In a chaotic and famine-stricken era, I picked up an empress to be my wife.

"We still need to verify its authenticity! This matter is of great importance; we must make sure it's real!"

Cui Tianhe pretended to be cautious.

In reality, this message was fabricated by him on orders from above.

Li Huaiyi said, "Back then, the Prince of Zhennan raised a large group of talented and extraordinary people who were proficient in all sorts of things that ordinary people could hardly understand."

Shen An, that brat, possesses divine weapons and I've heard he even managed to grow three-foot-long radishes. His ability to do this proves he's the illegitimate son who escaped before the Prince of Zhennan was killed!

At this point, Li Huaiyi looked anxious: "Before the Prince of Zhennan was destroyed, his family fortune disappeared without a trace. It must have been left to Shen An. If we can get it, we can immediately recruit soldiers and horses and become the most powerful force in Daliang."

By then, who the hell will care about the imperial court? Who will care about those warlords and princes?

We must act quickly, otherwise, if this news reaches the ears of others, they will also send troops to deal with Shen An, and we may lose this opportunity to rise to power!

Cui Tianhe cursed the idiot in his heart, but on the surface he pretended to be convinced.

"Your Excellency, you are right. I was wondering before how Shen An, a mere corpse carrier, could possess such powerful weapons? How could he secretly recruit so many soldiers? And where did he get the money?"

If he were the illegitimate son of the Prince of Zhennan, everything would make sense.

This is truly an opportunity for us to rise, and we must seize it!

"What are we waiting for? Get the soldiers to start training and prepare provisions. I must set off before spring, capture Qingyang City, and take Shen An alive!" Li Huaiyi urged.

"yes!"

After Cui Tianhe left, Li Huaiyi took out his book again, picked up his pen, and began to write in a flowing style: "Shen An, Shen An, I never expected you to be the illegitimate son of the Prince of Zhennan. My book has a new plot to write. I think once I finish it, it will definitely be a bestseller, hahaha!"

Cui Tianhe, outside the tent, heard Li Huaiyi's loud laughter.

He cursed inwardly, calling him an idiot and a piece of trash!

They believe any fabricated rumor.

That's not right either. Ever since the Prince of Zhennan was defeated, everyone wanted his vanished wealth.

Who can resist such temptation?

If it were him, he would also be tempted and would want to get it at all costs!

Just half a day later,

Yuwen Qin also received the same news.

He looked about 70% like Yuwen Bingyu, except for a scar on his face that made him look particularly fierce.

He looked at his trusted confidant Zhang Chi, who had come to report, and asked, "Where did you get this information? Is it reliable?"

"The information came from Cui Tianhe, who is under Li Huaiyi's command, so the information about him should be accurate," Zhang Chi replied.

Yuwen Qin twirled the iron walnut in his hand and clicked his tongue a few times, saying, "It is said that the talented people around the Prince of Zhennan were good at inventions, but before they could use their inventions in actual combat, they were killed by the Eighteen Allied Forces."

If Shen An really is his illegitimate son, then everything Shen An did can be explained.

"Hmph, that Shen An is putting on airs, claiming to be a descendant of some dragon, a divine being appearing in his dreams. He's a laughingstock!" Zhang Chi scoffed. He then advised, "According to our informant, that bastard Li Huaiyi plans to attack Qingyang City before spring. We must take Qingyang City before them and capture Shen An alive!"

Yuwen Qin touched the scar on his face and said, "I know you've always thought of yourself as one of the top young talents in Liang, and the recent legends about Shen An have put you under a lot of pressure."

However, we should not underestimate Shen An because of this.

Even if he is the son of the Prince of Zhennan, it takes real skill for him to think of using superstition to make everything he does seem reasonable and avoid suspicion.

"My lord, wasn't he exposed?" Zhang Chi retorted, unconvinced. "If I were the illegitimate son of the Prince of Zhennan, my schemes would be far superior to Shen An's, and I certainly wouldn't have been exposed before even accomplishing my goal!"

"Alright, alright, now you can let the boys get started training."

"Do you mean we really want to attack Qingyang City before Li Huaiyi does?" Zhang Chi asked excitedly.

"Let's start practicing first. Being prepared is always better than being unprepared!"

"yes!"

Three days later.

Shen Anhua's high-priced bribery of the traitor worked.

News of Li Huaiyi and Yuwen Qin's actions reached him, and Shen An even knew the news that he was believed to be the illegitimate son of the Prince of Zhennan.

Prince Zhennan?

Shen An had almost no information about this person in his mind.

Why would they believe he was the illegitimate son of the Prince of Zhennan?

Could it be that the original owner of this body actually had a high status, but he just didn't know it? Or perhaps he didn't inherit those memories?

Shen An first found Shen Xiaoqi and asked her about it.

Shen Xiaoqi was also completely bewildered; he didn't know who the Prince of Zhennan was either.

He even brought out portraits of the people who had lost their parents, and they looked very much like them.

Unless the original owner's father was the Prince of Zhennan, Shen An could not possibly have any connection with that Prince of Zhennan.

Since it doesn't matter?

Why is there suddenly news that he is the illegitimate son of the Prince of Zhennan?

As the emperor of the Great Liang Dynasty, Dugu Meng should know about the Prince of Zhennan.

Shen An then found Dugu Meng and told her about it.

Dugu Meng's expression darkened noticeably. She knew the Prince of Zhennan very well and immediately understood the enemy's intentions.

"Shen An, the person who spread the rumors wants you to become the target of everyone's criticism. The Prince of Zhennan was once incredibly wealthy and had hundreds of thousands of soldiers..." Dugu Meng said.

Shen An's face darkened: "It seems there's hope that I'll soon be at war with Li Huaiyi, Yuwen Qin, and even Yuwen Bingyu! Who do you think will do it?"

"Judging from the news, Li Huaiyi, Yuwen Qin, and Yuwen Bingyu were all deceived by this information, which means there is another hidden party. As for who it is, it's hard to say."

The other party may be your enemy, but this enemy should at least be able to speak with Cui Tianhe.

"Perhaps the other side just wants to watch you fight on all four sides so they can reap the benefits!" Dugu Meng analyzed.

Compared to Li Huaiyi and others, Shen An's previous enemies were all small fry, since Li Huaiyi and the others had been deceived.

Shen An is more inclined to believe that the other party wants to watch them fight on all sides and then reap the benefits.

After Shen An shared his thoughts, Dugu Meng readily agreed: "It seems there's a powerful force within the Great Liang territory that even I'm unaware of!"

"Perhaps they are all people you know, but they have secretly formed a faction," Shen An said.

"That must be it!" Dugu Meng said angrily, "No matter who they are, Li Huaiyi, Yuwen Qin, and even Yuwen Bingyu probably don't want to miss this opportunity. They will definitely make their move before spring. This will put a lot of pressure on Qingyang City."

"It is indeed a large sum, but it is not impossible to solve. I have already bribed a lot of spies to tell these three major forces that while they are targeting me, they should also take the opportunity to target the other forces."

If I succeed, at least I can divide them and prevent the three major forces from attacking me together.

Even if they all gang up on me, I must not let them be divided in their efforts.

Shen An said, "Of course, the most important thing is to strengthen our own strength. There are still more than two months until spring, so we still have time to prepare."

"Dare to invade my Qingyang City? I'll make sure they're not dead, or I'll skin them alive!"

In order to prepare for the possibility of three major forces attacking him together, Shen An changed his original strategy.