Li Tianjiao’s consciousness had already begun to blur. She used nearly the last of her strength to barely sit upon the dragon throne, her gaze fixed toward the main entrance of the great hall. Tears seemed to well up in her eyes, gradually obscuring her vision. She couldn’t help but sigh: “Though I have the heart to support the state and society, I lack the power to turn the tide…”

As her words fell, the light in her pupils scattered and disappeared.

“Your Majesty…” The Western Liang soldiers in the hall kowtowed and wept bitterly.

One soldier picked up a blade and shouted: “General! Your Majesty… this humble soldier comes to follow Your Majesty and the General!”

Having spoken, he slit his own throat.

That night, while surrendering captives could be found throughout the fire-lit Yunjing City, in the imperial palace’s main hall where Great Yan’s Ninth Prince and Bai Qingyu had laid siege, no one surrendered, nor did anyone survive.

After complete silence fell within the great hall, Bai Qingyu released Xiao Ruohai’s supporting hand and slowly walked up the high steps to push open the palace doors…

Fearing there might be an ambush inside, Xiao Rongyan grabbed Bai Qingyu’s wrist, shielding the wounded Bai Qingyu behind him as he retreated two steps, signaling the soldiers to kick down the doors.

Yue Shi led men forward and kicked the palace doors open with one foot…

In the brilliantly lit great hall strewn with corpses, Li Tianjiao sat upon the dragon throne at the very top, her eyes open, looking toward the door. If not for her completely motionless eyes, one could hardly believe she was already dead.

Bai Qingyu, whose chest pain was unbearable, glanced at Xiao Rongyan, who was shielding him, and could no longer support himself, falling straight backward.

“Fifth Young Master!” Xiao Ruohai’s eyes widened as he rushed forward to catch Bai Qingyu, barely preventing his head from hitting the ground.

“Quickly call Physician Hong!” Xiao Rongyan crouched down and lifted Bai Qingyu onto his back, shouting at Xiao Ruohai, “Go quickly!”

“Yes!” Xiao Ruohai immediately turned to order someone to fetch Physician Hong, then hurried toward the sleeping quarters where Western Liang had previously housed Bai Qingyu.

Capital City, Bai Mansion.

In Qinghui Courtyard, two children slept sweetly beside Bai Qingyan.

But this night, Bai Qingyan could not sleep.

Perhaps due to the connection between siblings, somehow tonight whenever Bai Qingyan dozed off even slightly, she would dream of A’Yu as a child, dreaming of when little A’Yu was learning to ride horses and was thrown off, breaking his ribs but not crying once, just shaking his head without speaking.

Unable to sleep at all, Bai Qingyan rose from bed.

Nanny Tong, outside the curtains, heard movement and hurried in. Seeing that Bai Qingyan had already donned her clothes and was sitting on the bedside putting on shoes, Nanny Tong quickly walked over with small steps, casually lifting the bed curtains to check on the two children, saying softly: “Why has First Miss risen? It’s still early!”

“Can’t sleep…” Bai Qingyan’s voice sounded somewhat hoarse.

Nanny Tong hurried to pour water for Bai Qingyan. The water was warm, brought to Bai Qingyan’s lips at just the right temperature to drink.

Seeing her rise, Nanny Tong busily helped her sit on the soft couch. Just as Nanny Tong was gathering the bed curtains, she saw that Bai Qingyan had already lifted the hanging curtains and gone out, walking around the screen to sit at the writing desk.

“First Miss, you need to rest more now!” Nanny Tong carried a lamp to the desk, setting it down. She saw Bai Qingyan pick up a brush, dip it in ink, and roughly sketch the outline of a city on paper, studying the diagram thoughtfully.

Nanny Tong suddenly felt that their great madam had made an oversight. Initially, fearing that First Miss would read books, she had removed all books from First Miss’s room, but hadn’t removed the writing brush…

Calculating the time, from when A’Yu was captured until now, so much time had passed – they must have already begun fighting at Yunjing!

Because of her previous life, Bai Qingyan had been too at ease. After her grandfather, father, and uncles took her brothers to the battlefield, she hadn’t worried about it, which later left her unprepared when the Bai family’s men all perished in Nan Jiang.

Even though Xiao Rongyan was now at the front lines and would surely protect her brothers and sisters’ safety, Bai Qingyan still worried, still wondered how A’Yu would coordinate from within the city.

Bai Qingyan repeatedly organized the battle situation in her mind. Based on her understanding of her own younger brother, he would certainly place himself in the most dangerous position… a place where Cui Shanzhong and Li Tianjiao could see him, using himself to stabilize Li Tianjiao and Cui Shanzhong, making Western Liang believe he could become their trump card.

Bai Qingyan rose and stood by the window, pushing it open… looking toward the southern horizon, inexplicably growing worried.

“Oh my dear First Miss!” Nanny Tong quickly stepped forward to close the window. “This is the coldest time right now. Be careful of the cold wind striking you – if you develop headaches from wind exposure later, it’ll be too late for tears!”

She smiled at Nanny Tong, reaching up to touch the wild goose hairpin on her head, again trusting that A’Yan would protect her brothers and sisters no matter what.

Perhaps because of her previous life’s experiences, she maintained a vigilant and guarded attitude toward any danger facing her family members.

But, just as grandfather had advised father back then, fledglings must eventually grow up. How could she know that her brothers and sisters needed her to fly higher if she didn’t learn to let go?

“First Miss…” a shadow guard called softly at the window.

Perhaps seeing the light in Bai Qingyan’s room, the shadow guard spoke at the window.

Bai Qingyan moved to push open the window but was stopped by Nanny Tong, who looked at her sternly: “This old servant will tell the great madam! From now on, shadow guards won’t be allowed to come either!”

Bai Qingyan: “…”

She had no choice but to withdraw her hand and ask: “What matter?”

“Secret scouts report that people in Great Liang’s Zhongxing City and Yangjiang City are preparing to move. Grand Marshal Lu has already sent people to quietly deploy troops there overnight!” The shadow guard hesitated: “Because we feared disturbing First Miss during her confinement, we didn’t report the night’s events.”

“Good, I understand. Thank you for your hard work!” After Bai Qingyan finished speaking, she added: “Send someone to tell Grand Marshal Lu in the Empress Dowager’s name that this time we must crush these people preparing to provoke our Great Zhou. Use a firm hand – make those with restless intentions never dare to act rashly again!”

Bai Qingyan knew that Grand Marshal Lu’s direct troop deployment must have had Mother’s approval. Mother was trying to let her rest peacefully during confinement, not wanting to trouble her with worries, so she hadn’t told her.

Tree shadows swayed outside the window as the shadow guard disappeared from Qinghui Courtyard.

Just as Bai Qingyan had said before, Great Liang had tried gentle methods. Without some firmness, those Great Liang people would think Great Zhou was weak and could stir up trouble whenever they pleased, which was quite troublesome.

Though Bai Qingyan came from a military family and never feared war, since ascending to the Great Zhou’s imperial position, she had to consider much more. She still didn’t fear war now, but… she was unwilling to fight endlessly!

Therefore, this time, those Great Liang people who dared cause trouble, even if she admired their loyalty to Great Liang, Bai Qingyan would show no mercy.

The Great Zhou’s future would surely develop better and better!

After this palace examination concluded, Mother still brought all the examination papers to her.