Chapter 1483: Chapter 1490: Take Him Into the Space (4)

Cai Wei said: “After Nangong Shi’s failed coup, he fled to Liaodan with his subordinates and has been plotting his comeback ever since. I happened to bump into him in Liaodan and captured him. This is a good opportunity for you to interrogate him thoroughly and root out all his conspiring allies within the court.”

Her analysis was entirely correct. It was after receiving a secret letter from Nangong Shi and learning that Cai Wei had been kidnapped by Saknu that Li Kaifeng started to observe the Emperor in the Imperial Court closely.

Everyone in the Great Jin Nation knew that The Emperor immensely doted on the Empress, treasuring her as his life. It would make no sense that he showed no urgency when she was kidnapped. Through his meticulous observations and the news transmitted by Consort Li from Inside the Palace, he finally realized that the Emperor who was going to court every day was an impostor, and both The Emperor and the Empress were not In the capital, along with The Emperor’s Secret Guards.

This was a heaven-sent opportunity, not one that comes every day, and of course, Li Kaifeng would not miss it. He immediately convened his faction to conspire about this matter.

His associates all believed that they must seize this fleeting opportunity, deeming it to be providence bestowing them the chance to achieve a great feat.

Consequently, the next day under Li Kaifeng’s lead, the conspirators publicly exposed the fake Emperor in the Imperial Court and also took the chance to suppress the power of Duke Li Guo’s Mansion, utterly defeating it.

The exposure of the counterfeit Emperor was indebted to the contributions of the Great General who became the greatest hero of the Great Jin Nation overnight. Many ministers who were unaware of the truth believed his lies, thinking that Duke Li Guo had conspired to rebel and had hidden (or killed) The Emperor and Empress. They loathed Duke Li Guo so much that if it weren’t for the mediation of the Marquis of Jian’an and the Auxiliary Duke, Duke Li Guo and his son might have been beaten to death by the Group of ministers right then and there.

Now, with both The Emperor and Empress’s whereabouts unknown and the court leaderless, the Civil and Military Officials, grateful for the Great General’s merit in exposing Duke Li Guo, willingly looked up to him as their leader. Even those who were dissatisfied could not defy him due to the Power he wielded in his hands and had to bow and submit.

Therefore, Li Kaifeng grew even more fearless, first declaring that the Retired Emperor was false, and then claimed that due to discord with her Son and daughter-in-law, Empress Dowager Mo harbored discontent towards The Emperor and Empress and took part in the conspiracy of the Duke Li Guo Mansion. He detained the ‘False Retired Emperor’ and Empress Dowager Mo inside the Palace, proclaiming that if The Emperor and Empress were not found within Three Days, he would execute the Nine Clans of Duke Li Guo’s Mansion and neither Empress Dowager Mo, Princess Zhao Yue, nor the ‘False Retired Emperor’ would be spared.

Now, the whole capital was caught up in a vigorous search for The Emperor, from the Civil and Military Officials to the common people; everyone was looking for any trace of The Emperor and Empress. The Great General Li Kaifeng deployed significant resources to search every possible place, including the dry wells inside the Palace, the pathways, and even the long-sealed Cold Palace.

Of course, this was just for show to the public. In secret, he had already quietly ordered his trusted subordinates to discretely locate The Emperor, and should any information come to light or The Emperor reveal himself, he would immediately execute him to eliminate Future Troubles.

This is why Nangong Yi came under a barrage of arrows as soon as he appeared.

Li Kaifeng’s plan was to wait for The Emperor’s death, after which he could easily install some incompetent young Prince as Emperor, naturally assuming control of the court’s Power. After a few more years, when the time was ripe, he would find a way to kill the puppet Emperor and ascend the throne himself, thus achieving his goal smoothly.

As for Nangong Shi’s coveted restoration, of course, Li Kaifeng would never take it seriously, let alone foolishly help him. Once he controlled the court’s Power, The first thing he would do was to execute that unrestful abolished prince!

Cai Wei went out to cook, leaving the man to wash alone in the Hot spring. There was a Hard Battle to fight shortly, and he didn’t know when he could have his next meal. He couldn’t let his treasures go hungry, so after explaining the situation to the man, she hurried off to pick vegetables from the field and cook…