I, the one in the heavens, am here to protect my bottom line in all realms.

Yu Qingyuan understood her unspoken meaning, his eyes nearly popping out of their sockets. He refused to believe that he was the one who had driven Yu Siyou to her death: "You're lying. It was you, it must have been you. It wasn't me, it definitely wasn't me. Don't try to mislead me."

Zhang Chengyuan sneered disdainfully: "Ha, coward. If it weren't for my father-in-law, who would notice you, a complete madman, I really don't know why he would bother with a piece of trash like you. Is it just for that pitiful blood relation?"

She expressed strong incomprehension, her eyes sweeping over Yu Qingyuan with disdain.

She suddenly stared at him and smiled maliciously, "If it weren't for my father-in-law asking me for help, you would have been reduced to ashes by now. How could you be alive and kicking to assassinate me?"

Yu Qingyuan glared at her fiercely, gritting his teeth: "It really was you."

"It's me, so what can you do about it?"

Zhang Chengyuan remembered the things he had done to Jiang Si, and with a wicked sense of humor, he wanted to make him experience it too. He maliciously raised his hand and patted Jiang Si's face, then slowly and deliberately wiped his hands with a handkerchief, making sure Jiang Si could see it clearly.

Sure enough, people are all hypocritical. He can insult others as much as he wants, but if others insult him, he would want to eat their flesh and drink their blood.

Look at that look, eyes blazing with hatred, it's truly terrifying.

Disdainfully tossing away the handkerchief, he turned and stepped on it as he walked to the table, poured himself a cup of tea, sipped it lightly, and unconsciously tapped his fingers on the table, pondering the possibility of cooperation.

After much thought, the best solution is control, either through poison or by using a Gu technique.

Using poison is not safe; using gu is more suitable, but there is currently no gu available.

Having made up his mind, Zhang Chengyuan stood up, pinched Yu Qingyuan's mouth to force him to open it, and threw the poison in.

Given the current situation, cooperation is no longer possible, so she has no choice but to take a risky approach.

With the goal of increasing hatred, coupled with the control of poison, she forced him to feign intimacy with her, ultimately achieving their goal of cooperation.

As for what happens after the male protagonist ascends the throne, whether she can live a carefree life as Empress Dowager depends on who has the better strategy.

He raised his hand to release the pressure points on the two men, turning his back to them without a care, not worried about being ambushed: "To be honest, we could actually be very good allies. You want that supreme position, and all I want is the position of Empress Dowager. Wouldn't it be better if we joined forces? Why did things have to come to this?"

Zhang Chengyuan slowly returned to his seat, looked up at Yu Qingyuan whose face was pale, and said with regret, "What a waste of such a great opportunity."

She sighed dramatically, then added, "However, the current situation isn't bad either; allies are no match for puppets."

Whether it was anger or the effects of the poison in his body, Yu Qingyuan was swaying and sweating profusely.

He didn't act impulsively or on a whim; he had thought it through carefully and even considered his escape route.

He only came to her now because he had already consulted experts and had no other choice but to try his luck here. If he could capture her, he would naturally have a way to get the antidote. If he couldn't capture her, he might be able to steal the antidote. In the current situation, he would inevitably be controlled.

Given her abilities, if she were truly after the throne, she wouldn't be so discreet. Therefore, she must be after either the Empress or the Empress Dowager. Her words just now confirmed his suspicions.

That would make things much easier. Since they didn't know how to cure the poison, becoming the puppet she needed would temporarily save their lives, and perhaps even bring unexpected gains. Besides, their own people weren't useless; they should be able to develop an antidote within a year or two.

At that time, who will have the final say will depend entirely on personal methods.

Each with their own agenda, the two tacitly agreed to follow the path that was most advantageous to them at the moment.

Zhang Chengyuan looked at Yu Qingyuan with an ambiguous expression and curled his lips: "Good luck, I don't like useless puppets. Get lost." Yu Qingyuan looked like he was gritting his teeth but was helpless. In the end, his face turned ashen and he resigned himself to his fate. He left without saying a word.

Zhang Chengyuan got up and looked around the room, deliberately messing up any places where he could hide things. Then he lay down on the footstool and pretended to want to get out of bed, but his body was too weak and he was dragged down. In the end, he slipped on the footstool and was knocked unconscious. He adjusted himself into a comfortable position and fell soundly asleep.

Sure enough, I had only been asleep for a short while when there was some noise.

She shut down most of her consciousness and continued sleeping.

After a long while, someone finally put her back on the bed. The room was thoroughly searched in the presence of the Empress before a royal physician came to examine her pulse.

Her feigned pulse was flawless; aside from being in worse physical condition, she had been drugged.

They came and went in a flurry, and Zhang Chengyuan only fell asleep once it was quiet.

This matter is now completely unrelated to her.

After waking up and having a meal the next day, she stayed in the small ancestral hall as usual and communicated with Zhang Yijiang through the No. 3 paper doll.

"Jiang Bao, how was last night? Did the old general give you any trouble?"

Zhang Yijiang was hiding in the house talking to his mother: "No, last night the old general just asked a few questions and then had someone arrange for me to stay."

"That's good. In the next few days, the old general will probably have people check our identities. He probably won't teach you until he finds out. Don't worry."

Zhang Yijiang nodded obediently, looking like a good boy: "Okay, I understand."

"Just eat and sleep well these next few days. I'll figure out the rest for you. Okay, I have something to tell your father. Contact me if you need anything."

Seeing Zhang Yijiang nod, she cut off contact with her daughter and sent out Paper Doll No. 4 to screen suitable candidates throughout the capital. Out of a population of about 500,000, only a handful of people met the criteria.

This is partly because she is too demanding, and partly because there are very few orphans who are unburdened, exceptionally talented, and lucky.

However, having these ten people is about enough. After all, my daughter is still young and can be trained slowly. In the future, we can relax the requirements and have more people to train her.

Jiang Si is the only one there right now; he can't take care of too many people.

After the candidates were selected, Zhang Chengyuan contacted Jiang Siyou through Paper Doll No. 2, explaining the location and characteristics of the ten people and instructing him to take them to training.

Having completed so many tasks, training individuals shouldn't be too difficult for Jiang Si. She can then tailor-make a few martial arts manuals for them later, so she won't have to worry about it.

The main concern is still the old general. Although he has agreed on the surface, he can't find out their identities. Simply relying on coercion and enticement is not enough to get him to be fully committed. She still needs to think of a better way.

When night fell, she changed back to her previous appearance and went to the old general again. She was prepared to have an open and honest talk with him. If that didn't work, she would have to resort to some special methods.

The old general was extra vigilant because of what happened last night, and she was noticed as soon as she appeared.

The old general sprang to his feet, gripping his broadsword and striking a defensive pose. His fierce eyes pierced the newcomer, and even recognizing him, he remained vigilant. (End of Chapter)