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

Prime Minister's House.

With a livid face, Prime Minister Gan walked towards the council hall, leaning on his cane.

He was followed by a group of civil officials, who looked somewhat disheveled.

Upon arriving at the council hall, Prime Minister Gan stopped in his tracks, his chest heaving dramatically.

The Minister of Personnel spoke weakly:

"Prime Minister, what... what should we do now?"

"How is it? How is it?"

Prime Minister Gan turned around abruptly, his eyes bloodshot.

"Why ask me now? Why didn't you do this earlier!"

He raised his cane and slammed it down on the wooden table.

boom!

The wooden table shattered with a crack, sending wood chips flying everywhere.

The civil officials were immediately startled, their faces turned pale, and they retreated hastily.

"In all my years as an official, I've never seen anyone as stupid and clumsy as you!"

Prime Minister Gan pointed at them, trembling with anger.

"Embezzling military rations, and managing to cut so much! And... and being so stupid as to hide it in their own mansion! Stupid dogs! A bunch of stupid dogs!!!"

Everyone was so frightened that they shrank back and remained silent.

Prime Minister Gan was panting heavily, and it took him a while to suppress his anger.

"Immediately notify your respective families that this is a mistake made by the Dong family themselves, and they must bear the consequences!!"

"Yes, yes."

"We understand."

Everyone nodded repeatedly, not daring to utter a single objection.

Seeing that Prime Minister Gan had calmed down, the Minister of Personnel cautiously asked, "Prime Minister, if... if the Dong family were to become desperate and dare to harm the common people, what should we do?"

Upon hearing this, Prime Minister Gan's anger, which had just subsided, flared up again.

"What to do? You ask me what to do?" He glared at the Minister of Personnel. "With the fall of the Great Liang, is there any point in the existence of our five families? Of course, we must stop them! A mere Dong family, trying to drag the other four families down with them!"

"Yes...yes, Prime Minister, I understand." The Minister of Personnel trembled with fright and nodded hurriedly.

At this moment, the Minister of War hesitated before speaking.

"Prime Minister... could it be that the Dong family... has really colluded with the enemy and betrayed the country?"

"idiot!"

Prime Minister Gan retorted without hesitation, "Use your pig brain! What good does colluding with the enemy and betraying the country do for the Dong family, or for our five clans!"

The Minister of War, who had been yelled at, immediately shrank back and fell silent.

Looking at the group of silent, brainless civil officials before him, Prime Minister Gan felt a surge of frustration.

He took a deep breath and slowly paced around the hall, leaning on his cane.

After a long pause, he finally spoke:

"I... underestimated Zhao Yu."

"All that gentleness and forbearance in the past was waiting for today to erupt!"

What a deep and calculating mind!

What a brilliant tactic!

Upon hearing this, everyone present nodded in agreement.

The emperors of the past were easy targets; with just a little effort, they could easily get whatever they wanted.

But the current emperor is like an abyss, not only unfathomable but also inspiring fear.

Prime Minister Gan stopped in his tracks and slammed his cane into the ground.

"The five families have been severely weakened by this incident."

After the fierce winds passed, only the flattened grass remained!

"Let everyone wait for me, wait for the Wolf Army, wait for the fate of the Great Liang to come to a complete end!"

……

Meanwhile, inside the Cining Palace.

The music was melodious, and the singing and dancing were peaceful and prosperous.

A group of elegantly dressed young nobles sat on both sides, watching the palace maids dancing gracefully in the center, clinking glasses and exchanging toasts.

Directly above, behind a shimmering beaded curtain, stood a huge golden table with two phoenixes.

An elderly woman, adorned with jewels, sat behind a table, enjoying the flattery of the prince and his entourage.

She was none other than Empress Dowager Qian of the Great Liang Dynasty.

At this moment, a palace maid hurriedly walked in from outside the hall and curtsied.

"Your Majesty, the Temple Prince has returned."

"Oh? Big brother's back?"

The people inside the hall were immediately drawn in by these words and began to tease and joke with each other.

"Please come in quickly! Our leader is our pillar of strength!"

"That's right, when our eldest brother arrives, we'll have to make him drink three cups as punishment!"

"Hey, our brother went to talk to His Majesty for our sake, so we should be the ones punished."

"Hahaha!"

Empress Dowager Qian also smiled and waved her hand: "Alright, alright, we're all family, it doesn't matter who's punished."

"Quickly invite Xingzu in."

"Yes."

The palace maid responded and withdrew.

Soon, Qian Miao, dressed in a robe with four claws and a python pattern, walked in expressionlessly.

As soon as he entered, the eyes of all the young nobles in the hall were involuntarily drawn to his python robe.

His eyes held a burning passion, envy, and jealousy...

A man who looked to be about the same age as Qian Miao and was covered in gold jewelry made a sarcastic remark.

"Brother, your python robe is truly extraordinary!"

As soon as they came in, they stole all the glory from us.

Haha, big brother, when will I get to try this python robe?

Qian Miao paused slightly upon entering the temple, then continued forward, arriving at the center of the main hall, where he respectfully bowed to the Empress Dowager behind the beaded curtain.

"Your subject, Qian Miao, pays respects to the Empress Dowager."

From behind the beaded curtain, the Empress Dowager's gentle voice came: "Get up quickly. The Xing Clan is still so solemn. There's no need for such formalities at home."

Qian Miao straightened up, still with his hands clasped in front of him, and said in a deep voice, "Xingzu dares not overstep its bounds."

Seeing this, another boy with his hair tied up joked, "No wonder you can only wear this python robe, big brother! Look at your demeanor, now that's what a prince should be like."

As he spoke, he glanced at the young man adorned with gold jewelry and teased, "If Xingye wore that, he'd probably look like a toad squatting at the mouth of a well, hahaha!"

Everyone burst into laughter.

The young man adorned in gold armor froze, looking at the boy with his hair tied up with some annoyance, and curled his lip in disdain.

"It's just a python robe, what's so special about it?"

I want to wear it, the most majestic one, the dragon...

"presumptuous!"

Before he could finish speaking, a cold shout from Qian Miao suddenly rang out!

A murderous intent spread out.

Everyone in the hall was startled.

Qian Xingye sobered up halfway immediately, his throat bobbing, but he didn't say a word.

The Empress Dowager behind the beaded curtain froze, her smile gone.

"Xingzu and Xingye are just drunk and talking nonsense. Don't take it to heart."

"Guards, take Xingye away to sober up."

"Yes."

The servants stepped forward and took Qian Xingye, whose face was ashen, away.

The Empress Dowager spoke only after the person was taken away.

"Xingzu asked you to see Yu'er. How did things go?"

Qian Miao bowed again and said, "I report to the Empress Dowager that although the imperial edict has been delivered, His Majesty has refused it."

His Majesty said, "The Great Liang Dynasty has an ancient precept that the empress and concubines must not interfere in politics."

Upon hearing this, His Highness and the others were immediately displeased.

"What?! His Majesty is really showing you no respect, Aunt!"

"That's right, Aunt! We're doing this for the sake of the Liang Dynasty, how can he be so ungrateful!"

"Yes, Auntie! That won't do!"

The Empress Dowager frowned, and her expression showed some displeasure.

"Yu'er's anger has indeed been going on for quite a while."

If peace isn't negotiated, and the wolf army actually enters the city, no one can predict what they might do.

Qian Miao raised his head and said, "Your Majesty, I have just returned from outside the palace and heard that His Majesty was at the palace gate..."

Qian Miao then recounted in detail how Zhao Yu had beheaded Dong Mo at the palace gate, executed his entire clan, confiscated the property of officials to fund the military, and rallied the people of the city to fight against the Wolf Army.

"What?!"

The Empress Dowager, standing behind the beaded curtain, suddenly stood up, her voice trembling.

"You mean, Yu'er... he really did that?"

His Highness and his entourage gasped in shock, their faces filled with panic.

"Zhao... what's wrong with His Majesty? Has he gone mad? Does he really want to perish together with the Wolf Army?"

"Why didn't Your Majesty inform us beforehand! The wolf army is at most a day's journey away, where are we supposed to run to?!"

"I think he did it on purpose! He just wants the wolf army to kill us so he can have his own fun!"

"Empress Dowager! We cannot let His Majesty seek his own death!"

"Please, Your Majesty, reconsider!"

"Please, Your Majesty, reconsider!"

Everyone knelt down in unison.

The Empress Dowager's breathing also quickened noticeably, clearly quite taken aback by Zhao Yu's actions.

She steadied herself and hurriedly asked Qianmiao.

"Xingzu! Where is His Majesty now?"

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty is now..."

Before Qian Miao could finish speaking, someone interrupted His Highness.

"Empress Dowager, why don't we pack our bags and flee south? Let His Majesty fight the war himself!"

These words instantly ignited everyone's will to survive!

"Yeah yeah!"

"As long as the green hills remain, there's no fear of running out of firewood!"

"If Zhao Yu wants to fight, then let him fight. We can't help him anyway!"

Qian Miao was stunned when he heard these words.

The Empress Dowager waved her hand impatiently, "Silence! You are all members of the Qian family, what's the rush?"

Xingzu, where is His Majesty now?

"Prosper the clan! Prosper the clan! Did you hear me? Where is His Majesty now?"

Qian Miao blinked and came to his senses.

But there was a hint of something different in his eyes.

"Your Majesty, His Majesty has set up a large cauldron at the entrance of the palace and is distributing porridge to hundreds of thousands of people."

Judging from the way things are going, it seems unlikely that the performance will be completed today.

"Then...what should we do!" The Empress Dowager paced back and forth behind the beaded curtain in a panic.

"The Empress Dowager need not be overly anxious."

His Majesty's act of distributing porridge is nothing more than an attempt to win over the hearts of the people.

We can wait until tomorrow morning to go and see His Majesty.

Anyway, the imperial edict for peace negotiations would only take half an hour to reach the wolf army camp, so there would still be enough time.

The Empress Dowager nodded repeatedly: "Yes, yes, yes, I was a little flustered."

Xingzu, when you go to court tomorrow, remember this well: you must make sure Yu'er comes to Cining Palace to see me!

Qian Miao bowed his head and clasped his hands, replying, "Your subject obeys the Empress Dowager's decree."