Nangong Qin was a little angry and punched Ye Chen on the chest, "Do you have to ask me to beg you to give up?"
Before Ye Chen could say anything else, he added: "You are one of the few friends I have and one of the people I trust most. The last thing I want to see is that because of your worldly status and the eyes of outsiders, you are...
Create a gap between us!"
"Since the fifth prince has said so, then the common people will be disrespectful!"
Ye Chen smiled and straightened his body immediately.
"You scared me so much just now!"
Nangong Qin wiped his hands with cold sweat.
Even though Ye Chen had a respectful attitude and a sincere tone just now, the expression on his face was neither humble nor arrogant. Is there any trace of the panic that should be expected when facing a prince?
He had no doubt that once he dared to act like a prince, given Ye Chen's character, he would definitely break up with him on the spot and leave.
"Since you are the fifth prince of the current empire, then your sister..."
Ye Chen pointed to Guo Mingyue next to him.
"Isn't it already obvious?"
Nangong Qin pulled Guo Mingyue over and introduced: "She is indeed my biological sister, Nangong Mingyue!"
"The little princess of the empire?"
Ye Chen raised his eyebrows.
This generation of the Yong'an Empire not only has five princes, but also three princesses.
As for the little princess, her name is indeed Nangong Mingyue.
Looking back now, everything seems to make sense.
Even though Nangong Qin and Nangong Mingyue used pseudonyms, except for changing their surnames, there was no change in the subsequent names.
"Mr. Ye, I'm sorry for hiding this from you for so long!"
Nangong Mingyue Yingying bowed to Ye Chen and said apologetically: "I hope our identities will not affect our relationship!"
"You are the descendants of the royal family and have a body of gold and jade. As long as you don't dislike me, a commoner, that's fine!"
As if he didn't want to continue on this topic, Ye Chen looked at Nangong Qin again, "Since you are the fifth prince of the empire, why would anyone dare to assassinate you?"
"Brother Ye, with your intelligence, you should have thought of it a long time ago without me having to say anything, right?"
Nangong Qin said meaningfully.
"A power struggle within the empire?"
Ye Chen raised his eyebrows.
"good!"
Nangong Qin nodded, "I have been assassinated repeatedly, and the masterminds behind the scenes are none other than my other half-brothers or sisters!"
"Then why did you come all the way to the border of the Western Region?"
Ye Chen said in confusion.
"Of course I will join my second brother!"
Nangong Qin no longer concealed anything and said directly: "In recent years, my father has been getting older and more and more incompetent in political affairs. Not only has the court been in chaos, several of my brothers and sisters have also secretly started competing for the throne.
!”
"As for me, the youngest prince, even if I have no intention of getting involved in the competition for the throne, there is a saying that goes, 'Every man is not guilty, but he is guilty of his crimes.' Even if I don't want to compete for the crown prince's position, I will still do it because I am the prince.
He was suppressed and assassinated because of his identity!”
"And I have no foundation in the imperial capital. I have no choice but to come to the border of the Western Region to join my second brother!"
After some explanation, Ye Chen finally felt relieved.
But after thinking about it, he added: "Don't you think the second prince, Nangong Kaige, wants to compete for the crown prince's position?"
"My second brother has been loyal and honest since he was young, without any fuss or scheming. He loves my youngest brother even more. He is the only relative I can trust in the entire imperial capital!"
Nangong Qin smiled bitterly.
"You are secretly killing each other, and your father doesn't care?"
Ye Chen asked again.
"Brother Ye has been in the Central Territory for so long, he must have heard some rumors, right?"
Nangong Qinyi gave some guidance.
"You mean the current His Majesty?"
Ye Chen raised his eyebrows.
"good!"
Nangong Qin nodded, glanced around again, and then lowered his voice and said: "My father's current situation can be described as 'foolish and ignorant'. Not only does he ignore the government affairs all day long, but he also has no regard for the relationship between our brothers.
They fight overtly and secretly, but they never pay attention!"
"Then His Majesty is unaware of this, or does he acquiesce to the competition between you?"
Ye Chen asked.
Since ancient times, the struggle for imperial power has eventually evolved into fighting between siblings, fratricide, and even patricide to seize the throne, etc.
In order to achieve this goal, the whole country will often rebel.
The current emperor, Nangong Xian, was a wise king when he was young. Even if he is gradually becoming sluggish, it is impossible for him to know nothing about the affairs of the court.
However, the internal affairs of the Yong'an Empire had become so rotten, and Emperor Qingwu still remained indifferent, which seemed a bit unreasonable.
"I guess it's not that my father doesn't know, but..."
Nangong Qin hesitated to speak, as if he was still worried about something.
"Are you trying to say that His Majesty is old and unable to control the overall situation?"
Ye Chen tentatively said.
Of course, this is just his guess.
After all, Nangong Qin is the biological son of His Majesty. He has lived in the whirlpool of power since he was a child, and his understanding of His Majesty must be far better than that of an outsider like himself.
"That was not what I meant!"
Nangong Qin shook his head, "I think the reason why my father deliberately let it go is because he was setting up a big chess game!"
"What big chess game?"
Ye Chen became even more curious.
Ever since he came to the Central Region, he had heard that the current Emperor Qingwu was fatuous and ignorant. He was over eighty years old and still built a wine pool and a meat forest in the harem, where he spent all day having fun and living drunkenly.
He is completely different from the wise king of twenty or thirty years ago.
I never thought that when Nangong Qin said it, there would be two completely different results.
He would like to hear what Nangong Qin, the youngest prince, would think differently about the current emperor, Emperor Qingwu.
"Three months ago, I met my father in person!"
Nangong Qin pondered for a moment and said meaningfully: "Although he was in a drunken state at that time, there was a faint light of wisdom in his eyes, and the demeanor he showed inadvertently did not seem to be really old and confused!"
"Then what?"
Ye Chen asked: "Could this be the basis for your guess that His Majesty is setting up a big chess game?"
"Although it's just my personal guess, this possibility is still quite high!"
Nangong Qin smiled mockingly.
"Then what exactly do you mean by big chess?"
Ye Chen asked eagerly.
Nangong Qin talked for a long time, but didn't seem to get to the point.
"What I call grand chess mainly has two points!"
Nangong Qin said thoughtfully: "First, pretend to be stupid, take the initiative to delegate power, let the hidden corruption within the empire surface, and then uproot it in one fell swoop!"
"Secondly, my father is indeed very old. He may know that his time is running out, so he will turn a blind eye to the competition for the crown prince's position. His purpose is to give us a few opportunities.
Brother, a chance to prove yourself!"
Ye Chen couldn't help but sigh after hearing these words.
As expected of someone who has been in the whirlpool of power since childhood, with such unique insights and insight into the entire situation, even he feels a little ashamed.
He had no doubt that if the other four princes and three princesses also had Nangong Qin's wisdom and mind, I am afraid that this competition for the throne would definitely be extremely fierce and cruel.
If all the princes and princesses weighed the wine and rice bags, it would be easy to determine the winner.
And if only one of them is outstanding, he can quickly control the overall situation.
But if all competitors are far-sighted and intelligent, it will definitely be a disaster for any empire.