That night, the Empress of Dongyi secretly sent someone through the hidden passage to meet with the Regent of Yan. But to be honest, even though the Empress of Dongyi had made up her mind, she was still restless, pacing back and forth in her bedchamber, her heart filled with irritation…

Today in the court, the ministers had also argued fiercely. Some said they should indeed allow Yan to station troops, as this would create mutual restraint with the Great Zhou, which would be relatively safer for Dongyi. Otherwise, with only Great Zhou stationing troops… if one power dominated alone, Dongyi could only be manipulated by Great Zhou at will. Now that the Great Zhou and Yan were gambling on their nations, both countries would naturally want to use Dongyi to cause trouble for each other. When the snipe and clam fight, naturally, the fisherman benefits.

Others said that Yan’s betrayal and backstabbing of allied nations was nothing new. The Regent of Yan claimed that if Great Zhou interfered, it would make Dongyi think Great Zhou was treating Dongyi as a fallback, but in reality, if Yan stationed troops in Dongyi, when they lost the national gamble in the future, they would probably treat Dongyi as Yan’s fallback. After all, regarding the current national gamble, Great Zhou’s national strength was superior to Yan’s, so naturally, Great Zhou had better odds of winning.

The Empress of Dongyi’s heart was in complete chaos, thinking one moment of her son, the next of the entire nation of Dongyi.

The personal maid beside the Empress of Dongyi saw the Empress sitting restlessly with a panicked expression, turned and waved to signal all the palace servants to withdraw, then took small steps following behind the Empress, saying in a low voice: “Your Majesty… Your Majesty! Your Majesty cannot panic!”

Under the flickering candlelight, the Empress of Dongyi’s pale face was full of panic and helplessness. She tried hard to control her trembling hands, tightly gripping her dress hem: “If the Seventh Prince hadn’t been grasped in the palm of Great Zhou’s Emperor, this Palace would naturally not panic. But now the Seventh Prince is in Great Zhou’s hands, and has even taken some mother-child poison! Now Yan also eyes Dongyi covetously. This Palace risks sending someone to contact this Regent. If Great Zhou discovers this… this Palace worries it will harm the Seventh Prince.”

“Your Majesty, you are letting worry lead to chaos!” the personal maid said to the Empress in a low voice. “You have said that, actually, Great Zhou also fears something happening to the Seventh Prince. Great Zhou uses the Seventh Prince to control you, the future Empress Dowager of Dongyi, and likewise knows that without the Seventh Prince, you would no longer be controlled by them!”

“The words are correct, but that is this Palace’s son…” the Empress said with tears in her eyes. “I fear he will suffer grievances, fear that while Great Zhou doesn’t dare kill him, they will torment him!”

“This servant feels that the Great Zhou’s Emperor is not such a low person!” the personal maid comforted the Empress.

“She used mother-child poison on my son, what character is there to speak of! Moreover, we are secretly contacting Yan’s Regent behind Great Zhou’s back. If this is truly discovered, won’t Great Zhou want to teach this Palace a lesson?” The Empress became more worried as she thought, gripping the handkerchief in her hand tightly.

“Your Majesty, rest assured. You arranged for Yan’s Regent to stay at Prince Ping’s mansion. This hidden passage connecting the palace and Prince Ping’s mansion is unknown to others, and the one sent is Your Majesty’s trusted confidant. It will not be discovered by the Great Zhou. Even if caught, they will refuse to admit anything to death. The Great Zhou cannot grasp any evidence! Without evidence, they won’t move against the Seventh Prince. Although Your Majesty is currently passive, the Great Zhou people are not ignorant of the principle that even a cornered rabbit will kick an eagle. They definitely won’t rashly torment the Seventh Prince without evidence!”

The Empress of Dongyi, being such an intelligent person, naturally understood this reasoning. But understanding was one thing – as a mother… when it concerned her flesh and blood, unless her son was placed before her eyes, how could she possibly sit still?

“Your Majesty…” A black-clothed palace servant secretly slipped in from outside. After bowing, he approached the Empress and said, “Yan’s Regent has personally come!”

The Empress’s palm tightened, her expression incredulous: “What?”

The palace servant lowered his head even more: “This servant saw this Great Yan Regent through the hidden passage. This Regent seemed to guess that this servant came to find him through the hidden passage, and seemed to know that Your Majesty would send someone to find him tonight. He had already changed his clothes and asked this servant to bring him to personally meet Your Majesty!”

The Empress loosened her hand that was tightly gripping her dress hem. This Yan Regent was indeed clever. She steadied herself and said, “Then invite him in!”

The Empress’s maid also said, “This servant will send people to guard this place, absolutely not letting Great Zhou’s people approach.”

“Go!” the Empress nodded in agreement, took a long breath, assumed the bearing of an empress, walked to the main seat, and sat down, looking toward the door entrance with dignified elegance.

She saw Xiao Rongyan under a black cloak wearing a raven-azure straight robe, with a white jade belt, stepping into the hall entrance before removing the hood from his head. His features were hidden behind a mask that appeared golden under the bright candlelight of the hall, his overwhelming aura throughout his body enough to be called awe-inspiring.

The hall doors were closed, and only then did Xiao Rongyan bow to the Empress of Dongyi: “I greet Your Majesty, the Empress.”

“I hear that Yan’s Regent wishes to personally meet this Palace. I wonder what this matter concerns?” The Empress raised her hand to indicate for Xiao Rongyan to sit.

Xiao Rongyan nodded and sat in the position below the Empress, smiling as he said: “Today it was Your Majesty who sent someone to seek this King. It’s just that… this King dislikes having people relay messages back and forth, so I made this trip.”

“Today in court, the Regent said that stationing troops was the bottom line, yet asked our Dongyi ministers to deliberate well, saying to give Yan an answer tomorrow. This meaning… isn’t it giving this Palace and the new Emperor one night’s time to properly negotiate with the Regent?” the Empress of Dongyi looked at Xiao Rongyan. “The Regent should speak directly! Now, this Dongyi palace has already been taken over by the Great Zhou. Speaking for too long is not very safe.”

Xiao Rongyan rubbed the white jade thumb ring on his finger, smiling as he probed the Empress of Dongyi: “The Seventh Prince… is he well?”

The Empress suddenly gripped the armrest tightly, forcing herself to appear calm with a smile: “Today, didn’t the Regent already see him?”

At this time, the Empress’s maid brought hot tea, serving tea to both the Empress and Xiao Rongyan before respectfully withdrawing.

Xiao Rongyan removed his mask, casually placing it aside, showing his true face. From the corner of his eye, he observed the Empress of Dongyi’s reaction under the lamplight, yet spoke with an unperturbed, light voice: “The Seventh Prince’s facial injury is so remarkably convenient. Returning to the country to inherit the throne… yet his voice is injured, his face is injured. If he wears a mask, one could simply find a child of a similar age to impersonate him. Wouldn’t even Dongyi’s court ministers be unable to distinguish whether this Seventh Prince is real or fake!”

The Empress saw that Xiao Rongyan’s face bore no scars, but rather was extremely rarely seen handsome. With a straight nose and thin lips, high eye sockets, features as if carved by a knife and axe with distinct angles, full of masculine vigor. His eyes were dark and deep like water, seeming able to see through people’s hearts and perceive everything with sharp profundity, unfathomably mysterious.