His laughter was like that of a rotten crow, indescribably creepy and terrifying.
If Li Yao were really an Immortal Cultivator and a reformist who had ambitions for supreme power, he would certainly feel creeped out.
"It's useless. Even if you can annihilate the four Kurfürst families and rule the Imperium yourselves, it will still be useless. By then, you will be faced with all the problems that I am facing today. You will suffer as much as I have suffered!"
There was intense mockery and hatred in Dongfang Wang's eyes. "Every world has its own interests. On the ten thousand resource planets, all the Immortal Cultivators are competing with you in secret and working for their own interests under your guise. Other than you, nobody cares about the fate of the Imperium at all. Even you will be corrupted by the corruption of power and become deformed and bloated very soon. In the end, just like me today, you can only watch yourself being swallowed by the sea of stars and walk to your doom!
"By then, hahahaha. By then, I will watch you from the deepest level of hell and see how you repeat your mistakes and struggle before death. Hahahahaha!"
Dongfang Wang laughed so hard that he could barely catch his breath. Then, he coughed hard again, coughing out black blood clots, or maybe not blood clots but the pieces of his internal organs.
Li Yao was really worried that he would suddenly die of laughter. He hurried to say, "Prime Minister Dongfang, don't be too excited. Let's talk slowly. In fact, personally, I agree with your opinion very much. I believe that neither the reformists nor the four families have a future. They are merely walking toward destruction in different ways. The best that can happen is that one of them dies a little faster, and the other dies a little slower, but they cannot escape death in the end! What you said just now was so profound that it made me feel enlightened and enlightened! "
Dumbfounded, Dongfang Wang was stunned for a long time before his lips shivered. "… What? You … You are 'Vulture Li Yao', aren't you? Are you not a reformist?"
"Well, I am a relatively progressive young man of the reformists. Let's call me a 'reformist of the reformists'."
Li Yao said, "My identity is not the point. The point is that these empty theories are too illusory. It's useless to talk about them at length. Everyone is very busy. If you don't have anything to say, why don't you leave it at that? I won't disturb you any longer. By the way, you're the former Prime Minister of the Empire after all. If you have any last words, I can help you pass them out. "
Dongfang Wang rolled his eyes again and again, as if he were considering Li Yao's identity and the meaning of his words carefully.
However, in his current situation, there was no bargaining chip at all. Other than believing in Li Yao, there was no other choice.
"Wait!"
Dongfang Wang breathed hard and managed to stand straight. Feeble brilliance flashed in his eyes, and 1% of the demeanor of the "prime minister of iron and blood" in the past filled his almost withered shell again.
"Tell me, Vulture Li Yao."
Dongfang Wang looked at Li Yao earnestly. "For you, which one is more important, Li Linghai or the Imperium?"
Looking at Dongfang Wang in the eyes, Li Yao said without any hesitation, "I am a real patriot. Naturally, the Imperium is more important. However unbearable the Imperium is today, I do not want to see it fall apart. If the Imperium does collapse, it will certainly cause greater chaos. Just like you said just now, the civilization of mankind will be divided into dozens of small countries that are attacking and destroying each other. That is without considering the factors of the Holy League!
"Therefore, it is exactly because the queen is the leader of the reformists that I am loyal to her. Also, because the four Kurfürst families created the incident of the Blood Oath Alliance first, hoping to annihilate the reformists, we have no choice but to counterattack and go against you, Prime Minister Dongfang!"
Dongfang Wang sneered and asked again, "General Lei Chenghu was rescued by you in person, right?"
Li Yao nodded. "Yes. It was I who marched into the Godly Might Prison on my own and rescued Lei Chenghu, Marquess Liaohai!"
Dongfang Wang's eyes were brighter and brighter, and his head was clearer and clearer. Even his voice was louder and steadier than a moment ago. "Alright. Even if I die, there is something that I must let you know. Please pass it on to General Lei for me."
Li Yao was refreshed. Knowing that the critical moment had come, he hurried to transmit another stream of gentle spiritual energy into Dongfang Wang's body and inject him with a medical drug, temporarily staving off the collapse of his body and his soul. "Please speak, Prime Minister Dongfang. I'm all ears. I will also swear that I will pass on your message to General Lei Chenghu for you."
"Alright, listen to me carefully."
Dongfang Wang craned his head close, almost embedding his bright eyes into Li Yao's face. With a twisted face, he gnashed his teeth and said, one word after another, "I may have done a lot of things in violation of the laws of the Imperium, and I may have had the intention to weaken the peripheral forces of the Imperium and ensure the rule of the four families, especially the Dongfang family, for a long time. I was also unfair to the miscellaneous troops under Lei Chenghu's command. I often regarded them as cannon fodder and even thought of swallowing his forces countless times. I did a lot of things such as' cannibal training '.
"Yes, I did everything. I admit that, from your perspective, it is not wrong to call me 'unpardonable', but the incident of the Blood Oath Alliance was indeed not my doing!"
This time, it was Li Yao's turn to be stunned. "What? The incident of the Blood Oath Alliance was not your ruse?"
"No. Although Dongfang Tuo, the CEO of the Imperium Expansion Bank, and I had certain contradictions within the family, and we did not share the same ideologies, including during the Imperium's counterattack. In order to exploit more resources, I imposed a lot of pressure on him, which froze our relationship to the freezing point. But he was an elder of the Imperium after all. How could I have assassinated him in public?"
Dongfang Wang smiled bitterly. "Also, three days before he was assassinated, I had already negotiated a package agreement with him in secret. I gave away part of the interests so that his private consortium would be deeply involved in the postwar reconstruction. There were tremendous benefits for him!
"We had clearly reached an agreement. Was there any need to fight to the death?"
Thinking quickly, Li Yao asked, "Why didn't anybody know such an important thing beforehand? Why didn't you defend yourself?"
"It was a secret agreement with a lot of clandestine details."
Slightly blushing, Dongfang Wang still said, "The benefits of the postwar reconstruction were not given to him for free but in exchange for the interests of the Imperium Expansion Bank. It was too important a matter to be publicized."
Li Yao immediately understood.
Dongfang Tuo, the elder of the Imperium who was assassinated, was the CEO of the Imperium Expansion Bank, but it did not mean that the Imperium Expansion Bank was his personal property. He was just a leader who had certain shares at best.
Using the power in his hands, he dug out the interests of the Imperium Expansion Bank in secret, passed the interests to Dongfang Wang, and then transferred them back to Dongfang Tuo's private consortium. Then, they would belong to him 100%. Everybody would be happy.
Of course, the other shareholders and stakeholders of the Imperium Expansion Bank would never allow Dongfang Tuo to steal their people like that. Naturally, the package agreement had to be kept a secret.
Groping on his body for a moment, Dongfang Wang took out a Cosmos Ring and said, "The secret agreement between Dongfang Tuo and me is inside, as well as two drops of our heart blood and our soul signatures. However, if you want to condemn someone, you can always find a pretext. Since everybody wants me dead, what's the point of presenting any 'unquestionable' evidence? My reputation has been ruined. Even the real evidence will be accused of being forged. Defending myself rashly will only be a waste of a good card.
"I can only hold it in until someone who is likely to believe me shows up. When the right person finds me, the agreement will prove that I have absolutely no motive to assassinate Dongfang Tuo. Even if I were to put on a show on my own, I could've assassinated another elder of the Imperium instead of Dongfang Tuo, whom I went through a lot of trouble to win over!"
Holding the Cosmos Ring in his hand, Li Yao had a lot of thoughts in his head.
"Also, I did not intend to put General Lei Chenghu under house arrest in the beginning. He is the highest commander of the Third Battle Area and the commander of the Thunder Fleet after all. He also boasts great prestige in the expedition army. How could I have deprived him of his military power without thorough preparation? I'm not that stupid! "
Dongfang Wang breathed heavily. "However, somebody acted first and reported later. I did not receive the news until he was put under house arrest for two days. At that time, rumors were already spreading out in the frontline. General Lei Chenghu's prejudice against the Council of Elders and me could not be eliminated. What was done could not be undone. Naturally, I could not release the tiger back to the mountain and release him back to the troops in the frontline.
"You did not plan the incident of the Blood Oath Alliance, and you did not put General Lei Chenghu under house arrest, did you?"
Li Yao frowned. "Don't forget that General Lei Chenghu is your son, Dongfang Bai, the head of the 'GUANGTONG', who captured him in person and put him under house arrest. Have you been made a figurehead by your own son?"
"My own son? Hehehehe. What is a son worth in front of the interests and power that spread across the sea of stars?"
Dongfang Wang's laughter was even more unpleasant than crying. "I'm just baffled. I am already the prime minister of the Imperium, and Dongfang Bai has been appointed as the director of the 'GUANGTONG' at a young age. He is sort of one of the few sons that I love most. For him, isn't the greatest benefit to help me consolidate the current situation and even help me make further progress? As long as I am the prime minister, he will be the director of the 'GUANGTONG'. What benefits can he get from the current situation?
"How much benefits and power did it take to tempt him to betray me without hesitation? And why did he trust that person so much? Why did he believe that after I stepped down and the Dongfang family fell apart, he would still be able to stand tall and even rise higher than today?"
Li Yao asked, "That person? Who? "
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