The arrogant imperial concubine arrives, the favorite of the regent

Ye Xiaohan and Yun Muji caught the Empress and a group of assassins from Nantai red-handed.

As they had previously discovered, the Queen was indeed from Nantai.

Empress Jingying was the second daughter of the Zhang family in Nantai. Originally a legitimate daughter, her birth mother was murdered by a concubine, and she herself was bullied by the concubine and demoted to a concubine's daughter by her father. Meanwhile, the concubine's daughter, Zhang Meng, the eldest daughter of the Zhang family, suddenly became a legitimate daughter, enjoying immense prestige and being regarded as the future Empress of Nantai.

Coincidentally, Jing Ying's maternal family in Nantai had close ties with the Jing family of Zhongyue. They pulled off a clever switch, replacing the previously unseen, sickly eldest daughter of the Jing family. Later, she gradually became the Empress of Zhongyue.

She harbored a deep resentment towards Zhang Meng and planned to take revenge on him once she gained control of Zhongyue.

As a result, he was tricked and ordered to do things by Zhang Meng.

At this moment, Ye Xiaohan led his men to capture the Nan Tai assassins, and Yun Mujiu stepped forward to confront the Empress.

"Actually, the prince and I have known for a long time that you've been watching me."

"By the way, we also learned some time ago that Ye Chu'ao is not your son. We will reveal Ye Chu'ao's true parentage." She said calmly, "In addition, we will not expose your identity as a Nan Tai person. You can continue to be your empress. However, your actions will be restricted from now on."

Zhongyue needs an empress to oversee things, but this empress doesn't need to have any power.

The empress had long since lost all color in her face and slowly slumped to the ground.

"As for Empress Zhang Meng and Crown Prince Xu and their ilk who caused trouble, we will retaliate." It wasn't for the Empress's sake, but this did help her in a way.

The Empress's expression shifted rapidly before she slowly nodded.

...

Ye Xiaohan returned to Zhongyue and resumed assisting the emperor in governing, while the empress retired from her position.

The true identity of the deposed Crown Prince Ye Chu'ao was revealed to the world, surprising everyone. The royal secrets were quite complicated; the former Crown Prince was actually just a child raised by the Empress from a farmer.

Ye Chuhe and Consort Yu discovered that it was the Empress who had poisoned them, mother and son, and also revealed the Empress's crimes.

Before the Empress could eliminate the fully recovered Ye Chuhe and vigorously support Ye Chudi in seizing power, she herself was defeated by the Ye King and his wife.

Consort Yu poisoned the Empress once, causing the Empress to suffer from the same illness that Consort Yu suffered from.

The Emperor was ashen-faced and ignored the Empress. The couple became like strangers.

Ye Xiaohan was training his military and expanding his power, while Yun Mujiu was gradually expanding his business empire, opening his own herbal medicine store, Herbal Hall, in the other four countries, as well as the Laurel Pavilion and the Hundred Flowers Garden.

During this time, both of them also used the treasures they found in the spiritual veins to further develop and strengthen themselves.

Before long, war will break out across the entire Star Moon Continent.

...

Two months later, in late winter, in mid-January, Nan Tai deliberately provoked trouble, wanting to start another war while Zhong Yue was still recovering from the great battle with the Western Barbarians.

The Southern Tai, together with the Western Yi who were barely surviving and the Northern Han who were eager to make a move, launched a simultaneous attack on Zhongyue.

Ye Xiaohan led his troops to attack Nantai, while sending two other large armies to confront Xiyi and Beihan respectively.

At the same time, he told Yun Mujiu, "My great ambition is to unify the world."

Yun Mujiu's eyes curved into a smile as she calmly said, "I knew it long ago. Xiao Xiao, I support you!"

Before heading to the East, the couple had designed weapon blueprints, which have now been transformed into powerful, tangible weapons. These include explosive bows, composite crossbows, alloy swords, repeating crossbows, and spearheads that can spray flames or sedatives, all modified to reflect the historical context of the dynasties in which they were designed. There are also modern weapons that Yun Mujiu retrieved from the medical system, as well as treasures from the spiritual veins.

Of course, this time they weren't aiming to conquer the world by force; they were more likely to employ a combination of force and diplomacy. They used weapons like sleeping potions and poisonous smoke primarily to force the enemy to retreat and then seize the camp.

Meanwhile, as the Northern Commander announced that he was officially leading the Ling family to join the Night King's forces, some internal strife broke out in various countries.

In Nantai, the struggle between Wanyan Gu and Wanyan Xu, and Wanyan Sen, intensifies. Wanyan Gu knows that the deadly poison he contracted was caused by these two close brothers, and he hates them intensely. At Ye Xiaohan's instigation, he exposes Wanyan Sen's treacherous intention to replace Xu in his bid for the throne.

The conflict between Wututu and several other former princes and princesses of the Western Yi dynasty, who were found and brought back to the Western Yi by Ye Xiaohan, intensifies with the Western Yi royal family.

In Bei Han, Ye Xiaohan intensified the conflict between Bei Manji and the Emperor of Bei Han. Meanwhile, Yun Mujiu used the Leng family token, employing her identities as a benefactor of the Leng family, the heir to the Duti Valley, and a princess descended from the Yun family of the previous dynasty, to mobilize a group of forces within Bei Han and undermine Bei Han from within.

In the Eastern Ocean, Ye Xiaohan's power, which had been developing for many years, quietly began to clash with the Eastern Ocean imperial family. His previous trip to the Eastern Empire had already achieved its objectives: first, to find rare antidotes for Yun Mujiu; second, to expand his influence; and third, to secretly contact his former subordinates in the Eastern Ocean.

In late autumn last year, Ye Xiaohan and Yun Mujiu asked Pavilion Master Qian to fulfill the conditions of the three bounty orders.

Firstly, for three years, Duohun Yuanxi devoted herself entirely to serving all the tasks assigned to the two of them, without taking on any other outside jobs. In other words, she focused 90% of her energy on them and only 10% on taking on other jobs.

Secondly, Ye Xiaohan and Yun Mujiu provided various resources, and Duohun Yuanxi was responsible for training a large number of top-level martial artists for them.

Thirdly, they secretly competed with the Japanese imperial family and suppressed its development.

Zhong Yue's army not only possessed divine soldiers but also divine weapons, enabling them to defeat enemy states with unstoppable momentum.