The oil lamp was dim, soaking the house in a yellowish light like an old photograph, blurry and unclear.

After eating and injecting a tube of diluted Life Source Fluid, Zhang Yuanqing recovered somewhat. Although he was still weak and listless, the coughing had finally stopped.

He lay on the shabby bed with its yellowed curtains, watching the Queen drag out a dusty wardrobe trunk. After cleaning off the dust, she laid the two quilts given by "Aunt" on top of the trunk, turning it into a makeshift bed.

"I want to sleep with Yuanshi Tianzun." Jiang Jingwei sat on the edge of the bed, kicked off her embroidered shoes, took off her tyrant's robe, and rolled towards Zhang Yuanqing, shrinking to the inner side of the bed.

"Jingwei, you're sleeping with me tonight." The Queen disagreed, saying, "You're a young lady, how can you sleep with Yuanshi Tianzun?"

"It's comfortable to sleep on the bed, I want to sleep on the bed. What's wrong with sleeping with Yuanshi Tianzun! When I'm tired from fighting at home, I often sleep on my brother's bed." Jiang Jingwei retorted with vigor.

Zhang Yuanqing waved his hand weakly, "Let her sleep, she's still a child. Queen, give her the quilt."

The concept of separation between men and women belongs to adults. Jiang Jingwei hasn't grasped that yet. Her thoughts are as clear as a child's. She probably sees him as a brother.

"Then I want to sleep together too." The Queen said with a smile.

"No way." Zhang Yuanqing refused outright, "Your breasts are too big. If you sleep on the bed, my thoughts won't be clear."

The Queen then threw the thin cloth quilt over.

Zhang Yuanqing threw it to Jingwei, who rolled up in the quilt and muttered, "It smells musty."

She tilted her head, glanced at Yuanshi Tianzun, and then at the Queen, asking, "What's our next move?"

She still has some brains, knowing that we're in a bad situation! Zhang Yuanqing sighed and said:

"Sooner or later, we'll have to come out and win over the people. Let's just consider it early. It's a pity that Wanfei sacrificed herself, losing a Level 6 helper."

Jiang Jingwei "Ah-ed" and said, "The big guy is dead? Then we have to avenge her."

Sitting on the wooden box, the Queen said unhappily:

"She's an NPC, what revenge do you need to take!

"After we leave the instance, she'll respawn."

That Wan Meiren isn't a special boss in the instance, nor is she a prop with a "unique attribute." This kind of character will respawn infinitely. When the next tyrant comes in, she will "reborn" with him.

"The next Wanfei has nothing to do with us, but I must avenge this Wanfei." Zhang Yuanqing leaned against the headboard, his voice a little weak:

"Our next actions are to cure the illness, farm reputation, and find helpers."

Jiang Jingwei thought for a moment and said, "It's easy to cure the illness, go to the Immortal Medicine Store. The Immortal Medicine Store can cure your illness."

The Queen shook her head, "No, the ordinary doctors in the Immortal Medicine Workshop can't cure Yuanshi's illness. If the Imperial Advisor or his disciples take action, they will definitely see the cause of his illness. Once we're targeted by the experts of the Immortal Medicine Workshop, we'll be throwing ourselves into a trap."

"Then what do we do!" Jiang Jingwei asked in the mantra of the Fire God.

"Let's not worry about the illness for now, anyway, I won't die, at most the extraordinary tyrant will become a disabled tyrant." Zhang Yuanqing never panics when facing big events, saying, "We need to farm reputation now, help me do side quests, and then find helpers."

"I think the helpers you're talking about aren't our teammates, right." The Queen keenly heard his meaning.

Zhang Yuanqing smiled, "Although I'm a tyrant, I'm still the dignified Nine-Five Supreme. Even if the Zheng family can cover the sky with one hand, there are also political enemies in the court. Zheng Wenhan was able to rebel tonight because Zhao Shun trusted the Zheng family too much and handed over the Imperial City Division to the Zheng family."

The Imperial City Division is the emperor's security team, responsible for the safety of the palace and the emperor. It was precisely because he controlled the Imperial City Division that Zheng Wenhan was able to be so unscrupulous.

Of course, when Zheng Wenhan rebelled, he sealed off the palace gates under the pretext of capturing assassins, partly to prevent him from escaping, and partly to show that the Imperial City Division wasn't entirely made up of Zheng family members.

After all, the Imperial City Division has thousands of elites, and it's impossible for them all to be from the Zheng family.

"But in the court, first of all, the imperial family must be loyal to the emperor, and secondly, the Zheng family's political enemies are our allies, and finally, some treacherous officials must still be on my side." Zhang Yuanqing said, "And the Zheng family's biggest enemy is another maternal relative."

Jingwei was a little dazed.

The Queen's eyes lit up, "The Yang family!"

She immediately frowned:

"Zheng Wenhan can also think of this. He will definitely arrange manpower on all the paths and channels where we can contact the Yang family. As soon as we show up, we will surely die.

"Besides, an emperor who leaves the palace is like a phoenix in distress, not even as good as a chicken. The Zheng family can completely announce that you died at the hands of assassins, died in the palace, in order to hold a state funeral and finalize your death. Then, with the support of the Imperial Advisor, he will ascend the throne and become emperor."

Being in the palace is already very passive, and leaving the palace means losing all initiative.

Although he successfully escaped Zheng family's rebellious assassination, the instance quest entered hell mode next.

It was because of this that even the slow-witted Jiang Jingwei asked the question of "what should we do next."

Zhang Yuanqing curled his lips, "Don't worry, the Zheng family won't ascend the throne. At most, they'll support a puppet, disguise him as me, and then issue a gag order to the Imperial Guards who acted tonight, pretending that nothing happened."

Jiang Jingwei and the Queen asked at the same time, "Why?"

The Imperial Palace.

In the already extinguished bedroom, more than a dozen armor-piercing Imperial Guards were searching through the scorched ruins that were emitting green smoke.

Zheng Wenhan stood in front of the bedroom, wearing a long sword at his waist, his face as gloomy as water, silently.

After a quarter of an hour, the armored soldiers stopped, exchanged glances with each other, and shook their heads slightly.

A leader hardened his heart, stepped over the charred threshold, came to Zheng Wenhan, and said in a low voice:

"Prime Minister Zheng, we still haven't found the Imperial Jade Seal."

The corners of Zheng Wenhan's mouth twitched, took a deep breath to calm his emotions, and asked in a deep voice, "What about the Double Dragon Jade Pendant!"

The Imperial Guard leader shook his head.

Zheng Wenhan was furious, kicked the Imperial Guard leader to the ground, and shouted sternly, "Search! Dig three feet into the ground and find it for the Prime Minister."

The Imperial Guard leader hurriedly got up and shouted to his subordinates, "Keep searching! If you can't find the Imperial Jade Seal and the Double Dragon Jade Pendant, I'll chop off your heads."

The Imperial Guards bowed their heads and quickly searched, even though they had been digging in the ashes for an hour.

A whistling sound came from the high altitude. The middle-aged swordsman with wrinkles on his skin descended on his sword, bowed and clasped his fists: "Prime Minister Zheng, this subordinate has already surveyed every inch of the back palace and has not found the tyrant. He's gone."

Zheng Wenhan's chest and abdomen rose and fell violently: "What's the feedback from the palace gate?"

The middle-aged swordsman shook his head slightly: "The Imperial Guards guarding the palace gate replied that no one broke through the gate. There are Imperial Guards guarding one hundred feet in front of the palace gate and one hundred feet behind. With the tyrant's cultivation, he can only use stealth within two hundred feet at most. If he wants to climb over the five-丈 high palace wall, then there are only one hundred and fifty feet left." (丈 = zhang, Chinese unit of measurement)

Therefore, it's impossible to escape from the palace without alarming the Imperial Guards.

Zheng Wenhan asked, "What about the others?"

"In addition to the woman who was burned to ashes on the spot, the other six, one flew away, and the arrows were difficult to catch; one had a strange body technique, running on walls and escaping from the palace. One escaped into the back palace and disappeared strangely. One forced his way out of the palace, and the Imperial Guards seemed to be mesmerized, dazed and confused. Two fled halfway, returned to the Xia Palace, and sneaked into the lake, disappearing." The middle-aged swordsman responded one by one.

Zheng Wenhan immediately looked at the artificial lake, "The tyrant also escaped from the lake. Arrange for several people who are good at swimming to search along the route he escaped."

The middle-aged general nodded and accepted the order, then looked at the backs of the armored soldiers searching: "Haven't found the jade seal yet?"

Zheng Wenhan's face was gloomy:

"That little brat Zhao Shun not only took away the Imperial Jade Seal, but even left not even a piece of precious seal. Unreasonable! You continue to stare in the palace, I'm going to the Sky Revelation Tower."

The Sky Revelation Tower is where the Imperial Advisor lives.

"Yes!" said the middle-aged general.

In the dim room, Zhang Yuanqing opened his inventory and took out a bright yellow, translucent square jade, holding it heavily in his palm, showing it to Jiang Jingwei and the Queen.

"This is..." The Queen was first stunned, then pleasantly surprised: "The Emperor's Jade Seal?"

Zhang Yuanqing smiled and said, "Not just these."

Then, he took out six more precious seals from the inventory, some jade, some gold, some iron.

Zhang Yuanqing explained to his two teammates:

"These are all the Emperor's precious seals, and they have different uses. Some are dedicated to issuing edicts, some are dedicated to conferring ministers, and some are dedicated to sending secret letters, but they are not important. I stole them to delay time and prevent the Zheng family from messing around with my precious seals.

"The most important thing is these two items."

Zhang Yuanqing then took out a bright yellow Double Dragon Jade Pendant and placed it next to the square jade, introducing:

"This jade seal is the jade seal of the third emperor of the Southern Dynasty. It was carved from a flawless jade that the vassal state 'Colorful Cloud Country' had paid tribute. It's unparalleled in the world.

"Jade seals can be carved at will, but there is no second Imperial Jade Seal. Because of its unique attribute, it has been regarded as a symbol of identity and legitimacy by the Southern Dynasty emperors. Zheng Wenhan wants to ascend the throne and usurp power, he must get the Imperial Jade Seal, otherwise the court and the public will not recognize him."

Even if Zheng Wenhan doesn't ascend the throne, he still needs the Imperial Jade Seal to support a puppet emperor.

In fact, Zhao Shun is the most perfect puppet emperor, but Zhao Shun favors the queen, and the queen is the direct daughter of the Yang family. The Yang family, which was originally a large family, became even more powerful, thus becoming the Zheng family's number one enemy.

In Zhang Yuanqing's few memories, Yang's daughter was chosen for him by Empress Dowager Zheng. Now that he thinks about it, Empress Dowager Zheng probably wanted to use the Yang family to restrain the Zheng family.

He then picked up the bright yellow Double Dragon Jade, saying, "This jade is made from the scrap of the flawless jade and has been worn on the waist by emperors of the past, which is also a symbol of identity. These two items can prove my identity."

The instance reminded him that he couldn't give up the emperor's identity, but he had to leave the palace. After thinking about it, Zhang Yuanqing put both of these items, as well as the precious seals, into the inventory.

"The leader is still steady..." The Queen said happily.

Jiang Jingwei also breathed a sigh of relief, closed her eyes, and fell asleep instantly.

Zhang Yuanqing pulled the corner of the quilt for Jingwei, looked at the Queen a few meters away, and said:

"Before Wanfei died, she told me that Zheng Wenhan was the one who killed the Divine Sharp Army. This clue can be investigated if you have time."

The Queen immediately looked at Jingwei: "This should be Jingwei's side quest."

"Her quest is our quest. Expecting her to complete it independently is like expecting a Fire God to grow a brain." Zhang Yuanqing said, "It's not early, let's rest first, and think about tomorrow's business tomorrow."

The east gradually revealed a fish-belly white. Fu Qingyang stood on the city wall, his armor stained red with blood, and his handsome face covered with blood and dust.

He looked out at the distant extinguished flames, his eyes calm and deep. The sound of fighting from a few hours ago still echoed in his ears.

After nightfall, the Southern Dynasty defenders launched a night attack. First, Zhao Chenghuang manipulated spirit servants to kill the Northern Dynasty soldiers scattered outside the city. Then, Demon Eye led 5,000 troops to attack, disguised as 30,000 troops to surround the enemy in the rear.

The Northern Dynasty sentries saw the torches burning brightly and were fooled. With limited forces gathered in the middle of the night, Tuoba Rentu gathered 2,000 cavalrymen out of the camp in a hurry.

Afterwards, Fu Qingyang led the Southern Dynasty defenders to attack, rushing into the Northern Dynasty camp to massacre, setting fire to burn food and siege equipment, giving the Northern Dynasty army a fire attack.

After beheading tens of thousands of enemies, Fu Qingyang did not covet the credit and decisively withdrew his troops.

Tuoba Rentu rushed back to rescue, only to find nothing. Angered, he attacked the city alone and fought a battle with the three Sovereigns, Fu Qingyang, Demon Eye Heavenly King, and Xiahou Aotian, without gaining an advantage.

The combination of Demon Eye's bewitching eyes and Fu Qingyang's newly understood sword intent made this Level 9 ancient war god feel threatened.

After angrily killing more than a thousand defenders and causing great damage on the city wall, he left angrily.

In this night attack, the Southern Dynasty lost nearly 6,000 soldiers, and the Northern Dynasty lost about 30,000, a great victory.

After this battle, Fu Qingyang's prestige among the Southern Dynasty defenders soared. The soldiers and generals who were previously unconvinced now wanted to be his lapdogs, regarding him as a hero.

But Fu Qingyang had no joy. This battle ignited the Northern Dynasty's anger, and the next few days would inevitably be extremely tragic siege battles.

At that time, even the laborers in the army would have to go to the battlefield, and the people in the city would have to act as laborers.

Fu Qingyang's idea was to exhaust the Northern Dynasty's 400,000 troops to 200,000, and then retreat to the capital. After investigating during the day, he had a preliminary understanding of the situation in the capital.

The Southern Dynasty's political parties are divided into two factions, one is the Zheng family, and the other is the Yang family.

The two maternal relatives controlled the government. Among them, the Zheng family was an old maternal relative, operating in the court for decades, with great strength. Although the Yang family was a newly promoted maternal relative, it was itself a large family, with prosperous branches, barely able to contend with the Zheng family faction.

The Yang family was at a disadvantage, so they paid great attention to their reputation, with a better reputation among the people and in the court than the Zheng family.

Fu Qingyang also found out that Yang Ce was able to take command this time entirely because his sister, the empress of the harem, blew pillow talk. The Zheng family was extremely sensitive to this, fearing that Yang Ce would make great achievements on the front line.

If the instance is divided into two maps, then it's the capital and the battlefield. The capital is handled by Yuanshi, but before Yuanshi completely controls the court, the capital is probably a den of dragons and tigers for the front-line defenders.

Retreating to the capital is sure death.

That's why Fu Qingyang didn't dare to retreat to the capital.

Linxia City can be defended for at most half a month, at least seven days. He hopes that Yuanshi can control the situation in the capital, otherwise the situation will be dire. In the cold night wind, Fu Qingyang exhaled lightly.

Suddenly, he heard a "buzzing" sound of wings flapping.

Looking in the direction of the sound, he saw a blurry black shadow flying rapidly in the dark night sky, the sound of thin wings vibrating like the noise of a helicopter rotor.

Fu Qingyang's pupils lit up with white light. Taking a closer look, his eyebrows suddenly rose.

Xiao Yuan?

(End of this chapter)