy all the time, finally took the yellow petition of the people from Lord Rat.

He sat on the dragon throne and threw the petition on the hall. The scroll was slowly spread out, and it was covered with names written in blood.

Emperor Wanwu slowly stood up and said in a sonorous voice: "Sunset Town was massacred, and 80,000 people in Haizhou Prefecture wrote this petition! They are asking me, asking you, whether these dead people can be considered as the people of Southern Xinjiang; and whether Sunset Town can be considered as the territory of my Southern Xinjiang!"

As soon as he spoke, the whole room fell silent.

Emperor Wanwu, wearing a dragon robe, pointed at the faces of the civil and military officials in the hall and said word by word: "If you don't want to fight, then continue to stand in this Taiji Hall and weigh the pros and cons! Tomorrow, I will put on my armor and leave the capital to lead the army in person!! If the soldiers don't want to fight; then I will only lead the royal family to the north. Even if there are only a hundred or so cavalry, I dare to enter Shangyu County of Daqian!"

"I have made up my mind. You all should stay here and discuss it!"

After he finished speaking, he turned and was about to leave.

The entire hall of civil and military officials looked at the blood-written words by tens of thousands of civilians in silence.

Soon, Prime Minister Yao Qingshan stepped out, knelt down and shouted, "Your Majesty, please stay! This old minister... was wrong."

"Hurrah!"

All the officials knelt on the ground and shouted: "We know we are wrong!"

Emperor Wanwu turned around and said, "One day we will gather food and grass, and one day we will send troops out of Haizhou Prefecture and Hezhou Prefecture, and into the Land of the Styx! We will raise an army of 250,000 and go straight to Shangyu County! This battle is a battle of national destiny! We will never return to the court unless we kill the culprit!"

"My three princes are all adults. Others' sons fight against the sword, so they must fight against the sword as well. The three princes will fight in person. They will not be allowed to enter the capital until they return victorious!"

"Long live my emperor! Long live!"

The whole room shouted.

The third prince knelt on the ground with sweat dripping down his face, looking confused: "Damn, I want to go too?!"

At this moment, Ren Ye heard Star Gate's reminder.

[Congratulations to King Huai for activating the final chapter of the Frontier Storm quest - "The Rise of King Huai: Going North". ]

…………

I wanted to post two chapters at 8 o'clock, but this chapter is almost 5,000 words long. It's a little late.

There will be another chapter around 10 o'clock. It's Monday, please subscribe and recommend.