At this point, it comes down to who is more ruthless.

However, Ji Hao clearly could not allow the Great Liang to fall into crisis. He could only raise his hand, and after Eunuch Zhao entered, he said, "Summon Marquis Yongle to the palace immediately. There is no time to delay."

"this……"

Eunuch Zhao paused, then said, "Your Majesty, a quarter of an hour ago, news came from the Yongle Marquis's residence that the Marquis is preparing for Miss Ruan's funeral."

Ji Hao: ...This guy is still alive!

His headache worsened, clearly Ruan Changhong was hinting at something, so Ji Hao could only wave his hand and say, "Send the antidote over and tell Marquis Yongle to hurry to the palace. Don't delay any longer."

Eunuch Zhao agreed and immediately went to the Yongle Marquis's residence.

As the emperor, Ji Hao felt he had to endure humiliation for the sake of the Great Liang Dynasty, which is why he took the initiative to befriend Ruan Changhong. However, he would never be able to bring himself to go to Ji Wuyu.

But it wasn't until the afternoon that Eunuch Zhao rushed back: "Your Majesty, something has happened again... again."

"I have already given you the antidote, what does Marquis Yongle want now?"

Eunuch Zhao knelt down and said, "The Marquis of Yongle said that he was overjoyed because his daughter was finally out of danger. He was so happy that he wept, but his joy turned to sorrow and he has now fallen ill."

Ji Hao fell silent again; it was obvious he was being put on an act.

A moment later, Ji Hao sneered and threw the memorial on the table: "Well done! I underestimated him. He really thought I wouldn't dare to kill him. What a joke!"

"Eunuch Zhao, take men to Ji Wuyu's palace."

Ji Hao paused, his expression growing increasingly grim: "If Ji Wuyu does not agree to go to the battlefield to quell the war, kill him on the spot!"

Eunuch Zhao stood up, but at that moment, Ji Hao suddenly stood up as well, bypassing Eunuch Zhao first. His eyes were filled with intense killing intent, clearly he was furious with Ji Wuyu and Ruan Changhong and was about to completely lose control of his anger.

When Ji Hao arrived in front of Ji Wuyu's palace, the person hidden in the shadows immediately appeared: "Greetings, Your Majesty."

Where is Ji Wuyu?

“We have been guarding outside the palace; he should be inside.”

As he spoke, the man pushed open the palace door, but when Ji Hao walked in, he found it empty and Ji Wuyu was nowhere to be seen. Ji Hao's face turned ashen.

He turned his head, his face grim: "What happened?"

"This, this..."

The people were stunned. Soon, a circle of people knelt down in front of Ji Hao, all feeling uneasy and not daring to speak.

Just then, the eunuch who was guarding outside the palace ran in: "Your Majesty, Ruan Qing'an from the Yongle Marquis's residence requests an audience with you."

What is she doing here?

Ji Hao's face darkened, and he turned and went to the Imperial Study, asking Ruan Qing'an to come over as well. He wanted to see what these people were up to.

And... Ruan Qing'an has just been cured of the poison, what trouble is he going to cause now?

About fifteen minutes later, in the Imperial Study.

Ji Hao stood in front of the desk, with Ruan Qing'an standing before him. She must have just recovered from the poisoning, as her face was still pale and she looked very weak. However, because of the complete breakdown in relations, Ruan Qing'an simply didn't even bother with formalities.

037 asked nervously, "Are you sure everything's okay?"

After all, in this world where imperial power reigns supreme, 037 was still a little afraid that Ruan Qing'an would make a mistake, especially since the original owner of this body was in poor health.

But Nguyen Thanh An showed no emotional fluctuation.

After she woke up and learned what had happened, Ji Hao wanted to kill them—so, given that, Ruan Qing'an had no intention of kneeling.

Moreover, Ji Hao wouldn't dare kill her now; killing Ruan Qing'an at this critical juncture would only make things worse.

“It’s alright, he wouldn’t dare kill me. Ji Wuyu certainly can’t be locked up in the capital and wait to die. I’m here to help him share some of the attention, and hopefully make the dog emperor give up tracking him.”

037: [Hmm... Ancestor, you were poisoned, so why are you still able to keep up with the male lead's train of thought and pace after waking up?!]

Ruan Qing'an thought for a moment: "Intuition?"

At this moment, meeting Ruan Qing'an's utterly disrespectful gaze, Ji Hao said in a deep voice, "As expected, the Yongle Marquis's mansion and Ji Wuyu are born with rebellious bones, and you are no exception."

"Thanks to Your Majesty."

Ruan Qing'an chuckled lightly: "Your Majesty, the Ninth Prince should no longer be in the palace, right? You don't need to look at me so warily. The situation is very bad right now, so His Highness naturally has to go to the border. No matter how much fighting there is, Great Liang cannot be harmed, can it?"

“Your Majesty, this is our tacit understanding to unite against external threats. Otherwise, given your previous actions of stripping His Highness of his military power and even placing him under house arrest to prevent him from going to the border and disrupting your plans, he could have simply stayed away from the border and let it descend into chaos.”

Upon hearing this, Ji Hao couldn't help but sneer: "This is Ji Wuyu's problem. He was the one who initiated the border ceasefire back then, and what about now?"

"But the problem is, Your Majesty, you reprimanded His Highness for the ceasefire back then. Does that mean you don't approve of such behavior? So why are you angry now because Daqing is making a comeback? Isn't that what Your Majesty wanted?"

Ruan Qing'an's question made Ji Hao's eye twitch: "Does the Marquis of Yongle know that you are so quick-witted?"

Hearing this, Ruan Qing'an remained calm: "Your Majesty, His Highness's trip to the border is not to make amends, but to clean up the mess. Are you sure you still want to pursue him?"

"..."

Ji Hao didn't speak, but his face was grim.

Ruan Qing'an stood there, seemingly confident, but it was indeed true. Ji Wuyu had neither colluded with the enemy nor deliberately neglected the army; it was all Ji Hao who had entrusted it to him.

Ji Hao took a deep breath and sat down in the chair: "Aren't you afraid I'll kill you to vent my anger?"

"Your Majesty is well willing to give it a try."

Ruan Qing'an scoffed, her eyes turning slightly cold: "In that case, you can't defend the border, and you can't defend the capital either!"

In an instant, the aura that erupted from her petite body was strong and assertive, completely pressing forward and aggressive.

Even Ji Hao felt a chill run down his spine. With Ji Wuyu and Ruan Changhong backing him up, Ji Hao never expected that Ruan Qing'an, whom he used as a tool to restrain the two, would have such an imposing presence.

After a long pause, he clenched his fist and stared intently at Ruan Qing'an: "Very well, if I had known this would happen, even if I couldn't resolve the border issue, I wouldn't have given you the antidote and let you live."

"Eunuch Zhao, take her away and lock her in the imperial prison!"

The guards quickly stepped forward and surrounded Nguyen Thanh An, their eyes filled with vigilance, but she paid no attention and turned to leave.

037: [Ancestor, will nothing bad happen?]

"No, locking me up is also helping Ji Wuyu."

Ruan Qing'an seemed to be thinking of something, and the smile on his lips deepened little by little, with a crazy air about it. Seeing this, 037 trembled.

Why should this naive and innocent character worry about the villain getting into trouble?

Finally, 037 figured out its own role: it was just a mascot responsible for cheering on this villainous couple—so how did the male lead become a villain alongside his ancestor?!

After seeing Ruan Qing'an leave, Ji Hao rubbed his head in frustration, feeling a sharp pain: "Ruan Changhong, Ji Wuyu, Ruan Qing'an... how did these three people end up together?"

If there were even one idiot or one who could hold them back, Ji Hao wouldn't have such a headache or find it so difficult to deal with them.