Fu Xuanmiao made no effort to conceal his movements on this journey — one might even say he traveled with great fanfare.

At every prefecture he passed through, local officials led the local gentry out to receive him, voluntarily presenting gold. Shen Zhuxi was not permitted to attend these receptions and could only sit inside the carriage to accept the kneeling salutations of the prefectural officials. She had no idea how Fu Xuanmiao negotiated with these local officials, but at every prefectural city they entered, the army accompanying the convoy would grow by several hundred to a thousand men.

By the time the convoy entered Jiangzhou, including Shen Zhuxi’s nearly three thousand Zhenchuan troops, the number of soldiers Fu Xuanmiao could command had already surpassed twenty thousand.

Shen Zhuxi’s carriage was protected by the central army, like a fallen leaf tossed about within the deep black waves of a surging sea.

She had yet to find any opportunity to break away from the convoy.

The maids attending her under the guise of service — but in truth keeping watch over her — were countless. Even when Shen Zhuxi took a short walk near the tent, five or six maids would trail right behind her, exactly as it had been when she was still in Cuiwei Palace.

Even if she could escape, she would have to bring Bai Rongling with her.

If she fled alone, Bai Rongling would certainly not survive.

Slipping away alone was already difficult enough — bringing Bai Rongling along made it all the more daunting. Shen Zhuxi was unwilling to abandon Bai Rongling, yet the longer she delayed, the closer they drew to Jianzhou, and the harder it would become to escape.

She wrestled with this dilemma every day, searching for a way out amid the conflict in her heart.

The one silver lining was that she had no energy left for idle, spiraling thoughts. Since Li Wu’s body had not been laid before her eyes, he was certainly still alive. That infuriating oaf — how could someone like him be killed so easily by a fall?

Shen Zhuxi comforted herself with every reason she could find, some convincing, some not.

When the convoy was passing through Xunyang County in Jiangzhou, it suddenly came to a halt. Shen Zhuxi assumed they would be moving again shortly, but to her surprise, two full hours passed and the convoy still had not budged.

Shen Zhuxi pushed open the carriage window and frowned at the mounted attendant riding alongside: “What is happening out there?”

The attendant had no idea either.

Fu Xuanmiao surely knew, but Shen Zhuxi had no desire to look at that face. After a moment’s thought, she instructed the maidservant beside her to go outside and find out what was going on.

After a short while, the maidservant returned with a worried look: “Jiangzhou — for some reason, all the grain has been bought up. The reserves in the treasury are not sufficient either. We have already passed through four towns with no resupply. If this continues, we may run out of food before we reach the next town…”

Shen Zhuxi immediately understood why the convoy had stopped in its tracks.

Withholding pay from civil officials was one thing — cutting off the army’s grain supply?

A mutiny would be right around the corner.

Shen Zhuxi felt a quiet surge of delight. If a military mutiny truly broke out, perhaps in the chaos she might find an opportunity to spirit Bai Rongling away and flee.

“…What is Fu Xuanmiao doing?” Shen Zhuxi asked, feigning casual indifference.

“Fu Xuanmiao appears to be about to head out. I heard that the president of the Xunyang County merchant guild has invited him to a banquet to discuss the matter of military grain supplies.”

Shen Zhuxi could no longer sit still.

She made up an excuse and hurried out to find Fu Xuanmiao, who was just about to depart.

“I am going too!” she blurted out.

Fu Xuanmiao, who had been about to step into the carriage, paused with a start, stopping just before the door.

“I… I have been cooped up in the carriage for too long. I want to go out and get some air!” Shen Zhuxi said.

“The outside is a mixed and disorderly place. It would be better for Your Highness to remain with the convoy,” Fu Xuanmiao said.

Seeing Fu Xuanmiao about to bow his head and enter the carriage, Shen Zhuxi said urgently: “I insist on going!” Without waiting for him to decline again, she stepped on the mounting block and climbed forcefully into the carriage.

…In any case, the whole world knew the Princess of Yue was imperious and willful — she would simply be imperious for once today!

She refused to believe that Fu Xuanmiao would actually drive her out of the carriage in front of people from all corners of the realm.

Sure enough, Fu Xuanmiao said nothing for a long while.

He looked at Shen Zhuxi, as though waiting for her to back down and voluntarily lower her head — but Shen Zhuxi fixed her gaze stubbornly on the scenery outside the window and refused to move an inch.

“…Since Your Highness insists, then please travel alongside this humble servant.” He said.

Only then did Shen Zhuxi’s tense body begin to relax.

The carriage slowly set off. Fu Xuanmiao picked up a cup of hot tea from the small side table but did not take a sip, instead gazing at the ripples spreading outward across its surface, lost in thought.

Shen Zhuxi could not quite understand why, for a mere meeting with a merchant guild president, Fu Xuanmiao had brought over five thousand people. Was such a number really necessary?

The air inside the carriage was silent and stiff. Wanting information, Shen Zhuxi opened her mouth as casually as she could manage:

“I heard all the grain in Jiangzhou has been bought up. Why is that?”

Fu Xuanmiao’s contemplative gaze shifted to Shen Zhuxi’s face. To keep her own expression smooth and unreadable, Shen Zhuxi quietly clenched her fist beneath the cool silk of her wide sleeve.

“…What does Xi’er think the reason is?”

“The grain prices in disaster-stricken areas near the capital have still not recovered. Could it be that someone bought up the grain here intending to transport it to places where rice commands a higher price?”

“Jiangzhou is not a rice-producing region. The price of rice here, while not exorbitant, is not cheap either. To transport Jiangzhou’s grain all the way to another region for sale — factoring in the transportation costs accumulated along the way — expecting to profit from that would be pure wishful thinking,” Fu Xuanmiao said.

“Then what do you think the reason is?” Shen Zhuxi asked without thinking.

She had grown accustomed to freely voicing her questions when beside Li Wu.

And Li Wu had always answered them — questions great and small, whether profound or absurd.

She had forgotten that the person sitting beside her now was no longer Li Wu.

Fu Xuanmiao looked at her deeply and did not answer immediately.

After a long pause, he finally spoke: “Since the grain is not being transported out, it must be being consumed locally. A sizeable force must have been stationed in Jiangzhou recently, depleting the treasury reserves and buying out the market supply.”

Fu Xuanmiao offered no explanation for his prolonged, silent stare just moments ago, as though that long and searching look had never existed.

“Depleting the treasury reserves?” Shen Zhuxi started, and a flash of insight crossed her mind.

Fu Xuanmiao said nothing more. He set down the untouched teacup, his deep and unreadable gaze drifting toward the half-open window.

An hour later, the carriage came to a stop on a wide, open plain. Fu Xuanmiao stepped out first and moved to help her down. Shen Zhuxi ignored his outstretched hand and said with forced lightness: “I can manage on my own.”

She stepped down using the mounting block.

“Reporting to my lord — there is no sign of the Jiangzhou prefect or the merchant guild president.” A soldier dismounted to report.

“Are they still on the way?” Yanhu, at Fu Xuanmiao’s side, wrinkled his brow in displeasure.

It was because the Jiangzhou prefect had arranged this meeting that their young master had agreed to it. How could these two dare keep a second-rank court official waiting for so long?

“…No matter. Let us go to the pavilion and wait,” Fu Xuanmiao said, taking the lead.

The Great Yan dynasty had inherited the tradition from its predecessor of maintaining a large wayside pavilion every ten li and a smaller one every five li. These were originally intended to receive traveling officials. After official post stations were established, the pavilion rest houses came to serve mainly as places for common folk to rest during outings, or for travelers to lodge for the night.

The pavilion rest house before Shen Zhuxi was one of the large ten-li variety. Their party had not yet drawn close before the pavilion keeper — who had already heard the approaching hoofbeats — appeared at the gate, bowing low in nervous, eager reverence and loudly offering his greetings.

Shen Zhuxi followed behind Fu Xuanmiao into the pavilion rest house.

Inside, it was spotless and empty — clearly the keeper had given it a thorough cleaning in advance. They chose a spot in the middle and sat down. The keeper bustled back and forth attentively, personally bringing tea and water.

Shen Zhuxi had expected the wait would not be long, but to her surprise, the tea on the table had gone cold twice over, and still no hoofbeats could be heard outside.

She could not help glancing at Fu Xuanmiao. His expression was composed and indifferent, while Yanhu and the others waiting outside had long since let impatience show on their faces.

The sky gradually darkened.

Still there was no sign of the Jiangzhou prefect or the merchant guild president.

Yanhu finally stepped inside: “Young master, perhaps we should…”

“Keep waiting,” Fu Xuanmiao said.

Yanhu swallowed the rest of his words and reluctantly walked back out. The pavilion keeper, reading the mood, bent at the waist and approached, saying ingratiating: “My lord, if you wish to rest for a while, please allow me to show you upstairs. There are clean guest rooms above, with bedding and hot water all prepared.”

Fu Xuanmiao looked toward Shen Zhuxi: “Does Your Highness wish to rest?”

“No need,” Shen Zhuxi said.

Fu Xuanmiao turned to the pavilion keeper: “You may go.”

The keeper read the room and withdrew discreetly.

Shen Zhuxi kept glancing toward the entrance, hoping desperately that the expected visitors would hurry and appear.

“Xi’er seems quite eager.”

Fu Xuanmiao’s words made Shen Zhuxi startle, and she immediately drew back her restless gaze.

“I…”

“I had originally planned to wait until we returned to Jianzhou and then hear at leisure about what you encountered along the way,” Fu Xuanmiao said, “Unfortunately, we will not be able to return to Jianzhou for the time being.”

Shen Zhuxi did not understand why he had suddenly said this, and cautiously held her silence.

“Xi’er, what are your thoughts?” Fu Xuanmiao said softly.

“…What are you asking?”

“Your child —”

Fu Xuanmiao raised his eyes. The gaze behind that studied restraint — making him seem cold — landed on her face. Like a frigid serpent slowly extending its tongue, he watched every minute change on her face without blinking.

“What are your thoughts?”

The color drained from Shen Zhuxi’s face.

How did he know? She had clearly —

“You refused to eat the fine food and wine prepared for you by the convoy, and went out of your way to seek provisions meant for others. Even when changing clothes, you took care to avoid having the maids assist you, so they could not touch your pulse. Did you truly think that would keep your secret hidden without a trace?”

“You —”

Shen Zhuxi stared at him in shock.

Fu Xuanmiao was not wrong — she had believed she was concealing the secret well. This child — if Fu Xuanmiao knew of it, he would certainly not allow it to be born. She had taken every possible precaution, and still he had found out about the pregnancy. But if he had known all along, why had he not yet acted?

To say he had no intention of acting because a fatherless child posed no threat — Shen Zhuxi was the first to disbelieve that! When she had played chess against Fu Xuanmiao, every game of his had been flawless. Given his nature, as long as he still intended to marry her, this child could not be allowed to live for even a single day!

He had not acted. What was he waiting for?

“Once you have been reunited with your family and had time to catch up, we will sit down together and speak at length.”

The moment Fu Xuanmiao finished speaking, the sounds of a large force of men and horses thundering forward reached them from outside the pavilion — a sweeping, overwhelming approach.

The sheer scale of it made even the thousand soldiers waiting outside change color.

Fu Xuanmiao sat where he was, expression perfectly composed, his gaze resting quietly on the entrance.

The thunder-like sound drew from far to near, and the massive army finally appeared on the horizon. The setting sun blazed on their silver armor, sending out a dazzling radiance. At first glance, it looked like a great silver shield rapidly closing in.

At last, the great army halted outside the pavilion. The fully armed soldiers parted like a receding tide, and a commanding figure in imperial yellow emerged from the midst of all that adulation.

Shen Suzhan, wearing an expression that was somewhere between a smile and something else, called out in a ringing voice:

“How does my beloved subject find this surprise that We have prepared?”