Chapter 140

Despite the fact that Hulong Villa and the Eastern Depot are mortal enemies, Hulong Villa is actually at odds with the entire eunuch group; the two sides are like oil and water.

They were originally arranged by the emperor and empress dowager to compete in order to maintain the balance of power in the court.

After all, some officials and powerful families were indeed acting inappropriately, but the emperor certainly couldn’t act arbitrarily, especially not by confiscating property and exterminating entire families at the drop of a hat. He needed to negotiate and engage in power struggles with the civil service group.

But eunuchs were different. They were the emperor’s servants, natural black gloves, and major villains. So, under the protection of the emperor and empress dowager, some so-called chief eunuchs jumped out and fabricated charges to target officials and powerful families.

This was naturally orchestrated by the imperial family, but allowing these eunuchs to grow too powerful would not be good for the emperor. At the same time, the emperor could not allow the entire court to become disloyal to him, so he would support another force to maintain a balance in the middle.

The Dragon Guard Manor is part of this force, so while other things might be reconciled with, Zhu Wushi and the Dragon Guard Manor would never reconcile with the eunuch group.

The Eastern and Western Depots were essentially under Liu Xi’s control. It was precisely because Liu happy controlled both the Eastern and Western Depots that he was considered by many to be “the one who installed emperors.” Over the years, he had wreaked havoc on many ministers and powerful families.

Liu happy himself was quite powerful, with many talented people under his command, and he also had the support of the emperor. Even Zhu Wushi, the emperor’s uncle, could only present evidence and argue his case in court to try to protect the ministers who had been framed by Liu happy. It was absolutely impossible for him to bring down Liu happy.

Jiang Biehe is Liu Xi’s godfather-in-law. In other words, once Jiang Yuyan acknowledges her ancestry, Liu happy will become her godfather, instantly establishing a connection with Yihua Palace. If he were to persuade Yaoyue to take action against Zhu Wushi, that would be terrifying.

Liu happy is truly adept at growing power in an instant; the young emperor might just completely ruin it.

Jiang Yuyan, of course, knew of Liu happy’s existence, and immediately understood, saying, “Everyone knows about this?”

“Everyone knows. Quite a few people came here today because of this. Your father is living a very prestigious life now.” Shangguan Haitang pointed to a young woman who looked elegant and beautiful and said, “Do you see her? Jiang Yufeng, your older sister. She will be sent to the palace to become a concubine.”

“Is that the reason?” Jiang Yuyan was not stupid; on the contrary, she was very clever. She immediately thought of the real reason why her scumbag father abandoned her and her mother back then.

Aside from the prospect of wealth and status, the main advantage lay in the fact that, through Liu Jin’s machinations, Jiang Biehe was highly likely to become a member of the imperial family.

The Ming Dynasty had ancestral rules that concubines could only be selected from humble families and minor households, and marriage alliances with powerful and aristocratic families were not allowed. This was to prevent the rise of powerful maternal relatives. Therefore, in the nearly three hundred years of the Ming Dynasty, there was never a very powerful maternal relative.

The real reason Liu happy adopted a goddaughter and then married her off to Jiang Biehe was to plan ahead.

If a son is born, he will be sent to the palace to take over the throne. If it is a daughter, it will be even better. She will be directly arranged to enter the palace as a concubine. Once she gives birth to a prince, she will be the great-grandfather of the new emperor.

It must be said that Liu happy was very resourceful and clever. If it weren’t for the emergence of Jiang Yuyan, a beautiful, strong, tragic, and ruthless female lead, his plan could have truly succeeded.

Jiang Yufeng was indeed sent to the palace by him. If Jiang Yuyan hadn’t killed her kind older sister and entered the palace in Jiang Yufeng’s place, Jiang Yufeng would most likely have given birth to a prince.

Zhu Houzhao himself had no sons. If he had a son, he would definitely be the next emperor, and most likely a young emperor, allowing him to comfortably rule for another twenty or thirty years.

Jiang Yuyan did have a child, but unfortunately the child wasn’t the emperor’s, but Hua Wuque’s (Hua Wuque and Tie Xinlan’s child, switched). Then she wanted to become the emperor herself, the second female emperor, and directly rebelled, so Liu Xi’s wishful thinking all fell through. As a top-notch extra, he and Jiang Yuyan made the “Survivor List” a masterpiece. At this time, Jiang Yuyan was not considered to have turned evil, but her nature was not white, leaning towards darkness. She had been very ambitious since childhood, and naturally she thought of Liu Xi’s scheme.

This was an open conspiracy, and Zhu Wushi couldn’t stop it even if he wanted to.

We can’t just kill Jiang Yufeng, can we?

If Liu happy’s open scheme was still within Zhu Wushi’s bottom line, then joining forces with Yihua Palace would be too fatal.

Zhu Wushi was well aware of the terror of a Grandmaster of the Innate Realm; otherwise, he would have already murdered the emperor and seized the throne.

Zhu Wushi was quite confident about making a breakthrough, but if Yihua Palace were to unite with Liu happy and the young emperor, then there would be no way to stop them.

Let alone him, even if all the other forces joined forces, and he brought out that person from the Yagyu family to deal with the old monster in the palace, it would still be no use. Three Grandmaster-level combatants, and two of them are sisters working together. Even if you called up all the experts in the world, you still couldn’t defeat such top-tier combat power.

Jiang Yuyan never expected to become so important and sought after, but it also confirmed her suspicion: this Iron-Blooded Marquis didn’t seem to be a loyal minister at all; he had a lot of ulterior motives. Otherwise, why would he care about such things?

He was just worried that Liu happy would become too powerful, that the eunuchs would rebel, and that he would become emperor.

Don’t be ridiculous. It’s obvious he’s afraid of retaliation and being purged. Would someone without ambition be afraid of something like that?

“I haven’t decided yet. I plan to go home to visit my mother, mainly because it was her last wish before she passed away.”

Jiang Yuyan’s words were more like a lie to fool a ghost. Shangguan Haitang and she had known each other for a long time, and they knew each other very well.

Jiang Yuyan naturally didn’t intend to tell the truth, but she also became curious about the Six Ren Divine Dice. This was something Zhang Weihao had told her she absolutely had to get, and she had to trick her father into giving it to her.

Although Zhang Weihao is most likely certain that Yaoyue Lianxing is the reincarnation of his woman, what if she isn’t?

The Six Ren Divine Dice is the strongest artifact to counter Yao Yue Lian Xing; even if you don’t practice it yourself, you can let others practice it.

After all, if he wasn’t the reincarnation of his own woman, then Yaoyue Lianxing would be too terrifying and dangerous.

Especially Yaoyue, that woman is insane, she’s absolutely insane.

Jiang Yuyan didn’t know much about what happened back then, but as clever as she was, she immediately thought of something. If the Six Ren Divine Dice was really with her scumbag father, wouldn’t that mean that the person who betrayed Jiang Feng and Hua Yuenü back then was her scumbag father, and that he was the pageboy Jiang Qin from back then?