A thousand-year-old family begins with one fighting against ten thousand.

"It's aromatherapy."

"Incense used to scent His Majesty's dragon robe."

No wonder, Cheng Yu suddenly realized.

Emperor Qianhui only wore his dragon robe during court assemblies. According to the rules set by Cao Cao, there was a small court assembly every five days, a large court assembly every month, and a grand court assembly every year.

He would only wear the dragon robe on these special days. After court, he would take it off and have it perfumed by a eunuch in a special place.

The making of the dragon robe is extremely difficult. It is made from the finest silk, peacock feathers, and gold thread, and requires 2000 top-notch weavers and two years to complete one.

This means that it is impossible to wash with water; if it is washed, the dragon robe will deform.

Therefore, after wearing the dragon robe, it would be immediately put away and the odor would be removed using a special incense.

This was a security gap; the emperor paid extreme attention to safety in his diet, and there were special people to taste the dishes.

However, since the dragon robe is just something worn on the body, there are not so many rules and regulations, and no one would specifically test whether the dragon robe is poisonous.

You can't exactly have someone try it on; that's a consumable job. Trying it on means beheading. This is a dragon robe, after all—can you just wear it on your body?!

Which emperor would allow the symbol of his power, the dragon robe, to be worn by someone else?

"Have they found him?"

Cheng Yu said angrily.

The person is already dead.

"Dead?!"

"How did he die?"

"Suicide."

"Investigate! Find out who notified the other party and from which link the information was leaked. I just received the message, and the other party has already committed suicide. It seems there are quite a few spies in this investigation team."

Cheng Yu chuckled coldly. As expected, he was too merciful.

"Sir, the man is already dead."

"Our previous focus was entirely on the food aspect, and we didn't investigate the dragon robe aspect, which is why it was only discovered today."

Cheng Yu: "..."

"Where did the poison come from? Who are his close associates? In the past 5 years, no, the past 10 years, who has he been in contact with? Investigate, investigate thoroughly, uncover everything!"

"Investigate whether the other party has any connection with the Second Prince."

After saying that, Cheng Yu went back into the cell. He no longer had much doubt about the two families. The direct descendants of the families had been tortured to death or gone insane, and there were very few normal people left.

If they haven't said anything by now, then it means it really isn't them.

But since they've already been arrested, and the other party has admitted to having grievances and resentment towards His Majesty, it can't be considered a mistake to arrest them.

Two days later, the investigation made new progress: the poisoner who committed suicide was actually connected with a barbarian tribe in Lingnan.

Good heavens, it's barbarians again.

The investigation also revealed that these families in the Great Qian Dynasty with barbarian bloodlines intermarried, thus supporting each other and uniting to fight against the Han Chinese aristocratic families.

Without saying a word, Cheng Yu ordered his men to arrest all the members of the family and bring them to Luoyang, where they were subjected to the same torture as before.

Following the same psychological journey as the other two families, after receiving more information and learning from their mistakes, they were forced to confess their crimes. By confessing, they could at least get a quick end to their sins.

Cheng Yu quickly obtained the testimony that the Wei family of the North and the Jin family of Liaodong, harboring resentment, had sent their descendants, who had been married off to the southern barbarians, to complain to this family.

A group of young people, in a moment of madness, plotted this heinous crime of treason. They used a eunuch serving the emperor to poison him. The poison was something they found in the jungles of Lingnan, and they didn't even know what kind of poison it was. They just wanted to teach the emperor a lesson.

Cheng Yu delivered the testimony to the emperor's desk overnight. Emperor Qianhui was furious and ordered the execution of the entire family of three clans.

……

Cao Pi stared blankly at the imperial edict before him.

There really were people eager to take the blame, which made it easier for him to hide himself. It was truly a stroke of luck; he was indeed destined to be the Emperor of the Great Qian Dynasty.

……

Inside the Imperial Study, Cao Chong stood before the Four Dukes.

Grand Minister of Agriculture Wei Lu, Chancellor Wei Xue, Imperial Censor Xun Yu, and Grand Commandant Cheng Yu.

"After the Prime Minister took my pulse, he determined that I would not live more than a year. However, the Crown Prince is too young to inherit the throne. What advice do you gentlemen have for me?"

Cao Chong's voice was barely audible. After drinking a bowl of tonic, he regained some of his energy and cheered himself up.

"When the Crown Prince ascends the throne, the Four Dukes will hold power, and the Empress Dowager will oversee the government. Once the Crown Prince comes of age, the power will be returned to him, with the Wei family as witnesses."

Xun Yu emulated the history of the Han Dynasty and wanted to follow in the footsteps of the Han Dynasty.

"This plan makes sense, however, I am worried about your health."

"Apart from the Grand Minister of Agriculture, the three military advisors are all veteran ministers who followed the late emperor in conquering the country, and none of them are young anymore."

"The country is already in turmoil due to the young ruler; if anything were to happen to the ministers in charge of assisting the state, the world would surely be thrown into chaos."

Cao Chong said hypocritically.

"Your Majesty is right. In that case, why doesn't Your Majesty select a few more young and vigorous men to assist us old fellows in governing?"

Xun Yu immediately understood Cao Chong's meaning: wasn't he just trying to install his own confidants in his son's place?

This operation is something I'm very familiar with.

"How is Cao Zhen?"

All four nodded in unison. "General Cao comes from the imperial family and has made outstanding military achievements. He is the most suitable person to assist the young emperor."

"What about Zhou Buyi?"

The four of them were actually a little reluctant because Zhou Buyi was too young, about the same age as Cao Chong, and was just a young man who had recently come of age.

This is the position of regent, the pinnacle of the entire court. A meteoric rise to power might not necessarily be a good thing for Zhou Buyi.

Even if Zhou Buyi and Cao Chong were both child prodigies, who among them wouldn't have achieved what they did?

Each of them fought their way out from among hundreds of millions of ordinary people and went through the struggles of a chaotic world. All their talents and potential were realized, and some even broke through their limits. Cao Zhen could barely be ranked alongside them because of his royal lineage, but Zhou Buyi was not worthy of it.

They couldn't directly refute the emperor's dying wish, so Wei Xue proposed a compromise: to appoint Zhou Buyi as the crown prince's tutor.

Cao Chong felt more at ease knowing that his son was not in a high position but was at the core of the court, and that his son was being taught by his own friend.

"good."

Cao Chong thought about it and agreed with Wei Xue's suggestion.

What about Cao Xiu?

Among the regents, he must appoint at least two clan generals to ensure the Cao family's control over the army.

"Excellent. The late emperor once called him Cao Cao's 'thousand-mile horse,' and he has also made great achievements in war. He has led troops to defeat Ma Chao and Zhang Fei one after another, so he is naturally qualified to become a regent."

The four had no objections to this choice, as he was also a general with distinguished military achievements from the Cao clan.

"Grand Minister of Agriculture, I would like to request that you take the Crown Prince as your disciple, appoint him as the Crown Prince's Grand Tutor, and appoint Bu Yi as the Crown Prince's Grand Protector."

Cao Chong was trying to drag the Wei family into this mess, to give his son a guarantee.

With this relationship in place, at least his son has a safety net.

"Yes, ma'am."

Wei Lu nodded slightly. It was an old tradition for the Crown Prince to take someone from their lineage as his teacher.

Even if they become his disciples, they will not become part of the Crown Prince's inner circle, nor will they interfere in the struggles between royal families. However, they will save his life in the end, and this has been the case for many years.