I play the role of Jiajing in Zongwu: What crime have I committed?

hiss~

He then gasped, staring at the white tiger as if he had seen a ghost.

Yan Donglou was no ordinary person to have reached the position of Grand Secretary.

His mind raced through all the schemes he had conspired with Qinglong over the past six months.

A terrible thought popped into my head.

Zhu Houcong observed Yan Donglou's changing expressions through Baihu's eyes.

He immediately understood that Yan Donglou had probably already guessed it.

Then, the white tiger slowly raised the corners of its mouth, revealing a sinister smile.

"Did Lord Yan guess?"

"You, you and Qinglong, you two are…"

Yan Donglou's fingers trembled violently as he pointed at the white tiger and exclaimed in surprise.

"Are they from Daliang?"

"clever!"

Baihu laughed and said, "I'm not pretending anymore, I'm coming clean."

"Senior brother was right after all. The Grand Secretary is a rare talent in Southern Chu."

Yan Donglou's face turned ashen upon hearing this.

He was the one who personally placed Qinglong, a spy from an enemy state, on the throne of the Imperial Guard Commander.

When he said those two words, they sounded utterly ridiculous.

"The Great Liang and Southern Chu have just concluded a peace treaty through marriage, forging an eternal alliance. The princess of the Sheng Prince's family has already married into your palace. Why would you betray this alliance?"

Baihu casually twirled the teacup in his hand, shrugged, and said innocently.

"Lord Yan is joking. Aren't alliances meant to be torn up?"

"Otherwise, why sign it?"

"To tell you the truth, my Emperor is determined to obtain this lucrative prize, Southern Chu."

Upon hearing this, Yan Donglou couldn't help but stagger back two steps.

He had already connected all the dots in his mind.

"So you deliberately chose to assassinate Yue Xiuzhe when he went to Jinling, and then pretended to help me with my schemes in the court, all to create internal strife in Southern Chu, so you could reap the benefits?"

Baihu clapped his hands and laughed, "That's right, the fact that things went so smoothly is all thanks to the great help of the Grand Secretary!"

"I'll have to trouble you to continue, sir."

"What if I am unwilling?"

Yan Donglou said coldly.

Chapter 140 Cutting out the roots

"Heh, does Lord Yan really think he'll have a chance to disembark?"

"Framed Lu Shiyu, plotted against the Crown Prince for illicit affairs within the palace... tsk tsk, how could the Emperor possibly forgive you?"

"fart!"

Yan Donglou roared, "The Crown Prince's debauchery in the harem was not my doing!"

"Confused!"

Baihu slowly stood up, walked to him with his hands behind his back, and smiled.

"What I did, wasn't it the same thing you did?"

"Guess what would happen if I got Consort Qi to change her story and say that you orchestrated all of this?"

"Traitor!"

Yan Donglou flew into a rage and was about to draw his sword on the spot.

"Don't rush!"

The white tiger gently pressed down on his wrist, but the force was as heavy as a thousand pounds.

"You can't beat me."

"To tell you the truth, I am also a Grandmaster. Our Liang royal family has at least six Grandmasters serving us."

"What do you Southern Chu have to fight us with?"

"What???"

Yan Donglou gasped.

Six Grandmasters—what does that even mean!

In the entire Southern Chu, there was only one Grandmaster, Yue Xiuze, and the royal family had none at all.

But the Liang dynasty had a total of six people.

According to Baihu, he is merely a royal retainer.

The Southern Chu state was truly in dire straits.

"Lord Yan, think about your current situation. Aren't you caught in a dilemma?"

"If what we've done is exposed, Yuwen Jian will be the first to punish you, and if Gu Siling raises an army to purge the court of corrupt officials, the first one he'll target is you, this great traitor."

"but…"

Baihu changed the subject.

"If you are willing to submit to the Great Liang, not only will your entire Yan family be spared, but His Majesty is also willing to grant you the position of Minister of Works."

"The Great Liang Dynasty doesn't have a prime minister; the ministers of the Six Ministries are above all others. With your abilities, you might even have a chance to enter the cabinet."

Upon hearing this, Yan Donglou fell completely silent.

He plopped down in the chair, stunned for a long time, unable to recover.

Zhu Houcong, meanwhile, calmly controlled the white tiger as it sat back in its chair.

Watching this Grand Secretary of Southern Chu fight like a cornered beast.

Finally, Yan Donglou stopped at the window and hissed.

"I want to see your emperor's personal edict."

Upon hearing this, Baihu's lips curled into a triumphant smile.

"no problem."

He's the emperor, so issuing imperial edicts is just a matter of course for him.

"To tell you the truth, His Majesty the Emperor has already prepared the edict. After all, he has been watching you ever since the Azure Dragon entered Southern Chu. You cannot escape."

Yan Donglou's expression shifted between anger and uncertainty after hearing Baihu's plan.

A long silence fell over the study.

What do you want me to do now?

After a long pause, Yan Donglou spoke again.

"This helped Yuwen Jian make up his mind to raise an army to quell the rebellion."

Baihu said calmly, "The Gu family's rebellion is now a foregone conclusion. The only two variables are Yuwen Jian and his son Yuwen Quan."

Yan Donglou was taken aback by these words: "What do you mean?"

"Firstly, if Yuwen Jian were to abdicate to avoid the calamity of war, all our plans would be in vain."

"Secondly, Yuwen Quan is a gentleman. If he is unwilling to raise an army and cause widespread suffering, he will definitely threaten to kill himself. At that time, Gu Siling may have to back down."

"Moreover, this would cause the Gu family to lose their reputation for 'purging the emperor's inner circle of corrupt officials.'"

That's what it is in that TV series!

They've already rebelled, and they can't even defeat the emperor.

As a result, the stupid crown prince who only knew how to cry suddenly wanted to surrender.

As a result, his cousin, who had been helping him rebel, was forced to commit suicide by drawing his sword.

He ended up committing suicide by cutting his wrists.

This time, Zhu Houcong cannot allow this to happen again.

"And what's your opinion?"

The white tiger suddenly raised three fingers.

"First, widely publicize the fact that the emperor has been cuckolded by the crown prince."

"I want the whole world to know about this."

"At that time, as the emperor, Yuwen Jian will inevitably raise an army to deal with the crown prince in order to maintain his own prestige."

"Secondly, the entire Gu family in Beijing was wiped out."

"Third, you have someone secretly execute the Crown Princess."

"I've heard that she and the Crown Prince are deeply in love. The pain of losing a wife is most likely to ignite a man's bloodlust; how could he not seek revenge then?"

Yan Donglou trembled upon hearing this.

"You've gone too far by not extending the blame to your wife and children!"

"Oh!"

The white tiger chuckled softly, its voice growing increasingly cold.

“If you cut the weeds without removing the roots, they will grow again when the spring breeze blows.”

"Okay, I understand."

Yan Donglou nodded slightly.

Only after the white tiger's figure disappeared into the night did Yan Donglou realize that his back was soaked with cold sweat.

Six Grandmasters, plus the national strength of the Great Liang.

He vaguely sensed that the Great Liang's ambitions were not limited to Southern Chu, but might include something even bigger.

And the stage for Daliang will be even bigger.

At this moment, Qinglong was leading three thousand imperial guards in a "full-force" pursuit.

In reality, they found a tavern and leisurely savored their fragrant tea.

And so, Qinglong led his army on a journey that was marked by frequent stops and starts.

I wasted two days.

They returned to the capital on the morning of the fourth day.

Yuwen Jian had been waiting impatiently for a long time, pacing back and forth in the imperial study, waiting for news from Qinglong.

Several days passed, but there was still no news of the capture of the traitor.

He slammed his fist on the table in frustration and roared, "Where is Qinglong now? I sent him to chase after him, and after four days he hasn't even caught a glimpse of him?"

Suddenly, the palace door was gently pushed open, and Zhu Houcong arrived, controlling the Azure Dragon.

"Qinglong, how is it? Where are Gu Siling and the Crown Prince?"

"Your Majesty, I am incompetent."

"Gu Siling and her group vanished into thin air; no trace of them was found at any of the checkpoints along the way."

Yuwen Jian turned around abruptly, causing the memorials on the table to fall to the ground, pulled down by his sleeve.

"waste!"