They all became female demons after being reborn.

Chapter 86 matches up! Everything matches up!

Sima Yue remained silent for a moment before speaking, "I'm afraid my relatives are also on the list."

Wu Cheng gave a thumbs up, "As expected of Lord Sima."

""

Sima Yue sighed softly, "Your Highness, if I may be so bold as to ask how much of what is said on the Northern Barbarian Hidden Dragon List is true?"

Wu Cheng was about to speak recklessly when Sima Yue interrupted him, "Please tell me the truth, Your Highness."

Wu Cheng then swallowed back the nonsense he was about to spout, and said seriously, "Ten percent, or even ninety percent."

Although Li Anchan had ill intentions, she did indeed bring him fame.

The stories about him on the Hidden Dragon List are mostly true, except that Li Anchan omitted some details about herself.

Sima Yue remained silent for a while, then raised her eyes and asked, "What does Your Highness think of my Sima family?"

Luo Shui is a top-tier fart-talker, a genius who murders the emperor in the street, a laughingstock for "Why don't they eat meat porridge?", a piece of trash during the War of the Eight Princes, the beginning of the Five Barbarian Invasions, and the ultimate source of laughter.

Of course, this was Wu Cheng's preconceived notion of the Sima family before his transmigration.

"I was just a fool back then, how could I have known?"

Wu Cheng smiled at the somewhat tired-looking woman, "But Lady Sima is the fiancée of Prince Yu, and your father is the highest-ranking official on that list. What does Lady Sima wish for?"

Sima Yue didn't speak, but instead pulled out a piece of paper from the bottom of the file and handed it to Wu Cheng.

It was a prescription for medicine, written on the imperial Chengxintang paper, the edges of which had been repeatedly folded and worn rough.

The prescription listed dozens of medicinal herbs in extremely small regular script, with two key ingredients listed at the end.

Placenta, child marrow.

Wu Cheng took the prescription, glanced at it, and looked up at her. "Childhood marrow is the bone marrow of a child... Who wrote this prescription?"

"The Imperial Preceptor, Zen Master Yuantong of Garan Temple." Sima Yue's tone was as calm as if she were reading an official document, but the knuckles of her fingers, which were pressed on the file, were slightly white. "The Grand Eunuch of the Eastern Palace, Cao Ying, left the palace nineteen times in three years, each time around the time of the child's disappearance."

"I sent people to secretly search Cao Ying's private residence outside the palace, and found this prescription in the cellar and copied it."

Sima Yue paused, then looked up and stared directly at Wu Cheng.

Sunlight streamed through the cracks in the window and fell on her dark green collar, making the skin of her neck almost transparent.

The color in her lips faded slightly. "My father is not a member of the Prince of Yu's faction; he is merely skilled at interpreting the Emperor's intentions."

Wu Cheng stroked his chin thoughtfully, "What Father Emperor wants is to accumulate merit and blessings. If he can live a long and healthy life, that would be best. If not, then he can be reincarnated and become emperor again in the next life."

Sima Yue said softly, "This is the third time His Majesty has given up his life at the Garan Temple in five years. Each time, it costs 100 million coins to redeem him. That money... all comes from the Ministry of Revenue, not the Imperial Treasury."

Wu Cheng felt like laughing.

He recalled his visit to his adoptive father, where he mentioned his frugality, saying he wore no more than eight sets of clothes for all four seasons.

That's really funny.

"So your father didn't support Prince Yu, but rather the Emperor wanted a prince to challenge the Crown Prince. He chose Prince Yu before, but now he's chosen me?"

No wonder his cheap father not only didn't blame him for killing the third son, but also granted him the title of king and a house outside the palace, and even promised that he would still be the top scholar on the Great Yu's Hidden Dragon List.

It turns out it wasn't just because of so-called "mercy," but because after the third brother died, he was pulled out to compete with the second brother, the crown prince.

"Yes, that's why I chose to support Your Highness." Sima Yue lowered his eyes slightly. "At the very least... Your Highness has the people in your heart."

Wu Cheng rubbed his temples. "So your father wasn't the mastermind; the real mastermind is the Crown Prince, and his intention was to use those children to concoct medicine to curry favor with the Emperor?"

Sima Yue did not respond directly, but said, "All the children my father took in have been handed over to me. I am raising them in Xu Family Village outside the city, and the medicinal ingredient has been replaced with a condemned prisoner. If Your Highness does not believe me, I can send someone to accompany Your Highness to see for yourself."

"But other families are beyond my control."

Oh, so the mastermind behind it all is the Crown Prince, and his goal is to curry favor with the Imperial Preceptor Yuantong and the Emperor.

No wonder all the information stopped when it reached Sima Xun, the Vice Minister of Revenue; it turns out the person behind it was a nobleman in the palace.

However, this woman managed to absolve her father of all responsibility.

Wu Cheng remained noncommittal. "Then, Lord Sima, please tell me the truth. What is your purpose?"

Now she has both old and new grudges against the Crown Prince.

Even if it weren't for the sake of the people, but just for their own lives, they had no choice but to fight for the throne.

Sima Yue cupped his hands and said, "Your Highness's concern for the people is admirable. Your humble servant is willing to assist Your Highness in the struggle for the throne."

Wu Cheng appeared overjoyed, saying, "With your help, I would truly be like a fish in water!"

It turns out that he was supposed to choose sides because he was destined to be dragged out by the emperor to fight against the crown prince, and since he had been foolish for sixteen years and had no power to assist him, he planned to offer help in his time of need.

Well, if it really helps, that's fine too.

Let's see if she has any real skills.

Wu Cheng asked, "Then what should I do?"

"Your Highness needs to have a sharp edge, but not too much of one," Sima Yue said eloquently. "If you are too sharp, you may be able to overshadow the Crown Prince, but you will be feared by the Emperor."

"Furthermore, Your Highness has no one in the court, so you should go deep into the martial world to build up your reputation as a chivalrous person, make connections with border generals and famous sects, and then wait for the right time."

She smiled. "And this is what Your Highness should do."

Wu Cheng thought about it and agreed.

The only soldiers capable of fighting in the Great Yu Dynasty were the border troops. The people in Lin'an City were so frightened by the sight of him riding a tall horse that they would faint and call him a tiger. This shows just how formidable the Imperial Guards were.

They also forged alliances with border armies and prominent sects.

Isn't this the Wentian Sect and Xue Jianren's father, Xue Baichuan?

Could this also be the reason why my cheap father sent me to Wentian Sect as a hostage?

That's true. What the cheapskate father wants is to live forever or be emperor again after reincarnation. Therefore, he doesn't care who the crown prince is, but the crown prince cannot threaten his position as emperor.

With the name of the Wentian Sect at stake, even if he were truly a fool, he could still push him out to fight in the arena and force the Wentian Sect to the opposite side of the Crown Prince.

No wonder the Crown Prince ordered Meghan Seng to ambush him en route; he had probably already secretly bribed Meghan Seng.

No wonder the Wentian Sect treated him so well, and even his senior sister went to Shen Family Village to wait for him in advance.

Shen Yeshu is so good to me, I guess the Demonic Sect has some plans for this too.

The third brother was happy to see this happen, so he also wanted to take the opportunity to get rid of him, since he was the first one to take his ecological niche.

It matches! It matches perfectly!

These things are actually all connected by themselves, but I had never thought about them in detail before.

Now, Sima Yue has managed to connect everything with just a few words; she's quite good at guiding people.

She probably already knows about the bets placed on her by Wentian Sect and Xue Baichuan, and may have even planned everything out in advance.

Truly living up to the name Sima!