Just as Prince Rong was assigning Zheng Yi to harass Zheng Ya, Fu Zhen arrived at the main hall of Taihe Palace.
The retired emperor caught a glimpse of the golden dragon token in his hand, and a surge of inexplicable anger rose within him. He angrily rebuked, "Young man Zhen, relying on the No Dragon Token bestowed upon your Fu clan by the late emperor, you have broken into the palace and acted with impunity. Do you know your crime?"
With a "thump," Fu Zhen knelt down and kowtowed, admitting defeat: "Your Majesty, how dare this humble subject disrespect the imperial authority?"
"It is truly a plot to rebel. They have seized upon my weaknesses, forcing me to murder my clansman Fu Ya, and scheming against Earl Dai—they are plotting something sinister!"
"Uh, so you're actually a loyal subject of the Great Li Dynasty?" The Emperor Emeritus had already suppressed most of his anger and asked with murderous intent.
The Venerable Tianyuan, who was quietly healing his injuries, opened his eyes and glanced at Fu Zhen. He secretly transmitted his voice to the Emperor Emeritus: "Your Majesty, please be careful. I'm afraid this matter is related to the mystery from back then?"
"Hmm, just like eight years ago when the Crown Prince forced me to abdicate, damaging my foundation and forcing me to abdicate. How wonderful!" The Emperor Emeritus said, blowing his beard in anger.
Fu Zhen was already trembling with fear, kowtowing repeatedly like a chicken pecking at rice: "Your Majesty, I, your humble servant, the Duke of Yong, and his lineage are small and have been tempted by quick success and instant benefits."
At that time, Marquis Ningwu was trapped at Lingtian Pass while resisting foreign enemies. He sent someone to ask for help, but the person was assassinated. Fortunately, a guard broke into my residence. I knew that there were undercurrents in the court, so I dared not make a sound and risk getting into trouble.
Thus, he conceived the idea of assisting Marquis Ningwu in resisting foreign enemies, achieving merit and restoring the glory of his ancestors, and secretly launched a clan caravan to transport salt and iron to the border of the Great Yan Dynasty..."
"You scoundrel, you've colluded with the enemy and betrayed the country..." The Emperor Emeritus stood up angrily and rebuked him, which frightened Fu Zhen so much that he kowtowed and cried, "Your Majesty, please calm down. Your humble servant was merely selling salt and iron to the Huyan family of the Great Yan Dynasty through a merchant caravan. There was a hidden jealousy from other families and forces in the Great Yan Dynasty who were involved in seizing the salt and iron supplies."
All of this was meant to provide an opportunity for Marquis Ningwu to divert the army besieging Lingtian Pass, allowing him to seize the chance to counterattack and kill the enemy. Who would have thought…
"Haha, I'm afraid all of this was orchestrated by someone in the shadows, a scheme to trap you, right?" The Emperor Emeritus laughed in anger, his teeth aching with hatred.
Fu Zhen cried out in regret and resentment: "Alas, Your Majesty, please understand. My family has been loyal to the court for generations, and our loyalty is evident."
If it weren't for my eagerness for quick success and instant benefits, I wouldn't have been schemed against.
Now that things have come to this, I do not seek merit, but only to atone for my crimes by eliminating the forces secretly plotting to usurp the throne..."
"Alright, if you knew who the other party was, you probably would have already run to the emperor to claim credit."
"It seems I'm getting old..." the retired emperor warned.
Fu Zhen tearfully apologized: "Your Majesty, please calm your anger. If it weren't for Your Majesty's grace during the palace coup back then, the Yong and Dai mansions would have ceased to exist long ago."
Your humble servant would never dare to forget such kindness and righteousness, and I hope that Your Majesty will understand...
"Alright, I'm too lazy to argue with you. If you two families want to save yourselves, you must keep Fu Ya firmly tied to your families and guard against outsiders trying to win him over to compete for the resources of the Qian Yuan Immortal Sect."
Once this is accomplished, it will be just around the corner for your Yong and Dai families to restore the glory of your ancestors.
"I hereby promise that the Golden Dragon Token will be temporarily confiscated. Once your Yong and Dai prefectures have facilitated cooperation between Fu Ya and Qian Yuan Immortal Sect and the royal family, I will bestow the Golden Dragon Token upon your Fu clan!" The Emperor Emeritus made the decision with a heavy heart.
Even Tianyuan Shangren was moved, staring at the Golden Dragon Token in Fu Zhen's hand with extreme envy.
The Golden Dragon Token is essentially a token with a purple-gold dragon pattern inlaid on a gold token arrow, and its value is less than that of a crystal.
However, the Golden Dragon Token represents the late emperor's promise and is of extraordinary significance.
The late emperor's promise is not the point; the point is the division of profits and the establishment of families for cultivation and spiritual practice when he commanded heroes to conquer the world.
During the Hongli Immortal Dynasty, he swore an oath to be favored by Heaven, and his promise came true.
In a time of widespread war and uncertainty, all factions, large and small, refused to submit to each other and trusted no outsiders. They all wanted to conquer the world, declare themselves emperors, and rule the land, leading to a chaotic and bloody war.
Only the ancestor of the Zheng family had a broad mind and extraordinary demeanor. He promised the ten feudal lords that the Zheng family lineage would assist him in achieving hegemony and establishing the Great Li Dynasty.
Promise: To establish a dynasty and rule the world together. If this promise is broken, the entire Zheng family will perish and perish, and no one will have a good end.
In return, the ten feudal lords remained loyal to the rule of the Zheng family.
Consequently, the Ten Golden Dragon Order was issued.
Each Golden Dragon Token contains the essence and blood of the Zheng family's ancestral emperor and the ten feudal lords, embodying the power of promises and symbolizing the three times the family was spared from extermination.
Master Tianyuan knew this in great detail and was extremely envious.
Upon hearing this, Fu Zhen trembled with excitement and kowtowed repeatedly: "Your Majesty's grace, this humble subject swears to serve Your Majesty to the death..."
"Alright, hurry back and win over Fu Ya, and befriend the people of the Qian Yuan Immortal Sect. You may leave now!" The Emperor Emeritus waved his hand to dismiss him.
Dezhu rushed back with three bottles of spiritual root repair liquid. After Fuzhen handed over the Golden Dragon Token, she left the main hall. Dequan couldn't wait to report to the Emperor Emeritus everything that had happened when he contacted Zheng Ya.
The Emperor Emeritus immediately drank a bottle of spiritual root repair liquid, and excitedly danced around, exclaiming, "Great! Excellent! One-tenth of my damaged spiritual root has been repaired! Amazing!"
"Congratulations, Your Majesty!" Dezhu offered his congratulations repeatedly. Tianyuan Shangren stood up in shock and said, "Your Majesty, is this true?"
At the same time, the Imperial Study was simultaneously showing a surprise reminiscent of the retired emperor!
Emperor Chengping excitedly rushed to his uncles and asked, "Can the Spirit Root Repair Liquid really repair damage to the spirit root?"
"Your Majesty, the Spirit Root Repairing Liquid does indeed have a miraculous effect in repairing damage to spirit roots, but it requires drinking more than ten bottles to completely repair the damaged spirit roots. That price is a bit outrageous!" Zheng Gan said excitedly, expressing his concern.
Emperor Chengping waved his hand and said, "The price is nothing but material possessions. The only way to succeed is to strengthen the Zheng imperial family and consolidate the Zheng imperial power."
The problem is that Fu Ya used this to coerce the Zheng imperial power into protecting him—what a cunning scheme!
"Your Majesty, I'm afraid the Emperor Emeritus will also get involved in this matter, and may even monopolize the spiritual root repair fluid in Fu Ya's hands, and take back Your Majesty's imperial power in the process..." Zheng Gan said worriedly.
Emperor Chengping shook his head and said, "Uncle, you are overthinking it."
It was inevitable that the Emperor would seize a portion of the spiritual root repair fluid from Fu Ya.
Even if Father doesn't try to seize the Spirit Root Repair Fluid, as a son, I should still buy the Spirit Root Repair Fluid from Fu Ya to present to Father as a filial act, setting an example for all sons in the world.
That's secondary. The main thing is that both Father Emperor and I understand that eliminating the forces secretly plotting to usurp the throne is the most urgent task!
"Your Majesty is wise. Compared to the Zheng family's imperial power being coveted, I'm afraid Fu Ya is now facing difficulties and trouble is knocking on his door," Zheng Gan probed, seemingly understanding something.
Emperor Chengping nodded slightly: "Fu Ya selling the spiritual root repair liquid to the Zheng royal family is a way of announcing to the world and helping the Zheng royal family consolidate their imperial power."
Unwittingly, this has incurred the wrath of forces plotting to usurp the throne. They will inevitably attempt to assassinate, win over, and enslave Fu Ya. Naturally, I cannot stand idly by. Therefore…”
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