kvmb Chapter 180 Meeting
Chapter 180 Meeting
Chapter 180 Meeting
It turns out that during the days Lin Fei was away from the capital, Prime Minister Wang You, the Second Prince Li Longqian, and others were not idle. They not only sent assassins outside to intercept and kill Lin Fei, preventing him from returning to the capital, but they were also busy inside the capital.
A few days ago, Chancellor Wang You submitted a memorial to Emperor Li Yu in front of all the civil and military officials, requesting the establishment of a crown prince. The candidate for crown prince was naturally not Lin Fei, who was not in the capital, but the second prince, Li Longqian.
They even bribed many officers in an attempt to undermine Shenwei Hou Su Lie's influence within the army.
Fortunately, many of the high-ranking officers in the army were soldiers personally trained by Su Lie, and their loyalty far exceeded Wang You and others' expectations, which is why they did not succeed.
However, their series of petty actions also provoked Su Lie's anger.
As the saying goes, "He who strikes first gains the upper hand, he who strikes last suffers the consequences." Su Lie was not the kind of person to sit idly by and wait to be bullied. In the past, he ignored affairs simply because he was disheartened and disdained to fight with these guys.
But now that the other party has set their sights on him, he naturally won't back down easily.
So Su Lie wrote a memorial and secretly informed many of his former generals, asking them to join him in submitting a memorial to the Tang Emperor the next day.
You want to establish a crown prince? Fine, I won't stop you, I'll let you establish one! However, the crown prince will not be the second prince, Li Longqian, but the eldest prince, Li Longyuan.
Su Lie is the kind of person who, once he makes a move, will leave his opponent utterly defenseless.
"Since that's the case," Lin Fei slowly closed the memorial and placed it back in front of Su Lie, "then I have no choice but to accept the position of Crown Prince!"
Lin Fei didn't actually care much about the position of crown prince. However, those guys were being so aggressive; how could he let them get what they wanted so easily?
"Good, good, good! This is my good grandson!" Su Lie laughed heartily. "This position was rightfully yours. Since some people don't know their own worth, I'll show them what I'm capable of!"
"You must be tired from your journey. Go back and get some rest." Su Lie waved his hand, signaling Lin Fei to leave. "Tomorrow morning, you will come to the palace with me!"
……
Early the next morning, Lin Fei followed Su Lie into the palace.
Besides Su Lie, all the civil and military officials of the Southern Tang Kingdom also rushed to the capital early in the morning.
It's not that they all knew Su Lie's plan. It's just that today was the monthly grand court assembly.
As Prime Minister Wang You walked along the road with several of his trusted confidants, one of them whispered, "Prime Minister Wang, I heard that lad has returned to the capital?"
Wang You nodded expressionlessly: "That's right, I have received the news. That kid entered Tianmen South Prefecture yesterday and then returned to Shenwei Marquis's Mansion."
Another person said, "Prime Minister, my men just saw Lord Su bring that boy into the palace. Do you think Lord Su is planning something today?"
"Actions?" A smile crept onto Wang You's lips. "If this were the martial world, that old guy would be unstoppable; none of us would be his match. Too bad, this is the imperial court!"
"The court must follow the rules of the court. Even if that old man is invincible and has divine might, he can't break the rules!" Wang You said, seeing that his subordinates seemed to be showing some fear, and couldn't help but say angrily, "What are you afraid of? With His Majesty in the court, can that old guy kill you? If he really had that kind of courage, his daughter wouldn't have died in the first place!"
The subordinates nodded in agreement and hurriedly said, "What the Prime Minister says is right, what the Prime Minister says is right. We will all follow the Prime Minister's orders and do whatever the Prime Minister says."
"That's more like it." Wang You nodded in satisfaction. "Listen up, all of you. Now that kid's back, that old bastard Su Lie is definitely still up to no good. To avoid any unforeseen complications, we must persuade His Majesty to finalize the selection of the Crown Prince today, no matter what!"
"Your Excellency, rest assured, we have already contacted all our colleagues and will submit another memorial today." The others nodded hurriedly as well.
……
While all the civil and military officials were rushing to the palace to attend the monthly grand court assembly, Lin Fei, led by Su Lie, had already entered the palace.
Lin Fei's identity as a prince has not yet been recognized by the Tang Emperor, and his official position in the court is merely that of a minor bronze-plated constable in Tianmen Prefecture.
Let alone a mere bronze-ranked constable like him, even a gold-ranked constable like Jiang Zhilan wouldn't be qualified to attend such a court assembly. Therefore, Lin Fei had no place at the court assembly, so Su Lie led him to a side hall.
"You wait here for now. You may enter the palace after you receive my message." After giving these instructions, Su Lie left Lin Fei there and walked towards the court.
Watching Su Lie's departing figure, Lin Fei suddenly felt a pang of sadness—a master of Su Lie's caliber should be unbound by any rules. But here, he was forced to be restricted by them.
This is also why Lin Fei is unwilling to become the so-called crown prince—he doesn't want to be bound by those rules and regulations.
With Su Lie's cultivation level, he could easily kill all the civil and military officials in the court by himself. But now, he has to argue with them all just to wait for the Tang Emperor to decide on the position of the crown prince. This is really unbecoming of a master.
……
Lin Fei stayed in the side hall, while the civil and military officials of the court went to the main hall one after another.
Many of the military officers were former subordinates of Su Lie, including Su Wuming, the commander of Tianmen Southern Prefecture. Many had received Su Lie's message: at today's court assembly, Su Lie would launch a counterattack against those aggressive individuals.
The civil officials were also eager to present their memorials, each carrying one in their hands.
Despite their lower cultivation level compared to those roughnecks, as long as Emperor Li Yu of Tang was alive, those warriors wouldn't dare to act recklessly. Therefore, they weren't afraid of those generals whose cultivation was higher than theirs.
Even the two Divine Might Marquises, Su Lie, had Prime Minister Wang You to oppose them. Despite Su Lie's unparalleled divine might, in the imperial court, everything had to be done according to the rules of the royal family.
Before the court assembly even began, all the civil and military officials were already itching for a fight, and the air seemed to be filled with the smell of gunpowder.
Finally, Emperor Li Yu of Tang arrived late, and the monthly grand court assembly officially began.