Chu Li pondered for a moment, then said again, “Also investigate that small soldier beside him. Though young, he seems to have good skills. Look into him as well.”

“Yes,” Xu Quan quickly replied. “Yesterday the secretary reported to me that this small soldier was transferred up from the Green Standard Army. It’s just that the Green Standard Army general was transferred to the northern frontier, so the organization is temporarily chaotic. Strangely, the Military Council hasn’t submitted his transfer orders yet. I’ll go press them in a few days.”

“Wang Ling is old after all, and his work has become slack. It’s time for him to retire to his hometown.” Chu Li said lightly, his voice carrying a chill colder than winter ice and snow. “Lin Mubai is honest and capable in handling affairs. Most precious is his loyal service to the country without selfish motives. He’s not a pioneering general, but he’s talent for maintaining what’s been built, sufficient to take charge of the Military Council’s document management.”

“Yes!” Xu Quan knew that these few short sentences had established a new noble of Southern Chu. He said solemnly, “This matter I will handle. I presume Minister Wang would also be willing to retire and enjoy his golden years.”

Chu Li walked to the long table and sat upright. On the table lay an enormous map. Chu Li propped up one hand, carefully tracing the vast territories on the map, slowly falling into deep thought.

“Your Highness! The person sent by Concubine Dan has been waiting outside all night. Will you still not see her?” Xu Quan tentatively said in a low voice.

Hearing this, Chu Li’s eyebrows raised, his eyes coldly looking at this personal attendant who had followed him since childhood. He said icily, “If she doesn’t leave, take soldiers and break her legs.”

“Yes!” Just one look made cold sweat stream down Xu Quan’s forehead. Having followed Chu Li since childhood, from when he was a hostage in Qi to returning to the capital and fighting on all sides step by step, to today’s wielding of great power and high position, he still couldn’t fathom this master’s heart. He carefully withdrew from the door, giving a few instructions to his subordinates. A soldier quickly led out a warhorse and mounted it.

In a short while he arrived outside the Military Headquarters gate, said a few words to a young woman dressed in pink palace attire. The woman’s face turned deathly pale as she hurriedly left, and soon returned to the Chu palace.

Concubine Dan leisurely reclined on a beauty couch, wearing golden butterfly-patterned silk robes that made her skin appear white as snow, her features like a painting. After hearing the maid’s report, she smiled faintly, “It’s not that I’m concealing and not reporting – His Highness doesn’t want to hear news of this woman. Heaven wills it so; one cannot blame others.”

“Sister,” sitting on the warm bed was a woman whose appearance was seven or eight parts similar to Concubine Dan. She frowned and said carefully, “If His Highness discovers we intercepted the guard who went out to report from the Green Standard Army, I fear he’ll be furiously angry.”

“Furiously angry?” Concubine Dan smiled coldly. “He wouldn’t dare. The Thirteenth Prince has deep roots. Even if he falls, there’s still the Huainan Prince supporting him. Within three years, Southern Chu’s political situation will be unstable. Without our Zhu family’s support, Chu Li won’t sit securely on the emperor’s throne. Our Highness is a figure with the world in his heart. How could he forever stay in this poor southern wilderness? His eyes are on the north.”

With a crack, she split open a pomegranate, revealing the crystal-clear fruit inside. Concubine Dan’s fingers were snow-white as she viciously squeezed a bright red pomegranate seed, juice splattering. She seemed unaware, her eyes coldly staring ahead as she said in a low voice, “The last fire at Fulu Palace didn’t burn this bitch to death. This time, let’s see where she thinks she can run!”

Outside the window, the blazing sun hung high. Under the bright sunshine was Southern Chu’s coldest winter.

“Treading through northern desert and western cool snow, a million troops bow to Yan Shang.”

In the 267th year of the Guangming Calendar, everyone in the realm remembered that gluttonous feast held in the capital of Southern Chu, located at the continent’s border in Shu territory. Since the Great Qin split a hundred years ago, this was the first gathering of leaders from various nations in many years. In Chu’s capital city with its thousand-year cultural and historical background, the kings of this chaotic world placed their still-tender hands together for the first time, laughing together about ending the chaos and ceasing warfare, giving the common people a peaceful paradise. But behind the scenes, they deployed troops and secretly investigated, soldiers’ blades polished bright in the dark night, waiting for the day to drink blood on the battlefield.

For a time, black-clothed spies shuttled through Southern Chu’s capital, demons and monsters filling every corner at night. The already tense Southern Chu became even more heavily guarded with sentries every ten steps and guards every hundred. To slip silently out of the capital gates was nearly impossible.

Qing Xia hid in the shadows of the imperial city, dressed in tight black clothing, face covered with black cloth, hooks and rope at her waist, soft boots on her feet. Like an elf of the dark night, her eyes sparkled with alluring light in the darkness.

Escaping now was already ill-timed. In just five days, such great changes had occurred, making Qing Xia couldn’t help but secretly hate how this so-called enthronement ceremony had disrupted all her plans.

Four days ago, Western Chuan’s Marshal Yan Hui suddenly arrived in Southern Chu, coming a month early to congratulate Chu Li’s ascension to Southern Chu’s throne, bringing many personal guards and lodging at Southern Chu’s Ganquan Palace. To ensure the honored guest’s safety, Chu Li strengthened the capital’s defenses, actually transferring all the outer city troops from the Military Headquarters back to the main inner city camp. When Qing Xia received notice, it was already too late. She had no choice but to return to the capital with the large force, once again entering this enormous cage.

What followed was even more beyond Qing Xia’s expectations.

She never imagined that Military Council Minister Wang would be so incompetent. Not only did he fail to properly manage the Military Council’s documents, but instead of secretly investigating to fill the gaps as Qing Xia had hoped, this old man actually copied the existing military roster of the Green Standard Army. Most detestably, he included Qing Xia among them, even creating a detailed background for her with eight generations of traceable ancestors, making Qing Xia almost believe that her name “Xia Qing” wasn’t made up but belonged to a real person.

Minister Wang Ling, to avoid staining his career before retirement, forged the roster and gave Qing Xia a legitimate official identity. Chu Li, for the enthronement ceremony a month later, wanted to widely select talent. Thus, Qing Xia, an abandoned concubine who had escaped from the Cold Palace, by strange coincidence became Chu Li’s personal guard, receiving Black Guard documents and insignia, leaping to become the empire’s highest-ranking elite soldier.

Escaping became even more difficult. But this still wasn’t enough to trap Qing Xia in this small space. Only with Qi’an’s appearance did Qing Xia truly realize things had gone terribly wrong.

Following Southern Chu’s southern vassal states, another of the continent’s four great empires, Qi, also sent envoys to Southern Chu. These two nations with years of grudges and endless entanglements met in a bizarre manner on the main streets of Chu’s capital. Chu citizens stood angrily on both sides of the road, watching this powerful nation’s ruler who had warred with Chu for years, their eyes nearly shooting fire.

In contrast, Chu Li and Qi’an seemed like old friends who hadn’t met in years, chatting warmly and walking side by side. Only in occasional glances could one see traces of hidden undercurrents flowing.

After Qi’an entered Taihe Palace, the capital’s defenses immediately tightened dozens of times over. Not only did state military forces intervene, but even local martial schools and ordinary citizens spontaneously watched for suspicious strangers. Guards at the four city gates tripled, every corner had hidden sentries secretly monitoring with bronze tubes for listening. Outside the city, post stations, inns, and stables all had watchers. Even mountain paths were sealed. The enormous imperial city suddenly fell into a tense state of extreme vigilance. Escaping became even more impossible.

Naturally, Qing Xia wasn’t content to be trapped in the city like this. Moreover, staying long-term in the military camp wasn’t a solution. Though she and Yang Feng were still the lowest-ranking Black Guards, only responsible for outer city defense, there was no guarantee they wouldn’t be discovered by Chu Li someday. Toward this man, she had always maintained extreme caution, fearing to reveal the slightest trace for him to catch.

Hiding in shadows with a silk scroll in hand, Qing Xia crouched like a wildcat in a corner, her eyes keenly observing in all directions. From time to time, she drew something on the silk. Time passed slowly. After about three hours, the guard rotation distribution at the east gate was roughly sketched clearly. Qing Xia turned back toward where she came from. There, two seemingly drunken strong men still remained in the tavern. But from their eyes, Qing Xia could tell how alert these two men actually were.

Her hook suddenly swung out, silently and steadily catching on a large tree. Qing Xia grabbed the rope and agilely climbed like a monkey. In a moment, she was hidden among the leaves.

She had never seen legendary qinggong, but with appropriate tools and agile skills, she could completely accomplish this. In the darkness, only a shadow could be seen flying across rooftops and eaves of various households, disappearing at the end of Zhuque Street in moments.

Qing Xia bent at the waist, hugged a massive pillar, slid around it in a circle, and landed steadily on the ground.

This was a deep, narrow alley, empty of people. Through two streets lay Qing Xia’s current hideout – the Military Headquarters. But those two streets bristled with blades and reeked of gunpowder. Not worth the risk. Qing Xia looked at the pitch-black high wall at the alley’s end, thinking to herself that she could only take this route back to camp.

Inside the high wall was the Southern Chu prison Qing Xia had once visited, the same heavenly prison that had once held Qi’an. Now it was abandoned and unused, with only a few idle soldiers guarding inside. Due to the capital’s tense situation, all prisoners had been transferred to the nearby auxiliary capital, Jinghua City.

After a busy night, Qing Xia was somewhat tired. Calculating Yang Feng’s duty hours, she quickly headed toward the high wall. However, just then, sudden alertness arose. Almost without warning, Qing Xia immediately stopped, her body leaning backward, back hitting the ground, right foot kicking out. With a bang, she fiercely kicked someone.