412: The person behind the scenes

Since Shadow Moon Hall consists mostly of women, and they are counted as one of the Three Great Heretical Cults, the combat prowess of these women is evident. Therefore, Shadow Moon Hall is indeed highly suspicious!

One has to admit that Prince Ding has a sharp eye; just by relying on those blurry shadows, he discovered this very important clue to solving the case...

Of course, this can only be called a clue and cannot be immediately confirmed. It just points in a direction: among the attackers, there were indeed many women!

Ge Ming said excitedly, "Your Highness is right! I believe there is a high possibility that Shadow Moon Hall made the move. We have previously captured several women from Shadow Moon Hall; each one of them was ruthless and killed without blinking an eye. Later, according to their revelations, any Evil Cultist who joins Shadow Moon Hall must renounce their family, and even submit a pledge of allegiance—and those pledges were their own relatives, possibly even their own flesh and blood!"

"What?" The generals were shocked to hear this. They didn't expect that those female Evil Cultists from Shadow Moon Hall could commit such inhuman acts. No wonder they wiped out over a hundred thousand of Great Ming's soldiers and civilians the moment they struck!

However, they also knew that those who could join a heretical cult were not good to begin with. They already stood on the opposite side of the Human Race, viewing the Human Race as food. Slaughtering the Human Race was merely to accumulate sacrificial offerings for their blood ritual...

Prince Ding's expression was uncertain as he listened, and he snorted, "There is no clear evidence yet, so we cannot immediately conclude that it was Shadow Moon Hall's doing. I believe there must be a conspiracy here, and the greatest beneficiary of this conspiracy might be the person manipulating it from behind the scenes!"

"This..." The generals were stunned again, but they were also thoughtful. Prince Ding's words were indeed profound. To be able to launch such a fierce surprise attack within a few hours of learning Prince Ding's whereabouts, the person behind the scenes must have been prepared long ago. In that case, the situation Dongfang Lie mentioned earlier is highly likely. Let's assume: if Prince Ding were to completely lose power in the imperial court this time, who would be the greatest beneficiary?

As long as this matter is determined, then that greatest beneficiary is most likely the person manipulating things from behind the scenes!

Who could it be?!

Most people's thoughts shifted, and they quickly thought of one person: the First Prince, Prince Rui!

Because according to news from the rear court, on the day of the court meeting, the first person to initiate a proposal against Prince Ding was the First Prince, Prince Rui. Although this was one of his duties, the fact that he immediately put forward this proposal with such an aggressive Aura made one have to be suspicious...

The impression Prince Rui gives people is that he is honest, dutiful, conscientious, has not made any major mistakes, and has not achieved any major merits. Throughout the way, the impression he has given is that he is only temporarily acting as the Crown Prince by virtue of his status as the First Prince. Although he wields the Overlord Sword, he has not shown much domineering Aura; on the contrary, he makes people feel that he is honest and easy to bully...

"Could it be... that I have underestimated you all along?" Prince Ding said to himself secretly.

Throughout the dynasties, the First Prince succeeding to the throne is often a matter of course, but this situation changed after it reached Great Ming. In the history of Great Ming, there have been many instances where the First Prince failed to ascend to the throne of the Emperor, and some even perished halfway. Therefore, although Prince Rui has been serving as the Crown Prince, many people subconsciously believe that this is only temporary. Before the final moment arrives, any of the princes has the opportunity to ascend to that throne that everyone yearns for!

Under such circumstances, the First Prince, who is temporarily acting as the lightning rod, is actually the least favored. Many people only regard him as a mascot, but have never seriously considered whether this First Prince truly has the strength to reach the top in the end.

But when Prince Ding positioned the mastermind behind this matter as Prince Rui, he suddenly discovered: has his eldest brother hidden himself too well?!

It really couldn't be seen at all...

Such an honest person, who could have imagined that he would stab people in the back?

Prince Ding drew a cold breath, and a cold sweat broke out on his back. He imagined himself as Prince Rui and found that the sense of crisis on him was extremely intense. He had to live cautiously every day because he had to face his father's questioning and reprimands, as well as the challenges and impacts from countless younger Genius brothers below. Such days are really not something an ordinary person can endure; it would make it impossible for anyone to feel at ease for even a moment!

So, when a person is constantly in crisis, if their resolve is insufficient, they will likely either become decadent or go crazy. Yet, his eldest brother has been the Crown Prince for so many years, sailing smoothly all the way! And he also makes people feel that he has no sense of threat, and is even a bit honest and easy to bully...

Prince Ding thought that if it were him acting as this Crown Prince, he absolutely could not have done better than Prince Rui...

This Prince Rui is definitely a person with great wisdom, great courage, and great resolve!

If it weren't for the fact that he was the first to bring up this topic during this court meeting, appearing a bit impatient to kick him while he was down, he feared he wouldn't have suspected him!

Could it be that Prince Rui has endured for too long, and seeing such a good opportunity this time, he finally stopped hiding and showed his hand? Wanting to kill him with one blow? And he was almost about to succeed...

Thinking of this, a flash of ruthlessness crossed Prince Ding's eyes, and he said, "Investigate for me whether Prince Rui has any dealings with Shadow Moon Hall? Be careful, it must be done secretly, and avoid alerting the enemy!"

Zhu Deqin and the others were all shocked when they heard this, and they quickly responded in unison, "Yes!!!"

The crowd dispersed, and Prince Ding sat alone for a while. Suddenly, he picked up his phone, flipped through it, found a name called "Miller," and dialed it...

"Hello, Your Highness Prince Ding, what wind blew you to me today?" Miller's enthusiastic voice came through. This Miller was a Mr. Chairman of Snow Eagle Country. Prince Ding had previously cooperated with him; the other party had sent many experts to infiltrate various bases of Great Ming to assassinate awakened Genius youths. At that time, that Fusang assassin who infiltrated the Fengyang Middle School where Long Yuan was located almost killed the Ye family's Genius, Ye He. And Prince Ding's move was actually to trigger a diplomatic crisis to backstab Prince Rui, but it was unexpectedly resolved by Long Yuan, who helped Prince Rui inadvertently.

Prince Ding ultimately failed to investigate Long Yuan here and returned to Dingyuan City, so the matter was left unsettled. However, thinking back on it now, the hatred in Prince Ding's heart for Prince Rui became even stronger!

"Mr. Chairman, we haven't been in contact for many days. I wonder how the battle between your country and the Sea Race is going now?" Prince Ding asked.

"Aha, thank you for your concern, Your Highness Prince Ding! The mere Sea Race, how could they withstand our Snow Eagle Country's powerful mecha legions? And those powerful gene warriors? They have long been driven back into the sea by us!" Miller said proudly.