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“Not only Qi Empire, but even Ling Empire is considering taking a piece of the pie by attacking Xuan Empire. Do you think I would do something to feed you to attack Xuan Empire?” Su Yu sneered at the two.
Ling Xiaoye and Yue Zecheng felt as if they were being watched, sending shivers down their spines.
This was something known only to a few individuals from their two Empire. How did Su Yu find out about it?
Could it be that both Empire had spies working for Su Yu?
If that were the case, it would be quite troublesome for them in the future.
“Your Highness, you are overthinking. There is no such thing,” Yue Zecheng said, looking at Su Yu.
Su Yu chuckled softly, “Oh? You say there’s no such thing? If there isn’t, why are you feeling guilty?”
“Your Highness, you are mistaken,” Yue Zecheng said, avoiding eye contact with Su Yu.
Little did he know that his behavior was undoubtedly a giveaway to Su Yu.
Su Yu suddenly found it quite amusing to watch them like this.
“Prime Minister Yue, you’ve been exposed.”
Ling Xiaoye took a deep breath, suppressing his agitation, and said to Su Yu, “Don’t push the blame for Qi Empire’s affairs onto us.”
Su Yu couldn’t be bothered with Ling Xiaoye and directly issued the order to see the guests out, “Yuan Bao, see our guests out.”
Being dismissed twice, Ling Xiaoye and his party felt too embarrassed to continue staying. It seemed that they would have to approach the Emperor of Xuan Empire.
Standing beside Su Yu, Yuan Bao frowned and spoke up, “Young Master, by exposing yourself like this, won’t they destroy our covert operations in both Empire?”
“Yuan Bao, the premise for them to destroy our covert operations is for them to find out where our covert operations are located,” Su Yu replied. No matter how many ideas they had, it would be useless if they couldn’t locate them.
Yuan Bao twitched his mouth, looking at Su Yu. It seemed that the young master’s words were not entirely wrong.
Upon returning to the palace, Yue Zecheng was approached by Qi Ming, who inquired about his meeting with Su Yu. If Qi Ming hadn’t known that Su Yu wouldn’t see him, he wouldn’t have sent Yue Zecheng in the first place.
Yue Zecheng shook his head, “The Prince’s attitude is very firm. He won’t provide us with the grain seeds, and neither will Ling Empire.”
“Why?” Qi Ming asked. Why wouldn’t they provide for Qi Empire, and what was the reason for not providing for Ling Empire?
Yue Zecheng’s expression became somewhat subtle as he looked at Qi Ming and said, “Last year, the Crown Prince of Ling, Ling Xiaochen, came. At that time, he intended to have the Princess marry into Ling Empire.”
“Is that true?” Qi Ming turned to Yue Zecheng with a look of astonishment in his eyes.
The fact that Ling Xiaochen could say such a thing was incredibly naive. He had the audacity to compete with Su Yu for a wife.
“Yes, the Prince himself said it. He mentioned that even if the grain seeds of Xuan Empire were to rot within ten years, he wouldn’t give Ling Empire a single grain,” Yue Zecheng sighed lightly.
The grain seeds were cultivated by the Princess. Apart from those provided to the Xuan Empire court, the rest were given at the Prince’s discretion.
“What about Qi Empire?” Qi Ming asked.
Yue Zecheng shook his head, “The King said that even if he don’t have a feud with you, he wouldn’t provide for Qi Empire. In addition, there is another reason.”
Qi Ming looked at Yue Zecheng, signaling him to speak directly.
“The Prince somehow learned about the secret plot between Qi Empire and Ling Empire to attack Xuan Empire. He said he wouldn’t feed both our Empire to attack Xuan Empire,” Yue Zecheng explained. This matter was supposed to be highly confidential, yet it seemed that Su Yu was aware of it as if it were common knowledge.
“The Prince of Xuan is aware of this matter, and it may not be easy to make a move from Xuan Feiran’s side,” they realized that it would be difficult to act against Xuan Feiran.
This news was not good for them at all.
“After arriving in Xuan Empire, our people learned something. Recently, Prince Yu obtained a large iron mine, which he directly handed over to the Emperor of Xuan. In addition, the iron mine in the hands of the Xie family also ended up in the Emperor’s possession. This is not good news for us,” Qi Ming said. Although he and the Crown Prince were at odds, they needed to work together while in another country.
With iron mines, weapons could be forged, and Su Yu had both money and grain. Waging war would be a simple matter.
In this aspect, both Qi Empire and Ling Empire were weaker than Xuan Empire, and they were likely to face retaliation from Xuan Empire.
Qi Ming’s expression turned grim. Since when had Su Yu’s influence extended to the internal affairs of two Empire, and how did he even know about their secret plan to attack Xuan Empire?
“Your Highness, your relationship with Prince Yu…”
“There’s no chance of repair,” Qi Ming said. With everything known, how could he forgive Prince Yu?
Who could accept such a thing?
Yue Zecheng couldn’t help but feel disappointed, but there was nothing they could do about it. “We can only think of other ways.”
Qi Ming nodded, realizing that they would have to approach the matter from a different angle.
Xie Chen was also useless, easily dealt with by Su Yu.
Upon returning to the palace, Ling Xiaoye was in a foul mood, cursing Ling Xiaochen as a waste.
While they were filled with anger and frustration, Su Yu was in the best mood. However, his good mood didn’t last long. In the afternoon, a messenger from the palace informed Su Yu that he was to attend the morning court the next day.
Upon seeing Su Yu’s instant scowl, Wang Jinhe couldn’t help but laugh.
“Not happy?” he asked.
“It’s been snowing and it’s so cold these days. Isn’t it better to stay in bed and sleep with you? Why do I have to go to the morning court?” Su Yu couldn’t understand what his elder brother was thinking. Sending someone to summon him to the morning court made him unhappy.
“Perhaps there’s something that requires your attention,” Wang Jinhe replied. Whenever Su Yu returned, Xuan Feiran never thought of making him attend the morning court unless there was something important that required Su Yu’s involvement.
Su Yu didn’t need to think to know what it was about.
“King Yan probably wants the grain seeds.”
“I won’t give them.”
“Of course, you won’t,” Su Yu said with a smile.
Naturally, wanting high-yield grain seeds would come at a price.
The next day, Su Yu appeared in the court, and the neutral ministers were all on edge.
Why has this jinx come again?
“Why did the Prince come to the court today?” the Prime Minister asked Su Yu with a smile.
“My elder brother asked me,” Su Yu replied with little enthusiasm.
If it weren’t for Xuan Feiran’s request, he wouldn’t have gotten involved in these matters.
The Prime Minister felt a pang in his heart when he saw Su Yu like this.
“Your Highness, with your abilities, why don’t you like to hold office?” the Prime Minister couldn’t help but ask.
Su Yu didn’t respond to the Prime Minister, but Su Jiu came over and hooked his arm around Su Yu’s shoulder. “If Xiao Yu comes to court often, some people will start to worry. You should let them have some peace for a while.”
The Prime Minister raised an eyebrow and looked at Su Yu with a smile in his eyes. “That’s true.”
When Xuan Feiran arrived, everyone quickly stood up. King Yan, upon seeing Su Yu at the court, was initially displeased, but soon regained his composure.
After the routine matters, King Yan finally spoke up, “Your Majesty, I have something to say.”
“Go ahead.”
“Since Your Majesty has provided grain seeds to King Chen and King Huainan, shouldn’t I also receive grain seeds?” King Yan said without any courtesy.
King Chen glanced at King Yan, who was acting as if it were only natural, and said with a smile, “King Yan, you really have a good plan in mind.”