The soldiers around them sensed something and instinctively moved further away.

After a long while, Xiao Xueya said in a cold, low voice: “I didn’t know that the Heir of Liaodong not only has the scheming mind of an abyss, but also such a clever tongue—not much different from those palace eunuchs.”

He continued: “But while Your Lordship critiques others so readily, what about yourself?”

“Me?” Murong Yi laughed, completely unfazed by his mockery. “Do you think your circumstances are similar to mine? No, no, no—you’re far worse off than me, and your family is far worse than mine. The Xiao family only dares to scheme like mice behind the scenes, while my father actually crossed swords with the Crown Princess in open conflict. The Xiao family only dares to send letters from behind, urging you to strike against the Crown Princess, but my father directly put a blade in my hands—if I didn’t kill the Crown Princess, I would die.”

Xiao Xueya stared at him coldly.

“You can go inquire about what happened afterward,” Murong Yi said with a smile. “Grand Marshal, I actually know you’re not as narrow-minded and selfish as I described, but you’ve always lacked sufficient trust in the Crown Princess. Because of this lack of trust, you overthink and hesitate, unwilling to submit, wanting to keep all initiative in your own hands. But after dealing with the Crown Princess twice, what kind of person she truly is, whether she deserves your submission—you should already understand this in your heart. If you understand what kind of person she is, do you really think those arrogant thoughts of yours can continue?”

Xiao Xueya remained motionless, not even glancing at him, but the hand resting on the railing showed slightly protruding veins.

“She’s not afraid of you—she just doesn’t want to waste more state funds dealing with you. I don’t care about you either—I just don’t want her to have to worry about handling you in the future. She’s already busy enough.” Murong Yi flicked his fingers, tossing the burnt cigarette butt far into the river.

After finishing one, he reached for a second. Xiao Xueya, already bothered by the smell and even more agitated by these words, was about to tell him to get lost when a hand suddenly reached over and deftly plucked away the cigarette. Tie Ci’s voice sounded very calm as she said: “How is it? Does it taste good?”

Murong Yi smiled: “Quite refreshing, but you shouldn’t smoke this stuff—it’s too harsh and probably bad for your health.”

“So you do know,” Tie Ci smiled amiably. “This stuff isn’t just ordinarily harmful to your health. Smoke too much and your teeth turn black, your fingernails turn yellow, your whole lungs turn black. When you’re old, you’ll start coughing before you even get out of bed in the morning, and you won’t stop until you cough up a huge glob of yellow phlegm. Wherever you go, you’ll be coughing; wherever you go, you’ll be spitting…”

Xiao Xueya, with his severe cleanliness obsession, felt terrible all over.

Why did Her Highness have to describe it so vividly!

Murong Yi’s focus was different: “Will you take care of me then?”

Tie Ci said coldly and ruthlessly: “Mu Si probably won’t mind you, right? If not, Zhao San can surely tolerate it.”

She held out her palm to him. Murong Yi sighed and muttered: “It really is quite invigorating.”

He slowly pulled one from his sleeve and placed it in Tie Ci’s palm.

Tie Ci didn’t withdraw her hand, tilting her chin up: “Hmm?”

Murong Yi had no choice but to keep searching.

Sleeve pockets, chest, belt… he pulled out one after another, as if his body contained a treasure bag.

Tie Ci’s hand soon held a small pile.

Xiao Xueya stood to the side watching, suddenly feeling a bit dazed.

This scene—why did it look so much like a wife searching her husband for hidden pocket money…

With this thought, he immediately felt uncomfortable all over and stepped back, turning his face away.

From the corner of his eye, he could still see that even though Murong Yi had clearly searched all the places on his body he could reach, Tie Ci’s hand remained outstretched.

Murong Yi: “There’s none left, really none!” He even shook out his sleeve pockets and such for Tie Ci to see—they were indeed all empty.

Tie Ci ignored him.

Murong Yi, helpless, bit by bit actually managed to produce one more, then two more, then three more…

Xiao Xueya was amazed.

So this was the kind of rogue the Crown Princess liked.

Murong Yi sighed loudly: “Like this, I’ll never be able to hide pocket money again in the future!”

Tie Ci threw a small pig at him and told him to hurry back to quarantine.

Murong Yi caught the pig and, without even glancing at Xiao Xueya, actually walked away.

Xiao Xueya watched his carefree and leisurely retreating figure, then looked at Tie Ci throwing those tobacco sticks one by one into the water. His gaze fell on Tie Ci’s snow-white fingers that appeared almost transparent in the sunlight, and he turned his eyes away.

After Tie Ci finished throwing the cigarettes, she turned to Xiao Xueya and said: “The position of Magistrate of Xizhou will be temporarily filled by the former Southwest Suppression Commissioner. The Assistant Magistrate of the magistrate’s office has reportedly gone to Pingyun Prefecture in Huangzhou to congratulate the local Prefect on his birthday, so we’ll leave that position alone for now and discuss it when he returns. As for the military ships that attacked us and the captured soldiers, please have the Grand Manager arrange elite troops to escort them to the Procuratorate of Qianzhou for interrogation and handling. All water patrol inspectors along the Fuguang River, and officers above the rank of Chiliarch in the local garrison commands, are to immediately remove their armor and seal their offices, and report to the Procuratorate for investigation…”

She discussed with Xiao Xueya various changes in the official circles of not only Xizhou but also Qianzhou. Xiao Xueya listened intently, knowing that after this incident, the official circles of Qianzhou would inevitably undergo major changes. However, Her Highness’s actions seemed to have the suspicion of alerting the enemy. With such events occurring in Qianzhou territory, one should either suppress them quietly for stability and deal with them fully after resolving the Yannan situation to avoid fighting on two fronts, or strike like lightning while the enemy hadn’t reacted yet, capturing them all in one net. The current approach of arresting people but handing them over to the Procuratorate—what if there were connections there? Wouldn’t it be like the left hand giving to the right hand?

Tie Ci naturally saw the meaning in his eyes and thought that this Grand Marshal wasn’t just good at warfare. However, since Xiao Xueya was still a member of the Xiao family and still commanded troops, she naturally couldn’t reveal all her thoughts to him. Only when he came around would she grant him her trust.

The official circles of Qianzhou were probably ninety percent problematic, but the Regional Military Commission controlled the troops, so any trouble would necessarily start with the military. She was pulling the rug out from under them by throwing the major treason case of assassinating the Crown Heir to Qianzhou, using this opportunity to trap all the mid-level military officers of Qianzhou in the Procuratorate. The Regional Military Commission and Procuratorate would inevitably have to negotiate, and the Provincial Administration Commission would also be inevitably drawn in. So no matter who among them was connected to Yannan, they couldn’t break free now and couldn’t help Yannan.

She would send the accompanying Left Assistant of the Eastern Palace to oversee the Procuratorate. This Left Assistant wasn’t high-ranking, but he was a twice-successful examination graduate who had observed politics in the Six Ministries and had been in the Hanlin Academy. He had cultivated worldly wisdom and understood both civil and military ways. With him in charge, he represented her, and no one would dare to openly collude or perfunctorily handle things. He could openly preside over the overall situation while secretly fanning the flames, enough to keep Qianzhou’s official circles in turmoil for several months, too busy to care for themselves.

By the time that group finished their infighting, her side should be almost done, and then she could turn around and clean up Qianzhou’s official circles, removing those who needed removing and placing those who needed placing, completely taking this crucial Qian region—the most important route to Yannan—into her own hands. Moreover, if Yannan affairs stabilized by then, Yannan’s official circles would inevitably need reorganization and replacement, making adjustments between the two regions much more flexible.

But before that, she wanted to take advantage of this opportunity to get Qianzhou’s military into her hands.

When the Crown Princess traveled on inspection, she had the right to deploy troops in emergency situations, but this was limited to the garrison forces of one province. If she wanted to deploy garrisons from three or more provinces, she would first have to send documents to the Regional Military Commission, which would then issue deployment orders—by the time this back-and-forth was completed, any opportunity would be long gone.

Tie Ci glanced at Xiao Xueya and finally said: “The Nanyue naval forces came here both for training and for garrison rotation. You might as well select suitable officers and bring your own men to temporarily take over the defense duties of the various water patrol inspectorates, so we can also sweep up all the water bandits on the Fuguang River in one net.”

A flash of astonishment passed through Xiao Xueya’s eyes.

What did the Crown Princess mean by this?

Using Qi Lingyuan’s case as a pretext, she had taken control of all the naval and land military officers in Qianzhou without regard for anything else, and would naturally want to seize Qianzhou’s naval military authority afterward, controlling Qianzhou’s waterways to stabilize her rear. But if that was the case, she should arrange her own people. Yet she was entrusting it to him instead. Wasn’t she afraid that he would take control of Qianzhou’s water and land forces, seize Qianzhou’s military authority, and thereby trap her in Yannan, preventing her from ever returning to Da Qian?

But Tie Ci acted as if she hadn’t given it any thought, smiling at him as if speaking to one of her trusted subordinates: “I’ll have to trouble the Grand Manager with what comes after.”

She turned and walked away, leaving Xiao Xueya standing alone in the wind.

Let him think it through slowly on his own.

Tie Ci had no worries.

Xiao Xueya probably didn’t understand himself as well as she understood him. This extremely proud type of person would only feel insulted by suspicion, becoming more alienated. Instead, giving him trust as vast as mountains and seas would make his inner principles and self-respect draw a line for him that he would never cross, no matter what.

Whether he wanted it or not, she had thrown it to him, and he would definitely do it well.

As he did it, he would become her person.

After that, trying to break away again would be easier said than done.

Tie Ci smiled with gracious nobility, her face completely open, while her belly full of scheming calculations would never leak the slightest bit.

Xiao Xueya called out to stop her, but asked a question unrelated to himself: “This minister has a question to ask Your Highness. Why did you ultimately choose the Southwest Suppression Commissioner? Was it because he’s under the Rong family?”

Imperial statecraft lies in balance; to deal with the Xiao family, elevating the Rong family would be necessary.

Tie Ci smiled, understanding his meaning. This was just conventional thinking.

But emperors who became obsessed with playing balance games among their ministers were actually incompetent emperors. Various schemes of manipulation, provocation, and making subordinates compete against each other would ultimately cause internal strife and prevent talents from being used to their full potential. And a court full of factional struggles and trapped in internal conflicts would be of no benefit to national strength or people’s livelihood.

Truly powerful emperors didn’t rely on schemes, but on making the best use of their subordinates’ talents, having sufficient authority and control, and the ability to solve problems.

This required the emperor to have both civil and military achievements, care for the state and society, far-sighted vision, and broad-minded tolerance.

She smiled: “No, I don’t care about those things. Who belongs to whose faction, who bears whose label—before they do anything harmful to the court and national interests, they are all my ministers, and I treat them equally. If I had various concerns just because of who has relationships with whom, disregarding their ten years of cold study and half a lifetime of hard work and achievements, then I would eventually have no one to use. If they ultimately cause problems due to factional struggles and power competitions, there are state laws and heavenly authority to deal with them.”

Xiao Xueya’s usually iceberg-like expression showed slight emotion.

He had seen countless power-lovers and power-players, heard various struggles and schemes in the power arena, but had never seen such openness and broad vision.

This was the true mindset and vision of an emperor, not swayed by external things, seeing heaven, earth, sun, moon, and human hearts.

“This time in appointing the new magistrate, time was short, so I had people collect their daily trivial information. The Southwest Suppression Commissioner has a somewhat inflexible personality and doesn’t like socializing with people—others generally don’t think highly of him. But digging deeper, we learn he’s a filial son who brought his mother to his post. He carried his mother, who wanted to see mountains and rivers, to visit all the famous mountains and great rivers of the Southwest, collecting local customs and people’s conditions while writing books and caring for his old mother, handling everything personally. He didn’t become dejected because he was sidelined, nor did he scramble around trying to secure a lucrative position. He did what he could within his power while also caring for his family and benefiting future generations. He’s clearly someone with firm resolve who can adapt to circumstances, acts flexibly with his own ideas, and is familiar with Southwest conditions—couldn’t be more suitable.”

“As for the Water Transport Director, he’s reasonably clean—it’s indeed rare not to exploit people heavily in such a lucrative position. But the Fuguang River has had rampant water bandits for years without proper cleaning up, which shows this person is timid and cowardly by nature. Now with Qianzhou changes imminent and Xizhou being so close to Yannan and extremely important, such a person cannot shoulder the heavy responsibility of being the father and mother official of such an important water and land thoroughfare.”

“As for that garrison Pacification Commissioner, my people haven’t had time to get more information about him, but when I went to see them, this person was obviously a flexible character, very good at reading the mood. Between the lines, he was subtly expressing loyalty, and he apparently saw that I might replace Qianzhou officials later—he seemed quite eager to try. Logically, we should use such a clever person… Grand Manager, can you guess why I didn’t use him?”

Xiao Xueya was silent for a while, then said: “Being too clever and flexible means lacking firm resolve, and he’s very likely to sway with the wind. Otherwise, when many troops near Xizhou were involved in this fire ship incident, why were his subordinates’ hands so clean? Was it really because of his loyalty to the court? Looking at his character, he doesn’t seem to be such an honest and straightforward person, so it’s worth pondering.”

Tie Ci beamed: “The Grand Manager appears aloof and disdainful, but unexpectedly reads people so sharply. That’s exactly the reasoning. Qianzhou changes are about to begin from Xizhou, and at this time, Xizhou can’t afford to use such a fence-sitter. Otherwise, at the first sign of trouble, he’ll slip away—how can I safely return to the capital in the future?”

Xiao Xueya said nothing more and silently performed a bow.

No need to ask more—he had seen what he wanted to see.

Tie Ci casually waved her hand, saying she would send these officials away and continue the journey, then went to busy herself with her own affairs.

She left Xiao Xueya at the bow, gazing at the rippling river water in silence.

The thin ice left by last night’s blue-clothed person had already melted. The river water looked the same year after year, waves surging and washing, the mast tips of the ships arranged in a line piercing toward the clouds.

Xiao Xueya slowly drew a stack of letters from his sleeve—the snow-wave paper bore ink marks from old to new, emanating a faint ink fragrance between his fingers.

A deputy general who had followed him for many years approached, wanting to ask what the Crown Princess had said and why the Grand Marshal seemed to be in a poor mood.

But he was immediately startled.

Xiao Xueya loosened his fingers, and that stack of papers suddenly scattered and fell into the river.

They immediately became soaked, the ink bleeding, then slowly sank.

The deputy general was also from a family affiliated with the Xiao family and knew all of Xiao Xueya’s affairs. Watching those letters disappear into the vast river in an instant, he vaguely understood something and turned pale with shock.

But Xiao Xueya raised his head, looking toward the sun that was half-covered by layers of clouds.

These clouds would eventually scatter, this sky would eventually clear, and above this firmament there was only one sun and moon—nothing could steal their radiance.

And he could only be an upright and honorable person walking beneath the sun and moon.

…

Tie Ci requisitioned another of Xiao Xueya’s ships as her own vessel. Murong Yi still lived next to her, with a hole cut in the partition wall for communication.

When Tie Ci entered, she smelled the aroma of food. Murong Yi’s voice came from next door, carrying laughter: “Celebrating Your Highness’s success.”

A wooden board was set across the hole opening, with a tray placed on it holding several small dishes and two wine pots—one pot per person, with wine already poured in sweet white porcelain cups.

Tie Ci smelled the wine’s fragrance and smiled: “Wanshi Xiang.”

Only Murong Yi could drink this priceless famous wine like a beverage.

She thought of Xiao Xueya and, thinking to strike while the iron was hot, wanted to call Dan Shuang and Chi Xue to send a pot of wine to Xiao Xueya. But when she went out, she didn’t see either of them. She happened to see Wan Ji passing by, so she called him over, handed him a pot of wine along with two plates of small dishes, and asked him to deliver them to Xiao Xueya.

Wan Ji was a flexible person. Previously, Xiao Xueya had maintained a distant attitude toward Tie Ci, and Tie Ci had never given him food before. This gesture now clearly indicated their relationship had progressed further, so he was very happy to carry the items away.

Tie Ci picked up her wine cup and toasted Murong Yi: “Thank you for your help.”

Murong Yi’s eyes sparkled with laughter as he wore thick gloves and clinked cups with her.

The winning over of Xiao Xueya could be said to have begun from their first meeting.

Even with her eyes closed, Tie Ci could guess that the Xiao family had great expectations for Xiao Xueya.

The Xiao family brought Xiao Xueya here intending to keep her forever in Yannan; and she was using this opportunity to pull Xiao Xueya to her side.

However, although Xiao Xueya was proud and upright, he was still a member of the Xiao family—a famous general who had received the Xiao family’s full support and cultivation. When the Xiao family was prosperous, he would completely ignore them and refuse to go along with their schemes, but once the Xiao family became weak and fell into crisis, he couldn’t just watch his family members fall into dust, nor would he be willing to forget their kindness.

Marshal Xue was like snow, but not truly without emotion.

So this was her silent contest with the Xiao family across mountains and seas.

Xiao Xueya’s choice was the battlefield.

The question was whether family affection and gratitude would prevail, or whether righteousness and loyalty would remain forever in his heart.

Before that, she had to let Xiao Xueya see Tie Ci’s capability and sincerity.

For someone like Xiao Xueya, purely showing goodwill or purely being forceful would both be ineffective.

Showing goodwill would make him look down on her; being forceful would make him resist.

So she took him to tour the slums, openly pointed out his problems without avoidance, showed him how much the people suffered and how military campaigns harmed the nation’s foundation. She didn’t randomly make promises to fulfill his dreams just because she needed him, but wanted him to open his stubborn perspective and understand that all struggles ultimately hurt innocent common people.

Her suggestion helped his ships avoid losses from fire attacks—this was a favor, demonstrating her insight and ability.

At this point, he should have some wavering. Murong Yi appeared at the right time, using their similar circumstances to remind Xiao Xueya of his inner uncertainty and provoke his competitive spirit.

Then Tie Ci stepped forward to grant him enormous trust, letting him see her breadth of mind, openness, and maturity.

Tie Ci believed that throughout this journey so far, everything had fallen into place.

She smiled and raised her palm: “High five!”