So who should she listen to?

Jian Yang subconsciously looked at Eunuch Zhang, who was more familiar with her.

But he looked regretful and terrified.

Then she looked at Qian Sanbao, who was gazing at her earnestly, gesturing for her to hurry into the city.

Accompanying the chubby man was a guard of at least fifty men.

Seeing Jian Yang hesitate, Qian Sanbao coughed twice, and the guards dispersed upon hearing the sound, then gathered around the carriage again.

This surrounded her.

Jian Yang immediately realized what was happening.

The reason why Eunuch Zhang told her to leave quickly was probably because he was wary of Qian Sanbao and his group.

As a close attendant of the emperor, he was so afraid of a mere local official...

Is the emperor alright?

"Oh my, isn't this Eunuch Zhang?" Qian Sanbao said enthusiastically, as if he had just noticed Eunuch Zhang. "Why aren't you serving the Emperor in the city? What brings you out of the city?"

Eunuch Zhang's expression was indifferent. "I have been ordered by the Emperor to come and welcome Her Majesty the Empress."

"What a coincidence! I'm also here to welcome Her Majesty the Empress. Let's go into the city together."

Jian Yang listened quietly from the side, becoming increasingly convinced that the emperor was being controlled by this fat man.

Given the current situation, it's highly unlikely that she'll be able to return home even if she wanted to.

Unless his ten guards could take on five opponents at once.

Even if she could escape, the thought of the emperor's uncertain fate in Yunzhou made it impossible for her to have the heart to run away.

That's all.

Having already come all this way, Jian Yang announced that they would enter the city.

Qian Sanbao immediately led the way with a big smile, and the group marched towards Yunzhou City.

Jian Yang lifted a corner of the curtain, deliberately speaking in a domineering manner, "Yongfu, get in the carriage and serve me."

Upon hearing this, Eunuch Zhang hurriedly nodded and bowed as he climbed onto the carriage.

"What exactly is the situation right now?" Jian Yang asked in a low voice.

Eunuch Zhang replied in a low voice, "Your Majesty, the Emperor has been poisoned."

"puff!"

Jian Yang was glad she hadn't drunk any water at that moment, otherwise she would have sprayed Zhang Gonggong all over.

Just how enthusiastic are people in this world about poisoning?

It's either given to her or given to the emperor.

This shows that being an emperor or empress was indeed a high-risk profession.

In any case, I still need to change careers as soon as possible.

Seeing Jian Yang's complicated expression and silence, Eunuch Zhang assumed she was overly worried about the emperor's safety, so he reassured her, "Your Majesty, rest assured, this poison is not very potent. The accompanying imperial physician said that it only makes people feel weak all over and has no other harm to the body. If the imperial physician had not also been restricted in his freedom, the poison in the emperor's body would have been cured long ago."

Jian Yang hesitated, "Is it Qian Sanbao who's restricting your freedom?"

Eunuch Zhang nodded, then shook his head: "He was just following orders. Qian Sanbao is the son-in-law of He Shan, the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of War, and He Shan is a man of the Prince of Dingbian."

Jian Yang finally understood.

To put it bluntly, it was the Prince of Dingbian who ordered Qian Sanbao to poison and control the emperor.

But Eunuch Zhang shook his head and said, "Your Majesty is mistaken. Their target is not the Emperor, but you."

Jian Yang: ? ? ?

She's just a working-class woman, why would the King of Dingbian have to make such a big fuss? Isn't that a bit much?

Eunuch Zhang then explained, "Someone deliberately sent news of the Emperor's serious illness back to the capital, precisely because they were certain that the Empress Dowager would send you out of the palace."

Jian Yang thought about it carefully, and what he said wasn't entirely unreasonable.

In the eyes of the Prince of Dingbian, the emperor was merely his puppet.

It would be incredibly easy for him to control the emperor.

But she was different.

Although Jian Yang claims to be an ordinary working person, she actually has the powerful influence of Prime Minister Jian standing behind her.

This made even the usually arrogant and domineering Prince Dingbian dare not act rashly, and he could only use some means to force her to leave the palace.

But after the emperor left the palace, she stayed indoors all day long.

Even if they wanted to harm her, they couldn't find an opportunity to do so.

They calculated that the Empress Dowager loved her son dearly, and by poisoning the Emperor, they aimed to force the Empress Dowager to make Jian Yang leave the palace.

But this is just speculation.

Jian Yang couldn't understand why, if the Prince of Dingbian wanted to harm her, he had so many opportunities along the way, so why did he choose to send her to Yunzhou?

Of course, what she didn't know was that the King of Dingbian had indeed arranged for many assassins at the inns along the way.

However, he never expected that Jian Yang would choose to travel day and night without stopping in order to reach Yunzhou as quickly as possible.

To save time, she didn't even take the main road, but instead took a shortcut.

That's how they arrived in Yunzhou in the shortest possible time.

Despite the hardships along the way, they miraculously evaded ambushes time and time again.

But that's a story for another time.

After exchanging information, the two entered the city.

Jian Yang lifted the curtain and looked out of the car.

This place lacked the grandeur of the imperial city, but the streets were still bustling with vendors and pedestrians, which greatly excited her, as she had become accustomed to seeing disaster victims and desolate scenes along the way.

"Has Yunzhou City not suffered from drought?"

Eunuch Zhang shook his head: "The reason this place is in such a state is all thanks to the Emperor's effective governance."

Jian Yang then learned that after the emperor arrived in various places, the first thing he did was to crack down on corrupt officials, and then open the granaries to distribute grain.

In areas south of Yunzhou, the famine caused by drought has been greatly alleviated.

The emperor only learned about the reason why people in many places were starving was that the disaster was secondary.

The main reason was that local officials colluded with merchants to hoard and speculate on grain, buying it from the people at low prices and then selling it at high prices, thus making a huge profit.

Jian Yang listened and nodded.

good.

If we can get through this period, once the heavens bring rain, along with the winter snow, the earth will surely be nourished.

People will be able to live a good life next year.

In her view, although the emperor was a capitalist, he was indeed a good person to the people.

The carriage finally stopped in front of Qian Sanbao's mansion.

Guided by Qian Sanbao, Jian Yang met the emperor, who was leaning against the headboard reading a book.

I hadn't seen him for quite some time, and he had visibly lost weight, but his complexion was still quite rosy.

It seems that, just as Eunuch Zhang said, the poison that the emperor was given did not cause any major harm to his body.

"Your Majesty, you must be tired from your journey." Zhou Jingzhi smiled gently when he saw Jian Yang.

Jian Yang rushed to his bedside, her expression turning solemn. "Your Majesty, why don't you just divorce me?"

On her way here, she realized that being an empress was far too dangerous.

She initially thought that being an empress would just be a bit more tiring, but now that her life was threatened, she would be an idiot if she didn't run away!

Moreover, the reason why the Prince of Dingbian staged this whole thing was simply to kill her and then install Consort Yu in the position of Empress.

Why go through all that trouble?

If the emperor divorces her and then makes Consort Yu empress, wouldn't everyone be happy?

In this way, she wouldn't have to die, and the emperor wouldn't have to suffer anymore.

Each of them has a bright future.

The emperor was surprised when Jian Yang's first words to him were that she requested to be divorced.

Her once tender eyes were suddenly shrouded in gloom.