That night, a rider left the capital overnight, galloping toward the imperial mausoleum.

At the same time, during this deep night, the Eldest Princess Nankang was oppressed by nightmares, crying out loudly and suddenly awakening, feeling restless and uneasy. She sat alone on her sleeping couch for a long while, still feeling disturbed.

In fact, from the day Gao He was beheaded, she had been constantly anxious, unable to eat or sleep peacefully. Every day from morning to night, her greatest hope was that the ongoing northern war would fail; that the female general with the title Changning would be utterly disgraced; and, of course, if she ultimately died like her father, that would be even better. However, her secret hopes ultimately came to nothing. Today, when all of Chang’an celebrated the great victory, the moment she heard the news, she was as devastated as if in mourning.

She would never forget the scene of meeting that person in the palace that day. Though much time had passed, it remained vivid in her memory.

This daughter of the Jiang family would not let her go. Sooner or later, she would strike against her.

The Eldest Princess was extremely certain of this. Previously, she was far away at the frontier, a crude female general who could do nothing to her. However, from the day Shu Shenhui married her, everything became different.

Like many in the court, she had never believed that Shu Shenhui had harbored thoughts of taking his nephew’s position. Previously, he had taken no action only because the time was not yet ripe. However, who became emperor had little bearing on her—anyway, her position was transcendent and unaffected—but all this was in the past. From the moment the Jiang family daughter suddenly entered Chang’an as the Regent Prince’s consort, and Shu Shenhui would rely on her in the future to plot for the throne, the Eldest Princess’s position had to change. For her plans, she began approaching Gao He and Lan Rong, secretly communicating with them. When the Western Pass incident occurred and Chang’an faced danger, with public opinion creating an uproar attacking the Jiang family from all sides while Shu Shenhui still insisted on having the Jiang family’s daughter take command, she moved out from Miyuan in the northern suburbs, causing Chang’an people to follow suit and creating great disorder. She was trying to gauge the young emperor’s intentions and curry favor with him by creating momentum to pressure Shu Shenhui. She never expected that Gao He would die violently afterward, the court situation would reverse sharply, all voices would be silenced, and Shu Shenhui would truly rule alone. She had to retreat and thereafter dared not act rashly, until recently, when news came of the monk named Wu Sheng restoring the country in Youzhou.

The Jiang family daughter had previously had dealings with this monk Wu Sheng in Yunluo—the Eldest Princess had known this news very early. When she was first shocked to learn of the marriage, she remembered that incident she had completely forgotten from years past. Out of unease, she secretly sent people to Yanmen and Yunluo to inquire about the Jiang woman’s affairs for her peace of mind. After receiving this news, she had considered spreading it to ruin the Jiang woman’s reputation, but after consideration, she abandoned the idea. The Jiang woman’s reputation was already terrifying—under such circumstances, if Shu Shenhui still wanted to marry her, clearly his purpose was not in marrying the person but in what he would gain after marrying her. Under such premises, releasing this news would not only be of little use, but if Shu Shenhui discovered she was behind it, it would instead bring trouble. But if Wu Sheng was not an ordinary monk—if he was a former Jin prince who restored his country with Chi Shu’s support—then the meaning would be completely different. Thus came the city-wide rumors at that time.

However, everything proved futile.

The Eldest Princess understood very well what this great battle meant. Now the Jiang family daughter had won the war, and Shu Shenhui’s prestige had reached its peak through this unprecedented victory he had orchestrated. He no longer concealed his ambitions—killing Gao He was tantamount to an open break with the young emperor. Presumably, he would soon strike against the young emperor. And for the Jiang family daughter to deal with her would be even easier.

Fear spread from the bottom of her heart throughout her body. The Eldest Princess was completely dominated by this fear, her heart pounding as she paced back and forth in her bedchamber like an ant trapped in a pot with firewood already being stacked beneath.

She knew that Lan Rong had secretly cultivated considerable influence over the years, not only in Chang’an but especially in the provinces. She even suspected that Lan Rong’s ambitions went far beyond merely being an imperial relative. Previously, when Gao He led people to oppose Shu Shenhui, he rarely spoke publicly, much less did his followers. Caution had allowed him to escape the purge after Gao He’s fall.

Now her greatest hope was that Lan Rong could take action at this time. She believed the young emperor would not sit and await death either. She foresaw that soon, a new storm would descend upon Chang’an.

She could no longer remain in this dangerous place. Better to go to her fief first to hide and observe the situation. If the young emperor or Lan Rong ultimately controlled the situation, nothing could be better. But if Shu Shenhui ascended to power as people expected…

She thought of one person—Chen Heng.

This man was her nominal husband, and all people outside still considered it so. However, besides being in name only from the beginning, the truth was that before the Martial Emperor’s death, he had already issued her a secret edict, rescinding the imperial marriage decree. As for why he had arranged the marriage initially and later acted thus, she had gradually figured out the reasons. It was nothing more than a proud emperor’s punishment of Chen Heng in a moment of anger. At that time, she had also caused such trouble and needed to marry quickly to maintain imperial dignity, so she became a tool for the Martial Emperor’s punishment.

She knew to avoid mentioning such palace secrets involving the Sacred Martial Emperor and another extremely noble person’s reputation. Previously, she had played deaf and dumb, pretending ignorance. But if things truly became irreversible, there remained one last path—using this matter as leverage to have Chen Heng obtain a protective talisman for her from Shu Shenhui. She calculated that these two men could not be completely unconcerned about this matter.

The Eldest Princess finally felt somewhat more at ease.

After Gao He’s death, she had been constantly frightened, sending her son to her fief early. In recent days, to avoid attention as much as possible, she had quietly left the city again and lived in this Miyuan outside the city. Now she only needed to prepare carriages—without waiting for dawn, she could leave Chang’an overnight.

Urged by this thought, the Eldest Princess became impatient, hastily put on clothes, rushed out of her bedchamber, called servants, and ordered immediate packing of jewels and valuables. The servants were driven like a confused battle, this to be taken, that not to be left behind. Any slow movement brought harsh scolding. The floor of the bedchamber was scattered with many silk fabrics and fine garments that couldn’t be taken, a complete mess. Finally, several large chests were filled, and estimating the carriages couldn’t hold more, the Eldest Princess gave up, called the guards, and hurried toward the main gate. Just as she stepped over the threshold, her steps suddenly stopped.

Outside the gate, torchlight flickered. Jia Xiu, with a squad of men, had arrived at some unknown time, blocking the outside, not only barring the gate but also intercepting her carriages parked by the roadside.

The Eldest Princess was stunned.

Since Liu Xiang had been condemned and sent to the imperial mausoleum, this man had become a favorite of the young emperor. The Eldest Princess was truly surprised that he would suddenly come to Miyuan at this time. This was bad enough, but his manner seemed unfriendly.

Though in her eyes, these people were merely household slaves, times were different now. She suppressed her annoyance and frowned: “What is the meaning of this?”

“In the deep of night, disturbing the Eldest Princess—dare I ask where you are going?” Jia Xiu still wore a smile.

The Eldest Princess said coldly, “I have business to attend to. Stand aside!”

But Jia Xiu did not yield, waving his hand to those behind him. The squad of fierce imperial guards stepped forward, drawing swords to threaten the Eldest Princess. She was forced backward, retreating inside the gate, unable to contain her fury any longer. With furrowed brow and angry eyes, she shouted: “What do you want to do? How dare you treat me thus?”

Jia Xiu said, “From this moment, please remain peacefully in Miyuan, Eldest Princess, and do not go out. Outsiders, including those delivering grain and firewood, are also not permitted to enter even half a step—violators will be killed without mercy. If any remaining people in the garden wish to leave, come out now! Too late, when the gates are locked, don’t blame me for not giving you a chance.”

With these words, those with quick minds soon understood. Was this to trap the Eldest Princess in Miyuan, cutting off food and cooking fuel, slowly starving her to death?

This Eldest Princess had always been tyrannical, either beating or scolding household slaves—she had no truly loyal followers around her. The garden’s servants realized the situation, all frightened. Though they didn’t understand why, since there was a chance to escape, who would willingly be trapped here to starve to death? Soon, all servants and guards competed to flee outside.

The Eldest Princess’s expression changed drastically as she also rushed outside, but was blocked by two imperial guards with raised swords. She roared: “Jia Xiu, you treacherous slave! Are you also Shu Shenhui’s man? Get out of the way! I must see His Majesty!”

Jia Xiu’s face also lost its smile now, saying coldly: “Let the Eldest Princess know—this is precisely His Majesty’s gift to General Changning for her triumphant return.”

The Eldest Princess was thunderstruck on the spot, eyes wide: “I don’t believe it! How could His Majesty act thus? I am the founding emperor’s daughter! The Sacred Martial Emperor was my imperial brother! This Miyuan was built for me by the founding emperor! How dare His Majesty treat me so!”

By now, all people had fled the garden, leaving only the Eldest Princess alone in the vast Miyuan. Jia Xiu turned a deaf ear, leading his men to withdraw. With a “clang,” the garden gate closed. The Eldest Princess rushed up regardless of everything, struggling to pull open the gate, but the sound of the lock immediately followed from outside. The gate was tightly sealed and could no longer be opened.

The Eldest Princess screamed and turned, running frantically toward the back gate. Finally reaching the rear door, it too was already locked from outside. As she shouted and yelled, she heard Jia Xiu’s voice from outside the wall, ordering soldiers to stand guard—if anyone inside dared climb the wall, they should shoot arrows to stop them.

The Eldest Princess fell into complete despair, cursing furiously: “Shu Jian, you black-hearted short-lived wretch! I could see when you were small that you were no good! Sinister and vicious, despicable and shameless! Do you think by doing this, Shu Shenhui will spare you and preserve your throne? Dream your spring and autumn dreams…”

Amid the waves of venomous curses from within the gate, Jia Xiu turned and departed.