On the other side, the people of Xingqing quickly passed the news back to the capital.

"What! You actually let a mere doctor escape from right under your noses!" The emperor was sitting in the imperial study. When he learned that Ran Zizhen had entered Xingqing City and was out of control, he was furious and smashed the teacup in his hand to pieces - Ran Zizhen escaped, and Sikong Zhan must have gotten news about Lin Jinghan!

The person who came to report was trembling with fear, kneeling on the ground and quickly apologizing: "Your Majesty, please calm down. We didn't expect that Prince Jingnan would come so soon..."

"If you can't even handle such a simple task, what's the point of keeping you here?" The emperor was furious and didn't want to listen to their explanations. "Come on, drag them out and chop them off!"

As Xingqing's men were dragged away for execution, the emperor urgently summoned his trusted ministers to discuss the matter - action was urgent!

This operation had already been deployed almost completely beforehand. They finally finalized the action plan. At the emperor's command, everyone took their positions and the battle was about to begin.

Whether in Beijing or Xingqing, everyone was on edge. The streets were deserted, and the atmosphere was particularly depressing.

At the same time, the atmosphere of conspiracy shrouded the entire continent.

Beijiang, the capital - Changdu City, the imperial palace, and the imperial study.

Empress Dowager Rongyue was leading the young Emperor Tan Taiyu to review memorials, and Guchuan was sitting beside her to assist her.

Suddenly, a palace maid came into the imperial study quietly, carrying a fruit plate. When the palace maid put the fruit on the plate, Rongyue looked up and made eye contact with her.

After this glance, Rongyue's expression changed slightly and she waved away the palace maid.

After the palace maid left, Rong Yue was absent-minded. She looked at a memorial for a long time, feeling upset and not writing a single word.

"What's wrong?" Furukawa noticed that something was wrong with her, took her hand and asked softly.

Rong Yue forced a smile and leaned her head on Gu Chuan's shoulder, "A Chuan, it would be great if the future could be like this..."

Gu Chuan put his arm around Rong Yue's shoulders, gently stroking her hair with his palm, and said in a reassuring voice, "I will!"

Will it? Rong Yue smiled bitterly, hugged Gu Chuan almost greedily, and let go after a while. Her face returned to her usual grace, mixed with the playfulness that only appeared in front of him. "A Chuan, I have something to leave for a while. You take the emperor to read the memorials. Don't be lazy."

Gu Chuan nodded and held Tan Taiyu close to him, "Well, don't worry, I'll wait for you."

Rongyue went to a secret room, which was decorated luxuriously and exquisitely, not inferior to any palace in the imperial palace.

In the secret room, on an exquisite sandalwood chair, sat a masked man. The mask covered his eyebrows and eyes, and only his tightly pursed thin lips and the cold eyes behind the mask could be seen.

"What are you doing here?" Rong Yue stood in front of him with a cold look, no longer respectful as before.

At this moment, she just wants to be with her lover until old age, and will never let others drive her life again!

"Heh..." The man's lips curled up in disdain. "Murong Yue, after becoming the Queen Mother of Beijiang, have you forgotten your duty?"

"Duty?" Rong Yue waved her sleeves, as if she was going to break up with him.

"I have fulfilled your wish and made the child of the Nanzhao royal family the Emperor of Beijiang. You also asked me to make Prince Jingnan the Regent of Beijiang, and I have done so. Over the years, I have done more than enough for you. I should have repaid you for your kindness in bearing and raising me!"

The man narrowed his eyes dangerously, "Murong Yue, Princess Yue, are you going to betray Nan Zhao?!"

Princess Yue, what a noble title! But to Rongyue, it only sounded strange.

She has never truly possessed this title, and now, she doesn't care about it!

"Princess Yue died at birth! Now, standing before you is Rong Yue, the Queen Mother of Beijiang! My Lord, this is the last time I will address you this way. Now, Murong Hua, you are not welcome in the Beijiang Palace. Please leave!"

"Now that you've become the Queen Mother, you've grown so powerful that you dare to disobey me?!" Murong Hua put away the smile on his lips. The next moment, the aura around him radiated outward, and the pressure instantly enveloped Rong Yue.

The powerful pressure forced Rong Yue to hunch over. She gritted her teeth, not wanting to be defeated by him. She uttered broken words between her teeth: "I will never be your puppet again! Even if you kill me, you can't!"

Murong Hua gradually increased his pressure. Looking at Rong Yue's increasingly painful face, a smile appeared on his lips again. "You're not afraid of death, so what about Yu'er? What about Gu Chuan? Don't you care about their life or death?"

"..." Rong Yue was extremely angry, but the strong pressure made her unable to make any sound, and she could only persist stubbornly.

The arm was no match for the thigh, and finally, Rongyue could no longer hold on and collapsed weakly to the ground.

Seeing this, Murong Hua stopped exerting pressure, stood up and walked towards Rong Yue, looking down at her condescendingly, "Princess Yue, you must think clearly. Your child, your husband, their lives all depend on your thoughts!"

Rong Yue's face turned pale as she looked at the man above her with hatred. "If they lose even a hair, I guarantee you won't get any benefits from Bei Jiang!"

Murong Hua squatted down, gently stroked Rong Yue's cheek, and sighed:

"Princess Yue, after being the Queen Mother for a year, how can you still be so naive? Do you think that without you, I will be unable to control Beijiang?"

Murong Hua looked at Rong Yue's face of astonishment with satisfaction, and moved his rough palm to the back of her neck, slowly increasing the force, feeling her trembling through her drooping black hair.

"Princess, do you want to be a useful chess piece, or become a completely discarded piece? Don't make the wrong choice..."

Rong Yue slowly closed her eyes. At this moment, she thought about a lot, about her life experiences, about her possible future, and about what choice she should make at this moment...

After a while, she opened her eyes, supported herself on the ground, and sat up little by little. "Murong Hua, do you think I wasn't on guard against you?"

She looked at Murong Hua, her eyes very calm, and even a faint, disdainful smile could be seen in them. "You can try. Without me, can you succeed in this Beijiang Palace?"

Murong Hua suddenly tightened his grip on the back of her neck, his eyes blazing with murderous intent. "No one can threaten me!"

"This isn't a threat, it's a suggestion." Rong Yue endured the pain and raised an eyebrow at the man who had manipulated her life. "I promise to do one last thing for you. After that, I'll have nothing to do with you anymore!"

"Heh..." Murong Hua looked at Rong Yue carefully, the murderous intent in his eyes flashed away, and he suddenly let go of her hand. "Princess Yue has dedicated her entire life to Nanzhao and has made great contributions. Since this is your wish, I will agree to it."