“Change of power?” Li Xin’s eyes widened, his expression frenzied as he looked at the old minister speaking. “Who dares covet my throne? Is it that insignificant scion of the Chu family? Or that ungrateful wretch Li Zhong?”

He staggered to his feet, pulling out the Longquan Sword hanging on a nearby rack.

Because of this action, the crown on his head also tilted, and he tried to straighten it with his hand, only making it looser.

His disheveled hair fell down even further.

Seeing him in such a sorry state, except for a few loyal ministers who were sorrowful and wiping tears, the other courtiers all lowered their heads in silence.

Unable to fix the crown properly, Li Xin simply tore it off and threw it to the ground, then picked up the Longquan Sword and descended the jade steps. “I’ll behead the traitor Li Zhong first! Then I’ll exterminate all remnants of the Chu!”

Enraged, Li Xin felt as if the entire Hall of Golden Chimes was spinning.

He shook his head, but everyone and everything in his line of sight remained blurred, leaving only a jumble of images.

With one misstep, he tumbled down the steps, the Longquan Sword falling to the side.

“Your Majesty!”

“Summon the imperial physician quickly!”

Li Xin’s fall rendered him unconscious, causing a commotion in the Hall of Golden Chimes.

Several loyal old ministers rushed forward.

The chief eunuch, with tears streaming down his face, along with several young eunuchs, lifted Li Xin back into the inner hall.

When the hurried imperial physician entered the inner hall, he exchanged a glance with the chief eunuch, subtly nodding.

Everything was understood without words.

Putting down his medical kit, under the gaze of Li Xin’s trusted courtiers, the imperial physician took Li Xin’s pulse, his expression growing increasingly grave.

Finally, he was so frightened that he couldn’t even kneel.

Gao Zhuo, formerly Li Xin’s military strategist and now the prime minister of Chen, demanded, “How is His Majesty?”

The imperial physician, trembling, replied, “His Majesty has long been troubled day and night, and his constitution is already weak. This stroke occurred in a fit of rage!”

A stroke was no trivial matter.

The faces of all the courtiers waiting in the hall turned serious.

Gao Zhuo’s old yet sharp eyes stared fixedly at the imperial physician. “Do you know that if you misdiagnose His Majesty’s condition, the consequences will be dire for you and your entire family?”

The imperial physician kowtowed in fear. “The Prime Minister’s discernment is clear. Every word I speak is true! If the Prime Minister doubts, he can summon other physicians from the Imperial Hospital to diagnose His Majesty.”

The chief eunuch, with a face wrinkled like pine bark but unusually pale, spoke up at the opportune moment. “Prime Minister, Chen is currently in turmoil. While the news of His Majesty’s stroke must not be leaked, His Majesty is being cared for here. Matters within the palace and the court still require the Prime Minister’s decisions.”

Gao Zhuo knew that the chief eunuch never sided with any faction and had always been loyal to Li Xin, making him the only person in the court who aligned with them.

The chief eunuch’s words made him temporarily abandon the idea of ordering all the physicians from the Imperial Hospital to treat Li Xin.

At present, Chen was not only on the edge of public opinion but also on the brink of collapse.

If Li Xin fell, it was feared that the various factions in the harem with sons would not remain quiet.

The news of Li Xin’s illness had to be kept secret.

Summoning all the physicians from the Imperial Hospital would inevitably arouse suspicion from those with ulterior motives.

Gao Zhuo thought for a moment and said, “Issue an order for the Imperial Guards to seal the palace. The ministers who came to court today will be detained in the palace, and a few more imperial physicians will be summoned.”

The chief eunuch gave a subtle glance to a young eunuch nearby. “Xiao Shunzi, go quickly to the Imperial Hospital and, to prevent any leaks, say that Princess Yongfu is ill and have the superintendent personally come to the palace to diagnose her.”

Xiao Shunzi understood and promptly stepped forward to request a pass from the chief eunuch, allowing him to pass through various palace gates.

He hurried off to the Imperial Hospital.

The commander of the Imperial Guards, a confidant of Li Xin, immediately sealed all the palace gates after Gao Zhuo’s order, allowing only the young eunuch who had gone to the Imperial Hospital to leave that day.

Gao Zhuo, troubled, along with several other senior ministers, discussed how to govern while Li Xin was bedridden: “Today, His Majesty collapsed in the hall, witnessed by all the civil and military officials. After all, paper cannot cover fire!”

Another minister spoke up, “We must appoint a crown prince. In such turbulent times, if factional strife breaks out again, our Chen dynasty will be in peril!”

“Who should be the crown prince? The second prince carries the stigma of desecrating the former Chu Emperor’s tomb, and the eldest prince, not to mention, has already been subjected to corporal punishment by Shen Yanzhi.

The Marquis Wen’s faction is ambitious. If we support the son of Lady Wen, it is feared that the future power will fall into the hands of the Wen family…”

The group continued to argue incessantly, giving Gao Zhuo a headache.

He intervened, “In my opinion, it is most appropriate to support the second prince.

His Majesty has always favored him, despite the stigma of desecrating the former Chu Emperor’s tomb.

As long as the foundation of Great Chen is preserved, we can gradually rectify everything.

The remnants of the former Chu dynasty were once notorious as well, but now they are all rallying behind the same cause!”

Compared to infants still in swaddling clothes, the second prince was at least capable of acting as regent.

After much consideration, the ministers agreed to support the second prince.

If Li Xin could recover, it would be ideal.

If he couldn’t, after they assisted the second prince in achieving some accomplishments, they could draft an abdication decree, allowing the second prince to smoothly ascend the throne.

Their choice of the second prince was not without their own selfish motives.

With Li Xin in power, in order to balance the court, he had vigorously promoted former Chu officials, thus depriving these old ministers of most of their benefits.

If the daughters of noble families who entered the palace bore the crown prince, the future imperial power would be controlled by the former Chu officials, leaving them with no benefits.

The second prince was different.

Throughout, the only ones he could rely on were these old ministers who had followed Li Xin from Qi County.

When the second prince ascended the throne, their prestige and wealth would only increase.

After all, compared to Li Xin, the second prince was obviously easier to control.

The young eunuch quickly brought the superintendent of the Imperial Hospital and several other physicians to examine Li Xin.

Along the way, they saw that the Imperial Guards had sealed all the palace gates, which made the people from the Imperial Hospital feel that something was amiss.

The superintendent noticed that they were not heading towards the palace of Princess Yongfu, but towards Li Xin’s sleeping quarters.

He felt a jolt of fear in his heart and asked, “Honorable eunuch, it seems we are not going to the palace of Princess Yongfu.”

The young eunuch glanced at him sideways, hands still tucked in his sleeves, and continued walking without a word.

The superintendent hurriedly stuffed some silver into the young eunuch’s hand. “I trouble the honorable eunuch to show us the way.”

Only then did the young eunuch cautiously say, “His Majesty fainted in the morning court due to anger. Physician Song diagnosed him with a stroke.”

The superintendent and the accompanying physicians’ faces all changed upon hearing this.

Having spent many years in the Imperial Hospital, they were well aware of the situation.

It seemed that Bianjing was about to undergo a change of regime again.

Upon reaching the sleeping quarters, they saw that only old ministers who had followed Li Xin from Qi County were guarding the inner hall.

The former Chu officials were confined to the side hall.

The superintendent and his entourage had no intention of getting involved in this mess.

After examining Li Xin’s pulse, the superintendent was even more shocked.

Li Xin’s symptoms clearly indicated poisoning, so why was it being labeled as a stroke?

However, it had always been Physician Song who took care of Li Xin’s health.

If even he hadn’t noticed anything amiss until now, it could only mean that this was a prearranged scheme.

The eldest prince had committed a heinous crime and had already been subjected to severe punishment by Shen Yanzhi.

Now that he was an adult, there was only the second prince left.

Could it be that these old ministers were trying to support the second prince to ascend the throne?

The superintendent became more and more alarmed as he thought about it.

Rather than focusing on diagnosing Li Xin, he was more concerned about how to extricate himself from this situation.

Gao Zhuo, seeing the superintendent’s unpredictable demeanor, sternly demanded, “How is His Majesty’s condition?”

He deliberately didn’t mention Physician Song’s diagnosis, wanting to see if the superintendent’s diagnosis would be the same.

However, the superintendent mistook his stern tone as a warning and wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, saying, “Reporting to Lord Gao, according to my diagnosis, His Majesty is suffering from a stroke.”

With the superintendent saying so, the other physicians who had examined Li Xin’s pulse also echoed the diagnosis of a stroke, all in an effort to save themselves.

Seeing that all the physicians diagnosed a stroke, Gao Zhuo did not doubt further.

He ordered that the superintendent and his entourage also be confined within the palace.

Then he busied himself with drafting a decree to appoint the second prince as the crown prince and allowing the second prince to act as regent during Li Xin’s illness.

He also ordered someone to summon the second prince to the palace for consultation.

The superintendent and his group thought they had escaped unscathed.

When the head eunuch and the young eunuch made eye contact, there was a hint of a mysterious smile in their eyes.

In the deep night, the streets of Bianjing were deserted.

A carriage was hurrying towards the palace but was intercepted halfway by men from the Five City Guards.

The Five City Guards were responsible for the daily patrols within Bianjing City.

After curfew, no one was allowed to move about on the streets.

The driver confidently presented a token, but the men from the Five City Guards coldly smiled and ordered, “Arrest them!”

The person who was supposed to meet the second prince shouted, “How dare you! Do you even dare to disregard Lord Gao’s token?”

“Gao Zhuo conspired with the second prince to harm His Majesty. Their crime deserves death!” A resolute voice came from afar.

The men from the Five City Guards made way, and when the second prince and his entourage saw that it was the Marquis Wen, their faces turned pale.

Gao Zhuo had sealed the news of Li Xin’s collapse and rushed to bring the second prince into the palace to discuss matters, all to prevent Marquis Wen.

But unexpectedly, he still got wind of it.

“You… you… spout nonsense!” Gao Zhuo’s men retorted.

Marquis Wen only glanced at them as if they were ants, “Does Gao Zhuo really think that by detaining the civil and military officials who attended the morning court and ordering the Imperial Guards to seal the palace gates, he can deceive the heavens?”

Hearing Marquis Wen expose all the preparations made by Gao Zhuo and the others, the second prince and his group were terrified, knowing that the situation was already lost, and they no longer wasted their breath.

Marquis Wen waved his hand to the men behind him from the Five City Guards, “Arrest the second prince and enter the palace to rescue His Majesty.”

Upon learning that Marquis Wen had arrested the second prince and surrounded the palace with troops, Gao Zhuo turned pale with shock.

His gaze swept coldly over everyone in the hall, “How did the news leak?”

The other ministers who supported the second prince were also in extreme distress at this moment.

After the downfall of the Shen family, Marquis Wen was the most powerful faction among the former Chu officials.

Now that Marquis Wen had raided the palace under the pretext of saving the emperor, they could no longer afford to confront him head-on.

The head eunuch timely advised, “Lord Gao, now is not the time to settle these matters. Marquis Wen is about to storm the palace gates at night. We need to come up with a plan!”

The sagging eyelids of Gao Zhuo, whether intentionally or unintentionally, formed a triangle as he suddenly emitted a cold light, “With just the few men of the Five City Guards, they still dare to storm the palace gates at night! Follow me to the palace gates with the Imperial Guards!”

The head eunuch, knowingly or unknowingly, added, “The second prince is still in their hands.”

Gao Zhuo snorted coldly, “What’s there to fear? Take Lady Wen and the fifth prince, who are still in the palace, and bring them to the palace gates to see Marquis Wen!”

Watching Gao Zhuo’s angry departure, the head eunuch’s smile grew deeper.

The internal struggle between Gao Zhuo and Marquis Wen ended with both sides suffering losses.

The second prince died under chaotic swords, and Lady Wen and her son were pushed off the city tower.

The soldiers of the Imperial Guards and the Five City Guards no longer had the will to fight.

As the first light of dawn rose from the east, it illuminated the wreckage before the palace gates.

The sound of leisurely horse hooves came from a distance.

Gao Zhuo and Marquis Wen, who seemed to have aged ten years overnight, raised their heads and looked in the direction of the approaching horse hooves.

On horseback, a man in crimson official robes with a fair, jade-like face, his phoenix eyes carrying a shallow smile.

Behind him marched the remnants of a defeated army from the Qingzhou battlefield, now bolstered by the incorporation of troops from Zhuzhou.

As they entered the city of Bianjing on this early morning, even under the rising sun, their presence cast a dark, ghostly shadow, as if avenging specters risen from the battlefield.

“Shen… Shen Yanzhi!” Gao Zhuo trembled.

The fact that he could silently bring such a large force into Bianjing meant he had long arranged everything in secret.

Gao Zhuo’s old eyes showed a resigned expression; he knew well the depth of Shen Yanzhi’s hatred towards Li Xin.

Besides the infamy of the Qinxiang Pass where fifty thousand Chu soldiers were slaughtered, Li Xin had repeatedly sought his death and even sent men to kill his younger sister.

This grudge was enough to haunt them both for a lifetime.

Shen Yanzhi paid no attention to Gao Zhuo. Passing by the Marquis Wen, he smirked, “Many thanks, Marquis, for clearing the way for me.”

Marquis Wen, holding his daughter’s lifeless body, seemed to suddenly grasp something.

Pointing at Shen Yanzhi, he accused, “It was you! You deliberately leaked the information to me, didn’t you?”

The eunuch sent by the chief steward to convey messages to the imperial physician’s office took the opportunity to pass information to Shen Yanzhi’s contact.

Shen Yanzhi, in turn, manipulated things to let Marquis Wen know about Gao Zhuo’s plan to control the palace and crown the second prince, inciting them to conflict.

Twirling the jade ring on his finger, Shen Yanzhi said calmly, “It’s true I informed the Marquis about Li Xin’s illness and Gao Zhuo’s palace control. But it was the Marquis’s own determination to vie for that position, wasn’t it?”

The mocking smirk on his lips was piercing, “However, it was I who ordered the killing of the second prince.”

Marquis Wen had intended to use the second prince as a hostage and would never have killed him.

Gao Zhuo wouldn’t have harmed the prince either.

Shen Yanzhi’s men, disguised among the troops, pretended to rescue the second prince but pushed him in front to block the blade when intercepted.

Thinking it was Marquis Wen’s men who killed the prince, Gao Zhuo, in a fit of rage, pushed down the Duchess Wen and her child.

With a mournful cry, Marquis Wen picked up a sword from the ground and charged at Shen Yanzhi, only to be easily subdued by Chen Qin.

Kneeling in a pool of blood, Marquis Wen cursed bitterly, “Shen Yanzhi, you’re truly vile! How haven’t you gone to hell yet!”

Seeing him in such a wretched state, Shen Yanzhi chuckled, “I’m already in hell, I’m just inviting you all to join me now.”

He continued to leisurely ride forward as Gao Zhuo struggled to retreat into the palace, tripping over corpses on the ground, crawling towards the palace gate while casting fearful glances backward.

Shen Yanzhi’s horse approached, showing no intention of avoiding him.

His eyes were indifferent; under the horse’s hooves was merely one of Li Xin’s lackeys. Behind Li Xin’s schemes and conspiracies, this man must have played a significant role.

The horse trampled over Gao Zhuo, his screams echoing through half the palace.

The cavalry following behind didn’t detour either, continuing to trample over Gao Zhuo.

His exquisite crane-patterned robes were stained beyond recognition by blood and debris.

Bianjing had indeed changed, but the prime minister Gao Zhuo and Marquis Wen, who had schemed closely the previous night, had unwittingly prepared the bridal attire for others.

Qingzhou.

Shen Yanzhi’s merit in “saving the king in peril” earned him the title of Regent King.

Shen Chan reclaimed her position as noble consort, and when news of her giving birth to a prince arrived, Qin Zheng happened to receive a letter from Beiting.

Lin Zhao had written extensively, explaining the circumstances of how they happened to save Pei Wenyan.

The Pei family were also loyalists of Chu; Lin Zhao decided to keep Pei Wenyan in the army for the time being.

She also mentioned that Li Zhong had declared himself king and dared not confront Beiting directly, instead expanding his power by attacking Li Xin’s territory.

Lin Zhao planned to return to Jianghuai with the women’s army after selling off the imperial tomb artifacts carried by the merchant convoy, intending to assist in caring for the disaster victims.

Qin Sheng also took the opportunity of the military messengers to send a letter home, expressing his desire to return.

In such extraordinary times, Qin Zheng naturally did not allow it.

She wrote back to Lin Zhao and Qin Sheng, asking them to stay in Beiting for a while longer until the epidemic passed.

“Shen Yanzhi has been appointed Regent King; it seems Li Xin has been sidelined,” Qin Zheng said, marking several places on the map based on Lin Zhao’s letter.

Shen Chan’s quick delivery of the prince made Qin Zheng suspicious.

Calculating, she realized that from conception to now, it had barely been seven months.

If it wasn’t a premature birth, the origin of this child was worth pondering.

After finishing her defensive plans, Qin Zheng said to Chu Chengji, “Li Zhong has declared himself king and is aggressively encroaching on Li Xin’s territory. Shen Yanzhi won’t sit idly by. Their internal strife gives us a chance to recuperate.”

The epidemic originating from Zhuzhou had caused all cities north of it to tightly shut their gates, refusing to take in any refugees.

It was rumored that any refugees who managed to sneak into those cities, regardless of whether they carried the plague, were shot with arrows and their bodies burned.

The refugees from Zhuzhou were terrified by such brutality and dared not venture further north.

But to the south, only Wucheng was accommodating refugees.

Within the territory of Prince Huaiyang, a large-scale epidemic erupted in Qingxi County due to refugees fleeing there initially, prompting Prince Huaiyang to abandon the entire county.

With no other choice, the county magistrate had to seek refuge under Chu Chengji.

Moving the entire county’s population to Wucheng was difficult.

After discussions between Qin Zheng, Chu Chengji, and their ministers, Qingxi County, abandoned by Prince Huaiyang, was rebuilt into a second Wucheng.

Now their reputation among the people had reached its peak.

Yet, no matter how high their reputation was, they still needed luck to survive this epidemic.

Doctors had not yet found a cure, but the only thing worth celebrating was that they had contained the epidemic within Wucheng and the disaster sheds in Qingzhou.

Places like Mengjun and Xuzhou were safe, preserving the foundation of their power.

Chu Chengji looked at the documents in his hand. “Even Marquis Lian has gifted us a batch of medicinal herbs.”

Qin Zheng got up briskly. “I think we should ask Prince Huaiyang for something too?”

After all, Prince Huaiyang, under the pretext of driving away refugees, had expelled all vagrants and beggars from his territory.

These vagrants and beggars had mixed in with the refugees and flooded into Qingxi County, becoming a burden to them.

Chu Chengji lowered his gaze. “What do you suggest?”

Qin Zheng pondered for a moment. “Give weapons to the people of Qingxi County, let them pretend to attack other cities controlled by Prince Huaiyang. Tell him that they don’t have enough food and medicine, and if he doesn’t provide them, they’ll attack the city.”

In the eyes of the soldiers under Prince Huaiyang’s command, these people were all infected with the plague, so the soldiers dared not have any interaction with them.

Prince Huaiyang also didn’t dare to gamble, so he would probably give in to avoid trouble.

A smirk formed at the corner of Chu Chengji’s mouth. “Ah Zheng, you’re learning to be cunning.”

Qin Zheng glared at him. “What do you mean learning? This is what military strategy calls deception!”

Chu Chengji gently rubbed her hand bones, his gaze falling on the scroll, but the curve of his mouth remained unchanged.

Sometimes opportunities always come with disasters.

Now, with Marquis Lian’s support in the north and Li Xin’s forces entangled with Shen Yanzhi and Li Zhong, it was the perfect time for them to deal with Prince Huaiyang.

However, Qin Zheng didn’t expect that before they could implement the plan she proposed to Chu Chengji, Prince Huaiyang seemed to have forgotten his past troubles.

Thinking that they were now constrained by the epidemic, he wanted to avenge the shame of losing Xuzhou and launched another attack on it.

Xuzhou’s trade had just been revitalized, and Chu Chengji wouldn’t let Prince Huaiyang take it away so easily.

While Huizhou was assisting Xuzhou, he personally led troops, disguised as refugees from Qingxi County, and went directly to attack Minzhou.

It was more effective to have regular troops impersonate plague-ridden civilians than to have actual plague-ridden civilians pretend to attack the city.

The soldiers of Chu had rich experience in siege warfare and wouldn’t be intimidated. With the guise of “plague-ridden civilians,” they could also scare the enemy.

After Minzhou, it would be Yingzhou. By capturing Min and Ying, Chu Chengji would have complete control over the forces of the Lu family in Yingzhou.

Lu Ze hoped that Chu Chengji would seize Yingzhou as soon as possible.

Knowing that Chu Chengji had plans for Yingzhou, not only did he fully cooperate with the main branch of the Lu family, but he also provided Chu Chengji with the defense map of Yingzhou.

When Chu Chengji led the army disguised as refugees from Qingxi County to attack Minzhou, Prince Huaiyang was still confused.

He hadn’t achieved any results from his attack on Xuzhou yet, so why were the “refugees” from Qingxi County looting his supplies?

The soldiers of Minzhou were worried about contracting the plague and didn’t dare to confront the “refugees” from Qingxi County head-on.

Although long-range arrow shots were feasible, once it came to a real fight, the soldiers of Minzhou dropped their helmets and fled.

Using this method, the “refugee” army took several cities in just half a month.

When it was finally discovered that they were actually Chu troops in disguise, Prince Huaiyang was so enraged that he collapsed in his tent.

Because Li Xin in Bianjing had also collapsed and had a stroke, when the news of Prince Huaiyang’s illness spread, some unscrupulous individuals added fuel to the fire, saying that his collapse was also due to a stroke.

Now, those handling political affairs on his behalf were mostly his sons.

Some more outrageous rumors even said that his sons were already preparing for his funeral, causing panic among the troops.

Prince Huaiyang, who had just regained consciousness, almost fainted again upon hearing these rumors.