I am the villain in the book

That night, at the hour of Xu.

Just as night fell, Wei Changtian and Yang Liushi, having finished their dinner, left the small courtyard, preparing to go to Dragon Head Mountain for a "sword test".

Passing through the bamboo forest, they arrived at the front hall of the inn.

Qin He, who was sitting in the hall enjoying the cool air, saw them and stood up, asking with a smile:

"Young Master, Madam, are you going out?"

"Yes, now that we've come all this way, we should take a stroll around the city."

"In that case, why don't you two take a turn around the West Market? There should be a night market there now, it's quite lively."

"Is that so? Then we'll go take a look, and see how the local customs of Da Hui differ from those of Da Jue."

"Well, Young Master, how about I accompany you?"

"Hahaha, I appreciate your kindness, Miss, but tonight we're just looking around, so we won't trouble you."

"Alright, then Young Master and Madam remember to be careful, now that the Holy Emperor has passed away and the new Emperor has not yet been established, Yongding City is more or less unsettled."

"Thank you for the reminder, Miss, we will definitely pay more attention."

"..."

After chatting with Qin He in the front hall for a few words, Wei Changtian and Yang Liushi quickly walked out of the inn and got into an ordinary carriage.

A crescent moon hung diagonally in the eastern sky, the night was somewhat pale, the starlight like shattered jade, its thin radiance bright.

"Crack!"

Zhang San, the driver, flicked the whip, and with a crisp sound, the carriage slowly entered Yongding City, illuminated by thousands of lights.

Why did Wei Changtian want to go to Dragon Head Mountain tonight?

He had already told Yang Liushi the reason, which was to prepare a "meeting gift" for Gongsun Yan.

And this "meeting gift", if nothing unexpected happened, should be a few heads.

You should know that although Gongsun Yan is a prince, he is, after all, a prince of a different surname who came from a merchant background, and some people may not take him seriously, even disdaining his status.

Among them, the Second Prince, Lu Yuansong, was the one who looked down on him the most.

As the Second Prince of Da Hui, and a strong contender for the throne, Lu Yuansong not only bore the surname Lu, but also controlled a huge force.

More importantly, he and Gongsun Yan had had many conflicts in business before.

Because of this, when Lu Hongji was preparing to confer the title of Marquis on Gongsun Yan, Lu Yuansong was the first to jump out in opposition, almost ruining the matter with a large group of remonstrating officials.

This also forced Gongsun Yan to pay a considerable price to get Lu Hongji to withstand the pressure and not go back on his word.

In the end, the title of Prince was still conferred, and Gongsun Yan became a prince as he wished.

But his feud with Lu Yuansong was also completely settled, and the relationship between the two became increasingly hostile afterward.

Lu Yuansong even set up a trap to try to eliminate Gongsun Yan, this thorn in his side.

Although it was not successful in the end, this had already escalated the conflict between the two to a point of life and death.

Of course, in Lu Yuansong's view, he certainly wouldn't be the one to die.

After all, no matter how much money Gongsun Yan had, he was just rich, and he was undoubtedly far behind in terms of power and influence.

And for the bigwigs at their level, money was already the most worthless thing.

In fact, Lu Yuansong's confidence was not wrong.

Later facts also repeatedly proved that Gongsun Yan couldn't get the slightest advantage in the struggle with Lu Yuansong, and could only passively take a beating, barely saving his life.

It wasn't until Lu Hongji died in Xin Feng, and Lu Yuansong was too busy fighting for the throne to care about Gongsun Yan's affairs, that the latter finally breathed a sigh of relief.

In this way, apart from Lu Yuansong's "direct competitors", Gongsun Yan was undoubtedly the person who least wanted to see the former sit on the dragon throne.

Therefore, unless it was really necessary to pass through here, the people would often take a detour.

However, Wei Changtian didn't care about this, and directly ordered Zhang San to drive the carriage to the foot of the city wall, before slowly getting out of the carriage with Yang Liushi.

"You go to the West Market and wait for us."

Wei Changtian glanced at Dragon Head Mountain, where faint lights were shining, and waved his hand at Zhang San: "Remember to buy something."

"Yes, I understand."

Zhang San didn't say anything more, replied, and drove away directly, leaving only Wei Changtian and Yang Liushi still standing in place.

The two did not immediately climb over the wall into the mountain, but first observed the surroundings to determine their current location, and then took out a map and compared it.

After roughly figuring out the location of Lu Yuansong's residence, "Changding Palace", on the mountain, Wei Changtian put the map into his arms, exchanged a glance with Yang Liushi, and each took out a piece of black cloth to cover their faces.

In the moonlight, neither of them spoke, but simply nodded to each other.

In the next moment, two figures suddenly disappeared from the spot, leaving only a gust of wind passing over the vermilion walls, and then merging into the vast night.

Half an hour later.

Da Hui Imperial Palace, Changding Palace.

It was late at night, but the main hall was still brightly lit, and six or seven people were discussing matters inside.

Half a month had passed since Lu Hongji's death, and the undercurrent of the struggle for the throne had been surging for half a month, and now it was on the eve of its eruption.

As a strong contender for the next Da Hui Emperor, Lu Yuansong had of course not been idle these past few days, and even slept less than two hours a day.

However, there was no sign of fatigue on his face, and all of his followers did not dare to slack off in the slightest.

After all, everyone knew what this great struggle meant.

Win, and everyone can rise to prominence.

Lose, and everyone will not survive.

To put it bluntly, for these Da Hui officials, they were all betting their lives on choosing the right person.

"Your Highness, the First Prince left the palace yesterday to go to the Lingyun Sect, and has not returned yet."

"Kang Wang has been very close to Lord Song of the Ministry of Personnel recently. Today, I wanted to meet with Lord Song, but he refused on the grounds of being unwell."

"The Emperor's remains have not yet been found, and I have sent more people to Fengyuan."

"Feng Wang still refuses to see our people, and there is no news on how to deal with the 300,000 surrendered soldiers, he should still be waiting and watching."

"..."

In the flickering candlelight, one strategist after another reported the latest situation in various aspects to Lu Yuansong, while giving their own judgments.

As the struggle for the throne progressed to this point, two things would directly affect the final outcome.

One was who could be the first to find Lu Hongji's remains.

The second was who could negotiate with Xin Feng to redeem the 300,000 surrendered soldiers.

If someone could do these two things, they would undoubtedly have the advantage.

It was just a pity that Lu Yuansong's side had not made any progress in this regard so far.

Fortunately, according to the current situation, everyone else was the same, and no one had been able to connect with Xu Sui.

This Xin Feng Empress had not met anyone, nor had she revealed any relevant information.

It was as if she was waiting for something...

"We shouldn't waste our efforts on Fengyuan."

After thinking for a moment, Lu Yuansong, dressed in white, shook his head and said: "Xu Sui listens to Wei Changtian, he must have ordered her to do so."

"How is Wei Changtian's side? Have you seen him?"

"Reporting to Your Highness, our people have already arrived in Shuzhou City, but they have been turned away several times."

A strategist immediately replied: "And Wei Changtian has not shown his face since returning to Shuzhou City."

"Hasn't shown his face?"

Lu Yuansong frowned, and immediately ordered: "Send more people! Spare no expense to be the first to see Wei Changtian! The Emperor's remains may be in his hands!"

"Yes!"

The strategist replied in a deep voice, just as he was about to say something else.

But at this moment, a mocking voice suddenly came faintly from not far away.

"Your Highness, I wonder what you need me for?"