Pang Xiao’s men worked efficiently, safely delivering Qin Huaiyuan back to the city during the pre-dawn hours.

Qin Huaiyuan stepped through the morning light and went without hesitation to see Yuchi Yan.

He wasn’t someone who would stubbornly dig in his heels. Knowing clearly that the tide had turned against them, he wouldn’t learn from those loyal ministers who sought to demonstrate their integrity through death. Having survived for so many years under the Great Emperor’s rule, through several rises and falls, Qin Huaiyuan had transformed from a simple man with a head full of ideals into someone who now understood how to consider his family’s welfare.

Since he knew clearly that they could no longer contend with Great Zhou, it would be more practical to think about how to secure the greatest benefits for the emperor.

Yuchi Yan was in excellent spirits today, perhaps because he had seen Qin Yining yesterday. Even now, when he closed his eyes, he could still recall the gentle appearance of Qin Yining with downcast eyes and brows when she saw him off down the mountain.

Or perhaps it was that after seeing Qin Yining, certain stubborn obsessions in his mind had finally been shattered. Yuchi Yan felt as if heavy shackles had been stripped away from him, making his entire being feel light and carefree from the inside out.

“Your Majesty, Grand Preceptor Qin requests an audience.”

“Please bring him in quickly.” Yuchi Yan had things he wanted to discuss with Qin Huaiyuan, and his response sounded somewhat urgent.

Before long, Qin Huaiyuan strode quickly into the imperial study and performed his salute: “Your subject pays respects to Your Majesty. May Your Majesty live ten thousand years in good health.”

“Rise, and please be seated.” Yuchi Yan wore a smile on his face.

Qin Huaiyuan expressed his gratitude and sat down on the official hat chair that the young eunuchs had brought over. He smiled and said, “Observing Your Majesty’s expression, it seems there was some joyful matter today?”

Yuchi Yan smiled gently: “It’s not that there was any joyful matter, but rather that I’ve truly thought through some things and feel considerably lighter in my heart. You’ve come at just the right time – even if you hadn’t come, I would have summoned you.”

Seeing that Yuchi Yan seemed quite interested in talking, Qin Huaiyuan cooperatively asked, “What has Your Majesty thought through?”

Yuchi Yan stood up and said seriously, “Yesterday I went out incognito for an inspection, walking through the city for a long time and seeing the tragic state within the city.”

Seeing the emperor’s furrowed brow and undisguised expression of heartache, Qin Huaiyuan quickly knelt again: “Your humble subject is incompetent and cannot share Your Majesty’s worries.”

“No, you’ve already done very well.” Yuchi Yan helped Qin Huaiyuan to his feet: “Grand Preceptor Qin has already done much for me and for the people of Great Yan. We can only blame Heaven for not protecting us – of favorable timing, geographical advantage, and popular support, we possessed none.”

Yuchi Yan smiled bitterly: “When Father Emperor handed the throne to me, he actually wasn’t valuing my talents. It was simply because he had no other heir to choose from to help him take the blame. He hid away large sums of silver and threw an empty shell to me, all so he could preserve capital for a future comeback. Once Great Yan is defeated in battle, he could avoid being the shameful ruler of a fallen kingdom. When the time comes, the historical records will only note that I was Great Yan’s final emperor.”

Speaking to this point, Yuchi Yan closed his eyes and clenched his fists tightly: “To be frank, my heart is full of resentment. I never received even a bit of care from Father Emperor. As I gradually grew up, when Father Emperor looked at me, his eyes held not a father’s affection for his son, but a deep wariness.

“I know he feared I would take his position from him. The care he gave me was less than what Imperial Uncle gave. Sometimes I wish so much that Imperial Uncle could sit on Great Yan’s throne – perhaps it wouldn’t have reached its end so quickly. But everything is too late now.”

Yuchi Yan turned his back to Qin Huaiyuan, not wanting him to see his weak tears. But his heavy nasal tone had already revealed the fact that he, as both an emperor and a man, was crying.

Qin Huaiyuan knelt on the ground again, quietly listening to Yuchi Yan’s confession, his heart also filled with sorrow.

When that foolish ruler the Great Emperor was in power, he wasn’t just wary of Yuchi Yan – he was wary of everyone! And it wasn’t just Yuchi Yan who felt pain. As a minister, he had devoted most of his life’s energy to the court, yet wasn’t he still manipulated by the Great Emperor like a puppet, to be killed or elevated at will?

He could understand Yuchi Yan’s pain. Because he suffered the same pain – the pain of placing trust in the wrong person and being unable to realize his ambitions. Perhaps it was no less than the pain of not receiving a father’s attention.

“Yesterday when I went out, I saw scenes of people exchanging their children to eat them.” Yuchi Yan’s voice began to tremble. “I saw with my own eyes a raggedly dressed old woman gnawing on the hand of a half-cooked child… At that moment I truly wished I could kill myself!

“I didn’t want to be the ruler of a fallen kingdom, so I never wanted to acknowledge my failure, gritting my teeth and persisting until now. But for my laughable pride, innocent people have paid the price. Grand Preceptor Qin, I was wrong. From the very beginning, I was wrong.”

Yuchi Yan turned around, tears on his face but his eyes more determined than ever before: “From the very beginning, I should never have plunged the people into suffering for my own selfish interests. As emperor, I cannot bring happiness to all people, yet I would use them as tools to build my own position. How am I any different from Father Emperor? Just as selfish, just as incompetent.”

“Your Majesty, you have already done very well,” Qin Huaiyuan consoled. “If you had ascended the throne ten years earlier, Great Yan would never have fallen. When you took over, some things were already beyond salvation. This cannot be blamed on you.”

Qin Huaiyuan’s consolation actually contained exaggerated elements, as Yuchi Yan’s abilities were truly limited.

But this single sentence was the most timely affirmation for Yuchi Yan at his moment of greatest self-doubt.

Yuchi Yan felt that as long as one person could understand him, then becoming the ruler of a fallen kingdom to save the lives of the city’s remaining people wouldn’t feel so wronged.

“Grand Preceptor Qin, thank you.” Yuchi Yan smiled, but tears poured forth like a spring. He said in a heavy nasal tone, “I cannot continue being selfish. I cannot let everyone accompany my throne to the grave. I have decided to surrender to Great Zhou.”

“Your Majesty…” Qin Huaiyuan’s voice choked up.

Although he knew this outcome was inevitable, once this decision was made, the country that Qin Huaiyuan had defended with most of his life’s heart and blood would be equivalent to having perished. What would also perish were the heart, blood, and youth he had invested in it, and the great dreams from his spirited younger days.

He felt very sad and very helpless.

But he wasn’t someone who acted on emotion. When the tide had turned, it had turned – when something was beyond salvation, one had to find another way forward.

“Your Majesty.” Qin Huaiyuan wiped away his tears and with trembling hands took out the envelope from his chest: “This morning when your subject arose, I discovered this item beside my pillow. Upon opening it to look, it truly was… Your Majesty, your subject dares not speak recklessly. Please, Your Majesty, examine it personally.”

Yuchi Yan was startled upon hearing this and hesitantly took the letter. After opening it and carefully reading through it, his gaunt, pale face had already lost all color.

Although he had already decided to surrender, the feeling of making that decision himself was truly different from surrendering after being betrayed by others.

“These people, truly, good, good – they are my good ministers, my good father-in-law.” The emperor looked up to the heavens and howled, weeping bitterly: “The military generals have all rebelled, half the civil officials have rebelled, even my father-in-law has betrayed me! My kingdom has already collapsed – what is there left to fight? What can I do besides surrender?”

Qin Huaiyuan was overcome with grief and also closed his eyes and shed tears.

The ruler and minister embraced and wept together like this.

At this time, neither of them noticed that outside the imperial study, Empress Li Yanyan quietly withdrew, gave a meaningful look to Eunuch Lu who served at the emperor’s side, then quickly departed.

Eunuch Lu kept his eyes lowered, as if he had never seen the empress at all.