Chapter 350: Drawing the Path (1)
Blazing clouds of fire hung high in the sky above the Hellfire City.
A fire tower, a fire bell, and a four-legged square tripod surrounded by flames and with hundreds of fiery evil spirits carved on its surface were also hung high above the city.
The enormous spiritual pressure enveloped the entire Hellfire City.
The three ancestors of the Huo family, a member of the Yan Dynasty royal family, who had reached the state of perfection in the Golden Lotus, were invited by Huo Yu to break out of their place of seclusion and dominate the Hellfire City.
With the support of three elders who had achieved perfect golden lotus, Huo Yu was furious and many officials related to the major cities in the northern border had their heads snapped off. The bloody heads were hung at the gate of the palace for public display.
Even the powerful aristocratic families such as the Jiang family behind the Four Assistants and Four Vice-Chancellors were beaten up by Huo Yu, and a lot of power was forcibly taken away from them and directly distributed to his own trusted ministers.
The major clans were unwilling to accept this, and they contacted the princes they supported one after another, and the Yanchao court was suddenly thrown into chaos.
The army of the Xuan Dynasty has already captured cities and territories in the northern border, plundering countless civilians and wealth, while the Yan Dynasty is in constant internal turmoil.
Early in the morning
Huo Li's magic power was imprisoned, and he took a secret elixir that dispelled blood and reduced his physical defense, so his strength was suppressed to the same level as that of an ordinary person. A group of eunuchs picked up a big stick and beat Huo Li violently, directly beating him in public until his skin was torn and his pelvis and thigh bones were smashed to pieces.
Huo Li howled miserably, cried bitterly, and wailed hoarsely: "Father, Father, what did I do wrong?"
Huo Yu stood in front of Huo Li with his hands behind his back, looked down at him, and then grinned at the many ministers present: "This unfilial son spoke nonsense in the pleasure boat last night - saying that I, Huo Yu, was clinging to the throne and refusing to step down since I was going to abdicate?"
Huo Yu suddenly kicked Huo Li hard in the face, causing his tall nose to collapse, his cheek bone to crack, and his big teeth to fly out.
"This is simply outrageous... Let alone, according to the rules of our ancestors, it is not time for me to abdicate... Besides, at this moment, the army of the Xuan Dynasty is attacking frantically, and cities in the northern border have fallen one after another. Countless people have been brutally attacked by the enemy... At this critical moment, how can I abdicate and hand over the affairs of the country to a group of green-headed kids?"
"This boy is unfilial." Huo Yu pointed at Huo Li and said coldly, "He is also incompetent."
After a slight pause, Huo Yu said coldly: "It is even more disloyal to Yan Chao!"
'Unfilial', 'incompetent', and even 'unfaithful'.
A group of court officials looked at him sideways. Huo Li was finished. Being labeled like this by Huo Yu, he would never have a chance to become emperor. When the new emperor ascended the throne, he would certainly not be kind to such a brother.
Fire Plow, it's all over.
Many ministers secretly looked at the Tianhuo Platform. At the Song family's current patriarch, Song Yuan, was one of the Four Auxiliary and Four Bi ministers, and was in charge of supervising all officials in the court.
Huo Li is the strongest and most powerful prince among the princes supported by the Song family, and his mother has the best family background. Huo Li's mother is Huo Yu's concubine and the eldest granddaughter of Song Yuan.
Therefore, in terms of the strength of support, Huo Li is the one who has invested the most effort in the Song family.
As expected, Song Yuan stepped out of the class and said, "Your Majesty, Huo Li was just resentful for a moment, and perhaps a little disrespectful to Your Majesty, but it cannot be said to be unfilial. As for incompetence and disloyalty, I don't know where to start."
Song Yuan had to step forward to support his great-grandson.
Otherwise , Huo Li's chance to compete for the throne would have been eliminated, and several other great-grandsons of Song Yuan would most likely have been involved.
Song Yuan, the Song family, did not want the prince with their own blood to be eliminated so early.
Especially at this critical moment when the Jiang family suffered heavy casualties in the northern border and made such a huge mistake - the Jiang family basically withdrew from the battle for the throne. Without such a strong opponent, the Song Yuan Dynasty absolutely did not want their own Song family to be the second one.
Huo Yu looked at Song Yuan and sneered: "Unfilial, he actually dared to slander his father and king. I said he was unfilial, so he is unfilial."
"Incompetent," he said, slandering the emperor and father. I heard it... He would be caught even for doing something bad. How dare you say he is capable if he can't even do such a small thing?"
"As for being disloyal... Such a big thing happened in the country. More than a hundred cities in the northern border have been conquered by the Xuan Dynasty, and countless people are in dire straits... He actually went to the pleasure boat to play and have fun?"
Song Yuan's expression changed slightly.
He took a deep breath and prepared to make a few more excuses for Huo Li.
However, on the Sky Fire Stage, horrifying waves of spiritual fluctuations with unusually high temperatures came one after another. Song Yuan lost his balance and suddenly retreated dozens of steps, almost being squeezed out of the Sky Fire Stage.
A cold voice came from behind the screen behind Huo Yu's throne: "That's enough. He's just a grandson. Don't even mention crippling him. Even beheading him is the same... Let's be serious. The army of the Xuan Dynasty is invading. You should discuss countermeasures as soon as possible."
Song Yuan shut up.
The ministers started to make a commotion, shaking their heads and putting on an appearance of diligence and loyalty to the emperor and the country, and put forward a series of reliable and unreliable countermeasures.
The person who spoke was one of the three ancestors invited by Huo Yu. He was also the emperor of the Yan Dynasty ten generations ago and the direct ancestor of Huo Yu's clan. With a respected status and powerful cultivation, he was the treasure of the Huo family!
For a while, the Tianhuo Terrace was in chaos. A group of ministers argued for a long time and finally came to a conclusion - mobilize troops and start a war!
Huo Yu stood with his hands behind his back, looking at this group of ministers, wishing he could draw his sword and chop all these guys to death.
After all this arguing, this is the only bullshit conclusion we came to?
Deploy troops and start a war. Facing the attack from the Hyeon Dynasty, any pig would know what to do, right? Why are they still making such a fuss?
But this is the pillar of Yan Dynasty!
Can't kill!
Therefore, Huo Yu could only look at his ministers with a fake smile: "So, where should we mobilize the troops? How should we coordinate the baggage and food? My fellow ministers, please discuss a detailed strategy. Especially..."
Huo Yu had some bad thoughts in his mind: "Jiang Yan fell into the northern border, this Yinghuo Division..."
Several Jiang family officials hurriedly walked out of the class train: "Your Majesty, the operation of the Firefly Department is smooth and normal, and there is no need for any adjustments!"
The Firefly Department is the government office that Jiang Yan is in charge of, and it is also the private land of the Jiang family.
In particular, the Firefly Department is responsible for external intelligence, placing secret agents, bribing enemy ministers, and even assassinating important figures, etc. The Firefly Department is not only extremely powerful, but also has a huge annual budget.
There is such a big piece of fat meat. If Huo Yu dares to hand over the management of Firefly Division to one of the other four assistants and four bi ministers, the Jiang family will dare to invite their ancestor who has reached the realm of Golden Lotus to fight to the death!
The other ministers' eyes flickered and they showed hesitation.
Several ministers of the Jiang family had resolute expressions and stared at Huo Yu with firm eyes - if you dare to give orders in disorder, we, the ministers, will fight you to the death!
Huo Yu hesitated for a moment, then sneered, "In that case, you... Jiang Xu will temporarily take over all the duties of the Firefly Division... I'll give you three days to find out what happened in the Northern Frontier, how many troops have come from the Xuan Dynasty, who is in charge of the army, and who are the generals in the army."
After a moment's silence, Huo Yu pointed at Jiang Xu, who had a stiff face, and said, "Also, find out what happened in the Xuan Dynasty... Didn't their emperor just die? How could they have the mind to invade our country so recklessly?"
After coughing lightly, Huo Yu pointed at Song Yuan again and said, "Song Qingjia, you must mobilize your best troops and cooperate with Jiang Qingjia to thoroughly investigate this matter. If Yinghuo Division has committed any corruption, abuse of power, or fraud in this process... I will allow you to execute them first and report them later!"
Song Yuan, who had been depressed just now, was overjoyed when he heard the voice, and hurried forward to take the order.
Jiang Wei's face became even uglier.
The Zhenbei Army lost contact, Jiang Yan fell into the hands of the enemy in Qingyun State, and the Jiang family mobilized their private army, carrying countless wealth to redeem him... Then the Xuan Dynasty army invaded on a large scale, and to everyone's surprise, they marched straight into the territory of Yan Dynasty.
God knows how much guilt the Jiang family bears in this.
If Jiang Xu was in charge of the Firefly Division to investigate, many things could still be covered up, but since Song Yuan was stuck by Huo Yu, this matter became troublesome.
If it is really discovered that the invasion of the Xuan Dynasty’s army is related to the Jiang family - there is no doubt that according to the information Jiang Wei has now, this matter is inseparable from the Jiang family.
If this gets out...
Jiang Wei pursed his lips and glanced at Song Yuan quickly.
Song Yuan looked at Jiang Xu meaningfully - he knew that this time, he could control Jiang...
A group of ministers left the Skyfire Tower one after another. Huo Yu, with his hands behind his back, looked at these ministers flying away on the clouds and sighed softly: "State affairs are difficult, but these ministers... are not worthy of being used. Ancestor, if at this time, let my useless sons take over the throne ..."
A cold voice came from behind the screen: "Rules are rules, no one can disobey them. When your golden lotus blooms, you must abdicate."
Huo Yu's face turned gloomy, his eyes flickered, and no one knew what he was thinking in his mind.
At this moment, Lu Yi was already carrying a Zen stick, stepping on the strong wind, and striding towards the Hellfire City.
The straight-line distance from the Northern Frontier to Hellfire City is more than a million miles. Lu Yi can easily cover a distance of a hundred miles in one step, and it only takes him more than ten thousand steps to get here. He set out early in the morning and had the leisure to appreciate the scenery along the way. By the evening, he had already arrived outside the north gate of Hellfire City.
Before the news of the fall of Northern Frontier spread, the top leaders of Yan Dynasty deliberately blocked the news.
The Yan Dynasty soldiers guarding the north gate had dull eyes and stood at the door like wooden stakes. They looked majestic, but were just decorations.
Lu Yi shook his head slightly, walked into the Hellfire City easily, and headed straight for the Imperial City.
