The next morning, Xue Nu’er took several personal eunuchs and selected a hundred soldiers to accompany him to Yumen Pass. Qin Zhonghai and the others saw him off, agreeing to meet at Tianshan. Everyone thought: “This eunuch has harmed countless loyal and good people in his life—who would have thought he could do one good deed today.” After Xue Nu’er departed, the main army also set out.

As everyone was traveling, a soldier approached and said: “Reporting to the General, the Princess summons you.” Qin Zhonghai rode over to the Princess’s jade carriage and called loudly: “Your subordinate Qin Zhonghai dares ask what orders the Princess has?”

The Princess’s gentle voice said: “I heard the General captured those assassins yesterday—where are they now?”

Qin Zhonghai’s heart tensed as he thought: “The Princess’s information is truly well-informed—she knows about this already.” He coughed lightly: “Your subordinate has ordered them imprisoned—they’re all confined in prison carts now.”

The Princess said: “I would like to see them. Can General Qin arrange this?”

Qin Zhonghai frowned and pondered: “We’re in a hurry to travel now—could we discuss this in a few days?” He knew Princess Yinchuan was imperial nobility, and if she conducted the trial, who knew what strange complications would arise. He deliberately refused, or at worst wanted to delay a few days.

The Princess sighed: “Very well. You guarantee you absolutely won’t harm them?”

Qin Zhonghai thought: “The little girl fell for it.” But he said loudly: “The Princess can rest assured—how could your subordinate be such a villain?”

The Princess breathed a sigh of relief and said no more.

The people beside the carriage, hearing their conversation, thought: “This Princess is about to marry, yet instead of worrying about her own future situation, she’s concerned for others—truly a naive and kind-hearted girl.”

After several days, everyone had already exited the pass. This time the Princess’s departure shocked countless local officials great and small, but Jiayuguan’s garrison wasn’t large—only about twenty thousand men—and couldn’t be easily mobilized, otherwise Qin Zhonghai would certainly have them divide forces to escort.

After exiting Jiayuguan, the army traveled day and night. Originally when the Princess toured, there must be musicians playing, but now with horses galloping and carriages speeding, all such ceremony was dispensed with. The journey was exhausting—palace maids and eunuchs complained they couldn’t endure it. Princess Yinchuan, raised in the palace, had never suffered even the slightest hardship, but her character was resolute. Though she felt quite weary herself, considering that the soldiers’ hardships far exceeded her own, she never uttered a single complaint from beginning to end. Qin Zhonghai and the others, seeing this, secretly admired her.

This day was already the 13th of the twelfth month. The army had rushed day and night and reached the foot of Tianshan, arriving two days earlier than scheduled—presumably Xue Nu’er had ordered Yumen Pass garrison to exit and occupy strategic positions, providing such convenience.

Everyone was visiting the Western Regions for the first time. They saw Tianshan majestic and magnificent, stretching endlessly. The weather was severely cold now, and the earth presented a scene of complete desolation. The Western Region was arid—though it seldom snowed, the sky was gray and overcast, as if even the clouds above were about to freeze.

From rushing on the road, everyone’s faces were sallow with fatigue and exhaustion. They quickly set up tents and drank wine to ward off the cold.

After drinking several cups of wine, Censor He was in good spirits and smiled: “In two more days, the Timurid Khanate’s prince will come to receive the procession. Then our heavy responsibility can be laid down.”

Qin Zhonghai nodded: “Exactly so.” But he thought: “I wonder how Dr. Yang’s investigation is going? Has he found evidence of Jiang Chong’s crimes?” As he was thinking, he suddenly saw Lu Yun galloping over, calling: “General, a word in private.”

Hearing this, Qin Zhonghai quickly left the tent: “What’s the matter?” Lu Yun said quietly: “General Qin, come see and you’ll know.” Qin Zhonghai saw his grave expression and became alert. He immediately mounted his horse and followed.

Censor He observed coldly from the side. Seeing they still remained completely vigilant, he couldn’t help wondering—this escort journey was about to be successfully completed, yet why were they so tense and cautious?

Lu Yun led Qin Zhonghai racing away. The two stopped at a valley entrance. Lu Yun pointed to the distance: “General, please look—this place shows strange phenomena. I don’t know what fortune or misfortune it portends?” Qin Zhonghai gazed into the distance and saw smoke and mist swirling in the distance, mixed with a faint sulfur smell coming from some unknown source.

Qin Zhonghai shook his head: “Indeed quite strange—let’s go down and look.” He and Lu Yun rode down the mountain together. The two galloped several li toward the source of the smoke. The sulfur smell grew pungent and their bodies grew hotter and hotter. At first they only removed fur coats and armor, but later even their outer garments became unbearable, so they simply removed everything and wore only underclothes.

After traveling several more li, their horses somehow refused to advance. Qin Zhonghai raised his whip to strike, but his mount only dodged left and right, not daring to go forward. Qin Zhonghai said curiously: “My ‘Cloud-Riding Piebald’ is quite intelligent—if it won’t go forward, could there be something strange ahead?”

Lu Yun nodded: “It’s probably too hot ahead, and these animals know they can’t endure it, so they dare not go forward. Why don’t we abandon the horses and walk?”

Qin Zhonghai said: “Good idea!” He jumped down from his horse.

As soon as the two dismounted, they felt their feet burn—the soles felt like stepping on heated iron plates, burning hot and painful.

Lu Yun was startled and hopped repeatedly in pain: “How is the ground so burning hot?” But he saw Qin Zhonghai standing calmly with arms crossed, completely unaffected. Lu Yun stared in amazement: “What? You’re not afraid of heat?”

Qin Zhonghai chuckled: “I practice ‘Fire-Greedy Single Blade’—I’m not even afraid of fire, so how could I fear heat?” Actually, Qin Zhonghai practiced internal energy of the yang-fire type. When circulating energy, his steel blade could ignite sparks, and his body naturally had methods to resist heat. Though the ground was burning, it couldn’t harm him.

Seeing Lu Yun hopping around, he said: “Brother Lu, why don’t you stay here while I go alone?” Lu Yun shook his head: “That won’t do.” He removed his waist blade and borrowed Qin Zhonghai’s steel blade, tying both blade handles to his feet like stilts to proceed. Though his appearance was comical, both men were shaken by the strange phenomenon before them and maintained grave, silent expressions.

After walking a bit more, smoke completely blocked the path so they couldn’t see front, back, left, or right. The sulfur smell was indescribably foul, making their eyes unable to open. Qin Zhonghai took another step forward when suddenly the ground gave way beneath his feet and he fell down. Lu Yun cried in alarm: “Careful!” He extended his foot for Qin Zhonghai to grab his ankle. Using his hand strength, Qin Zhonghai managed to climb back up.

Qin Zhonghai looked down and suddenly exclaimed in amazement: “Who would have thought nature could create such wonders! Brother Lu, look!”

Lu Yun strained to look and saw before them an enormous cliff. He took out a map from his bosom in shock: “Where did this cliff come from? Why isn’t it on the map?”

Qin Zhonghai shook his head: “It’s not a cliff—look more carefully.”

Lu Yun forced himself to look and was shocked to see another cliff on the opposite shore. This was actually a great canyon, with smoke rising from an enormous crevice below. The canyon was several li wide and extremely deep and far, as if Heaven had split it with an axe. Lu Yun examined the map carefully and suddenly exclaimed: “Wrong! This place is newly formed—there was no canyon here before.” He stared at Qin Zhonghai in complete bewilderment.

Qin Zhonghai crouched down and saw lava churning below with waves of terrifying heat rising up. Lu Yun suddenly called: “General! Your shoes and socks!”

Qin Zhonghai looked down to see his shoes and socks had caught fire. He quickly removed them when suddenly they heard a rumbling sound behind them as lava actually erupted. Lu Yun cried in alarm: “Let’s get out of here!” Qin Zhonghai ran barefoot on the ground. Though his “Fire-Greedy Single Blade” training was accomplished, this place was like a furnace, hundreds of times hotter than before, immediately causing heart-piercing pain.

Lu Yun quickly reached out to embrace his waist and lift him. Though both had high martial arts, before the power of heaven and earth they could only flee in panic. The two rushed back to their horses and quickly mounted to escape. After traveling some distance, they dared look back to see the canyon had returned to calm with no more lava eruptions. Still shaken, they discussed for a while but couldn’t explain it and returned to camp dejectedly.

As soon as they returned, they saw a eunuch escorting Little Rabbit, Golden Hair Turtle, and the others toward the Princess’s tent. Qin Zhonghai leaped over and shouted: “Without my orders, who dared have you bring these people out?”

A eunuch said: “It was ordered by a palace maid beside the Princess.” Qin Zhonghai knew the Princess finally wanted to interrogate these people. He nodded: “Very well! In that case, I’ll accompany you.” He called Lu Yun to help escort the three into the tent.

Entering the Princess’s tent, the Princess was already seated, concealed behind a curtain. Qin Zhonghai saw Little Rabbit and the others looking dejected and thought: “These fellows better be sensible—if they curse and swear later, the Princess will lose face.”

Just as he was about to pay respects to the Princess, Little Rabbit’s face suddenly trembled as he looked up and asked: “There seems to be a sulfur smell—do you smell it?” This Little Rabbit, being a cook by trade, had much keener senses than ordinary people. The canyon was over ten li away, so naturally no one else could smell anything, but Qin and Lu had just returned from nearby and naturally carried the scent, which Little Rabbit detected.

A eunuch shouted: “What sulfur—kneel down to speak!”

Little Rabbit suddenly trembled all over and asked: “What’s today’s date?” Lu Yun and Qin Zhonghai exchanged glances, both quite puzzled by his mysterious behavior. They heard the Princess’s gentle voice: “Today is the 13th of the twelfth month.”

Little Rabbit was thunderstruck and collapsed to the ground, muttering: “In the Wuchen year’s end, the Dragon Emperor moves the world, heavenly secrets are true, spirits and ghosts are free! Disaster! The world is about to fall into chaos!”

Qin Zhonghai was greatly curious and quickly asked: “What are you saying? What’s all this about jia-yi-bing-ding? Speak clearly—what does ‘Dragon Emperor moves the world’ mean?” But Little Rabbit didn’t answer and kept trembling all over, completely unlike his brave appearance from previous days.

Qin Zhonghai turned to look at “Golden Hair Turtle” Tao Qing and saw his face was also pale. Qin Zhonghai urgently said: “What do you know? Speak quickly!”

Golden Hair Turtle’s face was iron-gray, his voice trembling constantly: “That was… that was the final words left by our leader, meaning this year there will be heavenly omens and then… then the world will fall into chaos…”

Qin Zhonghai laughed heartily: “Superstitious nonsense and absurd talk.” Seeing Lu Yun pondering silently and knowing he had just witnessed the wonder, he must have insights, so he smiled: “Brother Lu, since Her Highness the Princess is also present, why not share your views to dispel superstition?”

The Princess was also quite interested: “Indeed. These phrases are very strange—if you gentlemen have insights, please share them.”

Lu Yun muttered as if calculating something. Qin Zhonghai smiled—originally just joking, he didn’t expect Lu Yun to really have insights, so he urged: “Brother Lu, stop playing mysterious—speak quickly if you have something to say!”

After pondering a while, Lu Yun said: “The Wuchen year’s end, Dragon Emperor moves the world… hmm… these phrases have some logic and aren’t false fabrications.”

Qin Zhonghai made an “oh” sound: “Really?”

Lu Yun continued: “Does everyone know what zodiac this year belongs to?”

Qin Zhonghai laughed heartily: “I’m sheep, you’re dog, he’s fart. Brother Lu, why ask about such irrelevant things at this time?”

Hearing his extremely crude speech, the Princess couldn’t help coughing, then answered: “This year should be the dragon zodiac.”

Lu Yun nodded: “Correct. This year is Wuchen, and Chen year means dragon year. Everyone has heard of terms like Mao rabbit, Wu horse, Chou ox, right? The character Chen ranks fifth in the earthly branches, and the dragon also ranks fifth among the twelve zodiac animals, so Chen represents dragon. All Wuchen dragons have always been yang dragons.” At these words, everyone made sounds of understanding, and even Golden Hair Turtle and Little Rabbit paid attention.

Qin Zhonghai asked: “What’s a yang dragon? Don’t tell me there are yin dragons too?”

Lu Yun smiled: “The world only has yang dragons, no yin dragons.”

Qin Zhonghai laughed loudly: “No yin dragons? Then how do dragons reproduce?” He chuckled mockingly with a contemptuous expression.

Lu Yun knew Qin Zhonghai didn’t believe in such supernatural things and also smiled: “These words all come from books—no one knows if dragons actually exist in this world.”

He continued: “The interaction of heavenly stems and earthly branches has always been only yang-yang combinations, never yin-yang combinations. Wu is the fifth heavenly stem, an odd number, thus yang; Chen is the fifth earthly branch, also an odd number, thus yang. Dragons belong to Chen and have always only combined with odd heavenly stems, so the world has only yang dragons, no yin dragons.”

Qin Zhonghai yawned and shook his head: “Mysterious beyond mysterious—I really can’t understand.”

The Princess said: “Staff Officer Lu seems quite knowledgeable about numerology.”

Lu Yun quickly said: “Just superficial knowledge—this subordinate speaks carelessly and begs the Princess’s forgiveness.”

The Princess nodded and pointed at Little Rabbit and the others: “Then what do those phrases they mentioned mean?”

Lu Yun thought for a moment: “I’m not entirely clear on this either, but this year being the dragon year and Wuchen, the four characters ‘Dragon Emperor moves the world’ likely come from this.”

Lu Yun counted on his fingers, muttering: “They said Wuchen year’s end—if year’s end refers to the 30th of the twelfth month, then according to heavenly stems and earthly branches… Shen-Zi-Chen, Yin-Wu-Xu…” He kept calculating when suddenly he exclaimed “Ah!” and said: “Please bring paper and brush—these four phrases contain great mysteries.”

Everyone was curious: “What mysteries?”

Lu Yun shook his head and wrote down the four phrases:

Wuchen year’s end, Dragon Emperor moves the world

Heavenly secrets are true, spirits and ghosts are free

Lu Yun read them over and over several times, then suddenly started in shock: “Look at these four phrases.”

Everyone gathered around and read them several times, shaking their heads: “Nothing strange about them.”

Lu Yun said: “Please read from upper right to lower left.”

Qin Zhonghai read: “Wu Emperor still exists—what kind of nonsense is this?”

Lu Yun said again: “Please read from upper left to lower right.”

Qin Zhonghai read again: “Divine mechanisms move to end—another incomprehensible piece of nonsense.” Qin Zhonghai’s language was extremely crude, even before the Princess maintaining his unrestrained manner.

Lu Yun said: “Wu Emperor still exists, divine mechanisms move to end—General Qin, do you hear the mystery?”

Qin Zhonghai muttered: “Wu Emperor still exists, divine mechanisms move to end?” He made a sound of surprise: “Could it be ‘Our Emperor still exists in Divine Mechanisms Cave’? What… what is this jumbled mess?”

The Princess exclaimed: “Our Emperor still exists in Divine Mechanisms Cave? The Emperor is perfectly fine in Beijing now! What does this mean?”

Lu Yun shook his head: “These four phrases are too strange, but if we don’t interpret them this way, there’s really no other meaning to be found.”

Qin Zhonghai laughed: “Damn it, anyway when the 30th of the twelfth month comes, naturally some Dragon Emperor will appear, right or wrong?”

Hearing his crude speech, the Princess couldn’t help saying: “General Qin should watch his language before me.”

Qin Zhonghai smiled: “This subject understands.”

The Princess sighed and shook her head: “These heavenly mysteries probably aren’t for us mortals to understand. What I’ve always cared about isn’t these mystical principles, but the lives and sufferings of the common people.”

Hearing the Princess speak this way—thoughts of benevolence toward the people—Lu Yun secretly praised her and nodded: “What the Princess says matches my heart exactly. So-called mystical numerology can only be referenced for verification but cannot be used to govern the world and help the people. If we want great peace in the world, we must still rely on Confucian techniques and Confucian hearts to cultivate ourselves and govern the country to see results.”

The Princess sighed and was silent for a long time. Hidden behind the curtain, others couldn’t see her expression.

After a long while, the Princess turned and asked Little Rabbit and the others: “Why did you three heroes want to assassinate me? Do I have some way of losing the people’s hearts that you must eliminate me for their sake?”

Little Rabbit had been frightened by the sulfur smell earlier and couldn’t speak from fear. “Iron Bull” Ouyang Yong was mute, so only “Golden Hair Turtle” Tao Qing could speak. He thought for a while with lowered head and answered: “Princess Yinchuan has never harmed the people and has always been beloved by them.”

A eunuch nearby shouted: “Kneel down to speak!”

Tao Qing snorted and ignored him. The eunuchs swarmed forward to force him down, but the Princess said: “It doesn’t matter—let him stand and speak.” The eunuchs dared not disobey the imperial order and all withdrew.

The Princess asked gently: “Since I’m reasonably good to the people, why did you come to assassinate me?”

Tao Qing looked around and suddenly closed his eyes. Seeing this from inside, the Princess immediately understood and said to the palace maids and eunuchs: “You all go rest.”

Everyone was about to speak when they saw Princess Yinchuan’s face darken. These palace maids and eunuchs, having served her long, knew her temperament well and quickly withdrew.

After everyone left, the Princess said: “There’s no one else here—speak freely.”

Tao Qing nodded: “It’s not that we want to kill you—it’s that your father wants to kill you.”

The Princess was shocked and said tremblingly: “You… don’t talk nonsense. Father Emperor… how could Father Emperor want to kill me?” Qin and Lu, hearing this, were also deeply shocked and stood up together.

Tao Qing chuckled: “Your father indulges the Eight Tigers in their evil deeds, making life unbearable for people throughout the realm, while he hides in the Leopard Room playing every day. As his daughter, you must see this—tell me, does this emperor act properly? Which heroic knight in the four seas doesn’t want to take his head? But he hides in the Forbidden City every day—what can anyone do to him?”

His face showed indignation: “We people can’t kill him and have no place to vent our anger, so we have to take it out on his daughter. When I said father wants to kill, I don’t mean he actually raises a blade to kill, but that his despicable, shameless actions harm you—understand?” The Princess suddenly breathed a sigh of relief, patted her chest and said: “So that’s it… so that’s it!” Her voice suddenly choked with tears flowing down, her heart seeming to hold endless sorrow.

Seeing her expression, everyone was startled. It seemed the Emperor and Princess Yinchuan, this father and daughter, had some problems, but how could they dare ask about such deep palace family matters even with ten heads? Qin Zhonghai and Lu Yun exchanged glances and both lowered their heads, not daring to speak or move.

Princess Yinchuan sighed: “Father Emperor is devoted to achieving merit and establishing his legacy. Though he says it’s for the people’s good, he only wants to attack barbarians and compare himself to the Great Ancestor, but this causes suffering for you common people.” Hearing the Princess criticize the Emperor to their faces, Qin and Lu exchanged glances, both looking quite embarrassed.

Tao Qing suddenly said: “Princess Yinchuan is compassionate and benevolent—none in the imperial family surpass her. Actually, this person is very good. If she were emperor, we wouldn’t rebel either.”

The Princess turned away and said quietly: “Don’t mention such treasonous words again.”

Tao Qing laughed heartily: “So what if I speak them? At worst, death. I, ‘Golden Hair Turtle,’ am just an insignificant, useless thing—even if I die, it’s no loss.”

Hearing his words, the Princess was silent for a moment, then suddenly said: “General Qin, I have a favor to ask.”

Qin Zhonghai bowed: “I respectfully receive the Princess’s instruction.”

The Princess pointed at Golden Hair Turtle and the others: “I would like you to release them—would that be acceptable?”

Qin Zhonghai was stunned. That day he had expended great effort to capture these people, intending to subdue them for future use. Who knew the Princess wanted him to randomly release them? He immediately frowned: “This… this might be difficult. These people are lawless and form rebellious factions. If we can’t win them over, there will surely be great trouble in the future.”

The Princess shook her head: “Rebellious subjects and traitors don’t appear from nothing. If the court hadn’t failed the people, these people wouldn’t have taken this path. You capture one now, but a hundred or thousand more will emerge later—they can never all be caught. If we can’t save from the root and eliminate the source of chaos, even killing them is useless.”

Lu Yun, well-read and expert in statecraft, was suddenly shocked hearing this and secretly praised: “This woman is extraordinary—how many in the current court can match such vision and insight?”

Hearing this, Qin Zhonghai cursed silently: “Damn it, the dead girl talks nonsense—might as well open all the prison doors in the world and let the thieves go home freely.” But he heard the Princess sigh, her slender waist trembling as she gracefully stood: “General Qin, please take them away!”

Qin Zhonghai sighed inwardly but couldn’t disobey in the slightest. He bowed: “Your subordinate receives the order.” He looked at Tao Qing and the others dejectedly and said awkwardly: “Three friends, since the Princess is so generous, please come with me!”

Tao Qing looked at the Princess’s slender silhouette behind the curtain and, thinking this woman would soon be sent for a political marriage, suddenly felt moved: “Her Highness the Princess will marry in a few days?”

The Princess made an “mm” sound: “I am commanded to make a political marriage and will wed the prince in a few days. I wonder what instruction the hero has?”

Tao Qing said quietly: “Do you know that after a few more days, you’ll never be able to return to the Central Plains?”

The Princess’s body shook but immediately steadied. They heard her say calmly: “What do my life, death, happiness, and suffering matter? As long as the people can live in peace and health, even dying in the Western Regions would be worthwhile.” These words were spoken with utmost sincerity, and everyone’s faces showed moved expressions.

Hearing this, Tao Qing was also moved and thought: “This Princess is truly good.” He faced the bamboo curtain and bowed: “This commoner has lived uprightly. The only wrong thing I’ve done in my life was attempting to assassinate the Princess.” These words were quite sincere, and everyone in the tent was moved, all thinking: “Only Princess Yinchuan’s benevolence could reform these villains.”

Tao Qing looked at the bamboo curtain: “Going to the Khanate through thousands of mountains and rivers, please take great care of yourself, Princess. Don’t be too kind-hearted—know that the rear palace is a place of power struggles!” His words were full of prayers for the Princess’s well-being.

The Princess stood inside, seemingly deeply saddened. She sighed softly: “I have no other wish—I only hope that when you rebel and kill in the future, sometimes you might remember me.” Hearing this, Tao Qing only remained silent, as if deep in thought. Seeing his silence, the Princess said no more and turned to leave the tent.