We have fought to the Arctic Circle, and you want me to inherit the throne?

On the top of Fengtian City, the cold wind blew the flags.

Li Che stood by the railing, the hem of his black cloak rustling in the wind.

He stared silently at the bottom of the city wall. Rows of elite soldiers in black armor were passing through the city gate in an orderly manner, like a black iron stream, heading towards the vast snowfield in the north.

The leading general Xue Zhen seemed to sense something. He reined in his horse, turned to face the city wall, and saluted from a distance with his fists clasped on horseback.

Li Che nodded slightly in return, his eyes following the army that was gradually moving away.

He sighed silently only when the backs of the last row of soldiers disappeared into the dead woods at the end of his sight.

The expedition to the Far North and the decisive battle with the Russians in Siberia was a battle that he should have fought personally.

Now, only Xue Zhen can lead the troops to support Yang Zhongsi.

The drastic changes in the capital came too quickly and too violently, so he had to stay in Fengtian to deal with the changes from Daqing.

The footsteps came from behind.

Li Lin walked up and stood shoulder to shoulder with him, his expression equally solemn.

"Qiu Bai just arrived and said there's new news coming from the Night Watchmen in the capital."

Li Che nodded: "Let's go and take a look."

The two men quickly walked down the city wall and headed straight for a secret stronghold in the city.

The struggle in the imperial capital has become increasingly intense, and the aristocratic families are moving faster and more unscrupulously to control the imperial capital.

While the night watchmen he sent out were still on their way south, the secret agents who stayed behind in the imperial capital had already taken a huge risk and sent back several secret messages by carrier pigeons.

The content of the secret letter is shocking.

Most of the residences of military heroes in the imperial capital were surrounded by the suddenly mobilized city guards overnight, including the residence of military hero leader Zhu Chun.

All the most powerful military heroes in the Fengwang Party were destroyed and were placed under house arrest.

Immediately afterwards, the imperial guards who controlled the palace underwent a major reshuffle.

All generals who were loyal to Emperor Qing or suspected of leaning towards Prince Feng were quickly arrested, thrown into the imperial prison, and replaced with new faces.

Immediately, the city guards who were originally responsible for the security of the outer city were transferred into the imperial city and took over the most core defense.

The purged and reorganized imperial guards were ordered to move to the outskirts of the imperial capital, under the pretext of rest and recuperation, but in reality they were disarmed and isolated.

This is just a step-by-step military pressure.

The situation in the court was even worse.

After the Right Prime Minister Huo Tao claimed to be ill and unable to go out, the Left Prime Minister Du Fuchen completely controlled the government. A large number of officials from humble backgrounds and those who were unwilling to rely on the prince were squeezed out and dismissed for various reasons, and were left unemployed at home.

One decree after another, issued in the name of the Crown Prince as Regent, was issued unimpeded.

All signs point to one fact:

The one sitting beside the dragon throne and giving orders now is definitely not Emperor Qing.

But it’s Prince Li Huan!

Looking at these secret reports, Li Che felt complicated.

The King of Shu, whom he had long believed would never be able to make a comeback, actually made a comeback and even ascended the throne of power.

Of course, Li Huan does not have any direct power, and the fact that he can stand in the front must be the work of a noble family.

Li Huan is just a puppet and signboard they pushed to the front, and the real players are still those greedy aristocratic families.

When the two men walked into the pigeon nest, Luo Gong immediately came forward and handed them a small copper letter tube with both hands.

Li Che took it, twisted the wax seal with his thumb, poured out the extremely thinly rolled paper inside, and quickly unfolded it.

After just one glance, his pupils suddenly shrank to the size of a needle tip.

There were only a dozen or so words on the note:

Li Huan ordered the kings to return to the capital, and the envoys were on their way.

. . . . . .

Li Che stood silently in the center of the hall, with Li Lin, Huo Duanxiao, Zhuge Zhe, Chang Pan and others standing on both sides.

Rarely, there was no argument in the hall; even the heavy breathing could be heard clearly.

The succession of the throne is of great importance to the country.

Even those ministers who had laid the foundation of Fengguo together with Li Che and who hated the old dynasty's ills, did not dare to speak easily at this moment.

They knew very well that Fengguo and Daqing now had deeply intertwined interests.

A large amount of trade, food and wages, and even legal recognition, all depend on the existence of the emperor in the imperial capital.

Once Emperor Qing passes away, all transactions between the parties will cease, and Feng State will have to immediately turn its guns around and send heavy troops south to deal with the changes. The current good situation of conquering Russia in the north and managing the northern border will inevitably fall apart.

There are currently two paths before Li Che.

go with?

The imperial capital has become a den of dragons and tigers.

After the crown prince came to power, the entire court was filled with people from aristocratic families, and even the military power of the imperial capital fell into the hands of the aristocratic families.

Once Li Che steps into the territory of Daqing, his life and death will no longer be in his own hands.

The aristocratic families might not dare to openly kill a powerful vassal king, but it would be easy to put him under house arrest.

By then, even if the Fengtian Army had a million strong troops, Li Che was in their hands, so how could they move?

Not going?

That is to openly disobey the imperial order.

Li Che immediately lost his sense of righteousness and became a traitor.

Li Huan only needs to issue an imperial edict, and Fengguo's existing legal status will be lost in an instant, and it will become the target of criticism from all over the world, and the label of traitor will be impossible to take off.

Indeed, Li Che might be able to use his powerful army and generals to carve out a kingdom and make Feng State independent and autonomous.

But this is definitely not what Li Che wants. What he wants is a unified China, not to become the eternal sinner for the independence of Northeast China.

However, Li Che has a third option, which is to lead the troops.

Perhaps Li Che could win, and the Fengtian Army might be able to advance unstoppably and attack Huanglong.

But the throne obtained in that way was not legitimate and lost the support of the people.

The stain of obtaining the throne through treason will always accompany his reign, and the side effects it will produce will be extremely long-lasting.

Anyone can use this excuse to start a rebellion, and this move will become the best pretext for future rebels.

Li Che came back to his senses, glanced at the many ministers present, and finally his eyes fell on Huo Duanxiao's face.

He looked apologetic and said, "Zhengze, it was me who implicated you and Mr. Huo."

Huo Duanxiao raised his head, his eyes slightly red, but he suppressed his emotions and bowed, saying:

"Your Highness, please don't say that! My father has made this choice after carefully weighing the pros and cons. His life...at least for now, should be safe."

Li Che nodded, and then said in a firm tone: "Don't worry, Zhengze, I promise you that I will bring Mr. Huo out of the imperial capital safely!"

As soon as these words came out, the whole hall was shocked.

Zhuge Zhe couldn't help but blurt out, "What do you mean, Your Highness?"

Li Che raised his hand to stop him from saying anything else, and also stopped other ministers who wanted to persuade him.

"I have decided to leave today and return to the capital to visit my father."

Without waiting for the crowd to roar, he continued:

"Yu Gong, Daqing is now ruled by treacherous officials, and the foundation of the country is shaken."

"As the King of Daqing, I am trusted and respected by my father."

"At this critical moment of life and death, we must step forward and restore order to protect our country and our people, and safeguard the prosperity of our Daqing nation!"

"Personally, my father is seriously ill. As a son, how can I not be at his bedside?"

"This is human ethics and filial piety, it's only natural!"

"Even if there are mountains of swords and seas of fire ahead, this king...will not retreat!"