The princess only wants to survive, and the cold-faced king of hell begs for mercy

As soon as these words were spoken, the atmosphere in the imperial study suddenly froze. The candlelight flickered, and even the air seemed to tremble. Zhao Qiyan's eyes darted back and forth from Zhang Sheng's face, wondering: Who exactly was this Zhang Sheng? How could he reveal such a shocking secret hidden deep within the palace? And could he be the key figure in turning the tide in these troubled times?

A contest concerning the fate of the country and court intrigue has quietly begun. The appearance of Zhang Sheng has undoubtedly added some unknowns and variables to this storm, making people hold their breath and wait to know what will happen next.

"If my guess is correct, the Empress who sits on the throne in the palace right now isn't the real Yun Shang, right?" Zhao Qiyan didn't directly answer in the affirmative or negative direction. Instead, he posed a question that got to the point: "Then, may I ask how exactly did you know that the Empress living in this inner palace is a fake?"

Unexpectedly, Zhang Sheng slowly shook his head, a mysterious smile on his face, and he said softly, "You all don't know! Although the Empress in the palace is indeed not Yun Shang herself, she is definitely not a fake. To be precise, this Empress is the real Empress!"

These words, like a stone that sent shockwaves through the air, sent shockwaves through the air. Everyone present was stunned, looking at each other in disbelief. The woman holding the Jade Ruyi couldn't contain her confusion and astonishment, eagerly demanding, "What exactly do you mean by that? If she's not Yun Shang, how can she truly be called the empress?" Faced with the crowd's doubts and confusion, Zhao Qiyan seemed to suddenly remember something crucial. He paused for a moment, then quickly recovered and raised his hand to signal Zhang Sheng to stand and answer.

After receiving permission, Zhang Sheng slowly stood up, cleared his throat, and began to slowly recount a little-known story: "Back then, the story of the prime minister's real and fake daughter was widely known. Lin Zhiwei, the prime minister's legitimate daughter, could not bear such humiliation and, unable to think clearly, chose to hang herself in order to seek relief. At that moment, a miraculous event occurred—a remarkable woman from the future, Yun Shang, by chance, traveled here in spirit and happened to occupy the body of the deceased Lin Zhiwei..."

However, after my persistent and in-depth investigation over this period of time, I unexpectedly uncovered a jaw-dropping, earth-shattering secret! This secret is closely related to Yun Shang's time travel experience.

It turns out Yun Shang's method of traveling through time is completely different from any of ours. This is precisely the key reason why 073 and the others are so determined to take Yun Shang to that mysterious place. Seeing that Zhao Qiyan could no longer contain his anxiety, he impatiently urged Zhang Sheng to stop playing tricks and keeping people in suspense, and shouted urgently, "Hurry up and tell me everything you know! This will be your redemption!"

Seeing this, Zhang Sheng quickly nodded in agreement. He then took a deep breath and slowly explained, "Our time travel is actually a spiritual journey. In other words, our souls will transcend the boundaries of time and space, arrive in this strange world, and occupy the body of a dying or deceased Yu countryman, continuing to live as that person."

At this point, Zhang Sheng paused briefly, then continued in a serious tone, "However, Yun Shang's situation was very special. Her body and soul completed the journey of time travel together. However, even Yun Shang herself was completely unaware of this. Even more astonishingly, not only did her body successfully descend upon Yu Country, but she even underwent an incredible body swap with the real Lin Zhiwei!"

Yun Shang unexpectedly used Lin Zhiwei's body and successfully married the then-current King of Qi under her identity, becoming the noble Princess of Qi. However, fate played a cruel trick on her. After the real Lin Zhiwei hanged herself in despair, her soul miraculously transferred into another new body, which happened to belong to Yun Shang herself!

Hearing this, Meng Tai suddenly realized something, as if a revelation had struck him. "So that's how it is! According to you, this high and mighty Empress, while possessing the body of Yun Shang, actually resides within her soul, that of Lin Zhiwei! In other words, she is the only one who was supposed to marry Your Majesty and spend the rest of your life with him—the rightful Lin Zhiwei?"

Zhang Sheng nodded slightly in agreement, and said firmly, "That's right. That's why I dare to assert that although she doesn't appear to be Yun Shang, she is actually the true queen!"

However, Zhao Qiyan was clearly dissatisfied with this statement. His face darkened, and he snorted coldly, retorting with great authority, "I know exactly who my queen is, and I don't need anyone else to make the decision for me!"

When I learned she was Lin Zhiwei, I was a little surprised, but I could only spare her life. Ultimately, it was because the body she was using was Shang'er's! How could I possibly allow this body to be damaged in the slightest?

As for the lofty position of Queen, she couldn't even think about it. Zhang Sheng narrowed his eyes slightly and continued, "Based on the intelligence I currently have, I speculate that Mr. Jiu and others are probably escorting Yun Shang all the way to the Far North at this moment." He paused, looking into the distance, as if he had already seen the figures of those people.

"And their destination, if nothing unexpected happens, must be Black City." At this time, Zhuo Fang couldn't help but ask, "Why are you so sure that they are going to Black City? Do you have any solid evidence or basis?"

Zhang Sheng smiled faintly and answered confidently, "Of course there is. Not only can we confirm that their target location is Black City, but I can also assert that they will definitely choose to launch an operation around midnight the day after tomorrow. Therefore, no matter what, they must reach Black City before midnight the day after tomorrow."

As soon as these words were spoken, they reverberated like a thunderclap through the crowd, their gazes instantly focused on Zhang Sheng like a spotlight. Zhao Qiyan was also shocked. He had been skeptical of Zhang Sheng's words, but now he had no choice but to start believing them. However, his strong curiosity still drove him to find out the reason.