“Xie Yanfang has brought the young Emperor to the front lines.”

The Prince of Zhongshan held a letter in his hand, looking at Chu Zhao.

Though Chu Zhao wasn’t holding a letter, there was a narrow strip of paper lying on the table beside her.

The Prince of Zhongshan knew that she knew what he knew, and Chu Zhao was aware of this too—in fact, she had known a step earlier.

This wasn’t the first time either. At first, the Prince of Zhongshan had ordered searches everywhere and strict precautions, but now he couldn’t be bothered—Chu Zhao had come fully prepared, and it was impossible to guard against everything, so better not to try.

“The Emperor leading the campaign is celebrated by all the people, with overwhelming momentum,” the Prince of Zhongshan said, tossing the letter onto the table. “Unstoppable. How could Minister Xie cease now?”

He looked at Chu Zhao.

“Empress Chu, you said before that the court wouldn’t care about your life or death, that Minister Xie wouldn’t care either, so your words count for even less.”

He shook his head.

“So I regret to say, Empress, your choice was unwise. If you had chosen me, at least we would have been two.”

Chu Zhao smiled slightly. “Even without choosing Your Highness, this Palace is not alone. In this realm today, this Palace still has some say.”

She pointed to the table.

“Please give the order immediately, otherwise, Your Highness and the heir won’t live to see with your own eyes how His Majesty is celebrated by the people with overwhelming momentum.”

Would she kill father and son before His Majesty could gloriously engage in battle? The Prince of Zhongshan gave a cold laugh. “The Empress should worry about herself. You will die before us.”

Chu Zhao wasn’t concerned about the threat at all. She handed a brush to the Prince of Zhongshan. “Let’s all try to stay alive. Life is hard enough, and for Your Highness, it’s been even harder—suffering so much, losing the use of your legs at such a young age, abandoned by your own Emperor father—could you rest in peace dying at the hands of a young woman like me?”

The Prince of Zhongshan laughed angrily, looking at this young woman. Was this what they meant by “those with nothing to lose fear nothing”?

“Fine,” he said, taking the brush. “This Prince will wait to see whether the Empress, you can rest in peace when you die.”

…

…

The county city controlled by Xiao Xun was even more heavily guarded than before.

Troops hurried through the streets day and night without cease.

“Sir—Xie Yanfang has broken through the vanguard position—he’s coming this way!”

A personal guard rushed up to the city wall, only to be kicked down by the commander in the next moment.

“Silence!” the commander shouted in a low voice. “Tell them to hold their positions.”

The guard clutched at his leg. “Sir, the heir must appear now, otherwise the troops will lose morale. These past few days, there have been rumors—”

The commander glared in anger. “Anyone who disrupts military morale will be executed!”

The guard lowered his head, not daring to speak further.

The commander took a deep breath, suppressing his irritation, then turned and descended from the city wall, riding swiftly toward the government office.

Outside the government office where the heir was staying, troops were stationed like an iron barrel, so tight that even birds flying overhead were shot down.

But the soldiers and officers guarding the courtyard were as restless as caged birds, pacing back and forth. After hearing the city defense commander’s report in a low voice, an officer kicked over a chair.

The commotion startled the nobles huddled in the corridor. Was fighting about to break out?

But looking over, they saw the officer, just like before, rushing to the tightly closed hall doors, roaring: “If you have any courage, bring the heir out to meet that child! Without seeing the heir’s face, we will never cease fighting!”

There was silence from inside the hall. After a moment, a voice emerged: “Send some tea, good tea.”

As if they hadn’t heard what the officer was shouting.

Perhaps they heard but didn’t understand.

The officer’s face turned red. These petty thieves listened to neither good words nor bad, completely intransigent, seemingly determined to keep the heir cooped up here for a lifetime.

They wanted food and drink, and even reminded them not to use poison or drugs.

“This old man grew up playing with poisons and drugs.”

“Besides, whatever it is, we’ll have your heir taste it first.”

The officer swallowed his anger, closed his eyes briefly, and shouted to his guards: “Send good tea.”

The guards immediately prepared tea—they had become quite practiced at this over the past few days.

“Sir, must we continue to wait?” a deputy commander asked in a low voice.

The officer’s face was grim. “His Highness has already said, be patient.”

As soon as the incident occurred, they had sent word to Zhongshan Commandery, and the Prince of Zhongshan had quickly replied, saying that all this was the Empress’s trick, that the Empress was now trapped in the Prince of Zhongshan’s mansion, and telling everyone to be patient and defend without attacking.

“We could defend before,” the deputy commander said urgently, “but now the young Emperor has come personally!”

The officer gritted his teeth, his anger rising again. Despite the favorable situation, they were disrupted by a gang of petty thieves. How infuriating!

“What does it matter if the young Emperor has come? Their troops are evenly matched with ours—”

Before he could finish, another messenger came rushing in. “Report—”

The messenger almost fell to his knees, his body covered in bloodstains, clearly having fought his way through with difficulty.

“The rear has been ambushed, not by court troops,” the messenger reported, gasping for breath.

Ambushed? Not court troops? The officer was momentarily stunned, then laughed coldly. “Well done, the Xie family, raising private troops.”

There had been no ambush before, but as soon as Xie Yanfang arrived, there was an ambush. Besides the men he brought, who else could it be!

“They accuse our lord and heir of rebellion, but look at what kind of people the court has,” the officer sneered. “An Empress keeps petty thieves, a royal uncle hides private troops—whose rebellion is still uncertain.”

The reasoning wasn’t wrong, but now—the deputy commander smiled bitterly. “Sir, let’s not talk about this. The common people only recognize the Emperor.”

Whatever the Emperor’s wife or the Emperor’s uncle did was considered righteous.

“Let’s quickly think about what we should do.”

The officer laughed coldly. “What if Xie Yanfang has private troops? Hiding them until now, thinking to stop us—it won’t be so easy! Our lord has been building strength for decades; how could he fear him? As for the heir—” He glanced at the hall, thinking of their lord’s words to be patient—

If a father could be patient and calm, what did they have to fear?

It wasn’t as if the thirty thousand vanguard troops, seventy thousand rear defense troops, and a hundred thousand main forces had been captured—just the heir.

Though it was the heir who had led the troops here, the real military authority was in the hands of their lord.

Did these petty thieves think they could stop the war by capturing the heir? They had only trapped themselves, unable to kill him, unable to escape.

They might hold the heir for ten days, twenty days, three months, but could they hide away with the heir for a year or two?

With the heir captured, this war could still be fought!

As long as they killed that young Emperor, who could still stand against the Prince of Zhongshan!

“Beat the drums—engage in battle—” the officer ordered. As the deputy commanders were about to carry out the orders, the officer called them back with a ferocious smile. “Also, drive the city’s commoners out to welcome the Emperor. Those prestigious noble families, let them see if the young Emperor has compassion for all living beings.”

The deputy commanders understood and clapped their hands. “Good, good, good. Consider it our welcoming gift to the young Emperor.”

With that, they laughed heartily, their laughter making the faces of the noble families huddled in the corridor corners turn ashen—earlier they had regretted coming here to die, but now it seemed they would die even if they hadn’t come.

When war breaks out and the realm is contested, whether nobles or common people, all are mere ants.

How bitter!

…

…

Cries and shouts filled the spring sky.

Due to several battles, the young grass sprouting on the roads and fields had been trampled flat. With chaotic footsteps, dust filled the air, as if it would blot out the sun and sky.

If only it really could blot out the sun and sky, then everyone wouldn’t have to see these people—old and young, men and women, commoners and silk-robed nobles.

Regardless of their status, they were now rushing toward the capital troops’ position. Some ran quickly, some slowly, some fell, some crawled, all shouting the same words.

“Your Majesty, save us—”

Even the weakest voice, when shouted by so many people, rolled like thunder.

Shield-bearing soldiers blocked the view ahead, but they couldn’t block the sound.

Xie Yanfang reached out to cover Xiao Yu’s ears.

“Uncle,” Xiao Yu raised his head from Xie Yanfang’s embrace. His eyes, previously excited and thrilled, now flickered with fear and unease. “Those common people, what should we do?”

All along the journey, people had kowtowed to him, grateful that he was saving their lives, but he knew he hadn’t saved them from anything.

Now more people were desperately calling for him to save them, but not only could he not save them, he would have to kill them.

“Your Majesty, don’t look at them,” Xie Yanfang said softly, helping Xiao Yu stand on the horse’s back. “Look beyond them.”

Beyond the layers of troops, beyond the commoners running across the wilderness, one could see a wall of troops like iron, moving slowly, following far behind these people, their weapons gleaming in the sunlight.

“This is military strategy, a tactic. They are using these people as shields, as assault vehicles, to attack for them and to disrupt our battle formation—” Xie Yanfang’s voice sounded in Xiao Yu’s ears.

Xiao Yu could see that the troops ahead had prepared for battle, but because of these people, there was some agitation. The archers couldn’t shoot their arrows, the shield formation was slightly disrupted, and the drummers and flag bearers were repeatedly shouting, “Civilians make way, civilians make way, quickly make way—”

The people wanted to make way too. Many ran to the sides, but the Prince of Zhongshan’s troops behind them were like shepherds—once someone didn’t move within their designated area, arrows immediately flew, and those who tried to escape fell to the ground, dead—

To escape was death, but not escaping might still mean life. After all, over there was His Majesty, their sovereign, come to save them!

Driven by their survival instinct, the people rushed more urgently toward this side.

“A little closer, and they’ll be within both sides’ firing range,” Xie Yanfang said softly. “A-Yu, I’m going to kill people.”

He was a child who had experienced life and death. He knew what death meant. He was also a child who had just experienced the people’s reverence, admiration, and cheers. In the blink of an eye, he would have to kill these people who revered, admired, and called to him for salvation—Xiao Yu stood on the horse’s back, trembling all over, his voice murmuring: “No—”

Qi Gonggong, beside them, couldn’t bear to look. “Minister Xie, quickly put His Majesty down! Don’t let him see!”

It was too cruel.

“No, he must see. A-Yu!” Xie Yanfang raised his voice again. “Look further back—”

Xiao Yu tremblingly looked back.

“There are more people behind, waiting for your protection. If we don’t kill these people, more will die,” Xie Yanfang said sternly.

Xiao Yu looked at those behind, thought of the people who had cheered for him joyfully along the way, and gradually stopped trembling.

Xie Yanfang held him in his arms, his voice returning to gentleness.

“A-Yu, killing people is also saving people,” he said. “You are the Emperor of Da Xia, the Son of Heaven for all people. You must look forward, look back, but not just look at what’s before your eyes.”

To forge an Emperor, there was no more suitable setting than facing the cruelty of war.

An Emperor should be heartless, or if he has a heart, it should be as hard as iron, able to see joy in sorrow, sorrow in joy, with unpredictable emotions, undefined gratitude and resentment, and inscrutable good and evil.

This is what makes an Emperor.

This is also what makes a scion of the Xie family.

This time, he would use the Prince of Zhongshan to train an Emperor of the Xie family.

“A-Yu, uncle will lead you to kill the traitors, protect the people, and make offerings to the deceased,” Xie Yanfang said, raising his long sword.

Leaning in his embrace, Xiao Yu slowly nodded.

A faint smile appeared at the corner of Xie Yanfang’s mouth as he swung down his sword.

War drums thundered in unison.