Dao Court, inside the Tianwu Hall.
Escorted by Lu Yang, Crown Prince Longxing entered the hall and immediately saw the golden dragon throne at the head of the hall—something he had been dreaming about for a long time.
Crown Prince Longxing stared at it for quite a while before managing to tear his gaze away with difficulty.
However, the next second, Lu Yang's voice drifted over faintly: "Please take your seat, Your Highness."
"This isn't appropriate, is it?"
Crown Prince Longxing swallowed his saliva and quickly waved his hands: "Father Emperor is only temporarily away due to circumstances. How can I commit such a treacherous act? Better not..."
Hearing this, Lu Yang lowered his voice and chuckled lightly: "Your Highness... to be honest, this seat will be Your Highness's sooner or later. Now that His Majesty is temporarily away, it is the perfect opportunity for Your Highness to display your talents. If you do well, can this seat run away in the future? Sitting on it in advance, just treat it as getting familiar."
Crown Prince Longxing's heart pounded.
That's right, I am the Crown Prince of the Dao Court. This dragon throne will be mine sooner or later. Since Father Emperor can't see it now anyway, what's wrong with me sitting on it for a bit?
Thinking of this, Crown Prince Longxing glanced at Lu Yang again:
"You... not next time!"
After speaking, he walked cautiously up the steps, turned around, and sat steadily on that dragon throne. Instantly, a cool sensation rushed straight to his mind:
"Ah."
Although there was no divine ability blessing in the true sense, Crown Prince Longxing still felt an unprecedented sense of pleasure instantly sweeping through his soul.
After all, this was a veritable act of usurpation. If others knew, even the Crown Prince would definitely be impeached. It was only because Lu Yang actively proposed it, and Crown Prince Longxing himself was truly itching for it, that he went with the flow. Otherwise, he would never have dared.
However, just then—
"My Lord, Your Highness." Xiao Shan walked in quickly and bowed. "Lord Junior Guardian is outside the Tianwu Hall, seeking an audience with His Highness the Crown Prince."
"What?"
Just this one sentence pulled Crown Prince Longxing back to reality. He subconsciously tried to stand up, but was forcefully pressed back down by Lu Yang.
"Go out and pass the word: say His Highness has just entered the Tianwu Hall and is a bit weary. He will not see him."
Crown Prince Longxing instantly felt these words were deeply to his liking.
He was just enjoying himself; wasn't Li Taian coming in to cause trouble? Won't see, won't see. Anyway, there would be plenty of opportunities in the future. Seeing him tomorrow wouldn't make a difference.
What satisfied Crown Prince Longxing even more was that although Lu Yang gave the order directly, Xiao Shan didn't act immediately. Instead, he looked at him respectfully... Clearly, the officials of the Imperial City Division still had their hearts with him, knowing he was the decision-maker, so they dared not act recklessly.
Thinking of this, Crown Prince Longxing nodded slightly:
"Mm, go pass the order."
Only then did Xiao Shan stomp his foot and walk out quickly... However, not long after, the voice of the Junior Guardian came from outside: "You dare stop me?"
Boom!
Accompanied by a loud bang, Crown Prince Longxing's expression changed instantly. He hurriedly got up from the dragon throne, walked down the steps, and straightened his clothes.
The next second, Li Taian strode in.
At this point, he had also realized something was wrong. The Tianwu Hall was now completely controlled by the Imperial City Division. With the Crown Prince entering the Tianwu Hall, wasn't this equivalent to a sheep entering a tiger's mouth?
In this situation, Xiao Shan preventing him from having an audience with Crown Prince Longxing immediately touched his sensitive nerve. He had already concluded that Lu Yang was issuing fake orders to blockade the inside and outside. Otherwise, as the dignified Junior Guardian, how could Crown Prince Longxing refuse to see him? He didn't hesitate to use force to barge in directly.
"Your Highness... you alright!"
Walking into the Tianwu Hall and seeing Crown Prince Longxing was fine, Li Taian breathed a sigh of relief. He immediately bowed in salute, then looked vigilantly at Lu Yang.
This demon dragon has wild ambitions!
However, before he could open his mouth to impeach Lu Yang, Crown Prince Longxing's voice fell:
"Impudent!"
At this moment, Crown Prince Longxing was simply mad with anger. Li Taian's act of barging in formed a sharp contrast with the submissiveness of Lu Yang and the Imperial City Division just now.
You dare to barge in today; will you dare to rebel tomorrow?
Coupled with Li Taian's identity as Junior Guardian and a disciple of the Three Excellencies... thinking of this, Crown Prince Longxing became even more furious:
"This Prince already stated clearly that I am weary today and do not wish to meet. Yet you came to barge in by force. Do you still have me in your eyes? Get out!"
Li Taian was dumbfounded.
He subconsciously looked at Lu Yang, only to see Lu Yang looking back at him with an equally innocent face. Only then was he startled: It wasn't a fake order; he really didn't want to see me?
How is that possible!
He completely couldn't understand the logic within, and even began to subconsciously suspect if the Crown Prince Longxing before him was a fake sent by Lu Yang.
But soon, as the suppression of the Dao Court official position fell, Li Taian groaned, finally understanding that the person before him was indeed Crown Prince Longxing... Immediately after, his face turned pale instantly. After all, if everything was Crown Prince Longxing's will, then he had just committed grave disrespect!
"This subject admits guilt!"
Thinking of this, Li Taian dared not offer any rebuttal. He prostrated directly on the ground, only to see Crown Prince Longxing looking impatient: "I said get out!"
Li Taian dared not hesitate and immediately bowed and withdrew from the main hall.
"Your Highness, please don't be angry."
Only then did Lu Yang whisper, "The Junior Guardian was also thinking of the Dao Court. Although he somewhat offended Your Highness, I believe his heart is good."
"For the Dao Court?"
Crown Prince Longxing narrowed his eyes upon hearing this and said coldly, "I don't see him being as loyal and reliable as you, Du Huan. Nor have I heard Father Emperor praise him for being 'loyal and devoted to the country.'"
"Your Highness is mistaken." Lu Yang shook his head. "This subject and the Junior Guardian are different."
"Oh? How so?"
"The Junior Guardian is loyal to the Dao Court, his heart commendable... But this subject has received deep grace from His Majesty. If we must speak of loyalty, this subject is not loyal to the Dao Court, but only loyal to the Tianwu Imperial Family."
Crown Prince Longxing found this sentence incredibly pleasing to the ear and agreed deeply in his heart. That's right. What 'loyal to the Dao Court'? In the end, isn't it all for the Dao Court even if it damages the interests of my Tianwu Imperial Family? What I want isn't a remonstrating official loyal to the Dao Court. Loyal to the Imperial Family—that is true loyalty!
Seeing this, Lu Yang hurriedly struck while the iron was hot:
"There is one more thing. Your Highness must not be careless... The assassin secretly colluded with the Demonic Sect in Jiangbei. Since they even dared to assassinate His Majesty, Your Highness is probably in great danger too!"
Hearing this, Crown Prince Longxing instantly became nervous again.
He wasn't a Perfected Lord. If an assassination of the same level were aimed at him, he would definitely die without a doubt. Even the [Immortal Kingdom Dao Laws] couldn't protect him.
Therefore, without needing Lu Yang's reminder, he spoke up voluntarily:
"Investigate! Must investigate strictly!"
"Beloved Subject Du Huan, I order you to strictly investigate all officials. The assassin was from the Capital Skies Division, right? Dissolve the Capital Skies Division and merge it all into the Imperial City Division!"
Speaking up to here, Crown Prince Longxing took another deep breath: "In addition, I won't leave the Tianwu Hall for the time being. At least this place has formation protection and is safer... I'll have to trouble you to have the Imperial City Division guard day and night. Not a single person is allowed in without my permission!"
"This subject understands."
Lu Yang immediately stomped his foot and saluted, "Please rest assured, Your Highness. As long as this subject is in charge of the Imperial City Division, I will never let Your Highness encounter danger. LOYALTY!"
Walking out of the Tianwu Hall, Lu Yang finally revealed a smile.
The memories of Zhennan King Wu Taian didn't lie. This Crown Prince Longxing truly has no great ambition and is much easier to manipulate than Emperor Jiayou...
With Crown Prince Longxing as a golden signboard, his future actions in the Dao Court would have righteousness on his side. With both name and authority in hand, many things would be easier to handle.
Thinking of this, Lu Yang looked up at the sky again, pondering in his heart: The seclusion of Dao Fruits doesn't make much difference to me. After all, [Heavenly Fire] had no one upholding it originally. However, a Dao Fruit in a state of seclusion is also very hard to attain. At least for now, [Heavenly Fire] has not favored me...
The root cause was that he hadn't met the conditions for [Heavenly Fire]'s attention.
It is true that he now controlled the situation in the Dao Court.
However, it was limited to Tianwu City, not the entire Jiangdong. Moreover, the group of officials led by the Junior Preceptor, Junior Guardian, and Junior Mentor rejected him extremely strongly.
There is still a long way to go before truly controlling the Dao Court and ruling over Jiangdong...
Lu Yang shook his head, then extended his hand and spread his five fingers. In his palm, a golden light was bobbing up and down—it was unmistakably Daoist Hong Yun's Golden Nature!
It is [Sky-Shrouding] after all...
He guessed [Sky-Shrouding] might play dirty and was on guard, and [Sky-Shrouding] also guessed he would play dirty and fled quite fast.
After the assassination, he used the [Knowledge-Perception Barrier] to run away in the chaos...
Fortunately, he was smart. When they agreed on the deal and placed Daoist Hong Yun's Golden Nature outside, he left a puppet controlled by [Marionette] there.
As soon as [Sky-Shrouding] slashed out the sword, he had the puppet collect Daoist Hong Yun's Golden Nature.
Not only that, he also left a trap where Daoist Hong Yun's Golden Nature was originally placed. If [Sky-Shrouding] really went to take it, he would have been ambushed immediately.
Its a pity that [Sky-Shrouding] never appeared from start to finish.
In the end, neither I nor [Sky-Shrouding] ever intended to complete this transaction... Such an old Saint Sect Perfected Lord is still too hard to deal with.
But then again, the current [Sky-Shrouding] only had a wisp of divine sense left inside a Grotto-Heaven fragment. His ability to interfere with reality was already very limited.
So compared to him, Lu Yang cared more about his own harvest:
"Someone come here."
Lu Yang waved his hand, calling over a young eunuch: "Lead the way ahead. I want to go to the Imperial Harem."