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

Li House.

Inside the study, the stove was burning brightly, dispelling the chill of the autumn harvest.

"Hahaha! Good! Great!"

Elder Li Chengzhi held the news that had just come from the palace in his hands, his withered face beaming with excitement.

"Hahahaha, he's still just a greenhorn, far too inexperienced compared to the Li family!"

He burst into laughter, his eyes shining brightly.

Branches—

The door was pushed open, and Li Qiang returned.

His face was smug, radiating smugness!

Upon seeing Li Qiang, Li Chengzhi smiled proudly, quickly went to greet him, and patted him on the shoulder with satisfaction.

"Qiang'er, you are truly the unicorn of the Li family!"

Li Qiang took off his cloak and handed it to a servant, smiling modestly.

"Elder, you flatter me. It was just a coincidence."

"There's no such thing as a coincidence!"

Li Chengzhi waved his hand, pulled him to sit down, and his face was flushed.

"I think I understand now."

"That young emperor first sent out some kind of inspection team, trying to use a feint to secretly bribe the illegitimate sons of various families and win them over."

When that failed, he tried to win over the Zhang family, hoping to incite infighting among our families so he could reap the benefits.

After saying that, he looked at Li Qiang with satisfaction, "But he didn't expect that you would see through all of this so early on!"

"Hehehe"

Li Qiang smiled and nodded, taking the hot tea offered by the servant, and began to mock him with a sarcastic tone.

"The elders are right. It's all thanks to the young emperor's foolishness, thinking that the rules of our aristocratic families, established over so many years, could be shaken by mere interests?"

"What happened in court today was even more laughable. Seeing their plan exposed, they actually wanted to abandon the Li and Lu families and instead try to win over Zhang Wenyuan and others. And what was the result...?"

Li Qiang chuckled softly.

"As a result, the Zhang family refused on the spot. Elder, you didn't see it, but the little emperor's face turned pale."

"Hahaha!"

Upon hearing this, Li Chengzhi burst into laughter again, as if he had personally witnessed the emperor being humiliated by Li Qiang.

After the laughter subsided, Li Chengzhi changed the subject and became serious.

"Now, our powerful clans have successfully usurped imperial power, reaching the pinnacle of our power. But a tough battle still lies ahead."

A glint flashed in Li Qiang's eyes, and he nodded.

"The clan elders are referring to the Lu and Zhang families, including the Gan family, right?"

"good."

Li Chengzhi nodded.

"After dividing the land into territories, our families became like vassal kings without blood ties, and it was inevitable that we would fight each other for our own interests."

Li Chengzhi looked at Li Qiang with eyes full of approval.

"You always seem to foresee things, so it seems we can rest assured leaving the Li family in your hands. As for the other families, I'm sure you can handle them too?"

Li Qiang shook his head, his expression not completely relaxed.

"Elder, we cannot let our guard down now. Regardless of whether the young emperor has sent a messenger or not, we must send someone ourselves to ensure that nothing goes wrong."

Li Chengzhi was taken aback, then nodded emphatically.

"Yes! You're right!"

He immediately stood up and shouted towards the door.

"Guards! Immediately dispatch dozens of Grandmaster-level experts from the clan, along with the retainers, to deliver this message to all members of the Li family throughout the land as quickly as possible!"

A voice immediately came from outside the door saying "I have received your order."

Li Qiang added another sentence.

"This news should also be told to the Zhang and Lu families."

Li Chengzhi was stunned.

Why tell the Zhang family?

"Zhang Wenyuan was showing off his armor quite a bit in front of us recently!"

Li Qiang shook his head, stirred the teacup with the lid, and squinted, saying, "Elder, the Zhang and Lu families jointly oversee the most cities. Once the news of their separate rule spreads, a major war will inevitably break out between the two families to fight for territory."

At that time... my Li family can sit back and watch the tigers fight.

Li Chengzhi's eyes lit up instantly.

"Good, good plan!"

He immediately picked up his pen and personally wrote several letters, ordering them to be sent to the Zhang and Lu residences as quickly as possible.

After doing all this, the two looked at each other and smiled.

It was as if they could already see that in the near future, the entire Daliang would belong to the Li family, and that young emperor would be nothing more than a canary kept in a cage.

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

Zhang Mansion.

Snapped!

With a sharp crack, a fine celadon teacup was smashed to the ground and shattered into pieces.

Zhang Wenyuan was so angry that he trembled all over. He pointed at his younger brother Zhang Wenli and couldn't say a word for a long time.

"You...you're so confused!"

He never imagined that despite his repeated instructions to leave room for maneuver, he would also have to make the young emperor contribute some money and grain.

As a result, the younger brother actually echoed the Li family's proposal to govern by drawing lines on the ground in the imperial court.

Doesn't this completely cut off the road?

Zhang Wenli, with his neck stiff, retorted without backing down.

"Big brother! You weren't like this before!"

"Why are we so obsessed with helping that young emperor? The powerful clans are establishing their own territories, and this is the inevitable trend. If my Zhang family doesn't follow this trend, we will only fall further behind!"

Zhang Wenbin, who was standing to the side, echoed his agreement.

"Yes, brother!"

"That young emperor promised us aid, but what happened? We haven't seen a single penny!"

"They've nearly drained the Zhang family, the Dong family, and the Xia family of their savings!"

"We've mortgaged so many of our properties to the young emperor. Now, establishing our own independent rule is the best option! We can rightfully reclaim those mortgaged assets, and only then can the Zhang family recover!"

Looking at his two dissenting brothers, Zhang Wenyuan felt a surge of anger and blood in his chest, which eventually turned into a long sigh.

He slumped down, his voice filled with exhaustion.

"Why do you think I would risk the Zhang family's wealth to help the young emperor?"

Because the young emperor... promised me that after the deed was done, he would make me a king of a different surname!

What?

Zhang Wenli and Zhang Wenbin were both stunned, thinking they had misheard.

Zhang Wenyuan ignored their shock and continued speaking.

"Without cooperating with His Majesty, it would be an impossible task for us, even with the help of a few in-law families, to defeat the deeply entrenched Li and Lu families!"

"Only by joining forces with His Majesty, both openly and covertly, to gradually erode their power, will we have a chance!"

"How do you think you obtained your positions as Minister of Justice and Prefect of the Imperial City?"

"If it weren't for these two positions, how could the Li family have suffered such a huge loss last time!"

Zhang Wenli and Zhang Wenbin's minds were buzzing.

They then realized that it was these two official positions that had given them a significant advantage in their confrontation with the Li family.

If they were to establish a system of independent rule later, their existing system would be completely ruined, and the ensuing struggles would...

"This...this..."

The two were speechless for a moment, their faces turning pale and then red.

Just then, a servant rushed in to report.

"Master, the Li family sent a message saying that in order to prevent the young emperor from playing tricks, we should also send our own messengers to spread the news of the 'drawing boundaries and ruling over different areas' to all regions."

After the three of them finished listening, Zhang Wenli and Zhang Wenbin still hadn't reacted.

Zhang Wenyuan suddenly stood up, his earlier dejection vanishing completely.

He immediately understood the key to it.

"quick!"

He gave orders at an extremely fast pace.

"Immediately contact the Dong and Xia families and order them to eliminate all their experts!"

"Before the Li and Lu families arrive, notify our people in various regions so they can prepare to take action!"

"As soon as the news of the 'drawing a line' policy is announced, we'll act immediately, catching the Lu and Lu families completely off guard!"

Zhang Wenli and Zhang Wenbin's eyes lit up simultaneously after hearing this.

They finally understood.

The Li family wants them to fight with the Lu family first, so they can reap the benefits later.

But the eldest brother wanted to turn the tables, seize the initiative, and launch a surprise attack on the Lu family!

"Yes, brother!"

Without the slightest hesitation, the two accepted the order and quickly rushed out.