Forced to be a concubine? I turned around and married the scumbag's father.

Min Dongsheng, General Fang, and Zhou Chunyu rushed over.

An urgent call in the middle of the night must mean something urgent.

Mu Junyan explained that Gu Hua was pregnant: "Originally, we planned to wait until Zhao Yuchen returned to the capital and caused a great uproar. The Yuan family would definitely attack us, and we would then use that as an excuse to sever ties with Daliang, which would lead to a tough battle. But Hua'er is pregnant, and I don't want her to be upset in any way. She was already injured when she had a premature birth last time, and I don't want her to be hurt again."

Zhou Chunyu was the first to nod: "Yes. In just one or two years, the Princess has already endured enough fright and pressure."

General Fang frowned: "Then how should we deal with this? The Empress is clearly trying to find fault with you."

Min Dongsheng slowly said, "If Wang Heng and the Third Prince are sent back, they will be intercepted and killed by bandits halfway. If they arrive in Bianjing with only half their lives, it will definitely cause a huge uproar in Bianjing. What will happen if the Empress holds them accountable for this? The Sun family and the Yuan family are just worried about not being able to find any evidence against them."

"It shouldn't be a problem to drag this out for a year. According to our intelligence, His Majesty claims to be unwell, and although the Crown Prince is in charge of state affairs, he is incompetent, and the Empress is a smiling tiger with great ambitions. However, the Empress's influence still doesn't reach His Majesty. As long as His Majesty is still alive, they won't dare to really do anything to us."

Mu Junyan looked at Min Dongsheng: "I called everyone here overnight to discuss how to reassure the people of Bianjing first, and then give Bianjing some threats so that they won't dare to act rashly."

Min Dongsheng nodded in agreement: "Actually, I was going to say that it's too hasty to sever ties now, and that we'll just be on the defensive. We in the Southern Frontier aren't afraid of another war, but this kind of passive defense is not worth it."

General Fang frowned: "Bianjing will definitely not let us become independent. We will definitely have to fight. Does Mr. Min have any other way to make Bianjing willingly let us establish ourselves as a country?"

Mu Junyan: "No matter how difficult it is, we must be independent. Why should we be subject to the control of the Great Liang? Why should we accept their imperial edict!"

"Correct."

General Fang raised both hands in agreement: "The generals of our Mu family army are all willing to follow the prince in raising the banner of rebellion. They've had enough of the humiliation inflicted by the Great Liang!"

Min Dongsheng remained silent, lost in thought.

Mu Junyan looked at him: "Mr. Min, what are your thoughts?"

Min Dongsheng raised his eyes and slowly said, "We don't need to wait for them to attack us. We can strike them hard and force them to beg us to establish ourselves. Or perhaps, why do we have to establish ourselves? Does the Great Liang have to be surnamed Zhao? The Prince also said that we should put pressure on them, didn't he?"

Everyone was taken aback.

Zhou Chunyu and General Fang exchanged a glance, both seeing the glint in each other's eyes, and then both looked at Mu Junyan.

Mu Junyan was silent for a moment: "Let's all think about this and discuss it further."

Everyone responded.

Mu Junyan looked at Zhou Chunyu: "Go and tell Chiyan not to beat the robbers too badly, just break their arms and legs, and make sure they get to Bianjing alive. Our escorts will only go to the city gate, hand them over to the Ministry of Justice and leave immediately, without lingering."

Zhou Chunyu clasped his hands in a fist and said, "Yes."

Mu Junyan thought for a moment and said, "Perhaps we should take back the mine first. It's time for us to recruit more soldiers."

He looked at General Fang.

General Fang immediately became excited: "That's easy. The Imperial Guards are just a few birds. We can take them down with our rookie battalion."

A glint of light flashed in Min Dongsheng's eyes.

Mu Junyan must have taken his words to heart.

It's time for him to realize his grand ambitions; his goal for so many years has been to assist in the creation of a wise and benevolent ruler.

……

Two months later, Wang Heng and Zhao Yuchen finally returned to the capital, all of them on the verge of death, barely clinging to life.

The Ministry of Justice received Mu Junyan's impeachment memorial early on and hurriedly submitted it to the Grand Secretariat, which then forwarded it to the Empress's father, the Duke of Jingguo.

The Duke of Jingguo, who now heads the Ministry of Justice, was furious when he saw the impeachment memorial.

The impeachment memorial vehemently denounced Wang Heng and the Third Prince for causing trouble with a forged imperial edict and for colluding with foreign powers to plot a rebellion, with irrefutable witness testimony and physical evidence.

He even dared to say that he wanted the emperor to strip him of his title as Prince of Yong and to severely punish those who colluded with the enemy and betrayed the country.

This is blatant coercion.

When Consort Xian saw that her only prince had become a eunuch, she cried uncontrollably and was so angry that she joined forces with the Yuan family and their supporters to impeach Mu Junyan.

The Empress was also furious.

Wang Heng was sent by her, and Zhao Yuchen was led there with the forged imperial edict. If Mu Junyan made a big fuss about the matter and some neutral ministers wanted to investigate the imperial edict, she would have a hard time extricating herself.

Although the Emperor is currently ill and has delegated power to the Crown Prince to oversee government affairs, all memorials must pass through the Emperor's imperial seal, which means that she and the Crown Prince have no real power.

What angered her most was that she had absolutely no way to infiltrate the people around the emperor.

Duke Jingguo and his advisors discussed the matter for two days. Given that the power dynamics within the harem were still unclear and that Prince Yong was popular and powerful, it was not advisable to deal with him for the time being.

Ultimately, it was decided to abandon Wang Heng and Zhao Yuchen, and the Duke of Jingguo drafted a memorial stating that after the Ministry of Justice's interrogation, it was confirmed that the evidence provided by the Duke of Yongguo was conclusive. Wang Heng and Zhao Yuchen falsely conveyed the imperial edict, humiliated Zhou Zhilan, and instigated war with the Qi Kingdom and other tribes, and had the intention of colluding with the enemy and betraying the country.

Wang Heng was executed, Zhao Yuchen was deposed, and Consort Xian was demoted to the rank of concubine.

However, he turned around and asked the fourth son of the founding duke, Yuan, to be made the heir apparent.

Upon seeing the result brought about by the carrier pigeon, Mu Junyan couldn't help but sneer.

What a bunch of cowards!

……

For two months, Mu Junyan was busy in the military camp.

They planned to reclaim the mines while leaving Bianjing (Kaifeng) with no excuse, so that the Empress Sun family would have no chance to intervene. Therefore, they had to be meticulous in their actions, letting the mines run into chaos on their own until the Imperial Guards could no longer manage them, the mines could no longer be mined, and the imperial supplies could not be replenished. Then, the Mu family army would take them back.

He supplied the imperial court with various raw ores on time, leaving the court speechless.

The two concubines who were left behind were left in a remote courtyard, treated to good food and lodging, but not allowed to leave the courtyard, and were completely ignored.

After waiting for two whole months, the two finally couldn't wait any longer.

The more alluring one, Yin Tao, said, "Sister, we can't just sit here and wait to die. If this continues, our master will think we're useless."

Another one, with a graceful, willow-like appearance, was named Yiyun.

Yiyun said mournfully, "What can we do? Didn't you see there are people guarding the gate? We can't even get out of this courtyard."

Yin Tao's eyes darted around: "Surely we can pay our respects to the Princess? After all, we were bestowed upon the Prince by His Majesty. She can't possibly refuse to see us, can she? That would be defying the imperial decree."

Yiyun looked at her and said, "I wouldn't dare say you're braver than me. Why don't you give it a try?"

Yin Tao rolled her eyes at her: "I really don't know how Her Majesty the Empress chose you. You're useless."

She stood up and walked out.

Two robust old women stood at the entrance of the courtyard.

The old woman tried to stop her with a cold face, but Yin Tao swayed her slender waist and stepped forward, stuffing a purse into each of their hands.

To her surprise, the two old women simply threw it back at her.

“Miss, this servant dares not accept it. Our Prince’s Mansion has strict rules. If we accept your things, we can pack our bags and leave.”

Yin Tao's face stiffened, and she couldn't maintain her smile.

"How dare you be so disrespectful! We are a gift from His Majesty! How dare you treat us with such disrespect!"

The two old women ignored her.

"Please forgive me, two old ladies."

A soft voice came from behind, and Yiyun suddenly appeared beside Yin Tao, curtsying to the two nannies.

The two matrons naturally dared not accept the courtesy and stepped aside to let her pass.

“Miss, there’s no need for that. We are only here to protect you under the orders of our master. We are afraid that you might not be familiar with the palace and might go to the wrong place.”

Yin Tao was furious: "This is called protection? It's clearly house arrest!"

Yiyun interrupted her with a smile: "We sisters are new here and don't know the rules of the Prince's Palace, but no matter what, we should pay our respects to the Princess. Otherwise, people will say that we sisters are ignorant."

The two old women exchanged a glance but said nothing.

Yiyun continued, "Please inform the nuns that we wish to offer tea to the Princess as a sign of respect. If Her Highness does not wish to see us, we will have no further objections and will not trouble the nuns any further, is that alright?"

One of the old women said, "This servant will go and report it. You two young ladies should go inside. It's too cold outside, and you might catch a chill."

Yiyun smiled slightly: "Okay, thank you both, nannies."

She pulled the angry Yin Tao: "Sister Yin Tao, let's go inside. Don't stand here and make things difficult for Granny."

Yin Tao glared at her: "You think you're so great at being a good person? Humph!"

Gu Hua watched as Tuan Tuan and Yuan Yuan played happily among a pile of toys. When she heard the nanny report, she asked indifferently, "They want to see me? Sure, let them come tomorrow morning."

The old woman respectfully replied, "Yes."