Heaven Dou Imperial Palace, Undercurrents Surge!
"What did you say?"
Xue Ye's aged face suddenly changed, but he quickly regained his majesty. However, his tall body, shrouded in a golden-red robe, still trembled slightly.
Hilo, the regent of the Silves Kingdom, dead?
Good riddance!
As for Hilo, the prince of a subordinate kingdom who was entangled with the Spirit Hall, disregarded the empire, intended to carve out his own territory, and harbored rebellious intentions, Xue Ye wished he were dead!
Previously, Xue Ye had asked Dugu Bo to find an opportunity to get rid of Hilo.
At that time, the two of them planned three strategies: the best, the middle, and the worst.
The best course of action would be for Dugu Bo to inoculate Hilo with the venom of the Jade Phosphorus Snake during tonight's banquet, so that he would die silently upon returning to the Silves Kingdom.
The middle strategy is to ambush and kill Hilo on his way out of Heaven Dou City.
The worst course of action would be for Dugu Bo to find an opportunity to clash with Hilo at the banquet and then kill him openly.
In any case, Dugu Bo's impression on the world has always been that he is aloof and extremely bloodthirsty. Even if he kills someone at a banquet, most people will just think it is a personal grudge.
The core principle of these three strategies is to completely sever ties with the Heaven Dou Imperial Family on the surface.
Even if everyone suspects in their hearts that Hilo's death is related to the Heaven Dou Imperial Family, as long as no strong evidence is produced, it will always remain just a suspicion!
This is the rule of the game among nobles.
Upon hearing the news of Hilo's death, Xue Ye's first reaction was that Dugu Bo had made a move, and it was a poor one at that, otherwise Hilo wouldn't have died today.
In other words, Dugu Bo must have provoked the conflict directly at the banquet and killed Hilo under the pretext of personal grudges.
However, for an emperor, acting is a basic skill; he must act not only with outsiders but also with his own people.
Therefore, Xue Ye suppressed his joy, stared at the panicked eunuch before him with a gloomy gaze, and asked in a deep voice, "Tell me everything you know!"
"Yes, Your Majesty."
The eunuch nodded without even the most basic bow, completely losing his usual composed and courteous demeanor.
At this moment, the eunuch resembled a rat with its tail on fire, urgently saying, "Your Majesty, Hilo died in a long-abandoned side hall..."
"How is that possible?"
Before the eunuch could finish speaking, Xue Ye interrupted him in shock!
This time he wasn't faking it; he was genuinely shocked!
The script is wrong!
According to the worst-case scenario he and Dugu Bo discussed, Hilo should die at the banquet, which is in the Golden Palace!
How could someone die in an abandoned side hall where there is usually no one?
No, there's a mistake.
Xue Ye suddenly realized that there was another force within the palace!
It must be this force that killed Hilo and tried to frame the Heaven Dou Imperial Family!
According to the original plan, no matter which of the three strategies Dugu Bo used, the royal family could remain uninvolved.
Even if the dozen or so kingdoms and duchies under the Heaven Dou Empire suspected that Hilo's death was related to the royal family, they would not openly unite to rebel because they had no grounds for complaint and would inevitably harbor the wishful thinking that is unique to humans.
But now, the fact that Hilo died in an abandoned side hall of the palace is practically a public statement that Hilo was killed by the Heaven Dou Imperial Family.
Even if the royal family jumped into the sea, they could not clear their name of wantonly killing their subjects!
It is foreseeable that with this public charge, and with the support of the Spirit Hall, these kingdoms and duchies under the Heaven Dou Imperial Family are very likely to launch a massive rebellion!
Thinking of this, Xue Ye felt a chill run down his spine, and his face turned extremely ugly!
"Let's go! Let's check out the side hall!"
At his command on that Xue Ye, dozens of Palace Knights clad in golden armor gathered around him inside the palace. Royal guards, who had been operating in the shadows, also moved in response.
Such a grand scene immediately startled Xue Ke, who was getting ready.
"Father, where are you going?"
Xue Ke noticed that Xue Ye's expression was a little off and immediately asked worriedly.
"It's a small matter, it won't take up much time. You wait here for now, and Father will come back to accompany you to the banquet after he's finished dealing with it."
Xue Ye smiled kindly, her large hands gently stroking Xue Ke's silky golden hair.
"Oh, Father, please be careful. Xue Ke is waiting for you."
Xue Ke nodded obediently, watching Xue Ye leave amidst heavy guards.
Even now, her beautiful eyes were still filled with worry.
She was always sensible and knew that her father must be in big trouble.
But all she could do was take good care of herself and not distract her father...
When Xue Ye led his men to the outer perimeter of the abandoned side hall, it had already been surrounded by Soul Master of Royal Guard Knight Corps.
Upon seeing the emperor's arrival, all the Royal Knights immediately knelt on one knee and said in unison:
"Greetings, Your Majesty."
"Rise, there's no need for such formalities."
Xue Ye waved to signal, and hurriedly led his men into the abandoned side hall.
Upon entering the side hall, all that could be seen were destroyed buildings and large patches of dark red bloodstains.
It's easy to imagine how intense the battle that took place here was.
On the ground, there were fifty or sixty corpses scattered around. Among them was the body of a young man lying on his back. Xue Ye recognized him at a glance as Hilo.
"Your Majesty, according to our examination, there is no blood left in Prince Hilo's body. His blood must have been drained!"
"A Royal Guards commander who had followed us into the Xue Ye said respectfully."
"Drained?"
Xue Ye frowned and muttered, "Could it be those blood-sucking Blood Soul Master who did it?"
After a pause, Xue Ye surveyed the other corpses in the side hall and asked, "Besides Hilo, have you examined the other corpses here? What did you find?"
"Your Majesty, there are fifty-seven corpses here. Judging from the items they carried and the insignia on their armor, they should... they should all be Hilo's guards!"
The commander of the Royal Guards turned pale and, as he spoke, he suddenly knelt down.
Upon hearing this, Xue Ye's face changed color several times, alternating between pale and green, and the anger in her heart was simply uncontrollable!
It should be noted that, apart from the Undying Douluo Ye Yinzhu, no nobleman is allowed to bring guards when entering the Heaven Dou Imperial Palace; at most, they may bring one or two family members or female companions.
But this Hilo actually dared to violate the royal decree and bring more than fifty guards into the palace!
Even more terrifying is that another force managed to wipe out Hilo, who had more than fifty guards and was a Soul Saint, without anyone noticing!
This made Xue Ye feel a chill run down her spine, and the hairs on her body stood on end!
The palace's defenses are like a sieve, full of loopholes! If someone wanted to harm a member of the royal family, wouldn't they be able to succeed easily?
No wonder Imperial Son second and third Imperial Son died of poisoning one after another!