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At this time, Chunshen Jun held the position of Chancellor of Chu, and naturally, his guards were not of low rank. The group of men in black managed to intrude into the inn, which already indicated that all the guards left outside had been subdued. But who could be blamed for this? It seemed that the Captain of the Guard had not arranged things properly! If there was an enemy attack, wouldn't that be troublesome? Huang Xie thought about this and turned to look at the person standing beside him.
The Captain of the Guard was also secretly frustrated; such bad luck was simply unbearable. This failure was clearly not something that could be hidden, and once they returned, he would surely be scolded mercilessly by Consort X! That woman didn't even regard the current monarch, Xiong Wan, as anything; how could she treat a Minister's Bodyguard like him with any respect?
He was pondering how to let his wife go to her aunt, Consort X, to gather some information when he caught a glance from his master. He had refrained from reprimanding the intruders earlier because he knew that everyone in the Internal Guard Office were subordinates of his master's friend, Li Yuan. The group that entered was unfamiliar; after observing them, he realized he didn't recognize any of them. Li Yuan was well-known; after all, he had been here before!
The relationship between Chunshen Jun and Li Yuan was quite complicated and couldn't be explained in just a few sentences. The current King of Chu's favored concubine, Li Yan, had been sent into the palace by Chunshen Jun, and this favored concubine's brother was Li Yuan. For some unknown reason, Kao Lie Wang had no heirs, which kept Chunshen Jun awake at night. He frequently sent large numbers of women suitable for childbirth to the palace, yet inspections afterward revealed no signs of success. There are three unfilial acts, and having no heirs is the worst; how could a Lord of the Nation have no successor? Wouldn't that render future generations merely empty words? None of this mattered as much as what happened afterward.
When Li Yuan fled from Zhao State to Chu State, he heard about this situation along the way and was puzzled. Thus, he went to the Prime Minister's Residence to serve as an attendant to confirm the truth of this news. By chance, he inadvertently participated in a secret operation to select beauties for the palace and got to know a female official responsible for this matter. As for any private dealings within that context, we do not know.
In any case, it was heard that it wasn't the women being sent that were problematic but rather the current King of Chu himself who caused the lack of heirs. Initially, he planned to offer his sister to the King of Chu in hopes of gaining favor and possibly producing a prince. Now it seemed that plan needed to change; otherwise, after Once in a Century King passed away, it might end up being a burial companion.
Li Yan accompanied her brother Li Yuan when he fled to Chu State. He suggested to her that it would be better to align with Chunshen Jun, who held significant power in court; if there was no hope with the first choice, then settling for second would suffice. A plan was quickly devised; all that remained was how to implement it. During work hours, he sought excuses for leave while deliberately delaying things to get closer to Chunshen Jun.
Chunshen Jun's curiosity got the better of him as he summoned Li Yuan to inquire why there were unexplained delays. Seeing that Chancellor of Chu had indeed taken the bait, Li Yuan immediately proceeded with his original plan. He implied that because Qi State's Sovereign had sent envoys to marry his sister off, he couldn't extricate himself.
Li Yuan was quite handsome himself; one could imagine his sister must be equally appealing. Although Chunshen Jun feared his wife, it wouldn't stop him from sneaking out to enjoy flowers and moonlight or admire beautiful women. Hearing about someone who could attract Qi State's Sovereign naturally meant she must be a great beauty! With this thought in mind, he felt restless; how could such a tempting opportunity slip away?
Wasting such a chance would invite divine retribution!
Thus, under the pretense of caring for his subordinate's life situation, he accompanied Li Yuan home to see if there was anything he could help with in their family life. Naturally waiting at home was Li Yan, who had prepared herself beautifully with delicate makeup and tearful eyes. Whether intentional or not, this transaction finally resulted in mutual satisfaction.
Chunshen Jun was not like the King of Chu; results were evident immediately. After several months, Li Yan indeed became pregnant.
At this moment, due to his sister's influence, Li Yuan had already been promoted three ranks to become a close attendant. He suggested that his sister persuade the Chancellor to offer herself to the King of Chu. If she were to bear a son, he would be the crown prince, and thus the Kingdom of Chu would belong to the Huang Family. Chunshen Jun was initially reluctant but ultimately decided to proceed after weighing the pros and cons. This matter spread widely among insiders, yet the King of Chu remained unaware. Upon learning that his favored concubine was pregnant, it was said that he was overjoyed and had already petitioned Zhou Tianzi to confer her as Queen.
Some matters are not complicated; what complicates things is that the King of Chu was already pleased before meeting this woman. According to insiders, the child in the current Mother of the Nation's womb was undoubtedly Chunshen Jun's. This was simply outrageous! Compared to this, he could only be considered an outsider, which is why the Captain of the Guard had never dared to speak up.
Since he had received his master's orders, it was naturally not appropriate to remain idle any longer. He hurriedly took a few steps forward, raised his hand in a gesture, and then displayed his Identity Token from the Prime Minister's Residence to the black-clad individuals blocking the entrance. He said irritably, "The Prime Minister is receiving guests today; you all please step aside!"
The only things that could signify an official's identity were official robes or an official sedan chair. Dressed in plain clothes without an official sedan chair, Red Mouth White Tooth naturally could not prove his identity. Thus, there existed something akin to an identification card made from different metals known as an Identity Token.
Those who mingled in official circles naturally recognized such tokens. The black-clad leader did not expect a prime minister to meet guests in such a remote place; fortunately, the guards at the entrance were dressed as officials of Chu and did not act too aggressively. Looking at the Chancellor across from him, who was the target of this operation, he couldn't help but frown.
If it were another government official, they could easily be apprehended for colluding with foreign powers. However, this person was a favored minister of the king and held a position just below him as Prime Minister. If anyone dared to rashly inform the king that Chunshen Jun was a traitor, that person would immediately be treated as a traitor by the king himself. It was known that his master and Chunshen Jun were close friends.
But public duty is public duty; how could personal matters be mixed in? Moreover, the initial order for pursuit had been a death sentence, even mentioning that resistance could lead to immediate execution, indicating the seriousness of the situation.
Logically speaking, both parties involved in negotiations should know each other since their masters usually maintained close relations. However, in reality, neither of the leaders of their respective troops had ever met before. If they were familiar with each other, they could easily clarify matters through jokes. Besides, if anything went wrong, Huang Xie would bear the brunt; Li Yuan would only need to report on the actual situation at that time. The current problem was that they did not know each other at all.
"My lord! Forgive us; we are under orders!" The black-clad leader looked at the Prime Minister's counterpart and finally decided that as officials, they must be responsible for their salaries. He bowed respectfully and said, "The target this time is the person sitting across from Chancellor. He is a spy from Qin State! By Royal Decree, we are here to apprehend him; any resistance will be met with lethal force!"
The Guard Captain holding the Identity Token from the Prime Minister's Residence felt proud until he heard these words and immediately frowned. It was one thing not to question the soldiers outside about their identities; he had done so out of consideration for certain individuals' faces. Now that they had clarified their Chancellor's identity, there was no need to worry about face-saving anymore! Wasn't it thanks to his family’s master that your master has today? If this person did not know gratitude, he was even worse than a pig or dog! Thus he shouted angrily, "Nonsense! How can a guest of the Prime Minister be a spy!? By your logic, if the Prime Minister associates with a spy from Qin State, shouldn't he also be suspected!?"
"The scoundrel dares not!" The black-clad leader felt shocked at being unjustly accused so suddenly. The so-called hall was actually small; everyone present could hear clearly what had just been said. Gritting his teeth, he replied, "If there is no evidence, even a scoundrel would not dare act recklessly. We serve under Chu State’s grace; we must be loyal to our country!"
Being questioned in front of so many people made it even more difficult for the Captain of the Guard to save face. After all, sitting behind him were guests of his master. Although he did not know how esteemed this guest truly was, it was evident from their earlier conversation that they shared an extraordinary bond akin to brothers. One must ask: how many people today would dare speak so freely with someone of such status!?
The identity of the master is none other than the Chancellor of Chu! Today, in front of his brothers, encountering such resistance from his subordinates is quite troubling! The Captain of the Guard drew his sword and gritted his teeth, angrily shouting, "Get lost!"
On Lu Zi's side, tension filled the air. He was about to stand up to mediate when he was stopped by Huang Xie. He actually did not want to cause a rift between his friend and others, so he said, "Chancellor! I didn't expect this to happen; it might be due to some misunderstanding with Li Yuan. In that case, let me go back with them to explain. We absolutely cannot let my status as an outsider ruin the friendship between you and that person."
Hearing this, Chunshen Jun couldn't help but laugh heartily. Zhao State's Li Yuan! Just a retainer! If it weren't for relying on me, he wouldn't have become the current national uncle; I imagine he would still be trying to persuade someone else! Hearing that my sister is about to be made Queen has made him arrogant!? It seems I still have some power in my hands, but if I withdraw now, will I end up handing over the reins to you, Li Yuan!? He waved at Lu Zi and then stood up, squinting at the group of black-clad individuals across from him.
"Go back and tell your master that it is not yet time for an outsider like him to teach me how to be patriotic in Chu State. If Li Yuan seeks retribution, you can easily shift the blame onto me!"
Seeing the Chancellor come out to reprimand them, the leader of the black-clad men quickly ordered his subordinates to put away their weapons. He glanced at Lu Zi, who was leisurely watching the commotion, and couldn't help but sigh inwardly. The outside world is rumored that the Qin State will ultimately unify the realm; it seems there is some truth to it. A nation can only grow strong if its laws are respected! Even if I risk everything now, I must eliminate this traitor on the spot! Otherwise, even if I escort him back to the capital, with Chunshen Jun's current power, he could easily turn right into wrong. Since that's the case... then let's not take him back! With that thought, he glanced towards the corner of the second floor.
"Bang! Bang!"
Two sounds of bowstrings followed immediately, and two cold stars flashed forth.
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