Fearing being killed for his overwhelming merits, the empress decided to marry him.

The current Empress Jiang Mengxuan of the Great Chu Dynasty is seventeen years old.

Her beauty is absolutely stunning;

Her aloofness and coldness made people hesitate to approach her;

Her purity is as fresh and refined as a lotus emerging from the water.

These qualities have accompanied Jiang Mengxuan ever since she completed her coming-of-age ceremony at the age of fourteen.

Every smile and gesture of hers exudes a unique charm, attracting the attention of those around her, yet making people hesitant to approach her easily, as if she were a snow lotus on a high mountain, to be admired from afar and not to be profaned.

However, beneath this aloof exterior, she harbors a heart that yearns for solitude.

From the moment he ascended the throne at the age of sixteen, he vowed to build the Chu Kingdom into the most prosperous dynasty on the Taiwu Continent.

However, ideals are lofty, but reality is cruel.

At the beginning of her reign, Jiang Mengxuan faced enormous pressure from all sides of the court and the public.

Ceding three counties north of Bingzhou and making peace with the Great Yan Kingdom in exchange for securing her throne was a desperate measure she had to take.

In fact, she felt more heartbroken and guilty than anyone else about the loss of territory (in fact, the three counties ceded were not part of the Great Chu territory at all, but rather buffer zones that the Chu army had seized from the Yan army). Yet, she was also so helpless.

Because the most influential force in the entire Chu court was not the Jiang family's imperial power.

It was the Prime Minister's residence, the Ye family.

The Ye family were founding heroes of the Great Chu Dynasty six hundred years ago. After hundreds of years of accumulation, they have become one of the most prominent aristocratic families in the Great Chu.

The Prime Minister's family had disciples all over the country, and anyone who wanted to become an official could only do so through the recommendation of the Ye family.

To this day, eight out of ten officials in the Great Chu, and even key military positions, are recommended by the Prime Minister's Office, which has become a symbol of the hegemonic power.

The current Prime Minister, Ye Mo, wields immense power, with everyone in the court and the country relying on his influence. Even in the martial arts world, various sects have close ties with him.

This is also the biggest opponent Jiang Mengxuan has faced since ascending the throne, and it is also a game between imperial power and aristocratic families.

She still remembered that at the beginning of her reign, in order to consolidate her imperial power, she had no choice but to compromise with Ye Mo.

The cession of the three counties north of Bingzhou to the Great Yan Kingdom was orchestrated by Ye Mo of the Prime Minister's Mansion, with the aim of testing his attitude towards the Ye family.

Only after the ceasefire agreement between the two countries was signed did Jiang Mengxuan gain the support of the Ye family and temporarily solidify her imperial position.

But she knew very well that this was only a temporary expedient, and it was only a matter of time before the Jiang family and the Ye family broke off relations completely.

Before that day arrives, Jiang Mengxuan's task is to cultivate her own power to counter the coercion from the Ye family.

Until she has the strength to confront the Prime Minister's Mansion, she must do her best to restrain herself and conceal all her inner thoughts.

The Jingwei Division was the first step she laid out.

In fact, when Jiang Mengxuan first ascended the throne, she originally planned to reorganize the Imperial Guard, but she had to change her mind after reaching a private agreement with Ye Mo.

Even within the Imperial Guard, many were disciples of the Ye family, and reorganizing the Imperial Guard would inevitably lead to instability in the imperial power.

Therefore, she settled for second best and established the Jingwei Division, a direct subordinate organization that was loyal only to herself.

At least so far, the capabilities and achievements demonstrated by the Jingwei Division have satisfied Jiang Mengxuan.

However, a new problem has arisen.

A secret realm has been discovered on the outskirts of Jinling. Upon investigation, it has been determined to be a level three secret realm.

(The secret realms are divided into seven levels. The lower the level number, the better the wealth or treasures contained within. Apart from that, there are ancient secret realms that transcend the seventh level, but these are simply rare and hard to come by.)

This is good news for the Great Chu court, as it can enhance national strength and influence.

The treasures contained within can replenish the national treasury and also attract many martial artists and cultivators to serve the Great Chu.

However, the problem lies precisely in this new secret realm.

This secret realm has caught the eye of a sect called Qingyi Tower, which claims that Qingyi Tower will be the first to explore and acquire the Jinling Secret Realm.

The Green Robe Pavilion is a sect that holds a near-first-class status within the Great Chu Kingdom. Its leader, Xue Wuying, possesses the cultivation level of the Perfected Innate Realm.

The disciples under its tutelage are of mixed quality, and Qingyi Tower accounts for more than half of the negative news in the martial arts world.

Jiang Mengxuan naturally didn't want to be friendly towards such a sect.

Unfortunately, this time Ye Mo specifically requested that Qingyi Tower be recommended to enter the Jinling Secret Realm, and the fifteen disciples sent by Qingyi Tower have already set off and are expected to arrive in Jinling before the eighth day of this month.

In other words, it will be less than three days before Qingyilou arrives in the capital.

Jiang Mengxuan was extremely unwilling to let Qingyi Tower open the secret realm to such a bunch of scum.

However, he currently has no leverage to negotiate with the Prime Minister's office.

Looking at the itinerary of Qingyi Tower sent by Ye Mo on the imperial desk, Jiang Mengxuan's face remained cold, but her heart was filled with resentment.

"If I cannot even protect this secret realm of Jinling, how can I talk about revitalizing the Great Chu?"

The loss of these three prefectures has already disgraced the late Emperor. This time, no matter what, I must find a way to restore the dignity of the imperial family!

She understood that if she continued to compromise on the matter of the secret realm, all the officials in the court would be completely disappointed in her and would turn to the Prime Minister's mansion.

By then, I would truly become a puppet of the Ye family, how could I possibly still hold onto the throne?

Thinking of this, Jiang Mengxuan called out to the door, "Someone, summon Jiang Shangxian, the commander of the Jingwei Division, to the palace."

……

As dawn broke, a figure wielding a dagger moved back and forth in the courtyard where Shen Lang was.

This is Shen Lang's daily routine. He practices for an hour every morning to keep his mind in good condition.

An ordinary dagger, in his hands, shone with dazzling brilliance, and combined with his extreme speed and agility, it was a sight to behold.

As the final strike slid down from the void, creating a gust of wind, Shen Lang finished his morning lessons.

Sheathing his dagger, Shen Lang closed his eyes and sensed the flow of true energy within his body, a look of delight spreading across his face.

"Not bad, not bad, you've improved again. It seems like I'll be breaking through to the late stage of the Innate Realm in just a few days. I hope you don't cause any trouble."

After breathing a sigh of relief, Shen Lang washed up, changed into his brand-new brocade robes, and prepared to go out for breakfast.

But just then, there was a knock on the tightly closed door.

"Hehehe, my dear brother, are you home?"

Upon hearing the voice, Shen Lang's expression immediately changed.

"Damn, this guy coming to our door is definitely not a good sign."

The moment the door opened, a fat man, about 27 or 28 years old, standing eight feet tall and weighing over 250 pounds, was squinting and smiling at Shen Lang.

"Brother Shen, it's been a long time."

Shen Lang instinctively tried to close the door.

The fat man hurriedly pressed down on the door panel: "Brother, what are you doing? I am your superior, after all. You wouldn't refuse me this much face, would you?"

As he spoke, the fat man ignored Shen Lang's murderous glare and forced his way through the courtyard gate.

"Ugh."

Shen Lang sighed, turned around and sat down at the stone table in the courtyard. He asked in an annoyed tone, "No wonder I heard crows cawing this morning. It turns out it's you, this plague god. So, what do you want me to do this time?"

The fat man is Jiang Shangxian, the commander of the Jingwei Division, who is also the current Empress's uncle and the person Jiang Mengxuan trusts the most.

Jiang Shangxian scurried over to Shen Lang and sat down next to him, squinting as he said, "Brother Xian, I had no choice but to do this."

If I had any ideas at all, I wouldn't be bothering you, would I?

Shen Lang poured himself a cup of tea and drank it by himself. After Jiang Shangxian finished speaking, he asked directly, "So, what is it that you need me to take care of this time?"

Jiang Shangxian smiled and then uttered three words.

"Green Robe Pavilion".