Having many children brings many blessings; the struggle for power begins with marriage.

Chapter 43 Intelligence from the Capital

When the Zhou family rebelled, the Duke of Mu's mansion was implicated once. On that occasion, Mu Changtian produced an iron scroll granting immunity from death, which barely saved the entire Duke of Mu's mansion.

It's only been a little over a year, and yet this has happened again at the Duke of Mu's mansion.

Lu Chen began to doubt whether his father-in-law was really that stupid.

Even if he were truly rebellious, it's unlikely he would have colluded with the remnants of the Chen Kingdom in such a short time.

He's not stupid. Emperor Xia is in his prime, and his cultivation has broken through to the Grandmaster level. Living to be over a hundred years old is definitely not a problem.

To assassinate the Xia Emperor and overthrow the Great Xia Dynasty is not that easy.

Chu Yuqin quickly said to Lu Chen, "Chen'er, Zixuan just gave birth, you absolutely cannot let her know about this."

Although the term "postpartum depression" didn't exist in this era, people knew that women were more emotionally sensitive after giving birth.

If Mu Zixuan finds out that the entire Mu family has been imprisoned, it could very well affect her recovery.

Lu Chen said, "Yes, I understand."

At this point, Lu Chen looked at Qin Yushan and asked, "Commander Qin, was my father injured?"

Qin Yushan replied, "Your Highness, His Majesty was not injured. It is said that when the remnants of the Chen Kingdom attempted to assassinate His Majesty, the Imperial Advisor was right in front of him."

Upon hearing this, Lu Chen chuckled.

He then said, "Are these remnants of the Chen Kingdom really that stupid? They actually dared to assassinate a Grandmaster in front of him?"

Although Situ Ce never claimed to be a Grandmaster, it was no secret that he was.

After all, he was a pillar of the Great Xia Dynasty. How could he be called a pillar of the nation if he didn't have the strength of a Grandmaster?

When the remnants of the Chen Kingdom assassinated the Xia Emperor, did they really not do any research at all?

Lu Chen continued, "How many assassins did the remnants of the Chen Kingdom send to assassinate my father? And what were the capabilities of these assassins?"

Qin Yushan replied, "According to the intelligence gathered by my colleagues in the capital, the remnants of the Chen Kingdom sent a total of thirty assassins to infiltrate the palace. Most of these assassins are around the sixth rank, with the strongest being a half-step Grandmaster. There are two half-step Grandmasters in total."

Upon hearing Qin Yushan's report, Lu Chen didn't know how to respond.

Send thirty assassins, including two half-step Grandmasters, to the heavily guarded imperial palace to assassinate a Grandmaster.

Moreover, these assassins didn't even bother to find out beforehand if there were any powerful figures around the emperor. They really have some issues with their brains.

Lu Chen even doubted whether these remnants of the Chen state were truly remnants of the Chen state.

Lu Chen then asked, "Has the Embroidered Uniform Guard investigated these remnants of the Chen dynasty? Are they truly remnants of the Chen dynasty?"

Qin Yushan said, "Your Highness, Commander Liang sent people to investigate and confirmed that there were indeed remnants of the Chen Kingdom who entered the palace. However, according to Commander Liang's investigation, the matter of the remnants of the Chen Kingdom fleeing the capital is probably unrelated to the Duke of Mu's mansion."

Qin Yushan knew what Lu Chen wanted to know, so he directly told him about Liang Zong's investigation.

After hearing Qin Yushan's words, Lu Chen fell silent.

Emperor Xia first used the Zhou family's rebellion as an excuse to take away the Mu family's iron certificate of immunity from death, then he relieved Mu Changtian of his military power, and finally disbanded the Tiger Army, reassigning its soldiers to other military camps.

Now, by using the remnants of the Chen state to imprison the entire Mu family, it seems his father, the emperor, intends to discard them after they've served their purpose.

Even if Lu Chen was a complete novice in politics, he basically understood what the Xia Emperor wanted to do.

Mu Changtian and Zhou Wangtian, who rebelled more than a year ago, were known as the two great kings of the Great Xia Dynasty. Now that Zhou Wangtian has been destroyed, it is about time for Mu Changtian to go down as well.

With the destruction of their two great kings, the Xia Emperor's control over the Great Xia Dynasty reached an unprecedented level in the history of the Great Xia Dynasty. He took military power into his own hands. What was he planning to do?

Seeing that Lu Chen remained silent for a long time, Chu Yuqin sighed and said, "Chen'er, your father is probably planning to take action against the aristocratic families."

Upon hearing this, Lu Chen realized what was happening.

His father, the emperor, was trying every means to reclaim military power, so he must have something to do. Otherwise, why would he risk shaking the foundations of the country and go to such lengths to reclaim military power?

If we were to take action against aristocratic families, we would indeed need to have troops at our disposal. I never expected that my father, the emperor, would have such courage.

Throughout history, few emperors dared to take action against powerful families.

It is said that "a family lasts for a thousand years, a dynasty lasts for a hundred years." Even if a dynasty is overthrown, those families still exist, and it is common for them to monopolize the court.

Lu Chen couldn't help but admire his father's ambition.

However, his current situation is somewhat awkward.

First, his maternal family came from the Chu family, the largest of the prominent families in Jiangnan; second, his queen was Mu Changtian's daughter...

Lu Chen then looked at Qin Yushan and asked, "Has the imperial court said how to deal with my princess?"

Qin Yushan replied, "This issue has been debated several times in the court. The Eighth Prince's faction believes that the Princess should be brought back to the capital for joint treatment, while the First Prince believes that the Princess is already the Prince's wife and should not be regarded as a member of the Duke of Mu's family."

Lu Chen said with a smile, "I never thought there would be anyone in the capital who would speak up for a useless prince like me."

Just then, a soldier from the Prince's Palace entered the training ground.

"Your Highness, there is a warrior outside claiming to be from the Embroidered Uniform Guard requesting an audience."

At this point, the soldier from the Prince's Palace glanced at the Imperial Guards in their brocade uniforms on the training ground, and then continued, "That person is wearing the same clothes as them."

Lu Chen said directly, "Let him in."

"Yes, Your Highness."

Subsequently, the soldiers of the Prince's Palace led the man who later became a member of the Imperial Guard into the training ground.

Upon seeing Lu Chen, the Imperial Guard soldier immediately knelt down and said, "Greetings, Your Highness."

Lu Chen said, "Get up."

Lu Chen initially thought that the Imperial Guard had only just arrived at the Prince's Mansion because the journey was long. However, after the Imperial Guard stood up, he immediately took out a bamboo tube from his waist and handed it to Lu Chen.

"Your Highness, a letter has arrived from the capital. The Duke of Mu's mansion is suspected of colluding with the remnants of the Chen Kingdom and has been exiled to the Northwest by His Majesty."

Lu Chen was somewhat surprised; he had only just taken over the Embroidered Uniform Guard, yet its intelligence agency was already operational.

Lu Chen then took the bamboo tube from the Jinyiwei soldier, took out a piece of intelligence from it, and began to read it carefully.

Based on the contents of the intelligence report, Lu Chen instantly understood that this was a routine intelligence exchange between the Embroidered Uniform Guards, and not because the Embroidered Uniform Guards in the capital knew in advance that he, the Prince of the North, was their master.

Seeing that Lu Chen's expression was somewhat serious, Chu Yuqin asked, "Chen'er, what's wrong?"

Lu Chen replied, "Commander Liang said in this intelligence report that when Duke Mu was exiled to the Northwest, he would be assassinated by many forces. Now that Duke Mu's martial arts have been crippled, he is just an ordinary person. It is very likely that the entire Duke Mu family will not be able to reach the Northwest."

(End of this chapter)