Yuwen Jie fell silent. Military authority had always been the most important matter, and throughout his reign he had been trying to consolidate power, but the ties involved were extensive and the stakes significant—not something that could be accomplished overnight.

“Where is Huo Zichong?”

“Near the gates of Yanjing.” He Chang’an frowned. “It looks like Prince Xi’s men want to advance into the capital, but with as many men as he has, at most three thousand can come through in a day. As long as we quell the situation in the palace quickly, Your Majesty can stop his forces from getting any closer to Yanjing.”

“Oh?” Yuwen Jie raised an eyebrow. “Why is the march so slow?”

Given the current situation, Yuwen Xi should surely want them to arrive as fast as possible.

He Chang’an smiled. “Prince Xi stationed his troops at the Ice Cave, did Your Majesty forget? There’s a mountain path at the mouth of the Ice Cave that winds around the mountain, only wide enough for one person at a time. Even if they ran the whole way, only about three thousand could make it out in a day.”

The emperor was struck with sudden understanding. “I hadn’t paid attention to where you positioned the troops—to think of the Ice Cave. That’s quite clever.”

Only, if that place were to be treated by Yuwen Xi as his own territory, that would also be somewhat troublesome.

“That was Consort De’s idea.” He Chang’an smiled. “She said one should never be without caution against others, and it seems she wasn’t wrong. Now, whatever major move Prince Xi wants to make, he’ll be more or less constrained.”

It was actually Hua Chun’s idea? The emperor pressed his lips together and turned his head to look at him. “When did she tell you this?”

“A long time ago.” He Chang’an paused. “Qing Niao was there too.”

I see, the emperor thought, turning back around and continuing forward. He wasn’t sure if it was his imagination, but he felt like there was still a scent of wintersweet in the air—yet He Chang’an hadn’t brought a sachet with him today.

The palace was in chaos. The emperor and He Chang’an split into two groups at a fork in the path, each leading a thousand men, moving from both sides toward the middle, disarming and taking away every guard along the way. In total they counted over eight hundred guards who looked rather honest.

Adhering to the principle of better to kill by mistake than to let one go, the emperor had them all sent back to the barracks, then had the men He Chang’an brought temporarily take over their posts.

This whole ordeal took a great deal of effort, and both the emperor and He Chang’an were kept extremely busy, with basically no time to spare.

Hua Chun and Qing Niao sat in the inner hall solemnly playing a card game. Though their hearts were still on edge, there was nothing else to do, so at least they tried to look calm.

“Halt!” A guard’s voice suddenly rang out outside the door. Hua Chun jumped, and immediately stood up to listen.

“This servant is from Huiming Hall. Her Majesty the Empress Dowager sent this servant to pay respects to Consort De, and to invite Consort De over, so that Her Ladyship may set her mind at ease.” A eunuch holding a token from the Empress Dowager’s palace spoke solemnly.

Hua Chun raised an eyebrow and immediately waved at Qing Niao and Rui’er. The three split up and locked all the windows around the main hall.

The guard at the door was silent for a moment, perhaps examining the token, then said, “My apologies, His Majesty has placed Consort De here, and the main doors are locked—we’re unable to open them. The key is with His Majesty.”

The palace servant was stunned. Hua Chun couldn’t help but laugh. “He really is clever.”

Locking her inside and taking the key with him—who could possibly take her away then?

Qing Niao couldn’t help but clap her hands either, and then they heard the eunuch say, “The door is locked, but aren’t there still windows?”

Hua Chun called back at the top of her voice, “The windows are locked too.”

The eunuch: “…”

Someone soon came to the window and even tried pulling at it, and only after confirming it wouldn’t open did he say, “Won’t this stifle Her Ladyship?”

The guard outside shook his head. “It’s His Majesty’s order. This lowly one has no authority to question it.”

After a moment of silence, the eunuch muttered something under his breath, circled the hall a few times, then gave up and turned to leave.

According to the original plan, if they could seize Consort De amid the chaos, this round would basically be more than half won. But… who would have thought the emperor would do this? There was no way to get Consort De out through legitimate means now—the only option left was outright seizure by force.

As the sun set in the west, and the palace had just barely returned to normal order, with those who had abducted the palace consorts now being pursued, the emperor still hadn’t had a chance to catch his breath before being frightened half to death by another piece of news.

“Your Majesty, at the battle in the capital’s outskirts, Prince Chu has won a great victory and is leading his men straight toward the city gates.”

“What?” Yuwen Jie frowned. “The feudal lord stationed at the outskirts of the capital has seven or eight thousand men, and with the troops combined it should add up to thirty or forty thousand—yet they couldn’t hold off Prince Chu’s forces alone?”

The soldier delivering the report was speechless. The emperor’s face darkened as he seethed silently for a while before saying to He Chang’an, “Have people guard the city gates, and send orders to gather all the forces near Yanjing.”

“Yes.” He Chang’an relayed the order, then turned back and said, “Does Your Majesty think this is a matter of troop numbers? So many men, and they can’t beat Prince Chu alone?”

“I dare not think of the worse possibility.” The emperor pressed his lips together. “If these men have all grown bold enough to rebel alongside him, my position will become extremely difficult for a time, and hard to reverse.”

The relationship between the feudal lords and the emperor had always been fairly good, and there had been nothing amiss in the earlier conversation at the Empress Dowager’s palace either—there was no reason for them to suddenly all turn against him. At most, they might have been threatened and chosen to watch from the sidelines, not putting in full effort to stop Prince Chu.

Regardless, Great Liang was about to face its greatest battle for the throne since the change of dynasty.

Huo Zichong commanded fifty thousand troops under him, and was having his deputy general lead men rushing over, but distant water couldn’t put out a nearby fire. Within the capital, the emperor could only mobilize about twenty thousand men, and there were still other feudal lords’ men inside the city—having entered earlier under the pretext of aiding the emperor, they presumably wouldn’t withdraw now. That meant the city gates were essentially wide open, and holding out with just these twenty thousand men until reinforcements arrived would be difficult.

Yuwen Jie’s eyes grew deep and dark. He gripped the reins and thought for a moment, then said, “Chang’an, you go out of the palace first and guard the city gates. I’ll go explain something to her.”

He Chang’an was startled. “You’re going into battle yourself again?”

“If I don’t go into battle myself, what will you all use to resist so many rebels?” With a cold laugh, Yuwen Jie turned his horse and galloped off toward Zichen Hall.

He Chang’an stood rooted to the spot, watching the emperor’s dashing figure retreat, and clicked his tongue. “Our emperor really is a reliable and domineering sovereign.”

The group of soldiers behind him nodded in admiration, clearly agreeing!

Hua Chun was sitting in the inner hall in a daze when she suddenly heard the sound of hoofbeats outside. Before long, someone came up and unlocked the doors to the main hall.

“You’re back?” Her eyes lit up, and Hua Chun hurried to meet him. “Is the matter in the palace resolved?”

“It’s resolved.” The emperor nodded.

“That’s wonderful.” Hua Chun clapped. “I don’t have to be cooped up in here anymore, right?”

“Mm.” Pushing her by the shoulders to walk inside, the emperor said in a low voice, “You need to go to another place.”