Chapter 938: Chapter 589: The New Emperor of Xi Chu, The Truth Revealed (Part 2)

As he was thinking, Xiang Ruofeng, standing at the entrance of the Golden Palace, saw a dozen figures hurriedly approaching, their expressions filled with urgency and panic.

"Your Majesty—"

"Your Majesty, the prince, he, is dead."

The fastest young eunuch fell to his knees with a thud, tears streaming down.

He was just a eunuch from the East Palace, without permission, he couldn’t even enter this Imperial Palace.

"What? The prince is dead? Which prince!"

Xiang Qi stepped out from inside the Golden Palace, asking sternly.

These princes are truly troublesome, causing issues when there are none, and creating havoc when there are.

Now the emperor had just passed away, in the blink of an eye, a prince is already dead.

"Sir, it’s the Thirteenth Prince who is dead."

"The...Thirteenth Prince?!"

Xiang Qi was stunned.

This matter, how come it’s so eerie.

The Emperor Xiang Chu is dead, and now the most likely successor Xiang Ruojun has also immediately died.

Could someone be trying to kill off their entire family?

Wait a minute.

After all, Xiang Qi was older and more deep-thinking.

He immediately judged that with both the emperor and the prince dead, this matter might fall onto his shoulders, Xiang Qi.

According to the principle of who benefits, who is suspected.

Since the emperor’s lineage is dead, the most hopeful to be emperor wouldn’t be Xiang Chu’s other sons, but him, Xiang Qi.

After all, a capable offspring would obviously inherit the throne from the deceased emperor.

But now that the Thirteenth Prince is dead, the remaining princes are incompetent, and the clan wouldn’t let those useless fools take over; if they screw themselves over, countless others would be buried with them.

Thus, the most hopeful to succeed the throne is instead Xiang Chu’s full-blood brother, Xiang Qi, who is competent in all aspects.

If he hadn’t really done such a thing, Xiang Qi might have doubted himself.

Just as he understood this, both the Minister of War and the Dali Temple Lord couldn’t help but look towards Xiang Qi.

The three exchanged a glance, all understanding the thoughts in each other’s minds.

"Gentlemen, I have a clear conscience, never have I done such a thing, besides, I also do not have the capability to do this."

Xiang Qi quickly distanced himself. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

The other two nodded as well.

It definitely wasn’t Xiang Qi who did it, otherwise it would be too obvious.

The key is, to pull off this deed, the assassin would require immense ability.

Even the Star Emperor couldn’t silently kill Xiang Chu at his Star Emperor Peak level.

If Xiang Qi knew such a master, his sights wouldn’t be on the throne of the Chu State; there are vaster worlds out there, the Chu State may seem large, but in the vast world out there, it’s merely a drop in the ocean.

"Minister Xiang, since this matter involves the royal family, please temporarily avoid the spotlight, return to your mansion for quiet self-reflection, and do not go out unless necessary."

"We will report this to the Xiang Family and have them send people to investigate."

"Yes, I will take my three sons back home and won’t go out until there’s a conclusion."

"However, I, Xiang Qi, have absolutely not done this, I hope you gentlemen will discern clearly."

"Rest assured, we will administer justice impartially and won’t wrong a good man."

The Dali Temple Lord and the Minister of War replied courteously.

As long as Xiang Qi isn’t found to have a direct and explicit connection to this matter, he will become the next emperor of Xi Chu, and these two might one day take orders from Xiang Qi; they naturally don’t want to offend him too much now.

After thanking the two, Xiang Qi took his three sons and, under the protection of a group of palace bodyguards, returned to Prince Qi’s Mansion.

Now, he needed to do nothing.

The more you do, the more mistakes you make; it’s better to quietly retreat at home for a period as suggested, and when the dust settles, to naturally come out and accept the victory that falls from the sky.

Thinking of this, Xiang Qi’s steps became lighter.

Soon, the news quickly spread among the senior-levels of the Xi Chu Empire, and the leaders of the Three Departments and Six Ministries were all woken up and summoned to the Imperial Palace to discuss the matter.

Meanwhile, masters within the royal family clan, upon learning of the incident, responded swiftly and searched for traces of the murderer with all their might.

But they were bound to fail, apart from knowing that Xiang Chu and Xiang Ruojun died by means of Soul Power, no other useful information was obtained.

Half a month later, the case was classified as an unresolved one and shelved away.

A country cannot go a day without a ruler; amid the disputes of Xiang Chu’s many princes, the Xiang clan decided to let Xiang Qi succeed to the throne, becoming the next emperor of Chu State.

Back in those years, after Xiang Qi failed to compete for the throne with Xiang Chu, he didn’t take excessive actions and performed well in his position as Minister of Justice over the years.

Though he seemed somewhat stern and rigid, the clan believed it was all due to the demands of his position.

If a Minister of Justice were too smooth, it would be a major problem instead.

Sure enough, as the newly appointed emperor of the empire, Xiang Qi demonstrated his soft political maneuvers.

His maneuvers swiftly ousted the original supporters of Xiang Chu from the court, gave substantial benefits to neutral officials, and then, under the suggestion of these neutral officials, gave a show of reluctance to welcome his faction’s subordinates onto the court.

Within just one month, Xiang Qi had completed the integration of the Xi Chu court.

At the same time, he made a surprising move.

A month later, he directly decided on the candidate for the prince.