Seeing the Crown Prince clutching the imperial edict in his arms with an expression that was neither crying nor laughing, Ren Shijie didn’t know whether he should cry or laugh either.

However, at least the Crown Prince had finally pulled himself together. If he wanted Jin to fall into chaos… he needed the Crown Prince to stay alive—vigorously alive.

Bai Jinxiu had already calculated the timing. From the capital to Yuanping required two days by fast horse. From Yuanping, bringing troops to the capital would take three days allowing for a more relaxed pace, and the soldiers would need one day to rest and reorganize after the forced march from Yuanping to the capital—a total of six days.

So Bai Jinxiu scheduled the escort of the Crown Prince out of the city for the night of the twenty-seventh day of the fourth month. After Bai Jinxiu finalized her plan, she sent word to Ren Shijie. She told him to be wary of Hong Mei, who was by the Crown Prince’s side, and to initially conceal from the Crown Prince that they would exit through the south gate. Instead, he should tell the Crown Prince that Bai Jinxiu had arranged for them to leave through the north gate, to test whether this Hong Mei was truly a spy planted by Prince Liang or Fan Yuhuai beside the Crown Prince.

Upon receiving this news, Ren Shijie truthfully relayed to the Crown Prince that Bai Jinxiu would lead them out through the south gate.

As soon as the Crown Prince received this information, he hastily ordered Ren Shijie to send guards to quietly return to the Crown Prince’s residence once, to inform Hong Mei and Quan Yu of the news. He instructed the guards to remain there… and as soon as night fell on the twenty-seventh, to bring Hong Mei and Quan Yu to the south gate to leave the city together.

To anyone’s observation, Ren Shijie could be considered the most loyal and devoted advisor to the Crown Prince. But in reality, Ren Shijie was from Yan… his heart belonged to the state of Yan, and he would never miss any opportunity to throw Jin into great chaos.

What he calculated was this: if Prince Liang and his people received the information and set an ambush at the south gate to capture the Crown Prince alive, or even kill the Crown Prince, eliminate the Crown Princess and the little prince to remove future troubles, while the Emperor’s edict spread abroad, would this give those in Jin who harbored rebellious intentions a pretext to revolt? Only then would Jin truly be thrown into complete chaos.

Ren Shijie tucked his hands into his sleeves, raised his head to gaze at the blazing sun in the sky, pondering that he needed to find an opportunity to get this information out.

The twenty-seventh day of the fourth month, at the hour of hai.

Bai Jinxiu and her party, all dressed in black, moved swiftly toward the south city gate.

The Crown Princess was also dressed in black military attire, holding the sleeping little prince in her arms. Even the wet nurse followed along—this was to ensure that if the little prince woke at a critical moment, he could have a few sips of milk to prevent his crying from causing unnecessary trouble.

The Crown Princess had always been a refined lady from a noble family and had never done such things before. But now, with life and death hanging by a thread, she couldn’t care about such matters. She only held her child tightly in both hands, praying in her heart that they could smoothly exit the city today without any more complications.

Thirty highly skilled guards, led by Bai Jinxiu, protected the Crown Prince, Crown Princess, little prince, and Ren Shijie in their midst. The remaining guards from the Crown Prince’s residence had been dispatched by Bai Jinxiu half an hour earlier to hide around the south gate, just in case.

Just as they reached the base of the south gate, Bai Jinxiu raised her hand, signaling the thirty guards to stop. The Crown Prince put his arm around the Crown Princess’s shoulder, protecting his wife and child as they crouched down to wait quietly.

“Your Highness, I’ll go negotiate with the gate guards first. Please wait here,” Bai Jinxiu said to the Crown Prince in a low voice.

“Wait!” The Crown Prince looked anxiously at Ren Shijie. “Have Hong Mei and Quan Yu arrived?”

The Crown Princess, held in the Crown Prince’s embrace, turned extremely pale upon hearing the name “Hong Mei.” It was one thing for Quan Yu, who had served the Crown Prince since childhood, but she hadn’t expected that at such a critical moment, the Crown Prince would still not forget that prostitute and even want to bring her along!

Bai Jinxiu glanced at Ren Shijie and spoke to defuse the situation: “Your Highness, at present, we must prioritize the safety of you, the Crown Princess, and the little prince. Since Prince Liang didn’t capture Eunuch Quan Yu and Hong Mei before, he won’t make things difficult for the eunuch who serves at Your Highness’s side and a mere concubine now! They haven’t arrived yet, and there’s no reason to disregard the safety of you, the Crown Princess, and the little prince… to wait here for a concubine. Getting out of the city first is what matters!”

Though the Crown Prince was concerned about Quan Yu and Hong Mei, he also knew that Bai Jinxiu’s words made sense. He nodded: “I’ll follow Madam Qin’s arrangements!”

Bai Jinxiu nodded, instructed the guards to protect the Crown Prince, then turned and leaped onto the rooftop, stepping across roof tiles to the base of the south gate.

Soon, an Imperial Guard commander strode down from the city wall, saluted Bai Jinxiu, then shouted: “Open the city gate!”

Upon hearing this, Ren Shijie gripped the Crown Prince’s arm: “Your Highness, let’s go…”

The Crown Prince nodded, supporting the Crown Princess’s shoulders with both hands as they moved forward with the thirty guards.

Bai Jinxiu looked up at the soldiers on the city tower, her gaze sweeping the surroundings. Seeing that, except for the lanterns hanging at shop entrances, there wasn’t a trace of light anywhere else, she vaguely sensed something was wrong.

But before Bai Jinxiu could turn back to have the Crown Prince avoid the area, she saw that the Crown Prince, Ren Shijie, and their party had already reached her side.

Suddenly, flames blazed brightly from all directions. Bai Jinxiu and the others drew their swords and formed a protective circle around the Crown Prince. The Imperial Guard commander facing Bai Jinxiu also drew his sword and led his troops to protect the Crown Prince.

Heavy troops holding torches suddenly poured out from alleys in all directions, surrounding them. Even outside the city gate, many soldiers under Fan Yuhuai’s command charged in.

Fan Yuhuai and Prince Liang appeared slowly, mounted on tall horses.

Prince Liang’s cold, stern eyes looked at the Crown Prince, then his gaze fell on Bai Jinxiu and the gate-guarding general. A smile curved his lips as he said to Fan Yuhuai, “General Fan has been lax in supervising his subordinates. How could there be traitors at such an important gate checkpoint?”

The tone of Prince Liang’s light, casual words bore no resemblance to his usual submissive and timid demeanor.

All of the Crown Prince’s previous suspicions about Prince Liang became crystal clear. What cowardly and easily bullied, what weak and incompetent—it had all been Prince Liang’s acting.

“General Wang, Fan has always treated you well, promoting you to your current position and even entrusting you with this important gate location. Why did you choose to betray us?” Fan Yuhuai, with only one eye remaining, glared at the gate-guarding commander through gritted teeth.

General Wang, who guarded the gate, sneered coldly: “You and Prince Liang are traitorous ministers and rebels! Everyone has the right to execute you!”

“Traitorous ministers and rebels?” Prince Liang laughed coldly, his gaze settling on General Wang. “There have never been any traitorous ministers and rebels—only victorious kings and defeated bandits! Whoever has the ability… ascends to the imperial throne! Crown Prince brother… don’t you think your younger brother is right?”

The Crown Prince gritted his teeth tightly and remained silent.

The Crown Princess trembled like chaff in the wind… clutching her infant son tightly, tears streaming down her face. She had originally thought they could escape the city, never expecting to fall into a trap where someone was waiting to catch them. She didn’t mind dying, but the little prince must not come to harm!

Fan Yuhuai looked grimly at General Wang and shouted: “Archers, prepare!”

Archers! The Crown Prince’s eyes widened…

Archers rushed out in unison from behind Prince Liang and Fan Yuhuai, nocking arrows and drawing their bows to aim at Bai Jinxiu, the Crown Prince, and their party.

“No need to shoot to kill—capture the Crown Prince alive!” Prince Liang felt victory was within his grasp. He wanted to capture the Crown Prince alive and have the Emperor order the Crown Prince’s execution. Only this way could he prove he wasn’t a traitorous minister and rebel, and future court historians wouldn’t record him as a usurper.