Poisonous Goddess: I'm just lazing around in the mortal realm.

After a long time, neither side seemed willing to compromise, and the stalemate continued for quite some time.

Afterwards, Duan Yuan finally let out a heavy sigh.

"Can't I even decide for myself who will lead the expedition?" His gaze fell on the kneeling old minister, a mixture of guilt and anger in his eyes.

His decision to attack the southern barbarians was originally a last resort.

However, he also wanted to ensure the success of this battle and take the opportunity to hone the skills of the Crown Prince, which is why he allowed the Crown Prince to supervise the army and personally lead the troops to fight against the Southern Barbarians.

It was just a matter of 100,000 troops defeating less than 50,000 southern barbarians; they would be able to return in triumph in no time.

However, just two days before the expedition, these old ministers, who were usually stubborn and inflexible, suddenly submitted a petition to the Crown Prince, demanding that the personnel selected for the southern expedition be replaced.

"Your Majesty, this matter is of utmost importance. Please reconsider!"

Pei Zhiheng, who was in the lead, knelt on the ground. As soon as he finished speaking, he saw a fine inkstone fall beside his hand.

It cracked upon impact.

Pei Zhiheng remained composed, neither humble nor arrogant, and calmly lowered his head, as if he didn't care at all that the inkstone had almost hit him.

His purpose today is to stop the Crown Prince from taking command of the army.

"Then why doesn't Prime Minister Pei tell us why the Crown Prince can't go, but others can?"

Duan Yuan suppressed his anger. Thanks to Sun Youzhi's return, he had found a solution for his elixirs again.

Although he still has some difficulty controlling his emotions.

"Your Majesty, the Crown Prince's maternal family, the Bai family, is the premier merchant family in Nanyang. In recent years, they have maintained trade relations with the Western Regions and the Southern Barbarians. This old minister believes that the Crown Prince will show leniency towards the Southern Barbarians for the sake of the Bai family!"

"Bastard!"

Duan Yuan picked up another candlestick and smashed it on the ground, this time hitting Pei Zhiheng squarely on the forehead.

Blood instantly gushed from Pei Zhiheng's forehead, dripping onto the ground.

Despite this, Pei Zhiheng remained unmoved, kneeling firmly on the ground, begging the emperor to rescind his decree.

"Do you know what nonsense you're spouting!" Duan Yuan saw that he had smashed Pei Zhiheng's head, so his tone softened somewhat.

After all, although Prime Minister Pei had recently staged a drama of annulment and retiring to his hometown.

However, he still wielded considerable influence in the Nanyang court. This made Duan Yuan wary of him!

Even though the matter between the Pei family and the An family had caused a great deal of discussion in the court, the emperor still did not dare to make any rash moves against Prime Minister Pei.

However, recently, Consort An has been arguing and quarreling with him every day because of the discord between the Pei family and the An family, trying to get him to make amends to the An family.

But as the emperor of Nanyang, he was a shrewd and calculating man. How could he be easily manipulated by a woman in the harem? Not to mention that Consort An's demands were unacceptable to him.

Thinking of this, Duan Yuan's emotions seemed to have eased somewhat.

“But is Prime Minister Pei senile? You know that the Bai family is only the maternal family of the Crown Prince’s birth mother. The Crown Prince’s adoptive mother is Consort Ning.”

Although he remembered the Bai family's influence in the surrounding countries, the Nanyang treasury was now empty and insufficient to support this trip to the Southern Barbarians.

This is why Duan Yuan insisted on having the Crown Prince lead the army to attack the Southern Barbarians.

"That is precisely why I suggest that the Crown Prince assist in selecting a more suitable candidate to lead the troops into battle..."

Pei Zhiheng was completely oblivious to the blood streaming down his forehead, which had already stained his official robes.

The emperor found it amusing. He leaned back on the dragon throne and quietly watched him.

He hadn't expected that Pei Zhiheng's faction of veteran officials, who had always supported the Crown Prince in court, would turn against him at this crucial moment and try to stop him from replacing the Southern Barbarians before the expedition was about to begin.

"According to Prime Minister Pei, who should I choose?"

Duan Yuan's tone was extremely cold. He lowered his head and looked at Pei Zhiheng, who was in the prince's presence.

"I believe the Third Prince is more suitable!"

"Oh?"

Duan Yuan was somewhat surprised to hear his answer. He knew that the Pei family and the An family were already bitter enemies, and a few days ago, the Pei family had completely humiliated the An family because of the annulment of the engagement.

He had assumed that the two families would become complete adversaries, and that Prime Minister Pei would push out the Second Prince to lead the troops in place of the First Prince.

Duan Yuan could never have imagined this.

Why is Prime Minister Pei speaking up for the Third Prince again?

Thinking of this, Duan Yuan seemed to become interested. He propped himself up on the chair with one hand, his gaze slightly moved.

"Could it be that Prime Minister Pei still wants to form a marriage alliance with the An family, which is why he's speaking up for the Third Prince like this?"

In his opinion, he really didn't understand why Pei Zhiheng would push the Third Prince out to replace the Crown Prince in the expedition against the Southern Barbarians.

Compared to Prime Minister Pei, he now dares to propose in the palace that the Third Prince lead troops to attack the Southern Barbarians.

On the contrary, Consort An, who spent her days gossiping about the Pei family in the harem, seemed much more petty and narrow-minded compared to Pei.

His Highness Pei Zhiheng seemed to have anticipated the Emperor's words, and slowly raised his head to look at the Emperor on the dragon throne.

"Your Majesty, although I am unwilling to become in-laws with the An family again, I am also unwilling to ruin Nanyang's future for my own selfish desires!"

Pei Zhiheng's gaze was clear, devoid of any other emotion. The senior officials behind him all spoke up in agreement.

"Your Majesty, please reconsider!"

"Please reconsider? It seems to me that you have already made the choice for me."

Duan Yuan naturally despised others making choices for him. His gaze towards the old ministers in the prince's eyes was somewhat dark and ambiguous, clearly suppressing his anger.

However, he could not explain to them that he had chosen the Crown Prince out of necessity, especially since the Crown Prince had just temporarily stored the grain and provisions sent by the Bai family outside the city.

If he hadn't chosen the Crown Prince on this trip, the Bai family would probably have taken the grain and provisions with them.

In the end, without financial support, the plan to attack the southern barbarians would likely have to be abandoned.

The plan for cooperation with him in the Western Regions...

It will be reduced to ashes!

"Your Majesty, I did all this for Nanyang!" Pei Zhiheng said earnestly, bowing his head deeply.

Duan Yuan snorted coldly, naturally not believing Pei Zhiheng's words, especially since he already harbored a deep dislike for these old ministers.

How could they possibly listen to them and change the imperial edict?

On the contrary, because of Pei Zhiheng's words, he suddenly began to have a different opinion about his third son.

"If you have nothing else to do, you should retire and return to your hometowns as soon as possible. I will not stop you."

As the Emperor's angry words slowly fell, the old ministers behind Pei Zhiheng all trembled! They quietly looked up and exchanged glances.

Could it be that the Emperor intends to strip them of their official positions at this time?

Although the men looked rather grim, after exchanging glances and noticing Pei Zhiheng's unmoving figure, they all lowered their heads and chose to stand on Pei's side.

Seeing that his threats had no effect, Duan Yuan became even more furious.

"Since you are all so devoted to Nanyang, why don't you join the soldiers in this expedition against the Southern Barbarians?"