Xiao Xun looked toward the city gate not far away. The city gate of Zhongshan Commandery’s capital was even more chaotic than before, with countless people outside trying to squeeze their way in.

The stationed troops had increased, and there were many more officers with unfamiliar faces, eyeing every passerby like tigers watching their prey. They practically wanted to dismantle and inspect every passing cart.

“Everyone stay calm,” several officials were loudly proclaiming. “Xi Liang hasn’t attacked. Our Zhongshan Commandery is safe.”

But these words couldn’t soothe the people at all.

“Those Xi Liang soldiers have already appeared outside Yunzhong Commandery!”

“So many villages and towns have been burned, killed, and plundered!”

“The border commandery has already been breached!”

“Stop guarding here—quickly go reinforce the border commandery!”

“Let us in—”

The clamor was even worse than before. The soldiers were about to draw their weapons and arrest people.

Xiao Xun stopped looking in that direction and turned back to return to Prince Zhongshan’s manor.

The atmosphere inside Prince Zhongshan’s manor seemed different as well. Prince Zhongshan sat in the Daoist temple, his expression slightly grave, one hand stroking his injured leg.

This was his habitual gesture when deep in thought.

“Father King, the Xi Liang people truly cannot be brought to the table,” Xiao Xun said.

Prince Zhongshan said: “Barbarians—it’s not surprising they’d do such things.”

Xiao Xun frowned: “This shows they don’t take us seriously at all, don’t care whether they bring us trouble.”

The Xi Liang troops suddenly appearing in places outside Yunzhong Commandery would inevitably trigger investigations. How could these people have bypassed the defensive lines to enter the interior?

Although he believed his father acted thoroughly, anything done would always leave traces, especially with these unreliable Xi Liang people, and moreover there were two very troublesome people in the court—

Once problems were uncovered, their plans would also be disrupted.

Prince Zhongshan smiled: “Don’t worry. It won’t affect us. Someone else has more trouble than we do. We’ll fan the flames and direct all the trouble onto him.”

……

……

Although the authorities hadn’t officially announced that places outside Yunzhong Commandery had been attacked by Xi Liang, the news couldn’t be concealed. With private letters from noble families and urgent letters from merchants and travelers, it reached the capital in just three or four days.

The sudden appearance of Xi Liang people in Shangjun shattered the people’s trust in Chu Ling with shock and fear.

In the blink of an eye, no one was saying anymore that with Chu Ling present, Xi Liang’s invasion was nothing to worry about. Instead, they asked: Why, after over a decade, was Chu Ling still leading troops to guard Yunzhong Commandery?

At this time, when someone asked who Chu Ling was, they were told he was a disgraced official, punished by the late emperor to serve at the border commandery for over a decade, and after all these years was still just a general.

“Why let a disgraced general face the Xi Liang army!”

“Because his daughter became empress!”

The wine shops, teahouses, and streets of the capital buzzed with more and more discussion, and whispers arose in the inner courtyards of noble families as well.

Now during wartime, with national crisis at hand, recreational outings had been canceled, but the noble families visited each other even more frequently—first, because tense times required even more exchange of information, and second, because the transition between old and new courts required forming new connections.

The winter day was cold. Even wearing cloaks couldn’t keep out the chill. Young ladies ran laughing from the garden to the heated pavilion.

In the heated pavilion, four or five girls were already gathered around the brazier talking, their expressions angry, contemptuous, and disdainful. When they saw these people approaching, their conversation immediately stopped.

The atmosphere was somewhat off.

Chu Tang stopped in her tracks.

A girl stood up and bowed with a smile: “Miss Chu.”

But two girls neither stood nor rose, and even turned their heads away, as if disdaining to see the newcomers.

This situation was quite rare. Never mind that Chu Tang now had an empress cousin—even before, when she was just a daughter of the Chu family, everyone had been kind to Chu Tang. Without power or influence, she wasn’t worth antagonizing.

How was it that now, when Chu Tang had suddenly gained power and influence, they dared treat her poorly?

Qi Leyun couldn’t understand what these girls were thinking: “What do you mean by this?”

Those two girls weren’t even afraid of Chu Tang, so how could they fear Qi Leyun? One of them said with a half-smile: “What have we done? Why are you angry? Because we didn’t bow to Miss Chu Tang?”

Before Qi Leyun could speak, another girl turned her head, her expression sharp: “Why should we bow to Miss Chu Tang? In terms of age, we’re of the same generation. In terms of family status, we have official standing, while Miss Chu Tang’s family doesn’t—”

She glanced at Chu Tang.

“The Chu family has an empress, but Miss Chu Tang hasn’t received any imperial honors.”

“We perform full ceremonial bows when we see the Empress, but not bowing to Miss Chu Tang—is that a crime?”

Girls playing together often bickered and said harsh things, but never before had anyone kept saying “discussing crimes” like this. Qi Leyun was stunned listening to it. Why were they discussing this and that—

She grew even angrier: “Is that what I meant? I’m talking about your attitude—you know very well what I mean.”

The two girls said: “We don’t know.” Then they stood up. “We’ll be leaving first.”

And they really did leave. The lively heated pavilion suddenly became quiet. Although there were still seven or eight people on Chu Tang’s side, it felt inexplicably desolate.

Qi Leyun glared: “How infuriating! If they have something to say, say it clearly. What good is muttering behind backs?”

From beginning to end, Chu Tang hadn’t spoken or gotten angry, but she also didn’t wear her former expression of grievance and anxiety that inspired pity.

She smiled: “It’s actually good. Muttering behind my back shows they’re giving me face. If they said it to my face, wouldn’t that be even more humiliating for me?”

“I think something’s not right,” a girl said. “Their attitude has become so strange.”

Chu Tang said: “Because they believe my uncle is guilty of wrongdoing.”

“How can they blame your uncle?” Qi Leyun glared. “Besides, are they stupid? Even if your uncle is guilty, what’s there to fear? Chu Zhao is the empress.”

Guilty but not guilty either.

Have these people’s brains gone muddy?

“Their brains haven’t gone muddy,” Zhou Jiang’s voice came from behind the heated pavilion, and she herself walked out from behind it.

Qi Leyun and the others jumped in fright: “How are you here?”

Zhou Jiang waved her hand: “I was quietly studying chess patterns. That’s not important.” She walked in and sat across from Chu Tang, her small face serious. “Precisely because Chu Zhao is the empress, your uncle has big trouble this time.”

Even after becoming empress, there could be big trouble?

The empress held such an exalted position.

The girls didn’t understand and stared at Zhou Jiang, urging her: “What do you mean?”

Zhou Jiang said: “Because having an empress with questionable virtue is a good thing for many people, especially court nobles, because this way the empress can be controlled by them.”

Chu Tang sighed lightly, thinking of what Chu Zhao had said to her in the palace before.

Chu Zhao had said: “For the court, the turmoil has already passed, but for our family, the turmoil hasn’t even begun yet.”

Sure enough, Uncle wasn’t even dead yet, and the turmoil had already begun.

“They’re actually targeting Chu Zhao?” Qi Leyun slapped the table. “Chu Tang, quickly go to the palace and tell Chu Zhao. Have Chu Zhao properly scold these people. Let’s see if they still dare to have crooked thoughts.”

Chu Tang picked up the snacks that had been knocked off by her, saying: “What would that look like—bullying people with power? Everyone’s waiting for her to do exactly that.”

She lowered her gaze while blowing on the snack.

Moreover, Chu Zhao couldn’t do that anyway. She wasn’t even in the palace at all. The world didn’t know.

If they knew, wouldn’t they have even more grounds to condemn her?

Zhou Jiang nodded: “Of course she can’t do that. The Empress can certainly display her authority, but absolutely not to defend herself and her family. Moreover, this time General Chu really is at fault. The Xi Liang troops broke through the defensive line—as the commanding general, he bears inescapable responsibility.”

Qi Leyun looked somewhat deflated: “Then this time there’s no solution. We can only let things take their course.”

Zhou Jiang continued: “However, there’s no need to worry. Those people only want to confirm General Chu’s fault, to weaken his power and reputation, in order to suppress the Empress. As for punishment and such—that won’t happen. They certainly won’t implicate your whole family.”

Chu Tang nodded and thanked Zhou Jiang: “A’Jiang, you’re truly too clever, and kind-hearted too.”

Zhou Jiang made a sound of acknowledgment: “Actually, not really. I just find analyzing this as interesting as playing chess. Besides, I don’t need to be afraid. If something happens to your family, it has nothing to do with me.”

Qi Leyun glared. The girls couldn’t help laughing. The slightly tense atmosphere from before was broken.

“You’re just a chess fanatic,” Qi Leyun waved her hand dismissively, then looked at Chu Tang and thought for a moment. “How about you stay home and avoid going out for a while? Out of sight, out of mind. It’ll save you trouble too.”

Chu Tang nodded: “I understand.” Then she smiled. “Perhaps many people are just waiting to provoke me so I’ll embarrass myself or make mistakes.”

The girls nodded repeatedly.

“Leave quickly then,” Qi Leyun even stood up and pulled Chu Tang. “Let’s go right now.”

Chu Tang left the garden and came to the front hall. From a distance she could see it was very lively inside. Besides the madams from various families, those girls who had avoided her in the garden were also there, not knowing what they were playing, gathered together and occasionally bursting into laughter, with the surname Chu mixed in among their words.

Although she couldn’t hear clearly whether they were talking about Chu Tang, Chu Zhao, or Chu Ling, either way it was all about their Chu clan.

Not just the young ladies—those matrons were also discussing something in low voices, their expressions grave or contemptuous—

Seeing this, Qi Leyun held Chu Tang back: “Don’t go in. You’re the Empress’s elder sister. You can arrive uninvited, and you can leave without announcement.”

Whether she was courteous or discourteous didn’t depend on what she did anyway. Chu Tang hummed in agreement and turned around. One step, two steps, three steps. Though she was clearly walking away, getting farther, and the voices from the front hall should have gotten quieter, perversely the sounds in her ears became clearer and clearer.

Chu Ling.

Chu Zhao.

The Chu clan.

She stopped in her tracks.