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

Prince Zhongshan held a letter in his hand and looked at Chu Zhao.

Although Chu Zhao held no letter, a narrow strip of paper lay on the table beside her.

Prince Zhongshan knew that what he knew, Chu Zhao also knew—and moreover, she had learned it before him.

This wasn’t the first time either. Prince Zhongshan had initially ordered searches and strict precautions everywhere, but now he couldn’t be bothered—Chu Zhao had come prepared with contingencies. There was no preventing it, so better not to try.

“The Emperor’s personal campaign is praised by all the people, with momentum like a rainbow,” Prince Zhongshan said, tossing the letter in his hand onto the table. “Unstoppable. How could Minister Xie give up?”

He looked at Chu Zhao.

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

He shook his head as he spoke.

“Therefore, this Prince finds it regrettable. Empress Chu, this choice of yours is truly unwise. If you had chosen this Prince, at least we would be two people.”

Chu Zhao smiled: “Not choosing Your Highness, this palace is not alone either. In today’s world, this palace can still have a say.”

She pointed at the table.

“Order it immediately, right now. Otherwise, Your Highness and the heir won’t live to see with their own eyes how His Majesty is praised by all with momentum like a rainbow.”

Before His Majesty’s momentum-like-a-rainbow campaign, she would kill the father and son? Prince Zhongshan laughed coldly: “The Empress should worry about herself. You will die earlier than us.”

Chu Zhao paid no attention to the threat, placing the brush in Prince Zhongshan’s hand: “Let’s all strive to stay alive. Living a life is not easy. Your Highness, it’s been even less easy for you—suffering so much, losing your legs at such a young age, abandoned and ignored by your own father emperor—dying at the hands of me, a mere girl, could you die with your eyes closed?”

Prince Zhongshan laughed in exasperation, looking at this girl. Was this what they called the barefoot having nothing to fear?

“Fine,” he said, taking the brush. “This Prince will wait to see whether the Empress can die with her eyes closed in the future.”

……

……

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

Troops galloped through the streets day and night without cease.

“My lord—Xie Yanfang has already broken through the vanguard positions—he’s coming this way—”

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

“Shut your mouth,” the commander said in a low, harsh voice. “Tell them to hold their positions.”

The guard clutched his leg: “My lord, the heir must show himself, otherwise morale is unstable. These past few days there have already been rumors—”

The commander glared angrily: “Anyone who disrupts military morale—execute them!”

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

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

The government office where the heir was held was surrounded by troops like an iron barrel. Even birds occasionally flying overhead were shot down.

But the generals and soldiers guarding the courtyard were as restless as trapped birds, pacing back and forth. After hearing the city defense commander’s whispered report, a general kicked over a chair.

The commotion startled awake the clan elders huddled in the corridor. Were they about to fight?

But looking over, they saw that the general, as before, had only rushed to the tightly closed hall door, roaring: “If you’ve got the guts, bring the heir out to see that child! Without seeing the heir’s face, we absolutely will not cease warfare!”

Inside the hall, silence. After a moment, a voice emerged: “Send some tea, good tea.”

As if they hadn’t heard what the general was shouting at all.

Perhaps they heard but didn’t understand.

The general’s face flushed red. These petty thieves and rogues—deaf to both good and bad words, impervious to reason—seemed determined to hold the heir captive here for the rest of their lives.

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 enjoy it first.”

The general swallowed his anger, closed his eyes, and shouted to the guards behind him: “Bring good tea.”

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

“My lord, are we still going to wait?” a deputy general asked quietly.

The commander’s face was grim: “The Prince said to stay calm and not be anxious.”

As soon as the incident happened, they had sent word to Zhongshan commandery. Prince Zhongshan had also quickly replied, saying this was all the Empress’s trick, that the Empress was now trapped in Prince Zhongshan’s manor, and told everyone to stay calm and guard without attacking.

“We could guard before,” the deputy general said urgently. “But now that young emperor has come in person!”

The commander gritted his teeth, his anger surging again. What should have been an excellent situation had been disrupted by a group of petty thieves and rogues. How hateful!

“So what if the young emperor has come? Their troops are evenly matched with ours—”

Before he could finish, another messenger came racing: “Report—”

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

“We’ve been ambushed from behind—it’s not court troops,” the messenger said breathlessly.

Ambushed? Not court troops? The commander was stunned, then laughed coldly: “What a Xie clan, to actually be raising private troops.”

There had been no ambushes before, but as soon as Xie Yanfang arrived, there were. Besides the forces he brought, who else could it be!

“They accuse our Prince and heir of treason—look at what kind of people the court has,” the commander mocked. “An empress keeping petty thieves and rogues, a national uncle hiding private troops—who’s really committing treason is still uncertain.”

The logic was sound, but now—the deputy general smiled bitterly: “My lord, stop talking about that. The common people only recognize the Emperor.”

Whatever the Emperor’s wife and the Emperor’s uncle did was righteous.

“We’d better think about what we’re going to do.”

The commander laughed coldly: “So what if Xie Yanfang has private troops? He’s been hiding them until now to use them to stop us—it won’t be that easy! The Prince has accumulated power for decades—how could he fear him? As for the heir—” He glanced at the hall, thinking of the Prince’s words to stay calm and not be anxious—

If the Prince, as a father, could be calm and not anxious, what did they have to fear?

The heir was captured, but it wasn’t the thirty thousand vanguard, seventy thousand rear defense, or one hundred thousand main army that were captured!

Although the heir had led the troops here, the real military authority was in the Prince’s hands.

These petty thieves and rogues wanted to use the heir to stop the war? They had only trapped themselves—unable to kill him, unable to escape.

They could hold the heir for ten days, twenty days, three months—but could they really hold the heir and cower for one or two years?

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

As long as they killed that young emperor, who could do anything to Prince Zhongshan!

“Beat the drums—prepare for battle—” the commander ordered. The deputy generals were about to acknowledge the command when the commander called them back with a savage grin. “Also, drive the city’s common people out to greet the Emperor. Those respected and prestigious clan elders—let them see whether the young emperor truly has mercy for all living beings.”

The deputy generals understood and clapped their hands: “Good, good, good! Consider it our welcoming gift to the young emperor.”

With that, the men laughed heartily. Their laughter made the faces of several clan elders huddled in the corridor corner turn ashen—earlier they had regretted running here to their deaths, but now they saw that not running here would also mean death.

When war arose and the world was contested, whether clan members or common people, all were ants.

How bitter—

……

……

Cries and shouts pierced the spring sky.

Due to several skirmishes, the sprouting green grass on the roads and fields had all been trampled away. Accompanied by chaotic footsteps, dust flew up as if to blot out the sun.

If only it really would blot out the sun—then they wouldn’t have to see these people, old and young, men and women, commoners and those in brocade robes.

Regardless of their status, at this moment they were all fleeing toward the capital army positions. Some ran fast, some ran slow, some fell, some crawled, all shouting the same words.

“Your Majesty, save us—”

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

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

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

“Uncle,” Xiao Yu raised his head from his embrace. His eyes, previously excited and animated, now flickered with fear and unease. “Those people—what do we do?”

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

Now people were urgently shouting for him to save their lives, and he not only couldn’t save them but would—kill them.

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

Past layer upon layer of military formations, past the people running across the wilderness, one could see behind them a wall of troops like iron, slowly advancing, following these people from afar, their weapons gleaming in the sunlight.

“This is military strategy, these are tactics. They’re using these people as shields, as siege equipment, to attack for them and disrupt our military formations—” Xie Yanfang’s voice sounded in Xiao Yu’s ear.

Xiao Yu could see the military formations ahead had prepared for battle, but were somewhat agitated because of these people. The crossbowmen couldn’t shoot arrows, the shield formation was slightly disordered, drummers and flag bearers shouted repeatedly: “People, make way! People, make way! Quickly make way—”

The people clearly wanted to make way too. Many ran to the sides, but Prince Zhongshan’s troops behind them were like shepherds—once anyone deviated from their designated path, arrows immediately flew over, and those who tried to escape fell dead on the ground—

Escaping meant death. Not escaping might mean survival—after all, over there was His Majesty, their sovereign, who had come to save them!

The people’s survival instinct drove them to rush toward this side even more urgently.

“A bit closer, and they’ll be within both sides’ firing range,” Xie Yanfang said quietly. “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 respect, admiration, and cheers. In the blink of an eye, he would have to kill these people who respected and admired him and shouted for him to save them—Xiao Yu stood on the horse’s back, trembling all over, his voice murmuring: “No—”

Eunuch Qi at his side couldn’t bear to watch anymore and said: “Minister Xie, quickly put His Majesty down! Don’t let him watch!”

It was too cruel.

“No, he must watch. A’Yu!” Xie Yanfang raised his voice again. “Look behind you again—”

Xiao Yu trembled as he looked back.

“Behind us are even more people waiting for you to protect them. If we don’t kill, more people will die,” Xie Yanfang said sternly.

Xiao Yu looked at the rear, thinking of the people who had cheered joyfully when they saw him along the way, and gradually stopped trembling.

Xie Yanfang drew him into his embrace, his voice returning to gentleness.

“A’Yu, killing people is also saving people,” he said. “You are Da Xia’s sovereign, the Son of Heaven to all people. You must look ahead, look behind, but don’t only look at what’s immediately before you.”

To forge a sovereign, there was no more suitable occasion than directly facing the brutality of war.

A sovereign should be heartless, or if they had a heart, it should be hard as iron. They should see sorrow and feel joy, see joy and feel sorrow—unpredictable in emotion, uncertain in favor and enmity, difficult to discern between good and evil.

This was a sovereign.

This was also a son of the Xie family.

This time, he would use Prince Zhongshan to teach a Xie family sovereign.

“A’Yu, your uncle will lead you to kill rebels, protect the living, and honor the dead,” Xie Yanfang said, raising the long blade in his hand.

Xiao Yu, leaning in his embrace, slowly nodded.

A faint smile appeared at the corner of Xie Yanfang’s mouth as he swung down the long blade in his hand.

War drums thundered in unison.