Dynasty Call: Low-key Struggle for Hegemony

"…………"

There was a moment of silence in the flower pavilion.

Li Yao's slightly proud smile and Lin Shufan's rather surprised look.

Lin Shufan understood what Li Yao meant. Did King Chu really choose to join Li Yao?

Lin Shufan thought a lot, but finally shook his head. No matter what, Li Yao exceeded his expectations this time.

This is enough!

"Mr. Lin, what do you think I should do?" Li Yao's smile grew thicker when he saw Lin Shufan's silence.

Lin Shufan put down his bowl and chopsticks and met Li Yao's gaze, with a solemn look on his face.

There was no room for him to take it seriously. After all, this was the King of Chu, one of the four kings who was qualified to compete for the world.

If his words accidentally get out today and make King Chu dissatisfied, causing King Chu to have a different stance towards him, that will be troublesome.

But if his words make the other three kings dissatisfied, it will be even more troublesome.

"Your Majesty is wise and powerful. The King of Chu cares about the world and governs Lingzhou well. Your Majesty must have made a decision. I will not say more. I will support your Majesty's decision."

"Oh? It seems that Prime Minister Lin agrees with me and thinks that King Chu is a very suitable candidate for the governor of Huanzhou."

"Your Majesty is wise!"

"Okay, then let's do what Xiang Lin wants and appoint King Chu as the governor of Huanzhou!"

Lin Shufan's eyelids twitched and he continued:

"Your Majesty is wise!"

Seeing Lin Shufan's expressionless face, Li Yao chuckled and said:

"I heard from my sixth brother that Prime Minister Lin has a daughter named Lin Ling'er. She is talented, virtuous and elegant. Can she be my queen?"

When Lin Shufan heard this, he sighed inwardly. He finally came. His Majesty spent so much money and went around in circles. Isn't this the purpose in front of him?

But who came up with this plan?

Lin Shufan glanced at the respectful Liu Jin beside him, his deep eyes twinkling. As the prime minister of the imperial court, he naturally knew Liu Jin's actions during this period. He was flawless in everything he did and was a capable person. Even the current commander of the secret guard was afraid of him.

Liu Jin seemed to sense Lin Shufan's eyes, raised her head slightly, and showed a humble smile.

Um?

not him?

Lin Shufan understood what Liu Jin meant and narrowed his eyes slightly.

That's Lu Xun!

What a Lu Xun.

What a pity King Heng.

Lin Shufan was indeed very satisfied with King Heng, who was personable and well-controlled.

It's a pity that his ambition is too great. If he is willing to be a free prince, he will indeed be a good match for Ling'er.

Now that Li Yao had received his preliminary approval, Lin Shufan raised his hands and said respectfully:

"It is her blessing that Lin Ling'er can become His Majesty's queen!"

Li Yao's pupils were slightly opened. Hearing this sentence, he could hardly conceal his inner excitement.

He finally recruited Lin Xiang.

"Okay, okay, okay!" Li Yao grabbed Lin Shufan's hand excitedly, looked at Lin Shufan seriously and promised:

"Don't worry, Prime Minister Lin. As long as I am here, Lin Ling'er will not suffer any injustice, and you will always be my prime minister!"

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Lin Shufan sighed when he saw Li Yao's sincere eyes.

"Your Majesty, have you really thought about it clearly? If you continue to maintain the status quo, you will be able to live peacefully after you give in. Once you want to control the real power of the court, you will be in danger in the future!"

When Li Yao heard Lin Shufan's words, he showed firm eyes and had an indestructible belief. He raised his head and looked into the distance with sharp eyes:

"My father once told me that as an emperor, the most important thing is to have courage!"

"Now I have become the new emperor of the Dayu Dynasty, occupying the most unified position. I have surpassed the three kings of Xuan Wang, Ming Wang, and Yu Wang. Moreover, I have the support of the King of Chu. They are surrounded by dangers. I am sitting in Zhongzhou, and the court is the most powerful. The elite army and the most talented people are in Zhongzhou. Am I still afraid of them?

I feel that I have the ability to develop the Dayu Dynasty better, so why can't I just sit as the head of the Dayu Dynasty all the time! "

Li Yao's tone was sonorous and powerful, deafening!

"I am willing to serve your Majesty!" Lin Shufan saw Li Yao's appearance and nodded slightly to express his approval. Isn't that what he came for?

As the head of the prime minister's hundred officials, if he wants to continue to serve as prime minister, he can only rely on the current Li Yao.

The other four kings are not good. They are fighting outside and have many powerful generals under their command. They are loyal to them. If one day they control the court, how can they use this group of old people in the court? Once someone becomes the new emperor, the best outcome for him is to retire and return home.

Very powerful and very charming!

He, Lin Shufan, doesn't have the courage to give up all this yet. The glory of the Lin family is also tied to him, and he is willing to take a gamble.

"With the support of Prime Minister Lin, I will be able to take control of the court soon!"

Li Yao let go of Lin Shufan's hand with satisfaction, sat back in his seat, and asked Liu Jin to continue helping Lin Shufan fill a bowl of silver flower soup, while he took two bites of side dishes and continued:

"Prime Minister Lin, I have already planned to let the eldest princess return to Beijing."

Lin Shufan took the bowl handed over by Liu Jin, looked at it for a moment, and said slowly:

"Your Majesty sent the eldest princess back to deal with King Heng?"

When Li Yao saw Lin Shufan speak directly about King Heng, his eyes showed satisfaction and his expression became softer:

"That's right, my sixth brother is getting more and more outrageous. He really needs to be punished!"

Lin Shufan nodded slightly, his stance was different, and naturally he had to share His Majesty's worries.

"Your Majesty, now that your Majesty has the support of the ministers and Mr. Lu, there is no need to worry about the affairs of the court. Your Majesty still needs to win over someone outside the court."

"People outside the imperial court?"

Li Yao looked curious after hearing this, looked at Lin Shufan and asked:

"Who is this person that Mr. Lin said?"

"Marquis of Zhenbei, Fang Wukui!"

Lin Shufan's deep eyes flashed with a glimmer of light.

Liu Jin's eyes moved respectfully.

One of the ten famous generals of the Dayu Dynasty, Fang Wukui!

A flash of light flashed through his mind, and Liu Jin looked deeply at Lin Shufan, secretly thinking that Prime Minister Lin really had extraordinary plans.

With Lin Shufan and Lu Xun, the civil servants of the imperial court would naturally turn to them without any effort from Li Yao to win them over.

The next step is to take control of the military!

Military generals are different from civil servants. If they can convince someone who can directly intervene in military power, Li Yao can control the troops in Zhongzhou in a matter of seconds.

Li Yao frowned. He once thought about wooing Fang Wukui, but Fang Wukui refused.

"Prime Minister Lin, Marquis Fang Bei is indifferent to fame and fortune, how can I win over him?"

"Marquis Fang Bei is fiercely loyal to the Yu Dynasty. If there is a real crisis in the dynasty, he will definitely be willing to come back."

When Lin Shufan spoke, he was not proud, but serious.

"A real crisis?"

Li Yao has grown a lot during this time and naturally understood what Lin Shufan said. He stood up suddenly and looked at Lin Shufan, his expression slightly changed:

"Prime Minister Lin, what is the real crisis of the dynasty you said!"

Lin Shufan looked towards the southwest, his expression serious for the first time:

"Your Majesty, Chu Junxiong is about to take action, and Prince Xuan is in danger!"

"Chu Junxiong and the late emperor looked at each other in character. They didn't move. Every move affected the whole body. He already showed that he was ready with a complete plan to destroy King Xuan in one battle!"

"Destroy King Xuan?" Li Yao raised his eyes, slightly disbelieving.

Although he was jealous of Prince Xuan, Prince Xuan was still capable and could not be defeated so easily.

Prime Minister Lin sighed inwardly. Chu Junxiong held a heavy weight in his heart. The person who understood Chu Junxiong best in the world was His Majesty Emperor Yu. Now the four kings, including the new emperor, only remembered Chu Junxiong's reputation and deeds. I have never faced it intuitively.

It was okay for Chu Junxiong to stay in Zhaozhou before. Even if he made Zhaozhou too perfect, he could not conquer the world with just one state.

If Chu Junxiong defeats King Xuan now and captures Danzhou and Qingzhou, he will have the land of three states. More importantly, he can face the court directly!

Seeing Li Yao's current appearance, Lin Shufan changed his inner thoughts and put it in another way.

"Your Majesty, the Marquis of Zhenbei, Fang Wukui, has always regarded Chu Junxiong as his biggest opponent. If Chu Junxiong takes action, he will definitely be moved. If Your Majesty is sensible and emotionally moved to ask him to come back, I am 80% sure that he will take action? "

"Take action?"

"You want me to send troops to support King Xuan?"

Li Yao quickly shook his head and said: "No, I promised my father before that I can only support them when Prince Xuan and others ask for my support."

Lin Shufan cupped his hands and said:

"No, Your Majesty, we are well prepared. If your guess is correct, there may be big changes in Qingzhou in the past few days. If Qingzhou misses, Your Majesty, our Zhongzhou will be in danger.

We can take this opportunity to implore Fang Wukui to come back. Fang Wukui’s knowledge is very clear about how much threat Chu Junxiong will pose to our Zhongzhou if he takes control of Qingzhou. He will not sit idly by and do nothing. Fang Wukui is convinced by the court generals. His Majesty opposes his appointment. The voice was not loud, so that it would be easier for His Majesty to borrow Fang Wukui's hand to control the imperial army. "

"Can!"

"I will go to the Zhenbei Hou Mansion tonight!"

Li Yao did what he said without procrastinating at all.

………………

At night, in the Zhenbei Hou Mansion, in the martial arts training ground, oil fires were clustered and burning. On an iron chopping board above the flames, there was a huge roasted whole lamb. The meat skin was sizzling and the barbecue was full of aroma.

"Daddy, can you eat it?"

The extremely muscular and tall Fang Wukui had a thick beard all over his face, his eyes were like copper bells, and his dark pupils were full of softness. Lying on top of him was a little girl of five or six years old.

A pair of big eyes stared straight at the roasted whole lamb in front of him. The barbecue made a sizzling sound, and a drop of hot oil slowly slid down the lines of the plump meat, which was intoxicating. Sniffing carefully and slowly, her greed was quickly aroused, and the slander on her face was clearly visible.

"Chen Xi, you must understand your etiquette. Why are you lying on your father's body!"

Behind her, Mrs. Zhenbeihou saw Fang Chenxi's appearance, frowned slightly, and scolded in a low voice.

"Haha, it's okay. Little Chenxi can eat it. Let's have a piece first!"

Fang Wukui's arm, which was even thicker than Xiao Chenxi's body, grabbed Chen Xi. With his other hand, he skillfully picked up a knife and cut off the most tender and beautiful meat from the sheep and handed it to Xiao Chenxi.

Xiao Chenxi sat on Fang Wukui's forearm, holding a piece of barbecue bigger than her head. She took a big bite without caring about the heat.

Wow!

I was immediately burned and was in a hurry!

The roasted meat was tossed back and forth in her hands.

"Morning light!"

Mrs. Zhenbeihou's tone became more severe, and she looked at Fang Wukui with some complaints. How could such a young child eat so much!

"It's okay. Only by eating more can you grow taller and stronger."

"Come on, you guys do it too."

Fang Wukui said to three sturdy young men with about the same age.

"Yes, father."

After the three brothers paid respectful tribute to Fang Wu Kui, they looked at the roasted whole lamb with their eyes shining. They pulled out the dagger they had prepared, ignored the flames below, and quickly approached and cut out a large piece of meat.

"Slow down!"

At the small table further away, Fang Wukui's two concubines were angry and funny when they saw their children looking impatient.

"Mom, here you go!"

After the three teenagers cut off a piece of tender meat, instead of eating it themselves, they put the first piece of meat on the dishes on their mother's small table.

Mrs. Zhenbei Hou also saw her youngest son put the meat in front of her eyes first, showing a look of relief, but soon showed a look of worry.

"I wonder how Shiyuan is doing now. I heard that he has broken through to the Tianwu Realm. Shouldn't it be time for us to arrange a marriage for him?"

"Yeah, that makes sense." The two concubines beside him nodded.

"That girl from the Wang family is pretty good."

"The one from Xuanwu Mansion can do it too!"

The three hostesses were discussing, but the man was not listening to what they were saying.

After the three teenagers gave the roasted meat to their mother, they quickly ran back to the roasted lamb and ate it hungrily.

Fang Wukui took a leg of lamb that was thicker than his arm and started to bite it. From time to time, he would give Xiao Chenxi a little tender meat. Xiao Chenxi would not refuse anyone who came, and would rub his dirty mouth on his arm, making him laugh.

"Fang Wukui, did you hear what I said?"

Mrs. Zhenbei Hou is also a fierce woman. When she saw herself and her sisters discussing, Fang Wukui didn't even listen. He only teased Xiao Chenxi. His son's life-long events were not important anymore?

The movements of the three teenagers who were devouring their food slowed down. The three of them looked at each other, and the movements in their hands slowed down.

Fang Wukui took a bite of a large piece of meat and said unhurriedly:

"Why are you so anxious? Now that Fang Shiyuan is working under the King of Chu, he is a member of the King of Chu. His life-long affairs should be resolved by the King of Chu. Why would you let me solve it? Then wouldn't his surrender to the King of Chu be in vain?"

"Then you should write a letter to remind King Chu. King Chu doesn't even have a princess now. How is it possible for you to ask him to take the initiative to help Shiyuan solve the problem!"

Mrs. Zhenbei Hou is extremely angry. How old is Shiyuan now!

Real twenty-five, false twenty-six, faint twenty-seven, hairy twenty-eight, almost twenty-nine, it’s time to be thirty!

If you don’t get married yet, you will be a bachelor for the rest of your life!

"Why are you anxious? Now is the time for Fang Shiyuan to make great achievements. He has broken through the Tianwu realm and has a life span of two hundred. He has plenty of time!"

"That's right, a man should make contributions and build a career. I will also follow the example of my elder brother and join Prince Ming in the future!"

The tallest and strongest boy raised his head and spoke.

This is what the young man next to him said:

"Why are you taking refuge in Prince Ming? I think you should take refuge in Prince Xuan. Look at how powerful Prince Xuan is!"

"Prince Ming is so powerful. He can suppress the forces of the two states and fight!"

"Isn't it Prince Xuan? Moreover, Prince Xuan is against Zhenguo Mansion. One day, I will trample on Zhenguo Mansion under my feet!"

"Haha, good!" Fang Shikui looked at his son with a smile.

Suddenly a guard reported:

"Master Marquis, Your Majesty is here!"

Suddenly, the originally joyful atmosphere suddenly turned silent.

"Let's go and greet His Majesty!"

Fang Shikui's face was pale and he stood up. His burly figure unconsciously revealed a huge aura like a mountain or a sea, which even distorted the flames and void beside him.