The Yan Empress Dowager burned with fury. When she thought of how her son, because her husband trusted in Xiao Rongyan before his death, had complete faith in Xiao Rongyan, yet Xiao Rongyan was using her son’s trust to hand over her son’s Yan kingdom to his woman… to his children!

She had always said human nature was selfish—how could Xiao Rongyan truly abandon his flesh and blood to choose A’Li, his nephew!

What wagering the nation, what supporting A’Li—it was all probably a conspiracy between Xiao Rongyan and Bai Qingyan.

If Xiao Rongyan were here now, the Yan Empress Dowager’s eyes could probably bore a hole right through him. She had completely forgotten that… at least outwardly, Xiao Rongyan had originally disagreed with wagering the nation. It was Murong Li who insisted on it, and she had even gone to the Regent’s mansion at night, using the deceased Empress Ji to persuade Xiao Rongyan, begging him to agree to Murong Li’s strategy of wagering the nation.

Moreover, even in reality, Xiao Rongyan had initially refused to agree to wagering the nation, because… Xiao Rongyan had never considered himself the master of Yan. Rather, it was Murong Li who decided to wager the nation.

The Yan Empress Dowager now harbored nothing but hatred for Xiao Rongyan, believing it must have been Xiao Rongyan who secretly incited Murong Li to wager the nation. Otherwise, with Xiao Rongyan’s capabilities, if he wanted to prevent the nation-wagering from happening, he had ten thousand ways to do so. Yan wouldn’t have come to this point today.

The Murong imperial clan relatives heard the Empress Dowager mention something about the Regent… and Xiao Rongyan, and speak of Bai Qingyan and her children. They could understand each word, but when the Empress Dowager combined them this way, they couldn’t comprehend.

Xiao Rongyan had once been a wealthy merchant of Wei, also the world’s richest merchant, and had previously been on good terms with Yan’s Ninth Prince. Later, when gravely ill, the Great Zhou Emperor Bai Qingyan married Xiao Rongyan. A month later, Xiao Rongyan died, leaving behind posthumous children—the dragon and phoenix twins that Great Zhou Emperor Bai Qingyan gave birth to.

“Your Majesty, are you perhaps confused from anger?” The Yan Empress Dowager’s maid also felt the Empress Dowager might be confused with rage and beginning to speak nonsense.

“This Empress Dowager is not confused! This Empress Dowager is very clear-headed!” The Yan Empress Dowager’s gaze, filled with intense hatred, swept over the clan relatives in the wind and snow—some had already realized and were filled with shock, others hadn’t reacted and looked bewildered. She gritted her teeth: “Just as you all suspect, our Yan Regent Murong Yan is the former world’s richest merchant Xiao Rongyan, the same Xiao Rongyan who married the Great Zhou Emperor and became the Great Zhou Emperor’s consort!”

The imperial clan relatives were all utterly shocked.

Even the Imperial Guards escorting the Empress Dowager were so frightened upon hearing this that they all knelt on the ground.

If their Yan Regent was the Great Zhou imperial consort Xiao Rongyan, this would be the greatest secret of the Yan imperial family—something they had no right to hear.

“This… how is this possible?”

“Murong Yan… Xiao Rongyan? The world’s richest merchant is truly our Regent?”

“But our Regent and this Xiao Rongyan have appeared together before!”

The Yan Empress Dowager laughed coldly. She was already mad with rage, and today she was determined to fight Xiao Rongyan to mutual destruction, to expose all of Xiao Rongyan’s secrets: “Haven’t you ever wondered why the Regent always wears a mask wherever he goes? Since Empress Ji’s death, which of you, uncle and elder relatives, has seen Murong Yan’s true appearance?”

“This… when the Ninth Prince wasn’t yet Regent, he always stayed behind closed doors and rarely attended banquets. Wasn’t it said his health was poor?”

“Yes, I remember… it was said he was fundamentally injured in that palace rebellion, like the Late Emperor… his health was weak…”

“Weak?” The Yan Empress Dowager clenched her fists tightly and called out loudly in the wind and snow: “If the Regent were weak, how could he lead our Yan to conquer Wei! It’s just a pity that… Murong Yan had long been colluding with the Great Zhou Emperor, planning to use our Yan’s military strength to conquer Wei, then use the wagering the nation as a pretext to deliver all of Yan into Great Zhou Emperor Bai Qingyan’s hands, into his son’s hands! Xiao Rongyan… bewitched the Emperor, making him choose courses of action that all disadvantaged our Yan while benefiting the Great Zhou! Otherwise, why would our Yan have come to this? He is our Yan’s most treacherous and cunning traitor.”

“Your Majesty…” The eldest imperial clan relative bowed to the Yan Empress Dowager: “What Your Majesty speaks of—do you have concrete evidence?”

“Concrete evidence? Ha…” The Yan Empress Dowager’s heart burned with hatred. Even standing in the wind and snow, she seemed to have gained infinite strength. She turned and stepped onto the carriage mounting block: “Have you forgotten that our always ruthlessly vicious Regent, during the battle with Xi Liang, abandoned the opportunity to be first to enter Yun Jing, and despite being severely wounded, traveled day and night without rest to rescue the Great Zhou Emperor from danger, nearly losing half his life? Our Regent has always valued his life—why would he risk danger for the Great Zhou Emperor?”

The Murong imperial clan relatives recalled how the Regent had previously abandoned a newly conquered city, leading troops while severely wounded to rush to Jiangzi City’s aid, looking at each other uncertainly.

At that time, all of Yan had felt that even though Great Zhou and Yan were allied nations, the Great Zhou Emperor’s brother hadn’t been anxious to lead troops to the rescue, yet their Regent had ignored his severe wounds to travel day and night to Jiangzi City. Though somewhat inexplicable, the Regent had later explained it was to repay the Great Zhou on behalf of Yan, which made sense, though it seemed somewhat reluctant.

If what the Empress Dowager said was true, then at that time, the Great Zhou Emperor was pregnant, and his wife and children were all in Jiangzi City. Any man… never mind being severely wounded—even without legs, he would have to crawl there.

“Do you know how Xiao Rongyan earned his reputation as the world’s richest merchant? It was by relying on the family wealth that you, imperial clan relatives, uncles and brothers, took the lead in donating when our Yan was in its most desperate straits! Xiao Rongyan took the wealth donated by the imperial clan relatives and Yan’s people to Wei to live comfortably!” The Yan Empress Dowager now wished Xiao Rongyan dead, so naturally she spoke in whatever way could most blacken his name. “All these years he was in Wei, building his reputation as a great Wei merchant, claiming to establish intelligence networks for our Yan, but in the end… he wanted to hand over our Yan’s kingdom to Great Zhou… to the Bai family, to Bai Qingyan!”

The Yan Empress Dowager spoke through gritted teeth: “Knowing Yan had no chance of victory, he bewitched the young Emperor into wagering the nation against Great Zhou, then pretended to earnestly advise His Majesty to send the First Prince, Second Prince, and our Yan’s most capable general Xie Xun as hostages to Great Zhou. This was all to strip Yan of its armor! Fellow clan relatives… fellow elders, do you still not understand?”

“No, no, no! Your Majesty must be mistaken! This is impossible…” An imperial clan relative refused to believe it. “I could believe the Regent wants to monopolize power in court, but the Regent is, after all, a descendant of our Murong family—how could he betray the Murong clan?”