Ministers Begging Me to Ascend the Throne

Chapter 1091: Chapter 127: What Does Father Emperor Really Want to Do?_2

"My lord, I truly do not know; I did not help Kou Nanyu and his people," Wei Yan was horrified at heart; he hadn’t expected that Lord Wei knew about this matter.

"You think I don’t know about the dealings between you and Kou Nanyu’s group?" Prince Wei looked sharply at Wei Yan, "You’ve made quite a sum selling the Divine Pill for Kou Nanyu and his people, haven’t you?"

"My lord, I haven’t..."

Prince Wei coldly looked at Wei Yan, who was still trying to argue.

Under the gaze that seemed to see right through him, Wei Yan couldn’t keep denying. Bracing himself, he said, "My lord, I agreed to help Kou Nanyu sell the Divine Pill not because of the money, but because he said the pill could control people."

Prince Wei’s face remained stern, "You kept the matter of the Divine Pill hidden from me."

With his head bowed, Wei Yan didn’t dare to look at Prince Wei, "My lord, you’ve always disliked Kou Nanyu and his group, and if you knew they had made a pill that could control people, you would surely oppose it." At this, his tone shifted, "My lord, now is not the time to talk about this. Why did the court suddenly capture our people? How did they become aware of us? How did they find out about our movements..." They had hidden very well over the years, and the court had never discovered their existence, so how did they suddenly perceive their tracks? Could it be there was a traitor among them?

"What do you think?"

"My lord, our people have been well hidden for years; there’s no way the court could know about us. Someone must have betrayed us."

"Do you really think father did not know of the Southern Wei people’s existence?!"

"Has the Emperor always been aware?" Wei Yan looked incredulous, "Impossible, how could the Emperor know..."

"You really underestimate father."

"That’s impossible. If the Emperor knew of our existence, why hasn’t he hunted us down all these years?" Wei Yan argued, "If the Emperor knew we still had people, he would surely eradicate us, never letting us linger on."

Back then, when the Great Zhou was just established, both the late emperor and the current Emperor carried out large-scale massacres of the Southern Wei people. They fled in all directions, hiding in many places, living cautiously.

The emperor of Great Zhou, like the emperor of the previous dynasty, could not tolerate the Southern Wei people. If he genuinely knew that any of them were still alive, he would never let them go.

"My lord, someone must have betrayed us." The emperor couldn’t have known unless someone among them told the court. "My lord, we must quickly find the traitor; otherwise, the remaining people will not escape death."

Prince Wei asked, "What do you plan to do?"

"My lord, if you trust me, I would like to investigate the matter of the traitor."

"As you wish." Prince Wei did not believe it was a traitor who betrayed them, but if Wei Yan insisted on thinking so, then he could investigate.

"My lord, what should we do next?" Wei Yan asked worriedly, "Will the court continue to hunt us down?"

"Haven’t you realized it yet?"

Wei Yan asked blankly, "Realize what?"

"This time, father ordered the capture of our people because Kou Nanyu and his group made the Divine Pill, which touched his reverse scale." Previously, the unauthorized actions of the Southern Wei people in trying to assassinate Zhao Yao had already greatly displeased Prince Wei with Wei Yan and his group. Now, hiding from him and collaborating with Kou Nanyu’s group to sell the Divine Pill, made him even more determined not to spare them.

Before the emperor ordered the capture of the Southern Wei people, Prince Wei received a letter from Zhao Yao, only then realizing that someone was secretly making the Divine Pill behind his back. From that point on, he arranged for his people to temporarily leave the imperial city and seek refuge in foreign countries like Johor and Pyu. Therefore, among the Southern Wei people who were captured this time, none were his people.

"All of this was Prince Han’s doing. If it weren’t for Prince Han, the court wouldn’t have discovered the problem with the Divine Pill, nor would they have sent people to catch ours." The culprit behind the years of hard work going down the drain was Prince Han. If Prince Han hadn’t meddled, their Divine Pill would have sold well, and by then, many people would have been controlled by them. When the time was ripe, the Great Zhou Court could have been under their control, and they could have reestablished Southern Wei.

Despite all their calculations, they hadn’t foreseen that Prince Han would notice the problem with the Divine Pill, nor had they expected him to issue an order prohibiting it. Most infuriatingly, Prince Han reported the matter to the Imperial Court, revealing their existence.

"My lord, Prince Han has thwarted our plans more than once; he cannot be allowed to remain..." Before he could finish, Wei Yan was kicked away by Prince Wei. With a bang, he crashed heavily against the wall.

Prince Wei stepped on Wei Yan’s chest, his tone utterly cold, "You’ve sent people time and again to assassinate the tenth brother. I spared you for diligently handling affairs all these years, and yet you dare speak of this. Do you really think I wouldn’t dare kill you?"

Wei Yan clutched at Prince Wei’s ankle, a look of pain and pleading for mercy on his face, "M-my... my lord... spare me..."

"If any of you dare to touch the tenth brother again, I will make your lives worse than death!" Prince Wei had initially planned to deal with Wei Yan and his group, but the incident with the Divine Pill caused all those who had acted against Zhao Yao to be captured.

"No... I dare not... I won’t dare anymore."

It wasn’t until Wei Yan’s eyes rolled back, and he was nearly dead, that Prince Wei let him go.

"Get out."

Wei Yan hurriedly scrambled up from the ground and staggered out of Prince Wei’s study.

Prince Wei glanced at Yu Hai and instructed, "Have someone keep an eye on him."

"Yes, my lord."

Prince Wei walked to the window, gazing toward the eastern imperial city, a thoughtful expression on his face.

He had long known that his father was aware of the remnants of Southern Wei. Over the years, his father had not annihilated the Southern Wei people, presumably for some purpose, allowing them to mistakenly believe he was unaware of their existence. Now, with his father’s orders to capture the Southern Wei people, it seemed he was stirring the grass to alert the snakes. Hadn’t all those years of turning a blind eye been futile?

What exactly did his father intend to do?

What did he want from the Southern Wei people? Could it be for that thing?

That thing had long disappeared and was of no use to his father. There was no need for his father to go to such great lengths to acquire it.

Aside from that thing, there was nothing else the Southern Wei could offer that would tempt his father.