Gate of God

"Yes, Your Highness, I really am Su Qing!" Su Qing nodded certainly. Then, he dropped to his knees and exclaimed: "Your Highness, please save me!"

"Save you?" Lin Xinjue’s eyes flashed a gleam at the kneeling Su Qing. Now he was sure the person in front of him was the real Su Qing.

But if he was real...

Why would he appear in Yan Capital?

Furthermore, he coincidentally arrived in Yan Capital at this point in time? This seemed highly improbable.

Mister Hua furrowed his brows when he saw the kneeling Su Qing. He stared at Su Qing’s face in hopes of reading something beyond his words.

But no sign of falseness was shown in Su Qing’s urgent expression.

Mister Hua could not fully understand the situation, but he felt a strong urge that Su Qing’s arrival in Yan Capital was unlikely to be a coincidence.

"Your Highness, Chi Hou wishes to meet you!" At this moment, a voice emerged from outside the study.

"Chi Hou?" Lin Xinjue froze briefly. He glanced at Su Qing, and hesitated a moment before asking: "Is it alright?"

"It’s alright, the Lord works for Your Highness too." Su Qing nodded.

"Okay, please invite the Lord in!"

"Yes!"

...

Ping Yang’s residence.

Fang Zhengzhi lifted his teacup and sipped lightly from it, his lips curled into a smile. He looked at the bewildered Ping Yang and shook his head helplessly.

Some things might seem very complicated at first sight, but upon viewing them from another perspective, they could not be simpler.

"Do you really want to know why Su Qing arrived in the capital?" Fang Zhengzhi asked.

"Yes... but wait, you wish to fool me again, right?" Ping Yang nodded, but she instantly saw Fang Zhengzhi’s playful smile.

"So, do you want to hear it?" Fang Zhengzhi asked nonchalantly.

"Yes!" Ping Yang bit her lip and eventually responded.

"100,000 pieces of silver."

"Sure!"

"Okay, first imagine you are Su Qing. If you have heard that I am still alive, what would you think?" Fang Zhengzhi asked after he heard Ping Yang’s agreement.

"About killing you, of course!" Ping Yang answered without hesitation.

"How would you kill me?" Fang Zhengzhi asked again.

"It would be ideal to convict you of some crime and openly kill you, but if that can’t be done, then I would assassinate you." Ping Yang answered after some thought.

"That’s right. Now, do you think Su Qing would remain in the Northern Lands if he wants to kill me?" Fang Zhengzhi nodded and continued questioning her.

"You are saying... Su Qing actually left the Northern Lands a long time ago?!" Ping Yang’s eyes lit up brilliantly.

"Yes, Su Qing is very clever. Since he wants to kill me, naturally, he couldn’t just wait for things to happen at the Northern Lands, because there is a complete difference between controlling things from here and from the Northern Lands." Fang Zhengzhi said confidently.

"Therefore, Su Qing has always been in Yan Capital?"

"Previously I wasn’t sure, but now I am certain that Su Qing arrived in Yan Capital with me." Fang Zhengzhi nodded.

"But doesn’t he fear the punishment of leaving his post?"

"Do you think Su Qing has not done anything for the past year in the Northern Lands? With Chi Hou’s departure from the Northern Lands, it’s not difficult for Su Qing to do something under the table."

"Hmm, that makes sense. But... why did he choose to reveal himself now?" Ping Yang nodded but queried once again.

"Because he knows that the crown prince wants to kill him." Fang Zhengzhi replied.

"Third Brother wants to kill Su Qing? Hmm, that’s true. But what does this have to do with Su Qing revealing himself now?"

"If Su Qing hadn’t revealed himself, there could only be two outcomes. First, the crown prince sends someone to the Northern Lands to kill him. Second, the crown prince allows him to enter the capital, and ambushes him on his way here! So, Su Qing doesn’t have a choice." Fang Zhengzhi smiled slightly.

There had never been a retreat in a contest of the throne. Especially with Lin Tianrong’s position as the crown prince, why would he risk himself for a mere official?

To the crown prince, all the officials were his tools. Regardless of their rank, no official could defy such an order.

"You mean Su Qing wishes to strike first and gain the upper hand? But how do you know that he is now at Sixth Brother’s residence?" Ping Yang seemed to understand better, though she still had doubts.

"Because in his mind, the only one who could protect him was King Duan!"

"So, he would definitely visit Sixth Brother’s residence first, right?"

"Yes."

"I understand now, but there is something I am still not sure. Even though you knew Su Qing has been in Yan Capital, how are you certain that he would choose to reveal himself today?" Ping Yang still had some questions in her heart.

"100,000 pieces of silver!"

"Again?" Ping Yang pouted.

"So, are you giving me or not?" Fang Zhengzhi said, apathetically pouring himself another cup of tea, then added some for Yan Xiu.

"I’ll give. I’ll crush you in silver!" Ping Yang exclaimed.

"Haha, go ahead and crush me! It’s simple, Su Qing said so himself!" Fang Zhengzhi laughed nonchalantly.

"He said so himself?!"

"Yes. Su Qing sent someone to notify Wen Chuan, then used Wen Chuan’s name to send a letter to the crown prince and King Duan."

"Why did he do that?"

"It’s a well-known strategy to muddle the genuine with trickery, but Su Qing is enhancing his deception with genuineness. To survive, he must fool the crown prince into thinking he is a fake. The best way to do this is to notify the crown prince of his arrival in the capital. Only then could the crown prince be suspicious and send someone to investigate in the Northern Lands, effectively buying him some time."

"Su Qing is clever indeed! Then... what are you going to do?" Ping Yang praised him intuitively, then looked at Fang Zhengzhi in anticipation.

"I’ll go with the flow!" Fang Zhengzhi didn’t bother keeping her in suspicion anymore and answered straightforwardly.

...

At the study in King Duan’s residence.

Su Qing had stood up from his prior kneeling position, but he didn’t take a seat. Instead, he stood respectfully in the study, facing Lin Xinjue, Mister Hua, and Chi Hou.

Lin Xinjue and Mister Hua remained silent.

Chi Hou sat on the chair, his finger knocking lightly its backrest. He frowned slightly, but his intense stare never shifted away from Su Qing’s face.

"My lord, do you have any more questions?" After a brief hesitation, Su Qing asked politely.

"No." Chi Hou shook his head.

In fact, after he stepped into the study, he was almost certain of Su Qing’s identity. With Su Qing’s elaboration of the events in the Northern Lands in the past year, Chi Hou had no more qualms on that.

"It is heaven’s blessing for me to work together with My Lord!"

"Save the nonsense. I know best what you have done in the Northern Lands for the past year. But with only your side of the story, you wish to convict the crown prince as the real perpetrator of the Southern Region case, isn’t that quite impossible?" Chi Hou spoke straightforwardly.

"If I say that I can do it, will My Lord believe me?" Su Qing’s into a smiled.

"Of course not. The crown prince has strong backing in the Imperial Halls. Although the Left Prime Minister is jailed, and the Ministry of Law, Ministry of Finance, and Ministry of Defence officials are in danger, but he is still the crown prince, the successor of Great Xia Dynasty. As long as the emperor favors him, his ascent to the throne remains steady!" Chi Hou said confidently.

"My Lord is correct, but nothing in this world is set in stone. As you have said earlier, as long as the emperor favors him, his ascent to the throne remains steady, but what if the emperor doesn’t favor him?"

"What do you mean?"

"I have a plan to get rid of the crown prince immediately. In addition, it will allow Your Highness to then immediately gain control of the Imperial Halls and solidify your position!" Su Qing said with conviction.

"Get rid of the crown prince? Immediately?" Chi Hou was bewildered.

Although there were there many cases of removing the crown prince’s position in previous generations of dynasties, doing so was a very big deal indeed.

And...

More importantly, from the emperor’s behavior today...

He still favored the crown prince. This meant that he had pinned high hopes upon the crown prince, so why would he immediately remove the crown prince?

Chi Hou could not believe this.

In fact, Lin Xinjue and Mister Hua could not believe this too.

"Su Qing, you know I don’t like listening to empty promises. And with the current situation, I do not wish to take any risks." Lin Xinjue said.

"Your Highness, please rest assured. There would not be any risks involved in this plan." Su Qing nodded and replied positively.

"Can Your Excellency really remove the crown prince without taking any risks?" A baffled Mister Hua added.

"Yes." Su Qing nodded once again.

"Your Excellency, let’s hear your plan!" Mister Hua’s brows furrowed. He had always thought highly of himself, but in the end, he was just a strategic adviser.

Two years ago, Su Qing had already gained Lin Xinjue’s trust, but his status was merely a Rank 4 official.

At that time, Mister Hua didn’t think much of Su Qing.

But...

A year ago, when Su Qing returned from the Southern Region, he had leaped from a Rank 4 official to a Border Governor, in charge of the Northern Lands Five Constabularies.

How could Mister Hua not be jealous?

And now, Su Qing stepped into King Duan’s residence, saying that he had a plan to rid the crown prince immediately without taking any risks.

How could he believe this?