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

That night, in the Imperial Palace, in the Imperial Study.

The candlelight flickered, and the beauty was in his arms.

Qiu Ping stood respectfully before the desk, reporting in a low voice everything that had happened in front of the Zhang residence during the day.

Zhao Yu sat on the dragon throne, enjoying the massages from the palace maids on his shoulders and legs, listening quietly.

When he heard that Zhang Wenyuan had ordered the coffin to be returned to the Lu family intact, a subtle smile appeared on his lips.

"It seems that I don't even need to add fuel to the fire; they've already caught fire."

Wei An, who was standing to the side, immediately bowed and smiled broadly.

"Your Majesty is wise and powerful. With a simple trick, you have made the Zhang family and the Li and Lu families irreconcilably hostile. I imagine they will soon be fighting to the death."

"No." Zhao Yu shook his head and placed the jade pendant on the table. "The Zhang family is not qualified yet."

He looked at Qiu Ping.

"The Zhang family is just emerging, their foundation is too shallow. If they were to truly clash head-on with the established Li and Lu families, they would only be crushed. Who are the Minister of Justice and the Prefect of the Capital on their side now?"

Qiu Ping immediately replied, "Your Majesty, the Minister of Justice is Li Wanji of the Li family, and the Prefect of the Capital is Lu Fei of the Lu family."

"Heh." Zhao Yu sneered, "Of the six ministries, the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Personnel, and the Ministry of Justice are in the hands of the Li family, while the Ministry of Works, the Ministry of Rites, and the Ministry of Revenue are controlled by the Lu family. If it weren't for the fact that Prime Minister Wang Zhang is one of our own, I, the emperor, would be nothing more than a figurehead."

"Qiu Ping, are all those things you collected for me still there?"

"Yes!" Qiu Ping answered without hesitation. "I have already categorized and compiled the evidence of crimes committed by officials at all levels in the court into volumes, which are ready to be presented at any time!"

Wei An's heart skipped a beat. He hadn't expected that Qiu Ping, who had suddenly appeared, would actually have so much knowledge in secret.

Then will his status...?

"Very good." Zhao Yu nodded. "Spread the evidence against Li Wanji and Lu Fei. Then, have the Embroidered Uniform Guard arrest them immediately."

"Your subject obeys the decree!" Qiu Ping bowed and accepted the order, his heart pounding.

Zhao Yu then turned to Wei An.

"After removing these two, I will issue an edict to promote two direct descendants of the Zhang family to fill the vacant positions. You are to announce this matter."

Upon hearing this, Wei An was overjoyed and immediately knelt down.

"Your Majesty, I obey! Your Majesty is wise! In this way, the Zhang family will have a voice in the court and will surely be able to share Your Majesty's burdens and contend with the Li and Lu families!"

"Go and get it done," Zhao Yu waved his hand.

"yes!"

The two bowed and left the imperial study.

Zhao Yu's eyes gleamed. With these, the plan was nearing its end.

Three days later, the capital city was shaken to its core.

One shocking scandal after another spread like wildfire throughout the capital city overnight.

Evidence of Li Wanji, the Minister of Justice, for embezzlement, bribery, and disregard for human life was posted all over the city.

The evil deeds of Lu Fei, the Prefect of the Capital, who colluded with local thugs and preyed on the people, were also exposed by the Ming public.

Public discontent is boiling over!

Before the Li and Lu families could react, the Imperial Guards struck swiftly, storming into the two mansions in full view of everyone, capturing the men on the spot, and imprisoning them directly in the imperial prison.

The Li and Lu residences were immediately thrown into chaos.

Li Chengzhi and Lu Tianxing rushed to the palace that night to request an audience, but were blocked outside the palace gates. The eunuch only sent back one sentence.

"His Majesty is unwell and will not be receiving guests at this time."

The two were furious, but there was nothing they could do.

However, the real bombshell was yet to come.

The following morning, the emperor was absent from the court session, and Wei An read the imperial edict aloud in public.

Zhang Wenli of the Zhang family was appointed as the new Minister of Justice, and Zhang Wenxin of the Zhang family was appointed as the new Prefect of the Capital.

The imperial edict caused an uproar throughout the court.

The imperial court erupted in chaos.

Officials from both the Li and Lu families stepped forward to submit impeachments, accusing the Zhang family of colluding with the eunuch faction, deceiving the emperor, and eliminating dissidents.

Meanwhile, the newly appointed Zhang family officials and some centrists who had long been dissatisfied with the Li and Lu families argued their case and countered the two families' control of the government and their factionalism.

In an instant, the imperial court was filled with heated debates, and memorials attacking each other piled up on the imperial desk in the study.

However, to everyone's surprise, faced with such a chaotic situation, the emperor once again cited "ill health and the need for rest" as the reason and directly announced that he would not attend court for the time being.

This completely ignited the conflict between the three major families.

Without the emperor to mediate, all the struggles escalated rapidly.

.............

A week.

In just one week, the world in Daliang changed.

Throughout the week, powerful families were constantly engaged in chaotic street fights, to the point that they practically beat dogs senseless.

The social atmosphere deteriorated rapidly, reaching rock bottom.

Li House.

"Clang!"

A valuable antique was smashed to pieces.

Li Chengzhi's chest heaved violently, his eyes were bloodshot, and the servants in the mansion trembled with fear, not daring to even breathe loudly.

"Damn Zhang Wenyuan! Damn that little emperor!"

He leaned on the table and began to curse loudly.

"Our men on the streets have already lost seven games."

"Why?! Are all the people my Li family raises a bunch of useless trash?!"

Li Qiang stood to the side, his expression calm, and said:

"The Zhang family's soldiers all wear armor, while ours don't; it's inevitable that we can't win."

Li Qiang's words were soft, yet they struck Li Chengzhi's heart like a heavy hammer.

Yes, that's a powerful weapon.

The knife cut into it, leaving only a white mark, but it did nothing else.

On his side, although he had prepared his armor long ago, without the emperor's edict, revealing it would be tantamount to rebellion.

How do we fight this?

Li Chengzhi, panting heavily, slumped back into his chair, looking as if all his energy had been drained away, and aged by more than ten years in an instant.

He suffered a lot of humiliation this week.

Street brawls? I can't win.

I wanted to file a complaint with the government, but the Minister of Justice was Zhang Wenli and the Prefect of the Capital was Zhang Wenxin. Going there would only bring shame upon myself.

If you want to see the emperor and seek justice, there's only one answer in the palace.

"His Majesty is unwell and will not receive guests."

Unable to vent his anger, he could only summon the few illegitimate sons of his clan who led the troops, and beat them until their skin was torn and bleeding each time.

As a result, those illegitimate sons have now begun to outwardly comply but inwardly defy orders, going through the motions without putting in any real effort.

A complete mess.

The entire Li family was in complete chaos.

Something's not right.

Li Qiang suddenly spoke, his brows furrowed tightly.

"From the moment we gained military power, it felt like we were being pushed along by an invisible hand."

Li Chengzhi raised his head, a hint of confusion flashing in his cloudy eyes.

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know, but we can't go on like this anymore."

Li Qiang gritted his teeth and suggested:

"Next time we hold court, we'll force the emperor to abdicate!"

"Are you crazy?!"

Li Chengzhi was so frightened that he jumped up from his chair.

"Our troops aren't fully organized yet, and those commoners aren't completely loyal. To force a coup now would be suicidal!"

"Elder, it's too late. These things are all unimportant now."

Li Qiang shook his head.

"I have a feeling that if I'm kept being boiled in lukewarm water like this, things will get worse."

"But what are you going to use to force me into a position?"

Li Chengzhi calmed down a bit.

"Winter taxes? That little emperor confiscated the Dong family's property and took the Wolf Kingdom's reparations. He's rolling in money now and doesn't care about our little bit of money at all."

"No, it's not money."

Li Qiang walked to the map.

"We united all the powerful families and went on strike, bringing all the towns under our jurisdiction to a standstill."

He stretched out his finger and traced a large area on the map.

"We demand that the young emperor issue an edict right now, allowing us to rule over this territory!"

Li Chengzhi's heart was pounding.

"Will the other families... join us? Those new allies, the Gan and Zhang families, probably won't..."

"They won't, but the Lu family will."

Li Qiang's tone was resolute.

"There are other smaller families who won't let this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity slip by."

"The Li and Lu families alone could cripple a third of the towns in Daliang, and if you add in the smaller families, you could paralyze at least half the country!"

"If the young emperor doesn't agree then, we'll have no choice but to fight each other. I bet the young emperor will agree!"

Li Chengzhi stared at the map, his breathing becoming rapid.

After a long while, he nodded heavily.

"Alright! That's settled then! You go to the Lu family yourself!"

At this moment, the atmosphere in the Lu family was equally heavy.

Lu Mingyuan looked at the account books presented by the accountant, his temples throbbing.

The family's wealth is dwindling at a visible rate.

Training troops and fighting battles are burning through money every day; it's a bottomless pit.

He had originally planned to get back the items he had pawned at the auction, but Lu Wanliang, the Minister of Revenue, told him that the national treasury had been frozen, and that there were notorious bandits involved. He said that none of the items he had pawned could be retrieved now.

Upon hearing this, Lu Mingyuan also realized that something was wrong.

Just then, a servant came to report that Li Qiang from the Li family was requesting an audience.

When Li Qiang explained his intentions, Lu Tianxing agreed without hesitation.