Chapter 1164: Chapter 1000: Escaped Again

"If he truly was involved in this, I will not let him go unpunished. He must be severely punished. Our Dayan Dynasty cannot tolerate traitors!" The Crown Prince frowned deeply, solemnly addressing Gu Chengyu.

Gu Chengyu’s expression eased a bit, it seemed the Crown Prince was still sensible.

"Zhang Shuo committed suicide in prison. What about the prison guard who was supposed to watch over him? Why wasn’t Zhang Shuo guarded closely? Moreover, I heard that earlier Zhang Shuo seemed quite bewildered about this matter. Once he was in prison, he confessed to his crimes and even cleared the name of the Prime Minister. The change was indeed abrupt."

If Zhang Shuo was unaware before, he certainly wouldn’t have had time to set up contingencies. Surely someone conveyed the message to Zhang Shuo in Dali Temple, and this person is an enemy, not a friend.

"I believe there is a traitor in Dali Temple, colluding with Da Xing."

Gu Chengyu didn’t directly say that it was Xia Qing’s doing, as there was no direct evidence pointing to Xia Qing yet.

Saying so would only make the Crown Prince think he was settling personal scores.

Because everyone in the court had heard about the discord between him and Xia Qing.

The Crown Prince glanced at Gu Chengyu and then nodded. Regardless of whether Zhang Shuo was the mastermind behind colluding with foreign countries, the person passing on messages must be connected to Da Xing.

"This matter must be thoroughly investigated. I will assign Lord Kuang to handle this. Zhang Shuo’s suicide in Dali Temple is after all a dereliction of duty on his part. Everyone knows about your relationship with Chief Minister Xia, so it would be inappropriate for me to assign you to handle this, to avoid accusations of personal vendetta."

The Crown Prince spoke plainly, indicating that Gu Chengyu should not be involved in this matter, and he would not allow Gu Chengyu to intervene.

Gu Chengyu nodded, "Given these rumors, I naturally should avoid suspicion. Actually, I have no animosity with Chief Minister Xia, it’s all just malicious gossip. The Prime Minister once gave me a few pointers, and it was falsely spread that he disliked me and wanted to do me harm. It’s completely unfounded."

Xia Qing’s previous moves against him were all covert schemes. A low-ranking official and the First Rank Prime Minister seem worlds apart.

On ordinary days, they wouldn’t likely cross paths, and their most direct conflict mostly stemmed from Min Feng. Since he blocked Min Feng’s way, Xia Qing naturally wanted to remove him to clear the path for his disciple.

Of course, fearing he would grow more powerful and eventually become a rival was also a factor.

In short, for the future of his disciple and to prevent Gu Chengyu from growing powerful enough to threaten his position.

Xia Qing naturally wished to eliminate Gu Chengyu!

Though they both were aware, in public Gu Chengyu remained respectful to Xia Qing. Xia Qing, though aloof, never made things difficult for him face-to-face.

After all, the person is the Prime Minister, showing open conflict may lack decorum.

Therefore, Gu Chengyu could speak deceptively behind the scenes without consequence.

The Crown Prince seemed a bit surprised, pausing while holding his teacup. His mouth twitched slightly; after all, he had experienced Gu Chengyu’s ability to speak untruths before.

However, no matter how Gu Chengyu tried to explain, he couldn’t possibly assign the investigation of Xia Qing to Gu Chengyu.

"In these days of National Mourning, this matter will need to wait. I have already tasked Kuang Zhao Ying to conduct a thorough investigation, hoping for a swift result. However, what do you think of the assassin issue? I have already sent people to track their whereabouts, and I feel these people are likely sent by Da Xing."

"I did not expect so many to have infiltrated. What are those border soldiers doing?" The Crown Prince was still somewhat furious at the thought.

Today, he almost lost his life, despite the many Imperial Guards, yet the barbarians still invaded the Imperial Palace.

They have dared to attack the Imperial Palace, demonstrating there must be numerous spies among them.

Upon hearing this, Gu Chengyu thought of his senior brother. His senior brother was likely heading to the border these days, only for the Emperor to pass away not long after he left. Who knows when he can return to the Capital?

"Your Highness, what about that rebelling Commander Zhou Yuancong? Has he been captured?" Gu Chengyu believed this person likely wasn’t aligned with the men in black, just unclear from where his forces came.

Speaking of this person, the Crown Prince’s face immediately turned grim, "He escaped!"

Gu Chengyu was speechless; wasn’t General He Chaoguang ensuring he couldn’t possibly escape?

"He was initially captured, but somehow reinforcements appeared from nowhere and rescued him. Those people were highly skilled, definitely not ordinary."

The Crown Prince was also somewhat frustrated, having heard that General He was brave but lacking in strategy.

In battles, he charged forward without fear but had a simple mind, needing the guidance of a clever Deputy General and strategist.

Today’s events indeed proved this reputation true.

"Did you send people to follow them?" Gu Chengyu was anxious. If the background of these forces could be traced, it would clarify from where they came.

"We lost them!" The Crown Prince sighed helplessly again, having heard it was He Chaoguang who personally pursued them.

In truth, he thought if it had been someone else, there might have been some clues.

Gu Chengyu sighed; he had expected this.

After a moment of contemplation, he said, "Your Highness! Now, with the city on high alert, I believe it’s still necessary to thoroughly examine the households around the Imperial City. Areas like West City and South City are teeming with mixed elements, which might hide criminals, and perhaps there would be some findings."

"Do you suspect those assassins are hiding near the Imperial City?" The Crown Prince began to ponder, realizing that after the assassination attempt, they needed to retreat swiftly; these individuals must have hidden in the Capital beforehand.

Otherwise, how could they have received news so soon after the Emperor’s demise and invaded the Imperial Palace?

Perhaps they had been hiding not far from the Imperial Palace, making it convenient to act.

Furthermore, before they could retreat swiftly, the Capital was already under lockdown, and yet there were no traces of them. Maybe they are still near the Imperial Palace.

Thinking this way, the Crown Prince felt he was still in danger. What if these people come back for a surprise attack?

"Indeed! The government officers from the Military Department and the Commander’s Department have locked down the Capital. Unless these people could fly, they couldn’t escape the Imperial City. Moreover, there are quite a number of them, so even if they are cautious, traces will surely be found."

Gu Chengyu paused briefly, yet did not say the remaining words. It’s likely that those who come to the Capital secretly are not just these foreign clan assassins, right?

Why did Zhou Yuancong rebel? For himself? Impossible. It’s even less likely to be colluding with Da Xing as they had previously clashed.

Just the forces within the Commander’s Department couldn’t achieve this, there must be someone behind it, merely testing the waters.

The hand behind this is indeed formidable, signaling that the coming days in the Capital will see turbulent storms!

"Then I shall leave this matter to you!" The Crown Prince suddenly said.

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