What sort of man the Ninth Prince truly was — though many had never had the chance to know him deeply, his pride and his way of conducting himself were, by now, fairly well understood by most.

The Ninth Prince was proud and self-assured to the core; he had never once cared what others thought of him, let alone over some baseless rumor about men and women.

Asking him to go out of his way to prove his innocence — such a thing, the Ninth Prince would naturally never bother with.

He had always been like this — proud, certain that the truth needed no defending, and never one to take the extra step of proving anything to anyone.

In truth, everyone present knew perfectly well that the Ninth Prince could never have had any improper relationship with the Empress.

Yet over the years, there had been frequent talk of the Empress visiting the Ninth Prince’s estate to curry favor with him, even showing him excessive attention beyond mere courtesy at the Central Military Court.

The Empress’s improper conduct had been the subject of countless silent complaints throughout the court.

But with the Nanmeng clan standing behind the Empress, and that clan holding nearly thirty percent of the Beimu Empire’s military strength —

Without that, how could the Empress possibly have caused such mischief at court?

Throughout history, an Empress this brazen was a rare thing indeed, and what mattered most was that their Beimu Empire’s rule had only been established for too short a time.

In a mere twenty years, the foundation was not yet solid; among those who had helped the Emperor conquer the realm back then, the Nanmeng clan made up a significant portion.

In fact, ever since that time, the Nanmeng clan had always held military power in their hands. Over these twenty years, even as the Emperor steadily built up his own strength, the Nanmeng clan had done exactly the same.

It had not been easy for the Emperor to hold his ground all these years.

It would have been one thing if the Empress simply failed to use her clan’s strength to help him — but for her to act so recklessly in matters of state on top of that was another matter entirely.

Over these twenty years, the Emperor’s growing tolerance toward the Nanmeng clan had only made that clan grow ever more unrestrained.

“Your Majesty, in this matter, I fear we must win over two more people,” the Imperial Preceptor, Cui Yuansong, suddenly said in a low voice.

Emperor Qiwen frowned. “Does the Preceptor mean… Old Eighth?”

“Indeed, Your Majesty. The Eighth Prince has guarded the border for years and has only just returned to the capital. As far as this old subject knows, in all these years he has barely associated with any officials at all.”

“Which means the Eighth Prince has, perhaps, not yet been won over by anyone.”

Emperor Qiwen sank into thought for a moment before nodding. “Old Eighth has indeed spent these years alone, guarding the city, truly without close ties to anyone.”

“And most importantly, Your Majesty, all these years everyone has overlooked the strength of the Longcheng Army under the Eighth Prince’s command.”

Everyone knew that the Beimu Empire’s most formidable force was the Ninth Prince’s Longwu Army — that much had long been common knowledge.

But within the Central Military Court, alongside the Ninth Prince’s Longwu Court and the Crown Prince’s Imperial Guard Court, was there not also the Eighth Prince’s Longcheng Court?

No one paid much attention to the Longcheng Court, yet over the years the Longcheng Army had steadily grown, and by now it had already amassed considerable strength.

What mattered most was that the Longcheng Army’s troops were scattered and had never been easy to count accurately.

But thinking back on it now — hadn’t the steadily increasing garrison forces these past years all, in fact, been new recruits under the Longcheng Army’s banner?

Counted up this way, the military strength in the Eighth Prince’s hands was truly not to be underestimated.

It had always been said that the Beimu Empire’s forces were divided into roughly three parts, the bulk resting in the hands of the Emperor, the Ninth Prince, and the Empress’s Nanmeng clan.

But over the past two years, with so many changes underway, the distribution of military power was no longer what it once had been.

If they could win the Eighth Prince over, that would be ideal — after all, whatever else might be said, the Eighth Prince was the Emperor’s own younger brother by blood; helping his own brother was always better than helping someone outside the family.

“Of course, Your Majesty, there is one more person we must also—”

“Your Majesty, His Highness the Crown Prince requests an audience!” came the voice of Eunuch Gao from outside.

The three of them exchanged glances — just as they had been about to bring up the Crown Prince, here he was.

“Send him in.” Emperor Qiwen waved a hand.

After Eunuch Gao relayed the message, a tall, lithe figure strode swiftly inside.

“Greetings, Father.” Zhan Yuheng walked up before the throne and bowed in salute.

“No need for formalities.” Emperor Qiwen waved a hand, his manner mild.

Once Zhan Yuheng had straightened up, the two officials beside him immediately bowed as well. “Greetings, Your Highness the Crown Prince.”

“Are the Imperial Preceptor and the Chancellor here as well?” Zhan Yuheng nodded calmly, his expression betraying nothing in particular.

The Chancellor glanced at Emperor Qiwen; with the Crown Prince present, he didn’t dare say anything further for the moment.

The Imperial Preceptor and the Chancellor spoke at once: “Since His Highness the Crown Prince has matters to discuss with Your Majesty, your subjects shall withdraw for now.”

The two of them bowed and hurried out. Once only Zhan Yuheng and Emperor Qiwen remained in the hall, Zhan Yuheng finally spoke. “Father, I’ve heard that not long ago, Mother was misled by someone’s words, believing that a golden dragon Buddha statue had appeared somewhere in the wild lands of Nanman — one said to affect the fortunes of our Beimu Empire. To safeguard the empire’s peace, Mother set out for Nanman, hoping to retrieve the golden dragon Buddha statue.”

“Your son has already sent people to investigate, and it seems the tale of the golden dragon Buddha statue may well be true. Your son wishes to request your permission to travel to Nanman — first, to protect Mother, and second, to look into the truth of this golden statue myself.”

Emperor Qiwen said nothing. The Crown Prince had reframed the Empress’s reckless, unconventional act as something done for the good of the nation and its people — if word of this version spread, it might well be enough to quiet some of the gossip.

It was only that those who needed to know the real reason for the Empress’s departure already knew it.

Seeing the Emperor remain silent, Zhan Yuheng paused before speaking earnestly. “Father, your son will bring Mother safely home. As for afterward… if Father wishes for Mother to live out a peaceful life within the palace, your son… will certainly abide by Father’s wishes.”

These words brought a sudden brightness to Emperor Qiwen’s eyes, and he said at once, “Good! It is rare to see such filial devotion in you, my son. I grant you permission — go to Nanman.”

In truth, no one knew exactly where this journey was actually headed. At present there were two competing rumors regarding the Ninth Prince’s movements: one, that the Ninth Prince was gravely wounded and traveling in secret to a border city; two, that the rumor of the Ninth Prince’s injury was nothing but a deliberately spread falsehood, and that the real Ninth Prince, leading the new Longqi Army, was in fact heading toward Phoenix City.

Which of the two was true, only those directly involved could say.

But with the Crown Prince’s explanation, the matter now appeared entirely reasonable — after all, the route to Nanman overlapped for the most part with the road to Phoenix City.

The story of the golden dragon Buddha statue appearing in Nanman had circulated once before, though no one had taken it seriously at the time, since the rumor had barely surfaced before it simply faded away on its own.

It was as if someone had deliberately wanted to spread the rumor, only to change their mind partway through. But now, this very rumor had landed right in Zhan Yuheng’s hands, perfectly timed for his use!