(I apologize for reversing the positions of Six and Five Departments in the previous chapter. Also, let me lament – I'm truly exhausted.)

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Overnight, many people died. The news spread like the first frost of early autumn, immediately dampening the spirits of those ambitious schemers and their followers.

After the deadly dispute among the civil officials in the Taiji Hall, the ensuing night of deaths finally made these people understand that matters involving the fate of the nation never ended peacefully. Moreover, Lord Fan held the imperial edict in his hand and stood upon the Black Water of the Supervisory Council – if such a person was not caught, no one could live a life of wealth and honor.

The Empress Dowager and the Crown Prince in the palace understood that this was Fan Xian's way of showing them his attitude, which naturally enraged them. Because this attitude was equivalent to Fan Xian standing before them, nakedly saying: I have the ability to kill anyone I want to kill. I am threatening you.

This was an extremely rogue act of terrorism, coercing the Empress Dowager and the Crown Prince not to act rashly for the time being, not to touch the Fan family, not to touch the dozens of ministers in the Heavenly Prison. Otherwise, if they really made a move, who would kill whom in the end?

From a certain perspective, Fan Xian's method of intensifying the conflict was likely a foolish choice. How could the people in the palace be threatened by a minister? If the Empress Dowager really played a desperate game, leading troops into the capital, what could Fan Xian do? The Supervisory Council could only exert its magic in the dark. Once facing a truly powerful army, it would still have to retreat.

But the wonder of it all was that, for some reason, the Empress Dowager and the Crown Prince temporarily chose silence and did not launch the strongest counterattack.

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In the two days that followed, the forces of the Eldest Princess gathered, still diligently searching for Fan Xian's踪迹 in the streets and alleys of Kyoto. Such powerful action only managed to destroy a few secret posts of the Supervisory Council and kill seven swordsmen from Six Department, but they still did not catch Fan Xian.

The Kyoto Prefecture and some garrison troops stationed in the city surrounded the Yan residence at the first moment. However, after storming the mansion, they only captured some servants of the Yan family, not Yan Ruohai, not even a glimpse of Miss Shen, let alone Little Yan, who was helping Fan Xian secretly contact the old guard of the Supervisory Council in Kyoto.

Before the army entered the capital, that faction could only surround and monitor the square building next to Tianhe Avenue from afar, watching closely, but dared not and had no ability to storm the headquarters of the Supervisory Council. They merely ensured that Fan Xian and Yan Bingyun had no way to enter the Supervisory Council.

The surveillance around the Jing Wang residence was also intensified, but no one dared to lead troops into the residence, because everyone feared Fan Xian's eyes lurking in the darkness.

In just one night, most of the secret agents and officials of the Supervisory Council received secret orders from their superiors, no longer returned to the office, disappeared into the sea of people in Kyoto, hid their strength, maintained their own safety, and returned to the darkness they were most accustomed to.

A total of over six hundred people disappeared just like that, and the disappearance of these officials of the Supervisory Council was the most direct threat to the nobles in the palace.

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The rumored enthronement ceremony of the Crown Prince suddenly had no follow-up news. Although the palace kept the news tightly under wraps, arresting more than forty ministers and imprisoning them was such a shocking event that it could not be concealed forever.

Gradually, the people of Kyoto began to realize the truth and knew that there was a big mess in the palace. The people had no power to change history, and at least for the moment, they did not have the courage. They had no choice but to face everything calmly, close their shops, hoard enough food, hide back in their humble homes, burrowed into their quilts, clasped their hands together, and prayed that the gods and temples could quickly resolve this matter.

It didn't matter who became the emperor, but there had to be someone to be the emperor.

The streets of Kyoto presented an unprecedented solemnity and desolation. Even though it was only curfew now, there were not many citizens who dared to go out during the day.

According to the Eldest Princess's plan, the Crown Prince, who should have become the new emperor of Qing, had already sensed the unrest among the people. The chaos was still brewing within Kyoto. If it spread out of Kyoto and extended to the prefectures and counties, Qing would truly be in chaos.

Therefore, he had to stabilize everything in the shortest possible time, and to stabilize it, he had to find Fan Xian and kill him.

The Crown Prince looked at the mountain of memorials beside him and smiled bitterly, unable to speak for a long time. In just three days, more than seventeen hundred memorials had accumulated, submitted by various prefectures and counties of Qing. In the past, these memorials were reviewed by the scholars of the Department of Ministries, important matters were decided by His Majesty, and the rest were distributed to various departments for processing.

However… the scholars were now in prison, the officials of the various departments were also in chaos, Kyoto was in a state of panic, the court was gradually becoming dysfunctional, and government affairs were in disarray.

Taking the top few memorials from the pile, the Crown Prince glanced at them, his pupils gradually becoming blurred. These memorials were the latest, documents sent by the governors of the six routes other than Dongshan Road after learning of His Majesty's assassination.

Although these governors spoke respectfully, the meaning of swords hidden between the lines was very obvious.

The Crown Prince sighed, thinking somewhat helplessly, when did the civil officials of Qing become so upright? He suddenly thought of the dozens of ministers in the Heavenly Prison, led by the two scholars Hu and Shu, who had spent two days and three nights in prison without anyone cracking!

The palace could no longer wait, so they had begun to use torture since yesterday, but it still hadn't worn down the bones of those ministers. He had even heard that Scholar Shu had begun to lead a hunger strike starting at noon today!

The Crown Prince rubbed his temples, feeling an immense headache. Did he really have to follow his aunt's wishes and kill all these ministers? But… what would happen if they were all killed? Who would handle court affairs? Did he have to be a true isolated ruler?

Just then, Eunuch Hou suddenly entered the Imperial Study without requesting permission, his face full of panic. The Crown Prince looked up at him, his eyes slightly narrowed. He knew that Eunuch Hou was the Empress Dowager's confidant, someone he could trust.

Eunuch Hou whispered a few words in his ear, his face somewhat pale.

The Crown Prince was suddenly shocked, slammed his palm on the desk, causing the memorials to fall to the ground, and said with gritted teeth in a cold voice: "The Third Prince was assassinated! Who gave you the courage to do this!"

Eunuch Hou's body trembled, and he quickly lowered his body and said in a sorrowful voice: "It has nothing to do with this humble servant, nothing to do with this humble servant."

"Nothing to do with it!" The Crown Prince stared coldly at his eyes. "You are now in charge of everything in this palace. How could an assassin have run to Chen Corridor without your involvement?"

"It really has nothing to do with this servant." Eunuch Hou quickly begged for mercy, saying in a low voice.

After a long while, the Crown Prince calmed down his anger, waved his sleeves and walked towards the inner palace. Yes, he wanted to be emperor, he wanted to kill Fan Xian, he knew that his third younger brother was Fan Xian's student and the biggest enemy to his throne, but he still hadn't thought of killing the Third Prince, because in his eyes, the Third Prince was still a child.

If something really happened to the Third Prince, who knew what kind of madness the already turbulent palace and Kyoto would become? Walking towards the inner palace, the Crown Prince thought with a livid face, who exactly wanted to kill the Third Prince? Was his aunt using the death of the Third Prince to force him to be more ruthless? Was his second brother using the death of the Third Prince to intensify the conflict between himself and the world?

But he knew that, in any case, the Third Prince could not die.

The Crown Prince secretly prayed in his heart.

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Yes, Li Chengping was the Third Prince, his life and death had too much influence, so it needed to be treated with caution. However, the officials of Kyoto did not have such good treatment. Not to mention those high-ranking officials who were now imprisoned in the Heavenly Prison by the inner court and were being tortured, even those officials who were still working hard in the Six Ministries were living a very miserable life.

The Department of Ministries did not have a minister in charge of affairs, but the officials of the Six Ministries were still working hard to maintain the operation of this country. Although the memorials temporarily approved by the Crown Prince in the palace had not been stamped, most officials defaulted to the Crown Prince's authority.

Minister of Revenue Fan Jian was hiding for his life in the Jing Wang residence, Minister of Personnel Yan Xingshu was busy arranging for new officials to fill the various departments, laying the foundation for the Crown Prince's enthronement, while the other four departments were working in a state of panic.

As for those officials who were not firm in their stance or had inherent problems, they had naturally been excluded, and those who had the deepest connections with Fan Xian's faction had been cleanly stripped of their official positions and imprisoned for trial.

The Heavenly Prison could no longer accommodate them, it was already filled with the loyalists left behind by Fan Xian's father-in-law. Minister Fan's relationship in the court was relatively hidden, and for a while, the Eldest Princess did not dig it all out. Fan Xian himself did not have much support in the court, so in theory, there should not be a big problem.

Even the four disciples of Fan, known throughout the world, Hou Jichang was shouldering a dangerous mission, watching the movements of the navy in Jiaozhou, secretly colluding with Xu Maozai, ready to strike at any time. Cheng Jialin was arranged by Fan Xian in Suzhou, managing the inner treasury with Su Wenmao. Yang Wanli had been building dikes on the Great Eastern coast of the South for a year. Shi Chanli should be in the Song Kingdom at this time, continuing his journey as the number one pimp in the world.

Even if the Eldest Princess wanted to attack Fan Xian's four students, she could not extend her hand so far under the current circumstances, with the situation in Kyoto unsettled, the Crown Prince unable to ascend the throne, and the attitudes of the six governors ambiguous.

But unfortunately, it was early autumn, the time after the summer floods, and according to common practice, the Water Transport Supervisory Office had to send someone back to Kyoto to ask for money after completing the dike construction. This year, the person sent back to Kyoto to ask for money was none other than Yang Wanli. He was placed by Fan Xian in the Water Conservancy Department, and he worked diligently on the dike construction, earning the praise of the Water Transport Office from top to bottom. In addition, knowing the relationship between him and the Minister of Revenue, he was naturally selected to return to Kyoto.

It was thought that Yang Wanli's return to Kyoto to ask the court for money would be an easy task, but it was unexpected that His Majesty was assassinated, and Yang Wanli's mentor, Fan Xian, was branded as a wanted criminal for assassination.

As a result, Yang Wanli was imprisoned as soon as he entered the Ministry of Works.

He had been locked in a dark room in the side alley for two days, and had suffered countless tortures in the two days. He was covered in wounds, but the people from the Ministry of Justice could not pry open his mouth and could not obtain any confession about Fan Xian.

Yang Wanli was certainly innocent, he did not believe at all that his mentor would commit such a heinous crime, and he could not know where Fan Xian was.

At dusk this day, the inner court sent someone to escort him. Although his rank was far from enough to be imprisoned in the Heavenly Prison, the Empress Dowager gave him this honor in view of his relationship with Fan Xian.

Yang Wanli squinted his blurred eyes, supported his waist like an old farmer, and walked out of the dark room, feeling pain all over his body. The blood scabs on his fingers had scabbed over and broken again, and fresh blood began to ooze out.

He was filled with despair, knowing that once he was imprisoned in the Heavenly Prison, he would probably never see the light of day again.

Two inner court guards escorted him, scolding him all the way as they walked outside. The officials of the Ministry of Works who saw this tragic scene along the way did not dare to look sideways, only turned their heads and pretended not to see.

The officials were well aware of what happened in the Taiji Hall two days ago, so they were not surprised by the iron-blooded treatment in the palace. The Crown Prince wanted to ascend the throne, and these officials had to bow their heads and submit. Until the last step, the Crown Prince was always unwilling to kill all the court officials, but what if the Crown Prince could no longer wait after two more days?

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Walking out of the Ministry of Works, getting on the prison carriage, and passing a certain street corner, the prison carriage suddenly stopped. A guard frowned and stretched his head out to take a look, but his head just happened to stick out of the carriage curtain, and then it rolled off with a thud.

The whole thing fell off!

Looking at the headless corpse falling in front of him, looking at the blood gushing out of the cavity, Yang Wanli's face suddenly turned pale, his empty stomach was very uncomfortable, and acid rose up, making him want to vomit.

The other guard beside him was shocked and wanted to call for help, but his voice was sealed by an iron skewer that pierced in from outside the carriage.

The carriage curtain was lifted, revealing Fan Xian's forever calm and handsome face. Fan Xian looked at the shocked Yang Wanli and smiled, asking: "Do you want to come out?"

Yang Wanli burst into tears, looked at his mentor and nodded repeatedly, saying in a trembling voice: "Teacher… this is too risky, Wanli is not worth you doing this."

Fan Xian was impatient to listen any further, directly pulled him down, got on a special ordinary carriage of the Supervisory Council, and disappeared into the quiet streets of Kyoto in a short while, arriving at a secret liaison point.

"Heal your wounds, I didn't save you on purpose, I just passed by…" Fan Xian looked at the severely injured Yang Wanli and sighed, saying: "Of course, if you really die, I will probably be sad for a while."

Fan Xian was not being pretentious, he really just passed by the Ministry of Works, his destination was further away. That was why he came to this secret liaison point, looked at Yan Bingyun in front of him, and asked: "Have you confirmed everything?"

"The Eldest Princess, Empress Dowager, Crown Prince, Consort Shu… are all in the palace." Yan Bingyun looked at him and said: "Everything has been confirmed. As long as the Imperial Palace is controlled, the matter will be settled."

"The Empress Dowager really trusts the First Prince so much?" Fan Xian frowned, "If I were her, I would have replaced the First Prince with someone from the Lao Qin family long ago."

"Perhaps the Empress Dowager believes that, under the combined guard of the inner court eunuchs and guards, no one can rescue Ning Cairen."

"I can." Fan Xian said with a smile: "Tonight I will rescue all the relatives, and imprison some other relatives."

Yan Bingyun smiled, but his smile was somewhat astringent.

Fan Xian saw the unnaturalness of his expression and frowned, asking: "Is something wrong in the palace? Or has something happened to Yan's father?"

"Don't worry about my father, I guess he's at the Qin family at this time." Yan Bingyun lowered his head and said: "There is something I think I should tell you before you enter the palace."

Fan Xian looked at him.

"The Third Prince was assassinated." Yan Bingyun looked up at him and said: "You didn't give me the channels in the palace, so I can't verify the result of this assassination, but I advise you to think of the worst… after all, he is just a child, and Consort Yi doesn't have much power to protect him."

"You mean… Chengping was assassinated?" Fan Xian's eyes narrowed, and he didn't speak for a long time, but the gradually clenched fist, the white-blue knuckles, exposed his true feelings.

After a moment, he said in a deep voice: "The Crown Prince didn't do it."

Yan Bingyun glanced at him, somewhat surprised, not understanding why he was so sure that the mastermind of this palace murder was not the Crown Prince.

"Blood has been shed." Fan Xian looked up at him, "The planned entry into the palace tonight, no need to advance, proceed according to the original plan."

"With the help of the Kyoto Prefecture, the Black Riders have entered the capital in separate groups, a total of four hundred people." Yan Bingyun knew Fan Xian's mood at this time, so he did not misunderstand his particularly indifferent expression, but said calmly: "Since you have decided to give up your efforts on the city gate department, then tonight's action in the palace must be a clean sweep, and no one can be missed."

"Nine city gates, which one can I control?" Fan Xian said with a bitter smile: "If the available troops are insufficient, we can't fight head-on, we can only take risks."

"Of course, I believe that the Empress Dowager and the Eldest Princess would not have thought that I would dare to storm into the palace…" He stood up, said with a smile: "People who are accustomed to the art of emperors often forget about courage. A drunkard may not be clear-headed, but he is still very powerful with a kitchen knife."

"Everyone says that my mother-in-law is a lunatic, I want to know, will my ungraceful blitzkrieg make her scold me?"

"This is not a blitzkrieg." Yan Bingyun said: "At least the Imperial Guards won't stop you. But we only have four hundred people, and the manpower of the other seven departments must set up suspicious formations outside the palace… The Imperial Palace is so big, and our manpower is insufficient. If we want to ensure that everyone is captured, we must know exactly where the targets are."

He looked at Fan Xian, said with a little worry: "A direct assault on the central camp is a big taboo in military strategy, the meaning of gambling is too heavy, I don't know where your confidence comes from."

"I have people in the enemy camp." Fan Xian said with a smile, and then touched his smooth cheeks.

Since learning that the Third Prince was assassinated, he had not exchanged a word with Yan Bingyun about it, but calmly arranged the night's raid. However, in the end, Fan Xian still couldn't help but slowly lowered his head, feeling a burst of sadness in his chest, and secretly prayed that Chengping would be alright.

"You can't die." Fan Xian seemed to be saying to himself, and also to the Third Prince, who was unaware of his life or death: "You are going to be emperor in the future."

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Let us advance the time by one hour, to look at a court murder that may change history and change many people - the second major event that alarmed the palace after the Qing Emperor's assassination on Dadong Mountain.

The target of this murder was the Third Prince, whose surname was Li and name was Chengping. His mother was Consort Yi, who came from the Liu Duke's family. He had followed Danbo Duke Fan Xian to study in Jiangnan for a year. And he was the heir to the throne that Fan Xian openly supported during that year.

And no one knew who the instigator of this murder was until a long time later. Because in any case, the Third Prince could not be considered an important target at this time. Although everyone knew that this ten-year-old boy had a great impact on the Crown Prince's succession, this impact was mainly based on Fan Xian's support.

The Third Prince himself did not have any extraordinary magic or powerful forces.

Therefore, even if the Crown Prince was worried that his little brother would cause trouble, he would only think about killing Fan Xian, and would not attack the Third Prince. The Third Prince's death at this time would not benefit the Crown Prince in any way, except to make the opposition of the ministers of the court more violent, and to make Fan Xian's rebellion more crazy.

Especially important is that, with Fan Xian wearing the black pot, the Dadong Mountain incident may be forever hidden behind the truth, and if Li Chengping died in the Imperial Palace, how would the current master of the Imperial Palace, the Crown Prince… convince the little girl of history?

The Crown Prince, like his imperial father, was a person who cared very much about his reputation in history, so he hesitated between killing and not killing the ministers, so he could not have instigated his subordinates to murder the Third Prince, which is why Fan Xian concluded that he was not the mastermind.

Then who wanted to kill Li Chengping?

Under the Chen Corridor of the Imperial Palace, the young Li Chengping ran wildly with a look of horror, and was also thinking about this question in his heart.

Unfortunately, this was not the Han Guang Hall, and the Empress Dowager could not save his life. He was calling for help, but the Chen Corridor was too quiet, and no one heard his cries for help. Li Chengping was desperate, thinking that if he had stayed obediently in the Han Guang Hall, he would not die at this time, and he should not have been fooled into coming to Chen Corridor.

But… the other party said that his teacher had something to tell him, and also showed him a token, so he was fooled into sneaking out without telling his mother and the eunuchs and maids in the Han Guang Hall, and came to Chen Corridor alone.

Run wildly, child.

However, how could a child outrun an adult? Li Chengping sat down on the ground panting, looked at the two eunuchs approaching step by step, his face was pale and his teeth were clenched tightly.

These two eunuchs were not martial arts practitioners, but they had obviously received some kind of training, killing training, it was too easy to deal with a helpless child.

It was so easy that the two eunuchs had already regarded Li Chengping as a dead person, stepped on him, and reached into their arms to take out a knife.

When the eunuch stabbed at Li Chengping with the knife, Li Chengping's mouth was dry, he touched the dagger in his boot with his right hand, screamed, and finally… pulled it out and stabbed it over!