As they neared the city, Su Jin suddenly felt a palpitation of the heart.

Throughout this journey, she had kept reminding herself not to look back, not to look back. Only by moving forward, continually forward, could she find a way out, could she save him.

But at this very moment, the sudden heart palpitation nearly seized her soul. Su Jin abruptly turned around, gazing toward Zhaojue Temple.

The ancient temple had long since disappeared into the vast distant mountains. A blood-like remnant sunset at the horizon seemed to have absorbed the suffering of all living beings, staining the clouds yet unable to illuminate the dark mortal realm.

Shen Xi followed right beside Su Jin.

When leaving Zhaojue Temple, he had already calmed down in an unusually composed manner.

It was he who helped Su Jin avoid the Feathered Forest Guards’ ambush, telling her that the Feathered Forest Guards had deployed their forces in various temple buildings to capture Zhu Nanxian’s Personal Guards, so the small gate outside the medicinal garden’s short alley would definitely be unguarded.

But Su Jin knew that Shen Xi’s current calmness wasn’t composure, but rather a bewildered helplessness, a suppression and desolation bordering on dejection.

The two didn’t obtain horses until they reached the postal station at the mountain’s foot. Before mounting, Shen Xi gripped the reins tightly, murmuring almost to himself: “Seventeen.”

The Eastern Palace had become a dangerous place. Since Zhu Zhaowei had decided to murder Zhu Minda, then after the bell tolling sounded, guards in the palace would definitely have secretly secured the Eastern Palace.

Fortunately, after the winter hunt, Zhu Nanxian had driven Zhu Min’er to the Shen estate, coincidentally allowing him to avoid disaster.

At dusk, outside Zhengyang Gate, pedestrians still crowded the streets. Su Jin and Shen Xi rode all the way to the Shen estate, where the estate’s chief steward, Shen Liubo, was already anxiously waiting outside the gate.

Upon seeing Shen Xi, Sixth Uncle said: “Young Master, when Seventeenth Highness heard the bell toll, he insisted on going to Zhaojue Temple. Fortunately, Steward Zheng Yun from Thirteenth Prince’s estate came today. This old servant had no choice but to forcibly lock Seventeenth Highness in a room together with Steward Zheng. Do you think…” Before finishing his words, seeing Shen Xi’s somewhat dazed expression, he couldn’t help but look at Su Jin beside him, performing a half-questioning bow: “This old servant greets Lord Su.”

Yesterday, after hearing of Qian Zhihuan’s retirement, Shen Xi had sent word from the palace—without his permission, even if the sky fell, Zhu Min’er must not leave the Shen estate by a single step.

Su Jin didn’t explain much, only saying: “Then please have Sixth Uncle arrange for carriages and horses, bring out Zheng Yun and Seventeenth Highness, and leave the city before nightfall.”

Hearing her urgent tone, Sixth Uncle dared not delay and hurried to comply. Shen Xi suddenly asked: “Sixth Uncle, where’s my father?”

“After hearing the bell tolling, the Master feared changes in the palace and rushed to enter the palace.”

The twilight pooled in the teardrop mole beneath Shen Xi’s right eye, making it appear even deeper and darker. He gave a soft “Mm”: “You may go.”

Before long, Zhu Min’er emerged from the estate with Zheng Yun.

Upon seeing Su Jin and Shen Xi, he urgently asked: “Brother Qingyue, Censor Su, I heard the bell tolling from Zhaojue Temple just now. Has something happened to my eldest imperial brother and sister-in-law?”

Su Jin glanced at the sky, walked to the carriage, and lifted the curtain: “Zheng Yun, drive and take Seventeen out of the city. Travel through the night to reach Nanchang Prefecture.”

Zhu Min’er didn’t understand. Instead, Zheng Yun detected something amiss, asking: “Why go to Nanchang Prefecture? Why must I also leave together? Has… has Thirteenth Highness also met with trouble?”

Su Jin didn’t answer this. After Zhu Min’er boarded the carriage, she took the travel bag from Sixth Uncle and handed it to Zheng Yun, adding: “After leaving the city, you must travel through the night. For the first two days, you cannot stop for even a moment. Only after reaching Suzhou Prefecture may you rest briefly.”

Zheng Yun acknowledged, pulled the reins and was about to drive the horses, when unexpectedly Zhu Min’er, sitting inside the carriage, suddenly realized something. He lifted the curtain and leaned out halfway: “My eldest brother and sister-in-law met with disaster at Zhaojue Temple, didn’t they? My Thirteenth Brother heard the bell and rushed to rescue them, so he also met with disaster, didn’t he?”

As he spoke, stepping on the carriage shaft, he was about to jump down, urgently saying: “I’m not leaving, not going to Nanchang. I must enter the palace to find my Father Emperor to rescue my eldest brother and Thirteenth Brother!”

Before he could jump from the carriage, Shen Xi suddenly raised his hand against the carriage edge, his voice utterly cold: “What use is finding your Father Emperor? Where’s your brain? If your Father Emperor were still lucid, upon hearing the bell tolling, he would have long since dispatched the three armies to place the entire Yingtian Prefecture under martial law. But look carefully—along this entire long alley of the Shen estate, is there a single guard?”

Zhu Min’er froze upon hearing this. The next moment, he pushed away Shen Xi’s hand, jumped from the carriage regardless, and hurried toward the alley entrance while saying urgently: “Then I should return to the palace even more! Eldest Brother and Thirteenth Brother are in trouble. I’m at least still a prince, a legitimate prince. If someone truly means them harm, I can at least speak a few words on their behalf.”

Shen Xi caught up in a few steps, grabbed his wrist, and yanked him forcefully back.

Zhu Min’er was slammed against the carriage wall by this pull. Before he could cry out in pain, he looked up to meet Shen Xi’s face, cold as frost and snow.

“What use is being a legitimate prince? You have no power, no influence—you merely depend on your eldest brother and Thirteen. Do you have anyone supporting you at court? Do you have political achievements or military merit? Can you make nobles, generals, civil officials, and military officers submit to you? Do you have your own fiefdom? Do you have wealth and your own troops? You have nothing. Without your eldest brother and Thirteen’s protection, you’re not even worth as much as an illegitimate son. Returning to the palace means sending yourself to death.”

Zhu Min’er’s eyes immediately reddened. The immense panic in his heart made his words tremble: “What do you mean ‘without my eldest brother and Thirteenth Brother’? They’ve met with trouble—I, I can’t go save them?”

Those bright eyes, bearing some resemblance to Zhu Nanxian’s, gradually filled with tears.

Su Jin quietly watched him, then said after a moment: “Seventeen, His Highness the Crown Prince and the Crown Princess are already dead.”

She paused, forcibly suppressing the emptiness and helplessness in her heart, seeming calm as she added: “Thirteenth Highness, his life or death is also uncertain.”

Hearing these words, Zhu Min’er’s tears fell drop by drop. He slowly slid down from the carriage wall, looking up at Su Jin, then at Shen Xi: “Why? I saw them just a few days ago. They were all fine.”

Su Jin only said: “Seventeen, listen carefully. You now have only one path you can take—go to Nanchang. Though His Highness has been enfeoffed in Nanchang for only two years, he’s managed it very well. There’s grain and money, guards, and common people and officials who serve him. After you arrive there, help him guard this foundation. Execute governance, train troops, store grain—you cannot slacken for a single day. If your Thirteenth Imperial Brother can survive, this will be his only retreat.”

Zhu Min’er looked at Su Jin blankly, nodding somewhat numbly.

He climbed up from the ground on his own, trying to appear strong, yet at the moment of boarding the carriage, his true nature showed. He grabbed Su Jin’s sleeve: “But Censor Su, I don’t know anything, don’t understand anything. I’ve never led troops or executed governance. After I arrive there, what should I do, what should I accomplish—I don’t know at all.”

Su Jin quietly looked at him, saying softly: “During your first ten days there, don’t do anything. First recognize people, recognize them clearly and thoroughly. Remember—observe what they do, watch how they do it, examine where they find peace. (Note 1)

“Test them with difficult questions to observe their adaptability; ask them openly to observe their virtue; send them afar to observe their loyalty; keep them near to observe their respect; task them with complexity to observe their capability; use sorrow to verify their benevolence; use hardship to verify their resolve; when others speak, remain silent; when desiring height, descend lower. (Note 2)

“Think carefully about everything, consult the wise people in your heart. The Nanchang Surveillance Commissioner is my person. If you truly fall into difficulty, you may seek his help, but you cannot depend on him or depend on anyone, otherwise you won’t be able to establish yourself in Nanchang Prefecture or in Jiangxi Circuit, won’t be able to help Thirteenth Highness guard his foundation, because the common people and soldiers there serve the three characters ‘Zhu Nanxian,’ not any other person of different surname.”

Zhu Min’er hung his head, his fingers clutching Su Jin’s sleeve white with tension. He forcibly suppressed the unease in his heart, slowly releasing his hand, yet tears fell on the back of his hand: “I understand.”

However, just as the carriage began moving, he suddenly lifted the curtain and asked: “Censor Su, Brother Qingyue, after I reach Nanchang, may I write to you?” His tone was almost pleading. “I only wish to report my safety.”

With the gradually departing carriage, Zhu Min’er’s face had become somewhat unclear. Shen Xi watched through the twilight, suddenly having a rather absurd thought—he wondered if this might be the only person from that Eastern Palace that had indulged and accepted him who could survive in the years to come.

Affection suddenly arose in his heart. He couldn’t help but chase after two steps: “If you truly must write, don’t deliver it yourself. Give it to the Nanchang Surveillance Commissioner, and he will send the letter to Su Shiyu. But remember, don’t send letters to the Shen estate anymore.”

Zhu Min’er opened his mouth, seeming to want to ask why he couldn’t write to the Shen estate, but the carriage had already rolled around the alley corner, and Shen Xi and Su Jin’s figures were no longer visible.

The sunset glow at the horizon gradually withdrew. A bright moon appeared faintly through the clouds. After Zhu Min’er left, Shen Xi collapsed onto the threshold as if someone had pulled out his spine.

His expression was cold and distant. Reflecting the deep twilight, his dark teardrop mole congealed into sorrow: “I fear I’m in trouble.”

Su Jin understood his meaning.

Zhu Minda was dead, Zhu Nanxian in trouble, Zhu Min’er had fled. The Eastern Palace had collapsed overnight. Then right now, the person Zhu Zhaowei, about to grasp great power, could least tolerate would be the Shen family, because while the Shen family’s influence remained, it meant the Eastern Palace still had a chance to strike back from desperate straits.

If her prediction was correct, today after Shen Tuo entered the palace and hadn’t returned until now, he had been detained by guards Zhu Zhaowei had secretly left behind.

Shen Xi rested both hands on his knees, saying slowly: “Not only because of my father, but also the case of embezzled tax grain on Qian Zhihuan. I now suspect that while I was distracted and the Eastern Palace was too preoccupied to attend to other matters, they used this case to set a trap for the Shen family. Qian Zhihuan’s retirement probably wasn’t only to cloud my vision—they used this matter to push the blame onto the Shen estate as well. Otherwise, without confidence to uproot the Shen estate entirely, Zhu Zhaowei definitely wouldn’t dare brazenly detain the Minister of Justice in the palace.”

As Shen Xi spoke, he slowly raised his hand to support his forehead.

He tried to think further, to consider how they would use Qian Zhihuan against him, against his father. But since leaving Zhaojue Temple, his thoughts seemed to have been cut short by scissors. Whenever he thought deeper, he would see that crimson, dazzling bloom of blood on Shen Jing’s body.

Su Jin said: “The case of Qian Zhihuan embezzling tax grain is the case where Magistrate Qu from Shaanxi came to the capital to beat the Grievance Drum—it was tried by Minister Qian of the Censorate. Tomorrow at first light, I’ll go find Minister Qian to see if I can obtain solid evidence from him.”

But Shen Xi shook his head.

His picturesque features in the twilight seemed like an exiled immortal, yet condensed with confusion. After a moment, he said softly: “It seems I… knew from the moment I set foot on this path that I would face today.” He took a letter from his chest and handed it to Su Jin, saying softly: “These are the hidden agents I’ve placed in various government offices over the years. The Eastern Palace’s calamity and the Shen estate’s disaster ultimately have nothing to do with you. In the future, use the names in this letter to protect yourself in the palace—it should be more than sufficient.”

Su Jin accepted the letter. After carefully reading it once, she committed all the names to memory.

Before leaving the Shen estate, she said to Shen Xi: “After court sessions resume, Seventh Highness will certainly have someone try Lord Shen at court. At that time, I won’t plead for you two lords.”

Because she must first protect herself, then she could save them.

She wasn’t someone who didn’t repay kindness. She could risk her life for Chao Qing, and now, having exchanged hearts with Shen Xi and receiving Zhu Nanxian’s vast profound grace, how could she remain unmoved by this disaster?

Su Jin thought: no matter what, even if she must climb to the pinnacle of power, she would save them.

At most, it was nothing more than victor becoming king and vanquished becoming bandit.

Su Jin walked through and around a long alley, silently reciting the names from the letter once in her heart, then took out a fire starter and set the paper letter aflame.

The sky was about to become completely dark. The firelight in her hand was blazing, as if becoming the last trace of faint light in this world.

Paper ash flew forward from her fingertips, following the wind, carrying scattered sparks, as if guiding her toward an obscure, unclear path ahead.

So she moved forward, clutching the last pinch of paper ash in her palm.

Su Jin didn’t know why she was clutching this flying ash, or perhaps it was that scorching heat in her grip that could grant her a moment of peace.

The moonlight grew brighter and brighter. Su Jin raised her head to gaze at the moon. For an instant, she wondered: if she began here, where would she end?

She didn’t know. She only knew she had no regrets.

Absolutely no regrets.

Liu Chaoming stood outside the duty office holding a lantern, watching the last trace of sunlight at the horizon swallowed by darkness, saying with particular indifference: “Eunuch Wu comes seeking this official at this hour—don’t you find it inappropriate?”

The person standing not far away in the central courtyard was Wu Chang, the senior manager from the Hall of Supreme Harmony.

When the Jingyuan Emperor founded the nation, to prevent eunuch disasters, he established a clear decree: “Palace servants must not interfere in governance; violators will be executed.” (Note 3) From then on, eunuchs who wrongly discussed court politics or got too close to court officials were uniformly subjected to capital punishment.

Yet today, with the Crown Prince dead and all palace chambers in panic, this eunuch who constantly attended at Zhu Jingyuan’s imperial desk had appeared at the Censorate—truly incomprehensible.

Wu Chang said: “By rights, this humble servant shouldn’t come here personally, but the situation is truly urgent. Does Your Lordship know that today inside Zhaojue Temple, a great disaster has been caused by Your Lordship’s moment of personal selfishness?”

Liu Chaoming’s brow furrowed slightly: “What do you mean?”

“To make it short, after His Highness arrived at Zhaojue Temple, he discovered that Thirteenth Highness was also inside. Seventh Highness adapted his plans, pushing the crime of murdering the Crown Prince onto Thirteenth Highness. His Highness had no choice but to secretly send word saying he could only preserve half of Thirteenth Highness’s life, having Seventh Highness bring Thirteenth Highness back to the palace. Whether the remaining half of his life can be preserved depends on you, Lord Liu.”

Wu Chang added: “Seventh Highness should return to the palace around the evening hour. Lord Liu, you have less than half a double-hour remaining.”

Only upon hearing this did Liu Chaoming freeze: “Zhu Nanxian didn’t leave?”