You, a tyrannical ruler, roam the heavens; you cannot understand my joy.

Jiangyun Palace, by the window.

"They're really keeping a close watch on us..."

Lu Zuo stood there, gazing out the window. Squads of armored soldiers stood outside the red walls, their bright armor gleaming coldly in the morning light.

At the corner of the palace road, under the shadow of the eaves, the black-clad guards stood motionless like statues, their expressions vigilant, their eyes scanning the surroundings, monitoring every movement.

Not only that...

A faint breath could be heard emanating from at least a dozen places among the nearby flowers and trees.

The entire Jiangyun Palace is under close surveillance!

He lightly tapped his index finger against the side of his thigh, thinking to himself, "The final battle has finally arrived!"

"But will it be tonight or tomorrow?"

"Without understanding this, many things cannot be done..."

"His Majesty."

Su Yanzhi called out softly, walked to the window, closed it, and used her inner energy to cover her voice to prevent it from leaking out: "They're here."

"Stay here and watch over things for me."

Lu Zuo tossed out a sentence, turned around and walked into the inner hall, opened the entrance to the tunnel, and jumped in.

As soon as Pu landed, he saw Chu Yunlong sitting on the ground, drenched in sweat and panting heavily, his chest heaving: "Huff... huff... I almost missed it."

"Your Majesty... Li Cheng'an has arrived in the capital!"

It was indeed a false signal!

Lu Zuo's eyes sharpened, and he asked in a deep voice, "Did you see clearly?"

"Um."

Chu Yunlong nodded vigorously: "Huang Ye, Lin Ruhai, and the Soul-Snatcher, along with I, are guarding the main road leading to the capital and several side roads, as ordered by His Majesty."

"As it turned out, the old eunuch had actually blended into the caravan, and they almost got away with it."

Lu Zuo then asked, "What about the Shen family?"

Chu Yunlong: "They have too many experts, and the Black-Clad Guards are also monitoring the area, so Judge Yin doesn't dare to get too close."

"The specific details of the Shen family are unknown, but one thing is certain: many members of the Shen family have gone to the old Shen family residence."

The Shen family's old house...

Xuancheng Gate!

Of the four gates of the palace, the west gate is the closest to Jiangyun Palace!

Lu Zuo pondered to himself, "Since Li Cheng'an has arrived in the capital ahead of schedule, we can roughly estimate when he will make his move."

"As early as tonight, or at the latest tomorrow!"

"If I were Li Chengan or Shi Wenqing, which day would I choose?"

After much deliberation, Lu Zuo concluded that tomorrow night was more likely.

The reason is very simple.

Although the Shen family had summoned a large number of martial artists to the capital to fight against Shi Wenqing and Li Chengan, the imperial study's order to conduct a thorough investigation of the Shen family that day was tantamount to declaring that "the emperor is going to deal with the Shen family!"

In that case, they will surely change their plans and stage a coup under the pretext of "purging the emperor's inner circle"!

As long as you keep yourself in control, everything can be salvaged!

But storming the palace is no simple matter; without an inside accomplice, there is virtually no hope!

and so……

The Shen family must unleash all their trump cards and go all in!

This brings us to the advantages of powerful and influential families: they control the channels of advancement and secretly place their own people in positions of power.

Even if Shi Wenqing and Li Chengan completely reshuffled the generals of the Imperial Guard and the Five Cities Garrison, there would still be a Shen family spy who would rise to power.

There's no other way; if you don't choose this, you have to choose that.

Both this person and that person could be members of the Shen family.

At the end of the Ming Dynasty, Emperor Chongzhen faced the same problem: no matter how he changed generals and officials, they were all people from the cultural and administrative groups and gentry...

If I were to deal with such a powerful and influential clan, I would surely succeed in one strike and leave no future troubles!

and so……

The best way is to let the Shen family expose themselves!

"Understood!"

Once Lu Zuo understood this crucial point, it was like a sudden enlightenment!

Chu Yunlong was taken aback: "Your Majesty, what do you understand?"

"Secrets will lead to success!"

"I have never understood why Shi Wenqing and Li Chengan wanted to target the Shen family, knowing that this is the largest force dependent on the imperial family."

"Why was there an advance warning, forbidding me from meeting the Empress?"

"I had previously thought they were afraid the Empress would get the decree from me, but upon reflection, that reason is not sufficient."

After all, I am still under the control of the King of Hell, who commands you to die at midnight, and I dare not disobey their orders.

After adding a thought to himself, Lu Zuo continued, "So, they are deliberately putting pressure on the Shen family!"

"Let the Shen family lose their composure and gather their strength."

"When the time is right, stage a political performance to make the Shen family believe that I want to deal with them, forcing them to take a desperate gamble!"

"so……"

"The decisive battle will take place tomorrow night!"

Chu Yunlong scratched his head, puzzled, and asked, "Speed ​​is of the essence in war, wouldn't tonight be more advantageous?"

Lu Zuo scoffed, "It's not that easy!"

"Activating the secret agents, contacting other minor families affiliated with the Shen family, etc., will all take time."

"One day..."

"That's already their fastest speed!"

After a moment's thought, Lu Zuo instructed, "If I am not mistaken, the spies around the Ren residence will be withdrawn tomorrow afternoon."

"You have to tell Judge Yin to inform Ren Zhong to proceed according to plan after the secret agents have left."

"How many people did Wang Zheng summon?"

Chu Yunlong shook his head: "I don't know, he's still waiting."

"Then let's invite Zhu Yuyan over first."

"Yes." Chu Yunlong cupped his hands in greeting, turned and left, while Lu Zuo also returned to the inner hall of Jiangyun Palace.

"Someone, summon Consort Zhang to Jiangyun Palace to serve you."

There is one advantage to being licentious and immoral: as long as one puts on a show for outsiders to see that he is indulging in debauchery in broad daylight, no one will dare to enter the Crimson Cloud Palace.

and……

Summoning a woman whom the emperor is deeply infatuated with to serve him, in the eyes of outsiders, would not arouse any suspicion.

……

A short while later, outside the Crimson Cloud Palace.

Zhao An and Xiao Dezi took a break and drank imperial wine and ate plump roast chicken behind the artificial hill.

"Zhao An, do you think His Majesty is under house arrest?"

The two men were from the same hometown, entered the palace together, worshipped Li Cheng'an as their ancestor, lived in the same courtyard, and had a very good relationship with each other, speaking without any reservations.

"Oh....."

Zhao An chuckled, picked up the wine pot, filled his own cup, and took a sip. "Haven't you figured out the winds are blowing this far?"

"This realm is no longer ruled by the emperor!"

"Shh!" Li De quickly made a shushing gesture: "Watch your words!"

"How can you say such things carelessly?"

"What are you afraid of?" Zhao An waved his hand dismissively. "Ever since His Majesty returned to the capital last time, I've sensed that something's not quite right."

"He never disobeyed a single one of our ancestors' instructions!"

"He has to do whatever you tell him to do, as obedient as a dog!"

"Several times I deliberately acted disrespectfully, and he just glanced at me and said nothing."

"In addition..."

He looked up at the armored soldiers beneath the red wall and sneered, "With this house arrest added to the equation, I can conclude that Chen Shubao is nothing but a puppet!"

"From now on, all we need to do is to be filial to our ancestors."

"Just you wait and see."

Something big is definitely going to happen soon!

"After this is over, hmph!"

"It's still hard to say who the servant is and who the master is!"

"Um?"

"Zhang Jieyu?"

At that moment, Zhao An's gaze pierced through the gaps in the artificial hill, and he saw Zhang Lihua walking lightly towards Jiangyun Palace.

He clicked his tongue slightly, secretly marveling, "So beautiful..."

"Such an unparalleled beauty, and she just happened to fall into the hands of that tyrannical emperor?"

"God is truly blind!"