People in the Qin Dynasty, entertained during the Warring States period

Seeing that Xiang Yan was determined to kill, and knowing that words were useless, he decided to show his true strength with his hands.

Li Garden must be protected!

He was getting old, and for the sake of the Qu clan continuing to serve as the Grand Master of Chu, he couldn't let Li Yuan die!

Xiang Yan's face was grim, and he personally led his guards to intercept Qu's troops.

Unfortunately, they arrived in haste, bringing only a few hundred armored soldiers. Even with the support of the retainers and guards kept by Huang Xie, they could not directly turn the tide of the battle.

Cao Ze, watching the commotion, unknowingly came to Huang Xie's side.

"Lord Magistrate, you seem to have something on your mind."

Cao Ze smiled and chatted with Huang Xie without a care in the world.

Huang Xie gave a wry smile, shook his head, and decided not to speak to Cao Ze.

But Cao Ze had a natural talent for making friends, and he clicked his tongue and said, "You don't know, I just heard Li Yuan say in the palace that if Xiang Yan kills him, you won't live long either. I don't know if it's true or not."

Huang Xie's white beard twitched, and a forced smile appeared on his wrinkled face.

"What are you saying, Imperial Censor Cao? What ability does Li Yuan have besides shouting? I can kill him as easily as killing a dog!"

He now deeply regrets being dragged into this mess by Li Yuan and his sister.

I also blame myself for being blinded by greed and fearing that my family would fall into a social class due to the lack of a successor, which has led to this mess.

However, as long as Li Yuan keeps quiet and his youngest son successfully ascends the throne, there is still a chance for things to turn around.

Cao Ze smiled, put his hands behind his back, and leisurely left.

With him around, Li Yuan, who was being protected by the Luo Wang people, would not die.

This is a national treasure that could disrupt the Chu Kingdom, and its significance is no less than that of the man behind the King of Zhao back then—the Qin War God, Prime Minister Guo Kai!

The internal strife in Chu continued until dusk, when Xiang Yan's reinforcements arrived and swiftly quelled the unrest.

However, Qu had already left with Li Yuan, who had escaped.

The Qu family may not have many soldiers in the Chu capital, but their spies, agents, and connections far surpass those of the Xiang family. No matter how unhappy Xiang Yan was, it was to no avail.

Two days later.

Huang Xie kept suggesting and urging Xiang Yan to support the crown prince to ascend the throne, but Xiang Yan kept delaying, saying that the funeral of the King of Chu had not been held, so how could a new king be established?

No matter how Huang Xie argued that a country cannot be without a ruler for a day, it was to no avail, leading Huang Xie to wonder if Xiang Yan had ulterior motives.

Another day passed.

A rumor began to circulate in the capital of Chu.

It is said that the current crown prince is the son of Lord Chunshen, born before the queen entered the palace.

As soon as the rumor was released, it spread like wildfire.

At this critical juncture, Huang Xie and Li Yuan were so frightened that they hurriedly denied it.

The Qu and Xiang families, who had been secretly vying for power, seemed to have reached a tacit understanding and both stopped fighting.

The Qu family, after all, originated from the royal family and could not accept a non-royal person as their king. They could accept the Jing and Zhao families, but outsiders were absolutely unacceptable. This was why they had been fighting with the Xiang family and had sent people to invite the Jing and Zhao families to come.

As for the Xiang family, needless to say, they were loyal to the royal family and could not accept a bastard as king.

Li Yuan and Huang Xie were even more dumbfounded.

In order to save their lives, the two secretly conspired to kill the crown prince, who had just learned to walk.

However, they were caught by Xiang Yan as soon as they made their move.

They underestimated Xiang Yan's loyalty to the royal family. Even as Xiang Yan prepared to welcome Changping Jun to the throne, he still protected the crown prince very well to prevent any accidents from happening.

After a period of interrogation, Xiang Yan finally learned that the current crown prince was indeed the illegitimate son of Lord Chunshen, Huang Xie, and the queen.

No wonder Li Yuan was so eager to kill Huang Xie; he wanted to silence him and solve the problem once and for all.

However, compared to this shocking result, he was more puzzled as to who spread the rumor that the Crown Prince was Huang Xie and the Queen's illegitimate son.

It's obvious that Huang Xie, Li Yuan, and the Queen wouldn't utter a single word about this. Anyone who knows about it must be someone closely involved in the matter back then.

However, according to Li Yuan and Huang Xie's confessions, these people had already been silenced.

And why did the rumors have to spread at this particular time of year?

After thinking for a while, Xiang Yan couldn't help but think of a young man—Cao Ze.

Both Ji Bu and the peasant spies mentioned this person in their secret report about Li Yuan's plot to murder Huang Xie.

Even though he had no evidence, he instinctively began to have doubts.

Just then, Hua Ying found Xiang Yan again.

"General, a secret report from the chivalrous leader."

A flower shadow, veiled in white gauze, handed over a letter with a keepsake.

As the person in charge of the Farmers' Clan in Chu Capital, Xia Kui had specifically instructed her to maintain contact with Xiang Yan.

Xiang Yan opened the letter, her expression changing several times, until Changping Jun was safe with the help of the Yin-Yang School leader, she finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"May Heaven bless our Great Chu."

After Xiang Yan finished speaking, he immediately ordered Ying Bu and Ji Bu to go to the Qin-Chu border to meet Changping Jun.

Ji Bu and Ying Bu were ordered to enter, and were both surprised to see their elder sister there.

Hua Ying glanced at Ji Bu and said in a cryptic tone, "Now that things have changed, there are some things I can tell you."

"I am from a farming family and have always been working for farmers."

Before Ji Bu could finish his shock, Xiang Yan said, "The Farmer's Clan has already been secretly serving the State of Chu. Ji Bu, you don't need to worry. I already knew about Miss Hua Ying. Don't blame your sister for keeping it a secret."

Hua Ying's gaze softened as she looked at Ji Bu. "I didn't expect it to be exposed so soon. I'm sorry, sister."

She had always intended to keep it a secret from Ji Bu, but the King of Chu died, Li Yuan wanted to kill Huang Xie, the Qu family interfered, and the Xiang family intervened...

Everything happened so fast that she had to do everything herself.

Since the leader of the knights was about to lead his disciples to the State of Chu, she no longer needed to hide her identity.

Ji Bu nodded with a wry smile, finally understanding his sister's many unusual behaviors.

Why do businesses go bankrupt so quickly? Why insist on opening a nightclub with hardly any customers?

But! My money!

Ji Bu was on the verge of tears; his monthly allowance, annual allowance, and wine money were all gone!

If it weren't for his military orders, he would have definitely argued with his sister about the money...

Ji Bu and Ying Bu, carrying a route map, led a small squad of Xiang Yan's elite cavalry guards to the Qin-Chu border to meet Changping Jun.

Inside the tent, Xiang Yan said to Hua Ying with a serious expression, "I suspect that the one who caused this trouble, the one who spread the rumors the other day, is Cao!"

“…Cao Ze?”

Hua Ying was taken aback. "Does the General suspect that Cao Ze is secretly instigating internal strife within Chu?"

“Not bad!” Xiang Yan said coldly. “Before you handed me the information about Li Yuan’s plot to murder Huang Xie, your brother handed me this information first.”

"The sources of the information you siblings provided all mentioned Cao Ze."

"When I interrogated Li Yuan, he confessed that Qu Shi had inadvertently learned from Cao Ze that Huang Xie might know about his plot to murder Huang Xie."

After Xiang Yan finished speaking, she said coldly, "Plus the rumors spread the other day, humph!"

Hua Ying's heart skipped a beat. She never expected that Cao Ze, whom she had always thought only knew how to play with women, would unknowingly stir up the entire Chu capital.

"General! Why haven't you arrested Cao Ze yet?!"

Xiang Yan shook his head and sighed, "I never imagined that the Crown Prince was truly Huang Xie and the Queen's illegitimate son. The Qu, Jing, and Zhao families will surely make a big fuss about it. If things go wrong, Chu will fall into chaos. Right now, we must seek stability in everything we do!"

"Then let that little...Cao Ze go!"

Hua Ying almost blurted out the words "little thief".

She couldn't help but feel a surge of anger when she thought about how Cao Ze had been avoiding her and trying to renege on his debts.

In all the business she's done, this is the first time she's encountered a situation where she can't get her money back!

Xiang Yan's eyes turned cold and sharp. "Of course we can't let this kid go. We'll arrest him first and deal with him when Lord Changping returns!"

"Miss Huaying, immediately take fifty armored soldiers, arrest him, and lock him in the dungeon!"

Hua Ying immediately agreed, her face beaming with excitement.

"Alright! I'll go and catch him right now!"

Hua Ying was incredibly motivated at the thought of catching Cao Ze and locking him up in the dungeon to properly discipline him!

How dare you owe Hua Ying money! You're asking for it!

"Rumble..."

Hua Ying rode her precious horse and, with dozens of fully armed guards and elite cavalry, headed straight for the post station where Cao Ze was staying.

Cheng Jiao, who had been leaning against the gatepost yawning, perked up when he saw a group of knights galloping towards them.

Hua Ying dismounted and shouted, "Cao Ze! Come out!"

Cheng Jiao said lazily, "Looking for Brother Cao?"

The shadow of the flower hinted at a bad omen.

"Where is he?"

Cheng Jiao chuckled and said, "What do you think?"

Before Hua Ying could ask any further questions, a knight came galloping over.

"Report! Cao Ze and his men have just left the city gate!"

Hua Ying roared in fury: "Chase after them!"

Outside the city, Cao Ze sighed deeply.

He didn't expect to be exposed so quickly; indeed, one should not underestimate the heroes of the world.

Fortunately, Li Yuan had his men with him. The moment Li Yuan was arrested, he knew that he was not far from being exposed.