Qi Xiao's heart was in turmoil. Suddenly, word came from outside that someone had arrived from the palace.

Qi Xiao gave Jiang Deqing a look. Jiang Deqing understood and quickly bowed to clean up the fragments on the ground, still standing to the side as if nothing had happened just now.

Before long, Fu Hailu entered and bowed to Qi Xiao: "Greetings to the Crown Prince. Crown Prince... you have also heard about the matter with the King of Lingnan, right?"

Qi Xiao nodded and said indifferently, "I just received the letter. What exactly happened?"

Fu Hailu sighed, "This servant does not know how to say it, nor dares to say it. Now the Emperor has urgently summoned the ministers to enter the palace. He sent this servant to bring the Crown Prince into the palace to discuss together. Once you enter the palace, the Crown Prince will know everything."

Upon hearing this, Qi Xiao didn't say much more. He turned his head and told Jiang Deqing to get his clothes, then entered the palace together with Fu Hailu.

In the main hall of the Qianqing Palace, the Emperor frowned, and a dozen ministers below were whispering, seeming to be arguing about something. Seeing Qi Xiao come, they all bowed to pay their respects. Qi Xiao nodded slightly in greeting, then bowed to the Emperor. Before he could speak, the Emperor waved his hand first, "Don't stand on ceremony, rise..."

The Emperor turned to look at the palace servants and frowned, "Where is the Second Prince?"

The palace servant's face turned pale and he stammered, "The Second Prince stayed in the Empress's palace last night. The palace gates have not opened yet this morning, so there was no... no way to send word."

The Emperor sneered and shook his head, "Forget it... you can't prop up a collapsing wall with rotten mud. Minister Zhou, please speak."

Zhou Deyi, the former Lingnan Military Governor, stepped forward and said in a low voice, "The secret agent reported that the second son of the late King of Lingnan, Dongling Wenyu, had already rebelled on July 1st, which was the second day after the King of Lingnan passed away. Dongling Wenyu first colluded with the Lingnan Military Minister Xia Wencheng to seal the city gates of the Lingnan capital, not allowing anyone to leave Lingnan. And then..."

......

In the Lingnan Prince's manor, Bairen wore a sackcloth and mourned, kneeling in front of the spirit tablet in a daze. The old steward wept with tears streaming down his face, beating his chest and crying, "What sin did we commit... The King has not yet reached the age of destiny, how could he be gone..."

Bairen's mind was blank. He had not received much favor from the King of Lingnan since childhood, and had few opportunities to even see him. The few times he could count were when the King of Lingnan was examining his schoolwork, or scolding him for something.

Bairen's current impression of the King of Lingnan was still from the day before he left the manor a year ago, when the King of Lingnan called him to the study and told him to be well-behaved and not cause trouble after arriving in the imperial city. Bairen remembered clearly that at that time, the King of Lingnan still had a strong physique.

Bairen never imagined that his father would suddenly be gone like this. After the initial shock and sadness, Bairen's heart gradually became filled with panic.

Bairen was not stupid. What Qi Xiao could think of, he could probably think of too. The King of Lingnan was in his prime years, and his sudden death was already strange. The most critical thing was that it happened at this time, when Wenyu had a hidden illness and had no hope of inheriting the throne.

Bairen was not afraid of Wenyu inheriting the throne before him. It was just a position, he could give it to him. What Bairen was truly afraid of was that Wenyu would use the Queen's life to threaten him...

Bairen took a deep breath to suppress the unease in his heart. He raised his hand and threw all the paper money in his arms into the brazier, then turned his head and called out in a low voice, "Shunzi."

Shunzi had been guarding outside the hall. Hearing the movement, he quickly came in. Bairen clenched his trembling hands and said in a low voice, "Go call..."

Before Bairen could finish speaking, there was suddenly a knock on the door outside the prince's manor. The person claimed to be from Lingnan. At this time, it was not yet dawn, and with such a thing just happening, no one dared to open the door. They hurriedly came in to report. Bairen said sternly, "What is there to be afraid of?! Tell them to come in!"

The servant who came to report was originally so scared that his legs were shaking, but now seeing Bairen like this, he instead calmed down. He turned and left.

Before long, the servant brought the person in. The man stepped forward to greet Bairen, "Young prince... have you been well?"

Bairen saw clearly who this person was and exclaimed, "Chao... Chaoge?"

Cen Chaoge's face was weathered, as if he had aged ten years. He gave a bitter smile and sighed lightly, "It's been a year. I thought the young prince had already forgotten me."

In the Qianqing Palace, Zhou Deyi sighed lightly, "The Lingnan Civil Minister was a rare loyal official. Knowing Dongling Wenyu's ambition, he vowed to die rather than collude with the rebels. He cursed Dongling Wenyu and Concubine Xia to their faces. Dongling Wenyu forced the Civil Minister at knifepoint to write the edict of succession. The Civil Minister threw the brush at Dongling Wenyu's face and splashed ink on the head of Concubine Xia. After laughing heartily three times... he went to his death with fortitude."

Upon hearing this, the ministers in the hall all sighed with emotion. Zhou Deyi continued, "Only then did everyone realize that the Civil Minister was not just acting on a momentary sense of righteousness. While he was contending with Dongling Wenyu and Concubine Xia, the Cen family troops, as well as many upright men in Lingnan, totaling more than 300 people, broke out together.

"Using Dongling Wenyu's name, they broke through the city gates and killed their way out, opening a bloody path. This subject's men... also took the opportunity to escape during the chaos. To tell the truth... there were many in the Lingnan capital who upheld righteousness, what a pity..."

Qi Xiao closed his eyes for a moment. Now he fully understood why his own people, Bairen's people, and the Emperor's people all only received the letters today. He was afraid they all only had the chance to escape at that time...

"Before my father went to the king's manor, he called me to the study and gave me this pouch..." Cen Chaoge rummaged in his bosom for a while and took out a half-worn pouch, handing it to Bairen with both hands. Cen Chaoge's eyes were red as he said hoarsely, "Father told me that I must, must deliver it into the young master's hands personally."

Bairen opened the pouch, and a gold seal was revealed inside. Bairen turned over the gold seal, and saw four large red characters underneath: Seal of the King of Lingnan.

Cen Chaoge fell to his knees with a thud, tears sliding down, "King, may you live for a thousand years, a thousand years, a thousand thousand years."

Bairen gripped the gold seal tightly in his palm, tears streaming down.

Cen Chaoge wiped away his tears and said with a choked voice, "Father only had me as his son. He had great expectations for me in his life, but I... was so cowardly, not daring to do anything, not able to do anything well. In the end... I didn't even have the courage to stay and accompany him.

"I, I clearly knew that once he entered the prince's manor, he would not come out. But I still left... When we left the city, there were originally 57 people from our household. It was for me, to protect me, to protect this great seal. In the end..."

Cen Chaoge lay on the ground, crying his heart out: "In the end, only three people were left! When the servant boy pulled me and rolled down the city gate, I looked back and saw my martial arts master hanging on the city gate, covered in blood... The third son of the Fang family had been hiding in the hole of the city gate. I thought he was a coward, but when we ran out, in order to stop the rebels, he climbed up the city gate and cut off the drawstring of the gate, finally wedging his body into the gate to jam it shut! He was only fifteen years old! Only fifteen this year!"

Bairen closed his eyes and said after a long while, "Don't worry... the hatred of today, I will repay in blood in the future."

Cen Chaoge looked at Bairen in alarm, "Young prince... what do you plan to do?"

Bairen enunciated each word, "Blood for blood."

Cen Chaoge's voice trembled, "Your Highness... Your Highness must not act on loyalty. Now that Lingnan has been occupied by the Xia clan rebels, the only plan is to seek help from the imperial city and have the Emperor send troops, only then can we..."

"Can we what?" Bairen's eyes were blood red as he stared fixedly at Cen Chaoge. "Do you really think the Emperor is a saint? That he will lend me troops for nothing? When the Emperor sends troops, yes, the rebels can be quelled, but by then... I'm afraid the people in the city will also have to be buried with them! Chaoge, since the founding emperor, there hasn't been a single emperor who didn't want to take back Lingnan."

Cen Chaoge's face turned pale as he exclaimed, "You mean... the Emperor will drive out and slaughter all the people of Lingnan?"

Bairen shook his head, "Not to that extent, but the families in the city with meritorious service and titles will certainly not be spared. If the Emperor wants to take Lingnan, he will not leave these people to become future trouble."

Bairen looked at Cen Chaoge, his voice hoarse with sobs, "Chaoge... my mother consort, your mother, and the families of those who helped you escape are still in the city... I can't let them die in vain."

Cen Chaoge stared at Bairen in a daze. He never imagined that in just one year, the young master who had come to the capital alone as a hostage for the sake of the people of Lingnan and 100,000 stones of grain, was now ready to don armor and take up arms, resolutely going to his death for the sake of his mother and the people in the capital of Ling.

Cen Chaoge slumped to the ground, dejectedly. In just one short year...

"Your Majesty, the plan now is to swiftly use military force to suppress this before Dongling Wenyu succeeds," said Li Wenxing, the Minister of War, stepping forward. "I suggest immediately dispatching 50,000 troops to guard the border, surround the city, quell the rebellion, and completely eliminate all the rebels!"

Qi Xiao did not speak for a long time. Hearing this, he raised his eyes and glanced at him coldly, saying, "50,000 men? Minister Li, are you quelling a rebellion or massacring a city?"

Li Wenxing paused, then waved his hand and said gruffly, "Your Highness the Crown Prince is exaggerating. It's just that we don't know the current situation in Lingnan. What if all the people of Lingnan have already rebelled? We can't just send a few thousand men over there to be sacrificed for nothing!"

Qi Xiao smiled faintly, "No, it's just that I am now in charge of the Ministry of Revenue and have to consider one step further. Minister Li, it's convenient for you to mobilize 50,000 men, but I can't prepare the provisions for 50,000 men in a short time."

The Emperor tapped lightly on the imperial desk. He had always been mediocre in his political achievements. If under his rule, the long-standing trouble spot of Lingnan could be taken down, future generations would praise him for it, and the matter of his succession to the throne back then would no longer be an issue.

After a long while, the Emperor said in a low voice, "50,000... is a bit too many, a few thousand is a bit too few. Let's make it 30,000. Crown Prince, 30,000 provisions shouldn't be difficult to prepare, right?"

With these words, everyone in the hall understood that the Emperor had decided to swallow Lingnan.

Qi Xiao raised his head to look at the Emperor. In a flash, Qi Xiao had already calculated the chances of success if a military coup were to happen now. Unfortunately...

Qi Xiao lowered his eyes and said softly, "It's not difficult."