My reborn husband and son are thinking about how to kill me every day.

Soon, Chief Minister Song and Minister Yan arrived at the Hall of Diligent Governance.

Emperor Gong of Zhou handed the secret report he had received to the Grand Secretary of Song.

In fact, Chief Minister Song didn't need to read the secret report; he already knew its contents.

He had received the news long before Emperor Gong of Zhou did. In fact, the information he received was more extensive and comprehensive than what was in Emperor Gong's secret report.

He not only learned what happened at Ji Yunshuang's banquet, but also what Ji Yunshuang said at the banquet.

He even knew that various forces in Jingzhou were currently making unusual moves, and many seemed inclined to side with Ji Yunshuang...

However, all of this information was gathered by his own faction. Although he now supports the new emperor, as the chief minister, he understands best how unpredictable the emperor's heart can be. His faction, of course, must remain hidden in the shadows.

He pretended to be completely unaware of the situation in Jingzhou, took the secret report, carefully read through its contents, and then, at Emperor Zhou Gong's prompting, handed the report to Minister Yan, who was standing to the side.

Emperor Gong of Zhou asked, "My two beloved ministers, what are your thoughts on what happened in Jingzhou?"

The chief minister stroked his beard and said, "Your Majesty, I believe this is not necessarily a bad thing for us!"

Although Lady Ji is arrogant, it's precisely those who are arrogant that are most vulnerable to exploitation. Besides, even Heaven is on your side; you are the chosen one!

Emperor Zhou Gong was furious, but Chief Minister Song's words made him feel subtly better.

Is he not the chosen one?

Besides the threat of the Qi army's invasion, there were also three vassal kings eyeing his current position.

But now he has done nothing, yet two of the three vassal kings have been deposed, and even the invading Qi army has been punished by heaven!

Isn't this a case of even God being on his side?

However, when he thought of Ji Yunshuang, his brows furrowed again.

"Does Minister Song mean we should just leave her alone?"

Chief Minister Song said, "It's not that we're ignoring her, but it's not the right time yet. Ji Shi is currently under Prince Rui's protection, and Prince Rui should be the most dissatisfied with her making such outrageous remarks. Let's hold back for now and observe how things develop!"

Minister Yan agreed, saying, "Just like the three vassal kings before, let them fight amongst themselves first to weaken their strength. Once their strength is almost depleted, then we will make our move."

Emperor Gong of Zhou said, "But if we let her continue like this, the Ji family's reputation among the people will only grow higher and higher."

"No matter how high her reputation, she's still just a woman. Does she think she can rebel and become empress?"

Minister Yan twitched his beard, his words tinged with a hint of mockery: "From ancient times to the present, there has never been a woman who has ascended the throne as emperor!"

No matter how high her reputation is, it's all due to those low-level tricks. When those tricks are exposed, her reputation among the people will naturally vanish.

Minister Yan was an old-fashioned man. In his eyes, women were always considered to be of little use and not worth worrying about.

In his view, Ji Yunshuang was not as threatening as Prince Rui. Instead of worrying about the Ji family threatening his imperial authority, Emperor Gong of Zhou should think about how to deal with Prince Rui when the time came.

In the power struggle between Prince Rui and Ji Yunshuang, Ji Yunshuang is destined to lose.

Although Chief Minister Song did not look down on women like Minister Yan, he shared the same views.

He said, "Your Majesty, the most important thing now is to preserve our strength. We should not get involved in their internal strife for the time being."

Emperor Gong of Zhou remained silent for a long while before saying, "Prince Rui is not a fool. He will not engage in internal strife before the outcome is determined. Even if he has a great deal of dissatisfaction with the Ji family, he will certainly restrain himself. He will not take action against the Ji family before we go to war."

“If he won’t make a move, we can find a way to make him,” Minister Yan said. “Right now, the Ji family’s reputation far surpasses his. Their military strength should also be comparable. This is precisely the time when he is uneasy. Now is the time to deepen the misunderstanding between the two of them…”

Emperor Gong of Zhou pondered Minister Yan's words.

His first thought was of the chess pieces he had arranged in advance at Prince Rui's residence.

Unfortunately, Prince Rui is a very suspicious man, and the few pawns he planted in Prince Rui's residence have not been given important positions and have no say in front of Prince Rui. There is no way to directly sow discord between the two in front of Prince Rui.

If they wanted to take action, they would have to start with those close to Prince Rui. But that might not be very effective. To turn the two into enemies, it wouldn't be enough for just a few slanderous words from those around them.

Something irreversible must happen...

He said, "What do you two ministers think is the best way to sow discord between the two of you?"

Prime Minister Song stroked his beard and said after a moment, "If Prince Rui finds out that the Ji family killed He Fuci, even if he wants to tolerate it, he won't be able to!"

Both Minister Yan and Emperor Gong of Zhou thought that Chief Minister Song's idea was brilliant.

The hatred of killing one's son is something that even if Prince Rui tries to suppress, he probably won't be able to swallow.

Moreover, Fu Ci was the most valued eldest son of Prince Rui. Killing him would not only destroy the relationship between the two but also deal a heavy blow to Prince Rui.

This can be described as a brilliant plan that kills two birds with one stone.

Emperor Gong of Zhou praised, "Minister Song's idea is brilliant!"

Minister Yan also agreed with Chief Minister Song's idea, but said, "However, Fu Ci was cultivated by Prince Rui with great effort. He has been taught by famous teachers since childhood and has many experts around him. It will not be easy to kill him."

Not only is killing him difficult, but framing Ji Yunshuang afterward will be even harder. Does Chief Minister Song have any other clever ideas?

With a blank expression, Prime Minister Song said, "Nothing in this world is easy!"

“What Minister Song said makes sense. Nothing in this world is easy. But as long as you put your heart into it, you can always get it done in the end.”

Emperor Gong of Zhou looked at Chief Minister Song, signaling him to continue.

Song, the chief minister, said: "Judging from the secret reports from the front, the Ji family's next move should be to attack the Qi army."

Our plan doesn't need to be rushed... If she can truly defeat the Qi army, then she'll have done something good for His Majesty before she dies.

"She only captured a few spies from the Qi army. How can she possibly deal with the Qi army?" Minister Yan said, "In my opinion, she's just making threats to win popular support."

The Grand Secretary Song replied, “The Qi army and King Xuan’s troops have not fought for a long time. The truce occurred during the period when King Xuan’s troops were afflicted with the plague. I believe that the Qi army was also infected with the plague, which is why they had to cease hostilities.”

Plague is something most people would avoid at all costs. But Lady Ji possesses medicine to cure the plague, so she is not afraid of it. She might very well use this opportunity to annihilate the Qi army in one fell swoop.

Emperor Gong of Zhou frowned again.

What was clearly a plague that everyone feared seemed to become Ji Yunshuang's weapon.

While in Ningxing Prefecture, she used the plague to win over the hearts of the people. Now, she has Ningxing Prefecture firmly under her control.

And Jingzhou, due to the plague, fell into her hands without her having to shed a single drop of blood.

Unfortunately, she was the only one who had the medicine to cure the plague, which made him extremely unhappy and intensified his sense of crisis.

He summoned the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard and asked, "Where did the Ji family's medicine for treating the plague come from? Hasn't it been found yet?"

Commander Lin bowed respectfully to Emperor Zhou Gong and said, "Your Majesty, there is no new news yet."

Emperor Gong's expression grew even colder.