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

Inside the Prime Minister's residence.

The lights were on, but the atmosphere was tense.

The civil officials were all gathered together, their faces showing some unease.

A short while later, footsteps were heard, and Gan Qing pushed open the door and entered.

"Lord Gan, what has happened? Why have you summoned us all so late?" The Minister of Personnel spoke first, his tone full of anxiety.

Gan Qing waved his hand to stop everyone's eagerness, and only spoke after walking to the main seat.

"I've investigated thoroughly. The thunderous roar from the city walls yesterday was indeed a weapon! A weapon of terrifying power!"

These words shocked everyone in the room.

"Weapons? How is that possible! Where did that little emperor get such things?"

"Yes, that's unheard of, absolutely unbelievable!"

The crowd murmured amongst themselves, their faces filled with disbelief.

Gan Qing slammed his hand on the table, interrupting the discussion: "It's no longer important to investigate whether he did it or not!"

Most importantly, with this weapon, once the Wolf Kingdom withdraws its troops, he will possess such a divine artifact, and the influence of our remaining four great families in Daliang will only be greatly diminished!

The impact has decreased?

This statement directly and precisely hit the nail on the head.

"Then... what should we do?" someone asked, panicked and at a loss.

"yes?"

"yes?"

Seeing the eager looks on everyone's faces, Gan Qing's eyes flashed with satisfaction. He then said, "It's simple! Use your power to send people to steal the blueprints for that weapon, or...weapon manufacturing!"

"What?!"

Everyone was so frightened that they stood up abruptly from their chairs.

"Lord Gan, are you insane! If we get caught, it'll be a grave crime!"

"Exactly! This is far too risky!"

Gan Qing sneered and retorted, "No risk? If we don't get this weapon, we'll be dealt with one by one by that little emperor sooner or later!"

"At that time, everyone will follow in the footsteps of the Dong family!"

His words silenced everyone.

Yes, the fate of the Dong family is still fresh in our minds.

The crowd exchanged bewildered glances, their expressions shifting from fear to hesitation, and finally to a resolute look.

After a long silence, the Minister of Personnel gritted his teeth and was the first to express his opinion.

"Let's do it!"

"That's right! Let's give it our all!"

Seeing that everyone had reached a consensus, Gan Qing suppressed his joy and solemnly cupped his hands in greeting to everyone.

"In that case, I'll leave this matter to you all."

Everyone returned the greetings, and then left the Prime Minister's residence, each with their own thoughts weighing heavily on their minds.

After everyone had left, the prime minister sat back down in his chair, letting out a long sigh.

steal?

Such valuable things are not so easy to steal.

A look of apprehension crossed Gan Qing's eyes.

……

Inside the palace.

Zhao Yu had figured out his plan and was in a good mood.

Wei An bowed as he entered and reported in a low voice.

"Your Majesty, Qiu Ping, the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, is requesting an audience outside the palace."

"Announce."

A moment later, Qiu Ping, dressed in a flying fish robe, strode in, knelt on one knee, and spoke in a steady voice.

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

"Get up," Zhao Yu said calmly. "Have you found anything about the matter I asked you to investigate? Have you uncovered the spies from the Wolf Kingdom?"

Qiu Ping stood up and respectfully replied, "Your Majesty, due to the short timeframe, we have only been able to fully confirm the identities of thirteen people. There are still more than twenty people whose behavior is suspicious and we are still investigating them."

All those suspected of being spies of the Wolf Kingdom within the imperial city are here.

Zhao Yu nodded, somewhat satisfied with the efficiency.

"Distinguish clearly as soon as possible."

In addition, from now on, send the news that the King of Zhennan's army is on its way to provide reinforcements to the Wolf Kingdom through scouts.

Once the message arrives, we will eliminate all the spies we cannot control.

Then he sent two Imperial Guards to Shuangfeng City to deliver the imperial edict to Zhao Ding, and then brought Wang Zhang back.

After saying that, Zhao Yu added, "Remember, leave a few spies that you can control."

"Yes!" Qiu Ping replied, then reported to the emperor, "Your Majesty, there is one more thing."

There was something unusual happening at the Prime Minister's residence tonight. Gan Qing seems to be secretly colluding with the Wolf Kingdom and is suspected of being coerced by the Wolf Kingdom to obtain the Red Cannon.

Gan Qing has already delegated this matter to several other officials.

Oh?

Zhao Yu raised an eyebrow, somewhat surprised.

These old geezers, even when they're about to die, they still won't behave.

I originally wanted to keep them around and deal with them slowly after the war, but now it seems that I should suppress them in advance.

"Keep a close watch on these people. I want to see what they did tonight by tomorrow morning."

After a pause, Zhao Yu seemed to remember something and chuckled. "As for the cannons... have the secret workshop make a cheap, unreliable copy overnight, and then 'accidentally' leak it to them when the opportunity arises."

Qiu Ping immediately accepted the order.

"As you command."

Qiu Ping acknowledged and withdrew.

Zhao Yu lay on the soft, gold-threaded bed, lost in thought.

The best way to get someone like Xiaoyue Jinshang to break the rules is to make him angry.

The best form of anger is, of course, the kind that comes from being suddenly thrown from a great height.

……

The next day, morning.

Inside the Xuanzheng Hall, civil and military officials stood on both sides.

The atmosphere today is a bit strange.

The military officers remained energetic, but the civil officials were unusually silent.

"Hey, look at those pedantic scholars over there. They all look like wilted eggplants. Did they all go to brothels last night and ruin their health?"

The civil officials, who would have immediately retorted in the past, remained silent today.

After all, they have something on their minds.

"His Majesty has arrived!"

As the eunuch announced the order, everyone composed themselves and bowed their heads.

Zhao Yu, dressed in a dragon robe, slowly walked up the imperial steps and sat down on the dragon throne.

"My beloved subjects, rise."

His gaze swept across the crowd, and seeing the mostly dejected look on the faces of the civil servants, a smile crept onto his lips.

It seems the leak by the Imperial Guards last night worked quite well.

These people got a real taste of the thrill of stealing a national treasure.

Zhao Yu's gaze fell on the Minister of Personnel, and he spoke casually.

"Minister of Personnel, you are not young anymore, you should try to avoid staying up late."

Climbing over the wall of the Minister of Rites' house in the dark every day is bad for your health.

boom!

The Minister of Personnel was struck dumb, completely stunned, and cold sweat poured out instantly.

How...how did he know?!

The Minister of Rites, who was standing to the side, was initially furious and was about to step forward to impeach him, but then he realized something was wrong, and his face turned pale instantly. He was also quite frightened.

The other civil officials also realized that the emperor seemed to be monitoring them!

Seeing the fear on everyone's faces, Zhao Yu showed no sign of stopping; instead, he added fuel to the fire.

"However, the Minister of Rites is also quite knowledgeable about etiquette and knows the importance of reciprocity."

I heard your young master returned the gift that very evening; that's excellent.

As soon as he finished speaking, the entire hall fell into a deathly silence.

Zhao Yu's tone was as if he were joking, but none of the civil officials could laugh; instead, they were all terrified and broke out in a cold sweat.

A feeling of being completely naked instantly enveloped them.

A terrifying thought arose in their minds: if His Majesty knows even such intimate matters, then what about their theft of the red cannon last night…?

"Eh? Why are you all sweating, my dear ministers? Are you feeling unwell?" Zhao Yu asked, feigning surprise.

"No, no! We are in excellent health!"

The civil officials quickly denied it, their voices trembling.

"Oh?" Zhao Yu smiled. "If you're sick, just report it directly. I will never make things difficult for you."

"Your Majesty is wise! Your Majesty is benevolent!"

The civil officials dared not respond and knelt down, showering the officials with compliments.

"Alright, if you have something to say, speak now; otherwise, the court is adjourned."

Upon hearing the words "the court session is adjourned," all the civil officials felt as if they had been granted a pardon, and breathed a long sigh of relief. Many even subconsciously raised their sleeves to wipe the cold sweat from their foreheads.

Zhao Yu's lips curled up, knowing that his reprimand had had an effect.

We'll see what kind of fruit this seed of fear will bear tomorrow.

"Dismiss the court!"