Outside the Prince of Zhongshan’s mansion, quietness had been restored.

Inside the hall, it was even quieter.

The Prince of Zhongshan remained seated in his chair, glancing around the hall.

“With the Empress gone, it feels strange, like something is missing,” he said, smiling with coldness in his eyes. “Next time, it won’t be so easy for the Empress to walk out of here.”

The officers in the hall stepped forward and bowed: “Your Highness, please calm your anger.”

Though they asked the Prince to calm down, each of them could barely conceal their grief and indignation.

It was all because of this Empress that their efforts had been wasted.

The Prince of Zhongshan laughed heartily: “This prince is not angry.” He looked at everyone and asked, “How is Xun doing?”

An officer quickly replied: “The heir is staying at the courier station after entering the capital. With Your Highness’s support, the court wouldn’t dare mistreat him.” He added, “Please rest assured, Your Highness. We will quickly rebuild our network to look after the heir.”

The Prince of Zhongshan nodded, then sighed softly: “He must be upset this time.”

The officers said: “For the heir’s sake, Your Highness could only act as you did. The heir will surely understand Your Highness’s intentions.”

The Prince of Zhongshan nodded, leaning on his cane: “Xun is an obedient child.”

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

…

…

Outside Zhongshan County, troops were assembled in great numbers. When they saw Chu Zhao, the soldiers erupted in unified shouts.

“Empress!”

“Empress!”

Their voices reached the clouds, shaking heaven and earth.

Chu Zhao looked at the densely packed soldiers—how wonderful that they were all still alive, that none had died. She laughed heartily, released the reins, and galloped forward.

Entering the camp, she met with the commanders of the two armies and heard about various developments since their separation, as well as the situation in the capital.

“The Prince of Zhongshan’s troops were extremely vicious, using civilians as shields. Half the city suffered casualties.”

Hearing this, Chu Zhao didn’t speak, just nodded.

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

Chu Zhao shook her head: “I’m fine. I understand everything. Being able to achieve this much is already quite good.”

In her previous life, sitting deep in the palace, she often heard about the court and the Xie family’s battles—losing a city here, a county there. Back then, she had no real concept of what that meant. Now, having personally experienced the night chaos in the capital, the fighting at the border, and the siege of Zhongshan County, she understood that those so-called cities and counties represented countless lives.

After instructing them to await Lord Huang’s deployment, Chu Zhao walked out.

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

A-Le stepped forward from the side: “Miss, you’ve forgotten. Xiao Man went with Officer Bai to deal with Xiao Xun.”

Chu Zhao smiled: “I did forget.”

Unconsciously, she had grown accustomed to having Xiao Man by her side.

“What did you need her for, Miss?” A-Le asked. “Xiao Man made arrangements before leaving. Someone is—”

She stopped mid-sentence, looking in one direction where a woman stood watching them.

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

A-Le still didn’t know Mu Mian Hong’s true identity. Though she could tell the woman wasn’t Ding Dachui’s wife, she hadn’t investigated further—after all, they were all bandits.

Mu Mian Hong walked over and said: “I heard you calling for Xiao Man. She instructed me before leaving, so I came to see if you—” Her gaze settled on Chu Zhao. “—had any orders?”

Chu Zhao made a sound of acknowledgment and shook her head: “No orders.” She quickly added, “I just wanted to ask about recent events. Inside, I only knew the general situation, not the specifics. Is everyone still well? After all, what we did was very dangerous.”

Mu Mian Hong smiled: “Everyone is fine. Everything went smoothly. Master Chu Lan was frightened, but he was not seriously hurt. Miss Chu Tang was also very clever. Xiao Man will personally escort them back to the capital.”

Chu Zhao nodded.

Mu Mian Hong continued: “The situation at the border is also good. The fighting is intense, but we haven’t lost ground.”

Chu Zhao nodded again: “That’s good. I knew there wouldn’t be any problems.”

Mu Mian Hong looked at her and said: “With you being so brave, everyone is motivated to do their best.”

“I’m not really that brave,” Chu Zhao hurriedly shook her head and said, “That we were able to turn danger into safety and achieve our wishes this time is all thanks to you all.”

Mu Mian Hong quickly replied: “Without you, none of us would have dared to act this way.”

Though the words exchanged between them seemed normal, there was something completely abnormal about the conversation. A-Le, standing to the side, inexplicably felt tense and couldn’t help interrupting: “Why don’t we sit down and discuss this in detail, Miss?”

Sit down and talk, Chu Zhao thought silently. Mu Mian Hong didn’t speak either. A-Le pinched her fingers, seemingly making the atmosphere even more tense—

“Ahem!”

At that moment, a heavy cough came from the distance.

Hearing this sound, Chu Zhao instantly turned her head to see a young officer standing by the tent in the back, who had appeared at some unknown time.

Seeing Chu Zhao look over, he bowed deeply: “Your subject pays respects to—”

Before he could finish, Chu Zhao interrupted with a laugh, and A-Le excitedly shouted: “A-Jiu!”

Following A-Le’s shout, Chu Zhao stepped toward him, ran a few steps, then stopped and looked back at Mu Mian Hong.

“Madam Mu,” she said, “Commander Xie has arrived. I’m going to ask him about the details at the border.”

Mu Mian Hong nodded with a smile: “Go ahead.”

Without saying more, Chu Zhao turned and hurried toward Xie Yanlai. Standing before him, she asked urgently: “Why are you here? When did you arrive?”

Xie Yanlai, who had only completed half his bow, didn’t finish it. He raised an eyebrow: “Seeing me, did you breathe a huge sigh of relief?”

Chu Zhao looked at him, smiled, and placed her hand on her heart, exhaling deeply.

“Yes, seeing you, A-Jiu,” she said, “my heart is finally at ease.”

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 said first how trusted you are in my heart, and that seeing you, I wouldn’t worry about anything.”

“Nonsense,” Xie Yanlai said. “What I meant was that you and Chief Mu standing together looked so awkward you wanted to sink into the ground, and once I appeared, you wouldn’t have to stammer with her anymore, hence your great relief.”

Chu Zhao laughed heartily: “You’re the one talking nonsense. You only said one sentence—how could it contain so many words?”

Xie Yanlai snorted, not bothering to expose her lie.

Chu Zhao looked once more in the direction where Mu Mian Hong had been, but she had already turned and walked away. Chu Zhao sighed softly again, lowering her eyes slightly.

“I don’t resent her,” she said quietly. “I’ve been without a mother since I was little. I’m used to not having a mother. I don’t know how to interact with a mother, nor would I.”

Xie Yanlai looked into the distance: “You’re asking the wrong person. Although I had a mother for longer than you did, I’ve forgotten how to interact with mothers too. We men set our sights on distant horizons—we never concern ourselves with such sentimental matters—”

This made Chu Zhao laugh again. She looked up at Xie Yanlai. Indeed, there were many people in this world without mothers, many who didn’t know how to interact with mothers.

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

Such a fussy person, thought Xie Yanlai, looking at the sky: “The Empress has achieved a great victory, which has also greatly benefited the border region. The pressure has been reduced significantly. Vice General Zhong was worried about you, nagging me three times a day to come check on you. I arrived not long ago but didn’t announce myself. I was waiting for you outside the tent, then saw you conferring with Chief Mu, and didn’t dare interrupt.”

He elongated the last two sentences.

Chu Zhao said solemnly: “Commander Xie, you are an important court official. Please don’t stand on ceremony in the future. You must feel free to interrupt me anytime, anywhere.”

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

The laughter carried from behind. Mu Mian Hong looked back to see the young man standing tall like a bamboo, and the girl at his side. She smiled faintly.

Although her daughter was extremely uncomfortable in her presence, there were still people in this world who could make the girl laugh willingly, proving that her daughter was not alone.

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