Ji Zeyu heard the resistance in Pang Xiao’s words and smiled, saying: “As the saying goes, generals in the field need not accept all military orders. The Emperor is far away in the capital and doesn’t know that this is a crucial moment in the battle. If we show even the slightest negligence, the Tatars supported by the Lu family will make a comeback, and all our efforts these past days will be in vain.”

As Ji Zeyu spoke, his gaze pierced like knives into the young eunuch who had come to deliver the imperial edict.

The young eunuch understood Ji Zeyu’s meaning perfectly well. Having heard the unguarded conversation between Pang Xiao and Ji Zeyu clearly just now, the young eunuch already felt his life might be in danger. Now being directly asked to relay such words, the young eunuch was nearly in tears.

If he could somehow survive this trip back, he would definitely find some fault with himself to get demoted away from the Emperor’s side. He’d rather scrub chamber pots than do such dangerous work!

With Prince Zhongshun and Duke Dingguo, these two great Buddhas before him, and with them both saying such things, if he wanted to live, he could only nod in agreement.

“Yes, though this slave doesn’t understand much, I have personally witnessed the Tatars’ ferocity. If not for Your Highness and His Grace fighting desperately, the Tatars would have broken through long ago.”

Pang Xiao smiled and, not wanting to make things difficult for such a small eunuch, nodded: “Good that you understand. Go rest well, and set off back tomorrow morning.”

“Yes.” The young eunuch bowed respectfully and quietly withdrew.

Ji Zeyu pursed his lips, looking at the young eunuch’s retreating figure with his hands clasped behind his back: “This person cannot be allowed to remain.”

“It doesn’t matter, he’s just a small eunuch. Whether he says something or says nothing, it won’t affect the Emperor’s attitude toward me. He’ll still be suspicious when he should be suspicious.”

Though this was reasonable, Ji Zeyu still felt uneasy leaving such a person alive.

Pang Xiao patted his shoulder: “Though we’re in the midst of war and have both stained our hands with considerable blood, we must still hold to our principles as human beings. If we start treating killing as something trivial, we’ll gradually lose respect for life, which will directly affect how we conduct ourselves and handle affairs in the future.”

“You always have so many principles.” Ji Zeyu turned to look at Pang Xiao, his tone complaining but his eyes showing admiration.

It was precisely because of such steadfast principles that he had been able to maintain his original heart all these years without being disturbed by external matters.

Pang Xiao clasped his hands behind his back and pondered for a moment, then said: “I believe the Emperor will surely be enraged by this and might directly order people to arrest me. Even worse, he might directly target Yi Jie’er and my children. We can’t wait any longer – we must get them to safety.”

Ji Zeyu nodded: “I was just thinking the same thing. Your children are important – send people immediately.”

Pang Xiao nodded and immediately selected all the Elite Tiger Guards at his side, having Tang Xiu lead them to Jingang for support.

When Qin Yining learned that Pang Xiao had openly defied the imperial edict and refused to “return to the capital for debriefing,” it was already when Li Qitian was in thunderous rage, making the situation extremely difficult to resolve.

Because Qin Yining had sought help from Magistrate Chen while holding her children, Magistrate Chen had specially arranged for constables to increase patrols and closely observe the area around where Qin Yining was staying. They had indeed discovered some unfamiliar men, but since the other party hadn’t made any moves, they couldn’t act rashly either.

This day, Magistrate Chen also received news from the court and specially came to inquire of Qin Yining.

“The Prince is wholeheartedly devoted to Great Zhou, but his actions are too inconsiderate. He could have first obeyed the edict and returned to the capital to explain everything clearly to the Emperor in person. The Emperor would naturally not make things difficult for the Prince then. Now, however, a misunderstanding has arisen, making the Emperor think the Prince is defying imperial orders and showing disrespect, not taking the Emperor seriously.”

Magistrate Chen shook his head repeatedly with a very regretful expression.

What Qin Yining thought of, however, was a deeper layer.

Pang Xiao was a thorn in Li Qitian’s side. This time, urgently summoning Pang Xiao back to the capital just when victory was within grasp, not wanting to give this meritorious minister any reward at all, and even having intentions to punish him – this displayed Li Qitian’s radical side to the fullest.

Previously, Li Qitian would still restrain himself for the sake of reputation and various other reasons when doing things. But now, he seemed increasingly unable to contain his anger.

Qin Yining was somewhat worried. The Emperor was ruthless and merciless – staying here with the children might very well make them targets for Li Qitian’s revenge against Pang Xiao.

Qin Yining smiled at Magistrate Chen: “Thank you, Magistrate Chen, for specially informing me of this matter. However, matters like warfare are all decided by the Prince. Whatever the Prince says is what happens – as a woman, I don’t understand such things. Recently, I’ve been thinking of taking the children out for a walk anyway, to inspect the nearby estates. Magistrate Chen has helped us so much along the way, I don’t even know how to express my gratitude.”

Magistrate Chen’s old face reddened, and he shook his head: “What are you saying, Princess? Compared to what the Prince and Princess have contributed, what I’ve done really isn’t much. If the Princess plans to go out for a walk, that’s good too. You can relax a bit. Perhaps by the time the Princess has finished touring and returns, the Prince and his forces will have returned triumphant to court.”

“Indeed.” Qin Yining smiled brightly. “Being able to drive the Tatars out of Great Zhou’s territory, as long as we govern well afterward, the Zhou Dynasty can enjoy favorable weather, peace, and prosperity.”

“The Princess speaks truly.” Magistrate Chen nodded in agreement. Then he asked: “Which day does the Princess plan to depart? This official will arrange for some constables to accompany you, lest something go wrong. Though our place is still far from the Tatars, in the midst of great war, who knows where there might be ambushes.”

Qin Yining smiled gratefully: “That won’t be necessary. After all, Jingang is such a large city, and the constables are already very busy. The Prince has assigned some of his guards to me, so with them looking after me, my safety should be assured.”

Hearing this, Magistrate Chen nodded and agreed: “That makes sense. The guards around the Prince are naturally all top-notch experts. It’s good that the Princess’s safety can be guaranteed.”

After discussing with Magistrate Chen, Qin Yining immediately went to find Xie Yue.

“Master Xie, I have a bad premonition. The Prince defied the edict and refused to return to the capital, and the matter of my giving birth to dragon and phoenix twins isn’t a secret either. I’m afraid someone might target me and the children.”

“The Princess speaks very reasonably.” Xie Yue’s expression was grave as he said: “Who would have thought that just when the most difficult problem of provisions was solved effortlessly, such a matter would arise. The Princess should quickly have people make arrangements and bring more guards.”

Just as Qin Yining was nervously ordering preparations for departure, planning to temporarily leave Jingang to avoid the limelight, the news of Pang Xiao’s defiance of imperial orders was also spread throughout the court and countryside by interested parties.

Li Qitian was originally quite pleased – Pang Xiao’s reputation among the people was so high, he didn’t believe what the common people would think after learning that Pang Xiao was such a person who defied imperial orders and showed contempt for the court.

But things didn’t go as smoothly as Li Qitian had imagined.

Li Qitian dressed as a wealthy young master, with Xiong Jinshui disguised as a servant and several secret agents dressed as guards, walking through the streets of the capital. Passing by a teahouse, they sat down and ordered a pot of hot tea.

The teahouse was a place where ordinary people chatted and passed time. For just a few coins, one could drink good tea and eat good snacks. Sometimes there were storytellers, and sometimes one could chat freely with friends.

Today the storyteller wasn’t there, but the teahouse was still bustling with activity.

Everyone was discussing Great Zhou’s great victory over the Tatars.

“Prince Zhongshun is truly a brave war god. It seems all those people saying Prince Zhongshun was valiant weren’t lying.”

“Indeed, if not for Prince Zhongshun, the Tatars would probably have already attacked the capital.”

“When the Emperor arranged for Prince Zhongshun to take a detour, that was really inappropriate. He should have opened the city gates to welcome Prince Zhongshun and his party. That way, the war against the Tatars might have ended long ago.”

Hearing this, Li Qitian couldn’t help but frown.

Xiong Jinshui and the secret agents all kept their heads down, not daring to look at Li Qitian’s expression.

These elderly men, having eaten their fill with nothing better to do, instead of going home to rest, actually came to the teahouse to speak nonsense!

What a bunch of people with death wishes!

At this time, another elder said: “This time, Prince Zhongshun had to defy the Emperor’s edict to strike while the iron was hot and beat the Tatars so thoroughly that they wouldn’t dare provoke our Great Zhou again. I wonder if the Emperor will blame him.”

Speaking these words, the group all shook their heads and sighed. Whether Pang Xiao would be punished was their greatest concern at the moment.

Li Qitian expressionlessly picked up his tea bowl and drank a gulp.

Xiong Jinshui really wanted to shout “Silence!” loudly as he did during court sessions.

But right now, he could only pretend he didn’t understand or hear, keeping his head lowered without daring to move.

“Perhaps the Emperor is just concerned about the Prince’s health. The Prince will inevitably have many battles ahead for expanding territory, so the Emperor might just want the Prince to return and rest well to avoid overexertion damaging his foundation.”

“Not necessarily. I think Prince Zhongshun might have affected certain people’s interests. When the Prince is so outstanding, it naturally affects others. Some people become jealous and naturally go before the Emperor to make accusations.”

“Bah! Are there really such shameless people? These people have forgotten who saved their lives! It hasn’t been that long since the Tatars were at the city gates, scaring them into pissing themselves! In just a few days, they’ve turned around to accuse Prince Zhongshun. Aren’t they afraid their lack of virtue will cause their sons to be born without anuses!”

Li Qitian’s fists clenched tightly. Though his face showed no abnormality, after staying in the teahouse only briefly, he suddenly ordered the carriage prepared to return to the palace.

The higher the popular support, the greater Pang Xiao’s influence, the angrier Li Qitian became.

After thinking it over, he called for a spy: “Do you know where the Qin family is now?”

“Reporting to the Emperor, this subordinate hasn’t dared forget Your Majesty’s instructions and has always had people closely monitoring Princess Zhongshun.”

“Good.” Li Qitian’s index finger rapidly tapped the table, making loud, crisp sounds.

Before long, the sound stopped abruptly, and Li Qitian said: “Go arrest the Qin woman and everyone around her, including their dragon and phoenix twins.”

“Yes!” The spy received the order and respectfully withdrew.

However, once outside the door, thinking of the complex relationship between Prince Zhongshun and the Emperor, everyone who knew the situation unconsciously sighed.

Jingang wasn’t far from the capital, giving Qin Yining less time to prepare.

Fortunately, she had prepared in advance and could now act so calmly.

Ji Yun also informed Qin Yining: “Princess, as we left the city, those young men who suddenly appeared in Jingang earlier also left the city one after another.”