After the two of them left the palace, Yaoji bowed to the man in front of her and then said, "Thank you, elder brother, for telling Yaoji such an important matter."
Ye, however, curled his lips. There was no trace of a smile in his eyes as he looked at his younger sister in front of him, and then said, "We are family. Why be so polite?"
After saying that, he turned around and strode away. In a short while, he completely disappeared from her sight.
As for Yaoji, who remained where she was, as soon as she saw him leave, she immediately dropped the smile on her face and put on a cold expression instead.
Saying they were family? It was just to make her come and give their father one last push. She would never forget who had tried to kill her on her way back to the Southern Neighbor. Wasn't it this so - called "brother" of hers?!
"Heh..."
She couldn't help but let out a cold laugh. Now she had no family and no friends. All she had was a heart full of vengeance.
But it didn't matter. As long as she could avenge herself, she didn't care what she had to do.
On the other side, Ye, who had already left the palace, immediately ran into Zhuqing, who had come to pick him up.
"Your Highness, you're back. The elder of the Second Tribe requests your presence," Zhuqing said to him.
"Oh? Does that old guy have something urgent?" Ye said in a deep voice.
"He might be dissatisfied with you," Zhuqing replied.
Regarding his plan to start a war, there were indeed many old guys who still opposed it. He scoffed at this, but after all, the elder was someone he should show some respect to. So he replied, "Let's go and take a look."
Within an hour, he arrived at the tent of the Second Tribe. As soon as he entered, he found that it wasn't just the Second Elder waiting for him, but also many other tribal elders. A quick glance told him that they were all the conservative old guys.
Ye gave them a charming smile, his eyes narrowing slightly. Then he walked to the front seat and sat down, and said, "What do you elders want to talk to this king about?"
The Second Elder frowned first upon hearing this. Stroking his beard, he said angrily, "Does the Second Prince really not know why we've gathered here?"
"Oh? Second Elder, you might as well tell me," Ye said, raising his eyebrows.
"You!" The Second Elder exclaimed, pointing at him and trying to stand up. But he was signaled by the Fourth Elder with a look to calm down.
"We're here today because of the Second Prince's suggestion to the Emperor to send troops to the Eastern Sheng. You should know that this is a time of peace. Starting a war recklessly will invite divine retribution!" The Second Elder said word by word. His vicissitudinous eyes were full of indignation, as if he had a great deal of dissatisfaction.
The other elders also nodded in agreement one after another.
"So it's just about this," Ye replied disdainfully. Then he continued, "Haven't you heard that the Emperor of the Eastern Sheng is dying? Starting a war now is just to save the people of the Eastern Sheng from suffering. How can it be divine retribution?"
After saying that, he showed a dangerous smile to the old man in front of him.
But the Second Elder was not intimidated at all. After all, he served the Emperor, so there was no need for him to be afraid of a prince. So he sneered and said, "I've never heard of starting a war being so glorified. You're just..."
Before he could finish his sentence, blood started to flow uncontrollably from his mouth. He lowered his head slightly and saw the dagger that was stuck in his stomach.
This dagger was stabbed by Ye. After doing such a thing, there was no change in his facial expression.
But everyone was shocked. Seeing that someone was about to die soon, they all wanted to run outside.
"Zhuqing!" Ye shouted.
Immediately, a young man in green clothes and wearing a lotus - shaped hair crown stood at the door. There was a group of soldiers standing behind him, blocking their way to escape.
"What on earth do you want to do, Second Prince!" The Fourth Elder said, his face full of fear and his eyes dodging.
"It should be this king asking you elders what you're trying to do!" Ye retorted. His eyes became even colder, and he made a more forceful movement with his hand, suddenly pulling out the dagger.
Blood immediately spurted out from the Second Elder's wound, and his body fell to the ground without support.
"Ye! I'm the elder of the Second Tribe. How dare you seriously injure me?!" He said with his eyes wide open in disbelief, and blood was still flowing from his mouth.
"Seriously injure you? You're wrong. This king wants to kill you!"
After saying that, he threw the dagger out, which accurately hit the forehead of the man on the ground. The man immediately stopped moving and died completely in the tent.
The other elders, who watched this scene with their own eyes, stared at the man in the distance with cold sweat on their foreheads. But they didn't dare to say a single word, for fear that they would be the next to be killed.
Ye calmly took out a handkerchief and wiped the blood off his hands. Then he said, "Do you know why this king killed him? Because he didn't understand the rules and dared to talk to this king like that. He really forgot his own identity."
Among those ministers, there were some who were so scared that they immediately echoed his words after hearing this: "The Second Prince is right. The Second Elder was really out of line!"
Then others also echoed his words.
Seeing their reaction, Ye felt a bit better. Then he curled his lips and said, "This king doesn't want to get his hands dirty either. But unfortunately, this is the order of the Emperor. He has already agreed to the suggestion of sending troops, but the Second Elder kept chattering. Do you think he deserved to be killed?"
"Deserved, deserved! He defied the Second Prince, which means defying the Emperor. Naturally, he deserved to die!" The Fourth Elder said.
Now the situation had changed. Since they knew that this was also the Emperor's suggestion, it would be self - defeating for them elders to say more. The Second Elder was a lesson. So it was better to go along with them.
When the remaining elders saw that the Fourth Elder had already compromised, they also expressed their loyalty to Ye one after another.
"That's good. As for the Second Elder, he had his merits. Give him a grand burial. And as for his fief, you elders can just divide it among yourselves," Ye said. Then he strode out of the tent.
The ministers inside looked at each other. Looking at the Second Elder lying in a pool of blood and smelling the strong odor of blood in their noses, none of them dared to touch the body. They had no choice but to ask the guards to carry the body away.
And they were completely disheartened, regretting their own cowardice just now. But if they were given another chance, they would surely still be so cowardly.