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

October 25th, Pingju Castle, King Taewang Palace.

"Your Majesty, Goguryeo is so oppressive to Taegeuk Kingdom, treating your people like pigs and dogs. As their king, shouldn't you seek justice for them?"

Inside and outside the royal palace, there were Chu soldiers armed with live ammunition.

After successfully taking control of the Taiji Kingdom's palace, Ban Dingyuan and Wang Xuance directly confronted each other, immediately demonstrating what it means to "hold the emperor hostage to command the princes."

Li Ren'ai sat on the throne, timid and hesitant, not daring to disobey the two retired emperors in the slightest.

Today, their goal is to force Li Ren'ai to send troops to attack Goguryeo from the rear.

In response to Ban Dingyuan's questioning, he simply shrank his neck and replied, "My two envoys, please give me some time. The Goguryeo people are extremely fierce, and we need enough time to prepare to deal with them."

Wang Xuance's eyes turned cold: "Your Majesty has time to prepare, but do your people have time to continue to be oppressed by the Goguryeo people, hmm?"

Li Ren'ai was so startled by the "hmm" that her head almost fell off.

"My two envoys, please calm your anger. I am aware of the oppression of my people by the Goguryeo people, and I cannot sleep or eat properly whenever I think about it."

Ban Dingyuan immediately interrupted him: "If that's the case, then we should send troops even more."

"Now, please issue an edict immediately, summoning the army of the Taegi Kingdom to march north and launch a general offensive against the Goguryeo capital, Wandu."

"This……"

"What, does Your Majesty still have some concerns?"

"No, no."

With a flicker of Wang Xuance's eyes, Li Ren'ai was immediately terrified and didn't know what to do.

"Since there isn't one, then hurry up and write the edict."

After Ban Dingyuan finished speaking, he walked directly to a minister and pulled him up without saying a word: "You are Jin Zizai, the minister of state by the king's side, right? Hurry up and bring paper and pen to draft an edict for your king."

Jin Zizai was so frightened that he kept nodding and bowing: "Yes, I will ask the king to issue an edict. Please, envoy, calm your anger."

"Humph."

Ban Dingyuan snorted coldly upon hearing this, and then released Jin Zizai.

With trembling hands, Jin Zizai ordered someone to bring him a brush, ink, paper, and inkstone, and glanced at Li Ren'ai.

Seeing Li Ren'ai nod helplessly, he then began to grind ink and pick up his brush, writing a royal decree on the paper.

As soon as he finished writing the last stroke, Ban Dingyuan grabbed the paper, exchanged a glance with Wang Xuance, and after confirming that there were no problems, he walked to Wang's desk and slammed the contents of the letter directly onto the table.

"Your Majesty, write it down as is, quickly! Your people are being tortured to death by the Goguryeo people, and they are waiting for you to rescue them. Hurry!"

"Alright, I'll write it, I'll write it right away."

Forced by the emperor's tyranny, Li Ren'ai reluctantly took the royal document and began to write, comparing it with Jin Zizai's content.

The royal decree to attack Goguryeo only officially took effect the moment the royal seal was affixed.

After carefully checking the contents with his assistant Dingyuan, Wang Xuance was satisfied and put away the token.

"Your Majesty, I hope you can think carefully about how to liberate the people of Taiji Kingdom from the rule of Goguryeo. This is a quality that a king must possess."

After saying this, Wang Xuance and Ban Dingyuan waved their hands and led the two platoons of soldiers inside the hall out of the hall.

Once the two men left, Emperor Li Ren'ai and his ministers could no longer bear it and burst into tears.

"My lord, my lord..."

Jin Zizai crawled all the way to Li Ren'ai's feet, kowtowing and weeping bitterly.

"Seeing the king suffer such humiliation at the hands of foreign tribes, I am truly heartbroken!"

Another minister, Choi Myung-gil, also knelt before Yi In-ae, his eyes red, and said, "Your Majesty, please be patient for now. After this humiliation, Taegi Kingdom will usher in a brighter tomorrow."

Upon hearing this, Jin Zizai looked up at Cui Mingji and said in a deep voice, "Cui Youyi, how can you expect the Great King to endure such humiliation? If the people find out, how will they view the King of Taiji Kingdom?"

Choi Myung-gil: "Kim Jong-il is mistaken. The Great King's humiliation was suffered for the sake of the people of my Taegi Kingdom. They should be grateful to have such a king!"

"Nonsense! Was Cui Youyi terrified by the Chu people just now? How could he speak up for them like this!"

"Kim Jong-eun, please stop making trouble. You wrote the declaration of war against Goguryeo yourself. The most urgent thing is to think carefully about how to solve this problem!"

Disturbed by the weeping of the two men and the assembled officials, Li Ren'ai slammed his hand on the table and shouted:

"Alright, stop arguing. The reason I've ended up in this state is because you people are useless and can't share my burdens."

"Your Majesty, please forgive me!"

"It is our incompetence that is to blame!"

Jin Zizai and Cui Mingji, along with all the civil and military officials in the hall, prostrated themselves in admiration.

Li Ren'ai wiped away her tears and sighed, "Now, the entire royal city is controlled by Ban Dingyuan and Wang Xuance."

If we cannot reclaim the royal decree before they issue it, our Taiji Kingdom will face annihilation should the suzerain state retaliate.

"Now that I've said this much, I won't say any more!"

After saying this, he left the palace dejectedly, leaving behind the ministers who were still weeping.

……

That night, Cui Mingji secretly came to the palace to meet Li Ren'ai, bringing with him a martial artist.

"Your Majesty, you have suffered."

"Cui Youyi, please get up quickly."

After helping Cui Mingji up, Li Ren'ai led him to her side, while also glancing at the martial artist.

"Cui Youyi, you must think of a way to save me! My kingdom must not be destroyed by these Chu people."

"Your Majesty, please do not worry. I have come to resolve your troubles."

Cui Mingji glanced outside the door, making sure there were no eavesdroppers on the other side, before whispering to Li Ren'ai, "Your Majesty, if we send a highly skilled martial artist now..."

A capable and reliable person went to Goguryeo to explain the current situation of our Taiji Kingdom. I believe the emperor of Goguryeo will definitely send troops to aid Pingzhou.

In this way, we can use the power of our suzerain state to wipe out these Chu people in one fell swoop. After the deed is done, the king will still be the king of Taiji!

Li Ren'ai nodded vigorously: "That's exactly what I was thinking too, but right now there aren't many people around me who are both loyal and highly skilled in martial arts."

Moreover, the key roads to Pingzhou are all controlled by the Chu people; leaving Pingzhou city would be harder than climbing to heaven.

Cui Mingji said, "Your Majesty, please rest assured, the gatekeeper of the west gate of Pingzhou is a close friend of mine. Before coming here, I persuaded him to pledge his loyalty to Your Majesty."

"The Great Khan only needs to send a reliable person with the King's warrant out of the west gate, straight to Wandu to meet Emperor Shenwu, and Pingzhou can be recovered, and the King can be freed from the control of the Chu people."

As he spoke, he summoned the warrior: "Kneel down before the king!"

The martial artist immediately knelt before Li Ren'ai.

"Who is this……"

"This is a guest of mine who has been serving me for eight years. His name is Park Se-ryeong. He is at the half-step innate realm and is one of the top three experts in the Taiji Kingdom. He is willing to risk his life for the Great King."

Park Se-ryeon immediately kowtowed to Lee In-ae: "This humble subject is willing to serve Your Majesty and restore the glory of my Taegi Kingdom."

Lee In-ae nodded and sighed, "Truly a brave man. Very well, Park Se-ryeong, I hereby appoint you as a first-class royal guard. You can take up your post immediately upon your return after completing your mission."

Park Se-ryeong was overjoyed upon hearing this: "Thank you, Your Majesty! Park Se-ryeong will certainly live up to Your Majesty's trust!"