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

"Okay, come out now."

As Zhao Yu finished speaking, a petite and adorable figure emerged from under the dragon table. With a round face and a pair of big, watery eyes, she was cute and charming, just like the little sister next door. This person was none other than Xiao Yue Bei'er.

She wiped her mouth, her face slightly flushed, and said apologetically, "I'm sorry, Your Majesty, this servant is still too useless."

Zhao Yu waved his hand, his expression indifferent.

"Technical skills require hands-on practice to improve, so it's not your fault. Besides, you've been doing a great job warming the bed lately, so it seems you have quite a talent for it."

Xiaoyue Beier's face turned even redder; she naturally understood what Zhao Yu meant.

She recalled her initial misunderstanding of "warming the bed," thinking it was more than just serving someone in bed, which made her look foolish.

But after spending time together, she was impressed by Zhao Yu's "domineering" nature.

Zhao Yu paused, a hint of amusement in his voice.

"Get ready, tonight I'll experience the warm bed of the Wolf Kingdom you speak of."

Xiaoyue Beier's heart skipped a beat, and she nodded with a blush.

Just then, a eunuch's high-pitched voice came from outside the imperial study to report.

"Your Majesty, a guest who claims to be an old friend of yours requests an audience, saying he has important matters to discuss."

Zhao Yu frowned slightly. He had no old friends in this world at all.

Anyone who comes knocking at this time and dares to claim to be an old friend must have ill intentions.

"Let him in."

Zhao Yu waved for Xiaoyue Beier to step back, while secretly preparing for battle.

The door to the imperial study was pushed open, and a man dressed in a magnificent brocade robe and wearing a mask walked in.

When Zhao Yu saw his figure, his heart skipped a beat; he knew who it was.

In the past, in order to survive, he had no choice but to pretend to be stupid in front of this person.

But now he holds power over the world and enjoys the company of beautiful women; he is no longer afraid of this person's arrival!

He smiled calmly and said, "To hide from someone you meet is truly cowardly."

The man removed his mask, revealing a face exactly like Zhao Yu's.

He looked at Zhao Yu with a wicked smile on his face.

"Long time no see, my substitute."

Zhao Yu walked slowly to the dragon throne, patted it, and asked with interest, "How is my chair? Comfortable, isn't it?"

Seeing Zhao Yu's appearance, Zhao Yu was in no hurry to make a move. Instead, he teased Zhao Yu.

"That chair of yours? It smelled awful and was so hard just to get close to it; it was anything but comfortable. I threw it in the latrine a long time ago. This chair is one I rebuilt."

Zhao Yu raised an eyebrow and turned to look directly at Zhao Yu.

He wanted to see the same panicked expression on Zhao Yu's face as before, but unfortunately, Zhao Yu's face was full of confidence, and his aura even subtly overshadowed his.

Zhao Yu's heart skipped a beat, thinking to himself, "This bastard is definitely different now!"

He forced a calm demeanor and said with a smile, "I must admit, I underestimated you. To have reached this point, you must possess half of my abilities."

However, now that your task is complete, it's time to...

"Hehehe."

Before Zhao Yu could finish speaking, a burst of laughter interrupted him, making him look at Zhao Yu with great displeasure.

Zhao Yu's lips curled up, showing no mercy as he said:

"Half of your strength? You spent three years, the powerful families controlled the court, corruption was rampant, there were refugees everywhere, and even the Wolf Kingdom was able to invade the capital. You dare to say such things? Someone like you isn't even qualified to shine my boots."

Zhao Yu didn't understand what "leather shoes" meant, but he roughly knew it was an insult that he wasn't even worthy of shining Zhao Yu's shoes.

A surge of anger welled up instantly, tearing away the pretense on his face and revealing murderous intent in his eyes.

"You have some nerve, daring to say such things in front of me. Aren't you afraid of death?"

Before he finished speaking, a powerful aura erupted from his body, revealing his cultivation level at the early stage of the Celestial Realm.

Zhao Yu was not afraid at all.

"That's a question I should be asking you: What were you thinking, daring to appear before me like that!"

He pulled out the Emperor's Sword from the system space, imbued with the nation's destiny, and displayed his cultivation at the peak of the Grandmaster realm, but his aura once again overwhelmed Zhao Yu.

"Hmm? This is...."

When Zhao Yu saw the sword, his expression changed drastically, and greed surged in his eyes.

"This is an imperial weapon? I never expected you, you bastard, to have such a treasure."

Zhao Yu, too lazy to waste words, directly slashed with his sword. A sharp sword aura rushed straight towards Zhao Yu.

Zhao Yu saw the sword energy and smiled disdainfully.

"It just so happens that I've mastered the basics of the Kun Yuan Body Protection Technique. Let me show you how powerful my defense is."

A faint earthen dragon swirled around him, attempting to defend himself.

As a result, the sword energy instantly split the earth dragon in two.

"What?!"

Before he could react, the sword energy continued forward, piercing through Zhao Yu's body with a whoosh and splitting him in two.

Zhao Yu's eyes widened, his face filled with disbelief.

Zhao Yu breathed a sigh of relief, not expecting the battle to end so quickly.

But they soon realized something was wrong: not a drop of blood had flowed from the two pieces of the body.

Zhao Yu stepped forward to examine it. As he got closer, he observed it carefully and discovered that the body was actually made of lotus root.

He immediately realized that this was probably some kind of treasure that had saved Zhao Yu from disaster.

Zhao Yu turned around and faced the outside of the hall.

"Someone, go and call Qiu Ping over here."

The servant responded, "Yes."

Before long, Qiu Ping stepped into the hall. Upon seeing the corpse, he showed a rare emotion, paused for a second, but immediately returned to his expressionless state.

"Qiu Ping, Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, pays his respects to Your Majesty!"

Zhao Yu nodded and ordered, "See this corpse? Find out its origin, where it came from, and what it is."

Qiu Ping acknowledged and withdrew.

Zhao Yu sat down and began to think. Now, he had four essential elements: money, people, soldiers, and civilians. He had money from the autumn harvest, the indemnity from the Wolf Kingdom, and the proceeds from the confiscation of his property, totaling fifty million taels.

In the court, he had military power, including the Meng family and the Imperial Guard, which had been expanded to 10,000 men; in civil affairs, he had the Wang and Zhang families, including the sons of newly promoted civil officials.

He possessed the military tally of the Zhennan Army. Although he had already tested the waters and found that these soldiers could not be subdued, he could only rely on the tally for temporary use, but that was enough.

The people are now the people's heart.

It can be said that he has now reached a peak in all aspects.

Zhao Yu, on the other hand, seemed to have no money, no people, no soldiers, and no popular support.

In reality, if Zhao Yu handles things well, the Qian family and the Zhennan Army will defect, and the situation is not ideal.

Zhao Yu raised his eyes, a glint in his eyes.

It seems it's time for the Qian family to make their move...

Before long, the palace door was pushed open, and Qiu Ping stepped in.

"His Majesty."

Qiu Ping's voice was low and devoid of any emotion.

Zhao Yu raised his hand in greeting.

"Have you found out?"

Qiu Ping stepped forward and stood in front of the dragon table.

"Your Majesty, this corpse is not made of flesh and blood; it is known in the martial arts world as a lotus root body."

It is an extremely rare imperial weapon, requiring ten years of nurturing with blood, flesh, and essence to take shape. It can serve as a substitute, briefly traversing the world. The destruction of the substitute has no substantial impact on the original.

Zhao Yu frowned in thought.

A weapon nurtured for ten years, an imperial weapon—such a treasure is rare in the martial arts world.

Qiu Ping continued to report: "That's right. The Embroidered Uniform Guard discovered that this lotus root body came from an abandoned courtyard in the eastern part of the imperial city."

When we arrived, the person was already gone, but there were indeed signs of activity in the courtyard. However, it had been cleaned up by skilled individuals, and even the Imperial Guards could only detect that someone had lived there.

Zhao Yu narrowed his eyes slightly.

Could it be that the skilled person who cleaned it up was the one who took away those eunuchs?

As far as he knew, those eunuchs weren't good at this.

In other words, Zhao Yu has some powerful and special individuals under his command.

Zhao Yu's thoughts raced. Based on what he knew so far, he could guess that Zhao Yu probably had quite a few trump cards up his sleeve.

It seems he needs to prepare for a possible response.

Zhao Yu looked up, thinking of the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion. Yesterday, the elder of the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion said that now that the nation's fortune has increased, the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion can check the surveillance twice a day.

He has to use one of his surveillance missions to monitor the Prince of Zhennan, so he can use the remaining mission to monitor Zhao Yu.

"Qiu Ping, keep a close eye on the city's movements. Report any unusual activity immediately!"

"I obey your decree."

Qiu Ping accepted the order and then bowed as he left the Imperial Study.