But now, having received news from Yan that Xiliang had won, they were making excuses not to hand over Bai Qingyu to him. Their purpose was… probably to cause the alliance between Yan and Great Zhou to collapse. When Great Zhou’s Emperor Bai Qingyan flew into a rage and went to war with Yan, and Yan no longer held Bai Qingyan’s weakness in their hands, it would resolve Xiliang’s crisis.

So this was Xiliang’s true purpose—to make the Great Zhou turn and attack Yan instead.

Moreover, if her guess was correct, after pacifying Xiliang, what would follow would be a struggle for dominance between Great Zhou and Yan. Even if Great Zhou couldn’t guess that she was secretly cooperating with Xiliang behind the scenes, they could still legitimately use Yan’s betrayal of the alliance and selling out of Great Zhou as justification to march against Yan!

The Yan Empress Dowager’s heart suddenly pounded heavily twice without reason. She had hoped for Bai Qingyan and Xiao Rongyan to have a falling out, but… at least before Xiliang was destroyed, at least before Yan held Bai Qingyan’s weakness firmly in their grasp, the two-nation alliance could not be broken!

If Great Zhou turned around to attack Yan, it would be one thing if Xiliang took the opportunity to secretly build up strength, but what if they sided with Great Zhou to attack Yan together?

Thinking of Xiliang’s military strength, the Yan Empress Dowager felt slightly more at ease…

Xiliang would preserve their strength. If Great Zhou and Yan went to war and Yan was destroyed, wouldn’t Xiliang be next in line? Xiliang wouldn’t wastefully consume their military forces to benefit the Great Zhou.

Furthermore, Great Zhou’s Emperor Bai Qingyan surely still had feelings for their A’Yan. She had been willing to become pregnant and bear children for A’Yan, and with A’Yan abandoning Yun Capital to rush to Jiangzi City to save her, she would surely remember A’Yan’s kindness to her and… probably wouldn’t easily go to war with Yan.

Xiliang definitely wouldn’t let Bai Qingyu die. Just as if she held Bai Qingyu in her hands, she would certainly want to use Bai Qingyu to threaten the Great Zhou’s Emperor rather than kill him. Bai Qingyu was more valuable alive than dead.

Thinking this, the Yan Empress Dowager relaxed somewhat, then heard footsteps outside calling “Your Majesty.”

She hurriedly supported herself on the chair’s armrest to stand, and before she could emerge from inside to greet them, she saw Murong Li, breathless and deathly pale.

The Yan Empress Dowager quickly stepped forward, pulling out her handkerchief to wipe the sweat from Murong Li, who had run all the way: “What’s wrong? Your complexion is so poor—are you feeling unwell somewhere?”

Murong Li slapped away the Yan Empress Dowager’s hand.

The Yan Empress Dowager looked at Murong Li in shock: “A’Li?!”

He raised the sheepskin paper in his hand that recorded the military report, and asked in a hoarse voice: “Previously, Xiliang people entered the palace, bypassing me as emperor to directly meet with Mother Empress. Mother Empress said… the Xiliang people came to seek peace, but Mother Empress refused them. But now… Yan originally prepared to jointly eliminate Xiliang’s main forces, with Great Zhou General Bai Qingyu responsible for luring the enemy into the encirclement, yet Xiliang set an ambush in advance. Mother Empress… did you know about this matter?”

Hearing A’Li call her “Mother Empress” rather than “Mother,” the Yan Empress Dowager was stunned, her gaze slightly evasive: “What do you mean by this? Do you think it was Mother Empress who betrayed the Great Zhou to Xiliang?”

“In the entire Yan imperial palace, I only told this matter to Mother Empress!” Murong Li’s expression was cold and stern.

“Doesn’t Wang Jiuzhou know? When you were conducting war games on the sand table… weren’t there others present?” the Yan Empress Dowager asked angrily.

Upon hearing this, Wang Jiuzhou immediately bowed and replied: “Even if this servant had ten thousand times the courage, I would never dare bypass the Empress Dowager and Prince Jiu to betray Great Zhou!”

Moreover, Wang Jiuzhou knew that Great Zhou’s Emperor Bai Qingyan and his own master were already husband and wife—how could he betray his mistress!

“Since Mother Empress doesn’t intend to admit it, that’s fine. I’ll go ask the Xiliang person who just left Mother Empress’s palace…” Murong Li turned to leave.

“Stop right there!” The Yan Empress Dowager’s fists clenched tightly together, trembling almost imperceptibly. A’Li had always been a filial child who had never spoken so forcefully to her before. Her voice was choked with emotion: “Is this how you speak to your mother?! How long has your father emperor, been gone? How long have you been on the throne? And you already dare to act so domineering before your mother!”

Murong Li’s spine went rigid. The noon sunlight shone on him, yet he felt not the slightest warmth.

He couldn’t believe how his gentle, kind mother could have become like this!

He knew that previously, when Uncle Jiu had his mother assist him, it was to give her something to do, to make her feel needed by him as her son, so she wouldn’t follow the father emperor in death.

But now, Murong Li could no longer tell clearly whether Uncle Jiu’s good intentions had… inadvertently changed his mother, transforming her beyond recognition until he could hardly recognize her!

How could she do such a thing to their allied nation?

Breaking faith with allied nations, breaking faith with the world—how could one hope to rule the world? Such a simple principle… he understood it, Uncle Jiu understood it, almost everyone in the world understood it! Yet his mother did not.

After a long while, Murong Li slowly turned around.

He looked at the Yan Empress Dowager, his eyes cold and deep: “Does Mother Empress dare say she didn’t harm Great Zhou?”

“I did not! You’ve lost your mind! You don’t even trust your mother!” The Yan Empress Dowager’s voice rose uncontrollably, her tone cold and hard.

“Then, would Mother dare swear on deceased Father Emperor’s name, dare swear on A’Li’s name!” Murong Li pressed closer step by step, his eyes serious and persistent. “If Mother truly harmed our Yan nation’s ally, Great Zhou, harmed Bai Qingyu, then may Father Emperor’s soul know no peace! May A’Li die without a burial place!”

Hearing these words, every hair on the Yan Empress Dowager’s body stood on end. Without thinking, she stepped forward and slapped Murong Li across the face, her eyes full of terror, her voice shrill: “How dare you?! How dare you!”

Murong Li’s head snapped to the side from the blow, half his face burning with pain, his ears ringing, and he even tasted the metallic sweetness of blood in his mouth.

His eyes grew even colder, showing no grievance or trace of tears at the bottom—only disappointment so thick it couldn’t be dissolved.

He turned his head back to look at his mother empress, whose eyes blazed with anger, and said quietly: “If this wasn’t Mother Empress’s doing, why would Mother Empress fly into such a rage? How could hearing such an oath make you lose composure like this?”

The Yan Empress Dowager’s hand that had just struck Murong Li trembled, her mouth opening and closing without being able to utter a single word.

“Mother Empress, A’Li… is truly too disappointed in you!” Murong Li’s voice carried a slight sob. “If Father Emperor’s spirit in heaven sees Mother Empress’s current actions, he would surely be even more disappointed…”

After saying this, A’Li turned and left without looking back.

Tears streamed down the Yan Empress Dowager’s face. She hurriedly chased after him for two steps, supporting herself against the door frame and calling: “A’Li!”

But Murong Li didn’t turn around, walking straight out of the Yan Empress Dowager’s sleeping chamber.

The Yan Empress Dowager bit her lower lip tightly, as if all the strength had been drained from her body. Supporting herself against the door frame, she slowly slid down to sit on the ground, clutching her chest tightly, murmuring in a low voice: “Mother is doing all this for you, for Yan! How can… how can A’Li speak to mother like this! How can you be so unable to understand, mother!”