Wen Tai shook his head at Wang Ren, gave a mocking laugh, and said, "You just said the Right Chancellor was cowardly?"

Wang Ren was at a loss for words and murmured, "Could it be... no...?"

"General Wang, don't forget, the Right Chancellor is on his way back in triumph. He won a great victory!"

Wen Tai stared wide-eyed and said, "Our mighty Great Jing Empire, after having two commanders killed by Ye Dan, achieved a great victory with the appearance of the Right Chancellor!"

"Yet you say the Right Chancellor is cowardly?"

"That old fox of a man is just putting on an act for you all!!"

"Yes, yes, yes..." Wang Ren wiped his sweat and lowered his head, saying, "I was foolish and was deceived by this old fox!"

"So General Wang, you'd better keep it up!"

Wen Tai patted Wang Ren on the shoulder and walked towards the gate of Tianze Palace, saying, "When you can beat Ye Dan so badly he'll be running for his life, don't say he's a coward, even if you say he's effeminate, you'll be right!"

"The Left Prime Minister is right!"

"Come with me to meet the Emperor."

Wen Tai raised his hand to the eunuch waiting by the door and said, "You may go and inform His Majesty."

...

The Imperial Study.

Wang Ren followed Wen Tai into the imperial study, keeping his head down and not daring to look around, but he could hear the sounds of laughter and chatter.

"Your Majesty, come and arrest me!"

"Your Majesty, come and arrest me!!"

"Your Majesty, you look so cool when you run!!!"

Seeing Wen Tai's feet stop, Wang Ren quickly stopped and then secretly looked ahead.

The emperor, dressed in a yellow robe, was chasing a disheveled woman around his desk. His robe was open, and he was holding a wine pot in one hand.

Although his eyes were covered by a cloth, he looked very young.

Wen Tai coughed twice.

Upon hearing this, the emperor stopped, pulled off the blindfold, and looked at Wen Tai with a smile.

"It's the Left Prime Minister!"

The woman being chased by the emperor also stopped and faced Wen Tai to pay her respects.

"Greetings, Left Prime Minister!"

Upon seeing the man's face, Wang Ren's heart skipped a beat.

The disheveled man being chased by the emperor... was not a woman, but a man!

Wang Ren suppressed his shock and dared not look any longer; his body began to tremble unconsciously.

Wen Tai coughed again.

Wang Ren immediately understood, quickly knelt down, and said, "Your subject Wang Ren pays his respects to Your Majesty! Long live Your Majesty!"

"It's Minister Wang. Rise." The emperor glanced at Wang Ren, picked up the wine pot, sat down on the imperial desk, and took a sip.

Wen Tai did not kneel down, but said directly, "I came to discuss something with Your Majesty, but I saw General Wang kneeling in front of the Imperial Study. I learned that he had something important to report, so I led him in with me."

"Oh? Why didn't anyone report this?"

The eunuch who led Wen Tai and Wang Ren in quickly replied, "This servant saw that His Majesty was busy with state affairs, so I asked General Wang to wait a moment..."

"Oh... General Wang, what brings you here?"

"Your Majesty," Wen Tai called out, then looked at the disheveled man.

The emperor said, "It's alright, General Wang, please stand up and speak."

"Your Majesty," Wen Tai called out again.

"Left Prime Minister, oh Left Prime Minister, you..." The emperor pointed at Wen Tai, then said to the man beside him, "Step down."

"Yes..." The man then withdrew.

Seeing Wen Tai glance at him sideways, Wang Ren stood up and solemnly said, "Your Majesty, I have discovered a spy from the Southern Zhou Dynasty who served as an official in our Jing Dynasty during the reign of the late Emperor and has been living in Yanchuan for five years!"

"Oh? Is that so?" The emperor became interested and pointed at Wang Ren, saying, "Tell me about it, in detail!"

"Yes!" Wang Ren said, "This man is named Chen Yuxian. He is currently the Vice Minister of War in Luodu. He has a wife and a daughter, both of whom live in Yanchuan!"

"This man is quite talented! He actually managed to become the Vice Minister of War in my Jing Kingdom!" The Emperor laughed instead of being angry, and said, "If he weren't in the Eastern Capital, wouldn't he be in the central government of my dynasty, spending his days discussing politics with me in the Tianze Hall? If I were in a good mood one day and hosted a banquet for all the officials, wouldn't he be able to drink and chat with me?"

Wang Ren couldn't quite keep up with the emperor's train of thought and wondered to himself, "Why aren't you angry?"

Not only am I not angry, but I can actually be happy??

"Your Majesty! That's not the point!" Wang Ren dared not say anything more, fearing that he would be led astray by the emperor, and immediately went straight to the point: "The point is that this person is a close friend of the Right Chancellor!"

Upon hearing this, the emperor's smile vanished instantly, and he stood up from his desk.

"General Wang, you must take responsibility for every word you say now. I advise you... to think carefully before you speak!"

Wang Ren breathed a sigh of relief, thinking to himself, "Your Majesty, your reaction is correct."

Spurred on, Wang Ren spoke with even greater conviction, saying, "What I say is absolutely true! Not only that, according to the intelligence I have gathered, the Right Chancellor knows Chen Yuxian's true identity, but... the Right Chancellor doesn't seem to care!"

The emperor said bluntly, "So you mean the Right Chancellor colluded with the Southern Zhou?"

"Whether there was collusion or not, I do not know... I am merely stating the facts!"

"Hmph, you're clearly complaining, but you don't dare to be too direct. General Wang, I don't want you to be like those civil officials, beating around the bush!"

"Your Majesty... Your Majesty!!" Wang Ren was too anxious to speak.

The emperor didn't make things difficult for him, but looked at Wen Tai and asked, "Does the Left Chancellor know about this?"

Wen Tai shook his head and said, "Your Majesty and I have just learned about this."

"So what do you think?"

"I naturally do not believe that the Right Chancellor is colluding with the enemy. The Right Chancellor has just won a battle and made an unparalleled contribution! But... nothing comes without a reason, and the Right Chancellor defeated Ye Dan, while Chen Yuxian is a man from Southern Zhou."

"Does the Left Chancellor mean that the Right Chancellor can be at odds with Ye Dan, but at the same time maintain good relations with Nan Zhou?"

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!