After the system set its sights on the dragon throne, the princess started courting death every day.

Fu Qingbai: "Don't you know what's been going on with me these past few days?"

"..." Bai Yuchen cleared his throat. "Did you send someone to tell us that His Majesty was unconscious?"

Fu Qingbai didn't say much, but lifted his white inner robe and asked, "What do you think?"

His entire abdomen was wrapped in layers of thick gauze, and the bright red blood seeped through the white gauze, making it particularly conspicuous.

Bai Yuchen stared blankly for a long while, then, regaining his senses, he looked up and, unable to control himself, roared, "When we arrived, the palace gate eunuchs said they were ordered to close the palace gates. Are you sure you didn't pass on the news that His Majesty was unconscious to us?!"

Like a thunderclap from a clear sky, everyone fell silent, staring at Fu Qingbai. The entire small house seemed to be paused in an instant; they were all waiting for an answer—

Looking around anxiously, Fu Qingbai shook his head: "No."

With a muffled thud, he fell to the ground—Qi Cheng, in his surprise, had unconsciously used force to choke the Left Censor-in-Chief unconscious.

The sound was like a switch being turned on, and everyone present gasped. Several officials who were at the very end of the line to attend court were trembling uncontrollably, but they managed to grab the wall and stay upright.

The seasoned veterans present were not fools; they all understood that they had been set up. Even though they were alarmed and frightened, their minds instinctively began to devise a plan immediately.

Soon, the Prime Minister asked, "How many Imperial Guards are there in the palace?"

"I don't know," someone in the crowd stepped forward and answered. "When the late emperor ascended the throne, there were about 50,000 people. Later, there was a reduction, but now that Your Majesty has ascended the throne, I have never heard of any increase."

This means that there are very few Imperial Guards in the palace now.

The Prime Minister looked at him and nodded in agreement: "I know that too, but the important thing now is to find out whether the problem lies with the eunuch or the guard."

“We can easily investigate the guards, but as for the people in the palace, we, as subjects, cannot interfere without His Majesty’s order.”

Minister of War: "Then what should we do?"

After a moment of contemplation, the Prime Minister said, "How about this, you and I will go to Shouning Palace later to see the Empress Dowager and let her make a decision. General Zhaoyi and the other military officers will go to the palace gate to keep watch, which is your specialty. The others will guard His Majesty and reassure the imperial physicians... What do you think of this arrangement, Marquis Anwu?"

"Where is the commander of the Imperial Guards?" Fu Qingbai glanced at the crowd but did not see him.

"When I arrived, I first told him to report the situation to the Empress Dowager. He should be on the palace wall by now. Otherwise, do you think we would have so much time to entangle with you for so long with just a few people from the Military Affairs Bureau?" The Prime Minister answered calmly, without any surprise.

Fu Qingbai pursed her lips: "...If that's the case, why did you come to find me?"

With one hand behind his back and the other stroking his white beard, the Prime Minister said calmly, "Lord Marquis has fought on the battlefield for many years. You know better than us how to fight and rebel. If we don't ask you, who should we ask?"

Fu Qingbai stared at him, his gaze deep and intense.

Xiang An, who was listening in, exploded: "Are you guys out of your minds? You already have soldiers, and you were just asking Fu Qingbai to go and guard the area?"

They really know how to talk when they force a patient to go to war.

Even if the two princes outside the palace privately maintained their own guards, their numbers would be limited. Although the emperor's father died suddenly and she was unsure of his abilities, the capital had always been firmly under the emperor's control.

Xiang Xin had only been on the throne for half a year, and his power might not be stable, but no one could raise a large number of private soldiers in such a short time. The number of Imperial Guards was more than enough to deal with the outsiders.

Fu Qingbai's expression was slightly cold, but the Prime Minister smiled without fear. The ministers in the room had already gone out to do their work after he finished giving his instructions. After all, this was a matter of life and death, and if they wanted to live, they had to let go of their grudges.

Now, only the two of them are in the house.

"Excuse me." Bai Yuchen turned back, cupped his hands, and asked, "Prime Minister, may I ask what Marquis Anwu wants?"

"Does Imperial Censor Bai have any ideas?"

The Prime Minister smiled calmly.

It wasn't surprising that he asked such a question. Bai Yuchen was a perfectionist who would never let himself suffer a loss or take responsibility.

Otherwise, why would they waste their time coming to Marquis Anwu's place to arrange things? Wouldn't it be the same no matter where they arrange it?

It was Bai Yuchen who suggested it, just to prevent the emperor from waking up and holding them accountable, so that they could push Fu Qingyuan to take responsibility.

Everyone knew Bai Yuchen's intentions, and everyone tacitly agreed that someone should take the blame. Why not take advantage of the chaos to make more money?

"Only with a token can more troops from the Military Command be mobilized." Bai Yuchen replied to the Prime Minister, his eyes fixed on Fu Qingbai.

Upon hearing this, the Prime Minister also looked at him, narrowed his eyes, and said in a deep voice, "Marquis Anwu, now that things have come to this, are you still not going to hand over the token of the Capital Garrison?"

Meeting the two pairs of meaningful eyes, Fu Qingbai calmly asked, "Do you want to live?"

"You..." The prime minister choked, not understanding what he meant, and refused to reply.

Fu Qingbai smiled faintly: "Too many soldiers are useless; now is just right."

At this point, not only did everyone present understand that they wouldn't go, but Xiang An also understood: they had come for military power.

Xiang An had no idea that not only was the military power at the border in Fu Qingbai's hands, but it was also in the hands of the commander of the capital. No wonder he kept urging him...

Wait, could it be that everything that happened today was staged by these courtiers?

Not impossible.

Thinking back on the first words Zhong Zan and Qi Cheng said, it seemed like a heated exchange that was about to escalate into a major argument, but wasn't it just a case of one playing the good cop and the other the bad cop, putting Fu Qingbai in a very difficult position?

Is the goal to seize military power from Fu Qingbai?

No, that's not right. The real purpose should be to mobilize the tokens of the Capital Garrison. Of course, it would be best if we could get them all.

At first, Qi Cheng seemed to have been forced into speaking, and in a fit of anger and impulsiveness, he said he wanted military power.

If Fu Qingbai had been soft-hearted or had wanted to smooth things over and had handed over his military power, they would have taken advantage of the situation and demanded the military command's token.

To their surprise, Fu Qingbai did not do as they expected, but simply stood aside and watched the show.

Even when the argument escalated to the point of almost killing each other, he remained silent. At this moment, to prevent the situation from remaining deadlocked, Bai Yuchen took the initiative to break the deadlock.

He first threw out a small, hard-to-detect detail to build momentum, then went out on a trip, pretending that he had too few troops and came back to ask for the commander's token.

Indeed, most people would agree after hesitating, considering that they had already refused to grant him military power, and now that he was being asked to lower his status again, especially with the current prime minister and censor in front of them, and in such a critical situation, whether out of consideration for their colleagues or to save face by refusing again and again.

When faced with a choice between a military tally and a token, people's habitual thinking will inevitably lead them to choose the more important one.

Once given, the entire capital city will be plunged into utter ruin.

When Ding Yinan confronted Bai Yuchen, Wei Wenrun, and Zhong Zan at Piaoxiang Tower, it was already proven that the prince and his ministers were colluding in private.