The news of Yerif of being removed from the position of crown prince did not cause much commotion in the international community.
At least compared with the military operations of a certain mercenary organization in Al Mayadin, this level of triviality was not enough to attract people’s attention.
There were more than 5,000 princes in the Saudi royal family, and it did not seem to be a big deal if the successor changed.
And it was the third time the old king changed the crown prince. The last time when this happened was only 15 years ago.
However, what made Yerif puzzled was that the old king was very satisfied with his birthday gift and praised his work over the years. However, he suddenly changed his stance and took his position as crown prince away.
The fact that young Salman ascended as the crown prince made him feel uncomfortable. Although he congratulated the other party with a smile, he couldn’t help but sneer in his mind. His highly educated brother perhaps was knowledgeable in economy, but he did not think that young Salman was a better king.
It was not just Yerif who didn’t understand, but many bystanders also didn’t understand the situation.
It was true that from the person in charge of the Prince’s Cabinet to the Secretary of State, the young Salman showed outstanding political talent when the old Salman was still the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia. However, Yerif’s achievements were also not weak, especially in military and diplomacy.
During his tenure as Deputy Minister and Minister of the Interior of Saudi Arabia, he was called the “Prince Against Terrorism” and “Spy Expert”. The former UA Secretary of Defense and the former Director of the CIB gave high praises to Yerif, and said he was the smartest and most accomplished prince in Saudi Arabia. Yerif led the war against Al-Qaida, and because of the organization’s fear of him, he was assassinated at least three times.
“He led the battle against terrorism, and his achievements are concrete,” said Awad Badi, a researcher and scholar at the King Faisal Academic Research Center. He believed that Yeirf had effectively suppressed a series of attacks planned by the Al-Qaida in Saudi Arabia.
However, as a clear-cut anti-terrorist fighter, he obviously didn’t gain favor from the old king.
The Saudi royal family’s attitude has always been quite ambiguous towards terrorism organizations.
On the one hand, they tried their best to avoid catching the fire as they stayed away from fellow ardent religious followers, and even assisted the international community in suppressing them. On the other hand, they also sympathized with those fellow religious fanatics and even secretly supported them.
The old king didn’t want to see the hounds around their door fall down, at least not now.
Another reason was that a unified Syria dominated by Shia Islam was not in line with Saudi interests in the Middle East. As for how much blood would be shed by heretics, as a devout believer, he didn’t care.
In the magnificent palace, there was a man standing in front of the old king. His name was Itami, and he was the intelligence minister appointed by the old Salman.
“Bagdadi was killed.”
“Okay, I see.”
The old king slowly closed his eyes, then finally opened them again after a long silence. He looked at Itami and asked.
“Have you figured out what I asked you to investigate?”
“Yes, Your Majesty,” Itami bowed his head and reported respectfully. “It has been confirmed that the mercenary organization fighting in Syria is supported by Celestial Trade. Crown Prince Yerif and a Jordanian businessman provided them with access from the Red Sea to northern Syria. They transported supplies through our port until three months ago.”
A trace of disgust appeared in the eyes of the old king.
Although 80% of Saudi Arabia’s fresh water supply relied on Xin, he despised Celestial Trade. He did not believe that these businessmen who were not subject to the law would abide by the bottom line, especially after Celestial Trade developed petroleum crops and started to produce chemical raw materials, which impacted international oil prices.
Therefore, when Celestial Trade promoted the Global Grid in the Middle East, the old Salman has been constantly intervening from behind the scene.
Of course, he was not arrogant enough to think that Saudi Arabia could defeat an opponent that the UA could not defeat, nor was he foolish enough to think that Saudi Arabia has the ability to engage in a head-on conflict with Celestial Trade. All he did was to prevent Saudi Arabia from completely falling to Celestial Trade. After the country surrendered its freshwater market, he did not want to give up the country’s national grid.
Then there was a military operation in Al Mayadin, where tens of thousands of white phosphorus munitions slaughtered their “comrades” in the cruelest way.
If he was only annoyed at Celestial Trade before, the old king was starting to despise the company.
“Your Majesty…” After Itami hesitated for a moment, he said.
Seeing how his intelligence minister was hesitant to speak, the old king slowly spoke.
“Go ahead.”
“Yerif is very close to Celestial Trade. If we change the crown prince now, will we risk angering Celestial Trade…? They have just won in Syria recently, and there are more than 10,000 mercenaries that have not been withdrawn from the Middle East yet, I worry…”
Old Salman’s gaze suddenly turned sharp as he focused on Itami, who hurriedly lowered his head.
After a long silence, the old king hid the sharpness in his eyes, thought for a moment, then slowly commented.
“This is exactly what I worry about.”
“I suggest that Yerif should be temporarily removed from the position of Minister of the Interior, and appoint him as the national security adviser to weaken Yerif’s power in the royal family…” It was very risky to interfere with the royal family’s internal business because it was easy to touch the king’s sensitive nerves. If it was not for the fact that Itami has been a long-time confidant, he would not make such a risky move.
Because he had already sensed that the power struggle of the royal family was intensifying. If the situation could not be effectively controlled, it was destined to set off a “sandstorm” that would sweep across the entire kingdom…
“You are right, Itami,” Old Salman sighed. “The Saudi Crown Prince should not be a puppet of a certain country or organization.”
After a pause, the sharpness pierced out from Old Salman’s eyes.
At this moment, he seemed to have returned to his glorious years, all the turbidity faded from his eyes and the wrinkles on his face disappeared. He had to make a decision to pave the way for his own son, otherwise, once he was gone, the whole country would be trapped in a vortex of power struggles…
“Get Yerif…”
Suddenly, the old king’s eyes widened.
Itami was taken aback for a moment, then the look on his face changed drastically as he hurriedly stepped forward.
“Your Majesty, Your Majesty!”
On this day, the entire palace was in chaos, and the entire city was under martial law.
Checkpoints were set up on the main traffic roads into the city, and heavily armed soldiers patrolled the streets. The citizens didn’t know the news of the King’s death for the time being but looked at the soldiers on the streets, as well as the armored vehicles and tanks driving past their homes in confusion.
Itami quickly walked out from the palace, ordered people to censor the news, and then quickly mobilized the troops stationed near the city to control the situation. After he finished all the steps, he then immediately headed to Yerif’s palace with a group of agents.
However, he did not find the former crown prince in his palace. After he questioned Yerif’s servants, he learned that Yerif had to deal with a business matter and he would return after a few days.
Itami surrounded Yerif’s palace, immediately went to see the young Salman. Itami arranged for him to ascend to the throne as soon as possible and in the meantime, also sent people to track down Yerif’s whereabouts.
But Itami didn’t expect that Yerif happened to be on the border at this moment, and he was staying with Celestial Trade’s mercenaries. After he learned that his palace was surrounded by the old king’s henchmen, he did not dare to go back. Instead, he went directly into the desert in the eastern part of Jordan and lived inside Celestial Trade mercenaries’ barracks.
It was not until the next day, one of his confidants risked his life to finally send a message to him.
Until then did Yerif finally learn all the things that happened in Riyadh in just one day.
No one thought that His Majesty the King would pass away at this critical moment…
