The old emperor only desires immortality; you must not rebel.

Outside Yunxiang City,

The Northern Qi delegation slowly walked out of Yunxiang City and onto the official road.

On their way from Yunxiang City to the capital, they encountered more than five waves of attacks.

Inside the carriage, Gao Xiaoyue frowned, gritted her teeth, and whispered, "The Great Qing is in such chaos, what is that tyrannical emperor doing?!"

Along the way, they had already encountered five waves of bandit attacks.

Normally, a mission of this size would not have been disturbed by ordinary bandits, but this group of bandits was quite large and well-trained, and was not an ordinary bandit group at all.

Could it be any more unbelievable that bandits could afford such a powerful weapon as a ballista?

There were none, not even ordinary troops, let alone bandits.

That corrupt official in Yunxiang City even addressed the emperor as "Sage Emperor".

This guy dares to call himself the Holy Emperor? It's utterly absurd!

She was well aware of Daqing's current situation. If he were truly the Holy Emperor, how could things have come to this?

Along the way, starving people were everywhere, and the people were displaced. Nine out of ten village houses were empty. Soldiers and thugs in various places slaughtered the people, and people lived worse than livestock.

What kind of holy emperor is he? It's just a title that foolish ruler uses to whitewash himself.

A tyrannical ruler!

Dog Emperor!

Fang Poyun said in a low voice, "Your Highness, those people are definitely not ordinary bandits."

"They are clearly well-trained; they must be military personnel!"

Having spent years in the military, he could spot even the best-hidden soldiers at a glance.

Gao Xiaoyue frowned and asked, "If it's someone from the military, then who could it be?"

Before Fang Poyun could speak, Gao Xiaoyue muttered to herself, "If anything happens to the delegation, Northern Qi will definitely not let this go."

"Their goal is to instigate war between the two countries!"

"Which military governor was behind this?"

Fang Poyun remained silent for a while, then nodded and said, "That's one possibility."

As a veteran of the military, he knew that when considering a problem, one should never consider only one approach.

Because sometimes the results are unexpected.

However, if war breaks out between the two countries, the regional military governors would indeed be the biggest beneficiaries.

Those military governors were simply waiting for a legitimate opportunity to send troops, so that they could gain a legal footing and avoid being condemned by future generations.

Within the territory of Daqing, there were four military governors, one of whom was Lu Chan, the former King of Liang.

And there's also Li Shutong, the military governor of Fengxiang!

Luo Yao, the military governor of the southeast!

Lu Xun, the military governor of the southwest!

These four men, who commanded large armies, were the most powerful military governors in Daqing and were the very people the Northern Qi was trying to win over.

This mission, besides assessing the strength of Daqing, also aims to establish contact with civil and military officials.

Once Daqing is in chaos, they can lead their troops south in one fell swoop!

After much deliberation, Fang Poyun still advised, "Your Highness, according to the information we have received, Lu Chan, the military governor of the Northwest, was recently executed by the Emperor of Daqing. We must be careful on this trip."

They had been unaware of this matter until they heard about it in Yunxiang City, at which point they were greatly shocked.

Lu Chan, the military governor of the Northwest, led an army of 50,000 south, only to be beheaded by the emperor. No matter how you look at it, this event seems very strange.

Upon hearing this, Gao Xiaoyue retorted, "The Emperor single-handedly slaughtered an army of 50,000?"

"The emperor alone slaughtered 40,000 private soldiers?"

"Did the emperor smash a mountain with a single punch?"

A mocking smile appeared on Gao Xiaoyue's lips.

Why don't they say the Emperor of Daqing could fly?

Fang Poyun also fell silent!

If one person kills an army of 50,000, can he even be considered human?

Even that seventy-year-old man from Daqing couldn't have done it, let alone that old man from Daqing.

If they really had that ability, what would be the point of the Northern Qi fighting? They might as well just surrender obediently.

As the Grand General of Northern Qi, he knew the situation of the Northwest Army all too well.

Those were elite cavalrymen who had fought against the Qiang people for many years.

While martial arts are powerful in this era, that is only relative to ordinary people.

Even a master would find it difficult to withstand a charge of a thousand cavalry.

Gao Xiaoyue shook her head, her tone indifferent: "Strange celestial phenomena, books hidden in fish bellies, and swords slaying white snakes are all just common tricks to fool the ignorant masses."

As a member of the royal family, she was all too familiar with this "divine will" trick.

The so-called feat of the emperor single-handedly breaking through 50,000 troops was, in her view, utterly absurd, not even as good as "hiding a book in the belly of a fish".

If you're going to make up a story, you should at least make up some of the more realistic ones.

Of course, these are just embellished evaluations; there are also many infamous ones circulating.

For example, they were licentious and immoral, murdering their own children, slaughtering their brothers and clans, forcibly taking women from the common people, and killing thousands of people from powerful families at will. They could also dismiss or kill officials at will.

Peeling human skin, eating human hearts, and using human blood as wine—these are simply demons that can only stop a child's crying.

The Holy Emperor committed all the crimes that previous tyrannical rulers had committed, and he also committed crimes that had never been committed before.

Many powerful families called him a dog emperor and a tyrant!

Gao Xiaoyue felt that these comments were fair.

A bunch of poor peasants, what do they know? Those who can truly access the upper class are still the aristocratic families.

What kind of holy emperor is he? If he were truly a holy emperor, he wouldn't have been the crown prince for fifty years.

"Princess, we have arrived in the capital of Daqing."

The voice of the accompanying maid could be heard from outside the carriage.

Upon hearing this, Fang Poyun quickly reached out and lifted the curtain.

Both of them looked out at the same time.

"That tyrant is indeed not here."

Gao Xiaoyue shook her head and looked away with some disappointment.

She really wanted to see what that tyrannical emperor looked like.

Tao Wenzhao, the Minister of Rites, led all the officials of the Ministry of Rites to wait at the city gate.

Of the six ministers, three were killed by the Holy Emperor. As one of the three remaining, he lived in constant fear during this period.

If the emperor is unhappy, one of his ministers will have his head smashed.

"Tao Wenzhao, Minister of Rites, is here to welcome the Northern Qi delegation on the imperial edict of the Holy Emperor."

"Which one of you is Lord Fu Yunche?"

As soon as he finished speaking, a middle-aged man in a blue official robe rode out from the delegation and dismounted.

"Fu Yunche of Northern Qi greets Lord Tao!"

"We are here on the Emperor's orders to travel to your country with three gifts to present. We request that you, Lord Tao, arrange for us to meet with your Emperor as soon as possible."

To meet the Emperor?

Tao Wenzhao's eyes were strange. "Are you guys in such a hurry to die?"

They wished they would never see the Holy Emperor again!

Every time they heard the Holy Emperor summon them to court, they had to make arrangements for their funerals in advance, and their relatives had to dress up neatly and wait to die.

Tao Wenzhao said with a smile, "Please follow me into the city."

"His Majesty has matters to attend to today and will not be able to see you until tomorrow."

Fu Yunche hesitated for a moment, and seeing that there was no sound coming from inside the carriage, he understood. He cupped his hands and smiled, "Then I'll have to trouble you, Lord Tao."

"You're too kind, you're too kind!"

The two exchanged a few pleasantries before entering the city.

After settling the Northern Qi delegation, Tao Wenzhao returned to the palace to report back.

Fu Yunche immediately took gifts and began visiting various court officials in the capital, but without exception, he was turned away at every door.

Throughout the entire capital, from the highest-ranking official to the lowest-ranking clerk, not a single person met with any member of the Northern Qi delegation.

Officials with whom they had previously maintained excellent relations immediately turned their backs on them.

I've never even seen money or gold ingots before!

What? You want a pancake?

I'll give you a hundred!

One of the six ministers directly ordered his servants to bring out a basket of cakes and hand it to Fu Yunche.