His entire family perished in battle; he rose from the ashes to conquer the world.

Before she could finish saying the word "tricky," Old Madam Mu snorted coldly:

"What? Just because he's the son of the Duke of Liang, you can frame him? Afterwards, can you use his father's power to give him a lighter sentence, or can he get away without being acquitted?"

Mu Yuan, sensing something amiss from Xu Wei's unusual expression, advised him:

"Grandma, why don't you let Lord Xu finish speaking first?"

Old Madam Mu snorted and said nothing more.

"Not only is Prince Mu intelligent, but he can also sense something unusual from just a few words." The more Xu Wei looked at Mu Yuan, the more he felt that he had a bright future.

"Lord Xu, if you want to appease my grandmother, stop praising me and get down to business," Mu Yuan said with a faint smile.

Xu Wei seemed to be praising him, but in reality, he was saying this to Old Madam Mu. After all, the best way to appease Old Madam Mu was to praise her descendants.

Exposed by Mu Yuan, Xu Wei blushed, then quickly composed himself and slowly said:

"His Majesty is getting old and has been letting the Crown Prince oversee the country for the past few years. The Duke of Liang is the Crown Prince's trusted confidant. If we want to punish Lan Que, we will not only offend the Duke of Liang, but also the Crown Prince."

Upon hearing this, everyone finally understood the reason behind it.

The Crown Prince, the future heir apparent of the Great Qian Dynasty, is backed by the Duke of Liang, who holds military power.

It can be said that, apart from not having the title of emperor, the crown prince is essentially no different from the emperor.

Lan Que is difficult to punish.

It's entirely because the Lan family is part of the Crown Prince's faction.

Based on Xu Wei's words, Mu Yuan secretly deduced and concluded: "So, many imperial edicts were not actually issued by the Emperor, but drafted by the Crown Prince?"

Xu Wei remained silent, which was considered a silent acquiescence.

"Was it also the Crown Prince who drafted the imperial edict that Prince Ning came to the southwest to temporarily take command of the Western Army?" Mu Yuan asked.

"This matter was not the Crown Prince's doing, but the Emperor's intention." Xu Wei had served in the court for many years and held a high position, so he was naturally very familiar with the imperial edicts issued by the court.

Upon hearing this, Mu Yuan fell into deep thought, and a bold conjecture came to mind, his expression becoming increasingly solemn.

"Yuan'er, what's wrong?" Old Madam Mu asked curiously when she saw Mu Yuan's solemn expression.

Mu Yuan glanced at Xu Wei and waved his hand, saying:

"fine."

With her vast experience, Old Madam Mu noticed that Mu Yuan glanced at Xu Wei, clearly indicating that he had something he couldn't say in front of Xu Wei.

So he suppressed his curiosity and decided to ask Mu Yuan after Xu Wei left.

That night.

Old Madam Mu summoned Mu Yuan to her study.

"Yuan'er, why did Xu Wei's words during the day make you so troubled?"

Mu Yuan took a deep breath and voiced his suspicions from the day: "Grandma, we might be getting caught up in the power struggle for the throne."

"We're in the southwest, thousands of miles from the capital. How could we possibly get involved in the power struggle for the throne?" Old Madam Mu looked astonished, somewhat incredulous.

Mu Yuan explained:

"Xu Wei once said that the matter of Prince Ning bringing an imperial edict to our house earlier, intending to seize military power, was done by the Emperor himself."

"What does this have to do with the struggle for imperial power?" Old Madam Mu still didn't quite understand the meaning behind Mu Yuan's words.

Mu Yuan patiently explained:

"First it was Prince Ning, who represented the Emperor's will. Later, the court sent Feng Zhong as the deputy commander. Feng Zhong was a man of the Duke of Liang, who was a member of the Crown Prince's faction."

Having said that, Old Madam Mu suddenly realized what was going on and felt a wave of fear wash over her.

"You mean... the Emperor and the Crown Prince are at odds?"

"Many imperial edicts are drafted by the Crown Prince, but the Prince of Ning's trip to the southwest, intending to seize military power in the Western Army, is precisely what the Emperor wanted. Isn't that obvious?"

The reason Mu Yuan dared not speak during the day was twofold: firstly, Xu Wei was present, and secondly, the conjecture was simply too shocking.

But upon closer examination of the reasoning, it seems quite reasonable.

The emperor was old, while the crown prince had a strong and well-equipped army.

There has never been any kinship among the royal family.

The emperor was indeed old, but he was just old, not dead.

The Crown Prince has the support of the Duke of Liang, who holds military power and whose troops are all in the capital, which means the capital is under the Crown Prince's control.

Since ancient times.

It is extremely rare for an emperor to die and for the crown prince to succeed him.

The emperor watched as the crown prince grew stronger day by day.

It's inevitable that I'll have trouble sleeping.

After all, how can one allow others to snore on their bed?

The Mu family's 200,000-strong Western Army, precisely because they were far from the capital, naturally became a piece of fat meat in the emperor's eyes.

The Prince of Ning seized military power with the Emperor's support.

after that.

Feng Zhong arrived.

Besides the Duke of Liang's instigation, the Crown Prince, knowing the Emperor's intentions, simply went along with it.

in short.

Both the Crown Prince and the Emperor used the Mu family's 200,000 Western Army troops as bargaining chips in their game.

If the emperor commands 200,000 Western Army soldiers, he can suppress the powerful Crown Prince. But if the Crown Prince commands 200,000 Western Army soldiers, then the emperor's fate will either be to abdicate with dignity or... be forced to die with dignity.

Old Madam Mu was both surprised and delighted.

To his surprise, Mu Yuan sensed danger from just a few words from Xu Wei.

They deduced the internal situation of the imperial court.

Fortunately, Mu Yuan noticed the signs early on.

The Mu family and the Western Army can take action as soon as possible to avoid being unknowingly drawn into the power struggle for the throne, or even dying without knowing how.

"Yuan'er, what should we do next? Do you have any ideas?" Old Madam Mu pressed.

Mu Yuan shook his head.

He's only guessing at the moment.

If the imperial court continues to send people over...

That proves it.

His guess was correct.

vice versa.

Regarding the response, there is currently no other way but to deal with the situation as it comes.

After all, it was a power struggle between the emperor and the crown prince.

It's like gods fighting.

There are far too many uncertainties involved.

What the Mu family needs to do is wait for the right moment to act, avoid revealing any weaknesses that could be exploited by others, and especially avoid taking sides at this time.

After talking with Old Madam Mu.

Mu Yuan stayed at the Prince of Xiping's residence for one night.

Early the next morning.

They then boarded a carriage and headed towards the Western Army's garrison.

"Where is Sixth Sister-in-law?"

Inside the carriage, Qin Hongxiu noticed that Lin Xueshang was not in the group and asked.

"She's always been elusive; she must have set off before us." Mu Yuan didn't take it to heart, after all, Lin Xueshang had a cold personality and didn't like to associate with others.

While Mu Yuan didn't seem to care, Qin Hongxiu had a serious expression. "I've noticed that Sixth Sister-in-law has been acting strangely lately. Find some time to have a good talk with her."

"Something's not right?" Mu Yuan raised an eyebrow. "How come I didn't notice?"

"Are you a woman or am I?" Qin Hongxiu said irritably. "I may not be as good as you at other things, but when it comes to understanding women's hearts, I know better than you."

Upon hearing this, Mu Yuan nodded in agreement with a helpless expression.