In my previous life, I killed my whole family. In my next life, I killed the royal family.

After Empress Dowager Lu gained power, she acted more and more arrogantly, as if she had become the master of the world, and did not take the ministers in the court seriously at all.

However, at this moment, she became exactly the same as she was during the palace coup, anxious and uneasy, groaning in her heart, "What should I do? The people who come here are not kind!"

Queen Mother Lu sat in the palace, her face as pale as paper and her eyes full of fear.

Facing the coming King Nan'an, she was filled with fear and helplessness, and the three conditions proposed by the other party put her in a desperate situation. For a moment, her mind was in chaos and she could not think of any response plan.

She did not dare to trust the officials and royal children in the court easily, because these people might take this opportunity to turn against her and seek greater power.

After all, whether in terms of identity or status, her young and ignorant son, the emperor, could not be compared with the King of Nan'an. She could only face this dilemma alone, not knowing what to do.

Empress Dowager Lu looked at her family with expectant eyes.

Several people in the Lu Mansion were also in a panic, and Duke Huiguo was even more so.

After the two relatives whispered to each other, Duke Hui stepped forward and whispered to Empress Dowager Lu, "Your Majesty, the emperor is still young. If he doesn't agree to the three conditions proposed by that person, I'm afraid something will happen."

"Why not agree to his two conditions and hold the Qi family hostage in Pu Dynasty?"

"I'm afraid he won't agree." Queen Mother Lu was very anxious.

She hesitated for a while, then turned around and asked helplessly: "Prime Minister, that... Imperial Uncle, why does he want the city so much? That is the city that his mother gave as a dowry, and it now belongs to the Pu Dynasty. Can he take it back?"

Prime Minister Pei bowed and said, "Your Majesty, this is the situation." He told the people present the secrets of the former royal family in detail.

The founding emperor of Nangan Kingdom was Li Xuncheng, a prince of the previous dynasty. After he failed in the palace fight, he took over Ancheng with his army, proclaimed himself king and established the capital of Nangan Kingdom.

The previous dynasty sent troops to suppress the rebellion many times but failed. Then they encountered uprisings everywhere, so they abandoned Nan'an and turned to deal with other rebel forces.

Later, Emperor Taizu of the Pu Dynasty won, established the dynasty, recognized Nan'an, and established friendly relations with it. Because Nan'an was in a bad position and was surrounded by foreign tribes on three sides, if the Pu Dynasty seized Nan'an, it would have to fight with those foreign tribes for a long time.

In the generation of Emperor Wu, he wanted to realize a unified dynasty, but was unwilling to engage in war. He discussed with the emperor of Nangan many times, "If you submit to our dynasty, we will guard the border for you and fight against foreign tribes."

The country of Nan'an had long been harassed and invaded by several foreign tribes, with wars continuing year after year and the country was living in great distress.

After many discussions between the two countries, the emperors of the two countries reached a deal in private, that is, the late emperor of Nangan would promise his legitimate princess to Emperor Wu as his successor, and the son born must be made the crown prince to inherit the throne, and the two countries could gradually merge into one in the future.

In order to show his sincerity, the king of Nangan gave several cities to the legitimate princess as a dowry, and made her the queen after she got married, and made the legitimate son she gave birth to the crown prince.

Pu Chao sent the Qi family army to clear out the largest Haigui tribe for the Nangan Kingdom.

The two dynasties were waiting for Wang Qin to grow up and take over the throne, so that they could unify the dynasties and face the outside world together. However, after Emperor Wu passed away, his eldest son Wang Hui killed his brother and seized the throne.

Unexpectedly, Wang Qin was not dead and has become the new king of Nangan Kingdom.

After the prime minister finished speaking, he said, "Your Majesty, it was us, the Pu Dynasty, who broke our promise first. They have the right to return to the city."

Empress Dowager Lu said indignantly, "It's not my promise that I broke."

The prime minister sighed inwardly and thought: If your father-in-law hadn't seized the throne, would you be the queen mother today?

Everyone looked at her in silence, their hearts filled with disappointment and dissatisfaction with her.

Judging from the way this incident was handled, the officials gradually saw the true face of Empress Dowager Lu: she wanted all the good things to herself and blamed all the bad things on others.

This selfish and responsibility-shifting behavior made everyone lose trust and respect for her.

Everyone originally thought that Empress Dowager Lu would keep her promise and share the responsibility for important affairs of the court with all the officials.

But now it seems that she is fighting for power and only cares about her own interests and status. How can such a queen dowager lead the court to prosperity?

Officials began to re-examine their positions and choices, thinking about how to deal with future situations.

Wang Zongzheng whispered, "King Nan'an said that he would get a reply tomorrow."

After hearing what the Prime Minister said, Duke Huiguo felt even more uneasy.

The little prince's throne is not legitimate. Once it is seized, these relatives by marriage will have no way to survive.

Duke Huiguo stepped forward to persuade her, "Your Majesty, those small border towns are useless. It is more important to protect the throne first."

Empress Dowager Lu didn't care about those small cities. What she cared about was her own face and future status.

She knew very well that as long as Wang Qin was still alive, he would be a huge threat to her and her son.

So she secretly swore in her heart: "I must get rid of this scourge of Wang Qin!"

However, with her current ability, how could she compete with Wang Qin? She watched Wang Qin lead tens of thousands of soldiers and arrived at the capital unimpeded.

She knew very well that Wang Qin's prestige was so high that it was unimaginable. When the soldiers guarding the city saw Wang Qin, they let him go without hesitation, and did not even send someone to deliver the letter to the capital.

It was not until Wang Qin sent his men to Beijing to deliver a letter and invited officials from the Ministry of Imperial Clan Affairs to come that she learned the truth of the matter.

After careful consideration, Empress Dowager Lu finally decided to adopt a delaying tactic. She pretended to agree to Wang Qin's request, and then secretly sent people to eliminate him.

A brilliant plan gradually emerged in her mind.

Empress Dowager Lu said to everyone, "Then agree to his two conditions. The people of Qi Mansion cannot leave, and I will confer them the title of Duke of the State."

After she came down, she discussed with the Lu family and Duke Huiguo for a long time.

The next day, at the morning court session, Empress Dowager Lu issued two decrees in the name of the young emperor:

The first decree: "The Qi family is brave and good at fighting, protecting the family and the country, and has made great contributions to the Pu Dynasty. They are specially named the Duke of Protecting the Country, and their family will be hereditary and enjoy endless wealth and honor!"

As the eunuch's sharp voice fell, everyone in the court showed shock and confusion. Many ministers were puzzled and didn't understand why Empress Dowager Lu made such a decision.

Some officials came forward to express their opinions.

Some people believe that "Although the Qi Mansion has some military achievements, it has just been conferred the title of Marquis Mansion, and it is not appropriate to be conferred the title of Protector of the Country Mansion without any military achievements."

Others said, "To confer a title without merit is likely to cause jealousy and dissatisfaction among other soldiers, and may lead to chaos in the world."

Some ministers even expressed doubts about the loyalty of the Qi government. "They will get carried away and use this opportunity to expand their sphere of influence, thus threatening the stability of the court."

All the officials looked at Qi Lu and Qi Ze, father and son, with envy, jealousy, and doubt in their eyes...

The father and son had calm expressions, as they knew that Empress Dowager Lu's move to confer the title of Duke on them would leave them behind to control the State of Nangan.

Facing the ministers' questioning, Empress Dowager Lu appeared very calm and composed.

She glanced at the ministers below, her expression dignified and indifferent, as if she had already anticipated these objections and was prepared to deal with them.

The eunuch read out the second decree: "I heard that the Qi family has a gentle and virtuous daughter, so I specially confer her the title of Princess Heyi. The King of Nan'an is young and capable, and has a good governance. He has been on good terms with our dynasty for many years. I now betroth Princess Heyi to him as his queen to show the sincerity of the friendship between the two countries. I hope that the King of Nan'an will cherish this relationship and the two countries will be friends forever. I grant him a golden book and golden treasures, and a dowry of five cities. I decree this!"

This decree surprised everyone - the Pu Dynasty was actually going to hand over five cities to the small Kingdom of Nangan.

Every inch of Pu Dynasty's territory was preserved after countless wars. It is really hard to understand why Empress Dowager Lu gave them away so easily.

Many ministers expressed strong dissatisfaction and protests. Some people came out to advise, "Your Majesty, giving the city to Nan'an will not only damage the reputation of the Pu Dynasty, but may also cause damage to national interests."

"Your Majesty, it is fine to confer the title of Princess Heyi on the Qi family's daughter and marry her to the King of Nan'an, but there is no need to give her five cities as a dowry!"

But Empress Dowager Lu had made up her mind. The land, the people, the soldiers, the national interests... in her heart, none of them were as important as her own status, wealth and glory.

No matter how the ministers advised her, Empress Dowager Lu remained unmoved.

In the end, these two decrees were officially promulgated and became established facts.

The entire court fell into silence, and those who were unaware of the inside story were thinking about the real intention behind Empress Dowager Lu's move.