At first, although Jie Li Khan was very happy, he did not fully believe what Zhao Deyan had said.

He still hoped that Zhao Deyan could shine in system establishment for the Turkic people.

But as more and more news came from Chang'an, Jie Li Khan could not help but grow increasingly concerned about the tense and fierce political situation within the Liang Dynasty.

At this time, the court of the Liang Dynasty had clearly split into two factions.

One faction was Emperor Gaozu of Liang and the Crown Prince. These two had not exerted much effort during the conquests of the Liang Dynasty, at most they were just stationed at the rear, overseeing the transportation of supplies.

But after the unification of the Liang Dynasty, these two held the highest positions.

The other faction was Prince Qi and Lord Wei.

Although Lord Wei was older and had achieved resounding military merits, overall, his talent was mainly in frontline combat, and he did not possess the capability to strategize and secure victory from afar, making him naturally unsuited to be emperor.

Prince Qi, although young, was extremely talented in military affairs, always taking the lead in battles and holding immense prestige in the army.

Lord Wei, possibly because of having campaigned together with Prince Qi in the south and north, was clearly closer to Prince Qi.

The alliance between these two attracted many warriors to rally firmly around them, forming a force that could not be ignored.

It was evident that the struggle between these two forces was gradually intensifying.

What was even more critical was that these ministers, who had established great merits during the conquest, also split into two factions.

Among them, the Crown Prince's faction was led by the Crown Prince, assisted by Pingyang Princess, Wei Zhen, and Yuchi Jingde, with Emperor Gaozu of Liang somewhat ambiguously taking sides in the background.

This was reasonable because initially, when Pingyang Princess rallied the forces in Guanzhong, it was in coordination with the Crown Prince, and after Wei Zhen joined the Liang Dynasty, he was immediately appointed by the Crown Prince to a significant position as the head of his chamberlains.

Many even speculated that many of Wei Zhen's cunning strategies were known to the Crown Prince, and he might have even participated in the planning.

Influenced by the Pingyang Princess, Yuchi Jingde, who had defected from Wang Shichong and Liu Wuzhou, also sided with the Crown Prince.

Meanwhile, the faction of Prince Qi was centered around Prince Qi and Lord Wei, with Yan Lide, who played a significant role during the campaigns in Chang'an, and Cheng Zhijie and Qin Shubao, who were crucial in the campaigns against Wang Shichong and Dou Jiande, aiding them.

Both sides were evenly matched, as if they had been preassigned.

Of course, apart from these, there were still many outstanding civil and military officials in the entire Liang Dynasty, but they either chose sides or maintained neutrality.

This situation was clearly even more perilous than the historical Xuanwu Gate Incident.

In coups, one fears not the unilateral thrashing but the scrapping between weaklings.

Because unilateral thrashing could end a coup quickly, minimizing the damage to the country. The real historical Xuanwu Gate Incident involving Lord Qin was an example.

But scrapping between weaklings would lead to continuous fierce conflicts between the two forces, steadily draining the nation's strength.

And now, the factions of the Crown Prince and Prince Qi seemed to be scrapping like weaklings.

More and more news reached the ears of Jie Li Khan, such as today the Crown Prince planned another banquet to poison Prince Qi, who did not attend, or that Prince Qi invited the Crown Prince to go hunting and secretly arranged a fierce horse to throw off the Crown Prince, but he was not fooled, and the like.

Putting these pieces of intelligence together, even the common people in Chang'an knew that a big event was imminent.

And Jie Li Khan was naturally overjoyed, on the one hand urging Zhao Deyan to reform the system and centralize power more quickly, and on the other hand preparing his troops and horses, ready to head south for a major campaign.

Finally, after anxiously waiting for a few months, Jie Li Khan received the news he had been waiting to hear.

The coup indeed occurred!

Moreover, the outcome of this coup was extremely tragic!

According to the intelligence from Chang'an, it was said that when the Crown Prince entered the palace through Xuanwu Gate, he was ambushed by Prince Qi and Lord Wei. However, under Yuchi Jingde's life-sacrificing protection, he managed to escape from Xuanwu Gate and returned to the Crown Prince Mansion to mobilize his private soldiers.

Both Prince Qi and Lord Wei also led their private soldiers, and the two sides engaged in a fierce battle inside Xuanwu Gate.

No one witnessed the specific situation, as it was deep inside the palace, but the two parties, clad in armor and wielding spears, rushed in, and the battle cries were deafening. This was undoubtedly true.

Afterward, an edict was issued to pass all the Crown Prince's position and supreme authority to Prince Qi.

This meant that this bloody melee ended in the victory of Prince Qi and Lord Wei.

This was also quite sensible, as after all, Prince Qi and Lord Wei were the ones who had fought to establish the empire and were experienced and skilled in battle; even with Yuchi Jingde's help, it was difficult for the Crown Prince to turn the tables.

However, the coup did not end there.

It seemed that the Crown Prince had prepared for this in advance. He fled Chang'an City with Yuchi Jingde and Wei Zhen, and ran to Luoyang.

Although Luoyang had been captured by the Liang Army, Wei Zhen had been operating there for a long time, and had a solid foundation.

Centering in Luoyang, the Crown Prince called for loyal support from across the realm. He accused Prince Qi and Lord Wei of heinous treachery and of coercing the emperor to usurp the throne, urging the people everywhere to join him in battle.

Pingyang Princess was the first to respond.

Pingyang Princess had also made significant contributions during the unification process of the Liang Dynasty, but she was not in Chang'an City when the coup occurred; she was defending Jinyang, guarding against attacks from the Turkic people.

She was a staunch supporter of the Crown Prince. Upon hearing that the Crown Prince had been expelled and the emperor had been put under house arrest, she immediately led her troops south, leaving the north vulnerable.

Subsequently, many generals from various places also responded to the Crown Prince's call, and large armies began to gather in Luoyang.

But Prince Qi and Lord Wei were not panicked at all. Posing as the emperor, they summoned the elite troops from Guanzhong to Chang'an, clearly preparing for a showdown against Luoyang.

In terms of warfare, Prince Qi and Lord Wei were battle-scarred and clearly not to be underestimated.

A devastating civil war was imminent. Jie Li Khan pondered, at this moment, the situation must be akin to an arrow placed on the bowstring, propelled unavoidably forward, right?

As long as both sides were truly fighting, neither could afford to show weakness at this point.

There can be no retreat in political strife, after all, even if you wanted to step back, the political and military groups behind you wouldn't allow it; everyone's livelihoods and lives were staked on this.

Of course, if one must speak of risks, they existed.

What if the sides were not truly engaging in battle?

But this thought, even Jie Li Khan himself found hilarious.

Not truly fighting?

Wasn't the contradiction between the Crown Prince and Prince Qi in the unification of the realm real?

Wasn't Emperor Taizu of Liang's favoring of one side over the other, intensifying the political struggle, also real?

Wasn't the coup that occurred in the palace also real?

All this reality had a very solid foundation, supported by "interests."

There can be only one ruler under heaven, the victor being revered as the mighty emperor, and the vanquished doomed to eternal ruin.

In this situation, the discord between the Crown Prince and Prince Qi was irreconcilable; how could they possibly unite to put on a play? Moreover, for whom would they perform such a play? Could they be certain that the Turkic people would definitely head south?

It couldn't be that they staged such a grand spectacle just to amuse themselves, right?

It was absolutely impossible to imagine.

Even if one side harbored such a notion, how could the other side possibly cooperate? It was utterly a flight of fancy.

In any case, Jie Li Khan, after much deliberation, deemed this an excellent opportunity.

Thus, he immediately summoned the tribal leaders.

"Deploy troops, advance south to attack Liang!"

...

On the banks of the Wei River, the vast Turkic army was arrayed, their banners waving in the wind.

Jie Li Khan, gazing at distant Chang'an, simply wanted to burst into loud laughter.

He wanted to exclaim, "Who else is there!"

The current situation was different from actual history.

In real history, although Jie Li Khan led a massive army to invade, he knew of Lord Qin in the Liang Dynasty, a formidable figure.

Because Lord Qin had been too outstanding in the entire unification war, he was impossible to overlook. Thus, even though Jie Li Khan was at an advantage, he still felt tremendous pressure when facing him.

But in this world, Lord Qin no longer existed.

Although Prince Qi and Lord Wei also had some remarkable achievements during the unification process, they were incomparable to the original Lord Qin.

This Jie Li Khan of this plane did not know about Lord Qin, but with eyes to see, he could tell that neither Prince Qi nor Lord Wei posed much of a threat to him.

At this moment, in Jie Li Khan's view, he had the advantage of timing, terrain, and unity.

Timing—the Turkic army took the initiative to strike, while the Liang Dynasty was defensively scrambling, needing much time to mobilize their troops.

Terrain—he pressed close to the city of Chang'an, where his cavalry could strike or retreat as swiftly as the wind.

The most important factor was unity—at this time, the Liang state was embroiled in fierce internal strife, inherently weak, and still in a deathly tussle.

Jie Li Khan was certain that merely by staying around the outskirts of Chang'an for a few days, there was no need to storm the city; Prince Qi would obediently deliver all sorts of gold, silver, treasures, and beauties.

If Chang'an were undefended, he could even take the city.

Or, after Zhao Deyan's reforms regarding the Turkic were completed, he could lead the Turkic army to unify the Central Plains, becoming both the Khan of the Turkic and the emperor of the Central Plains people.

Jie Li Khan confidently exclaimed, "Well, has Prince Qi sent a reply yet?"

At this time, within Chang'an, Prince Qi controlled the situation. Emperor Gaozu of Liang was indeed still there, but it was known to all that his emperorship had been completely overshadowed.

As for Prince Qi, he had actually already persuaded Emperor Gaozu of Liang to decree him as the new Crown Prince, but Jie Li Khan still habitually referred to him as Prince Qi.

The envoy reported back, "Khan, Prince Qi said he would personally come to the banks of the Wei River shortly to meet the Khan."

Jie Li Khan could not help but laugh heartily, "Very good, very good!"

In his view, his conjecture was absolutely correct.

Prince Qi must have been bluffing, which was why he was coming personally to the banks of the Wei River to submit himself.

Moreover, this Prince Qi, being a warfare leader, had some courage and did not just cower inside Chang'an, fearing to come out.

But whether he had courage or not mattered little; in the face of absolute power, it was all insignificant.

In this plane, Jie Li Khan had not yet been severely defeated repeatedly by Lord Qin, so he was still quite confident.

Just then, the city gates opened.

Two fast horses rode at the forefront; they were Prince Qi and Lord Wei.

On the Turkic side, those with keen eyes and knowledge of these individuals immediately reported back to Jie Li Khan.

Jie Li Khan smiled lightly; these two were key figures of the Liang Dynasty, inseparable shadows.

Although Lord Wei was adept at infantry combat, coming on foot seemed oddly out of place, so they still came horseback, wielding polearms, ready to dismount if a battle ensued.

But then, more people emerged.

Cheng Zhijie and Qin Shubao, two fierce generals, flanked them on either side.

His subordinates reported again.

Jie Li Khan nodded, "Hmm."

These two generals were confidants of Prince Qi, so their appearance now was understandable.

However, something seemed amiss soon after.

Because Wei Zhen and Pingyang Princess also came!

Upon hearing these two names, Jie Li Khan paused for a moment.

What was going on? Why were these two people in Chang'an?

Then Yuchi Jingde, the Crown Prince, and many of the Crown Prince's key officials also arrived.

Finally, the soldiers pushed a small cart to the bank of the Wei River, others clearing a path to stop the cart right in the center.

The person on it, clad in imperial robes, was unmistakably Emperor Gaozu of Liang.

This time, Jie Li Khan was completely shocked.

Why had individuals who theoretically should not be here at all appeared?

The Crown Prince had failed in the struggle; thus, the Crown Prince Faction's people should have all fled to Luoyang, right?

Emperor Gaozu had been effectively detained by Prince Qi, so why was he here now, and why did he seem to hold a status higher than anyone else?

Watching the entire dream team of the Liang Dynasty as they assembled before him, Jie Li Khan felt as if thunderstruck, at a loss for words, suddenly unsure what to say or do.

The wheelchair—oh, not a wheelchair, but a luxuriously decked cart akin to a dragon's carriage—had Meng Yuan on it, playing the role of Emperor Gaozu of Liang, who smiled faintly.

"Jie Li! You've traveled a long way here, and my dynasty has not come out far to welcome you, which is quite rude.

"Here's what, as an apology, why don't you go ahead and say any last words you wish!"

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