“Really?” Qin Yu was delighted.
She had been somewhat socially anxious in the real world, and it was no different in the Phantom World.
She had originally been quite fearful of going to persuade the Yulin Army to come under her command.
Now that Luo Shangyu could do it on her behalf, she was naturally more than willing.
“Really, I guarantee I can finish the task!” Luo Shangyu said, patting her chest.
Returning to the East Palace, Qin Yu pulled out a map of Yong’an City and pointed out the Yulin Army’s station for Luo Shangyu.
“The Yulin Army is divided into the Left and Right Yulin Armies, stationed south of the Capital City. The officers in charge of the Left and Right Yulin Armies are the respective Commanders,” Qin Yu explained.
“Each Commander leads 5,000 soldiers. As long as we can persuade one side to join our camp, we can go head-to-head with Qin Yi.”
After hearing this, Luo Shangyu said seriously, “I promise to complete the mission!”
Qin Yu then took out her Crown Prince medallion and said, “Take this with you. Within the entire country and inside the palace gates, you can pass through anywhere. The troops and officials will all obey your orders.”
Luo Shangyu took the medallion.
It felt heavy in her hand, carrying the weight of Qin Yu’s trust in her.
After seeing Luo Shangyu off, a palace eunuch visited and delivered a secret letter from Qin Ling to Qin Yu.
Qin Yu opened the letter and saw that Qin Ling wanted to summon her for a private meeting.
‘Is there something important?’ Qin Yu muttered as she stood up.
She wanted to call Luo Shangyu to go with her.
Only after looking around and failing to see Luo Shangyu’s figure did Qin Yu remember that she had already left for the Yulin Army station.
The guards in the palace had already been replaced by Qin Yi, and Qin Yu was worried about her safety within the palace walls.
The guards of the East Palace were still her own people, so Qin Yu called more than ten strong guards to go into the palace with her to ensure her protection.
***
Qin Yi left Weiyang Hall and returned to the station of the Forbidden Army located in the northern part of the palace.
Currently, the Forbidden Army consisted of his own men.
Only within their station could Qin Yi feel a moment of peace.
Qin Yu’s act of decapitating his guard in front of the court today had terrified him.
Although he had 50,000 elite soldiers, they were clearly not enough to face a Mage like Qin Yu.
Even though he had a Level 3 Mage as his personal attendant who could rival Qin Yu, he felt that it was far from sufficient.
What surprised him even more was that Luo Shangyu also seemed to know Magic.
‘That Luo Shangyu is also a threat!’ Qin Yi ground his teeth and muttered to himself, ‘I have to find a way to get rid of her…’
‘If I could find a Mage of Level 7 or higher… everything would be easy to handle!’ Qin Yi thought to himself.
***
Qin Ling was waiting for Qin Yu in the Imperial Garden.
When Qin Yu arrived outside the garden, she had her guards wait there while she entered the Imperial Garden alone.
The garden was a scene of spring warmth and blooming flowers.
Gardeners had used Magic to freeze time; a hundred flowers bloomed simultaneously, and the fallen petals on the ground felt like a thick carpet.
Qin Ling was sitting in a pavilion, and next to him sat a person who was none other than her teacher, Yin An.
“Father, I was impulsive this morning.” Qin Yu bowed slightly to apologize to Qin Ling.
No matter how arrogant Qin Yi was, killing someone in front of the court was still excessive.
Qin Yu decided it was better to apologize.
“You did well,” Qin Ling praised, “It was Qin Yi who went too far!”
Qin Yu sat opposite Qin Ling and asked, “Then why didn’t you stop him?”
“I couldn’t stop him!” Qin Ling let out a long sigh, “Qin Yi took advantage of my serious illness to lead troops into the Capital City. No one dared to stop him. He then replaced the Imperial Guard and took control of the government, leading to today’s situation.”
“It is thanks to Master Yin An’s help that he didn’t manage to usurp the throne.”
Yin An merely shook his head modestly from the side.
‘Was he just powerless?’ Qin Yu thought.
“What do you plan to do now?” Qin Yu felt that if Qin Ling took the initiative to strike, getting rid of Qin Yi would be simple.
“His momentum is already established, and there is nothing more I can do,” Qin Ling said.
“Now, I order you to serve as the Regent in your capacity as Crown Prince. Everything will depend on you from now on!”
“…”
Qin Yu felt helpless.
Was Qin Ling’s stance a sign that he was going to drop his responsibilities and hand this mess over to her?
However, with the decree of the Crown Prince’s Regency, anything she did would appear “legal and compliant.”
She could finally let go of her restraints and act boldly.
Qin Yu thought for a moment and nodded, “I will not fail your trust, Father. I will restore peace to the imperial court!”
***
Luo Shangyu took a carriage out of the city to the Yulin Army station.
As she looked at the two camps of the Left and Right Yulin Armies, she wondered which commander she should win over.
Suddenly, she heard the drilling slogans of the Left Yulin Army.
Luo Shangyu peeked from outside the camp and saw the Left Yulin Army practicing.
Their movements were uniform and their slogans were loud.
Luo Shangyu immediately decided that the Left Yulin Commander must be a disciplined officer.
Luo Shangyu thought that such a commander should be loyal to the Emperor and would not collude with rebels like Qin Yi.
So, she had the driver move the carriage into the Left Yulin Army camp.
The carriage Luo Shangyu rode was a luxury carriage that only the Crown Prince was qualified to use.
When the Left Yulin Commander, Zhong Changgong, saw this, he rushed out to welcome her, not daring to be negligent.
“I come on behalf of the Crown Prince,” Luo Shangyu said, holding up the medallion in her hand.
“You must be Lady Luo Shangyu?” Zhong Changgong asked after bowing.
Rumors about Luo Shangyu were flying everywhere, and someone had even released photographs left behind from her time in the Kingdom of Yiyong.
“That is correct,” Luo Shangyu said, putting away the medallion.
“I have come by the order of the Crown Prince.”
“Then please, come inside.” Zhong Changgong led Luo Shangyu into the tent of the Left Yulin Army.
After the two sat down facing each other, Zhong Changgong did not beat around the bush and asked directly, “Are you perhaps here because of the matter regarding Qin Yi?”
“Indeed.” Luo Shangyu was a bit surprised that Zhong Changgong was so direct.
Thus, she decided to get straight to the point as well.
“Qin Yi is arrogant and overbearing. The Crown Prince intends to sweep away the traitors…”
Upon hearing this, Zhong Changgong immediately said, “I have received the Emperor’s grace to become the Commander of the Yulin Army; it is a debt of gratitude I can never repay. Now that the Crown Prince calls, I shall certainly serve with the utmost loyalty!”
Luo Shangyu was a bit shocked, ‘Zhong Changgong had agreed so quickly? Could it be a trap?’
But she could see from the look in Zhong Changgong’s eyes that he was absolutely sincere.
“There is no time to lose. To defend against a sudden attack from Qin Yi, we need some soldiers to be stationed at the East Palace…”
“I will select 4,000 elite soldiers to serve as the Crown Prince’s personal guards and return to the East Palace with you. How does that sound?”
“Excellent!” Luo Shangyu was overjoyed.
She hadn’t expected things to go so smoothly.
***
By the time Qin Yu returned to the East Palace, it was already lunchtime, but Luo Shangyu had not yet returned.
In the afternoon, the decree of the Crown Prince’s Regency had already been promulgated.
Many court officials came to the East Palace to visit Qin Yu.
They all tearfully regretted that they had joined Qin Yi’s faction out of fear.
Qin Yu also knew that most of these officials were minor functionaries who had no choice but to follow the wind to survive.
She couldn’t really blame them.
Finally, at dusk, the last batch of visiting officials had left.
Qin Yu stood up.
After receiving officials all afternoon, she was quite tired.
Just then, one of her East Palace officials suddenly walked up to her side.
Qin Yu was startled and looked closely at the official.
She wasn’t familiar with him, but she recognized him as a civil servant under her command who usually handled clerical work.
The man walked quickly to Qin Yu and said, “Your Highness, urgent news! Luo Shangyu intends to rebel!”
Qin Yu froze and thought, ‘That can’t be? How could Luo Shangyu rebel?’
However, officials continued to run to Qin Yu with nervous expressions, all saying they had heard rumors that Luo Shangyu had defected to Qin Yi and was preparing to revolt.
Qin Yu couldn’t help but begin to doubt.
Since so many people were talking about Luo Shangyu, could it be… ‘Maybe she really does have a rebellious heart?’