Having many children brings many blessings; the struggle for power begins with marriage.

After returning to the palace, Emperor Zhou did not go to see Pei Shuhua. He went directly to the Wanshou Hall. Now that Pei Shuhua had asked him for help, it was natural for Pei Shuhua to come to him.

Upon hearing that Emperor Zhou had returned to the palace, Pei Shuhua went straight back to the Wanshou Hall, showing no intention of coming to see her. She instantly understood his ulterior motives.

However, Pei Shuhua didn't care too much. He was just a puppet emperor, and now he could only use these little tricks to maintain his dignity.

Pei Shuhua then took the initiative to go to the Wanshou Hall.

Inside the Hall of Longevity, Emperor Zhou sat upright on a futon, his eyes slightly closed, his body radiating a dark blue spiritual aura. Just then, the doors of the Hall of Longevity slowly opened, and Pei Shuhua, dressed in a black robe, entered the hall.

Upon entering the main hall, Pei Shuhua immediately asked, "I wonder if Your Majesty achieved the result you desired at the Zhennan Prince's Mansion today?"

Upon hearing this question, Emperor Zhou opened his eyes and looked at Pei Shuhua, asking, "I have naturally received the answer I wanted, but the answer from the Prince of Zhennan's residence may not be what Mother Empress wants to hear."

Upon hearing this, Pei Shuhua knew that the Prince of Zhennan's mansion had put forward some conditions that were unfavorable to her.

Pei Shuhua calmly replied, "Oh? Is that so?"

"Your Majesty, please tell me, I also want to know how big the appetite of the Prince of Zhennan's mansion is."

Emperor Zhou then said, "The fiefdom is the Zhengui Division."

Upon hearing Zhou Huang's brief reply, Pei Shuhua's expression visibly turned cold, and the black aura around her involuntarily emanated outwards, causing the space around her to distort under its influence.

Pei Shuhua quickly calmed down, and she asked with a cold laugh, "Are these conditions proposed by the Prince of Zhennan's Mansion, or by His Majesty?"

In Pei Shuhua's view, if the Zhennan Prince's Mansion wanted to take this opportunity to rise again, what it would most likely want was fiefdom and military power, so how could it possibly be thinking about controlling the Zhengui Division?

Although controlling the Zhengui Division would threaten the royal family, it wouldn't necessarily be all good. The Zhengui Division has an obligation to suppress strange and evil spirits. If the Zhennan Prince's Mansion controls the Zhengui Division, then the heavy responsibility of suppressing strange and evil spirits will fall on the Zhennan Prince's Mansion in the future.

Although the Zhennan Prince's Mansion currently has many powerful figures, it's hard to say how many Earth Realm experts they will have left after this strange battle ends. At that time, they won't have the energy to manage the Zhengui Division.

Pei Shuhua believed that the five strange beings at the Earth Realm would definitely retaliate against the Zhennan Prince's Mansion. No matter how powerful the Zhennan Prince's Mansion was, many people would die in this war.

Therefore, in Pei Shuhua's view, the one who really wanted the Zhennan Prince's Mansion to take control of the Zhengui Division was not the Zhennan Prince, but the Zhou Emperor. The Zhou Emperor wanted to give him another trump card. With the Zhengui Division as a trump card, he would have the confidence to overturn the table.

Although Pei Shuhua saw through his little scheme, Emperor Zhou showed no panic on his face. He calmly said, "Naturally, it is the will of the Prince of Zhennan."

"If the Empress Dowager is unwilling, then so be it. The Prince of Zhennan's appetite is indeed too big; he actually wants to control the Zhengui Division."

Pei Shuhua glanced at Emperor Zhou with a cold gaze. Seeing that Emperor Zhou's expression did not change, she sneered and then said, "Whether it is the Prince of Zhennan's wish or Your Majesty's idea, I will agree. After all, Great Zhou belongs to Your Majesty and to the Ji family. Even Your Majesty does not care, so why would I care?"

Upon hearing Pei Shuhua's words, Emperor Zhou was stunned, his brows furrowing slightly. He could hardly believe what he was hearing. Did Pei Shuhua mean that she agreed?
You agreed so easily?

He thought Pei Shuhua would refuse immediately, and then wait for those five strange Earth Realm experts to cause trouble before she would have to compromise. He didn't expect her to agree at this moment.

Emperor Zhou had a vague sense of unease. Pei Shuhua was not worried at all about the Prince of Zhennan controlling the Zhengui Division, which meant that she was not worried at all that he, the emperor, had a trump card that could overturn the table. This proved that Pei Shuhua had an even stronger trump card in her hand.

Just as Emperor Zhou was still incredulous at Pei Shuhua's quick agreement, she spoke up, "Your Majesty, you should be more wary of the Prince of Zhennan's residence than of me. Don't forget, the Prince of Zhennan still possesses the aura of a dragon." Emperor Zhou snapped out of his reverie and said calmly, "Thank you for the reminder, Mother."

Pei Shuhua then turned and walked out of the main hall, saying as she went, "You'd better take care of yourself."

Pei Shuhua was no longer bothered to put on a show of maternal love and filial piety in front of Emperor Zhou. In her opinion, no matter how much Emperor Zhou struggled, he couldn't overturn the situation.

As for handing over the Zhengui Division to the Zhennan Prince's Mansion, she was not worried either. As long as the Zhennan Prince's Mansion took the initiative to fight against those few Earth Realm monsters, the Zhennan Prince's Mansion would inevitably suffer heavy losses, and it was hard to say how many people in the Zhennan Prince's Mansion would still be alive at that time.

Moreover, the Zhennan Prince's Mansion is currently very fragile. As soon as Lu Chen dies, the Zhennan Prince will be without an heir, and the Zhennan Prince's Mansion will disappear.

That's why Pei Shuhua agreed so readily.

Seeing Pei Shuhua's departing figure, Emperor Zhou clenched his fists tightly, his eyes filled with intense hatred.

a few days later.

The Prince of Zhennan's Mansion.

On the training ground, Lu Chen looked at the skeleton monster in front of him, which was locked onto by Zhao Yu's aura.

This skeleton monster possesses the strength of the early stage of the Spirit Realm. Zhao Yu personally went outside the capital to capture it for Lu Chen. In order to capture the skeleton monster without seriously injuring it, Zhao Yu spent a lot of effort.

Throughout the journey, Zhao Yu suppressed the skeleton monster with his aura, fearing that it might accidentally escape his control. He wasn't worried that the skeleton monster would escape from his grasp; what he was worried about was that if he couldn't suppress it, he would have to use force to injure it. If he severely injured the skeleton monster and then brought it back, the skeleton monster would lose its challenge for Lu Chen.

At this moment, Lu Chen drew the Demon-Slaying Sword and said to Zhao Yu, "Commander Zhao, release it from control."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Yu hesitated for a moment, then reminded him, "Your Highness, this skeleton monster has retained its full strength. You must be careful."

Lu Chen said, "I will be careful."

At this moment, Zhao Yu untied the Suppressing Rope that had bound the Skeleton Ghost, and then concealed his aura.

When the skeleton realized that its restraints had disappeared, its originally dim eyes instantly emitted a scarlet light, and the next moment, a bone sword appeared in its hand.

Perhaps sensing that Lu Chen was the weakest in the training ground, the Skeleton Ghost went straight for Lu Chen.

After gripping the Demon-Slaying Sword tightly, Lu Chen channeled spiritual energy into it, then swung the sword at the Skeleton Demon.

Just as the sword demon was about to touch the skeleton ghost, the skeleton ghost dodged easily and its body once again turned into a white afterimage, accelerating towards Lu Chen.

Without hesitation, Lu Chen swung the Demon-Slaying Sword again, unleashing countless sword strikes at the Skeleton Demon, but the Skeleton Demon always managed to dodge them easily.

Lu Chen's expression turned serious; it seemed that a fully-powered Spirit Realm evil spirit was indeed not so easy to deal with. (End of Chapter)