Creation of the Universe

Chapter 238 The Queen's Plot

Inside the Jinning Palace.

"You bastards! I gave you high positions, generous salaries, countless gold and silver treasures, and made your respective families prosperous and wealthy. Is this how you repay me?"

Prince Jinning smashed a valuable antique porcelain vase to pieces and loudly scolded several close ministers who came to report the news to him.

They were recently assigned to search for the whereabouts of Princess Shen Yunli. However, after such a long time, the result that King Jinning waited for was that he knew nothing about anything.

Where is Shen Yunli now?

do not know.

Is Shen Yunli dead or alive?

do not know.

Where are Shen Jingjuan and others who accompanied Shen Yunli to Beiliang?

Still don’t know.

King Jinning could no longer tolerate this and vented his immense anger on these people. Each of them was a trusted confidant who had received many benefits from King Jinning. However, when the critical moment came, none of them could satisfy King Jinning.

"General Hu Wei, you said you sent out so many cavalrymen, but you can't even find any news. What on earth are you doing?"

The pot-bellied General Hu Wei explained, "Your Highness, although the distance between Jinning and Beiliang is not far, we have found no clues, not even a main direction to pursue. The princess may have left Beiliang long ago and gone elsewhere, perhaps to Weihai, or even to Southern Qi. The world is so vast that even with all my cavalry, it would be difficult to search such a large area."

"Screw you!"

King Jinning raised his foot and kicked General Huwei to the ground.

He cursed viciously, "You have three days to bring the princess back to me, or you'll be beheaded!"

After saying this, he looked at the patrol commander in charge of Jinning City affairs and questioned him, "Why are there rumors everywhere in the city these past few days? Some people are spreading rumors and maliciously slandering me. Are you planning to turn a blind eye?"

The patrol commander quickly replied, "Your Highness, we have arrested all those who spread rumors in the city overnight, but there are too many people to arrest them all."

"What did you say?"

King Jinning widened his eyes and glared angrily.

"It's absolutely true, Your Highness. Our cells are already full of prisoners. We can't hold any more. Every time we put a group of people in, another group will come out to spread rumors and cause trouble. It never ends."

"Then kill me! Is the knife in your hand just for show?"

King Jinning slapped the patrol commander on the cheek. The latter's face turned red instantly and he knelt on the ground, not daring to get up.

The others also lowered their heads, not daring to look directly into King Jinning's eyes, for fear of drawing his wrath upon themselves.

Seeing that these people were silent and had an expression as if they were dead pigs that were not afraid of boiling water, King Jinning threw down a whole shelf of gold, silver and jade artifacts, and forced all his close associates to run away.

After venting his anger, Prince Jinning still felt unsatisfied, so he called out to the palace steward and asked, "I've been waiting for a long time, why hasn't the Prime Minister come to see me?"

The steward replied, "Your Highness, the Prime Minister has been ill for many days and has been recuperating in his residence. I sent for him to be summoned, but he refused."

"The Prime Minister is clearly deliberately avoiding the issue. He doesn't take the prince seriously at all."

The person walking towards her at this time was the queen.

Normally, the prime minister always contradicts the queen. No matter if it is a disagreement on political views on state affairs or a small matter like the queen wants to build a garden, the prime minister will take the lead in opposing it on the grounds of extravagance and waste. Even if the servants around the queen take advantage of their power to bully others and beat up the citizens in the city on the street, the prime minister will not sit idly by.

In the queen's view, all the prime minister's actions were deliberately targeting her. As a result, the prime minister won the reputation of being fair, honest, and people-friendly in the hearts of the people, while the queen had a very bad reputation and was always pointed at, criticized, and even cursed.

Over time, the queen had grown to hate the prime minister, so she took this opportunity to fan the flames in front of King Jinning, hoping to completely eliminate the troublesome old man.

Prince Jinning was angry. Although every matter in the country depended on the Prime Minister's management, and he had to admit that it was with the Prime Minister's assistance that he, the free and easy prince, could live so happily. But now the Queen's words prevailed in Prince Jinning's heart.

"Well, the Prime Minister has been treating me less and less seriously lately. I should teach him a lesson."

The queen leaned close to Prince Jinning's ear and whispered, "Why don't you send some assassins to the Prime Minister's residence to scare him as a warning? I believe that this will make him realize how powerful you are and will restrain his behavior in the future."

King Jinning thought for a moment, "Isn't this too much? After all, the Prime Minister is my right-hand man, and I rely on him to handle many state affairs."

"The prince is kind-hearted, but the prime minister may not understand. If he becomes arrogant and unscrupulous due to his favor, how can the prince control him?

Proper warnings and reminders are also a way for the prince to show his love for the prime minister."

The queen said with a smirk on her face.

After nightfall, the Prime Minister's residence was quiet and silent.

Last month, the prime minister suddenly dismissed all the slaves and maids in the mansion, leaving only an old slave to accompany and serve him. He seemed to have a vague sense that some kind of crisis was approaching here.

"master!"

"Master, there's a brother and sister outside the mansion who claim to be your old friends. They want to see you!"

After a moment's thought, the Prime Minister smiled and said, "Please come in."

Not long after, a man and a woman appeared in front of the prime minister. They were Shen Zhan and Shen Yunli.

"My Lord, my Lady, you are both safe and sound. Congratulations!"

When the Prime Minister saw the two of them, a look of loving kindness appeared in his eyes. He had watched them grow up little by little, and when they were in the palace, these two children were his favorites.

"Prime Minister, thank you so much for your kindness. We have come to you today to discuss something very important."

"This is not the place to talk, please follow me."

The Prime Minister took Shen Zhan and Shen Yunli to his study. Since there were no outsiders in the house, it would be safer and more secure to discuss things.

"I brought Yunli back this time because I really had nowhere else to stay. After much thought, Jinning was the most suitable place because it is our home."

When the Prime Minister heard Shen Zhan's words, he immediately understood what he meant. "However, it is not that easy to overthrow King Jinning. Moreover, if Jinning changes its master, it will soon alert the court and send people to attack."

Shen Zhan nodded. "I have considered all these issues, but the arrow is on the string and must be released. I just want to ask the Prime Minister for a helping hand."