Chapter 198: Mastermind and the Internal Minister

　　The red eagle swept over, and the person did a flip to get off the eagle. “Sister-in-law!”

　　It was the king of Yijun.

　　Ding Qingqing was pleasantly surprised. “Your Majesty Jun, why are you here?”

　　The king of Yijun helped them defeat a beast before replying, “I was fast asleep when I felt that something was out of place. When I woke up, I was already here.”

　　“His Majesty should be trapped too.”

　　“Yes.” The king of Yijun wasn’t surprised. “If elder brother is alright, then what’s all this for?”

　　Ding Qingqing sighed.

　　“Who’s the one that did this? The Flying Imperial Palace is being guarded strictly, yet such a loophole could be found! Sister-in-law, what should we do? I didn’t find Jiayan, I’m worried!”

　　The queen smiled and said gently, “Be at ease. Jiayan will be fine. Looking at this layout, their target is definitely us. To deal with us – the Spirit Realms – and to suppress your elder brother, they wouldn’t waste any energy on the younger ones. At most, they would only trap them.”

　　“It would be great if that’s true….”

　　“With Your Majesty Jun here, we can hold on for a while longer. As long as the elders arrive in time, there’s no need to worry,” Ding Qingqing said.

　　“Sister-in-law, what do you think?” The king of Yijun asked for her opinion.

　　The queen nodded. “Qingqing makes sense. The priority is that we make it over together.”

　　Seeing the king of Yijun appear, Lu Mingshu heaved a sigh of relief. “Now, you can-”

　　Surprisingly, Xie Lianzhen’s face turned dark and he interrupted her. “Let’s go over now!”

　　Lu Mingshu stared at him blankly. When she finally understood, she sped up.

　　However, it was too late.

　　They hurriedly made their way down the slope, but when they arrived, there were already changes.

　　The king of Yijun, who should have been in the front, suddenly turned back and threw an object.

　　The object turned into light and weaved into a web, hovering above the queen.

　　Xie Lianzhen held his armrest tight suddenly, and his face turned as white as a sheet of paper.

　　Lu Mingshu took in a cold breath and yelled. “It’s him! Why…?”

　　Previously, they made the guess that the mastermind was an insider from the Seventh Truth Platform. Lu Mingshu felt that, since the King was an Assimilation Realm elder, he would be able to deal with anything, so it wouldn’t be an internal problem of the royal family, but the Seventh Truth Platform.

　　However, Xie Lianzhen knew that the chance of the mastermind being from the Seventh Truth Platform was very low. Because of the different clans that were involved, there wasn’t much conflict, and there was no point in plotting against other clan leaders or the queen and king. The Seventh Truth Platform survived together; if there was such a mess, nobody would benefit.

　　With that, the mastermind’s identity was clear. Who would be able to benefit directly from this, and who also had a close relation to the Seventh Truth Platform? It was none other than the king of Yijun!

　　Xie Lianzhen could only blame himself for not being capable enough and letting him seize the chance!

　　“Calm down.” Lu Mingshu held him. “There’s no use if you go over now. Let’s wait and see.”

　　Her cold hand let him calm down slowly. He took a deep breath and rethought about what he could do.

　　The web shrunk and turned into ropes, binding the queen.

　　“It’s you,” the queen said softly.

　　“Hahaha!” The king of Yijun laughed out loud. “Unexpected, huh? Sister-in-law.”

　　“Why are you doing this?” the queen asked calmly. “Have I not treated you well?”

　　“No, sister-in-law treated me nicely, and you even treated Jiayan well.”

　　“Since that’s the case, why would you set up such a big trap to get me?”

　　The king of Yijun smiled. “Because you’ve done too much! Since you’re the queen, you should focus on taking care of what’s happening in the palace, and not the government affairs!”

　　“So, what do you want?” the queen asked coldly. “Even if you kill me, you won’t become king of Zhongzhou. You’re still in the Spirit Realm while your brother’s in the Assimilation Realm.”

　　“Who said I wanted to be the king of Zhongzhou?” the king of Yijun said in disdain. “Do you think I’m you? Trying to snatch elder’s brother power….”

　　“Don’t want to be the king, huh?” The queen sneered, “Making use of the Qilin Festival, ganging up with those on the inside. If you don’t want to be the king of Zhongzhou, then what’s all this for?”

　　“Because!” the king of Yijun shouted strictly. “As the offspring of the Shi family and soveriegn, how could I watch the king’s power fall to a queen? Duan Qing’er, you married into this family so that you could be the queen of Zhongzhou, yet you’re not content with just that! Toying with your power, controlling Zhongzhou, eliminating outsiders, and helping your own cronies. Look at how Zhongzhou has turned out in your hands.”

　　“Oh? How has it turned out? Tell me more, I’m curious.”

　　The king of Yijun felt indignant at the injustice. “You help a lot of poor families and suppress aristocratic families, and even let female emissaries take charge! Just one Xiahou Shan and she already controls almost everything. The person supposedly in charge of just the palace is now in charge of more! She’s just an emissary, but she’s even more arrogant than the foreign minister. Those that have gone through life and death with the dynasty, you’ve made their lives go downhill! They are the tower of strength in Zhongzhou; back during the war with the barbarians, they gave great service! A feminist who bites the hand that feeds you has no rights to take control over Zhongzhou.”

　　The queen smiled and turned to Qingqing. “Qingqing, that’s how you feel too, huh?”

　　Ding Qingqing had been staring into space, and she shuddered from head to toe upon being called out by the queen. “Your Highness….”

　　“Let’s not talk about the king of Yijun… but you?” the queen said softly. “You’re from a poor family, and you’re a female official too. If I didn’t help the poor, do you think you would be able to stand where you are today? Xiahou Shan’s a foreign minister and you’re the internal minister. Have I not treated you well?”

　　“Your Highness….”

　　“Working for the interest of an opposing group at the expense of one’s own!” Xie Lianzhen gritted his teeth and growled.

　　As matters stood, it was obvious. Ding Qingqing was also known as the queen’s trusted aide! Indeed, the queen toyed around with her power and eliminated outsiders, but Ding Qingqing was the one that had no rights to comment on that because she was the beneficiary of that!

　　“What is she here for?” Lu Mingshu didn’t get it. Hasn’t the queen given her more than enough? If it wasn’t the queen who was in control, then she, as a woman, would never get so much power.

　　“What else could she be after?” Xie Lianzhen sneered. “Humans are always greedy.”

　　“Even more?” Lu Mingshu ponder. “Could it be that… she wants to be the queen? But the king of Yijun is clearly disgusted by her, why would he…?” Ding Qingqing was a smart person.

　　“Moron!” Xie Lianzhen said coldly. “Greed has made her muddle-headed.”

　　…

　　Seeing that Ding Qingqing couldn’t make up her mind, the king of Yijun yelled. “Now you want to turn around? I won’t go back on what I promised you!”

　　“Ooh, what did he promise you?” The queen paid no attention to the king of Yijun. She turned to Ding Qingqing and smiled. “Something that he can give you but not me… ah, did he promise to marry you and make you the queen of Yijun?”

　　Ding Qingqing said nothing, but her expression gave her away.

　　“Moron!” The queen froze for a minute and yelled. “Would the title of queen of Yijun give you a better life compared to today? In front of others, you – my official – stand way above even the king of Yijun! It’s easy to become a queen; with your position, you just need to drop a hint, and he’ll come right to you. Why is there a need for you to lower your status? Ding Qingqing, never say that I taught you. You’re such a shame!”