Like a stubborn child, determined to decide a winner and loser.

What she said was true—if she died, she would have no regrets.

But for him? After half a lifetime of planning and accumulating resources, if he died and his son died, everything would be lost.

Indeed, he had lost.

The Prince of Zhongshan looked at this girl and smiled.

The deathly silence in the hall was broken as officials and guards burst into commotion.

“Your Highness, don’t listen to her nonsense.”

“No matter how many private troops she has, they can’t defeat our Zhongshan commandery!”

“Capture the Empress and bring her to the front lines. If they want to attack the city, they’ll have to trample over her first!”

To want death as a captive was not so easy—there were thousands of ways to torture and humiliate—

But the Prince of Zhongshan didn’t let them continue, raising his hand to stop them, then looking at Chu Zhao and letting out a long sigh.

“Chu Zhao,” he said, “what exactly do you want?”

Chu Zhao said calmly, “Withdraw your troops, cease hostilities. You can remain a prince, but Heir Xiao Xun must enter the capital as a hostage.”

The Prince of Zhongshan’s brows shot up, and he said coldly, “Chu Zhao, this is not what you said earlier.”

What was said earlier involved bestowing the golden seal and princely authority.

Now, not only was there no golden seal and feudal princely power, but the heir would also be sent as a hostage.

Chu Zhao smiled, “Your Highness, when you agreed earlier, it was a win-win situation. Now if Your Highness agrees, it’s because you’ve lost.”

Having lost, naturally, there was a price to pay.

“As for the heir,” Chu Zhao said, “earlier, Your Highness didn’t say you didn’t care about this son. Now that This Palace knows Your Highness’s true feelings, I think it’s better to keep the heir in the capital, to prevent him from hearing rumors that might create resentment between father and son. This Palace would be distressed to see father and son become enemies.”

The Prince of Zhongshan sneered, “The Empress is truly thorough in her considerations.”

Chu Zhao looked at him and said, “This way, both This Palace and Your Highness can live. I will continue as Empress, and Your Highness will continue as prince.”

The Prince of Zhongshan laughed loudly, then abruptly stopped.

“Empress, you’ve spoken too soon,” he said, looking at this girl. “The Empress is brave, but you’re still just an Empress. This world isn’t decided by you alone. At this point, even if I were willing to back down, others wouldn’t allow me to retreat.”

Chu Zhao understood his meaning. Although the Prince of Zhongshan’s troops marched under the banner of seeking audience with the Emperor to explain their grievances, without directly declaring rebellion, his ambitions were clear to all. How could the court let him go?

Moreover, there was still Xie Yanfang in the world.

…

…

Xie Yanfang reined in his horse on a barren hill, looking ahead.

Ahead lay a city and wilderness. Flags flew above the city, and numerous military camps were set up across the wilderness—this was where the capital’s troops were stationed.

Soldiers were galloping from there toward here, with commanders leading the way.

“We welcome Your Majesty!” they shouted repeatedly.

Behind them, the city gates were opening, and countless citizens poured out. Even from this distance, where faces couldn’t be seen and words couldn’t be heard, one could feel the surging joy.

“The Emperor has arrived—”

“We welcome Your Majesty—”

Xiao Yu sat on horseback, looking up at Xie Yanfang. Though they had been greeted like this all along their journey, his eyes still shone with excitement as if seeing it for the first time.

“Uncle,” he said, “everyone is truly happy to see me.”

Before, he had been the Crown Prince’s eldest son, the Emperor’s eldest grandson, held in the palm of everyone’s hands in the palace. Everyone had protected and revered him, but he had never felt the love of the common people.

This was a feeling he had never experienced before.

“Because you’ve come to their side in a time of danger,” Xie Yanfang said. “The people truly feel Your Majesty’s love. At this moment, even though you’re just a seven-year-old child, you’ve become the true sovereign in their hearts.”

Xiao Yu nodded, “I will certainly be a good Emperor.”

Xie Yanfang patted Xiao Yu’s shoulder and said, “Your Majesty, remember this moment. Keep the reverence and love of your subjects forever in your heart.”

Whether he became a good Emperor or not didn’t matter.

As long as he remembered this moment, felt the power of an Emperor, experienced the strength of a sovereign, and developed the heart of a ruler, he would also develop the desire of a ruler.

This way, the young Emperor would know who was wholeheartedly devoted to his imperial position, and would also be wary of those who wanted to take away his imperial power, such as Deng Yi, such as—

Xie Yanfang lowered his eyes.

The child in his arms looked up again.

“Uncle,” Xiao Yu asked, “but why doesn’t it seem so tense?”

Although he had never been on a battlefield before, that night when they had charged through the chaos, the atmosphere of a life-and-death battle had been engraved in his heart.

Now, though the area was filled with troops arrayed like a forest, and the atmosphere was tense, there was no sense of death in the air.

Xie Yanfang frowned slightly. “You’re right. The situation is not as expected.”

They had already received news on the road that the two armies were facing each other, and war was imminent. But apart from a few small-scale initial battles, there had been no life-and-death struggle.

Especially in the news delivered these past few days, the Prince of Zhongshan’s army had taken up a defensive position in the city, as if waiting for something.

Waiting for reinforcements?

Xiao Xun had executed three imperial envoys and, using the excuse of entering the capital to see the Emperor, had advanced with a single momentum—to stop now and let that momentum dissipate wasn’t a wise move.

“The traitor has heard of Your Majesty’s campaign and is too afraid to advance,” an official proclaimed loudly.

This immediately drew a chorus of agreement. The surrounding citizens, held back from prostrating themselves, couldn’t help shedding tears. That’s right, otherwise they would have been corpses by now.

“Your Majesty leads the campaign personally, sweeping all before you!” countless people knelt and shouted.

Xiao Yu couldn’t help looking up at Xie Yanfang. “Uncle, is it so? Has that traitor Xiao Xun surrendered?”

A child might believe that the Emperor’s prestige sweeps all before him, but Xie Yanfang certainly would not.

“The traitor’s fear is inevitable,” Xie Yanfang said softly. “But if he truly admitted guilt, he should bind himself and come out of the city to welcome Your Majesty.”

Xiao Yu nodded. “I understand. This traitor must be plotting something.” He gripped the reins tightly, his small face solemn. “No matter what he plans, I am not afraid.”

Xie Yanfang laughed heartily. “Exactly. Your Majesty need not fear. It is Your Majesty who will make them fear. Come, follow me—”

After saying this, Xie Yanfang spurred his horse forward at a gallop.

The soldiers, officials, and commanders hadn’t reacted yet.

“Your Majesty?”

“Minister Xie, where are you going?”

“A temporary palace has been prepared in the city—”

…

…

The sound of footsteps on the streets and city walls was like thunder, but still couldn’t drown out the shouts from outside the city.

Outside seemed to be thousands of troops shouting in unison.

“His Majesty has arrived personally!”

“Xiao Xun, come out at once to see the Emperor!”

“Xiao Xun, you boasted of wanting to see His Majesty. To spare you the hardship of traveling to apologize, His Majesty has specially come in person.”

“Xiao Xun, His Majesty is at the front. If you have grievances to state, come and state them. If you have complaints, come and voice them!”

“Xiao Xun, His Majesty is seven years old this year and dares to come see you. You dared to kill imperial officials and lead troops to threaten the capital—don’t you dare to meet the Emperor at the front lines!”

The officers on the city wall looked into the distance, watching the troops in the distant battle formation. Dragon banners surrounded a single rider like clouds. The man on horseback wore no armor, just a plain robe with black hair, holding a long sword, like the moon in the night sky. In front of him sat a child wearing dragon robes, also holding a long sword—

Though they had never seen the young Emperor before and couldn’t make out his features clearly, there was no mistaking it.

“That must be Xie Yanfang,” another officer said softly. “Only he would dare bring the young Emperor here.”

“If we could shoot this child with an arrow—” yet another officer couldn’t help raising his crossbow, then regretfully lowering it.

Xie Yanfang wouldn’t let the young Emperor come within their shooting range.

“Even if the Emperor has come, so what?” someone said coldly. “The Emperor can’t turn beans into soldiers. Our forces are enough to fight them.”

At the mention of battle, everyone looked toward the commander.

“Why hasn’t the heir given orders yet?” they asked.

By rights, they should have attacked long ago. Perhaps if they had charged out a few days ago, this young Emperor would have turned back to the capital midway and never made it here.

The commander withdrew his gaze and said, “The heir has his plans.”

Hearing this, the officers dared not ask further, but exchanged glances privately. Something must have happened to the heir.

The commander, either too preoccupied to notice their glances or no longer bothering to conceal anything, summoned a trusted soldier and ordered: “Report to His Highness immediately.”