160: Chen Pingping and Fei Jie were tortured to death! The Inspection Bureau rebelled!

Chapter 159: Chen Pingping and Fei Jie to Be Executed by Lingchi! Supervisory Council Rebels! (23)

The moment Emperor Qing learned that Li Chang'an was a Great Grandmaster, he was first shocked, then a little relieved.

Because this matter today could not be suppressed; everyone in the world would know that Emperor Qing had set a trap to kill Ye Qingmei.

All those who had supported Ye Qingmei back then, and all those who had received her favors, would become Emperor Qing's enemies.

Of course, Emperor Qing wouldn't care about the attitude of ordinary people.

Moreover, Ye Qingmei had once stirred up unrest in Qing Kingdom, and most people didn't like her.

Her slogan of 'everyone is equal' had not spread among the lower classes, and most common people didn't know her at all.

What Emperor Qing feared most were the two Great Grandmasters and Wu Zhu.

If Wu Zhu learned of this, he might just take his iron rod and storm the Imperial Palace.

Fan Xian also knew about this now, and it was hard to say whether he would seek revenge with a divine weapon.

As for Ku He and Si Gu Jian, due to reasons of national conquest, they had always wanted to assassinate him.

The original balance of power in the world was Ku He and Si Gu Jian against the Qing Palace's Great Grandmaster and Ye Liuyun, a two-on-two stalemate, which was the reason for stability.

Now, Wu Zhu, a Great Grandmaster-level expert, would definitely be courted by Ku He and Si Gu Jian.

Counting them, the opposing side would have three Great Grandmasters.

Therefore, Emperor Qing was very clear: Li Chang'an must be won over!

And Li Chang'an didn't like Ye Qingmei, so it was unlikely he would join the opposing camp; winning him over should not be too difficult.

However, Li Chang'an was a Great Grandmaster and now also an heir to the throne.

He posed too great a threat to Emperor Qing himself, a threat that would have to be removed sooner or later.

Emperor Qing thought that after designing the elimination of all Great Grandmasters, he would then eliminate Li Chang'an.

Therefore, Emperor Qing's trump card must be well hidden, and Li Chang'an must not discover that he was a Great Grandmaster.

Having figured out these matters in a flash, Emperor Qing made two decisions.

First, he must win over Li Chang'an.

Second, he must conceal his Great Grandmaster trump card.

Emperor Qing looked coldly at Chen Pingping, "Old dog, you almost ruined my great plan!"

"Old General Qin, a loyal subject of Qing Kingdom, was almost framed by you!"

"You assassinated the Emperor, plotted against the imperial family, committed high treason, and are hereby sentenced to death by Lingchi!"

"You betrayed Us for a woman; We want everyone in the world to see that you are not a man!"

Hearing Emperor Qing's words, Fan Jian and his son finally couldn't hold back and all knelt down to plead for mercy.

"Your Majesty, considering Director Chen's many years of friendship with you, please grant him a dignified end!"

"Your Majesty, Director Chen has rendered meritorious service for many years; please let him keep his body intact!"

"Your Majesty, Director Chen has led the Supervisory Council for over twenty years; such a disposal might lead to unforeseen complications!"

Li Chang'an sneered inwardly, 'Complications in the Supervisory Council? Such good news.'

The Supervisory Council was essentially Chen Pingping's private force, and it would later be passed to Fan Xian.

For Li Chang'an, such a force would have to be removed sooner or later.

Rather than finding an opportunity later, it was better to uproot it directly now.

"Not only Chen Pingping, but Shadow and Fei Jie must also be executed by Lingchi!"

Li Chang'an said coldly, and Fan Xian immediately couldn't hold back.

"Your Highness, Prince Qin! What great crime has Fei Jie committed to also be executed by Lingchi!"

Li Chang'an glanced at Emperor Qing, 'Old Sixth, if you don't speak up, I'm going to expose your son's affairs.'

Li Chang'an didn't care about royal dignity anyway; Li Yunrui wasn't of imperial Bloodline.

Emperor Qing hurriedly said, "Fei Jie has repeatedly poisoned the Second Prince, his intentions are malicious, execute him by Lingchi!"

He, of course, knew that such a disposal of Fei Jie would inevitably push Fan Xian to the opposing side.

But he knew even more that Fan Xian and Wu Zhu could no longer be won over, so it was better to completely side with Li Chang'an.

Watching Fan Xian's furious and unventable expression, Emperor Qing's dissatisfaction completely erupted.

Before, he had pretended to be deeply in love with Ye Qingmei, which was originally to deceive Fan Xian.

He wanted to win over Fan Xian, and then Wu Zhu, but now he didn't need to.

If this son harbored such hatred for him, then there was no need for him to live.

"Fan Xian, Chen Pingping and Fei Jie will be executed by Lingchi in three days; you will supervise the execution!"

Hearing this command, Fan Jian completely broke down, "Your Majesty, you are too cruel!"

Emperor Qing's voice, instead, calmed down, "It's time for Fan Xian to make his choice."

In front of Emperor Qing, Li Chang'an said to the First Prince, "Li Chengru, have the Imperial Guards escort Chen Pingping to the Kyoto Prefecture Prison; the execution will be in three days!"

Li Chengru glanced at Emperor Qing, who frowned and said, "Listen to Prince Qin."

After Chen Pingping was dragged away, Li Chang'an slowly walked up to Emperor Qing.

"Your Majesty, that old dog Chen Pingping slandered this Prince..."

Emperor Qing took Li Chang'an's hand and said, "Chang'an, We almost wrongly accused you!"

"Those charges the old dog mentioned, of course, don't count; you are still Prince Qin, second only to one and above all others!"

Li Chang'an saw that this old Sixth was still trying to play dumb, so he reminded him, "This Prince just saved your life, didn't he?"

"If this Prince hadn't stopped Chen Pingping's shotgun, you would probably have ascended to heaven by now."

"Those steel pellets and iron shot were so fast, your Ninth-Grade strength couldn't have dodged them."

"Your Majesty, you're not a Great Grandmaster, are you?"

Emperor Qing's eyelids twitched, and he said awkwardly, "No, of course not, so you rendered meritorious service by saving Us."

"Meritorious service must be rewarded; We'll think about it..."

Li Chang'an pressed Emperor Qing's hand and said, "Don't think about it; leave this matter to Prime Minister Lin."

He turned to Lin Ruofu and said, "Prime Minister Lin, this Prince gives you two days to come up with a proposal for this Prince. Do you know what to do?"

Lin Ruofu respectfully said, "Your Highness, Prince Qin, you rendered meritorious service by saving His Majesty, and you are also a Great Grandmaster."

"You not only saved His Majesty but also protected the Great Qing's empire. This subject will go back and consult ancient texts, gather wisdom, and certainly produce a reward proposal."

Li Chang'an nodded, "Very good, handle the matter well."

Emperor Qing looked helplessly at Li Chang'an and Lin Ruofu, as if he, the Emperor, had nothing to do with it.

Then, Li Chang'an walked up to Qin Ye.

"Old General Qin, it was you who personally led people to dismember Ye Qingmei back then."

"Back then, His Majesty planned from behind the scenes, and you charged forward, truly heroic."

As these two sentences were uttered, Fan Xian's expression immediately became even uglier.

Qin Ye, on the other hand, secretly breathed a sigh of relief. If Prince Qin said that, it meant the Qin Family was still useful.

Li Chang'an didn't deal with the Qin Family because they still controlled about a hundred thousand troops at the border.

Now that he had revealed what they had done, it was impossible for them to side with Fan Xian and Wu Zhu.

Once Li Chang'an's own forces entered Kyoto and controlled the situation, he would then find a way to deal with the Qin Family.

Moreover, to deal with the Qin Family, all their military power had to be eradicated.

The small court meeting in the Imperial Study produced major news that had not been seen in the Qing Kingdom's court for decades.

The Director of the Supervisory Council assassinated the Emperor, and Prince Qin Li Chang'an was a Great Grandmaster!

The entire Kyoto was abuzz, with these two pieces of news being discussed in every street and alley.

Li Chang'an, who was already the most suitable heir, now saw his prestige rise even further.

Fan Manor.

In the carriage returning from the palace, Fan Xian and Fan Jian, father and son, did not say a word.

As soon as the carriage stopped, Fan Xian immediately jumped out and was about to go to the Supervisory Council.

Director Chen was to be executed by Lingchi, and there would surely be chaos in the Council.

He was the second-in-command of the Supervisory Council and had to go to manage the situation.

But as soon as he took a few steps, a dozen Eighth-Grade guards surrounded him.

Fan Jian, with his hands behind his back, said in a deep voice, "From now until the supervision of the execution the day after tomorrow, you are not allowed to leave the Fan Manor."

Fan Xian anxiously said, "Father, something big will happen at the Supervisory Council!"

Fan Jian said expressionlessly, "Those old men are Chen Pingping's comrades of many years. Can you suppress them?"

"Do you think that just because Chen Pingping promoted you to the position of Commissioner, in just over two years, you can truly control the Supervisory Council?"

"Do you think His Majesty doesn't know, or Li Chang'an doesn't know, that Chen Pingping cultivated the Supervisory Council into his own force?"

"No more talk, return to the manor!"

Just like that, Fan Xian was placed under house arrest by Fan Jian in the Fan Manor and did not go to the Supervisory Council again.

Inside the Supervisory Council.

Yan Bingyun, the head of the Fourth Bureau, had not yet received news from the palace, but Shadow appeared in his hall.

"Shadow, you're back?"

Li Chang'an had released Shadow as agreed, publicly claiming that Shadow had escaped from prison.

But because Shadow's loyalty was not high, Li Chang'an directly afflicted him with the Life-and-Death Talisman.

"Yan Bingyun, come with me, I have something for you."

Shadow finished speaking and turned to leave. Yan Bingyun immediately followed, not expecting Shadow to arrive at the door of Chen Pingping's room.

The lock on the room was opened by Shadow, who quickly walked to the bookshelf and found a dossier.

"You are Xiao En's grandson. Chen Pingping was arrested for assassinating Emperor Qing and will be executed by Lingchi in three days."

Shadow finished speaking and left, leaving Yan Bingyun alone in Chen Pingping's room.

Yan Bingyun had no time to be surprised, because the dossier in front of him was what he had been looking for.

He opened it, quickly scanned it, and then quickly memorized everything.

Afterward, he habitually locked the door and then nervously returned to his own room.

Because Xiao En's matter was of concern to Emperor Qing, Chen Pingping had to keep the dossier; otherwise, it would have been destroyed long ago.

He saw it very clearly: he was not a Southern Qing person; he really was Xiao En's grandson!

His heart was far from calm, but the news of Chen Pingping's Lingchi was even more explosive!

Director Chen was His Majesty's old friend of many years and had rendered great service to the country; how could he go and assassinate Emperor Qing?

The turbulent waves in his heart hadn't subsided for long when he heard the clamor outside.

"Something terrible has happened!"

"The Director actually assassinated His Majesty!"

"The Director has been arrested and taken to the Kyoto Prefecture Prison!"

"Prince Qin Li Chang'an is a Great Grandmaster!"

"The Director's assassination was thwarted by Prince Qin, and the Director, Old Fei, and Shadow have all been sentenced to Lingchi!"

"How is that possible? Why would the Director try to assassinate His Majesty!"

"Lingchi! How incredibly cruel!"

...As the clamor grew louder, Yan Bingyun also walked out of his room to check the situation.

"Don't panic, everyone return to your respective halls; arrangements in the Council are free!"

The speaker was Murong Yan, the highly respected head of the Second Bureau, an elder whose seniority was comparable to Chen Pingping's.

As an absolute loyalist of Chen Pingping, he also strongly supported Chen Pingping's promotion of Fan Xian.

But now that both Chen Pingping and Fan Xian were absent, this elder became the backbone of the Supervisory Council.

"Go and notify the heads of each bureau to come to the main hall for a meeting immediately!"

Soon, the spokespersons of the eight bureaus gathered in the hall.

The First, Third, Fifth, and Sixth Bureaus sent their deputies, while the other bureaus sent their heads.

Everyone present, without exception, was a direct subordinate of Chen Pingping, except for Yan Bingyun, whose mood was complicated after just learning his true identity.

"What exactly happened?"

"Is the news true?"

"Who is spreading rumors!"

Murong Yan had evidently become their leader; he suppressed the clamor in the hall.

"Gentlemen, don't panic. The Department One has received confirmed news."

"Director Chen used the divine weapon left by Miss Ye to assassinate His Majesty, but he was stopped by Prince Qin, and he has already been imprisoned in the Kyoto Prefecture Prison."

Murong Yan recounted the news he had received, and everyone fell into a brief silence. Everyone believed the words of this most senior elder.

"More than a dozen ministers witnessed it with their own eyes, absolutely no falsehood. Gentlemen, we need to come up with a plan."

After a brief silence, someone asked, "Is Prince Qin a Great Grandmaster?"

Murong Yan said, "Absolutely true, he blocked the Director's divine weapon with his True Qi."

The news was confirmed, and dissatisfaction quickly spread.

"It seems His Majesty is going to act against our humble Council!"

"If you want to condemn someone, you can always find a pretext!"

"Besides regicide and rebellion, what other crime could be used to take down the Director!"

"The Director dedicated his life to the country, yet he ends up like this!"

"It's probably because he was forced and framed by that Prince Qin!"

At this moment, Murong Yan slowly said, "The Director entered the palace with a memorial impeaching Prince Qin."

Before they could discuss for long, the door of the hall was suddenly slammed open, and dozens of extremely senior Supervisory Council officials burst in, fuming.

"What are you still discussing?"

"Director Chen is going to be executed by Lingchi in three days; aren't you going to find a way to save him!"

"Prince Qin is a Great Grandmaster, not an immortal!"

"We are only saving the Old Director, not assassinating Prince Qin!"

"Murong Yan, you've followed the Director for over ten years; tell us what to do!"

...After another round of clamor, Murong Yan finally placated these veterans.

They all sat in the main hall, listening to the various heads discuss matters.

Yan Bingyun frowned; Murong Yan allowing these people to stay itself indicated his attitude.

These people who burst in were the most loyal to Chen Pingping.

Indeed, Murong Yan said to everyone, "All of you present here were promoted and nurtured by Director Chen."

"The Director led us through life and death for over ten years; can you bear to watch him, an old man, be cut into a thousand pieces!"

The deputy head of the Third Bureau, who was also Fan Xian's Senior Brother, said, "The Director and our teacher worked tirelessly for Qing Kingdom their entire lives; such an outcome is unfair!"

The other heads basically shared this sentiment.

Everyone was expressing indignation over the fate of Chen Pingping and the other two, and all suggested finding a way to rescue them.

Seeing that everyone's attitude was similar, Murong Yan said, "Gentlemen, we are the Great Qing Supervisory Council!"

"With the combined efforts of the eight bureaus, it's still very easy to rescue someone in Kyoto City!"

"The Department One has people hidden in all critical government offices, and the Fourth Bureau must also have backup plans!"

"The eight bureaus will immediately go and incite trouble at the Imperial Academy, using any reason to create chaos in Kyoto."

"The Third Bureau will poison and pollute the water sources inside Kyoto, forcing the city gates to open tomorrow!"

"Fires will break out all over Kyoto City; with a concerted effort, it's just about saving a few people, very easy."

Yan Bingyun felt a chill in his heart; only now did he realize the ruthless methods of the Surveillance Bureau's elders.

"Poison the water sources in Kyoto? How many innocent people would that affect?"

Hearing Yan Bingyun's words, an old man immediately shouted, "As long as everyone makes up their minds! Our Supervisory Council has the ability to turn Kyoto into a desolate city!"

"If the Director can survive, what does it matter if hundreds of thousands die?"