Upon seeing this, Bi Linglong narrowed her eyes, noticing a group of palace guards heading in their direction.

"General Zhao, what is the meaning of this?"

The leader on the other side was Zhao Si, who could be considered an elder of the royal family. However, it was rather strange that he had suddenly appeared in the Empress's palace with troops.

Zhao Si bowed and said, "Greetings, Your Majesty. Someone has entered the palace to assassinate you, and I have brought troops to protect you!"

Bi Linglong frowned slightly: "No need, I am perfectly safe here and do not need your protection. On the contrary, it seems that there are assassins committing crimes in the Empress Dowager's palace. You should go and provide support."

Zhao Si remained unmoved: "This humble general's duty is to protect Your Majesty. As for the Empress Dowager, others will go to rescue her."

Bi Linglong remained silent for a few moments, then suddenly asked, "If that's the case, why did you stop the guards I sent out to deliver the message?"

"Your Majesty, please forgive us. There is currently chaos in the palace, and the situation is unclear. It is likely that someone in the palace is colluding with outsiders. In order to avoid further chaos, all the generals in the palace are now strictly guarding their posts and are not allowed to move around. Anyone who violates this rule will be punished for treason!" Zhao Si replied.

"You mean my guards might be accomplices of the assassins?" Bi Linglong sneered.

"This humble general dares not." Although Zhao Si said he dared not, he did not move aside in the slightest.

“In that case, I will go there myself. It’s impossible for me to be colluding with those assassins, is it?” Bi Linglong got up and was about to leave.

Zhao Si reached out to stop them, saying, "Your Majesty, please don't put us in a difficult position!"

"How dare you block Her Majesty's way!" The fiery Rong Mo could no longer hold back and started cursing with her hands on her hips.

Upon hearing her words, the head guards of the Queen's palace, Park Duan-diao and Jiao Si-gun, echoed her sentiments, while the other guards drew their weapons and glared at her with hostile expressions.

Although Zhao Si is a member of the royal family, my side is the empress. What is Zhao Si anyway?

Zhao Si's expression changed slightly: "We are just following orders. If Your Highness insists on barging in, we will have no choice but to be impolite."

With a wave of his hand, his men also pointed their weapons at the people in the Empress's bedroom.

The atmosphere instantly became tense.

Bi Linglong glanced at the group of soldiers and sneered, "Whose orders are you on? Are you planning a rebellion?"

He kept talking as he walked straight ahead.

Since becoming the Crown Princess, she has handled almost everything in the Eastern Palace. Now that she has become the Empress, her power is even greater than before.

She had long since developed an air of authority, and she was decisive and clear in her handling of affairs, so much so that many guards held her in awe.

Seeing her walking towards them, Zhao Si's imperial guards swallowed hard and kept backing away, afraid of hurting her.

Just then, a cold voice came from the side: "Of course, it's on the Emperor's orders!"

Li Guanshi led a large group of Tiger Guards towards them. With their addition, Zhao Si's men gained confidence and stopped retreating, instead taking a few steps forward.

The guards at the Empress's palace were already outnumbered, and now that the enemy had added fresh troops, their morale plummeted.

“Your Majesty?” Bi Linglong’s expression changed; she had already recognized Li Guanshi’s identity.

She knew, of course, that Zhao Ruizhi wouldn't give such an order, but he was too naive and easily fooled by those around him.

"What command do you not understand?"

Li Guanshi cupped his hands in greeting: "The Liu family colluded with the demon race, intending to rebel and depose the emperor. We are currently arresting these treacherous officials."

At the time, in order to trick the emperor into stamping the seal, they deliberately used Zu An to provoke him. However, they all knew very well that Zu An's invincible image of killing the Earth Immortal and destroying the Meng family was too shocking. In addition, there were many forces in the capital who were on good terms with Zu An. If they rashly accused him of treason, it would easily arouse strong resistance.

Therefore, they plan to deal with the Liu family first, and then gradually eliminate Zu'an's power after the overall situation has been settled.

Upon hearing this, everyone in the Empress's palace was in an uproar, never expecting to hear such news.

Bi Linglong's expression changed several times, and with her intelligence, she instantly thought of many possibilities.

No wonder I've been feeling some undercurrents in the capital lately; it turns out they're plotting this.

I imagine my father and brother were among them.

And then there's the King of Wu, who is ambitious and clearly stirring up trouble.

Although she had always been at odds with Liu Ning, she felt no joy at all upon learning all this.

Her father and brother knew she most likely wouldn't agree to the matter, so they deliberately kept it from her.

They are utterly foolish! Have they forgotten the lesson of the Meng family?

How will things end when Zaun returns?

Suddenly, a thought struck her. She remembered that her father had been involved in the persecution of princes and concubines of the previous dynasty. Could it be that he was so deeply involved that he was afraid Zu'an would retaliate after learning the truth, so he struck first?

But what am I supposed to do?!

On one side were her father and brothers, and on the other side was her beloved lover. She suddenly felt a deep sense of powerlessness.

"General Li is hiding his true intentions very well." Bi Linglong gritted her teeth. Usually, Li Guanshi was taciturn and looked loyal. She never expected that he had already become a pawn of a certain force. She didn't know if he was a member of the Bi family or had been bought off by the King of Wu.

"Your Majesty flatters me." Li Guanshi said calmly, offering no explanation.

Just then, another group of people arrived.

The Empress's side immediately brightened up upon seeing this, because they recognized the group as the Imperial Guards.

The Imperial Guards are the direct subordinates of Regent Zuan!

The two leading generals were none other than Wang Bolin and Zhang Zijiang, the deputy generals of the Imperial Guard.

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