Remarrying Chun Yuan

Tuoba Yun: "..." Indeed, life is not worth living.

How could an emperor not prioritize his own interests? He was so naive, spending so much time with the Liu family, that he forgot he had seized the position of sect leader by killing his own brother.

How could someone like that possibly have genuine feelings for a woman?

Yuwen Chan, of course, was unaware of the stain on his reputation carried by his subordinates. He happily went to the Duke's mansion and became the bodyguard of the two little masters.

……

day and night.

There was no word from the Chu Emperor, and Liu Yuechu had also vanished without a trace.

Some people suspected that they might have already left the capital. So the Golden Feather Guards and the county yamen runners searched all over the capital, even all the mansions, but they couldn't find any trace of the two of them.

An emperor of the Chu Kingdom and the wife of the Duke of Baoguo, just vanished without a trace?

This is something that could not possibly happen, as if it were a ghost.

Some people speculated that they might have perished in the fire, burned too thoroughly, since many people died in that fire as well.

More than twenty names were removed from the sculpture competition alone.

This carving competition could not possibly continue.

Meanwhile, in the palace, a gloomy atmosphere prevailed. Although Emperor Qi Xiao still attended court as scheduled and presided over state affairs, with Yuan Cuo absent, all matters came to a standstill and could not proceed. This included the mining in Huai Prefecture, which was also put on hold, and the new smelting process had also stalled and completely collapsed.

Three days later.

Qin Muyan has received Wei Gongming's letter and informed Chu Lan of the news, urging him to fulfill his promise.

Upon hearing that the Chu Emperor had died in the capital of the Great Qi, Chu Lan laughed wildly, "Good, good, good! I didn't expect that Qin Muyan was really stupid enough to actually help me kill that old hag! This is so satisfying!"

"But right now we only know one piece of information. We haven't seen the Chu Emperor's body yet, so we can't let our guard down. If it's a conspiracy, we could easily get caught up in it," the advisor reminded him from the side.

Chu Lan sneered, "Whatever your plan, just send a declaration of war and make Great Qi pay the price for our Emperor's death. Even if this is false, the Emperor of Great Qi will not let it go."

"What if His Majesty and the Emperor of Great Qi are working together?" The advisor still couldn't believe it.

That was the bloodthirsty and demonic Chu Emperor; how could he easily perish in the fire?

She returned to the State of Chu alone and managed to turn the country upside down, even seizing the throne.

Wouldn't it be too easy for him to die now? He really couldn't believe it.

"Are you crazy?" Chu Lan looked at the advisor, wanting to pry open his head. "Even if that woman is willing, do you think the Emperor of Daqi is a fool who would agree to it?"

"Back then, he refused to acknowledge her identity, let alone step forward to bring her into the palace as empress. Do you think he would set up such a huge trap for me just for her own selfish desires?"

"Besides, even if that woman wanted to deal with me, she could have done it in Chu. Why waste so much effort? She has always killed whoever she wanted without ever needing to put on a show or give a reason why someone had to die. You really don't understand her at all."

Chu Lan had to admit that the Chu Emperor's methods were exceptionally ruthless, surpassing even those of ordinary men.

After careful consideration, the staff realized that it made sense.

"Should we then send troops to attack the Great Qi?"

"Of course we won't send troops." Chu Lan directly destroyed the alliance with Qin Muyan. "We can issue a challenge and force Emperor Qi Xiao to give an explanation. If he doesn't cede territory to Chu as compensation and provide enough silver, horses, and provisions, then it won't be too late for us to send troops to Da Qi."

"Then Emperor Qi Xiao will have to take responsibility for the deaths of the people of Great Qi. Qin Muyan will naturally unite with the court officials of Great Qi to force Emperor Qi Xiao to abdicate..."

Chu Lan only wanted to talk his way out of it and get enough benefits. Whether he could actually help Qin Muyan seize the throne was not part of his plan.

The advisors also thought it was a good idea. "Should we announce the news of Emperor Chu's death to the public?"

"Of course." Chu Lan had long been eager to sit on that dragon throne. "It doesn't matter if she's really dead or not. As long as I sit on that position, it won't matter if she comes back alive... Besides, I won't let her come back alive."

……

When the people of Chu heard that their emperor had died in the capital of Qi, they were immediately enraged. All the people were demanding compensation from Qi, and some even arrested and whipped Qi people in Chu. The scene was one of utter devastation and unbearable suffering.

At this moment, Emperor Qi Xiao also received the challenge from the State of Chu. He felt a chill run through his heart, as if it were filled with the coldest ice of winter.

"Where is Yuan Cuo? He still refuses to come to see me?" Emperor Qi Xiao was utterly exhausted.

These days, Yuan Cuo has completely abandoned court affairs, refusing to deal with them at all, leaving all matters to him alone.

The key issue was that he was unaware of the progress of the matter and needed to start from scratch. Even the two rulers of Yan and Meng came to discuss the matter, suggesting that cooperation with Daqi could be suspended until he and Chu had properly handled the funeral arrangements for the Chu emperor before further discussions.

The prosperity of Daqi came to an abrupt halt.

This wasn't because the Chu Emperor and Liu Yuechu had disappeared; it was entirely because Yuan Cuo was giving up and completely abandoning his responsibilities.

Emperor Qi Xiao only realized the importance of Yuan Cuo yesterday.

He didn't know when it started, but he had become inseparable from Yuan Cuo's assistance, and even when he was asked to personally take charge of the current Great Qi, he had become disconnected from the Six Ministries and all other institutions, and was completely out of touch with the pace.

Cheng Hai sighed upon hearing his words.

In fact, he had already seen through the truth, but he just didn't dare to say it.

"His Majesty knows how much the Duke of Baoguo loves Lady Liu. Even if he came to see His Majesty now, he would have no heart to deal with state affairs. Moreover, the Left and Right Chancellors have also been wanting to see you."

Yuan Cuo has taken Pei Chun and Jiang Yunjiao into custody and refuses to release them to this day. All of Eunuch Hua's account books have also been unearthed, and the affairs of Consort Yu and Qin Muyan have been exposed, awaiting Emperor Qi Xiao's judgment.

But Emperor Qi Xiao had no interest in caring about Consort Yu's life or death.

"How can those two have the face to see me? They secretly supported Qin Muyan in manufacturing weapons and raising a private army, do they think I didn't know? Moreover, the scoundrel they raised dared to openly tamper with a carving competition. Besides, this scoundrel used to be in charge of my Imperial Household Department, who knows how much he embezzled."

“Then the Right Chancellor…” Cheng Hai felt that the Right Chancellor was somewhat wronged.

Just because Jiang Yunjiao is his daughter-in-law? Besides, the two families have always been at odds. She was not implicated by Pei Chun; Pei Chun knew nothing about it and was completely caught up in the situation.

"Anyway, he's useless and just keeps occupying the position without leaving." If it weren't for the Crown Prince's reputation, Emperor Qi Xiao would have taken down the Right Chancellor long ago. "It's just letting that kid vent his anger. He won't really kill his son. What's the rush for him?"

"How should we respond to Chu's challenge?" Cheng Hai brought the question back to the most crucial point at this moment.