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

Night, palace.

The lights are bright, illuminating the clear frost on the ground in this dark night.

Inside the heavily guarded palace, the imperial guards were constantly patrolling with torches in hand, not daring to be negligent in the slightest.

The Hall of Nourishing Heart.

The emperor paced back and forth in the hall with an uneasy look on his face, showing an expression of anger, anxiety and helplessness.

At this time, hurried footsteps were heard outside the hall.

The emperor narrowed his eyes and turned his head to look, only to see Zhao Ming coming into the hall and said in a deep voice:

"Your Majesty, His Royal Highness the King of Chu has already destroyed the Wang family, and even handed over all the money seized from the Wang family to the Ministry of Revenue."

The first sentence was within the emperor's expectations.

But the latter sentence surprised the emperor a little.

"Oh? He actually handed over the Wang family's money to the Ministry of Revenue. Is he trying to show weakness to me?"

The emperor narrowed his eyes and said coldly: "Humph, it's too late. From the moment he killed Concubine De, I will never forgive him!"

"Did the Shadow Guard find out whether Ran Ming went to Yunzhou?"

As long as we are sure that Ran Ming has left, we can take action immediately.

At this moment, the emperor didn't want to wait any longer.

In the past, when Ran Ming was by Chu Ning's side, people were very intimidated. But as long as Ran Ming left, Chu Ning, who lacked help, would no longer be intimidating.

Zhao Ming quickly replied: "Your Majesty, General Ran Ming left in the evening, and our people have been keeping an eye on him."

The purpose of doing this, of course, is to prevent Ran Ming from coming back.

After all, Chu Ning himself had done this kind of thing.

Having seen Chu Ning's cunning, the emperor certainly would not take it lightly.

"very good!"

The emperor narrowed his eyes, and a ruthless look flashed across his face: "Notify the imperial guards to assemble immediately. I want..."

"His Majesty!"

Zhao Ming suddenly interrupted, and said cautiously: "The shadow guard found that Zhao Yu was back and is now in the Chu Palace."

"What, Zhao Yu is back?"

The emperor's face changed drastically. He rushed to Zhao Ming and asked in a deep voice, "Why did he come back at this time?"

"This...I don't know." Zhao Ming lowered his head and dared not speak.

"I've been fooled, I've been fooled, I've been fooled again!"

The emperor was so angry that he jumped up and down.

Even if Zhao Ming didn't say it, the emperor understood that this was entirely Chu Ning's plan.

Transferring Zhao Yu back must have happened a long time ago. Today, Ran Ming was deliberately allowed to kill Concubine De in order to let Ran Ming go to Yunzhou.

In this way, even if Ran Ming went to Yunzhou, Chu Ning would have Zhao Yu to protect him.

"I have been tricked by Chu Ning again!"

The emperor's face was gloomy, and he said coldly: "Chu Ning has such deep thoughts, I absolutely cannot keep him!"

Zhao Ming's face changed drastically. He wanted to persuade him, but he didn't know what to say. He could only stand there with an anxious look on his face.

The emperor, who thought Zhao Ming would persuade him, frowned, looked at him, raised his eyebrows and asked, "Why are you silent?"

Zhao Ming then said cautiously: "Your Majesty, if we attack His Royal Highness the Prince of Chu now, I'm afraid we won't stand a chance of winning."

"Odds of winning?"

The emperor angrily threw his sleeves and said, "Does Chu Ning have a chance of winning?"

Zhao Ming whispered, "Your Majesty, His Royal Highness the King of Chu has not done anything too outrageous right now, and our dynasty has the Yan army pressing in from outside. If there is chaos inside, I'm afraid it will give the Yan army an opportunity."

This silenced the emperor.

Originally, he thought he could revive the State of Chu after destroying the State of Zhao.

Unexpectedly, Zhao State was firmly controlled by Chu Ning, making Chu Ning's power even greater.

Even the prime minister and the grand tutor, who originally did not look favorably upon Chu Ning, now remained completely neutral, and sometimes even spoke for Chu Ning.

If I fight Chu Ning now and win, everything will be easy.

But if he loses, Chu Ning will probably ascend to the throne directly!

Thinking of the great Chu kingdom, a hint of reluctance flashed in the emperor's eyes.

If Zhao State had not been destroyed, he would definitely not have had any ambitions or aspirations.

But it’s different now. After destroying the State of Zhao, he can also leave his name in history books as an emperor.

If he was driven off the throne by Chu Ning at this time, he would not be recorded in history books as a wise ruler.

At this age, he no longer asks for anything but to leave a name in history books.

Thinking of this, a hint of helplessness flashed in the emperor's eyes.

Although he really wanted to give it a try, he had too many concerns.

"That's it!"

The emperor suddenly seemed to have aged by ten years, and his entire spirit and energy seemed to have been drained away. He said with a dejected look on his face:

"Chu Ning has already gained momentum. If I turn against him now, it will be bad for the State of Chu!"

"However, I am not afraid of him, but I am thinking about the Chu State."

Zhao Ming lowered his head and dared not respond.

This is clearly a case of trying to cover up one's own mistake.

The emperor glanced at Zhao Ming and saw that he didn't say anything. He shook his head and said slowly: "I have a few orders to give."

Zhao Ming's face straightened.

The emperor narrowed his eyes and said in a deep voice: "Order the Third Prince to take over the city defense camp, and let the Grand Tutor and the Prime Minister cooperate with the Third Prince to take charge of the funerals of Concubine De, the Crown Prince, and the Fourth Prince."

"Send a message to Ling Haoran, asking him to return to Kyoto City immediately and continue to take over the Ministry of Justice!"

"The current acting Minister of the Ministry of Justice, Yun Jianye, has been transferred to the Ministry of Personnel as the Vice Minister of Personnel, replacing Mo Yushan."

"Luling Governor Jiang Yongkang was promoted to the Minister of Revenue. Now that Minister of Revenue Liu Shouren is not here, let him take charge of the Ministry of Revenue first."

"Xindu Governor Peng Jinglun has been promoted to the Minister of War. Now that the Minister of War Feng Anguo is not in Kyoto, let him take charge of the Ministry of War first. From now on, all troop movements must be approved by me!"

"Yes!" Zhao Ming was a little shocked, but didn't dare to say more. He immediately turned around and went downstairs to pass on the order.

This transfer of officials involves too many people and will definitely lead to disputes in the court.

Among the six ministries, the Ministry of Revenue, Ministry of Works, Ministry of Rites and Ministry of Justice are all Chu Ning's people.

But things are different after this adjustment.

Luling prefect Jiang Yongkang and Xindu prefect Peng Jinglun were both officials of Jizhou, one of the three prefectures in the south of the Yangtze River.

Jizhou is the fief of the third prince.

In other words, these two people are the third prince's men.

These two people were transferred up to take over the Ministry of Revenue while Liu Shouren was away, and to take over the Ministry of War while Feng Anguo was away.

In addition, Ling Haoran in the Ministry of Justice was originally the prince's man, and his official position was not removed. He only needed to be transferred back to take over the Ministry of Justice from Chu Ning.

In this way, the Ministry of Revenue, the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Justice, and the Ministry of Personnel were no longer under Chu Ning's control.

The remaining personnel officials have never been Chu Ning's people.

The only one left, Lu Xiuwen from the Ministry of Works, cannot support the team alone.

Even though the Chief Censor was Chu Ning's man, Chu Ning's power in the court was weakened by more than half.

More importantly, the Grand Tutor and the Prime Minister had to assist the Third Prince in handling the funeral of the Crown Prince and others.

This is equivalent to announcing to the world that the third prince will be supported!

Since we can't resort to force, we'll have to resort to diplomacy.

First weaken Chu Ning's power in the court, and then slowly support the third prince to fight against Chu Ning.

Looking at Zhao Ming who was passing on the message, the emperor sneered:

"Chu Ning, there are some things that I won't give you, and you can't take them away!"

This time, he wanted to teach Chu Ning a lesson.

As long as the third prince is supported, he can be made the crown prince after the funeral!