Leap Forward Comics: Watch How I Become a Villainess

Chapter 152: Does this mean they don't respect the Gao brothers?

Two days have passed since Li Yun ascended the throne. Logically, the Thousand Machine Guards in the imperial city should have already sent the message to Li Cen, who is far away on a northern expedition.

Why haven't we seen Bai Zheng make any moves?

The Prime Minister of the Chao Dynasty was completely baffled.

On the day Li Yun ascended the throne, the Thousand Machine Guards did not object at all. Beforehand, the Chao family had conspired with He Xiu to kill Bai Zheng if he objected.

Unexpectedly, I punched the softest persimmon.

Bai Zheng faced the civil and military officials without uttering a single word, and even calmly participated in the enthronement ceremony.

"What exactly is the Bai family up to?"

After thinking it over and over, Chao Ying still felt uneasy.

Did Li Cen not intend to vie for the throne?

That's impossible; she even took the Imperial Seal with her when she went to war.

"The message should have been sent to Li Cen by now, but Bai Zheng probably hasn't received any feedback from them yet," Nie Sheng guessed.

"The Thousand Machine Guards have remained in the Imperial City without taking any action, and the Imperial City Guards have all returned."

Half of the Imperial City Guard is now under Li Cen's control, and Chao Ying originally wanted to find an opportunity to dismiss them.

However, when they pushed Li Yun to the throne in the court, not a single one of them spoke up to stop them. The inner guards who were originally standing outside the palace ready to launch an attack were rendered useless.

At this moment, Chao Ying, Nie Sheng, and He Xiu were discussing this matter at the Prime Minister's residence.

"Lord He, you still need to keep a close eye on the Thousand Machine Guards and the Imperial City Guard..."

“It’s not that I’m unwilling,” He Xiu said, picking up a bowl of wine and drinking it down in one gulp. “The Inner Guard simply can’t compete with the Thousand Machine Guard and the Imperial City Guard.”

“That day, the coronation ceremony was the best opportunity,” He Xiu sighed, “but you hesitated and missed the chance.”

That day, only Bai Zheng and the Imperial City Envoy were summoned to the main hall; the rest of the Thousand Machine Guards and the Imperial City Division were not present.

Originally, He Xiu only needed to use the entire inner guard force to take down these two people.

But they waited in vain for the signal that they had agreed to with Chao Ying.

After the coronation ceremony ended, He Xiu learned that the two people had not uttered any objections or treasonous words throughout the entire process.

Instead, they followed the lead of Chao Ying, Nie Sheng, and others, and supported Li Yun as emperor.

Isn't this like seeing a ghost?

How can they be so flexible and adaptable?

Forget about the Imperial Envoy. But who is Bai Zheng?

He was a resolute man who never yielded an inch when the emperor destroyed the Bai family and seized the Jingbing Hall.

But to betray Li Cen so easily, who could believe it?

But he had done nothing wrong in the palace, so Chao Ying had no reason to touch him.

Bai Zheng even went so far as to say that the Thousand Machine Guards were loyal to the Emperor, which completely baffled Chao Ying and Nie Sheng.

"I'm out of options now!" He Xiu said, looking like he'd given up entirely.

"Don't even mention the Imperial City Guard; even if Bai Zheng led the Thousand Machine Guard into the palace right now, I couldn't stop him!"

He Xiu said as he got up to leave, "We'll just have to take it one step at a time for now. If disaster really strikes, we'll all have to take care of ourselves!"

"Lord He, please wait!" Nie Sheng stopped He Xiu: "Isn't there a deputy envoy and a supervisor in the Imperial City Guard?"

"What's the use? They're Gao Yi's people. Gao Yi is keeping to himself and not getting involved. He's quite clever."

"Hmph, he's smart?" Chao Ying couldn't help but scoff. "He's probably having a hard time sleeping and eating in his residence right now."

"He dared to claim illness and not attend our new emperor's ascension. Do you think he can escape? His Majesty will not let him off the hook."

He Xiu raised an eyebrow: "What do you mean?"

"His Majesty has already dispatched palace guards to surround Gao Yi's Grand Tutor's residence. On the day of his ascension to the throne, he claimed to be ill and did not appear, so he was placed under house arrest in his residence."

Chao Ying's wrinkles deepened with pride: "Gao Zhan and Gao Kuang now hold military power. We've got Gao Yi under control, so why are we afraid they won't defect?"

"His Majesty has already sent an imperial edict, ordering the two brothers to return with General Lu's head to report back."

Chao Ying smiled coldly: "The stakes are Gao Yi's head. If you disobey orders, Gao Yi will be executed for treason."

Meanwhile, Gao Zhan and Gao Kuang were escorting the King of Hu and Mo Gan, and they were already close to the capital.

They were stopped by the blackbird that was already waiting on the only way.

Blackbird also killed the imperial messenger who had come from the capital to deliver the imperial edict to the Gao brothers.

They intercepted the imperial edict.

He then informed Gao Zhan of the current situation.

Gao Zhan snorted coldly: "These old bastards are really ignorant of their own limitations, and they even dare to threaten us with my father."

Gao Kuang and Gao Zhan's arrogance stemmed from Lu He.

On their return journey, they brought all their armored off-road vehicles and excavators, which delayed their march by two days compared to the original plan.

With such a large number of mechanisms, they were naturally not afraid of Chao Ying's threat at all.

Blackbird had obviously seen the massive steel objects they were carrying, even though he was already quite shocked when Lu He provided the sentries with the divine equipment.

I thought those things were already magical objects that ordinary people could hardly attain.

I never imagined there were such terrifying weapons.

Blackbird could immediately recognize these as formidable weapons. Even if Gao Zhan and Gao Kuang led their armies into the city, the defenses of the capital would be easily breached.

"However, now that Grand Tutor Gao is in their hands, even if you can easily break through the city..." Blackbird was somewhat worried. Now, all the sentries and the Thousand Machine Division had gone to the northern border with the Princess, and there were no people in the city skilled in assassination.

"The Elite Soldiers Hall and the Thousand Machine Guards are like an army, skilled in battle but not in doing things in the shadows..." Beneath the mask, Blackbird frowned. There was probably only one way to solve this problem.

"I'll go into the capital to try and rescue Grand Tutor Gao!" Blackbird volunteered. "Wait for my signal."

"No!" Gao Zhan reached out and stopped him.

"Bai Zheng and the Imperial City Guard are still in the capital. Chao Ying and his men must have set up a tight net to prevent anyone from rescuing Father. If you go there, you will only be sending yourself to your death."

After a moment's thought, Gao Zhan sent scouts to operate drones into the imperial city to investigate the situation before making a decision.

Moreover, rescuing only Grand Tutor Gao would be of no use; the entire Gao family is now in the hands of Chao Ying and his group.

Gao Kuang cursed angrily, "Damn it, that old bastard Chao Ying dares to mess with my Gao family! He's got a death wish!"

Gao Zhan ignored his tantrum and maintained his calm analysis: "Don't rush, let's plan this carefully. According to Chao Ying's estimate, the messenger probably hasn't arrived in Yan City yet. The last battle report was that Chu City had fallen..."

“The battle reports have all been blocked by the Elite Military Hall,” Blackbird said. “Ever since the Princess left the capital, all the battle reports have been blocked by the Elite Military Hall. The last news sent back to the capital only covered the time it took to hold Yancheng and advance towards Yucheng.”

"That means we have about six days." Gao Zhan calculated the time it would take for the messenger to deliver the message to Yucheng and then return to the capital.

It will take at least six days for Chao Ying to receive a reply from the Gao brothers.

"You still have three days. This messenger has been out for three days..." Blackbird scratched his head sheepishly, realizing he had forgotten to tell them when to kill the messenger.

"Three days is enough." Gao Zhan waved his hand.

On that day, a dark flock of crows flew over the imperial city.

Everyone stopped to watch; was this flock of crows an ominous sign?

Everything was the calm before the storm.