Chapter 15

Chapter 15

After the war with the Wei State ended, Zhou Ke should have surrendered his military authority.

However, he repeatedly found excuses to delay. In the end, he led his troops in a localized rebellion under the guise of “cleansing the court of traitors.”

He claimed that a treacherous chancellor held the court in a stranglehold and that the new emperor was weak, incompetent, and easily swayed. He declared he would eliminate the traitors for the sake of the nation and purge Great Xia of its villainous elements.

To give his cause more legitimacy, he even tried to recruit Prince An into his ranks.

But he was rejected.

Prince An might be foolish, but he could still distinguish right from wrong when it came to major affairs.

“Little Uncle, don’t do something so reckless. Apologize to Imperial Brother early, and perhaps he might spare your life.”

Zhou Ke cursed him for being a coward.

“Don’t you want to be the Emperor?”

Prince An shook his head.

Zhou Ke didn’t believe him.

“Then does Little Uncle know why Imperial Father gave me the title ‘Prince An’?”

Zhou Ke looked at him with utter confusion, wondering what on earth he was talking about.

Prince An spoke slowly.

“Imperial Father said that with my brains, I can only live a long life if I behave myself and stay peaceful. This title is meant to serve as a constant reminder for me not to be deceived by others.”

“Little Uncle, I’m not so stupid that I’d go looking for death.”

Zhou Ke: “…”

Later, after receiving a sound thrashing, Prince An was dumped at the palace gates.

I wasn’t worried about Zhou Ke’s rebellion in the slightest.

This man had courage to spare but lacked strategic intellect.

While he possessed some petty cleverness in playing both sides, it wasn’t even worth mentioning in front of Cui Yan.

Look, this time our Lord Chancellor didn’t even spare him a glance.

He said the new emperor needed the exercise and that this was a rare opportunity.

It seems my years of teaching weren’t in vain. Che’er captured him without much effort, his movements crisp and impressive.

Even Cui Yan was full of praise for him.

Unfortunately, my consciousness was drifting at the time, so I couldn’t see it with my own eyes.

I heard that after Zhou Ke was captured, he was brought before the Empress Dowager.

Zhou Rou grabbed a vase from her side and hurled it at Zhou Ke’s head.

“You brat! You’ve got some nerve! You actually learned how to rebel! Why don’t you just try to ascend to the heavens while you’re at it!”

Even after smashing the vase, her anger wasn’t appeased. She drew a blade to cut him down.

“This Dowager will personally execute you, you traitorous subject! I’ll purge the Zhou family of this disgrace! My Zhou family is a line of loyal martyrs-how did we end up with a monster like you!”

The blade, of course, did not fall.

Che’er stopped her.

He said General Zhou was still useful.

“Imperial Father?”

After hearing my response, Che’er blinked.

“Imperial Father, do you want to take down the Wei State?”

I wanted to more than anything.

“But we’ve just finished a war and need to recuperate. If we wait for the Wei State to fall into internal strife, our chances of victory will be much higher…”

Che’er gave a mysterious smile.

“I have my ways.”