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

The moment he saw the attire of the soldiers inside the door, an uncontrollable anger surged into Li Lin's heart.

His face turned pale, and he almost gritted his teeth: "Okay! Even you..."

Before he knew it, Li Lin had already reached out and pressed the hilt of the sword.

On the other hand, Li Che's face showed no anger at all. He just glanced at the imperial palace behind the palace gate.

Then he turned around completely, exposing his back to the soldiers without any defense, facing the people outside the imperial city gate.

Seeing the eager eyes of the people, Li Che also smiled gently.

He raised his hands and pressed them downwards, then spoke in a loud voice: "Fellow elders of the imperial capital, please listen to what I have to say!"

When the people heard King Feng speaking to them, they became even more excited, and the noise became even louder.

Fortunately, there were some sensible people in the crowd who hurriedly shouted loudly to maintain order and asked the people around them to be quiet.

The crowd gradually calmed down, and countless eyes focused on Li Che.

Li Che remained calm and saluted, "Your Majesty is not feeling well. I have been ordered to travel day and night to return to the capital to attend to him."

"However, for some reason, the defense of the imperial capital has changed drastically. Now the soldiers guarding the imperial city gates seem to not recognize me."

As soon as these words were spoken, the Southern Army general standing nearby changed his expression instantly, thinking in his heart that something was wrong.

When I saw Li Che again, his expression was one part helplessness, one part sadness, one part confusion, one part resentment, and six parts grievance.

"To avoid misunderstandings, I have ordered all my soldiers to remain outside the city. Only I and the King of Yan will enter the palace on foot, bearing the royal banners of the Fengjun Army."

For some reason, the general seemed to smell the fragrance of tea emanating from Li Che.

As expected, public sentiment was instantly ignited the next second!

"Ridiculous!" An old man, his beard trembling with anger, roared first. "His Royal Highness, Prince Feng, is renowned throughout the world, and his achievements are unparalleled! Even common people like us recognize him. Are you soldiers guarding the Imperial City blind? How dare you deny your knowledge?!"

A sturdy man waved his fist and shouted, "Someone must be abusing their power! Perhaps it's a spy from Tibet who has infiltrated. We must investigate thoroughly!"

"Investigate! We must investigate thoroughly! Investigate their ancestors for eighteen generations!"

More people followed suit angrily.

Public opinion is surging, like a torrent about to burst its dam.

The surrounding Southern Army soldiers were frightened by the overwhelming momentum. They all looked terrified and subconsciously raised their spears.

The Southern Army general was so anxious that he no longer cared about anything else.

He quickly approached Li Che and lowered his voice: "Your Highness! What do you mean? When did I say I didn't recognize you? Please don't misinterpret my meaning!"

Li Che sneered and glanced at him sideways: "At this point, General, why bother pretending to be stupid with me?"

The other party has set up a tight net to kill me, so what martial ethics can I still talk about?

Naturally, they will seize every opportunity to build up momentum for the injustice they have suffered and throw the dirty water back fiercely.

The general's eyes flashed with coldness, and his tone grew colder. "Your Highness! I've heard that you have always been compassionate to the people and loved them like your own children."

"Today...are you trying to incite these innocent people and use them as your shield?"

Upon hearing this, Li Che showed a hint of contempt on his face.

He knew very well how fierce the struggle for the throne was. If ordinary people were involved, they would be crushed to pieces in an instant.

Therefore, he never thought about, nor did he bother to use the flesh and blood of the people to pave the way for himself.

Therefore, his words just now did not directly accuse Li Huan of treason, but cleverly left it blank, leaving the people with a chance to imagine.

Sometimes, a hook that arouses suspicion is far more deadly than a straightforward accusation.

Just like the candlelight and the axe sound, it is just a vague record, but it is enough to cause people to discuss the legitimacy of Emperor Taizong of Song's accession to the throne for thousands of years.

Thinking of this, Li Che no longer paid attention to the general with a sullen face.

He once again looked at the excited people and said in a more intimate tone, "I sincerely appreciate the kindness of all the elders! Now that I have arrived in the imperial city, the palace is an important place, it is extraordinary."

"Please all of you leave first and go home early to reunite with your families."

The people were unwilling to obey and continued to shout:

"No, we have nothing to do. We will just wait here for His Highness to come out!"

"Your Highness, go in without worry. If any traitor dares to harm Your Highness, we, the people of the imperial capital, will never tolerate it!"

"Your Highness, please go and see His Majesty. Don't worry about us!"

Someone even lifted a three or four-year-old child above his head and shouted, "Your Highness! Carry my child in! I want to see who is so heartless as to dare to lay hands on a three-year-old!"

The child was so frightened that he cried loudly: "Daddy, I won't go..."

The father cursed in a low voice, "Fool! This is the Imperial Palace! Just a touch of dragon energy can extend your life by ten years! Besides, with His Royal Highness Prince Feng protecting you, who would dare to hurt you?!"

The child asked in return, "Then why doesn't Dad go in with His Highness?"

The father said confidently: "Dad, I am afraid!"

Seeing this, Li Che was at a loss whether to laugh or cry, but a warm feeling surged in his heart.

He could only patiently comfort him again: "My fellow countrymen, Your Majesty's illness is truly causing me great anxiety. I wish I could fly to your bedside immediately."

"The Imperial Palace is a restricted area, and we cannot allow you all to enter together. Please understand and disperse first and go home to wait for news."

"I would like to thank everyone here!"

He spoke sincerely and bowed repeatedly.

Although the people were extremely reluctant, seeing that His Royal Highness Prince Feng was so persistent, they decided not to continue to argue.

The crowd finally began to loosen up and gradually dispersed.

They dispersed, but countless pairs of eyes were still staring at the north gate of the imperial city as they left.

I wonder how many people will exaggerate and spread what they saw and heard today throughout the streets and alleys of the imperial capital.

And this is exactly the effect Li Che wants.

He does not need the people to be his shields. What he needs is for countless people to be his eyes and his mouths.

After this incident, if Li Huan and the aristocratic families want to fabricate any rumors that are unfavorable to him in the future, they will have to consider the boiling public opinion first.

After persuading the people to disperse and clearing away the external interference, Li Che was finally able to turn around and face the group of people behind the palace gate.

His gaze passed over the nervous Confederate soldiers and fell directly on the middle-aged man in the lead.

The man hesitated for a moment, then raised his hand with the knife in hand and said in a deep voice:

"Greetings to His Majesty the Prince."

"General Ren, how are you?" Li Che responded with a smile, as if they were meeting old friends again.

Li Lin, standing by, could no longer contain his anger and shouted, "Ren Kuan! You ungrateful bastard!"

"Your Imperial Guards are only able to hold the power and position they do today thanks to His Majesty the Prince's leadership and promotion back then!"

"How dare you now aid the tyrant and help those traitors to deal with us?!"

The person in front of him was none other than Ren Kuan, commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and the group of soldiers blocking Li Che's way were naturally the Embroidered Uniform Guards wearing Feiyu uniforms and Embroidered Spring Swords.

Compared to the angry Li Lin, Li Che seemed much calmer.

He seemed not to have heard Li Lin's words. He just looked at Ren Kuan and asked calmly, "You are in charge of the Jinyiwei now. Where is Cao Yong? Is he still alive?"

Ren Kuan lowered his eyes and replied, "Your Highness, Cao Yong has resigned from his post as commander and is now retired at home... He is doing well for now."

Li Che nodded slightly. This was not unexpected to him.

Cao Yong was promoted by him, and he was deeply branded with the mark of the Feng Wang faction. Li Huan and the aristocratic family would never allow him to continue to lead the Jinyiwei.

But Ren Kuan was different. After Li Che took over the Jinyiwei, he was gradually marginalized, and there was not much friendship between them.

"Your Highness, could we hold off on reminiscing about the past? Please enter the palace and see me first."

The Southern Army general next to him suppressed his anxiety and urged him again, his hand already quietly pressing on the hilt of the knife.

Li Che ignored him and walked straight into the door.

"Sixth!"

"Your Highness!"

Li Lin and Huo Duanxiao were horrified and cried out in unison.

Now the Jinyiwei have obviously sided with the other side, and the palace is full of Li Huan's men. Walking in without any precautions is no different from walking into a trap.

But they were too late to stop him, as Li Che had already stepped over the tall threshold and entered the palace gate.

Li Lin and the other two gritted their teeth and followed him in.

The Southern Army general was delighted upon seeing this and immediately signaled his men to close the palace gates.

He followed closely behind Li Che, his hand tightly gripping the hilt of the knife, his eyes full of eagerness.

Just wait for the order and we will be the first to capture the king!

However, Li Che didn't care about his little action at all. His eyes were always on Ren Kuan and the Jinyiwei.

"You...are you going to become my enemy today?"

Ren Kuan's body trembled slightly, and he forced his eyes up to look at Li Che. His voice was dry but he insisted:

"You once taught us that the Imperial Guards are the royal henchmen, the swords of His Majesty, and only obey the imperial power and be loyal to the One who sits on the throne."

Hearing this, Li Che nodded and praised: "Not bad, you remember it very clearly and did a good job."

Ren Kuan's eyes flashed and he suddenly raised his right hand.

Swah——

With a uniform sound, all the Jinyiwei stood straight and at attention as if their souls were injected into them.

"Everyone!" Ren Kuan's voice rose, and he shouted, "Turn back!"

At the command, hundreds of Jinyiwei turned around in unison without any hesitation.

He used his body to protect Li Che, Li Lin and Huo Duanxiao in the center of the team.

This change of formation was extremely hasty. The palace guards who were originally standing behind the Jinyiwei were all stunned and at a loss when they saw the Jinyiwei suddenly change direction and face them head-on.

"Draw your sword!"

Ren Kuan gave another stern order.

Clang clang——

A crisp sound of metal rubbing against each other suddenly rang out, and hundreds of sharp embroidered spring swords were unsheathed at the same time.

The cold blade reflected a chilling light in the sunlight, pointing directly at the palace guards in front!

Only then did Ren Kuan slowly turn around and face Li Che.

Under the gaze of countless shocked people, he knelt on one knee, clasped his fists and saluted, his voice as firm as iron:

"So...Jinyiwei, at your command, Your Highness!"

Li Che looked at him, and the smile on his face finally broke out completely:

"Now, you're doing...better."