The system fulfilled its promise on time. In two days, the blueprint of the interior of the palace was loaded onto his panel. It had all the locations of surveillance cameras marked on it, including the blind spots, which were marked with special colors.
But it was the palace after all, and even if there were blind spots, it would be difficult to connect them into a single line, so the system had to give him the second best route to the old king’s room, which was harder to find.
[The ventilation ducts in the palace now have defense mechanisms, so you cannot move around like you would in other buildings.] The intelligent system explained the reason for excluding this path.
When Gu Xiyu found the opportunity to carry out his mission, it was the day of Lu Yan’s press conference. The press conference was around three in the afternoon, and people from the palace and the military had been busy with the event since early in the morning. They had to prevent the invasion of the aliens and also prevent Lu Feng’s people in the empire from coming out to cause trouble, so they transferred many people from the palace and the Unification Center to Lu Yan’s side as defensive measures.
The defense towers above the palace were stacked with people, and countless fighter planes were on standby on the platforms, ready to take off and counterattack as soon as something happened or a riot broke out.
Because of this, the interior of the palace was more loosely guarded than usual, and the majority of those remaining in the palace were civilians, facilitating the infiltration of Gu Xiyu, the tiger rabbit.
As an admiral, Wen Yu, who had been placed in Lu Yan’s camp, had to accompany him to the press conference. His presence was a reassurance to Lu Yan, and no matter what bad news was announced from the palace, Lu Yan thought that the people would trust him a little more because of Wen Yu.
A few hours before the press conference began, Lu Yan was still sitting on the sofa in the admiral’s office, his hands resting on the armrests of his chair, as if the empire were already in his palm.
Lu Yan shook his legs and saw that Wen Yu was busy. He looked left and right and then asked a casual question: “Where is your fierce little rabbit? You didn’t even bring it out today? I was thinking of asking you to bring it along so it could be a mascot.”
The press conference would be held on the ground floor of the palace, where many senior and noble people would sit. The rest of the public would not be allowed to enter except for the press, the rest could only watch the event live on the official Imperial TV station.
Wen Yu didn’t even raise his head when he heard his question: “I brought him; he probably wandered off to some place again.”
Lu Yan didn’t doubt it at all, and teased with a smile, “You’re really relaxed, aren’t you? You’re not afraid that someone will suddenly abduct it.”
Wen Yu paused for a moment and said, with a downcast look, “No.”
“It’s not that easy to abduct it.”
Lu Yan laughed and didn’t continue the topic, saying, “How far are you with eliminating Lu Feng? I’m going to have a press conference later; my father definitely supports me, now I just need to shut up the prince’s party.”
“It’s taken care of.” Wen Yu returned his smile and said meaningfully, “The head is on its way, it should be delivered today.”
——
The old king’s room was not on the top floor of the palace but in a relatively inconspicuous upper-middle level location. The floor was mostly made up of relatively unnoticed work departments that were not usually frequented. However, there were several guards outside his bedroom, and if anyone wanted to see the old king, they would refuse on the grounds that he was not well.
This led many of those in the neutral and crown prince’s party to wonder whether Lu Yan had placed the old king under house arrest in Lu Feng’s absence, or had deliberately put him in a coma so that he could quietly take over the empire. In response, these people would be let in, and then they’d get thrown out in disgrace.
Many people did not understand what Lu Feng had done to cause the old king’s attitude to change drastically. But the fact that the old king had thrown out those in the prince’s party had more or less been spread to the outside world, probably also with Lu Yan secretly fanning the flames. As a result, there was a lot of black material about Lu Feng outside. There were reports that he was too eager to take power before the old king died, that he violated the king’s authority, that his insistence on carrying out inhumane underground experiments made the old king sad and disappointed, and even more exaggeratedly, that there were scandals and revelations that were inconsistent with his public image.
Most of the reports were groundless; some of them didn’t even bother to falsify the evidence and started to blacken Lu Feng with words and eye-catching headlines, but this didn’t stop many black fans and keyboard warriors who didn’t know the truth, and after a while, netizens started to believe the false reports.
After Gu Xiyu and Wen Yu separated, he slipped into the palace through a blind spot in the surveillance. He had planned to use the stairs but was lucky enough to meet a lieutenant he had once seen beside Xie Mingan.
He was arguing with a few colleagues in the corridor on the third floor, his eyes wide with anger: “Lieutenant General Xie wouldn’t do those things! I’m going to submit this information; I don’t believe His Majesty would be like everyone else and think that Lieutenant General Xie doesn’t know right from wrong!”
Several of his colleagues were looking at him with pitying eyes and saying, “Ah Ah Zhe, don’t you understand?”
“Why do you think the Second Prince is trying to hold a press conference at the palace? It must be to announce the new heir to the empire. Do you think this matter can be accomplished without the old king’s approval? Things are already set in stone, and even if Lieutenant General Xie didn’t do those things, it’s natural for him to take the blame as someone under the Empire.”
“It’s better than letting the Second Prince take the blame for this, His Majesty probably agreed to put all the blame on someone who isn’t there.”
“Hey, let me put it to you this way, my cousin is a confidant of the Second Prince, and I heard him say that His Highness the Crown Prince actually died outside a long time ago, which is why he hasn’t shown up. Now His Majesty only has one son to take over, do you think he will report him to the public?”
The lieutenant known as Ah Ah Zhe held the red folder tightly, gritted his teeth, and said with red eyes, “We have to try!”
With that, he ignored the crowd and headed straight for the elevators. He had a special identity card in his hand that allowed him to pass through the royal palace.
When Gu Xiyu saw those people who were laughing at him leaving in another direction, he jumped over and entered just as he swiped the elevator open.
It was only after entering the elevator that Ah Zhe realized there was a furry thing standing by his feet.
Admiral Caesar’s tiger rabbit had become a ‘mascot’ known to almost everyone in the palace. Ah Zhe recognized him, and he bent down to stroke his back and asked curiously, “What are you doing here, little one? Did you get lost?”
Instead of pressing the floor immediately, Ah Zhe nudged him gently on the back and said, “The admiral is not here, you go out this way and turn left, There is a staircase you can use to go down to the ground floor. You’ll have to leave the ground floor and go towards the Unification Center to see him.”
Gu Xiyu didn’t move, but with an expressionless but still cute face, he moved a step closer to Ah Zhe’s feet and put out his little fleshy palm to hug his ankle, obviously not wanting to leave.
Ah Zhe was obviously a soft-hearted man, especially since Gu Xiyu was too valuable to touch. So he had to press the floor he wanted to go to while saying, “Okay, I’ll send you back to the admiral’s place when I’m done.”
Gu Xiyu saw that the button he pressed was for the 43rd floor.
It was not where he was going, but it was nice to be able to cut 43 floors off the journey.
There weren’t many people in and out of the palace at the moment, and they made it all the way straight to their destination without a hitch. When Ah Zhe left the elevator, he glanced at him to see if he was following him. Gu Xiyu came out, looked around, checked the route map on the system panel, and confirmed it before leaving Ah Zhe behind without a second thought and running off at lightning speed.
Ah Ah Zhe’s eyes widened, and a million miserable scenarios of him confessing, ‘I lost the admiral’s beloved pet’ flashed through his mind.
The 43rd floor was the High Judgement Department, also known as the Royal Review Department, a department generally dedicated to serving officers within the palace or some of the more established soldiers and generals of the military. They had the power to appeal directly to the king on particular matters.
In just that instant of turning back, he lost sight of Gu Xiyu.
Inexplicably, he had the illusion of being treated like a tool man by a pet.
The old king’s resting place was to be found on a higher floor, and the only way to get to his room was through the main entrance. However, in the course of his private exchanges with Lu Feng during this period, Lu Feng had given Gu Xiyu a piece of information: the old king had palace maids that would bring in meals to him every morning, noon, and evening.
It was now lunchtime.
Through the map provided by the system, Gu Xiyu knew where the palace maids would pass by, so he deliberately waited at a blind spot of the surveillance, and finally saw for a girl in a sky blue dress walking over with a food cart.
He held his tail for a moment before jumping in front of her, startling her.
The palace maid on the upper floors had had less contact with him, and seeing him for the first time, she stared blankly for a moment, then walked up to him and marveled, “Little cutie, where did you sneak in from?”
Gu Xiyu silently hooked his long tail around her hand that was trying to touch him. He adjusted his electricity and then gave a small burst of force, knocking her out. He was afraid that he had used too much electricity and went up to check that the other party was not seriously hurt, then hid her in a deserted corner before regaining his human form.
He looked at her for a few moments, finally sighed, and got himself the same dress and wig. He quickly disguising himself as a palace main, he pushed the dining car in front of the old king’s room.
The guards were quite strict in their inspection and asked him, “Work permit, please.”
The work permit was a chain that could be worn on the hand as a bracelet, with the pendant being a small silver card with a hidden identity chip that the guards would scan directly. Only a few specific people in the palace could unlock it, but fortunately, it was not like the pet ring Wen Yu had given him, and he could unlock it using electricity.
This made it easier for him to take it off.
With his head down, he pulled his long sleeves back and flashed his slim wrist, allowing the guard to scan his work pass. The scanning instrument lit up green, but the guard did not let him in immediately, instead examining him for a few moments before asking him to look up.
Gu Xiyu’s grip on the food cart tightened slightly.
He knew that different palace girls would come to deliver the meals, but of course there were times when they were repeated, so he wasn’t sure how familiar the guards were with the girls. If the guards were able to recognize all the girls who delivered the meal, his disguise would be easily unraveled.
But if he didn’t look up, it would definitely make the other party even more suspicious.
Gu Xiyu could only suppress the nervousness in his heart and do as he was told, taking stock of the guards around him and already thinking about his escape route later on.
However, when he raised his head and looked directly at the other party, the guard outside the door looked stunned and stared at him for a moment before opening the door with a slightly evasive gaze: “You, you can go in.”
Gu Xiyu: “……?” Why was this guy blushing?
He didn’t dwell on this question for too long, entering the bedroom and finding the old king was more important.
The old king looked to be around sixty or seventy years old, his hair was long and curly, and he was sitting at the table in a gray robe. His eyes were dim and dull, and there were deep dark circles under his eyes. He did not react when he heard him enter, but the civilian staff standing beside the king greeted him.
The man was short and chubby, with a rather mean face. He looked at him with his nose in the air and said: “Put your things down, and then you can go.”
Gu Xiyu bowed his head slightly and set the food from the cart on the table. It was interesting that the cutlery was prepared in two portions. He looked at the thin and bony king, then at the round and ruddy-faced civilian staff member beside him, who looked like he ate and drank well every day and had an idea in his mind.
He arranged everything calmly and pushed the cart away.
The civilian staff member had just put the soup in front of the old king when he heard the sound of something falling with a clatter. He looked up and saw that the ‘maid’ who had brought the food in, had accidentally bumped the corner of the table, spilling many of the empty plates and utensils onto the floor.
The civilian staff member came over, scolding: “What’s wrong with you? Are you a newcomer? So careless!”
As soon as he reached out and put his hand on Gu Xiyu’s back, his body felt a painful tingling sensation stimulated by electricity, and then he lost consciousness.
Gu Xiyu glanced at him coldly, took off the wig on his head, and threw it aside. The old king at the table turned his head slightly to look in his direction, and although there was little light in his eyes, he still made a serious expression and said, “Get out; I’m not feeling well right now and don’t want to see anyone.”
Gu Xiyu took out the medicine he carried in his pocket and locked eyes with him.
He hoped that Lu Feng’s guess was correct; this was their only chance.
On the other hand, at the lobby of the ground floor of the Royal Palace, the press conference site had been set up, and the guests were gradually arriving. At exactly 3 p.m., Lu Yan appeared, accompanied by Wen Yu, and the press conference began on time.
There was no doubt that Lu Yan was going to announce to the whole empire that he would be taking over the governance of the empire as the new crown prince.
He took out the imperial decree with the king’s seal and flashed it in front of the camera: “This is my father’s signature and seal, a decision he has made after a long period of reflection. You know how strong my father’s attitude has always been, and as he is still alive and in good spirits, no one can influence his decision but himself.”
There were projection screens at the press conference, and those in charge pulled up the scans prepared and enlarged the video so that the people gathered around the live broadcast room could see the contents clearly.
The edict also mentioned words like ‘due to the Crown Prince’s lack of virtue and ability’ and so on. The major live-streaming platforms were immediately filled with an influx of barrage discussions. For platforms with slightly poorer servers, there was even a direct lag and a black screen.
These words were very thought-provoking.
There were supporters of Crown Prince Lu Feng in the media who asked a direct question: “Since His Highness said that His Majesty is in good health and spirits, and that he made the choice personally, can we ask him to come to the scene today and explain the decision to all the people of the empire in person?”
Lu Yan smiled and faced the camera straight on, leisurely saying, “No problem, I’ll invite Father over now.”
With that, he immediately sent someone to make arrangements.
Ten minutes later, the old king, who had been redressed, his hair combed, and his crown put on, was helped to the press conference with an expressionless face.
Lu Yan, who looked like a doting and filial son, held his arm and asked in a warm voice: “Father, there are many doubts about your decision to replace the heir.
oooooh did he succeed?? AAAAAAAAAAH. thanks for the chapter!