Dongfang Shuo picked up the letter on the right, there were only two thin sheets of paper in the envelope, which Dongfang Shuo probed with a trace of spiritual power, and he could barely touch the thickness of the two pieces of letter paper inside.

"A wise choice. ”

Seeing that he picked up the envelope on the right that represented 'Empty Imperial Power', Ji Zhaoning immediately said so.

Dongfang Shuo looked at the envelope in his hand, and then looked at Ji Zhaoning again.

"The envelope on the left is immediate, but it is tantamount to driving the tiger and the wolf, killing the chicken and taking the eggs. Dongfang Shuo said, "Although you can communicate with the feudal official, the military power is still in the hands of the feudal official, which is to drive the tiger and devour the wolf." And once it succeeds, it means a change of dynasty, and the imperial city will inevitably suffer a great purge, when the power structure will be reorganized, and most of the people under your command will probably be killed or injured. And most importantly, the use of troops will inevitably lead to human suffering, so this will always be the last option. ”

For several reasons, Dongfang Shuo would not choose the letter on the left.

Ji Zhaoning nodded, and then said, "What you said is good. But you also have to understand another thing, the letter in your hand represents seventy percent of the power in the center of the empire. Seventy percent sounds like a lot, but in other words, there are still thirty percent of the power that is not in our hands. There are many examples of Jedi counterattacks with Yicheng power in the history of Xuzhou, but although we have seven powers, as long as we make a mistake, we will also lose everything. ”

And Dongfang Shuo hooked the corner of his mouth: "But if you think about it, this is not the case." ”

"Oh?"

Ji Zhaoning was stunned for a moment, then smiled, "Tell me about it?"

"The basis of my next deduction is that you now have seventy percent of the power in the center of the empire. Dongfang Shuo paused, and then continued, "Now, you hold seventy percent of the power in the center of the empire, but at the same time, every move of the six princes and the crown prince is still under your control, which shows that the strength of the two of them is not enough to exceed your control. ”

"That's true. ”

"And except for the crown prince and the six princes, the remaining six princes are either extravagant and decadent, or they tie their hands and feet and do not compete for the throne, so the six of them don't have to care. Dongfang Shuo said, "To sum up, there is probably only one person in the Imperial City who can control the rest of the three powers. ”

"Who?"

Ji Zhaoning asked with a smile.

Dongfang Shuo said: "Whether it is direct or indirect control, the thirty percent of the power belongs to the emperor alone, and if I guess correctly, it must be the most important thirty percent of the power in the center of the empire." ”

Ji Zhaoning nodded: "You are right, what the emperor has in his hands are three families that are absolutely loyal to the empire, including the Sima family, and the two princes of the dynasty. ”

Hearing this, Dongfang Shuo suddenly laughed.

At this time, Ji Zhaoning asked, "What are you laughing at?"

"I laugh at the unpredictable providence. Dongfang Shuo said, "In this way, the relationship between this Sima family and me is really quite deep." ”

"The Sima family is not so easy to deal with, they are deeply rooted in the imperial city, and the third young master of the Sima family just now is not blindly bragging. Ji Zhaoning reminded.

But Dongfang Shuo still smiled calmly: "As the saying goes, the tree is a big wind. Sima's family has a great cause, but its existence is based on the support of the emperor. If the emperor is here, it is a tiger, which can deter the government and the opposition, and I think it is because of this that he will pamper the juniors of his family to such a state. As long as one day, the emperor is gone, and the imperial power is hollow, and the Sima family is the biggest fat in the entire imperial city. ”

When these words fell, Ji Zhaoning suddenly raised his hand, covered his mouth and laughed a few times.

Dongfang Shuo was puzzled: "Then what are you laughing at?"

"You agreed to my conditions, I'm happy, why can't I laugh?" Ji Zhaoning said with a smile.

"When did I agree to your terms?" Dongfang Shuo asked.

Ji Zhaoning said: "You said, 'If the emperor is not there', doesn't that mean that you want to eradicate the emperor for me?"

"Your reading comprehension is really a perfect score. ”

Dongfang Shuo couldn't help but have black lines on his head.

Although he subconsciously had this thought, he hadn't thought it through yet.

But he thought that since he had already said it at this moment, it was better not to think about it too much and just do it.

"I don't know what you mean by 'reading comprehension,' but I'll think you're complimenting me. Ji Zhaoning smiled, reached out and picked up the letter on the left, "But since you have made your choice, it is useless to keep this letter." ”

"Nope. ”

But at this time, Dongfang Shuo was in the middle of the opening, and immediately reached out and grabbed Ji Zhaoning's wrist.

The moment his wrist was touched, Ji Zhaoning's whole person trembled slightly as if he had been electrocuted, and a touch of surprise flashed in his eyes, looking at Dongfang Shuo like a frightened kitten.

But at this time, Dongfang Shuo did not notice the change in her expression, but reached out and took the envelope from her hand, so he let go of the hand that was holding her wrist.

"Since this letter was given to you by the feudal officials of the southeast, it may be useful to keep it. ”

Holding an envelope in one hand, Dongfang Shuo said.

And Ji Zhaoning gently stroked the position where his wrist was caught, and then said to Dongfang Shuo: "You guy, you are really a little greedy." ”

"Keeping useful things in your hands cannot be considered greedy. ”

Dongfang Shuo chuckled.

However, Ji Zhaoning did not ask for the envelope, but acquiesced to his approach.

It's just that she was still a little puzzled, and asked, "But I don't understand, what else is the use of this letter?"

Dongfang Shuo looked at her.

At least this kind of thing, there is no need to hide anything between the two.

"In that case, I'll tell you straight to the point. Dongfang Shuo said, "First of all, I want to ask you one thing, do you know where the second prince, the third prince and the fourth prince are now?"

"Since nine years ago, these three have been serving the frontier as adults, and they are all remote and remote places. Ji Zhaoning said, "The second prince is in the northwest, the third prince is in the east, and the fourth prince is in the northeast." ”

Dongfang Shuo smiled.

The second, third, and fourth princes asked for orders to go to the frontier after they each came of age, which was told to him by the sixth prince on the eve of the alliance war.

At this time, after getting Ji Zhaoning's answer, at least he could prove one thing.

That is, the six princes did not deceive him.

"The north of the empire is the Demon God Mountain Range that runs through Xuzhou, so the second and fourth princes guarding the northwest and northeast will not have any soldiers and horses in their hands at all, and the most they can mobilize are the soldiers and horses guarding the border counties. At this point, Dongfang Shuo looked at the letter in his hand, and then looked at Ji Zhaoning again, "The second prince and the fourth prince tied their hands and feet, obviously to avoid the struggle for imperial power and protect themselves. And in this way, the situation of the three princes guarding the east should be similar, right?"

When asked like this, Ji Zhaoning showed a smile.

So, she nodded and said, "Not bad." To the east of the Longlin Empire, there are several isolated cities, although they nominally belong to the Former Han Empire, there are no resources or trade routes, and the Former Han Empire almost cares about it. So there, on the contrary, it is safer than the north, at least there are demon beasts attacking the city in the north, and the east is really a rare war in a hundred years. ”

"And that's what you can do. ”

"Tell me about it. ”

"Judging by your expression, you already know what I'm going to say, right?"

"Tell me about it. ”

"They avoid the dispute over imperial power, in order to save their lives is one of them, but the most important thing is that they still don't want to see the situation of fratricide, so they tie their hands and feet. If they really want to save their lives, then they should participate in the fight, because only when they have achieved the great position can they take their fate into their own hands. And tying one's hands and feet is tantamount to letting others put the knife on one's neck forever. ”

"You're right, go on. ”

And the three people who don't want to see fratricide naturally don't want to see the imperial power fall, not to mention that once the royal family declines, they will all have to worry about their lives. So......" At this point, Dongfang Shuo raised the letter from the feudal official in his hand, "Therefore, as long as the three of them see this letter, they will inevitably take action immediately, even if they don't bring troops straight to the imperial city, at least they will be ready for battle." ”

Ji Zhaoning smiled: "You think a lot, and even think of the suspicion of people's hearts." ”

Dongfang Shuo nodded, put down the envelope, and said, "That's right, as long as the north and the east have armor and swords, the imperial city will strike first and take the lead in quelling the chaos." ”

Ji Zhaoning chuckled: "Obviously to prevent mutiny, but in the end it had to be eliminated as a betrayer." ”

"And at that time, it was my best chance to kill the emperor. Dongfang Shuo said, "But before that, I still have to get close to the emperor." ”

Ji Zhaoning reminded: "Perhaps, you can use the Six Princes again. ”

But Dongfang Shuo shook his head: "I have parted ways with him, because he was bluffed by me, so I can leave smoothly." After he comes to his senses, it's too late to kill me, I'm afraid I won't even be able to go back to the spiritual realm until the matter is completed. ”

But his words made Ji Zhaoning smile.

Seeing her laugh, he was puzzled.

Seeing that he was puzzled, she said: "The sixth prince is a ruthless character, unlike the crown prince who first has the name of the prince, and then has the means of the prince, the sixth prince has been well versed in the world since he was a child, and has a strategic mind, although he has no name of the prince, the means and the city government are far from being comparable to the prince. Because of this, he was able to balance the crown prince with a weak position. ”

Dongfang Shuo was stunned.

"You mean, he wasn't bluffed by me at all?"

"As soon as you left, he sent two men. One is Xia Chunxiao, she went to your yard. The other is the eunuch in the palace, expressing your merits to the emperor. I think now, too, your marquis will be completed. Ji Zhaoning said.

(End of chapter)