As the streets outside bustled with noise, court officials had already filed into the imperial court in succession.

Walking at the very front was Deng Yi, with Xie Yanfang one step behind.

“Minister Xie, how do you have time to attend court today?” Deng Yi deliberately asked. “Have you finished your family matters so quickly?”

Xie Yanfang replied candidly: “I finished the previous matters, but not yesterday’s.”

Yesterday, Xie Yanlai had caused a disturbance at the Ministry of War. Though he wasn’t surrounded and beaten by the Imperial Guards on the spot, he was still apprehended by the Ministry’s armed guards and thrown into prison.

“Originally, the Ministry of War said they would let me take him home for disciplining, but I thought it better to let him sober up in there,” said Xie Yanfang, glancing at Deng Yi with a smile. “Since he can’t come out, and someone from our family must attend the Emperor’s bestowal of honors, I had to come myself.”

Deng Yi smiled slightly. “Minister Xie is joking. Even if you didn’t come, no one would blame you, much less rescind Inspector Xie’s honors.”

Xie Yanfang smiled and corrected Deng Yi: “He should be called General Xie now.” Having said this, he walked past Deng Yi and moved forward.

Deng Yi watched his retreating figure. The young master wore his official robes with such flair that it seemed as if the lapels floated in the wind. Behind him, numerous gazes followed, more than half in admiration.

Admiring what? His scholarly elegance? Deng Yi scoffed inwardly. That was merely the exterior. The real Third Young Master Xie was arrogant and overbearing, no less than his infamous brother Xie Yanlai, perhaps even more so.

Since his return from Dongyang and entry into the Censorate, in a short time, the Chief Censor had been forced to report illness through various means. The Censorate was almost entirely controlled by him, the Vice Censor-in-Chief. True scholarly elegance could not achieve such feats.

Just as the Xie family of Dongyang, though they didn’t enter the capital, accept titles, or establish a magnificent household, how could they possibly be genuinely virtuous, noble, and without desires?

If the former Crown Prince were still alive, the Xie family, as relatives by marriage but not the only ones, might have been suppressed. But now with a young Emperor without support, originally there was that girl who could block the Xie family’s ambitious ambitions from devouring the young Emperor, but now it seems that girl—

Deng Yi’s brow furrowed slightly.

By now, he had entered the hall and stood in position. Accompanied by the court music, the Empress led the Emperor in, who sat on the dragon throne, while that girl sat behind the throne.

Deng Yi lowered his head and bowed with the other officials. When he heard the Emperor’s voice from above permitting them to rise, he raised his head. His gaze dimmed slightly—

The Empress sat behind the Emperor, but there was no curtain.

Other officials also noticed this, and low murmurs arose. Yesterday, the Empress had lifted the curtain during a dispute, but today, why was there no curtain at all?

As the murmurs rose, the young Emperor suddenly spoke: “Yesterday’s matter has been settled. Please, Grand Tutor, proclaim the imperial decree.”

Court Eunuch Qi hurriedly presented the imperial decree to Deng Yi. Although Deng Yi had prepared and submitted it, and most people already knew its contents, formalities had to be observed. Deng Yi accepted the decree and read it aloud to the assembly. Xiao Yu then said, “We have already seen Inspector Xie. We have not yet seen Liang Qiang. Such a brave young general, summon him to our presence.”

The palace attendants passed the summons along.

After this, the officials also stopped discussing the matter of the Empress without a curtain and turned to await the young Liang general’s entrance to the hall.

Perhaps the Empress also wanted to see Liang Qiang in person.

Hearing the successive announcements, Liang Qiang, waiting outside the hall, felt somewhat nervous. Looking at the magnificent hall before him, even if he were still an undisgraged scion of the Liang family, he might not have had the opportunity to enter the imperial court, let alone be personally summoned and honored by the Emperor.

Unexpectedly, after his family’s disgrace, he had soared to new heights.

But this had nothing to do with him. He could soar high only because others had lifted him.

Whether he would soar or fall flat was not his decision to make.

Liang Qiang was lost in these scattered thoughts, his expression changing from dazed to blank. The palace attendant who came to escort him wasn’t surprised; facing the Emperor was something few people could remain calm about.

“Young General Liang,” the palace attendant reminded with a smile. “Please.”

Liang Qiang set aside his rambling thoughts. At this point, there was no turning back. He bowed to the attendant and stepped into the hall.

“Your humble servant Liang Qiang pays respects to Your Majesty.”

From above came a clear childlike voice: “Rise.”

Liang Qiang stood up and dared to slightly raise his eyes. He saw the child sitting on the dragon throne, and as his gaze flickered, a figure behind the child caught his attention—

Her.

He knew the Empress sat behind a curtain during court, and even with just a curtain between them, it was still a barrier. Unexpectedly, today there was no curtain, and he could see her.

Surprised, Liang Qiang couldn’t help but stare directly at her. In his line of sight, the girl wearing the Empress’s court robes, sitting upright smiled slightly.

“Marquis Liang, when we meet again, you’re already a general,” she said. “Young Master Liang, truly brave and fierce.”

Just as he had secretly imagined, today he truly heard and saw it. Liang Qiang was stunned, quickly withdrew his gaze, and bowed again: “Your humble servant pays respects to Empress.” After saying this, for some reason, perhaps wanting to speak a few more words with her, he couldn’t help but add, “If not for Your Majesty’s rescue back then, Liang Qiang would now be a cripple.”

Chu Zhao smiled: “General Liang is too modest. Please rise.”

Liang Qiang thanked her and stood straight. Before Deng Yi could speak, an official nearby couldn’t contain his curiosity and asked: “Liang Qiang, the Empress has saved you before?”

This was Minister Cao from the Ministry of War. He had some dissatisfaction with the Empress. Yesterday he had refused to grant honors to Liang Qiang, and after the court dismissed, he had even slammed the table and argued with the Grand Tutor. Although it was because of pressure from the Xie family, it was said that the Empress had a poor relationship with the Liang family when she was still unmarried, so taking the opportunity for private revenge couldn’t be ruled out—hmph, today upon seeing Liang Qiang, she even praised his valor, as if she had been the one with the foresight to recognize a hero.

However, Liang Qiang appeared sincerely grateful to the Empress, even thanking her for saving his life.

“At that time, due to former General Han’s mistake, my unit was surrounded by enemy forces. When I was trapped and near death, the Empress personally led reinforcements to rescue me,” Liang Qiang told him.

Although they knew Chu Zhao had commanded troops in the border prefecture, everyone thought it was just for show, like sitting in the army camp for appearance’s sake. Unexpectedly, she had personally led troops into battle—even soldiers like Liang Qiang said they faced a deadly battle, showing how dangerous the situation was. Minister Cao looked again at the girl behind the Emperor’s dragon throne, and his resentment dissipated.

The Empress had led troops and saved Liang Qiang, so she indeed qualified to discuss rewards for soldiers.

More officials in the hall questioned Liang Qiang, some to curry favor with the Grand Tutor, others purely because of Liang Qiang himself. Despite the Liang family’s disgrace, a son had emerged, and not just any son—Liang Qiang’s father was now the Chief Administrative Officer of the Four Directions Military Command. Before the Left Grand General was selected, the Left Wing Army was temporarily under his responsibility, essentially making him a general as well.

For such an inspiring figure who had risen again from disgrace, the officials couldn’t help but feel curious and respectful, and couldn’t resist exchanging a few words.

The hall became noisy and lively.

Deng Yi listened with a calm expression as the officials spoke with Liang Qiang, asking about various matters of the border army, occasionally asking a question himself.

Chu Zhao did not stop the officials’ lively questioning in the hall. Although she was somewhat dissatisfied when Xie Yanlai came to the hall as a military envoy, he hadn’t received such enthusiastic inquiries—she also knew it couldn’t be helped; Xie Yanlai’s status was too high, which was a disadvantage in court.

Regardless, although he couldn’t come to the hall to enjoy the glory and was locked in prison, he had received the honors he deserved, which made all these days of life-and-death struggle worthwhile.

Chu Zhao couldn’t help but let the corners of her mouth curl upward.

Standing in the hall, Liang Qiang saw it.

He couldn’t possibly miss it; that girl sat in the most dazzling place in the hall.

So she was indeed happy to see him receive honors; her earlier opposition was only due to concerns about the Xie family.

As for those rumors that the Empress was using her position to oppress the Liang family, they were completely unfounded.

If she were that kind of petty person, she wouldn’t have saved him back then. She would have just watched him be killed, or even taken the opportunity to kill him herself.

Liang Qiang clenched his hand at his side. He should smile back at her—

But he and she were no longer as before. She was now the exalted sovereign.

The young general, surrounded by people in the hall, had a somewhat dejected expression, probably because the questioning had evoked painful memories of the past. Chu Zhao spotted this immediately.

Sitting at the highest point in the hall, now without a curtain to block her view, she could see the expressions of the officials in the hall very clearly.

She quickly averted her gaze. What was there for Liang Qiang to be sad about in his past? Her past was much more tragic and had a great deal to do with his Liang family.

At that time, she had been shocked by Deng Yi’s statement about appointing Liang Qiang as Defense General. Thinking calmly now, it was normal for the Liang father and son to make a name for themselves through their fierce fighting in the army, as they had in her previous life. It was only a matter of time.

Could she eliminate the father and son because of what happened in her previous life? Although they fought enemies to forge a path to survival, they were indeed protecting the country.

This life was different from the previous one. There was no internal rebellion and division, and she wouldn’t let Uncle Zhong view them as his right and left arms.

Moreover, the reason the Liang father and son had threatened her in her previous life was because of Xiao Xun’s support and instructions.

In this life, Xiao Xun was not the Emperor and could no longer command the Liang family.

So she could take a step back and grant honors to Liang Qiang, as long as he didn’t touch the Fallen City Guard again, nor think of gaining Zhong Changrong’s support.

This matter wasn’t too important. What truly weighed on her mind was fate.

Liang Qiang’s sudden appearance, following the same destiny as in her previous life, set off a loud alarm for her, who had thought the nightmare was over and a new life had begun.

Had fate changed?

…

…

Xie Yanlai approached and saw the girl lost in thought, her chin resting on her hand at the desk.

He clenched his hand, feeling it rub against his palm, then took a deep breath and stepped forward.

Chu Zhao remained motionless, seemingly unaware that someone had entered.

Xie Yanlai looked around. Although he hadn’t been in the imperial city for long—even before, he had only led the imperial guards and wasn’t familiar with the inner palace—he knew that Chu Zhao rarely let palace maids and eunuchs serve at her side, especially with food, where she only allowed A-Le to handle it. It seemed she didn’t like ceremony, or perhaps she was extremely particular.

She needed even less attendance when reading or writing. A-Le stood outside the hall, chatting and giggling with Xiao Man. When they saw him arrive, one smiled broadly while the other snorted and looked at him—

Neither announced his arrival nor followed him in, with an attitude of “do as you please.”

The young Emperor was having lessons in the adjacent hall; the sound of recitation could be faintly heard.

Only the two of them were in the hall.

Xie Yanlai turned his gaze back and flicked his hand.

Chu Zhao first heard the sound of something flying through the air, then felt a pain on her forehead. “Ouch,” she exclaimed, reaching up to grab it. Looking at it, she saw it was a small tiger-head pendant.

“From a broader perspective, this could be considered regicide,” she glared at Xie Yanlai.

Xie Yanlai frowned: “Shouldn’t it be considered flattery and bribery of the sovereign?”

Chu Zhao solemnly replied: “How can giving a gift to the Empress be called flattery? It’s called filial piety.”

Xie Yanlai laughed dryly: “Filial piety? By generational order, what should the Empress call me?”

Chu Zhao laughed heartily and immediately wrapped the pendant around her wrist, then asked: “You’ve been released so quickly? I thought they would keep you locked up for ten days or half a month.”

Xie Yanlai glanced at her wrist. Originally, there was nothing on it, now there was only this red cord pendant. His hand at his side clenched involuntarily, as if ants were crawling over it—

He turned his gaze away: “After all that commotion, I’m still appointed as Guerrilla General. The Ministry of War felt embarrassed keeping me, so they set up a congratulatory feast to see me off.” He paused, then added, “I’m preparing to go back.”

Chu Zhao knew that when he said “go back,” he didn’t mean to the Xie family home, but to the border prefecture.

Chu Zhao wasn’t surprised at all: “I knew you would leave as soon as you had the chance.” She held up a letter from the desk and waved it. “Look, I’ve already written the letter for you to deliver to Uncle Zhong.”

Xie Yanlai turned to look and responded with an “Oh.”

“But I haven’t finished writing yours yet,” Chu Zhao smiled, pointing to the paper in front of her, then looking at him. “Why don’t you sit down and watch me write it?”

Xie Yanlai rolled his eyes at her, not even bothering to respond to her nonsense.

“Guerrilla General isn’t actually what I had hoped for,” Chu Zhao sighed softly.

So her earlier worry was about not achieving what she wanted? He knew it would be like this; this girl was extremely stubborn, determined to do whatever she set her mind to. Xie Yanlai hesitated, then sat across from her at the desk and said: “How can everything in the world go as one wishes? Don’t forget, you’re the Empress. Being able to make the Grand Tutor take a step back is already quite good. How many empresses could achieve such a thing?”

Chu Zhao tilted her head and thought for a moment, then raised an eyebrow: “That’s right. An empress like me who seized the position herself and personally led troops into battle—such a formidable empress, I can’t say there won’t be others like me in the future, but I am certainly the first of my kind.”

Xie Yanlai laughed heartily, his expression softening.