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

The death of the seventh prince shocked the entire city of Kyoto.

No one could have imagined that someone would dare to shoot and kill a prince in the city during the Lantern Festival.

The emperor attached great importance to this matter. On the one hand, he blocked the news, and on the other hand, he mobilized manpower to investigate the case. At the same time, he blocked the four gates of Kyoto City and did not allow anyone to enter or leave.

For the next two days, people in Kyoto were in a panic, and everyone was worried that they would be involved in the murder of the seventh prince.

During these two days, all the officials from the Ministry of Justice were mobilized, together with people from the Ministry of Clan Affairs, to search the city continuously.

The Minister of Works He Peng was even busier. On the one hand, he had to raise money for the prince, and on the other hand, he had to investigate the whereabouts of the bows and crossbows for Chu Ning.

In accordance with Chu Ning's request, Su Wenguang from the City Defense Battalion investigated all the princes who did not receive fiefdoms during these two days.

As for Chu Ning, he has disappeared in the past two days and has not appeared in the palace.

On the third day after the incident, in the Imperial Palace, the Hall of Mental Cultivation.

The emperor looked at the memorial in his hand with an unpleasant expression.

"Yan State is really determined to send out troops at this time, catching the front line off guard!"

The emperor slammed the memorial down on the table and said, "What's wrong with Feng Anguo? He just took over as the Minister of War and he suffered a defeat!"

The eunuch chief Zhao Ming was so frightened that he dared not breathe. He stood aside with his head down and dared not speak.

The emperor was so angry that he stood up and paced back and forth in the hall with an extremely gloomy face.

Originally, everything was going in the right direction. As long as he could capture the capital of Zhao State, he could expand the territory, become a wise ruler, and go down in history!

But now, with the seventh prince being killed, Chu Ning's silver was robbed, and now the State of Yan suddenly sent troops to attack Yunzhou, causing Feng Anguo's defeat, and things were increasingly beyond his control.

The original ambitions have now plummeted.

"Zhao Ming, do you think I should consider replacing Feng Anguo with someone else?" The emperor suddenly turned to Zhao Ming and asked.

Zhao Ming's face changed slightly: "Your Majesty, I dare not comment on the important matters of the court, but with the demise of the Xiahou family, there is only one person in the court who can replace Lord Feng."

The emperor frowned: "Are you talking about Chu Ning?"

Zhao Ming laughed awkwardly and didn't continue.

Some things should be stopped at the right time and he would not get involved in them.

After all, he is a eunuch, so he still needs to have a sense of boundaries.

Seeing that Zhao Ming didn't speak, the emperor glared at him fiercely and said in a deep voice: "Chu Ning has too much power now, and he can't be allowed to go to the front line to take power!

Besides, his 10 million taels of silver were robbed, and he must get to the bottom of this matter, so it is not appropriate for him to go to Yunzhou at this moment."

After saying this, the emperor seemed to have thought of something and asked again: "By the way, what did Chu Ning do in the past two days?"

Zhao Ming, who is in charge of the shadow guards, has now become the emperor's eyes and ears, completely replacing Xiao Wei's previous position.

"Your Majesty, His Royal Highness the Prince of Chu has been at the mansion these past two days, spending half of his time accompanying the Princess of Chu and the other half practicing martial arts."

Zhao Ming's words made the emperor narrow his eyes, and a strange look flashed across his eyes: "After losing 10 million taels of silver, he actually still has the leisure to practice martial arts? Could it be that I guessed right that he planned this himself?"

But Zhao Ming shook his head and said, "Your Majesty, although the King of Chu did not take any action, he asked General Su to send people to investigate several princes who did not have fiefs, and also asked Lord He to investigate the matter of bows and crossbows."

The emperor was moved and asked, "Have you found any clues?"

"This……"

Zhao Ming hesitated for a moment and whispered, "General Su has been very active these past two days, and just now he went to the Prince of Chu's Palace. Perhaps he has already made some progress.

As for Lord He, he is currently raising money for the Crown Prince and is not interested in the crossbows. It seems that he wants to wait and see."

After hearing this, the emperor fell into deep thought.

Chu Ning investigated the bows and crossbows, of course, in order to find out the murder of the seventh prince.

But he had clearly asked the Ministry of Justice to investigate, so why did Chu Ning still want to intervene in this matter?

Could it be that Chu Ning felt that the Ministry of Justice was untrustworthy?

Or in other words, the Ministry of Justice cannot find the real culprit behind the scenes?

Or maybe the Ministry of Justice doesn’t dare to find out who is behind this?

There is only one possibility for this to happen: Chu Ning believes that it was the Crown Prince who killed the Seventh Prince, and that is why he does not trust the Ministry of Justice.

Because, the Minister of Justice Ling Haoran is the prince's father-in-law!

Thinking of this, the emperor raised his eyebrows and a strange look flashed across his face.

"Keep an eye on Prince Chu's Mansion and see what Chu Ning and Su Wenguang said!"

"Don't worry, Your Majesty. I have already arranged some personnel over there."

The emperor then revealed a look of satisfaction: "Very good, I also want to see what clues he can come up with.

Oh, right, summon the officials above the third rank to discuss matters immediately. Yan State is sending troops, and Yunzhou is in crisis. We must find a way to resolve it!"

"Yes!" Zhao Ming responded and immediately went down to pass on the order.

At this moment, Su Wenguang came to the Prince of Chu's Mansion with excitement on his face.

Palace, living room.

"See His Royal Highness the King of Chu!"

"Looking at General Su's expression, could it be that he has found some clues?"

Chu Ning asked curiously while motioning Su Wenguang to sit down.

Su Wenguang nodded quickly: "Last night, my men found out that the Fourth Prince had made some unusual movements at a manor outside the city.

Not only are there more than 300 people inside, they are well-trained, and more importantly, they have crossbows!"

As soon as these words came out, Chu Ning's eyes flashed with a fierce look: "With the crossbow, it is likely that they are the ones! But, have you found any information about the silver?"

Su Wenguang showed a look of regret on his face: "The manor was heavily guarded. When my men were about to go in to investigate, they were discovered. Fortunately, they got out in time, otherwise they would have been caught on the spot."

Chu Ning's face changed when he heard this: "In that case, the other party may have noticed that he is being watched!"

Su Wenguang nodded and said, "That's right, that's why I came here to ask Your Highness whether we should take action immediately to prevent them from secretly transferring.

My men are currently eyeing that manor. We should strike first before they make any move!"

When he heard that he was going to take action, Chu Ning hesitated.

The atmosphere in the hall suddenly became quiet. Only Chu Ning's right index finger kept tapping the table, as if he was thinking about the feasibility of this matter.

As the knocking sounds became more and more rapid, Chu Ning's expression gradually became firm.

Suddenly, the knocking sound stopped, and a hint of murderous intent flashed across Chu Ning's eyes: "Although acting rashly will offend Fourth Brother, in order to find the 10 million taels of silver, this is the only way!"

"General Su, how many people can you send out?"

Su Wenguang immediately stood up and said, "Your Highness, the city defense camp can send out a thousand people, but the number is too large. I am worried that it will attract the attention of the Fourth Prince."

I didn't expect this person to be so cautious.

Chu Ning looked at Su Wenguang deeply, nodded and said: "It's not easy for you to think of this, how about this, you send 300 people to disguise themselves and leave the city in batches!

This king sent two hundred people out of the city in the name of investigating the robbers. We will meet at the City God Temple five miles outside the city!"

"Yes!" Su Wenguang responded and immediately went to mobilize troops.

Chu Ning shouted outside the hall: "Ran Ming, dispatch two hundred white horse cavalry to follow me out of the city!"