noffsinger Chapter 480 Joy of Life 36
Chapter 480 Joy of Life 36
Even though he was the crown prince, weren't those two princes also considered strong contenders for the throne back then? In the end, weren't they killed by Ye Qingmei?
Moreover, Fan Xian is also His Majesty's bloodline and a prince.
Once he and the other three princes are gone, wouldn't Fan Xian, the illegitimate son, become His Majesty's only heir?
Upon realizing this, Li Chengqian felt a sudden panic.
Even if they are completely innocent, in the face of absolute power, any reason seems pale and powerless.
As long as Fan Xian harbors ambitions, this matter will be enough to give him an excuse to take action.
Not to mention Fan Xian, who, holding the box, certainly had the ability to kill them.
It wasn't that Li Chengqian lacked shrewdness or composure.
The main problem was that the two people in front of him were not mentally sound. Once Ye Qingmei was involved, they would immediately lose their rationality and clarity, almost to the point of losing their normalcy.
They also learned that Ye Qingmei had once killed two princes with a box, in addition to the two explosions just now.
These events, one by one, have completely overturned Li Chengqian's understanding.
When faced with the unknown, people will inevitably feel a sense of awe.
Not to mention that Li Chengqian was only eighteen years old at the time, so it was understandable that he was feeling anxious.
Now, under the misguided guidance of the Empress and Li Yunrui, Li Chengqian has completely concluded that the two explosions that just occurred on Niulan Street were caused by the mysterious box that Ye Qingmei left for Fan Xian.
After all, their plan was so meticulous that no one else besides the three of them would know about it. Even Emperor Qing only realized that they were about to take action against Fan Xian.
Therefore, the only seemingly reasonable explanation for the failure of this operation is that Fan Xian used the box to save himself.
The fact that Fan Xian is still alive is the best evidence to support this inference.
As for why the assassin didn't die, but instead the people from the Overwatch Council and the Red-Armored Knights all died, this is puzzling, but it can perhaps be understood as a tactic used by Fan Xian to confuse the public.
However, it's also possible that Fan Xian wanted to cover his tracks.
Thinking about it this way, Li Chengqian, who often killed guards in batches, felt that things made much more sense.
It's impossible that someone knew they were going to attack Fan Xian a long time ago, or even calculated the exact location of the attack, so they sabotaged Niulan Street beforehand, right?
Such an idea is so far-fetched that it's unbelievable.
Li Chengqian took a deep breath, trying to calm his inner turmoil: "Now that things have come to this, let's discuss what to do next. Do you really want to be defeated by Ye Qingmei's son?"
These words seemed to strike a nerve with the Empress and Li Yunrui, their expressions instantly contorting in shock. After a brief period of madness and loss of control, their emotions strangely calmed down.
Just as the three began discussing how to deal with the possibility of Emperor Qing tracing their tracks, Li Yunrui's personal maidservant hurriedly entered.
With obvious panic on his face, he didn't even have time to bow to the three of them before dropping a bombshell: "Your Highness, Ye Zhong, the garrison commander of Kyoto, is dead."
"what?"
The room fell silent instantly, all three of them looking shocked.
"How did he die?" Li Yunrui frowned.
Li Chengqian and the Empress also looked at the female official with puzzled expressions.
Why did Ye Zhong suddenly die out of nowhere?
The female official took a deep breath, her voice trembling slightly: "It was during the subjugation of Cheng Jushu that Ye Zhong was unfortunately killed by Yan Shendu, the son of Commander Yan."
These words struck Li Yunrui like a heavy hammer, instantly turning her face ashen.
Yan Xiaoyi, a master of the ninth rank, is only a hair's breadth away from becoming a grandmaster.
Although he is now the commander of Emperor Qing's imperial guards, he is actually her confidant.
Over the years, she has entrusted all the money she has embezzled from the imperial treasury to Yan Xiaoyi to build her private army, which shows the extent of her trust in Yan Xiaoyi.
Yan Shendu is Yan Xiaoyi's son, and she personally sent him to the garrison to become a school officer.
Now that Yan Shendu killed Ye Zhong, how can she escape responsibility?
Li Yunrui instinctively denied it: "Impossible. Ye Zhong is a ninth-rank expert. How capable is Yan Shendu? How could he possibly hurt him?"
The female official didn't speak, but silently looked at Li Yunrui, telling her without words that this was the truth.
The Empress and Li Chengqian exchanged a glance, both seeing the terror in each other's eyes.
The box in Fan Xian's hand is still full of unknowns, but there is a real Grandmaster standing behind Ye Zhong!
This time, they've really messed up a huge mess.
……
Emperor Qing examined the remaining gunpowder from the explosion site presented by the palace officials with great satisfaction, his blood boiling with excitement.
Although so many members of the Overwatch Council and Red-Armored Knights died this time, these losses were insignificant compared to the immense value of gunpowder.
He had studied gunpowder for so many years but had never made a breakthrough. He never imagined that someone in the world had already surpassed him.
It seems that people still need to open their eyes to the world and not limit themselves to their own little corner of the earth.
If he had known that someone had invented gunpowder, why would he have risked being blown up to research it himself?
Emperor Qing suppressed his surging emotions and, in his usual calm tone, instructed Gong Dian: "This matter is of utmost importance. You must immediately begin interrogating those three assassins and find out who is behind it all. Furthermore,"
At this point, Emperor Qing paused, his tone becoming increasingly solemn: "We must find out exactly what methods they used to kill so many Red Riders and members of the Censorate."
In fact, Emperor Qing was asking a question he already knew the answer to.
He knew that the assassination attempt on Niulan Street was a joint plan by the Crown Prince, the Empress, and the Eldest Princess. He had noticed the subtle movements between the three of them before, but did not interfere.
In his view, Fan Xian was now spoiled rotten by Fan Jianjiao and needed to experience life and death to truly ignite his fighting spirit in order to complete his future plans.
He just didn't expect that this operation would give him such a big surprise.
Gunpowder!
With the aid of gunpowder, he would be invincible, unify the world, achieve unprecedented feats, and lead Daqing into an unprecedented era of glory.
However, before that, he needs to find out the source of the gunpowder as soon as possible.
Let's see if the gunpowder was secretly developed by the Crown Prince and Li Yunrui, or obtained by the assassin from elsewhere.
If it is the former, then the Crown Prince and Li Yunrui possess such a powerful weapon, yet they concealed it, which is utterly reprehensible.
If it is the latter, it means that other countries' military technology is far ahead of Daqing's, and he must take immediate action to prevent any unforeseen circumstances.