Nine dragons fight for the throne, I don't want to sit on this throne

The vermilion columns of the East Palace and the West Pavilion glowed faintly in the twilight.

Chu Ning leaned against the carved window lattice, the silver dragon pattern on his moon-white brocade robe rising and falling slightly with his breathing. When his wide sleeves were lifted by the draft, the jade pendant hanging from his waist was revealed.

The copper bells on the eaves tinkled suddenly, and his eyelashes trembled, but his gaze was still fixed on the fallen leaves floating in front of the steps, as if something there was attracting him.

He suddenly put his hand on his brow, and the last ray of golden red from the setting sun climbed up to his frowning brows, but turned into a deep pool of cold water when it touched his eyes, reflecting the palace lanterns that were gradually lighting up on the glazed tiles.

At this time, Zhao Yu came to report: "Your Highness, Commander Shen is here with the Wei envoy Xun Yu."

Chu Ning put down the hand that was pressing on his forehead, his face returned to normal, and he said with a flick of his sleeves: "Tell him to go to the main hall and take me away."

After saying this, he flicked his sleeves and walked towards the main hall.

A moment later, Chu Ning came to the main hall and met Shen Zhengqing and Xun Yu in the hall.

At this moment, Xun Yu had disheveled hair and his black official uniform was stained with blood, looking extremely miserable.

Shen Zhengqing's face was full of sternness, and the armor on his body looked particularly dazzling under the red glow of the setting sun.

"See His Highness the Crown Prince!"

"No need to be polite."

Chu Ning nodded slightly, looked outside the hall, frowned and asked, "Where are Zhang Qian and Du Ruhui?"

Shen Zhengqing's face looked a little ugly. After hesitating for a moment, he suddenly knelt down and said, "Your Highness, I have failed in my duty. Please punish me!"

"Huh? What happened?" Chu Ning asked in a cold voice with a dark face.

Shen Zhengqing quickly replied: "I followed the advice of Zhang Qian and Du Ruhui and searched the Wei State Posthouse first, but I didn't expect Xun Yu to lead his men to resist."

"Zhang Qian and Du Ruhui took advantage of the chaos and attacked. In the end, they died in the chaos."

"Not only did I fail to find any clues this time, but I also caused the deaths of Zhang Qian and Du Ruhui. This is a serious crime. I beg Your Highness to punish me."

After these words came out, Chu Ning snorted coldly: "Can't you even see this most basic attempt to sow discord?"

"Why did Zhang Qian and Du Ruhui choose Xun Yu as their first target? Because they knew they couldn't survive, so they wanted you to take action against Xun Yu."

"Only in this way can our dynasty become enemies with the State of Wei."

"This is their plan before they die!"

Shen Zhengqing, who realized it later, was stunned where he stood.

It turned out that he had been played like a dog by Zhang Qian and Du Ruhui.

Shen Zhengqing, who was somewhat exasperated, could not help but curse: "These two people are really ambitious and deserve to die!"

But after a pause, he still felt guilty and said in a deep voice: "I failed to watch out and fell into their trap. Please punish me, Your Highness!"

Chu Ning didn't say anything, but slowly stood up, walked to Shen Zhengqing, and stared at him coldly without saying a word.

Shen Zhengqing instantly felt a powerful aura enveloping him, as if he was being stared at by a ferocious beast.

This feeling made him very uncomfortable.

Cold sweat instantly broke out from his back.

He didn't know how Chu Ning was going to deal with him, so he could only kneel on the ground and try to confess his guilt.

Chu Ning didn't say anything for a long time.

This made Shen Zhengqing very confused, and he couldn't help but look up to see Chu Ning.

But as soon as he raised his head slightly, he saw the pair of black gilded shoes in front of him.

He raised his head, then quickly lowered it.

At this moment, Xun Yu on the side suddenly sneered.

"You are still unaware of your imminent death, Shen Zhengqing, ah Shen Zhengqing, you are still too naive."

Shen Zhengqing was shocked when he heard this.

But on second thought, he felt it was impossible.

He is one of the few family members Shen Wanying has now. How could Chu Ning kill him just because of this?

Thinking of this, Shen Zhengqing's face darkened, he looked up at Xun Yu and angrily said:

"Stop talking nonsense! His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is not a bloodthirsty person!"

"is it?"

Xun Yu showed a playful look on his face: "Guess why Chu Ning has been silent, but his murderous intent is constantly increasing?"

"Although I don't know why he wants to kill you, I think you should know it very well."

This statement shocked Shen Zhengqing.

Of course he understood what Xun Yu meant.

And his secret is known only to him.

But why would Chu Ning want to kill him?

Could it be that his secret was discovered by Chu Ning?

No, this is impossible!

He did it perfectly, and there was no way Chu Ning would notice it.

Thinking of this, Shen Zhengqing couldn't help but swing his fist towards Xun Yu.

He hated this person so much!

But Xun Yu did not dodge or evade, and looked like he was waiting.

At this moment, a cold snort sounded: "Why, are you thinking of taking action in front of me?"

Chu Ning's voice made Shen Zhengqing's face change drastically, and he saluted quickly: "I dare not!"

"Don't you dare?"

Chu Ning approached again and said in a cold voice: "I can't think of anything else you dare not do."

"This... I don't know what Your Highness means by this?" Shen Zhengqing broke out in a cold sweat.

"Do not you know?"

Chu Ning said indifferently: "Why don't I remind you first?"

"First of all, let me start with why I gave this matter to you to investigate."

"Logically, a murder in Kyoto should be handled by the Ministry of Justice. Guess why I want you to lead the City Defense Battalion to handle it?"

When these words came out, Shen Zhengqing was shocked.

But on the surface, he still pretended to be calm: "Your Highness wants to train me."

"is it?"

Chu Ning narrowed his eyes, somewhat disappointed with Shen Zhengqing's answer: "It seems that you are not going to tell the truth."

"Then I will remind you again why I have to hand Zhang Qian and Du Ruhui over to you to deal with?"

Shen Zhengqing was slightly stunned: "Your Highness, don't you want them to help me find the murderer?"

"Just that?"

The disappointment on Chu Ning's face intensified, and his voice became colder: "If you want to find the murderer, wouldn't I ask it myself?"

"I handed them over to you just to see how you would handle them later."

"Of course, you can also think that I want to use you to get rid of them both!"

As soon as these words were spoken, Shen Zhengqing felt that something was wrong.

If all this was arranged by Chu Ning, then wouldn't his secret be discovered?

Impossible, he did it so secretly, how could he be discovered?

Perhaps, this was Chu Ning testing him.

Thinking of this, Shen Zhengqing smiled and said, "Your Highness is wise. Now that Zhang Qian and Du Ruhui are dead, we can declare to the public that they killed each other. This matter has nothing to do with our dynasty."

Unexpectedly, Xun Yu heard this and suddenly burst into laughter: "Hahahaha, I understand, it turns out that you are the mastermind behind the scenes!"

"What a pity! You are still hoping for the best!"

"Although I don't know how the Crown Prince of Chu discovered it, he was obviously giving you a chance to mend your ways. Unfortunately, you didn't understand."

After saying this, he looked at Chu Ning and said with a smile, "I wonder if what I said is right?"

Under Shen Zhengqing's shocked eyes, Chu Ning nodded slowly.