As Xiao Xun departed, a crowd of officials and soldiers followed with a rush.

Xiaoman looked at the courtyard, now left with only their people, and abandoned the lady-in-waiting posture she had learned from the palace. She put her hands on her hips and smiled: “Xiaotu, Grandma, you all did well this time! Auntie said there will be rewards!”

Laughter erupted among their people in the courtyard.

Only then did Chu Tang peek out from the hall: “Xiaotu, is it safe now?”

Xiaotu turned and laughed: “Sister A-Tang, come out! It’s been safe for a while.”

What safety? There were many of the Prince of Zhongshan’s people in the courtyard just now. If she had come out and been captured for revenge, her life was fragile and couldn’t withstand such a risk.

Only after confirming that none of the Prince of Zhongshan’s people remained did Chu Tang come out with her parents, but Chu Lan refused to come out, lying on the ground pretending to be ill.

“Lord Chu, please get up quickly, there’s still important business for you to do,” Xiaoman said.

Hearing this, Chu Lan simply decided to faint completely. More important business? How many lives did he have to endure such—

“—The Empress said that you need to personally escort the Crown Prince of Zhongshan back to the capital. This way, everyone will know that it was you who, regardless of reputation, risked your life to capture the Crown Prince of Zhongshan,” Xiaoman continued outside.

Before she finished speaking, Chu Lan, lying on the ground, opened his eyes, his spirit instantly clear.

He knew what this meant—

“—Lying there like that, how will you enter the capital in glory, with all the people gazing upon you? How will the court bestow rewards on you?”

Chu Lan got up, not even waiting for Madam Jiang to help him.

He straightened his clothes.

“My lord, are we going?” Madam Jiang asked. With all these ups and downs, was this real or fake?

“Of course it’s real. How could it not be?” Chu Lan said. “This is what we’ve exchanged with our lives, truly and certainly.”

Chu Tang smiled sweetly, supporting Madam Jiang: “Father, remember to ask for more rewards.”

After all, she had given up the position of Empress.

……

……

When Xiao Xun came to see the Emperor, Xiao Yu was still on the battlefield.

The Prince of Zhongshan’s troops had been disarmed, reorganized, and placed under guard. The surviving civilians in the city had been released. Seeing the tragic state of the dead, they felt both fortunate and sorrowful. If the fighting had continued, they would have been the next batch of sacrificial lambs.

The grieving civilians saw a child in yellow robes walking among the wounded and the dead, helping to bandage wounds, picking up orphans who had lost their parents—he was only a few years older than those orphans.

“Your Majesty, thankfully Your Majesty is here—” The civilians knelt and wept loudly.

Troops came from a distance, shouting, “The Crown Prince of Zhongshan has been brought bound!”

Countless eyes looked over.

A young man was being escorted forward, bound tightly. Before coming close, he knelt and said loudly: “Xiao Xun, acted on impulse, quarreled with court officials, was insolent and unruly, committed a grave error, and deserves death a thousand times over.”

After speaking, he kowtowed.

The Prince of Zhongshan had admitted guilt, but the guilt admitted was Xiao Xun’s “conflict” with the imperial edict ministers—acting on impulse, being insolent and unruly. The intention of forcing the Emperor’s hand was thus concealed.

“Crown Prince, remember,” this was the instruction from the Prince of Zhongshan’s trusted messenger just now. “We have stopped fighting, but the court cannot harm or punish you.”

Ning Kun stood by, gritting his teeth: “The Empress threatened the Prince with the Crown Prince’s life. The Prince had no choice but to—”

Xiao Xun didn’t ask any more questions, just nodded in agreement. When he saw the young Emperor, he knelt promptly and decisively.

Xiao Yu looked at the person kneeling not far away. He didn’t recognize this uncle, perhaps having seen him once or twice when he was younger, but had no impression at all.

But he knew that on that night at the Chu residence, it was this person who came to kill him.

Looking at this enemy now so close, and hearing the light accusation of “acting on impulse,” Xiao Yu showed neither grief nor anger, his expression calm.

Earlier, Old Bai had conveyed Sister Chu’s words: to avoid greater casualties, the court would now also take a step back, downplaying this matter and temporarily not pursuing the Prince of Zhongshan and his son for the crime of rebellion.

Whatever Sister Chu said was right. Sister Chu had also told him one thing—

Xiao Yu put down the orphan he was holding and said: “Xiao Xun, you don’t need to kneel to me, nor do you need to admit your guilt to me. You should kneel to these civilians who died in suffering. You should admit your guilt to them.”

Upon hearing these words, the civilians erupted in overwhelming cries.

“That’s right, it was all his fault—”

“My son, you died so tragically! When you heard that the Crown Prince of Zhongshan was protecting the capital, you ran to join the army, only to die under their horses’ hooves.”

“Cursed Crown Prince of Zhongshan!”

Amidst the cursing and crying, a civilian who had lost loved ones, filled with hatred, grabbed dirt and stones from the ground and threw them. Then more people began to throw things.

Xiao Xun knelt on the ground without moving, allowing the dirt, stones, and shoes to hit his body and face.

……

……

The city was brightly lit in the deep of night, with troops camped outside like a river of stars.

The battlefield had been cleaned up, the corpses were no longer visible, and the wounded had been settled in the city. But walking among them, one could still smell the scent of blood.

Xie Yanfang stood still, looking down at the ground. Despite being trampled and buried, a small blade of grass had managed to grow back, twisted and bent.

“Winter has finally passed,” he said softly.

Beside him, Cai Bo’s face was colder than winter: “Deng Yi must have a death wish!”

He held a scroll in his hand, imperial yellow with dragon patterns, but the next moment he threw the scroll to the ground. The twisted little blade of grass was immediately crushed out of sight.

“The Prince of Zhongshan failed in disciplining his son, Crown Prince Xiao Xun was domineering, defied authority, disobeyed orders, and disrupted our dynasty.”

He read out the contents of the imperial edict word by word: “These few sentences still sound like human speech, but what follows—”

“Considering that the Prince of Zhongshan has provided ten thousand troops to the court for warfare, and has sent his son to the capital for discipline, knowing his mistakes and being able to change them—there is no greater good. He is hereby specially promoted to Prince Protector of the Nation, praying for Great Xia’s eternal stability and the people’s well-being.”

“Deng Yi, how dare he draft such an imperial edict!”

Xie Yanfang lowered his head to look at the edict and suddenly asked: “Did the Empress write to him?”

Cai Bo was stunned for a moment—they were currently discussing Deng Yi’s edict—

Of course, the timing of Deng Yi’s edict was too coincidental. It was negotiated with the Prince of Zhongshan, while the Prince of Zhongshan was being surrounded by the Empress, or rather, while the Empress was sitting in the Prince of Zhongshan’s residence after going there alone.

This matter, at its root, still involved the Empress.

“There were no letters from the Empress in the postal reports,” Cai Bo said coldly. “However, the Empress has people under her control that we don’t manage.”

So the Empress, though at the border, was clear about the movements in the capital and court, which is why Chu Lan’s family could escape and she could capture the Crown Prince of Zhongshan.

The Prince of Zhongshan and his son suddenly admitting guilt, Deng Yi suddenly sending such an edict—this must be—

“The Empress and Deng Yi colluded and planned this together,” Cai Bo continued.

Xie Yanfang interrupted him, sighing lightly: “The Empress didn’t even write to me, didn’t collude or plan with me.”

Cai Bo was stunned again, then angrily said: “Young Master, what are you thinking? What courage would she have to write to the Third Young Master! She only dares to avoid the Third Young Master, secretly making deals with Deng Yi, ruining Young Master’s plans.”

The more he spoke, the more hateful he became. Deng Yi, Chu Zhao—these two villains! Vile! Shameless!

“They have made the court a laughingstock!”

Xie Yanfang smiled, comforting Cai Bo: “This isn’t a laughingstock, it’s just a transaction.”

He reached down to pick up the edict, gently propping up the flattened grass, and then stepped forward.

When Xiao Xun knelt at the front—no, should say, from the moment the Prince of Zhongshan’s troops began to retreat—he knew.

That girl had succeeded.

She had completed her deals with both the Prince of Zhongshan and Deng Yi.

Cai Bo’s angry voice echoed in his ears:

“Using the court, using Great Xia to make deals with the Prince of Zhongshan—what right do they have!”

“Deng Yi has many supporters and relies on having the imperial seal. He forcibly issued an imperial edict.”

“Young Master, if he wrote it and sent it, we can also make it disappear from this world!”

Although the edict had left the court, it hadn’t been officially read at the front—it had been intercepted halfway by the Xie family’s people.

Not only intercepted, but it could be made to disappear completely, as if it had never existed.

Did they think that with the Xie family not in court, Deng Yi was omnipotent?

Hearing this, Xie Yanfang, who seemed distracted, stopped and looked at the edict in his hand.

Cai Bo reached out: “I’ll burn it!”

Xie Yanfang raised his hand, avoiding Cai Bo’s grasp. In the night, a smile appeared on his face.

Cai Bo was somewhat helpless: “Young Master, don’t jest.”

Xie Yanfang smiled and said: “Cai Bo, don’t jest. We can intercept the edict, burn the edict, but we can’t stop this matter.”

Cai Bo’s face darkened.

“The root of this matter is not the edict,” Xie Yanfang said, waving the edict in his hand. “It is… authority.”

Deng Yi, as the Grand Tutor, entrusted by the late Emperor, holding the imperial seal as regent, no matter how villainous or shameless he was, with authority, he could do this.

No matter how absurd this matter was.

Chu Zhao was the same.

She was young, had lost her father, had a thin family background, but she was the Empress appointed by the late Emperor, the Mother of Great Xia. She had the power to make deals using the Great Xia.

Authority—the more it’s used, the better one becomes at using it.

Xie Yanfang looked toward the northwest: “See how well Lady A-Zhao used it this time.”

Authority—the more it’s used, the more powerful it becomes.

In this battle, he, Xie Yanfang, gained a resounding reputation.

In this non-battle, Empress Chu gained a resounding reputation.

Xie Yanfang lowered his eyes to look at the edict again, called out “Du Qi,” and tossed it.

Du Qi, hidden in the night, reached out and caught it.

“Announce it to the world,” Xie Yanfang said.