"Does anyone have a clue about what this might mean?" the emperor asked with his arm placed on the hand board and his eyebrows furrowed as though he was searching for the slightest bit of reaction from the ministers that would help him know if they are keeping something from him.

Once again, the ministers started discussing amongst themselves, they were all asking one another for each other's thoughts regarding the clue so they could gain information and then present it to the emperor to curry favour for themselves seeing how the emperor seemed aggravated by the case. ​​

"Your majesty, the surname Huo is very popular so it is nearly impossible for the murderer to be identified based on that word and we are not still sure if it is a name or it has another meaning" the prime minister answered.

"Prime minister, as the highest-ranking minister in the court, are you telling me that it is impossible to find the people who committed such preposterous act in my country?" the emperor said with an authoritative but condescending tone, the prime minister clenched his fist under his sleeve while he displayed a humble smile in front of the emperor.

"Your majesty! I have indeed spoken carelessly, how can your ministers not have the ability to find the perpetrators" the prime minister replied.

"Your majesty, this incident coincidentally happened on the same day the golden eagle from the flame sect came out of the mountain where the sect resides" the minister of justice took the chance to speak in case if he might fall on the good side of the emperor.

"Are you saying.....?" the emperor said in hesitation

"Yes, your majesty, no one knows why the golden eagle was let out on that day but when it first came into sight, there was one person riding on it then it later returned with four people on his back" the minister of justice answered

"Minister of justice, are you trying to bring the sects into this matter? your majesty, I personally saw the golden eagle when it flew past, it flew too high in the sky that even I couldn't ascertain the number of people that were riding on it" the regional commander said.

"Regional commander, are you saying that I am now senile that I don't know what I am saying anymore?" the minister of justice asked with an angry expression on his face.

"Of curse, that is not what I mean, I am just saying that you should be sure that you can take responsibility fr whatever you say in the court, if the cultivating sects involved in this case, it won't be favourable for the court, moreover, the flame sect has gone into hiding for years, do you think they will kill a captain the first time they appear into the world," the regional commander said, the ministers began discussing with themselves, looking around, they were all nodding their head in agreement with what the regional commander had stated.

"What he said makes sense"

"Yes, there is no way the flame sect would create such trouble the first time they appear"

"I also think what he said his reasonable "

Seeing as the whole court was starting to speak in favour of the regional commander, the prime minister decided to take it upon himself to create controversy in the court.

"Regional commander! perhaps you have been at the border for too long that you have forgotten what kind of sect the flame sect is, if not for the fact that they accepted the emperor's punishment after the battle between the sects, they would have been suspected of being related to the blood moon sect, how can you say that such a sect is not capable of committing such an act" the prime minister said, the aura in the cold as it became obvious that both ministers were about to clash, they knew that they would soon have to pick sides according to whoever will bring them more benefit.

"Prime minister, are you saying that this was done by the flame sect?" the emperor asked.

"Your majesty, I am not concluding that the flame sect is responsible for the death of captain Wang Shang, I am just saying that they can't be ruled out from the possible suspect, although they have not been confirmed to be a demonic sect, they are still known for the atrocities they committed sixteen years ago, unless if regional commander you have personally had dealings with them, you cant be sure that they weren't the ones who killed the captain," the prime ministers said, the regional glared at him with anger in his eyes, it was very clear that he was trying to insinuate that the regional commander must have been secretly dealing with the flame sect.

Even though the emperor has always sided and trusted everything the regional commander says, this time, he looked at him with suspicion in his eyes and his eyes squinted, the regional commander raised his head to see the emperors expression but he was surprised to see that for the first time, the emperor was looking at him with suspicion in his eyes then he turned back to the prime minister who smiled at him sinisterly.

The emperor has always been afraid of the flame sect's influence and that was the reason why he was willing to join hands with the wind sect to destroy the flame sect but his plan didn't work fully. Back then, the flame sect had a lot of influence in the country that it almost felt like they were the ones ruling the country while the royal family were enjoying themselves.

Since all the sects were founded by princes who were sent out of the palace, all the sect leader were considered to be part of the royal family but they were forbidden from participating in court affairs, this made the emperor feel insecure, he knew that if the sect leader of the flame sect decided to revolt, he would be able to take the throne easily considering the influence of the flame sect in the country.

He rubbed his palm over his fist slowly at the mention of the flame sect, but he tried his best to keep calm, he wouldn't know what to do if his trusted advisor and commander was also with the flame sect, the doubt in his eyes was too obvious for the prime minister not to notice.

"Regional commander, shouldn't you explain yourself, what makes you so sure that the flame sect wasn't involved in the death of the captain?" the emperor asked nervously.

"Your majesty, I have always been loyal to you and I have tried my best to give you the best advice in every way possible, although I have no relations with the flame sect, I am still very sure that they had no hand in this matter, getting the sects involved might cause another uproar in the world and I know that tour majesty has always loved peace more than anything, if your majesty is not satisfied then you can send a message to the flame sect requesting their presence in the court," the regional commander said.

He couldn't help but feel that there is a reason for the emperor's sudden distrust towards him, knowing that the emperor has always trusted him in everything he says and does, he couldn't find a good reason why the emperor would suddenly be suspicious of him at the mention of the flame sect.

Perhaps...

"Your majesty, it is nearly impossible to get any information into the flame sect, based on what I know, ever since the war, the flame sect has hidden in the mountain where they reside and recently, they have placed a barrier on the mountain, no one can enter the barrier, even if you manage to enter, you won't be able to see anything," the minister of rites said

"They must be hiding something, if not, why would they make such an effort to hide," the minister of foreign affairs said

"Alright, enough! those cultivating sects have divided my country for themselves, I am the emperor and every land and person in this country belongs to me and they are under my authority including the sects, I don't care about the reason why they are hiding, I want them in this court within five days" the emperor commanded with authority echoing in his voice.

"Your majesty, I suggest that you leave the regional commander with this matter, he definitely knows how to inform them of your command," the prime minister said with a sly look on his face as he stared right into the regional commander's eyes.

The regional commander smiled in his mind at the cunningness of the prime minister, if he doesn't get the sect leader of the flame sect to the court within five days, he would be accused of failing to complete the emperor's task but it does manage to get them to court then he would be suspected of having special relations with them.

The emperor knew what the prime minister intention was but he still decided to go along with it as the seed of doubt had already been sown in his heart.

"Regional commander, I regard you as my most capable and trusted minister, therefore, I will leave you in charge of this matter," the emperor said with a gentle smile on his face but with an in-depth meaning.

"I understand" the regional commander replied with his cup in front of him and his head lowered.

I am afraid you are not giving me this task as your trusted minister but the minister you are suspicious of, you have always trusted me in every matter but the flame sect can make you feel so insecure, it seems like there is more to this...

The regional commander thought in his mind!

"I want you to keep in mind that you are my most trusted minister" the emperor added with a deep look in his eyes, the regional commander fixed his gaze on his eyes for a while before replying.

"I will make sure to keep it in my mind" the regional commander answered.

"If there is no other issue then the assemble is over," the emperor said then he rubbed his forehead gently.

Then the prime minister turned to give the minister of foreign affairs a signalling nod before turning back.

"Your majesty, there is still another matter that needs to be reported," the minister of foreign affairs said

"What is it?"

"It is regarding the Mongolians refusal to send their tribute, they..."

"Enough! I don't want to hear anymore, we will discuss this matter in the next assembly" the majesty said before he could even complete his statement.

"But....." the minister of foreign affairs tried to insist but the emperor gave him a threatening glare which shut him up immediately, he turned to look at the prime minister before finally stepping back.

The emperor walked down the throne with long strides, as he walked past the ministers, they all bowed their head with their hands cupped in front of them until he left the imperial hall, the ministers began forming their cliques as soon as the emperor left, noise filled the imperial hall as they discussed the clash between the prime minister and the emperor's behaviour in the court.

The prime minister and his supporting high ranking minister gathered round to form their own cliques as they discussed.

"I am not sure if I am the only one who noticed that the emperor seems to be doubting the regional commander," one of the ministers said.

"I also noticed that I thought I was the only one who thought so"

"How is that possible, even when he was suspected of colluding with the enemies during the battle between enemy country and the evidence of his collusion was brought before the emperor, the emperor still trusted him"

"You are all thinking like that because you don't know his majesty enough," the prime minister said with a smirk etched at the edge of his lips.

"What do you mean prime minister?" the minister of foreign affairs asked as he was also confused.

"Do you know what his majesty fears the most?" the prime minister asked.

"I am not sure about that, but every king has the fear of losing their throne" the minister of rites replied

"You are right, but is majesty is slightly different from the other emperors, he is only afraid of those he deems strong enough to take what belongs to him, back then when he just ascended the throne, he was very terrified of me and he was always cautious of when his ministers would turn to me, now that he is sure that he has his reins over my control in the court, he is no longer afraid of me," the prime minister said then he stopped...

"How is that related to his majesty being suspicious of the regional commander?"

"His majesty is also afraid of the four main sects, they were founded by princes who left the palace before the sects were founded, this means that if any of the sects are too influential and strong, they might try to take the throne, back then, the influence of the flame sect was so mighty that everyone started regarding them as the government while the government seemed useless to the people. The emperor was also terrified then, I could see it in him, even after they went into hiding, I didn't expect that he would still be afraid of the influence that they had already lost" the prime minister explained.

The ministers took a while to ingest the explanation when they had fully understood what the prime minister had said, they all came to the realization of the meaning of his explanation.

"Does this mean that.....?"

"Yes, the emperor is doubtful of the regional commander because he sided with the flame sect today, I only took that chance to sow a seed of doubt in his heart, I just need to water it frequently then it won't be long before the emperor loses the trust he has for the regional commander," the prime minister said then he tilted his lips to the side sinisterly.

"It definitely won't be easy to make the emperor fully lose his trust in the regional commander" the minister of foreign affairs added.

"I am very well aware of that, I wanted to use his momentary doubt to make him declare war on the Mongolians but he didn't even want to speak about it, this means that he still trusts the regional commander," the prime minister said, then he squinted his eyes and ran his hand through his beard.