If you're made a fake emperor, why did you change the country's name?

Fifteen minutes ago, at the Li residence.

Inside the council chamber, a fine celadon teacup was slammed to the ground.

"Bang!"

Broken porcelain splattered everywhere.

"Zhang Wenyuan! Who does he think he is!"

Li Chengzhi's chest heaved violently as he pointed towards the door and began to curse.

"If it weren't for the Li family speaking well of the Zhang family in court back then, they wouldn't even have been able to hold onto their position as the sixth most powerful family! Now look at them, all grown up and daring to mess with us!"

Inside the hall, several key members of the Li family remained silent, none daring to provoke them at this moment.

"Master of the family."

Li Qiang stepped forward, bowed, and said, "Getting angry now will not help. The most urgent thing is to think about how to deal with things two months from now."

Li Qiang's voice wasn't loud, but it calmed the furious Li Chengzhi down a little.

Seeing this, Li Qiang continued, "Two months later, the major families will divide up their territories and govern accordingly. The Zhang family, having obtained that batch of armor, will have the qualifications to build an elite army. If they grow stronger then and try to attack my Li family, I'm afraid my Li family will have to pay a considerable price."

"He wouldn't dare!" Li Chengzhi slammed his hand on the table, causing tea to spill everywhere.

Li Qiang was taken aback, sighed inwardly, and took a step back.

"Back when I was wielding immense power in the imperial court, Zhang Wenyuan was still at home studying! Damn it, whose damn it is?!"

After a long while, Li Chengzhi finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Seeing that he had vented his anger, Li Qiang whispered words of comfort.

"Patriarch, do not underestimate your enemy. Although Zhang Wenyuan is not of high seniority, the fact that he was able to use all the family's wealth to acquire the armor shows that he is decisive and not a simple character."

Li Chengzhi took a few deep breaths, his anger finally subsiding somewhat, and then turned to look at Li Qiang.

"Does Qiang'er have a good plan?"

"One word: Fight."

A fierce glint flashed in Li Qiang's cloudy eyes.

"Immediately send someone to the Lu family to discuss an alliance with Lu Tianxing. Our two families will join forces to amplify the conflicts at key points in the training, such as the training grounds, so that they are too busy to digest that batch of armor, let alone train soldiers."

He paused, then added.

"At the same time, we should increase our investment in our own private army, put aside the brainwashing of new recruits for a while, feed them well first, and prepare for the competition."

After listening, Li Chengzhi finally smiled slightly on his tense face.

"Okay! Let's do it this way!"

He immediately turned to the butler.

"Prepare generous gifts immediately; I will personally pay my respects to Patriarch Lu tonight!"

"yes!"

The steward was about to leave after receiving the order when a servant rushed in from outside in a panic.

"Master! Something terrible has happened!"

"What's the matter?"

Li Chengzhi frowned unhappily.

The servant knelt on the ground and reported the news in a very fast voice.

"The Zhang family is holding a grand banquet at their mansion tonight, with lanterns and decorations everywhere, inviting all the scholars and celebrities in the city! Except...except for the Li and Lu families, who were not invited. Now the whole city is talking about it."

"Excellent! Well done, Zhang Wenyuan!"

Li Chengzhi laughed in anger, and slammed his palm on the armrest of the armchair beside him, shattering the hard mahogany.

"He's demonstrating to the whole city! He's telling everyone that the Zhang family no longer respects us!"

He couldn't swallow this insult!

"Qiang'er"

Li Chengzhi turned to Li Qiang.

"You should also prepare a 'grand gift,' and we'll head to the Zhang residence now to 'celebrate'!"

"Since Zhang Wenyuan wants to make this banquet a grand affair, then I'll make sure he can't hold it!"

"Let the whole city see the consequences of offending the Li family!"

"Yes."

Li Qiang bowed in agreement and turned to leave.

……

Now, back to the present, in front of the Zhang residence.

The banquet was about to begin, but the door was blocked by two groups of uninvited guests.

It was the Li and Lu families.

The two groups of people stood on opposite sides, clearly separated.

On the left is Li Chengzhi, and on the right is Lu Tianxing, the head of the Lu family.

Behind each of them were dozens of menacing servants and guards, and behind each family was a huge object covered with a large red cloth.

Guests and onlookers who had heard the news gathered in layers, pointing and discussing the two objects covered by red cloth.

"It seems the Li and Lu families have come with ill intentions."

"Nonsense, the Zhang family has offended both families badly this time, it's no wonder they're not on good terms."

At this moment, Zhang Wenyuan also arrived with his men.

Hearing the discussion, he remained calm, remembering the promise the young emperor had made to the heterosexual king, and straightened his chest.

Only then did he slowly walk out of the mansion.

"Oh my, aren't these Patriarch Li and Patriarch Lu? Rare guests, truly rare guests."

As soon as Zhang Wenyuan stepped out, he feigned surprise and cupped his hands in a respectful gesture.

"I have a joyous occasion at my residence today, and I failed to send you both invitations—a truly oversight. I was unaware of your presence; however, you two could be considered...uninvited guests?"

His words, though seemingly polite, were actually a sarcastic jab at the two for insisting on showing up without an invitation, suggesting they were just asking for trouble.

Li Chengzhi snorted coldly, his gaze sweeping over the faces of the Dong family head and others beside Zhang Wenyuan, a look of sudden realization on his face.

But he immediately revealed a disdainful expression and said sarcastically, "So that's how it is. I was wondering where Patriarch Zhang got the confidence to make such a big splash at the auction. It turns out he joined forces with the Dong family and the Xia family."

"However... a rabble is still a rabble."

Lu Tianxing stroked his beard, his smile sinister.

"Master Zhang, you've got some impressive skills. You've managed to win over several small families to their deaths without us even realizing it. They're really a bunch of greenhorns. But it's fine, it saves us two families the trouble of dealing with them one by one later. It's a good opportunity to wipe them all out in one fell swoop."

"you!"

The head of the Dong family, Dong Lie, had a fiery temper. His face flushed red on the spot, and he was about to step forward to argue.

Zhang Wenyuan reached out and stopped him, still smiling.

"Master Li, Master Lu, you flatter me. I've hosted this banquet today as a joyous occasion. Since you two are here, you are my guests. Why don't you come inside and have a drink?"

"There's no need for alcohol."

Li Chengzhi twitched the corners of his mouth, his smile ruthless.

"We've come specifically to deliver a gift to Patriarch Zhang!"

He suddenly waved his hand.

"Uncover it!"

The servants behind him immediately stepped forward and ripped off the red cloth covering the huge object.

"Buzz—"

A collective gasp rippled through the crowd.

Beneath the red cloth was a huge bronze bell!

The bell has an ancient and simple body, but it is painted with vermilion lacquer, and a striking large character is engraved on it in a flamboyant style—"The End"!

Sending off the deceased; attending to their passing!

All eyes turned to the Lu family again.

Lu Tianxing chuckled sinisterly and waved his hand as well.

The servants of the Lu family also tore down the red cloth.

A pitch-black coffin suddenly appeared before everyone's eyes.

What's even more incredible is that Zhang Wenyuan's name and birth date were clearly written in white paint on the coffin lid!

The entire entrance to the Zhang residence fell into a deathly silence.

The onlookers, including locals and guests, were all in an uproar, utterly shocked.

Sending a bell is already an extremely vicious curse, but sending a coffin is to put that curse into the open, making it an irreconcilable feud!

"The Zhang family... this time they're really doomed."

"Yeah, that was too arrogant. Now look what happened, they've brought this humiliation upon themselves."

Whispers arose again from the crowd, but this time, the words were full of disapproval of the Zhang family.

The smile on Zhang Wenyuan's face finally froze.

The men behind him, including Dong Lie and Xia Meng, were even more furious, their faces turning ashen and trembling with rage.

"Li Chengzhi! Lu Tianxing! You've gone too far!!"

The hot-tempered Xia family patriarch, Xia Meng, pointed at the two of them and started cursing.