Xuanyuan Peng narrowed his eyes. He naturally wanted to question that demoness. That demoness dared to use a curse on him, and he would never let her leave Dongchu alive: "Someone, summon the Holy Maiden of the Southern Frontier."

At Xuanyuan Peng's command, a palace attendant immediately went to deliver the message.

Ye Yun personally escorted Long Jiaojiao to the palace; or rather, he carried her up to the palace.

Because Long Jiaojiao's martial arts were crippled and he had no strength left, he was completely limp on the ground when Ye Yun put him down.

Xuanyuan Peng flew into a rage the moment he saw Long Jiaojiao. It was all because of this witch who brought him this puppet gu, which had reduced his lifespan to only three days.

He could have grown old with Ya'er, had a house full of children and grandchildren, and lived a carefree life in the martial arts world. It was all because of this vixen that he was ruined and turned into something neither human nor ghost!

"Dragon Flood Dragon, why did you cast the puppet Gu on me? I have no conflict with your Southern Frontier, so why did you use Gu worms to harm me!"

There is no conflict between Dong Chu and Nanjiang. Even though Nanjiang is just a tribe, Dong Chu has treated Nanjiang as a small country for many years. He doesn't understand why this Nanjiang Holy Maiden would join forces with Xuanyuan Yu to harm him!

Long Jiaojiao raised her eyes and glanced at Xuan Yuanpeng. Seeing that he was thin and emaciated, a smug look flashed in Long Jiaojiao's eyes: "How can you blame this Holy Maiden? It wasn't this Holy Maiden who put the curse on you, but your good son! If you have to blame someone, you can only blame yourself for not raising your son properly, raising a rebellious son who dares to kill his father and the emperor in order to seize the throne!"

As soon as Long Jiaojiao said this, everyone turned to look at Xuan Yuan Yu.

Hearing Long Jiaojiao's highly pointed words, Xuanyuan Yu became anxious and immediately shouted at Long Jiaojiao, "Long Jiaojiao, did Xuanyuan Zhan ask you to use the Gu on Father? You've been colluding with him all along!"

Long Jiaojiao looked at Xuan Yuan Yu in surprise, not understanding what nonsense he was talking about.

Seeing that Long Jiaojiao didn't understand, Xuanyuan Yu winked at her, saying, "You're actually Xuanyuan Zhan's woman, aren't you? You used a curse on Father Emperor to help him seize the throne, didn't you? The patricide and regicide is none other than Xuanyuan Zhan!"

Long Jiaojiao finally understood what Xuan Yuan Yu meant. She looked at Xuan Yuan Yu, who was frantically giving her meaningful glances, and then glanced at Xuan Yuan Zhan, whose face was cold and stern. Suddenly, she laughed arrogantly: "You're right. It was Xuan Yuan Zhan who gave your emperor the puppet gu. He tricked me into giving him the puppet gu. I had no idea who he intended to use it on. If I had known that he intended to use it to harm your emperor, I certainly wouldn't have taught him the puppet gu."

Long Jiaojiao's words instantly caused an uproar, and all the officials looked at Xuan Yuanzhan.

Some people genuinely doubt Xuanyuan Zhan.

Some people wanted to follow this line of reasoning and help Xuan Yuan Yu smear Xuan Yuan Zhan.

Of course, there were also those who saw things clearly and were clear-headed, and were preparing to switch sides from Xuan Yuan Yu to Xuan Yuan Zhan, thinking about how to speak up for Xuan Yuan Zhan.

Some people felt the situation was still uncertain and wanted to wait and see.

In short, all the ministers in the court had their own agendas.

Seeing that Long Jiaojiao understood his meaning, Xuanyuan Yu excitedly shouted, "Father, you heard it! It really was Xuanyuan Zhan who put the puppet Gu on you. He's the one who plotted against you! Even the Holy Maiden of Southern Xinjiang has come out to testify against him. Now you believe what your son says, right?"

Xuanyuan Peng was the one who would believe him. He stared at Long Jiaojiao with a sinister look and angrily rebuked, "Why did you conspire with Xuanyuan Yu to harm me? Aren't you afraid that I will send troops to wipe out your entire southern border?"

When Xuanyuan Peng mentioned sending troops to the Southern Frontier, Long Jiaojiao was still somewhat afraid. She knew that the Eastern Chu army was much stronger than the Southern Frontier, especially since Xuanyuan Zhan's personal abilities were beyond doubt.

If he were to lead his troops to conquer the southern border, the southern border would be powerless to resist him!

Long Jiaojiao retorted, "I already told you that it was Xuanyuan Zhan who tricked me out of the puppet gu. I had no intention of harming the Emperor of Dongchu, and I had no idea that he would use the puppet gu on you. If you want to blame someone, you should blame Xuanyuan Zhan!"

Long Jiaojiao was willing to cooperate with Xuan Yuan Yu before, purely because Xuan Yuan Zhan had crippled her martial arts.

The more she loved Xuan Yuanzhan before, the more she hated him now.

So she wanted to drag him down with her. Since she couldn't have him while she was alive, she might as well make him die with her.

Now she insists on pinning this blame on Xuanyuan Zhan because she's worried that Xuanyuan Peng will really launch a military campaign against the Southern Frontier.

She hadn't taken the initiative in this matter, so she absolutely couldn't take the blame upon herself and shift it to Xuan Yuanzhan. It was also because she had heard that the Emperor of Eastern Chu doted on Xuan Yuanzhan, and perhaps because he was the one who did it, he would be treated leniently, thus sparing the Southern Frontier from punishment.

Unfortunately, Xuan Yuanpeng saw through Long Jiaojiao's little scheme clearly, and he never doubted Xuan Yuanzhan from beginning to end.

"You say that Xuanyuan Zhan stole your puppet Gu, that he was the one who planted the puppet Gu on me, and that you were completely unaware of it. But why was it you who controlled me and gave orders to the Imperial Guards in Chengqian Palace yesterday? If it really was Xuanyuan Zhan who planted the Gu on me, why couldn't he control me? Instead, it was you who controlled me to attack Xuanyuan Zhan?"

Upon hearing this question, Long Jiaojiao choked for a moment, but her mind worked quickly, and she immediately said, "Although he stole the puppet gu from me, how could he possibly outmaneuver this gu worm? In front of me, the puppet gu naturally obeys me. It's because Xuan Yuanzhan wanted to capture me that I deliberately controlled you and Xuan Yuanyu to kill him. That doesn't prove that I planted the puppet gu, does it? Besides, I didn't have a chance to get close to you! The puppet gu couldn't have entered your body for no reason."

Xuanyuan Peng scoffed disdainfully, "I know you didn't put this Gu worm into my body, because it was Xuanyuan Yu who put the Gu in me."

Xuanyuan Yu was taken aback and immediately cried out his innocence: "Father, even Long Jiaojiao testified that Xuanyuan Zhan cast the spell on you. How can you still say that I cast the spell on you? Don't be fooled by Xuanyuan Zhan. He is the one who really wants to harm you."

"You beast!" Xuanyuan Peng slammed his fist on the dragon throne in fury, roaring, "You're still trying to deny it! Do you think I don't know how you planted the puppet poison on me? That day, you were resentful when you saw me entrust the disaster relief and bandit suppression in the north to Zhan'er. After I sent Zhan'er away, you came to witness it and deliberately cut me with a dagger. That puppet poison entered my body through that wound. I sensed something was wrong then, but I never imagined you would plant a puppet poison on me. Even then, I was still mindful of your status as my prince and didn't want anyone to know you injured me. I didn't even call the imperial physician; you bandaged my wound yourself. But what about you? Did you have even the slightest thought of our father-son relationship? You actually planted such a vicious poison on me! You're worse than a beast!!!"