Although Benevolent Sovereign Ji Long's conduct had recently become bizarre, he was still a qualified politician. No matter why Ye Zhen had abruptly come to see him, the emperor received him.
The reason was simple. With the fall of Prince Wei and Duke Wei, Ye Zhen's standing in the military and the attention he commanded had suddenly risen sharply.
If he refused to see Ye Zhen, the Governor of North Sea and his future son-in-law, and word spread, it would likely be detrimental to his rule.
Ye Zhen had not come to the imperial palace to see Benevolent Sovereign Ji Long merely to poison the First Prince Prince Huan Ji Ao's ears.
Although Ye Zhen's threat had just scared off Prince Huan's strategist, Tu Chang'an, as Marquis Taichuan Liu Ye and Duke of Xinning Prefecture Gu Yan had analyzed for Ye Zhen, nearly all of First Prince Prince Huan Ji Ao's current actions were known to and tacitly permitted by the emperor.
The emperor commanded both the Heavenly Patrol Division and the Secret Directorate, the two great intelligence agencies. Could he truly fail to grasp the situation of even the princes right under his nose?
Did they really think the Heavenly Patrol Division and Secret Directorate were just there to eat for free?
Every member of the imperial clan was a key subject of attention for the Heavenly Patrol Division and Secret Directorate, much less someone like First Prince Prince Huan Ji Ao.
Even though Prince Huan Ji Ao had continuously purged the attendants in his residence under all sorts of pretexts over the years, major matters still could not escape Benevolent Sovereign Ji Long's eyes and ears.
Therefore, if Ye Zhen truly went before the emperor to poison his ears against First Prince Prince Huan Ji Ao, it would