He had been waiting for him to say exactly that.
"I'll give you authority to command half the Imperial Guards." The emperor walked up to him and patted him on the shoulder, his tone laden with meaning. "Liu Yan, don't disappoint me."
"This son obeys!" Liu Yan dropped to one knee and bowed deeply.
When he raised his head again, his eyes were already filled with murderous intent.
Zhang Jing, your time has come!
He was now immensely grateful that he had previously "figured out" that Gu Shen was one of his father's men.
Otherwise, he might still be racking his brains over how to investigate Gu Shen, still wondering whether the list was genuine.
And then he would have missed this fleeting opportunity to strike!
His imperial father truly had gone to great lengths!
Clutching the emperor's decree and consumed by murderous intent, Liu Yan rushed out of the Imperial Study.
He had to act at once!
Before dawn, he would make Zhang Jing and every force behind him disappear from the Capital City!
Watching Liu Yan hurry away, the cold expression on the emperor's face slowly melted away, replaced by something too complicated to name.
He returned to the enormous map of the empire, his gaze settling on the blood-red region along the southeastern coast.
"Japanese Pirates... coastal defense map..."
He murmured to himself, a trace of weariness in his voice.
He did suspect Zhang Jing, and he did want to use Liu Yan to get rid of him.
But the Japanese Pirates' invasion had been completely beyond his expectations.
Zhang Jing was greedy, but he wasn't stupid. Colluding with Japanese Pirates and inviting wolves into the house—would he dare risk a crime that could wipe out his entire clan?
Why would he do such a thing?
Unless...