Li Qitian never could have imagined that he would one day find himself walking down this path of being caught between a rock and a hard place. He wasn’t a foolish person, yet now he couldn’t for the life of him remember how he had allowed things to develop to such a state.

“Your Majesty, Pang Xiao’s forces have arrived at the city gates. If you don’t make a decision soon, it may be too late.” Officials led by Yu Ziqiu, Song Quan, and others all knelt down. “Please, Your Majesty, prioritize the safety of the common people!”

Li Qitian looked at the portion of ministers kneeling on the ground, his gaze vacant for a moment. After reaching the peak of his fury, he suddenly burst out laughing.

His smile grew deeper, and laughter spilled from his throat like a broken bellows.

“Ridiculous, utterly ridiculous.” His smile vanished as Li Qitian pointed at the kneeling officials making their plea. “You speak of having me prioritize the common people, but aren’t you really thinking about the safety of your own families? If I sue for peace and become that fallen sovereign, you can then defect to Pang Xiao just as you once pledged loyalty to Great Zhou, can’t you?”

Everyone understood these implications, but to voice them openly was truly grating to the ears.

This was because most of the ministers kneeling in supplication were former officials of Northern Ji who had surrendered. Their loyalty had indeed been shaken by the succession of proclamations that had appeared.

After all, that upheaval had only occurred ten years ago, and deep-rooted feelings of allegiance couldn’t be completely changed overnight. Moreover, the current emperor had prioritized building his imperial mausoleum over the lives of his people, even issuing IOUs for officials’ salaries.

Serving such a ruler, the fact that they could maintain their convictions and hadn’t immediately abandoned Great Zhou to avoid disaster already demonstrated remarkable steadfastness.

Seeing his ministers remain silent, kneeling stiffly like wooden posts, Li Qitian grew even more furious. Yet those words of abuse could no longer leave his lips.

What use was rage now? What use was anxiety?

Even if he killed all these people in his anger, it wouldn’t change the current situation—it would only leave him as pathetic as a defeated rooster.

The secret agents sent to find Ji Zeyu had yet to return.

Sue for peace? He had no bargaining chip more valuable than “unifying the realm” to convince Pang Xiao to abandon the empire that was within his grasp. All he could do now, aside from praying for a miracle, was wait.

Wait for a massacre, wait for release. When the time came, he would spill his lifeblood and let people say that at least this emperor wasn’t a coward who opened the gates in surrender.

How pathetic!

How ridiculous!

“Your Highness, following your instructions, our flanking forces have formed an encirclement, completely surrounding the capital. We need only your command to take it within days.”

Pang Xiao nodded, his expression serious as he instructed, “Tell everyone: do not disturb the people, do not burn, kill, or rape! Anyone who disobeys will face military justice!”

“Yes!”

The deputy general relayed this message to the troops.

Ji Zeyu asked, “When do you plan to attack?”

Pang Xiao raised an eyebrow and smiled. “No need to rush. Everyone has traveled a long distance and deserves time to rest and regroup.”

Ji Zeyu smiled with pursed lips, folding his arms. “Don’t I know you well enough? You’re just taking pity on the people in the city. You’re giving our people time to prepare while also giving the civilians time to organize themselves. If they can hide in their homes and avoid coming out as much as possible, many lives can be spared.”

Pang Xiao laughed heartily, clapping Ji Zeyu on the shoulder. “Fine, you’re right.” His eyes took on a touch of gloom and helplessness. “I never wanted things to turn out this way.”

No one possessed the ability to foresee the future. Two years ago, Pang Xiao never could have imagined he would one day lead three hundred thousand troops to surround the capital. He couldn’t have foreseen that so many people would be willing to follow him in this act of supreme treason.

These people regarded him as their leader, so he had to be a leader who lived up to everyone’s expectations. Otherwise, his eventual fall from grace would be just as devastating as Li Qitian’s.

Truth be told, events had truly exceeded his expectations, and he felt genuinely weary in his heart. But when everything was no longer just about his personal interests, but involved the interests of so many others, he no longer had any choice.

“Your Highness.” Xie Yue and Xu Weizhi approached, first bowing to Pang Xiao and Ji Zeyu. “We wonder whether Your Highness plans to try diplomacy before force, or to crush them directly with military might? Do you intend to negotiate with His Majesty?”

Pang Xiao shook his head. “There’s nothing left to discuss. But I don’t want to attack immediately either. Let’s leave things as they are for now.”

“Yes.” Xu Weizhi smiled. “Even if we do nothing, it’s enough to keep them panicked for quite a while.”

Pang Xiao nodded, clasping his hands behind his back as he gazed toward the capital.

The great banners fluttered loudly in the wind. Beyond the flying flags, across a stretch of wilderness, stood the majestic capital in solitary isolation. Behind it rose the undulating shapes of mountain ranges, though everyone knew those mountains were still far in the distance.

Pang Xiao’s forces thus surrounded the capital, making no attack nor any other gesture.

It was precisely this silent attitude, combined with the stark contrast in military strength, that filled all the common people with terror.

Qin Yining and Qin Huaiyuan sat side by side in front of their tent, watching the group of men conversing in the distance.

Qin Huaiyuan said, “After so many days, the people in the city must have reached a certain degree of fear. This isn’t good for Zhixi.”

“Everyone cares about their own life and death—no one wants to lose their life. Now we’re isolated outside the city gates, and who knows what Li Qitian’s people are saying about us inside.” Her eyes sparkled as Qin Yining had an idea. “I’ve put considerable effort into managing His Highness’s reputation. I can’t let it be destroyed at such a crucial moment. How about… we use our old trick again?”

Qin Huaiyuan raised an eyebrow, clearly understanding what Qin Yining meant. “You want to use the method from Xiyue?”

“Exactly. But this time with some modifications.”

Qin Yining stood up, brushing off her skirt with a smile. “Father, I’ll go discuss it with His Highness.”

“Go ahead.” Qin Huaiyuan leisurely picked up his tea bowl and took a sip.

Qin Yining quickly made her way to Pang Xiao and the others.

Ji Zeyu spotted Qin Yining approaching first and stopped speaking, nodding in greeting.

Qin Yining smiled as she curtsied, then said, “I just thought of an idea.”

Pang Xiao looked down at Qin Yining, seeing the gleam flashing in her bright almond eyes and her cunning expression, like a clever little fox. He couldn’t help but smile with narrowed eyes, bending down close to her side. “What idea? Let’s hear it.”

Qin Yining’s smiling eyes curved like crescents as she half-covered her mouth, whispering a few words in Pang Xiao’s ear.

Pang Xiao’s tall frame bent to accommodate her height, as if sheltering her in his embrace. Both possessed strikingly beautiful features, and to onlookers, the scene was so beautiful they couldn’t bear to interrupt it.

Ji Zeyu looked expressionlessly toward the city walls, then smiled after a moment.

Pang Xiao nodded repeatedly, tapping the tip of Qin Yining’s nose. “You clever little sprite.”

Qin Yining touched her nose, laughing. “I’m just making a suggestion. I don’t understand warfare—you should discuss it further with Master Xie and the others. I’m going back to have tea with Father.”

“All right, go ahead.”

Pang Xiao watched Qin Yining’s retreating figure with tender, focused eyes until she disappeared from view, then called Ji Zeyu, Xie Yue, and Xu Weizhi to confer.

The Imperial Guards defending the city stood atop the northern gate tower, gazing melancholically at the vast sea of white tents in the distance. Suddenly looking up, they spotted a round object flying through the sky.

The thing drifted unsteadily, flying higher and higher, heading straight for the capital. The guards dared not be negligent and quickly called out, “Sir! Look at that—what is it?”

Hearing the cry, everyone hurried over, craning their necks to look at the sky.

“It looks like a paper kite? And there’s more than one!”

As they spoke, several more kites of different shapes came flying. Following the kites’ strings downward, they could see several horses galloping beneath the city gates. The riders wore the azure soft armor of the Huben Army and held kite reels in their hands.

“What are they trying to do? Provoke us?”

“Since we won’t open the gates to meet them in battle, are they mocking us?”

“The Huben Army has always been valiant, and now with Prince Zhongshun leading them, they probably want to fight but are getting restless from boredom, so they’ve started playing with kites?”

…

The Imperial Guards’ speculations all served to bolster others’ morale while deflating their own, but not a single superior contradicted them—because they felt the same way.

Even seeing the Huben Army cavalry leisurely riding back and forth beneath the city gates, casually flying kites for amusement, they didn’t dare act rashly or fire the first arrow, fearing it might trigger warfare.

After two incense sticks’ worth of time, the kites flew higher and higher, eventually soaring above the city.

Suddenly, one kite began circling downward.

Looking closely, they realized its string had been cut.

Before the Imperial Guards could express their surprise, they discovered that the kites were falling one after another, their strings severed, gracefully plummeting directly into the city.

Looking down again, they realized the riders had deliberately cut the strings themselves.

They had intentionally used the wind direction to fly the kites over the city, then severed the strings, letting the kites fall wherever they might.

The Imperial Guards sensed trouble and immediately sent someone to report to their superior. The superior hastily ordered men to inform His Majesty while dispatching others into the city to retrieve the kites.

While this news traveled up the chain of command and people below frantically searched for kites, citizens had already found kites that had fallen on the main streets and read their messages clearly.

The text was written entirely in plain language so that all common people could understand it.

The meaning was also perfectly clear: Prince Zhongshun would not massacre the city or harm any innocent civilians. The people were blameless—those who didn’t wish to be involved in court struggles need only hide in their homes and keep their doors tightly shut. The Huben Army and Pingnan Army would absolutely not disturb the people.

The person who found the kite happened to be literate and had always admired Prince Zhongshun. Upon seeing what was written, he immediately read it aloud under the curious gazes of those around him.

The surrounding people were all greatly astonished.

“Prince Zhongshun deliberately found a way to tell us this?”

“Yes! How thoughtful of His Highness to think of using kites to send us messages!”

“I said the prince wouldn’t kill innocent people indiscriminately.”

“How naive! Have you ever seen warfare where civilians weren’t killed?”

The person speaking was immediately given withering looks by everyone else. “If you don’t believe it, feel free to walk the streets and see if you’ll be treated as a court lackey. I’m going home to tell my family! Our lives can be saved!”