The Strategist stared at Gu Yanxi for a long, hard moment. When he finally spoke again, his voice had gone hoarse. “You of Great Qing pride yourselves as a great nation and have always looked down upon us as people beyond the pale of civilization — yet what you have done, how is it any different from what we have done?!”

“One hundred and eighty years ago, it was precisely because our ancestors extended a measure of mercy toward your people that Great Qing faces the danger it faces today. Since that is the case, why should I show the same restraint my ancestors did? Better to pull up the grass by the roots — spare my descendants from suffering through yet another war.”

Looking at the Strategist’s expression — grief and fury combined — Gu Yanxi curved his lips in a cold smile. Driving A’Zhi to that state, leaving her body covered in wounds and nearly costing her her life, robbing Great Qing of a pillar official, the deaths and injuries of countless common people — what he had repaid in kind was nothing by comparison.

“Not one left.” He cast a final glance at them all and turned to walk away. By this point he had no need for any confessions.

The Chaoli tribespeople were overcome with dread. They had come prepared to negotiate — after all, Great Qing had not immediately executed them, and judging by Great Qing’s customary conduct, there ought to have been room for discussion. They had never anticipated that Gu Yanxi would be this ruthless.

Seeing that the Seven Lodges Division had already closed in around them, several people immediately began struggling desperately, but the knot the Seven Lodges Division had used only tightened the harder one pulled. Their panic mounted as they instinctively drew even more tightly around the Strategist.

The Strategist, however, seemed wholly unaware of it. Set against the frantic agitation of the tribespeople around him, he appeared all the more composed — there was even a faint trace of relief in his expression. Through the gaps between the people around him, he looked in the direction where his daughter stood. She was still struggling violently, surging toward him — the two women servants, both considerably more robust than she, could barely contain her. She looked so wretched, so helpless. In a blur, his mind drifted back to the day, years ago, when he had been working out how to place someone near the Ling Prince — and she had said with a bright, spirited look, “I’ll go.” She had not known it was nothing but a scheme laid for her; from the very beginning, she was the only possible choice. He had deliberately let his troubles show in front of her so that she would volunteer on her own initiative, the better to throw herself wholeheartedly into the role.

When he looked back on his life, only those few years spent in Yangzhou with his wife and daughter had made him feel like a human being. And his wife and daughter, who had loved him completely, had died because of him.

The will of heaven cannot be defied. The will of heaven cannot be defied.

He sank back down to the ground. His height, unremarkable even among the Chaoli, disappeared entirely once he was seated. Xue Liang, fearing a trap, immediately signaled for everyone to move in — but when those on the outer ring had been killed, they froze.

The Strategist who had cost Great Qing so dearly sat with his legs crossed and his head bowed. A jeweled curved dagger was buried in his chest. Xue Liang stepped forward to check — he was already dead. Xue Liang looked at the old man’s peaceful expression for a moment, his own face complicated, then straightened and turned to give his orders: “Check again in half an hour to confirm no one is feigning death. After that, have the bodies carried out of the palace and given a proper burial somewhere.”

“Understood.”

Xue Liang glanced briefly at Gu Yanze standing not far away, then led his subordinates away. The Seven Lodges Division still had no shortage of business to attend to.

Gu Yanze remained where he stood. After a long while, he finally turned and left, one hand covering his mouth as he coughed. He wanted none of them anymore — not his mother, not his father, who had not shown his face since all of this began. His so-called elder half-brother had never thought much of him, and would certainly not do anything to him in the future. On the strength of that surname alone he could live out his days in comfort and luxury.

The itch in his throat grew fierce. Gu Yanze broke into violent coughing, and felt something warm and wet against his palm. He looked down — his hand was covered in blood. All at once, a laugh escaped him. His life would probably be somewhat short.

The Crown Prince stood a short distance away and watched for a moment. “He likely won’t be able to return to the Ling Prince’s household. Before he receives his own residence, let him stay in the palace. Xiao Shuang — go and prepare a more suitable set of chambers for an extended stay, and summon a physician… summon the elderly physician to have a look at him.”

“Understood.”

“Wait.” The Crown Prince turned back. “Only send the elderly physician once you’re sure he can be spared from attending to my Mentor.”

“Understood.”

The wind picked up. The candlelit lanterns swayed, their light flickering.

Muffled sounds of commotion drifted in from all directions, which only made this corner feel quieter than it had any right to be. The Crown Prince clasped his hands behind his back, looked up at a sky without a single visible star, and let out a long, long sigh. This night was truly endless.

“Your Highness.” Lai Fu came at a speed that belied his age. “The Imperial Guards have assembled. The Prince Regent requests your presence.”

The Crown Prince looked at Lai Fu. Since the Emperor had passed, he had aged so terribly. “Lai Fu, once all of this is over, train up a chief steward to take over your duties. When he is capable enough, I’ll release you from the palace.”

Lai Fu raised his head abruptly, his face flooding with joy.

The Crown Prince smiled slightly. “You may not leave the capital.”

“This old servant… is grateful for His Highness’s grace!” Lai Fu sank to his knees, his body trembling faintly. He had lived to see it. He would truly be allowed a good end.

The Crown Prince helped him to his feet and walked on.

Lai Fu hurried to follow and, as though struck by a thought, ventured a remark, “As for Xiao Shuang…”

“He once expressed his willingness to enter the palace as a eunuch. I did not agree. The palace has no shortage of palace attendants.”

Lai Fu considered this, and perhaps still buoyed by his excitement, said something he would never ordinarily have said. “If he does not enter the palace as a eunuch, his usefulness to Your Highness will be limited. How does Your Highness intend to place him?”

“My Mentor rescued him all those years ago — not so that he should spend his life without choice.” The Crown Prince smiled. “My maternal grandmother gave everything belonging to the Sun family to me; my Mentor has been managing it all. Eventually, someone will need to take over. Xiao Shuang is well suited to it.”

Lai Fu bowed. “His Highness is benevolent and righteous.”

Benevolent and righteous. He himself had never once thought it wrong to have men castrated and admitted into the palace — it was simply that his Mentor had once mentioned Xiao Shuang could manage the commercial affairs for him.

The imperial garden had been lit bright as day by a ring of torches. The Crown Prince composed his expression and walked forward.

Gu Yanxi offered a formal salute, courtesies perfectly observed.

The Crown Prince acknowledged it with a nod, swept a glance over the assembled Imperial Guards, and, not knowing what Gu Yanxi had up his sleeve, said nothing and waited.

“Commander Fu.”

Commander Fu Gang, who had assumed Gu Yanxi’s summons was to settle accounts over the disaster the palace had suffered tonight, stepped forward with a heart full of apprehension. “This subordinate is present.”

“There is a Chaoli inside agent within the Imperial Guards.”

The words sent a shock through the assembly. Fu Gang raised his head sharply. “My lord — do you suspect this subordinate?”

“Until we know with certainty who it is, all within the Imperial Guards fall under suspicion — though rooting the person out is not so difficult.” Gu Yanxi swept his gaze across the assembled men, his eyes sharp and cold. “So many Chaoli people could not have lain hidden within the palace for very long. Check who was responsible for the palace security protocols last night and through the day — that alone will reveal the problem. This official gives you the time it takes to burn one stick of incense. No one else is to leave in the interim.”

Fu Gang received the order with a visible start. It wasn’t that this possibility hadn’t occurred to him — only that he had not dared to follow the thought to its conclusion.

If the problem truly lay within the Imperial Guards, he could not escape the consequences.

Someone came to report something. Gu Yanxi stepped several paces to the side — and in that exact moment, a long, narrow short blade drove straight toward the Crown Prince’s chest.

Before anyone could cry out, a whip struck from behind, arriving ahead of the blade. When the short blade was still one step from the Crown Prince, the whip knocked it to the ground. In the next instant, the whip lashed out and coiled around the attacker. From the moment it began to the moment it ended, only a few breaths had passed before the matter was wholly resolved.