You get Lu Bu as your starting character.

The Hall of Nourishing Heart.

Zhou Chen was deep in thought, his eyes flickering.

The four top sects are behemoths in the entire Eastern Region, not much different from even the imperial dynasties.

But such a behemoth was easily captured by the demons and the demon court in a surprise attack. This would have been impossible without long-term planning and preparation.

Obviously.

The Demon Clan and the Demon Court had long planned to target the four top sects.

It seems that the Demon Clan and the Demon Court have grand ambitions; their goal is not simply to take over the four top sects.

However, this has little to do with the Great Zhou Dynasty.

At least for now, it doesn't matter much.

On the contrary, the Demon Clan and the Demon Court indirectly helped the Great Zhou.

The Demon Clan and the Demon Court's surprise attack and capture of the four top sects can be considered as eliminating some potential dangers for the Great Zhou.

Especially the Ziyang Sect and Qingyun Sect, their relationship with the Great Zhou Dynasty has become one of irreconcilable conflict.

Now that both the Ziyang Sect and the Qingyun Sect have been captured by the Demon Clan and the Demon Court, Zhou Chen no longer needs to worry about threats from these two major sects.

"It seems that the death of that third prince of the dynasty was probably also related to these foreign races."

Zhou Chen had not forgotten the incident where the third prince of the dynasty was killed and his head was sent to his palace.

Although Zhou Chen didn't know at the time who killed the third prince of that dynasty and even sent him the prince's head.

However, Zhou Chen knew that someone was plotting against his Great Zhou and trying to provoke a war between Great Zhou and the Imperial Dynasty.

Now, considering all the information we have, it's likely that the death of the third prince of the dynasty was orchestrated by these foreign tribes.

These foreign tribes killed the third prince of that dynasty and then sent his head to the palace of the Great Zhou Dynasty.

The purpose, of course, needs no further explanation.

After pondering for a while, Zhou Chen looked up at Cao Zhengchun and said, "Cao Zhengchun, inform Cao Youxiang that the matter of the Demon Clan and the Demon Court is not of much concern to us for the time being. Tell him to keep an eye on the Imperial Dynasty and see what it does next."

The Demon Clan and the Demon Court are the greatest enemies of the human race. As the hegemon of the entire Eastern Region, Zhou Chen did not believe that the Imperial Dynasty would remain indifferent to the fact that the Demon Clan and the Demon Court had conquered the four top sects.

After all, the fact that the four top sects were captured by the Demon Clan and the Demon Court had the greatest impact and threat on the Imperial Dynasty.

Perhaps these alien races are plotting against the imperial dynasty this time.

"Old slave obeys the order."

Cao Zhengchun bowed and said.

……

Qingfeng Palace.

Mu Yuyan sat upright on the phoenix chair, flipping through the account book in her hands.

Since breaking with the Mu family, Mu Yuyan has secretly increased her control over the Mu family's merchant guild branches in various dynasties.

After the Great Zhou Dynasty took control of the other major dynasties, all the branches of the Mu Clan Chamber of Commerce in these dynasties were inevitably controlled by Mu Yuyan and became her Mu Clan Chamber of Commerce.

"Miss, these matters concerning the merchant guilds can be handled once you leave the palace. Why send them to the palace?"

Standing nearby, Steward Yang saw Mu Yuyan flipping through the Chamber of Commerce's ledgers and asked, somewhat puzzled.

These chambers of commerce can handle their affairs outside the palace; there's no need to send them in.

This seems a bit troublesome and somewhat unnecessary.

“Uncle Yang, now that I am a Noble Consort of the Great Zhou Dynasty, I can no longer leave the palace at will.”

"We can no longer easily show our faces in public."

Mu Yuyan said softly as she flipped through the ledger.

Upon hearing this, Steward Yang frowned slightly. "Miss, His Majesty has said that you are free to leave the palace."

"Moreover, when we reached an agreement with His Majesty, he promised us that after the troubles of the dynasty were resolved, it would be entirely up to Miss whether she stayed or left."

"Now that the Third Prince of the Dynasty is dead and the Dynasty's army has been defeated, Miss's matter is basically no longer a big deal. Does Miss wish to stay in the Great Zhou Imperial Palace from now on?"

"Steward Yang looked at Mu Yuyan and asked. Before, when they reached an agreement with the emperor of the Great Zhou, the emperor said that after helping them solve the troubles of the dynasty, their stay or leave was entirely up to them."

Now, for the imperial dynasty, Mu Yuyan's marriage is insignificant and not worth mentioning; the Great Zhou is the imperial dynasty's primary objective.

Therefore, even if Mu Yuyan completely leaves the palace of the Great Zhou Dynasty, she will basically be free of any trouble.

"Uncle Yang, do you know who in this world is the least trustworthy?"

Mu Yuyan raised her head and gave a bitter smile.

"The words of emperors are the least trustworthy."

"If it were before, it might have been somewhat credible, but now..."

Mu Yuyan didn't finish her sentence, but everyone understood the meaning behind her words.

Manager Yang's eyes flashed, and he immediately realized what was going on.

indeed.

The Great Zhou of today is not the Great Zhou of the past.

Whether or not those in power can be trusted depends on your own strength.

If your strength is comparable to theirs, even those in power wouldn't dare to easily disregard it.

But if you're not good enough, the outcome is hard to predict.

"If Miss is unwilling, I will protect Miss and help her leave, even if it costs me my life."

"I said in a deep voice, my tone resolute," said Steward Yang.

Anyway, he was already in his twilight years and didn't have many days left to live, so he had long since become indifferent to life and death.

Mu Yuyan shook her head; "No need, Uncle Yang, it's fine to stay in this palace."

"Now that the Third Prince is dead, the dynasty's attention is focused on the Great Zhou and it can't care about anything else, but that doesn't mean the dynasty will forget about the marriage alliance."

"Moreover, there's the Mu family. The Mu family won't give up easily; they'll definitely try every means to bring me back to the Mu family."

Mu Yuyan shook her head and said.

Steward Yang is not weak, but even so, he is only a half-saint, and a half-saint with old injuries.

Let alone facing the Great Zhou, they are still far from being able to compete with the Mu family.

Most importantly, Mu Yuyan felt that staying in the palace was not bad.

After breaking with the Mu family, she was now a rootless person, and staying in the Great Zhou Imperial Palace was also an option.

Hearing Mu Yuyan's words, Steward Yang sighed.

Ultimately, it was because he wasn't strong enough to protect Mu Yuyan.

If his strength is at the level of a saint or a great saint, then none of these things will be a problem.

“That’s right. Although the imperial army has been defeated, this matter is far from over. The imperial army will definitely send troops again. Staying in this palace means that at least for the time being, we don’t have to worry about anything else.”

"It was Steward Yang who spoke up."

They had already received news of the imperial army's crushing defeat at the front.

To be honest, Chief Steward Yang did not expect that the imperial army would be defeated so thoroughly, and that even the emperor's ancestor had fallen. It was truly shocking.

The same goes for Mu Yuyan; Da Zhou's performance far exceeded their expectations.

"Any news from the Mu family?"

Mu Yuyan asked casually, then continued flipping through the ledger in her hands.

"Our people have sent word that the Emperor summoned the Patriarch, but the Patriarch was injured on his way back to the Mu family from the palace."

"Moreover, the injuries that Master Mu and Third Elder suffered have healed, which is somewhat strange and reveals a hint of eeriness..."

Steward Yang recounted the news he had received from the Mu family.

Within the Mu family, they all have hidden methods; some information about the Mu family cannot be kept from them.

……