As soon as Long Fei Ye and Han Yunxi returned to Tianning's capital city, Emperor Tianhui sent someone to summon Long Fei Ye to the palace for a meeting before they'd even reached the Duke of Qin's estate.
"Are you going?" Long Fei Ye asked.
Han Yunxi gave a start. She never expected Long Fei Ye to ask such a question. She wasn't a shadow follower, and he'd never let her tag along when he went out on business.
Long Fei Ye knitted his brows at her and asked again, "Are you going?"
"I'm going!" Han Yunxi replied loudly. Of course she wouldn't miss out on a good show.
By now, it was already dark, but there was still a group of people standing in Emperor Tianhui's imperial study. Crown Prince Long Tianmo, General Mu and his son, Right Prime Minister Su Shaokun, the Minister of War, and the Minister of Revenue were all present.
All of them were on Emperor Tianhui's side.
"His Highness Duke of Qin has arrived, esteemed wangfei has arrived," a eunuch announced loudly.
Hearing this, the crowd exchanged glances and began to whisper amongst themselves. Why had Qin Wangfei Han Yunxi come?
The emperor had summoned the Duke of Qin to discuss military affairs, so what was a woman like her doing here? After all, there were no other women in the imperial study besides court ladies.
Long Tianmo and Mu Qingwu both wore complicated looks on their faces, but they didn't say a word.
Emperor Tianhui saw the crowd exchanging glances and whispering into each other's ears. He didn't say a word, but he had an idea of what was going on.
Soon enough, Long Fei Ye and Han Yunxi entered the study. The two of them bowed to Emperor Tianhui, followed by the rest of the crowd.
Han Yunxi glanced at Emperor Tianhui and discovered that he'd aged quite a bit in the past few months. There were even a few strands of white hair by his temples.
First, he was sick; second, he was worried about national affairs; third, he was worried about war. As expected, it wasn't easy being an emperor.
"Qin Wangfei hasn't entered the palace in ages. You should pay your respects to the empress dowager," Emperor Tianhui clearly wanted Han Yunxi to leave.
Before Han Yunxi could speak, Long Fei Ye said, "Chen di hasn't seen the Empress Dowager for a long time. I will go with Wang Fei later."
His attitude silenced the crowd.
Emperor Tianhui's hands slowly clenched into fists. He'd already been waiting for a Long Fei Ye, but now his anger was unbearable. He slapped the table and rose to his feet in anger. "Duke of Qin, Zhen summoned you here today to discuss important military and political matters. What right does a woman like Han Yunxi have to stand here?"
Everyone was frightened by Emperor Tianhui's rage, but Han Yunxi remained calm and collected. If not for Long Fei Ye's invitation, she wouldn't have come at all!
"Your Majesty, this subject brother thought that you summoned this subject brother into the palace for a reward. It seems that this subject brother misunderstood."
Long Fei Ye's tone was light and casual, but it set off a storm in everyone's hearts!
What did he mean by those words?
He clearly knew that Northern Li had already made preparations for war. He clearly knew why His Majesty had yielded so much and begged him to come back! How could he stand here and say such things so indifferently?
Even Long Tianmo and Mu Qingwu felt a chill run down their spines. It seemed like they'd finally witnessed the Duke of Qin's coldness and heartlessness today.
In the silence of the room, Emperor Tianhui was so angry that he was panting for breath. It took him a long time to calm himself down. "Duke of Qin, you and your wife have rendered meritorious service in disaster relief. Tomorrow morning court will award you with rewards. Zhen summoned you here overnight precisely for the sake of Northern Li's war affairs. "
"Imperial brother, after the late emperor passed away, this subject brother didn't involve himself in military or political matters. Didn't you know that all along?" Long Fei Ye's eyes flashed with disdain.
This time, the room became even more silent. Even General Mu had a complicated expression on his face.
Han Yunxi was puzzled as well. She assumed that Long Fei Ye had yielded after returning to the capital, but he was still insisting.
Did he bring her to the imperial study today just to use her as an excuse to infuriate Emperor Tianhui?
Emperor Tianhui stared fixedly at Long Fei Ye, his heart filled with rage and a sense of helplessness.
He'd ascended the throne at the age of 25 and ruled over Tianning. He'd held great power at a young age without the coercion of distant relatives or the pressure of meritorious ministers or generals. He didn't even need the Grand Tutor to assist him. In other words, he'd seized all power as soon as he ascended the throne.
But who would've thought that the Duke of Qin would keep him in check at his age?
After the late emperor passed away, the first person he'd been on guard against was the Duke of Qin. He'd used all sorts of methods to force the Duke of Qin away from the center of government affairs, but never expected the Duke of Qin's retort today!
He'd never believed that he'd already lost half of Tianning's imperial power, but now he had no choice but to face the facts.
The empress dowager's banquet was the Duke of Qin's reminder to everyone that the struggle for the throne had long begun.
"Heheh!" Emperor Tianhui suddenly laughed. "Zhen really is muddle-headed from illness! There's something Zhen doesn't understand. Since the Duke of Qin has come today, why don't you give Zhen an explanation? "
"Your Majesty, please speak," Long Fei Ye was very calm.
"You mobilized the Baili Navy to transport the fish. How did the Baili Navy end up at odds with Jun Yi Xie?" Emperor Tianhui asked seriously.
"Jun Yi Xie intended to seize the fish and sell them to Tianning's disaster areas. He not only fought with your lordship over the fish eyes, but also insulted Tianning. For the sake of protecting Tianning's face, General Baili sent out troops to surround them and display the might of the navy to intimidate Northern Li! "Long Fei Ye rarely spoke such high-sounding words.
When he finished, he added, "As your lordship sees it, General Baili's merits outweigh his faults. It's only right that he be rewarded."
Han Yunxi listened from the sidelines. She felt like something was off, but she couldn't put her finger on it.
Besides Long Tianmo and Mu Qingwu, everyone else found the situation strange as well. They couldn't figure out His Highness Duke of Qin's intentions.
Still, Emperor Tianhui stroked his beard and laughed coldly in his heart. He'd finally used the last bargaining chip in his hand.
Jun Yi Xie's bullying of Han Yunxi hadn't been made public, so very few people knew about it. Emperor Tianhui himself had only gotten the news from Northern Li's secret agents.
Long Fei Ye clearly didn't want the matter to be publicized, so he'd given General Baili a perfectly justifiable reason.
Just a moment ago, he'd said he didn't want to involve himself in politics, but now he was evaluating General Baili's actions.
Thus, hiding the fact that Han Yunxi had been bullied was Long Fei Ye's real condition!
Emperor Tianhui's gloomy mood suddenly brightened. There was finally a breakthrough.
"The Duke of Qin's words are reasonable. But how long does General Baili plan to keep up his show of force? There's already movement at the Three-Way Battlefield. Does General Baili have a battle plan? "
Emperor Tianhui's greatest fear was that the Baili Navy wouldn't settle down at Fishery Island while Northern Li fought at the Three-Way Battlefield.
If the Baili Navy could head north to attack Northern Li from the coastline and become the main force, then it would be Long Feiye's forces fighting against Northern Li instead of his own!
Long Fei Ye had finally exposed his weakness today. If he wanted to protect Han Yunxi and his own reputation, then he'd have to pay the price!
Long Fei Ye replied, "Chendi can't guess General Baili's thoughts either. Your Majesty might as well ask him directly."
Emperor Tianhui's eyes turned shrewd. Duke of Qin, ah, Duke of Qin. You're clearly in control of everything, but you still want to stay out of it.
Now that you've exposed your weakness, Zhen won't let you off so easily!
"Fine! Zhen will ask him properly, "Emperor Tianhui said Coldly.
What was supposed to be a tense military meeting ended just like that. All of the officials were left confused, but Long Tianmo stayed behind to ask, "Imperial Father, do you really want to fight this war?"
Emperor Tianhui waved a hand to dismiss him without a word.
The next day, Emperor Tianhui issued an imperial edict to reward the Baili Navy for their efforts in protecting Tianning's honor. General Baili also said that if Northern Li dared to start a war at the Three-Way Battlefield, the Baili Navy would head north to attack Northern Li's coastal defenses and force them to withdraw their troops.
Emperor Tianhui rejoiced and approved the Baili Navy's plan.
Now Long Tianmo and Mu Qingwu understood everything.
"Qingwu, who do you think won this time? Imperial Father or Imperial Uncle Qin?" Long Tianmo asked.
Northern Li's coastal defenses were weak, which was where the value of Tianning's navy lay. As soon as Tianning's navy moved north, Northern Li would have to declare a ceasefire or transfer their troops to the east. They wouldn't lose too badly, but they wouldn't gain any advantages either.
"Did His Majesty win?" Mu Qingwu said mildly. The Duke of Qin could've left Emperor Tianhui to clean up after the incident at Fishery Island, but for the sake of Han Yunxi's reputation, he'd yielded in the end.
As Mu Qingwu spoke, he couldn't help but shake his head with a smile. Even when His Highness Duke of Qin gave in, no one could tell!
Unless they knew the truth, how could any of the court officials see through him?
"But once war breaks out, won't Jun Yi Xie benefit for nothing?" Mu Qingwu couldn't accept it when he thought of this.
"Judging from Northern Li's actions, they'll definitely go to war … Imperial Uncle Qin can only let Jun Yi Xie benefit like this?" Long Tianmo muttered to himself. Although he'd seen through the situation, he still felt regret.
As soon as Han Yunxi heard the news, she rushed to Long Fei Ye's study in his quarters and stood in front of him, staring at him.
Long Fei Ye calmly rolled up the Annals of the Seven Noble Families in his hands and hid the title of the book before putting it aside.
"Is something the matter?" he asked.
Han Yunxi stared at him for a long time before she spoke. "Long Fei Ye, you're too black-hearted!"
Long Fei Ye immediately knitted his brows. No one in the world had ever dared to stand in front of him and curse him. This woman was the first.
Han Yunxi didn't care about Long Fei Ye's unhappy expression. She said, "You were certain that Northern Li wouldn't go to war, so you had General Baili make that promise to Tianhui. It looked like you were giving in for me, but you were playing with Tianhui again! "
After returning home that night, Han Yunxi had been trying to figure out Long Fei Ye's motives. Now she finally understood.
This fellow was an expert among experts. If he hadn't been so young, he would've played Emperor Tianhui to death long ago during the struggle for the throne. How could he ever sit on the dragon throne?
As long as Northern Li didn't go to war, the Baili Navy would have a legitimate reason to surround Fishery Island.
Seeing Han Yunxi's agitated expression, Long Fei Ye mistook her for anger and sighed softly. "Isn't your lordship doing all this for you?"
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