If you're made a fake emperor, why did you change the country's name?

The night was as dark as ink, and the hustle and bustle of the imperial city faded away, leaving only silence.

Entrance to the imperial mausoleum.

The dragon carriage slowly arrived at the entrance and came to a stop.

Zhao Yu dismounted from the imperial carriage and waved to Wei An and the others who had followed.

"Wait outside as usual."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Zhao Yu easily made his way to the ninth floor of the Tianji Pavilion, where nine white-haired elders bowed in greeting.

"No need for formalities."

Zhao Yu didn't waste any words and got straight to the point.

"Activate the Heavenly Mirror. I want to see Qian Zhentian's image."

"Yes."

The nine elders exchanged glances, said no more, and each walked to the array node carved on the ground and sat down cross-legged.

They simultaneously circulated their internal energy, causing the image on the ancient bronze mirror to change and fluctuate...

Palaces and pavilions, green plants and artificial hills.

On the artificial hill, Qian Zhentian's imposing figure stood steadily, his gaze fixed on a palace road in the distance.

He stood very high, in a very conspicuous position, but none of the palace servants and guards who occasionally passed by below glanced in his direction, as if he didn't exist at all.

Soon, a dragon-drawn carriage procession appeared on the palace road.

Zhao Yu recognized it; it was the scene that Li Fu'an had stopped him this morning when he was returning to the palace from the city wall.

Sure enough, Qiu Ping's figure emerged from the side in a strange manner, reported the situation to him, and then he told Wei An to step back.

Upon seeing this scene, Qian Zhentian's calm face flashed with surprise. He stared intently at the direction where Qiu Ping had disappeared, muttering to himself.

"There was such a hidden master, I didn't even notice him at first."

Zhao Yu's heart sank when he saw this scene at Tianji Pavilion.

Just as he suspected, this seemingly honest and simple uncle had a big problem!

Not only did they sneak into the palace undetected, but they also secretly watched him from the shadows.

The scene continues.

The imperial carriage was stopped halfway by Li Fu'an, who handed over the forged imperial edict.

Immediately afterwards, Li Fu'an suddenly sprang up and struck the dragon carriage with a palm, causing it to explode.

In that instant, the internal energy within Zhao Yu's body activated on its own, and a powerful aura of earth dragon erupted, completely neutralizing Li Fu'an's palm strike.

Qian Zhentian, who was hiding on the artificial hill, suddenly changed his expression, his face filled with disbelief, and he said in a fit of rage:

"How is this possible? This powerful earth dragon aura? How is this possible? Could it really be...?"

Qian Zhentian didn't say what he was going to say, but he couldn't hide the shock on his face.

Then, Qian Zhentian appeared, suppressing Li Fu'an and attempting to kill him with a single blow, but Li Fu'an stopped him.

Zhao Yu carefully observed Qian Zhentian's movements.

Upon closer inspection, he indeed noticed something he hadn't seen before: when Qian Zhentian was talking to him, his facial expression clearly showed some anxiety!

Zhao Yu pondered: Could it be that Qian Zhentian, having sensed the aura of the earth dragon, dispelled his suspicions and, in order to prevent a rift in their relationship, was in such a hurry to kill and eliminate Li Fu'an, this "pawn"?

The image on the mirror ends here, and the ancient bronze color is restored.

Zhao Yu frowned.

He kept replaying the scene in his mind, feeling that something was wrong.

However, judging from the footage, Qian Zhentian does seem to have dispelled his doubts.

But his intuition told him that things were not that simple.

Zhao Yu was suddenly stunned, realizing what was wrong!

How could a general who leads troops into battle possess such superb acting skills?!

While all's fair in war, and some acting skills are necessary, even a genius like Qian Batian, who can only be discerned through subtle facial expressions, would need to spend a great deal of time practicing!

Therefore, the only possibility is that Qian Batian spent a lot of time on acting!

In other words, he has been hiding some secret through acting.

But what secret could it be that would make this general etch acting into his very bones?

Zhao Yu shook his head, unable to figure it out for the time being. It seemed he could only try to find out later.

He bowed to the nine elders and then turned to leave the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion.

Outside the imperial tomb, the night breeze was even cooler.

When Wei An saw him come out, he quickly and cautiously went to greet him.

The imperial carriage started again and slowly drove towards the palace.

The atmosphere inside the carriage was somewhat somber.

Wei An's eyes darted around, and he leaned forward obsequiously, lowering his voice.

"Your Majesty, it's late. Shall we summon a few concubines to serve you in bed later?"

Zhao Yu waved his hand.

His mind was completely occupied with Shang Tianxia and Qian Zhentian; he had no time for anything else.

Besides, he's a monogamous man; he'll never touch a woman unless she's incredibly beautiful!

Seeing this, Wei An not only did not back down, but moved even closer and lowered his voice.

"If Your Majesty doesn't fancy these ladies in the harem, there's no rush."

"In a few days, the Wolf Kingdom will suffer a defeat and will surely send envoys to sue for peace. At that time, we can make some demands in the alliance treaty."

"This servant has heard that there is a princess in the Wolf Kingdom named Xiaoyue Beier, whose beauty and figure are hailed as the most beautiful woman in the Wolf Kingdom!"

Wei An winked and gave a knowing look that any man would understand.

Zhao Yu was taken aback.

"What do you mean? What alliance?"

He really didn't know that.

Wei An was also stunned, but he reacted quickly and apologized and explained:

"Your Majesty, please forgive me! It is this servant who deserves to die! I have forgotten that Your Majesty is the Supreme Ruler of the Nine Dragons, how can you be like this servant, concerned with such lowly matters?"

Zhao Yu tapped the car frame lightly and said calmly, "You are innocent. Speak."

Wei An nodded repeatedly and began to explain:

"In the past, the seven kingdoms established a rule that whenever two kingdoms fought, once a winner was determined, the victorious kingdom could make three demands on the defeated kingdom. Unless the demands were reasonable, the defeated kingdom could not refuse them."

"If the defeated nation does not accept, then the war will continue. But if we are defeated again, then the conditions proposed by the victorious nation will no longer be subject to any restrictions."

Zhao Yu could understand, because this world placed great importance on bloodlines. Without dragon blood, even if one seized the throne, the final result would only be being attacked by other bloodline nations.

This led to a distorted set of rules, where even fighting was only superficial.

Wei An raised his head, his face once again plastered with a fawning smile.

"The Wolf Kingdom has been severely weakened by His Majesty's attack. Let alone a mere Howling Moon's treacherous son, even if His Majesty demanded they cede a hundred miles of territory and send over ten thousand beauties, they would have no choice but to accept it!"

Zhao Yu understood the situation, but he pretended to be displeased and glanced at Wei An.

"You're so clever."

"This servant deserves to die! All my thoughts have been devoted to Your Majesty!" Wei An hurriedly kowtowed twice more.

"However, there's some truth to what you said."

Zhao Yu stroked his chin, seemingly lost in thought.

"The harem really needs to be expanded."

He looked at Wei An.

"When will the envoy from the Wolf Kingdom arrive?"

Wei An perked up and quickly replied.

"Your Majesty, based on the journey, we will definitely arrive in the capital within three days at most!"

Zhao Yu nodded.

"Very well, I have read it! Return to the palace and go to sleep!"

The imperial carriage came to a stop outside the palace.

"Your Majesty, we've arrived. Please take your time," Wei An said softly.

Zhao Yu hummed in agreement, stepped out of the imperial carriage, and headed towards the palace gate.

All he wanted to do now was lie down on that comfortable dragon bed and get a good night's sleep.

Pushing open the heavy palace door, a warm fragrance wafted towards me.

The candlelight flickered inside the palace.

A graceful figure dressed in a phoenix robe stood by the window admiring the moon. Hearing footsteps, she did not turn around.

Zhao Yu paused for a moment, recognizing the beautiful figure as Empress Meng Qing at a glance!

"It's so late, why hasn't the Empress rested yet?"

The empress then turned around, her alluring face appearing even more captivating in the moonlight.

"I heard that you agreed to grant the five great families the right to recruit soldiers?" The Empress's face showed obvious worry.

Zhao Yu walked to her side, glanced at the moon, shrugged, and casually said:

"There's no other way. If we don't give it to them, they won't let it go. They'll cause trouble for me in the local areas, and then we won't be able to do many things later."

Seeing the helpless expression on Zhao Yu's face, the Empress's worry disappeared, and a smile suddenly appeared on her lips, her eyes full of meaning.

"You wicked brat, are you plotting something again?"

Zhao Yu raised an eyebrow. Good heavens, his acting skills had been certified, how could he be seen through so easily?

It just goes to show that you should never challenge a woman's intuition!

But Zhao Yu still wanted to try, so he feigned innocence and said, "I'm innocent, my dear wife! I'm so young, and they're all so old..."

Before he could finish speaking, he was interrupted by the Empress.

"I would never wrong anyone but you! I know better than anyone how wicked you are."

Seeing that he couldn't keep up the act any longer, Zhao Yu had no choice but to drop the pretense, saying, "You can't hide anything from me."

He pulled the Empress close by the waist and said with a wicked grin, "But, what kind of 'wicked' are you referring to, my wife? I'm not quite sure."

A faint blush rose to the Empress's cheeks, and she let out a soft hum.

"You know exactly what kind of bad thing you're doing!"

She suddenly stood up, trying to break free and leave.

Zhao Yu stood up and pulled her into his arms. He turned around and pressed her against the window behind him.

"Since we're already here, how can we let our wife leave empty-handed?"

Zhao Yu leaned in and lowered his head to kiss him.

"Hey, get out of the way! It's already there!"

The empress was both angry and anxious, and reached out to press her hand against his chest.

Zhao Yu's movements came to an abrupt halt.

He then remembered that he had hit his target with a single shot.

He had no choice but to awkwardly release his grip and step back from her.

After being released, the Empress was not relieved; instead, she became even angrier.

She suddenly jumped up from the windowsill, her phoenix eyes glaring at him.

"You think you'll just let go when I tell you to?! Can't you be a little more proactive?!"

Zhao Yu shrugged.

He takes initiative naturally, but he never takes it too far.

Back in the 20th century, even legally married couples who were married could have an affair if the man was too proactive!

The Empress was so angry at his appearance that her chest heaved.

"Then you'll just have to stay home alone!"

She snorted coldly, stood up, and walked out of the hall without looking back.

With a loud bang, the palace doors were slammed shut.

Zhao Yu rubbed his ears, completely unconcerned about the loud noise.

So be it, I'll just stay in my empty room.

Anyway, in a few days, a wild and charming girl will come knocking on my door.

He yawned, took off his coat, and lay down on the large dragon bed, wondering what a wild-style girl would look like.

After all, she's the most beautiful woman in the Wolf Kingdom, so she can't be bad, right?