Imperial Preceptor of Great Corner

Wang Qunshui said that Ji Shang had personally written a letter to His Majesty that day, so he would never dare defy him. The upheaval in Dragon City today must have had its cause. They needed to determine whether Li Xiaotian's survival and the trap he had set were truly Ji Shang's intention. If they were not, but rather the result of an accident, then blindly cutting off the link that was Ji Shang would bring no benefit to Great Corner.

Du Ruxin objected. As the ruler of a nation, Ji Shang held the power of life and death over all military commanders. How could he possibly fail to control an army's commander? Last New Year's Eve, his failure to kill Li Xiaotian could still be excused by citing public sentiment and resentment. But failing to transfer Li Xiaotian away—could Lord Wang truly believe that? Now, he had personally promised to use Hidden Dragon. How terrifying was Hidden Dragon? How could it fail to kill a frontier commander who had not even reached the literary path? Unless Ji Shang had never intended to kill him at all.

Minister of War Li Yi added, "Ji Wei genuinely received a message from them saying that Li Xiaotian had been killed, that they had obtained the Commander's Seal, and that the Helan military banner had been sealed. Only then did Ji Wei dare launch a night assault on Helan City. Yet all of it was fake! If this was not a scheme, then what in this world could be called a scheme? Therefore, this subordinate believes that Ji Shang's line has already developed treacherous intentions."

As Minister of War, he had to find some reason for his defeat.

Thus, he leaned toward the view that something had gone wrong with the grand strategy.