Chapter 142 Opportunity

What's more, under Jiang Chen's governance these past two years, two powerful foreign entities had been wiped out, and Great Wei had safely weathered a major famine.

This, in any dynasty, would be a matter worthy of great fanfare.

They, as ministers, had also benefited a lot.

But before Jiang Chen could continue to develop even greater things, he suddenly went missing, his life hanging in the balance. How could they accept this?

Minister of War Yao Shou Xin, aside from being good at leading troops, also had a clear understanding of the situation.

Although he was deeply grieved, after the grief, he realized one thing.

Now was the most chaotic time for the Great Wei court, and there might be some villains taking advantage of the situation!

Yao Shou Xin immediately issued orders to the four major military camps—the Northern, Western, Southern, and Jiangnan military camps—that all soldiers should be at his disposal and not act without orders.

At the same time, he mobilized the capital garrison to protect the capital and ordered the Imperial Guards to patrol the capital.

With such a large formation, although the news of Jiang Chen's disappearance had not yet spread, those with ulterior motives had already guessed that something major had happened!

In Phoenix City, Jiang Sheng and Wang Yao Hui were overjoyed when they received news of the mobilization of the capital garrison and the Imperial Guards.

A few days ago, they had received news from Jin Zhou that the operation had gone smoothly.

But they were not in a hurry to act because they were not sure if Jiang Chen had actually met with misfortune.

Now, the reaction of the capital clearly proved this point.

"Your Highness, the opportunity has come!" Wang Yao Hui said in a deep voice.

Jiang Sheng nodded heavily, "Father-in-law, what should we do now?"

Wang Yao Hui had simulated this scenario many times before, saying, "First, Your Highness must go to the capital as soon as possible and question the court about Jiang Chen's whereabouts!"

"Second, Your Highness must immediately obtain the approval of the six ministers!"

Jiang Sheng nodded, saying, "Father-in-law, I have remembered everything you said. But I'm afraid there might be some oversights, so why don't you come to the capital with me!"

Wang Yao Hui shook his head, saying, "Your Highness, I have other things to do!"

"What things?" Jiang Sheng asked curiously.

In the current situation, the most important thing was to ascend the throne as soon as possible. What could be more important than this?

Wang Yao Hui said, "The aftermath! And stopping the other princes who have received the news!"

Jiang Sheng suddenly understood. He was able to get this news because he had planned it himself, and he was also the closest to the capital.

But the other princes would also figure this out soon. If he couldn't ascend the throne quickly, there would be several more competitors.

At that time, who could succeed would be hard to say!

Especially since Jiang Chen had a biological younger brother. If they missed the opportunity, the throne might very well fall into the hands of that Prince Gong!

While Jiang Sheng was hastily heading to the capital with a group of guards, in the Gong Prince's mansion, Jiang Huan looked at Jiang Chen with a bewildered expression after hearing Jiang Chen's words.

"Second brother, are you saying, you want me to go to the capital?"

The surprise on Jiang Huan's face was not feigned. He completely didn't understand Jiang Chen's intentions.

The current Emperor Jiang Chen was clearly standing right here, so why didn't he return to the capital himself, and instead wanted him to go?

Jiang Chen chuckled, "We need to make this play more realistic. Fifth brother, you must help second brother with this favor."

Jiang Huan looked hesitant. He was used to enjoying himself and didn't want to go to a place like the capital, which was full of trouble.

But since it was his own brother Jiang Chen who was asking him, he hesitated for a moment before finally agreeing.

"I can go to the capital, but you have to promise me, second brother, that I'm just going to put on a show. You can't blame me in the future."

Jiang Chen laughed and said, "I'm asking you to do this, how could I blame you?"

With Jiang Chen's promise, Jiang Huan breathed a sigh of relief, and then, according to Jiang Chen's instructions, he put on an anxious look and gathered his guards to rush to the capital.

The news of Jiang Chen's disappearance, although they tried to conceal it, slowly leaked out.

Many princes' eyes lit up, and their dormant hearts became active again.

Jiang Chen currently had no children. After something happened to him, the next emperor could only be chosen from among the various princes or their descendants.

Didn't that mean they had a chance?

Many princes immediately traveled to the capital in disguise.

While many princes were setting off, Prince Tang Jiang Sheng had already arrived at the capital.

However, the outskirts of the capital were now blocked by soldiers from the capital garrison. Without orders, no one was allowed to enter or exit at will.

Even Jiang Sheng, a prince, was stopped outside.

Jiang Sheng had come full of hope, but was stopped by a deputy commander outside, which made him furious.

How dare a mere deputy commander stop him?

"Let your commander come see me!" Jiang Sheng roared.

The capital garrison was responsible for the security of the entire capital, and the position of commander was held concurrently by Yao Shou Xin, the Minister of War.

After receiving the news, he came to the outside of the city in full military attire and met Jiang Sheng.

"Yao Shou Xin, I am Prince Tang. Quickly let me into the capital!" Jiang Sheng shouted.

Yao Shou Xin did not answer, but instead reached out to Jiang Sheng for something.

"Please show the decree, Prince Tang!"

Jiang Sheng was immediately furious.

According to the laws of Great Wei, local princes entering the capital must have a decree, which was essentially a permit.

Generally speaking, this permit was issued by the Emperor.

Only when the Emperor was not in the capital, or for special reasons, could it be issued after discussion by the Ministry of Rites and the other five ministries.

The last time Jiang Sheng entered the capital to celebrate the birthday of Consort Yu, the decree was jointly issued by the six ministries.

But this time, he did not have a decree.

Jiang Sheng then said, "I heard that His Majesty has met with misfortune. How could there be time to ask for a decree?"

Then, Jiang Sheng added, "Yao Shou Xin, this is a matter of my imperial family. Don't be ungrateful!"

The second sentence was full of threats.

The subtext was that if Yao Shou Xin didn't cooperate, he wouldn't have a good end in the future.

Jiang Sheng thought that under such a threat, Yao Shou Xin would definitely back down.

But he forgot that the premise for Yao Shou Xin to not have a good end was that he could successfully ascend the throne.

But clearly, Yao Shou Xin had no intention of doing that.

After receiving the news of Jiang Chen's accident, Yao Shou Xin, in addition to keeping the national army calm, also discussed something with the other six ministers.

That was what to do if they still couldn't find Jiang Chen, or if they found Jiang Chen's body.

Jiang Chen had no children, so they could only choose from the princes from various regions.

After some discussion, they had an answer.

That was Prince Gong Jiang Huan, who shared the same mother as Jiang Chen.

As for Prince Tang Jiang Sheng, after brief consideration, they rejected him.

It wasn't because Jiang Sheng's abilities were problematic. In terms of ability, Jiang Sheng was definitely more capable than Jiang Huan, but they had to consider the stability of Great Wei.

Everyone knew that Jiang Sheng was Emperor Jiang Chen's opponent when competing for the throne. If Jiang Sheng succeeded to the throne, he would definitely reject many of Jiang Chen's previous decrees.

This was unacceptable to Great Wei.