Outside the gates of Prince Zhongshan’s residence, quiet was restored.

Inside the hall it was even quieter.

Prince Zhongshan still sat in his chair, surveying the hall with a glance.

“With the Empress gone, I’m still not used to it. I feel like something is missing,” he said, smiling, his eyes carrying a cold glint. “Next time, it won’t be so easy for the Empress to walk out of here.”

The military officers in the hall stepped forward and bowed: “May the Prince calm his anger.”

Although they urged the Prince to calm his anger, every one of them could barely conceal their grief and indignation.

It was all because of this Empress that their efforts had failed at the last moment.

Prince Zhongshan laughed heartily: “This Prince is not angry.” He looked at everyone and asked, “Is A’Xun well?”

A military officer quickly said: “After the Heir entered the capital, he resides at the courier station. With the Prince present, the court dare not mistreat the Heir.” He added, “Rest assured, Prince, we will quickly rebuild our personnel to look after the Heir.”

Prince Zhongshan nodded, then sighed softly: “This time he must be terribly upset.”

The military officers said: “For the Heir’s sake, the Prince could only do this. The Heir certainly understands the Prince’s painstaking care.”

Prince Zhongshan supported himself with his walking stick and nodded: “A’Xun is an obedient child.”

A son was born because of his father, and a son must also live for his father.

……

……

Outside Zhongshan Commandery, soldiers and horses stood in dense formation. Seeing Chu Zhao, the officers and soldiers erupted in unified shouts.

“Empress!”

“Empress!”

Their voices soared to the clouds, shaking heaven and earth.

Chu Zhao looked at the densely standing soldiers. How wonderful—they were all still alive, none had died. She laughed heartily, released the reins, and galloped swiftly.

Riding into the camp, she met with the commanders of the two army divisions and heard them describe the various developments since their parting. She also learned about the situation in the capital.

“Prince Zhongshan’s forces were extremely despicable, using civilians as shields. Half the city suffered casualties.”

Hearing this, Chu Zhao said nothing and simply nodded.

“Your Majesty, don’t be sad,” a commander quickly said. “Fortunately we stopped in time and avoided greater casualties. You’ve already done well enough.”

Chu Zhao shook her head: “I’m fine, I’m well. I understand everything. Being able to accomplish this much is already very good.”

In that previous life sitting deep in the palace, she often heard about the court and the Xie clan’s campaigns—a city lost, a commandery fallen. At that time she had no real concept of it. Now having personally experienced the night chaos in the capital, the slaughter at the border regions, and the siege of Zhongshan Commandery, she understood that those so-called cities and commanderies represented countless human lives.

Chu Zhao instructed them to await Lord Huang’s deployment and then walked out.

“Xiao Man, Xiao Man,” Chu Zhao called.

A’Le stepped over from the side: “Miss, you forgot—Xiao Man and Captain Bai went to Xiao Xun’s side.”

Chu Zhao smiled: “I completely forgot.”

Without realizing it, she had already grown accustomed to having Xiao Man by her side.

“Miss, what did you need her for?” A’Le asked. “Before Xiao Man left, she made arrangements. There’s someone to replace—”

Her words stopped mid-sentence as she looked in one direction. Not far away, a woman stood watching them.

A’Le quickly said: “Oh, it’s Auntie Ding.”

A’Le still didn’t know Mu Mianhong’s true identity. Although she could tell she wasn’t really Ding Dachui’s wife, she hadn’t investigated further. They were all bandits anyway.

Mu Mianhong walked over and said: “I heard you calling for Xiao Man. Before Xiao Man left, she instructed me, so I came to see if you—” Her gaze settled on Chu Zhao. “Have any orders?”

Chu Zhao made a sound of acknowledgment and shook her head: “No orders.” Then she quickly added, “I wanted to ask about recent events. Inside I only knew the general situation, not the specifics. Is everyone alright? After all, what you were doing was very dangerous.”

Mu Mianhong smiled: “Everyone is fine, everything went smoothly. Master Chu Lan was frightened, but suffered no serious harm. Miss Chu Tang was also very quick-witted. Xiao Man will personally lead people to escort them back to the capital.”

Chu Zhao nodded.

Mu Mianhong continued: “The battle situation at the border regions is also good. The fighting is intense, but there have been no losses.”

Chu Zhao nodded again: “That’s good. I knew it—there were no problems.”

Mu Mianhong looked at her and said: “With you being so brave, everyone also summoned their full spirit.”

“I’m not particularly brave,” Chu Zhao quickly shook her head and said, “That we could turn danger into safety this time and achieve our wishes was all thanks to all of you.”

Mu Mianhong quickly said: “Without you, everyone wouldn’t have been able to, wouldn’t have dared to do such things.”

Although the words both spoke were perfectly normal, they were also completely abnormal. Standing to the side, A’Le inexplicably felt somewhat tense and couldn’t help interrupting: “How about, Miss, you two, shall we sit down and discuss this in detail?”

Sit down and talk about it? Chu Zhao fell silent. Mu Mianhong also said nothing. A’Le twisted her fingers—it seemed she’d made the atmosphere even more tense—

“Ahem!”

Just then, a heavy coughing sound came from the distance.

Hearing this sound, Chu Zhao instantly turned her head and saw that at some point a young military officer was standing before a tent in the rear.

Seeing Chu Zhao look over, he bowed in salute: “This subject pays respects—”

Before he could finish the bow, Chu Zhao interrupted with an exclamation. A’Le also shouted excitedly: “A’Jiu!”

Following A’Le’s shout, Chu Zhao lifted her feet and ran toward him. After running a few steps she stopped and looked back at Mu Mianhong.

“Auntie Mu,” she said, “Captain Xie has arrived. I’m going to ask about the details of the border regions.”

Mu Mianhong nodded with a smile: “Go quickly.”

Chu Zhao said no more, turned, and strode swiftly toward Xie Yanlai. Standing before Xie Yanlai, she asked urgently: “Why did you come? When did you arrive?”

Xie Yanlai, halfway through his bow, didn’t complete it either. He raised an eyebrow: “Seeing me, did you breathe a huge sigh of relief?”

Chu Zhao looked at him, smiled, and pressed her hand to her heart while exhaling a long breath.

“Yes, seeing you, A’Jiu,” she said, “my heart has settled.”

Why did that sound strange? Xie Yanlai frowned: “Don’t say weird things.”

Chu Zhao raised an eyebrow at him: “You said it first, didn’t you? You first said how much I trust you in my heart, that seeing you, I don’t worry about anything anymore.”

“Nonsense,” Xie Yanlai said. “What I clearly meant was that you standing with Mu, with the Stronghold Chief, were so awkward you wanted to burrow into the ground. When I appeared, you no longer had to stammer with people—you breathed a huge sigh of relief.”

Chu Zhao laughed heartily: “You’re the one talking nonsense. You clearly only said one sentence. Where did all those words come from?”

Xie Yanlai scoffed, too lazy to expose her.

Chu Zhao glanced again in the direction where Mu Mianhong stood. Mu Mianhong had already turned and walked away. She exhaled softly again, her eyes slightly downcast.

“I don’t actually resent her,” she said in a low voice. “I’ve been without a mother since I was small. I’m already accustomed to not having a mother. I don’t know how, nor do I know how to interact with a mother.”

Xie Yanlai looked into the distance: “You’re asking the wrong person about this. Although I had a mother longer than you did, I’ve forgotten how to interact with a mother. We men always have our ambitions set on distant horizons—we never pay attention to such trivial maternal matters—”

Chu Zhao was amused again. She lifted her head to look at Xie Yanlai. Yes, in this world there were plenty of people without mothers, people who didn’t know how to interact with mothers.

“Why did you come?” she asked again. “When did you arrive?”

Really maternal and trivial enough. Xie Yanlai looked up at the sky: “Her Majesty the Empress achieved a great victory, and the border regions also benefited immensely—the pressure decreased considerably. Vice General Zhong was worried about you, nagging and urging me three times a day to come check on you. I just arrived not long ago. I didn’t have anyone announce it, and waited for you outside the tent. Then I saw you had matters to discuss with Stronghold Chief Mu, so I dared even less to disturb.”

His last two sentences were drawn out.

Chu Zhao said solemnly: “Captain Xie, you are an important minister of the court. In the future, don’t be polite—you must disturb me at any time and any place.”

Xie Yanlai couldn’t help but throw his head back and laugh heartily.

The laughter came from behind. Mu Mianhong looked back and saw the young man standing upright like a sturdy bamboo, and the girl standing at his side. She smiled slightly as well.

Although her daughter was extremely uncomfortable facing her, the fact that there was someone in this world the girl was willing to amuse proved her daughter was not lonely.

Even without father or mother, as long as her heart held love and she dared to love, she could live happily and freely.