A thousand-year-old family begins with one fighting against ten thousand.

Liang Kingdom.

The news of the Edict of Grace arrived even before the news of Chao Cuo's arrival.

Apart from Liu Mai, the eldest son of King Liu Wu of Liang, and Liu Bushi, the other three sons were all irresistibly tempted.

Who would rather be a marquis than a king?

As for the fact that the Liang Kingdom was divided and its power greatly reduced, what does that have to do with them? Anyway, it's not theirs.

Liu Mai and Liu Bushi were unhappy.

One was Liu Wu's eldest son, and the other was Liu Wu's most beloved son, both of whom were the most likely to inherit the entire Liang Kingdom.

According to the Edict of Grace, they were originally entitled to inherit a large kingdom, but now they can only inherit half its size, a difference that is not insignificant.

They wouldn't even consider giving it to their brothers, since it was a fiefdom!

It is the ancestral worship and temple that have been passed down through generations, and this is more important than anything else.

Compared to that, what are brothers!

Liu Mai consulted with his advisors and decided to use the excuse that the King of Liang was not present to stall for time.

Liu Mai is still basking in the glory of Liang's powerful national strength; even the allied forces of Wu and Chu were defeated by Liang. (This is propaganda spread by the King of Liang within the kingdom.)

The world is vast, and even when comparing the strength of the imperial court and the Liang Kingdom, they are merely evenly matched.

In his view, none of the feudal lords in the land would agree to this matter, and if the imperial court dared to forcefully push it forward, it would inevitably lead to a situation where the whole country rebelled.

At that time, as the closest bloodline to the emperor and the most powerful vassal state, Liang might also have a chance to covet the dragon throne.

Liu Mai could also become the crown prince and then the emperor!

Liu Bushi was even bolder; he directly contacted the retainers he had secretly cultivated and ordered them to kill Chao Cuo.

The imperial decree never reached Liang; whoever came to him, he would kill.

This way, one wouldn't have to obey the imperial court's orders.

Liu Bushi's retainers were quite capable; they quickly intercepted Chao Cuo's convoy on the road.

However, they were far inferior to the Imperial Guards that Wei Yu had carefully selected for Chao Cuo.

They were quickly captured alive by the Imperial Guards.

When Chao Cuo saw his captured retainers, he burst into laughter.

Openly attacking and killing court officials, the emperor's envoys, and the central imperial guards, it's clear that Prince Liu Wu of Liang has very low political wisdom, and the people he has raised are all useless.

This crime alone could make the entire Liang Kingdom suffer a terrible fate.

"Let's go, take these assassins with us. I want to see what Liang Kingdom is up to. Are they planning a rebellion?"

the other side.

"Useless, all of them are useless!"

Liu Bushi angrily rebuked his kneeling subordinates below, feeling somewhat flustered. Like his father, whenever he made a mistake, he would think of seeking help from his mother.

He and Liu Mai were both born to Lady Li, the wife of King Liu Wu of Liang. Lady Li also favored her youngest son. In the past, when he caused trouble, Liu Wu and Lady Li would help him smooth things over.

On the way, Chao Cuo also interrogated several assassins to obtain information. He was a Legalist, so this was his specialty.

To his surprise, these assassins were not sent by Liu Mai, the heir apparent of the Liang King, but by Liu Bushi, the youngest son of the Liang King.

Liu Bushi and Liu Mai were born of the same mother. Could their relationship be so close that Liu Bushi would even forgo a title and fiefdom to help his brother solve his troubles?

According to the Edict of Grace, half of the Liang Kingdom belonged to the heir apparent Liu Mai, while the other half was divided equally among the other sons. Of the 48 counties in the Liang Kingdom, Liu Bushi was able to obtain a whole prefecture as his fiefdom to establish his ancestral temple.

Unexpectedly, Liu Bushi was so loyal and righteous, which made Chao Cuo somewhat admire him.

This appreciation didn't last long. After arriving in Liang, Emperor Jing of Han arranged for an embroidered envoy from Liang to deliver a message to Chao Cuo. After reading the message, Chao Cuo's lips twitched.

He realized he was terribly wrong; this wasn't brotherly affection at all, it was clearly a case of fraternal love between brothers.

So Liu Bushi sent people to intercept and kill him so that he could inherit the entire Liang Kingdom!

In this way, these assassins can no longer be used to directly identify Liu Mai, the heir apparent of the Liang King.

No, no, no, you can.

This will be even more effective.

Didn't Liu Mai's faction send anyone?

Of course, it's clear.

So who sent these assassins?

Of course, it's Liu Bushi.

He is the only one with this motive. If we take this opportunity to remove him from power, given Liu Wu and Li Shi's favoritism, the new heir will be Liu Bushi.

This was an attempt to kill him, and Liu Mai couldn't tolerate it.

That'll be a good show; dogs fighting, a real mess.

After planning his future, Chao Cuo ordered his imperial guards to kill the assassins. Then, without hesitation, he picked up a knife and stabbed himself in the chest, before having someone take him to a clinic for treatment.

After bandaging him up, Chao Cuo ordered the Imperial Guards to carry him and the assassin's body to the Liang Prince's residence in a menacing manner.

Liu Mai and his men rushed out to greet him, and were startled to see Chao Cuo's pale face and the bandages wrapped around his body.

Chao Cuo was an envoy of the imperial court. If something happened in Liang, no matter how many people in Liang tried to explain it, they would not be able to clear their names.

He was especially alarmed when he saw the Imperial Guards leading several corpses dressed in clothes that clearly belonged to the Liang Kingdom.

"Lord Chao, are you alright?"

"Where's the doctor? Where the hell are you? Get over here right now!"

"No need, Your Highness, a doctor has already applied the medicine to me."

Chao Cuo refused.

"Your Highness, as His Majesty's envoy, I was assassinated near the capital of Liang while under the protection of the Imperial Guards. According to the assassins, they were brought by Your Highness. Do you intend to rebel?"

He sent assassins?!

Doesn't he know whether he sent assassins or not?!

He didn't!

Could it be that one of his subordinates did this behind his back?!

Which idiot is it?!

Liu Mai cursed inwardly, but he could not admit to such a thing, especially since the person was already dead and there was no way to verify it!

"Innocent! Lord Chao, this must be a frame-up!"

"Someone is framing us!"

Liu Mai looked completely aggrieved. "Lord Chao has already arrived in Liang. If I send someone to assassinate him at this time, wouldn't that just make it obvious that I'm an assassin?"

"Does Your Highness mean that if I hadn't arrived in Liang by the time Your Highness received the news, Your Highness would have taken my life?"

Chao Cuo seized upon a minor flaw in Liu Mai's words and wouldn't let it go.

"No, no, that's not what I meant. What I meant was that this assassin wasn't from my faction, and I have no intention of opposing the imperial court."

Liu Mai's tone was somewhat agitated, and he tried to take a few steps forward, but was stopped by the Imperial Guards.

"Oh? There's no intention to oppose the court. Does Your Highness mean that you're willing to allow the princes to enjoy His Majesty's favor and agree to implement the Grace Decree in Liang, dividing Liang among the princes in the future?"

Chao Cuo discovered that whether it was Liu Mai or Liu Bushi, they were both sons of King Liu Wu of Liang, their personalities were practically identical, and their abilities were equally useless.

Liu Mai then realized the trap in Chao Cuo's words and had no choice but to avoid the topic.

"Our father is still in Chang'an. We cannot make decisions on such important matters."

Chao Cuo nodded. Indeed, the Liang Kingdom is still ruled by the King of Liang, and all power is in his hands.

"I believe that His Highness the Crown Prince has no intention of opposing the court."

Chao Cuo's words were meaningful and contained a double entendre.

"These assassins are now in Your Highness's hands. I hope Your Highness will find out who is trying to sow discord between Your Highness and the court, and what benefit they would gain from this?"