Just a few days ago, the Liu family secured the release of the detained Princess Lin. Xiling City immediately made its position clear: since Princess Lin belonged to Young Master Liu, Xiling City was willing to marry the Liu family and provide political and military assistance if necessary.

This made his already deep-seated sense of crisis even more intensified. Haoyue Kingdom had been surnamed Xiao for thousands of years, and yet it still had a regent in charge of government. He couldn't guarantee whether Liu Zhang would become the next regent of Yanyang Kingdom, or...

So, he took advantage of the opportunity when Ye Xueruo drugged Xu Wanrong in the ginger soup, and had sex with Xu Wanrong after the night banquet, and insisted on enthroning her as queen against all odds.

As expected, it was strongly opposed by the officials of the Liu family. Several uncles even boycotted court in protest, and Empress Dowager Liu also instigated several concubines in the harem to protest.

In the end, it was Jiang Yulou who stepped forward to give his full support, which made this matter possible.

Jiang Yulou's help also made his position clear and boosted the arrogance of the Xu family.

The Liu family, with the support of military forces, and the Xu family, with the blessing of imperial power, were like scales with weights added to them, and they began to shake.

Murong Yao looked at Jiang Yulou for help, hoping that he would say something to ease the atmosphere in the court.

Jiang Yulou understood and stepped forward, still trying to smooth things over. He addressed the deputy general who had been brought by Prime Minister Liu to report on the military situation, and asked, "This morning, I received a report from the Black Sail Army stating that the bandit leader Fu Yi is personally guarding Nanguan City. Since you insist that Young Master Liu has captured the city, then you should send someone to return Fu Yi's head to the capital..."

So, where is Fu Yi's head?"

As soon as these words were spoken, it was confirmed that Liu Zhang had lied about military intelligence and failed to capture Nanguan City. The expressions on the faces of several people changed subtly.

The deputy general was panicked and quickly explained, "Fu Yi didn't defend the South Gate. When we broke through the city, the remaining soldiers in the city quickly surrendered. The fate of the southern border has been exhausted..."

"Come here," Jiang Yulou shouted from the hall, "Drag this southern border spy out and interrogate him strictly."

Censor Xu immediately stepped forward and said, "The Dali Temple is composed of the Liu family's clan. I suggest that the interrogation should be handed over to the Censorate."

"Wait!" Liu Xiang stopped the two with a cold face. The man was his confidant sent to monitor Liu Zhang, and he still trusted him very much.

"These are all one-sided statements from you. You are not happy with my son Liu Zhang's achievements, but you are just fabricating accusations. Fu Yi is so cunning and deceitful, how could he possibly guard Nanguan City in person?"

Censor Xu pressed him hard, demanding that he honor the military order he had signed at the time. However, he insisted that Liu Zhang had already captured Nanguan City within the stipulated time.

The two sides argued again. Murong Yao was obviously biased towards Xu's party and wanted to take the opportunity to take away his military power.

Jiang Yulou sighed slightly and stopped the farce in the court.

Prime Minister Liu walked away angrily with a dark face. Murong Yao simply withdrew from the court, leaving Censor Xu and Jiang Yulou in the hall to discuss matters.

"Prime Minister Liu is really looking down on me more and more. If he continues to act this way, I'm afraid he will help his son ascend the throne!"

Censor Xu only advised Murong Yao not to act rashly. The Liu family was indeed deeply rooted in the court, and it would be very difficult to eradicate them completely.

Jiang Yulou also advised him to act calmly, "Your Majesty, if you can't strike the snake at its weakest point and defeat the enemy with one strike, you must not alert the enemy."

Murong Yao's eyes were gloomy and his expression was slightly dissatisfied.

The two men in the hall exchanged glances, and Censor Xu spoke up, "This Fu Yi suddenly abandoned the Southern Border and built another city. While this gives us a pretext to deal with the Liu family, this move is truly puzzling. I'm afraid the Southern Border has other motives."

Jiang Yulou analyzed: "Nanguan City is a strategic location in the southern border. It is easy to defend but difficult to attack. If he loses Nanguan City, it will be useless even if he strengthens the remaining cities.

In my opinion, he built two identical cities simply to confuse our army, making us wait and see rather than attack rashly, giving them room to maneuver."

"According to Jiang Qing's analysis, I should immediately send troops to attack Fengming City."

"Your Majesty, the best strategy is to capture Nanguan City and then quickly attack Fengming City."

Censor Xu hesitated and said, "But, ordering a hasty attack on Fengming City now would be acknowledging the Liu family's achievements. Prime Minister Liu is already arrogant. If he were to take over the southern border, he would probably become even more arrogant."

Murong Yao stroked his chin and nodded, "We have to find a way to kill his power."

"It is safer to hold the military power in your own hands. Your Majesty must find a way to take over the Liu family's troops."

Just as the three of them were racking their brains over how to take away the military power from Prime Minister Liu, Ye Fan came with a fan and a jade token to ask for a meeting.

He presented two items and reported truthfully: "Your Majesty, this item seems to be a royal item. I have seen it once in Murong Yan's possession. Now it appears among the regent's relics. I am not sure of its authenticity, so I leave it to Your Majesty for identification."

Murong Yao picked up the jade token and raised his voice, "It is indeed a secret order from Murong Yan's secret guards!"

Ye Fan presented the fan and said truthfully, “It appeared on the Regent’s body together with this fan.

I have carefully examined this fan and have found no interlayer, nor do I find any mystery in the poem on it.

Murong Yao took the fan, unfolded it and looked through it.

"This is a poem written by Murong Yan himself. My brother is illiterate and has no knowledge of poetry, so he rarely leaves behind any writings."

Jiang Yulou stroked his chin and analyzed, "Murong Yan's things appeared on the regent of Haoyue Kingdom. Doesn't that mean that Haoyue Kingdom and the Southern Territory have been colluding for a long time?"

"The painting on this fan is actually Liu Yan's authentic work. It's made of fine silk satin, the paint is exquisite, and there's even gold thread... Whoever bought this painting must have paid a huge price for it. It's such a waste to have it inlaid with Murong Yan's calligraphy."

"Murong Yan's jade token and Liu Yan's painting appeared on the Regent's person." Ye Fan's eyes suddenly lit up, and he reported, "When the Regent entered Yong'an City, the postmaster checked their belongings and didn't find these two items. Someone must have given them to him later."

Censor Xu suddenly realized something and said quickly, "The Regent of Haoyue Kingdom is colluding with the Southern Territory! They have accomplices in the capital! Your Majesty, may I borrow your fan so I can have a look?"

"What do you think, Lord Father-in-law?" Murong Yao handed the fan to Censor Xu.

"Your Majesty, I have an idea. Since Fu Yi was able to build two cities to confuse the Liu family's credit, you see here, there are the words of the former crown prince and the paintings of the Liu family. Doesn't this just show that the Liu family is suspected of colluding with the Southern Territory..."

Murong Yao suddenly understood. He nodded and said worriedly, "But it's hard to convict him based on just this fan."

Jiang Yulou understood and picked up the jade token, rubbing the patterns on it with his fingers. After pondering for a moment, he handed the jade to Ye Fan and instructed, "Fan'er, take this secret order and find a way to contact the Crown Prince's secret guards lurking in Yong'an City. We must investigate thoroughly—"

He suddenly emphasized, "The Liu family, colluding with the Southern Territory."