Deng Yi, with one arm bandaged, climbed onto the city wall and looked down at the front, where he saw a figure in red robes standing before the vast army.

“Grand Tutor, Grand Tutor, we must emphasize that the Second Young Master absolutely cannot go to the capital as a hostage,” Ning Kun followed behind Deng Yi, reminding him again. “We can accept a reduction in rank, we can hand over our troops, but the Second Young Master cannot leave Zhongshan Commandery, otherwise—”

After Xiao Xun’s death, although the Second Young Master continued to lead the troops, morale had plummeted. By now, everyone in the Zhongshan Prince’s household had lost the will to fight and had sent a letter of confession in advance as the Empress’s army approached.

Deng Yi asked, “Otherwise what?”

Ning Kun’s face hardened: “We will perish with the commandery city!”

Deng Yi glanced at him without speaking.

Ning Kun’s expression darkened again, and he smiled bitterly. “This is also for your sake, Grand Tutor. The Prince and Crown Prince are gone, but the Princess Consort and Young Masters are imperial relatives after all, their crimes not deserving of death. The court will surely not spare you.”

Deng Yi said, “I’m not afraid to die.”

“I know you’re not afraid, Grand Tutor,” Ning Kun said sincerely. “I’m not afraid either, but we can still make one last attempt. Why not live if we can avoid death?”

He grabbed Deng Yi’s arm.

“After all we’ve done, to end up with nothing—how could we accept that?”

Deng Yi remained silent, looking ahead. By now, the figure in red had reached the city gate.

Two units of shield-bearing soldiers protected her closely in front, with five full rows of crossbowmen following behind.

Compared to when the princes had stormed the Imperial City, these troops were truly elite—composed, orderly, and imposing.

“Deng Yi,” Chu Zhao called out loudly from below the city gate.

It was daytime, and although the commandery city gate was tall, the face of the woman below was visible. It had been almost a year since they’d last met, and she somehow seemed unfamiliar.

Compared to four years ago, she was even more different.

She was no longer just Chu Yi’s daughter, but the Empress of Great Xia.

Deng Yi said coolly, “Your Majesty the Empress, it’s been a long time.”

“Deng Yi,” Chu Zhao showed no intention of reminiscing and shouted, “Open the city gate immediately!”

Ning Kun, beside him, couldn’t help tugging at Deng Yi’s sleeve as a reminder.

Deng Yi ignored him and looked down at the city gate. “Miss Chu, I don’t owe you a meal anymore, do I?”

A meal? Ning Kun was momentarily confused. What was he talking about? Perhaps making small talk about the past to negotiate terms?

Chu Zhao looked up at Deng Yi on the city wall and said, “So? Will you not open the gate?”

Deng Yi lowered his gaze: “No, I won’t.”

Would saying “no” so directly be too provocative? Maybe he should soften it a bit, Ning Kun thought. Was this to force the Empress to negotiate terms first?

“Grand Tutor, why don’t we—” he couldn’t help saying softly.

Before he could finish, he heard Chu Zhao below the city gate call out: “Xiao Man.”

With her voice, a female guard standing beside her raised the crossbow in her hand. Ning Kun’s words were still slowly forming as he watched the arrow flying in his peripheral vision—

“—just directly—” Ning Kun heard his voice slowing.

There was a thud beside his ear.

Deng Yi fell backward beside him. Ning Kun’s vision caught only the quivering arrow feathers protruding from Deng Yi’s chest.

Ning Kun’s remaining words turned into a shout.

At the same time, an even louder cry came from below the city gate.

“They refuse to open the gate—kill without mercy—” Chu Zhao commanded, raising her hand. “Attack the city—”

As her order fell, the shield-bearing soldiers instantly formed a circular formation to protect Chu Zhao and the archers. The archers released their bows and crossbows in unison, sending a rain of arrows toward the city wall.

Soldiers on the wall were caught unprepared, getting hit by arrows, frantically defending, returning fire, falling into chaos.

The military formation waiting in the distance began beating war drums, and the sound of killing shook the heavens as they rushed toward the commandery city.

“Open the gate and be spared—”

“Surrender your weapons and be spared—”

……

……

In the seventh month of the fourth year of Xingping, the Zhongshan Prince’s Consort, accompanied by her children, knelt to respectfully welcome the Empress.

The Empress angrily rebuked the Zhongshan Prince and Crown Prince Xiao Xun on the spot, demoting all members of the Zhongshan Prince’s household to commoners and dispatching them to the borderlands as conscripts.

The Zhongshan Prince’s rebellion, which had lasted nearly a year, was over.

Messengers raced in all directions to spread the news.

The imperial army had no time to rest, continuing to pursue fugitive remnants and consolidate cities that had surrendered or were still stubbornly resisting.

Officials who had entered the commandery city were busy with numerous affairs: determining rewards and punishments, comforting the people, and repairing damaged city walls.

But the Empress, who had been at the forefront of the battle, had disappeared.

……

……

An autumn rain made the commandery city much quieter.

A-Le raised the umbrella higher, sheltering Chu Zhao as they walked into the estate. From the entrance alone, one could imagine how magnificent this residence had been.

But now the buildings facing them were collapsed in ruins, almost completely burned, with no trace of their original appearance.

A unit of soldiers was strenuously digging through the debris, not satisfied with just clearing the ruins, but digging three feet into the ground.

“At the time, we planned to burn down the building to signal those keeping watch outside,” a soldier standing beside Chu Zhao said, his voice thick with nasal congestion. “Besides, the young master said this would also help with escape.”

A-Le glared at the ruins and exclaimed, “With everything burned like this, how could anyone escape?!”

Before the soldier could speak, Chu Zhao, who had been silent, spoke up: “He was probably planning to slip away during the chaos of firefighting.”

“That was one method, but difficult to execute,” the soldier said quietly. “Because this was inside the mansion, guards would have certainly surrounded it.”

Some people would be busy fighting the fire, but many would still be standing guard.

Chu Zhao fell silent.

“The best approach was to hide within the fire itself,” the soldier continued. “We infiltrated the mansion several times, first setting up fire starters in the hall, while also hiding a layer of fireproof cloth behind the screen. We pried open the floorboards by the window and dug a tunnel leading outside, hiding a corpse in the tunnel beforehand—”

Hearing this, A-Le’s face lit up: “I understand! So Xie Yanlai could cover himself with the fireproof screen during the fire, pull out the hidden corpse to pose as himself, then escape through the tunnel. That way, no one would discover him.”

She said this excitedly, stamping her foot and staring at the soldier, urgently asking:

“He escaped, didn’t he? He escaped, didn’t he?”

This was a question the soldier also wanted answered. His face was deathly pale as he said, “The Grand Tutor’s Mansion was full of guards. The young master said he would wait in the tunnel… since Xiao Xun was inside, the fire should be extinguished quickly. Then they would find the body and disperse, and after that he would…”

The smile faded from A-Le’s face.

“Should,” “then,” “after”… these three words formed not hope, but fantasy.

“Do you know how hot the ground gets when a fire is burning?” she murmured. “How could you think this was the best plan?”

The soldier’s body trembled as he fell to his knees, covering his face with both hands, whimpering: “Because the young master never intended to survive.”

So, any method that could be attempted was a good method.

A-Le felt her throat burning with pain.

“Your Highness, we found it!” a soldier suddenly called out from the other side.

Before A-Le could react, Chu Zhao had already rushed over. A-Le hurriedly followed with the umbrella. Chu Zhao ran very fast; neither the rain nor the messy ground could slow her down.

Before them appeared a hole with obvious man-made markings, winding from beneath the ruins to a large tree.

This was some distance from the building, yet even so, half the tree had been killed by the smoke.

Inside the hole were scattered wooden supports and even tree roots, but no body.

Chu Zhao’s steps faltered, and A-Le quickly steadied her.

“Did he crawl out?” A-Le asked in a trembling voice. “Did he crawl out?”

No one could answer her.

It had been a month since Xie Yanlai had hidden here.

“…Perhaps he was dug out at the time.”

“If he crawled out, where could he hide? The city would surely be searching for the assassin everywhere.”

“There’s another question: was General Xie injured? Ten men entered, and all died—it must have been extremely dangerous…”

“Go ask the officials and commanders of the commandery city and the Prince’s mansion how many assassins they captured, both dead and alive.”

“Maybe they don’t even remember themselves…”

The soldiers’ voices kept coming. Chu Zhao knelt on the ground, allowing the muddy water to soak through her dress. She remained motionless and silent, only staring at the hole.

The hole was not large, just enough to fit one person lying down and moving slightly.

When he was in there, was it hot?

Was it difficult to breathe?

How long did he lie in there?

“Miss,” A-Le said, holding the umbrella with one hand and embracing her with the other, tears in her eyes. “Without seeing a body, he must still be alive. Let’s quickly search the entire city. A-Jiu must be waiting for you to rescue him.”

Chu Zhao nodded: “Yes.” She looked around again. “Search, search here, search the entire city, search every place.”

The soldiers responded affirmatively and hurriedly dispersed.

A-Le supported Chu Zhao. “Miss, please get up. Let’s go back first.”

But Chu Zhao shook her head: “My legs are a bit numb. Let me sit here for a while to recover.”

What numbness? Even with numb legs, one shouldn’t sit on rain-soaked muddy ground to recover, A-Le thought, holding back tears. The mistress simply didn’t want to leave; she wanted to stay by this hole.

“Then, Miss, shall we go sit under that eave instead?” she coaxed carefully.

Chu Zhao said nothing and didn’t move. Just then, another soldier came hurrying over.

“Your Majesty,” he said, “Deng Yi has awakened and says he has something to ask Your Majesty.”

Deng Yi.

Chu Zhao’s vacant gaze focused, and she stood up, leaning on A-Le.

……

……

In the commandery city jail, the soldiers and physician withdrew. Lying on a wooden board, Deng Yi saw a shadow moving, and a woman’s figure appeared in his vision.

The darkness of the prison cell made her features indistinct.

Deng Yi raised his hand slightly, touching just above his heart, which was wrapped in thick bandages.

“Your Majesty, you deliberately had the arrow miss by an inch,” he said in a hoarse voice. “Sparing my life?”

Chu Zhao did not answer his question, but asked: “Where is the Imperial Jade Seal?”

Deng Yi’s body had already been searched, but the Jade Seal wasn’t found, nor was it in the commandery city or with the Zhongshan Prince.

Deng Yi said: “You knew that if I died, no one would ever find the Jade Seal. Your Majesty truly understands my character.”

“I have no interest in guessing your thoughts, nor do I care what kind of person you are,” Chu Zhao said coldly. “Do I need the Jade Seal now? Without it, I can still take your lives.”

Deng Yi did not persist with this topic, but suddenly said: “My mother is still alive, isn’t she?”

Chu Zhao replied: “She’s unfortunate enough, having a son like you is already bad luck. She shouldn’t forfeit her life because of you.”

Deng Yi said: “One life for another.”

What did he mean? Chu Zhao remained silent.

Deng Yi looked at her: “My mother’s life in exchange for Xie Yanlai’s life.”