I, the villainous eldest prince, will suppress everything!

"Your Majesty, that is the Left General, the Regent's second son, and Your Majesty's cousin!"

"Your Majesty, we implore you to send troops to our aid immediately!"

Seeing the Zhou soldiers swarming in and attacking, Murong Lie's remaining hundred cavalrymen could not hold out for long.

On the city wall, many generals clasped their hands in supplication.

The Empress coldly retorted, "It was already agreed with the First Prince that this would be a fair duel!"

"Are you trying to make me appear untrustworthy by sending troops to my aid now?"

Upon hearing this, the generals exchanged glances, some even itching to hurl insults.

What time is it? We're in a crisis, why are you still worried about breaking your promise?

If we're talking about being untrustworthy, it was the Great Zhou who were the first to break their promises.

On the one hand, we need to have a fair fight with the Northern Barbarians.

On the other hand, they also sent spies to poison the city and weaken their fighting strength.

Therefore, no one can say they are wrong for sending troops to provide assistance now.

"His Majesty!"

Many generals knelt down, pleading desperately.

But the Empress was as determined as a rock and refused to budge.

He also ordered the city gates to be closed, forbidding any soldier from leaving the city, and decreed that anyone who disobeyed would be killed without mercy!

Finally, the generals had no choice but to turn to Zhuge Yu for help, hoping that he would come out and persuade them.

Sitting in his wheelchair, Zhuge Yu gently waved his feather fan, feeling extremely pleased with himself.

I'll teach you all to look down on me, Zhuge Yu.

They look down on me, Zhuge Yu, because I'm from the Central Plains.

Now, aren't you all going to beg me together?

After a moment of smug satisfaction, Zhuge Yu tried to stand up.

But after many attempts, he still couldn't stand up.

He could only sit, holding the feather fan in his hand, and said, "Your Majesty, I think..."

"Take it down!"

To his surprise, the Empress simply uttered two cold words, not even waiting for him to finish speaking.

"what?"

Zhuge Yu was stunned, not knowing what mistake he had made.

He hasn't said anything yet, so why is he being taken down?

"Ouch, that hurts! Be gentle..."

He was dragged off his wheelchair by two soldiers and forced to kneel on the ground.

His arm was also twisted by the soldiers, and Zhuge Yu cried out in pain.

The soldiers were expressionless, because their expressions were impossible to see.

These two soldiers were completely different from the soldiers on the city wall. They were dressed like members of the Iron Pagoda, wearing heavy armor and even their faces were covered with iron masks, only their eyes were visible.

As they captured Zhuge Yu, two squads of Ironclad Cavalry soldiers stormed up the city walls from both sides, surrounding the group as if they were encircling them.

"How dare you!"

"Who let you up here? Get down and wait for orders!"

A general shouted angrily.

The Ironclad Pagoda soldiers remained silent, simply pressing their hands coldly against the curved swords at their waists.

The general got anxious and was about to grab one of the men for questioning when, without saying a word, the Ironclad Pagoda soldier drew his sword and slit the general's throat.

"what?"

Immediately, chaos erupted on the city wall.

The generals drew their swords and assumed defensive stances.

"Rebellion?! Are you rebelling?!"

"Tell me, who gave you permission to do this!"

The Ironclad Pagoda soldiers remained silent, simply preparing to draw their swords.

With just one order from someone, all these generals could be sent to their next life!

"Clap clap clap!"

"Brilliant! Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant!"

Suddenly, a round of applause broke out.

Everyone looked over and saw that it was Qin Li.

"What's so exciting about it?"

"Tell me, were these people bribed by you?"

"Are all those behind those masks people from your Great Zhou Dynasty?!"

"Your Highness, you have quite the methods."

"Protect His Majesty!"

The generals shouted to separate the Empress from Qin Li.

Zhou Biao and the others were delighted upon hearing this.

The Crown Prince's methods are truly extraordinary.

They actually managed to arrange for their own people to impersonate the Ironclad Cavalry in advance, surround all these Northern Barbarians, and wipe them out in one fell swoop!

They were just about to swarm around Qin Li to flatter him when they heard him coldly say:

"Your Majesty, aren't you going to offer an explanation?"

"It's not fair to make me take the blame for you, is it?"

Everyone quickly looked at the Empress.

all of these.

Was it all arranged by the Empress?

impossible?

She is the Empress's person.

Why did the Empress kill her own people?

"Ha ha ha ha!"

The Empress let out a hearty laugh.

The empress's entire demeanor changed.

He became even more imposing, making it impossible for anyone to look him in the eye!

With a flick of her dragon robe sleeves, the Empress strode to the city wall.

In sight, the Hundred Iron Cavalry were surrounded by the Great Zhou soldiers, and there were hardly any left who could still stand.

Seeing this, the Empress nodded in satisfaction. "I must thank Your Highness the First Prince for getting rid of that good-for-nothing Murong Lie for me!"

"what?"

The generals gasped in surprise again.

I just can't understand why the Empress wanted to kill Murong Lie.

Murong Lie is the Empress's cousin!

Even tigers don't eat their cubs!

"Your Highness, when did you find out?"

The Empress asked curiously.

Qin Li stepped forward and stood side by side with the Empress, looking like a perfect couple. "I knew about it when our army captured His Majesty's two younger brothers alive."

The Empress smiled and said, "You knew this earlier than I expected, and you are qualified to be my ally."

"Your Majesty, what are you talking about?"

The generals were completely overwhelmed; some were utterly dumbfounded.

"Your Highness, why don't you explain this to them on my behalf?"

"Respect is no substitute for obedience!"

Qin Li turned around and looked at them. "Most of you have already pledged allegiance to the Regent!"

Upon hearing this, many people visibly panicked, but they hadn't completely given themselves away yet.

Qin Li continued, "Although the Regent helped His Majesty regain the throne, the Regent's ambitions are not limited to that. He also wants to become emperor, and in recent years, his power has expanded rapidly, even His Majesty is in awe of him."

"Your Majesty had no choice, which led to this situation today—no, the situation began after the two countries went to war!"

"The war between the two countries was instigated by the Regent, and this is his final charge for the throne. If he wins the war, his power and prestige will soar once again, and His Majesty will have no choice but to abdicate!"

"Therefore, Your Majesty used a counter-strategy, winning first and then losing, and then used the hand of my Great Zhou to kill Murong Lie. After the army was defeated and returned to the court, everything entangled the Regent Prince, and he had no interest in the throne for a time. Your Majesty's goal was achieved."

"impossible!!!"

Someone yelled, "Nonsense! Utter nonsense!!"

"Impossible, nonsense!"

Qin Li looked at him and laughed, "How could I, the prince, be talking nonsense? Your two princes are both top experts among the younger generation, and General Jin Ge is even at the peak of the ninth rank. You are the number one expert in Northern Mang. How could my Great Zhou possibly capture them alive to use them to blackmail you?"

The generals fell silent instantly; this was something they had been struggling to understand.

"It's not that our Great Zhou is powerful, but that they were captured willingly. If I'm not mistaken, General Jin Ge is loyal to your Emperor, not the Regent. Your Emperor told Jin Ge about the plan from the beginning, which is why Jin Ge was willing to bring the two princes as hostages of our Great Zhou."