Nine dragons fight for the throne, I don't want to sit on this throne

During the Lantern Festival, Los Angeles should be a beautiful place with bright lights and people celebrating together.

Thousands of lanterns fell to the earth like stars, illuminating the entire imperial city as bright as day.

However, at this moment, the atmosphere in front of the Tower of Gratitude was so solemn that it was suffocating.

Wu Zhao's slender fingers tightly grasped the arrowhead, and the gilded phoenix glowed coldly under the candlelight.

There was shock in her phoenix eyes at first, and then a trace of barely perceptible panic flashed across them.

"This... this is impossible. Why would the inner guards kill you and me?" Her voice trembled slightly, and her fingertips turned white due to the force.

Chu Ning stood beside her, his brows furrowed, the jade belt around his waist shone with a warm luster under the light, but at this moment his eyes were as sharp as a knife.

"That's exactly what's so strange about this!" he asked gravely, "Why are the arrows from your inner guards here?"

Suddenly, hurried footsteps were heard, and Li Junxian strode in, his armor clanging.

He saluted Wu Zhao first, then turned to Chu Ning and bowed deeply. "Your Majesty, the Emperor of Chu, this matter was due to my negligence. I didn't expect that someone was colluding with me. It must be that the internal guards were bribed!"

Wu Zhao took a deep breath, forced herself to calm down, and nodded slightly: "It's possible."

"Do not."

Chu Ning suddenly shook his head, his eyes sweeping across the hall, "Even if someone was colluding with him, why did they only target Xiuning and me, while the Empress was spared?"

Zhao Yu, who was standing behind Chu Ning, nodded. "Your Majesty, what you said makes sense. Logically, Her Majesty should have been assassinated, but those assassins didn't attack Her Majesty. Could it be that those assassins are..."

"how?"

Wu Zhao suddenly raised her head, a cold light flashed in her eyes, and her voice suddenly rose: "Do you think it was I who sent someone to assassinate your emperor?"

She waved her sleeves, bringing up a gust of fragrant wind, and the jade pendants on her waist collided with each other, making a crisp sound.

Zhao Yu's expression suddenly changed, and he bowed quickly: "An outsider dare not."

The atmosphere in the hall froze for a moment.

Wu Zhao sneered and turned to Chu Ning, her phoenix eyes questioning: "Why, you don't believe me?"

Her fingertips unconsciously stroked the phoenix pattern on the arrowhead. It was the emblem she designed herself, symbolizing that the inner guards were loyal to her alone.

Chu Ning met her gaze and slowly shook his head: "Of course I believe you. You were planning to announce the annexation of the Zhou Dynasty tonight, but something went wrong at this moment, and the murderer is directly targeting your inner guards."

He took a step forward and said in a low voice, "It seems that someone doesn't want to see you and me merge, so they are deliberately framing you."

Wu Zhao's tense expression finally relaxed slightly. She sighed softly and placed the arrowhead on the table.

"In your opinion, who could have done this?"

Just as Chu Ning was about to speak, there was a sudden noise outside the hall.

Six heads of noble families dressed in gorgeous clothes rushed into the hall angrily, ignoring the guards' attempts to stop them.

Xie An, the leader, was white-haired but walked steadily, tapping the ground with his cane. "Your Majesty, what is going on? Why would your inner guards team up with the assassins?"

Zheng Huan followed closely behind, his wide sleeves swinging violently with excitement. "I was almost killed by the inner guards just now! Your Majesty, you must give us an explanation!"

Yang Yan's face was gloomy, with a glint of suspicion in his eyes. "Indeed, Lord Cui and Lord Li have been killed. I think we should forget about announcing our dynasty's annexation of Chu tonight."

Lu Wenbin, Xiao Hongde, and Wang Yan also stepped forward and spoke one after another:

"After something like this happened, we definitely can't announce the annexation of Chu tonight."

"The internal guards are working together with the outsiders. What on earth is going on?"

"Your Majesty, are you planning to take this opportunity to eliminate our eight great families?"

The six family heads surrounded Wu Zhao in a threatening manner.

The brilliant light from the fireworks on the street shone through the sky, casting ever-changing light and shadows on their faces, adding a bit of solemnity.

Wu Zhao was so angry that her face turned pale and the pearls and jade on her phoenix crown shook violently.

"How dare you be so rude!"

Seeing this, Chu Ning stood in front of Wu Zhao without hesitation.

His tall figure was like a barrier, and the gold embroidery on his black dragon robe sparkled under the light.

"Everyone!"

His voice was low, but it carried undeniable authority. "This is a divisive ploy by someone who doesn't want us to merge. We absolutely cannot be fooled!"

Xie An sneered, his gray beard trembling slightly. "A plot to sow discord? Then why did the Cui and Li families have to die? They were the ones who were most opposed to the merger of the two countries!"

Chu Ning's eyes glared as he looked around at the six family heads: "Your concerns are justified. After all, there was indeed a traitor among the inner guards tonight."

"But please rest assured, my lord. I will investigate thoroughly and give you an explanation."

Wang Yan scoffed, his fingers trembling slightly in his sleeves. "An explanation? That's easy for His Majesty Chu! Our eight great families have been passed down for hundreds of years, and today we've lost two of our family heads. How can we let this go so easily?"

Another burst of fireworks exploded on the street, lighting up the hall like daylight.

Chu Ning's face looked particularly cold under the strong light.

He slowly raised his hand, and immediately there was the sound of armor colliding outside - it was obvious that the Chu imperial guards had surrounded this place.

"If you don't agree~" Chu Ning's voice suddenly turned cold as ice: "Then don't even think about leaving today. I will simply kill you all here!"

The six family heads were shocked when they heard this and looked at each other in confusion.

Zheng Huan was the first to react and quickly bowed, "Your Majesty, please calm down! We are just... just worried about the safety of our family!"

Xiao Hongde also quickly echoed: "As long as Your Majesty can find the real culprit, we naturally... naturally have no objection."

Yang Yan wiped the sweat from his forehead and said in a trembling voice, "That's absolutely true, but Your Majesty, please find out the truth as soon as possible."

Chu Ning snorted coldly, then his expression softened slightly: "Don't worry, everyone, I will get to the bottom of this matter."

He turned to Wu Zhao and whispered, "It seems someone is eager to ruin our plans."

Wu Zhao nodded slightly, a hint of fatigue flashing in her eyes.

She raised her hand and rubbed her temple, the pearls and jadeite on the phoenix crown making a subtle clinking sound. "There's a traitor among my inner guards. I will personally investigate this matter thoroughly."

The faint sounds of Lantern Festival celebrations formed a sharp contrast with the solemn atmosphere at the moment.

Chu Ning looked at the fireworks blooming in the night sky and said in a deep voice, "Whoever is behind this will have to pay the price."

Wu Zhao walked to his side and they stood side by side.

She said softly, "Tomorrow morning, I will order a thorough investigation of all the internal guards."

Chu Ning turned to look at her and suddenly reached out to hold her wrist: "No, we have to go now. The real murderer is probably destroying the evidence."

Wu Zhao was slightly startled, then nodded in understanding.

She turned to the six family heads and restored her former dignity: "Everyone, please return to your residences and rest. I and His Majesty the Chu Kingdom will personally investigate this matter and will give you an explanation at the court tomorrow morning."