The news of Prince Cheng raising his rebellion outside Huangzhou city spread throughout Yanjing city in a single night.

The common people cursed Prince Cheng one after another, calling him ungrateful and heartless. He had previously carried on an illicit affair with a palace consort, and now he was rebelling—clearly he had long harbored treasonous intentions. Although Huangzhou wasn’t Yanjing city, the common people were still in a state of panic, fearing that one day Prince Cheng’s troops would arrive at their own doorsteps. After all, aside from the Western Rong border, Northern Yan hadn’t fought a war in many years. People were all fearful of war.

For a time, Prince Cheng became someone everyone wanted to condemn.

Noble Consort Li’s maternal family, the Ji family, was naturally also raided and beheaded because of Noble Consort Li’s illicit relationship with Prince Cheng. On the day of execution, quite a few common people went to watch. Not one person sympathized with the Ji family—on the contrary, they felt even more resentful. Prince Cheng had such wolfish ambitions, and Noble Consort Li was so shameless. Some people brought up Ji Shuran’s affairs to discuss as well, saying that the Ji family were all birds of a feather, not a single good person among them.

Ji Yanlin probably never dreamed that Noble Consort Li, whom he had by every means sent into the palace, who had secured countless honors for the Ji family and caused the Ji family to thrive increasingly over those past years, would commit such a treasonous act. It was heard that when Noble Consort Li and Ji Yanlin encountered each other in prison, Ji Yanlin had grabbed Noble Consort Li and asked her why she did this.

Noble Consort Li’s answer was also thought-provoking. She said, “Father has already found a young girl to replace me. Naturally I also have to make plans for my future. I’ve secured so much for the Ji family. Father has his current position all thanks to my painstaking efforts maneuvering among people in the palace. Now you see I can’t give birth to a prince and am useless, so you’re thinking of finding another chess piece. But you never asked whether I was willing. Since the Ji family doesn’t consider me, naturally I also have no need to plan for the Ji family. Since we’re family, we should naturally share both sweet and bitter—there’s no reason for me alone to eat the bitterness while you enjoy the blessings. I’m not some Guanyin Bodhisattva who sacrifices myself to fulfill others. The natural disposition of us Ji family people is that even if we die, we’ll drag others down with us!”

These words showed not a trace of remorse. It was heard that Ji Yanlin went mad on the spot and tried to kill Noble Consort Li. If not for the jailers stopping him, Noble Consort Li would likely have been beaten to death by Ji Yanlin then and there.

When the Ji family met with disaster, Jiang Yuanbai said nothing at all. Even so, colleagues at court still mocked Jiang Yuanbai. After all, the Ji family had once been Jiang Yuanbai’s in-laws, so naturally Jiang Yuanbai endured it. Prince Cheng’s rebellion, Jiang Li’s disappearance, assassins in Yanjing city—one matter after another came in succession, already making people utterly overwhelmed.

In the palace, Dowager Consort Liu received a cup of poisoned wine.

This cold, desolate palace—how could it compare to her bedchamber? There wasn’t even anyone to serve her. In a single night, she had fallen from heaven to earth. Dowager Consort Liu never imagined she would end up in her current state. In her and Prince Cheng’s initial plan, it wasn’t supposed to be like this. Prince Cheng would send people to escort her out of the palace first before beginning his rebellion. But the private affair between Noble Consort Li and Prince Cheng was suddenly exposed, Noble Consort Li was arrested, the Ji family was raided—all of it was accomplished in a single night.

Prince Cheng escaped, but he alone forgot about his own birth mother, leaving her alone in the palace to face the ill-intentioned Emperor Hongxiao.

Dowager Consort Liu had still been thinking that she was a Dowager Consort—whether from sentiment or reason, Emperor Hongxiao wouldn’t make things too ugly. Perhaps Emperor Hongxiao would even consider her valuable and spare her life to use her to threaten Prince Cheng. As long as the green mountains remain, one need not worry about firewood. As long as she had her life, everything would be negotiable. Once Prince Cheng killed that bastard and became emperor himself, she wouldn’t be a Dowager Consort but rather the Empress Dowager.

When she was young, she hadn’t been able to sit in the Empress’s position. Now that things had come to this, she couldn’t fail to even become Empress Dowager. Seeing that only the final step remained, that what she wanted was within reach—how could she fall short at the last moment? She refused!

The poisoned wine before her was held in an exquisite golden vessel. The wine cup was even carved and inset with tiny rubies—the kind of luxury Dowager Consort Liu had always loved most. In the past, she would probably have quite liked this golden vessel. But today, it was as if she saw the evil fruit demanding her life. She kept backing away, desperately shaking her head, losing all composure.

“No… no…”

The palace servant repeated for the third time, “Dowager Consort, please. This servant still needs to report back to His Majesty.”

“No… I’m a Dowager Consort… I cannot die. You tell His Majesty to come see me! I have something to say to him. He cannot just kill me like this! I want to see His Majesty!”

The palace servant said impatiently, “His Majesty could not possibly see you. Your Ladyship, hurry and drink this cup of wine so this servant can report back.”

Dowager Consort Liu still didn’t move, desperately evading, even trying to rush out and push open the door. The palace servant exchanged glances with the two little eunuchs beside him. The little eunuchs immediately pinned down Dowager Consort Liu. Dowager Consort Liu struggled desperately. Having been pampered and comfortable in the palace for years upon years, how could she break free? In just a few moments, she had exhausted her strength. The little eunuchs skillfully held down her hands and feet. One person pried open her jaw and forcibly poured that pot of poisoned wine down.

After pouring it down, the little eunuchs released their hands. Dowager Consort Liu clutched at her own throat, desperately reaching her hand into her mouth, trying to vomit out the poisoned wine she had swallowed. Her clothes were all disheveled, her hair had come undone, tears and snot ran together—where was there even half a trace of dignity left?

Yet she paid no attention to anything else, only focused on lying on the ground inducing herself to vomit, as if only this matter was most urgent. However, as she tried to induce vomiting, she began to cough up blood instead. Gradually her body went soft and she collapsed on the ground. Her eyes were wide open. Her whole person convulsed several times, then moved no more.

Dowager Consort Liu was dead.

The palace servant ordered the little eunuchs to clean up the room and walked out himself. In the garden not far away, the Empress Dowager and Emperor Hongxiao were talking.

Most of the time, the Empress Dowager stayed in Cining Palace copying Buddhist scriptures. Only very rarely did she come out to walk around. The imperial palace was full of spring scenery, with red flowers blooming in great masses. Emperor Hongxiao had just concluded morning court not long ago and happened to encounter the Empress Dowager here. They were talking.

The palace servant who had delivered the poisoned wine to Dowager Consort Liu happened to come to report. After learning that Dowager Consort Liu was already dead, Emperor Hongxiao nodded in acknowledgment, and the little palace servant withdrew.

The Empress Dowager sighed.

“Is Mother Empress feeling regret for Dowager Consort Liu?” Emperor Hongxiao asked.

The Empress Dowager shook her head. “Recently, too many people have died. This mourner feels… it’s not peaceful.”

Starting with Princess Yongning, people had continuously begun dying—Shen Yurun, Noble Consort Li, the Ji family, the assassins in Yanjing city, and now Dowager Consort Liu. It was indeed quite excessive.

“They brought it upon themselves,” Emperor Hongxiao said lightly. “Mother Empress is kind-hearted, but you cannot control people courting their own suffering.”

The Empress Dowager smiled. When she smiled, she was just as elegant and gentle as in her youth. She said, “Has Your Majesty announced to the world the matter of decreeing Dowager Consort Liu’s death?”

Emperor Hongxiao said, “Yes.”

“Prince Cheng made no move,” the Empress Dowager sighed. “In the end, they were mother and son.”

After Dowager Consort Liu was decreed death, no one came to the palace to rescue her. Prince Cheng hadn’t even arranged chess pieces in the palace so that if circumstances changed, Dowager Consort Liu could be immediately rescued from the palace. But there was nothing. From beginning to end, from when Emperor Hongxiao decreed Dowager Consort Liu’s death to the moment before her death, nothing happened in the palace.

She didn’t know whether Prince Cheng had miscalculated this point or simply didn’t care about Dowager Consort Liu’s life or death at all. Thinking about it now, it was probably the latter. Because even if he had miscalculated, if he were truly a good son whose heart was with his mother, he would naturally have found a way to create some commotion, rather than letting Dowager Consort Liu die like this.

Emperor Hongxiao sighed. “Yes, in the end, they are mother and son.”

The Empress Dowager looked at Emperor Hongxiao and said, “Your Majesty has also been tired these past days. You should pay more attention to rest.”

Emperor Hongxiao assented. They too were mother and son. Usually there was no friction between them. It was just that Dowager Consort Liu and Prince Cheng were birth mother and son, yet when disaster struck, each flew their own way. The Empress Dowager and Emperor Hongxiao weren’t even birth mother and son. If someday in the future they encountered something, would they still be as peaceful as now?

No one could predict.

The Empress Dowager asked, “Your Majesty, I heard that Prince Cheng raised rebellion at Huangzhou city gates and General Wuwei rushed to provide relief. Is Yanjing… in danger?”

“Mother Empress need not worry,” Emperor Hongxiao said. “I have already ordered General Zhao De to lead troops back to the capital to protect the city and resist the enemy. Traveling day and night, he will certainly arrive before Prince Cheng reaches Yanjing.”

“General Zhao De…” The Empress Dowager’s face showed no expression. Her voice gradually lowered, making it unclear what she meant.

Emperor Hongxiao also stopped speaking. The wind rolled up fallen leaves from the ground and blew them to the pond beside the garden. The water rippled in circles and swallowed that leaf as well.

Never to be seen again.

…

In the Jiang residence, Jiang Yuanbai received a letter.

The gatekeeper handed the letter to Jiang Yuanbai, saying, “Master, this humble one took a brief nap around noon. When I woke up, this letter was already in my bosom. This humble one doesn’t know who delivered the letter. I ran out to ask around, but everyone said no one entered the house. The letter is addressed to you, Master… Master, why don’t you open it and look first?”

Jiang Yuanping and Jiang Yuanbai were talking when this servant burst in and thrust a letter into his hands. He too was somewhat astonished. In just these few days, Jiang Yuanbai had become quite haggard and hadn’t even changed his clothes. He stared suspiciously at the letter in his hand, thought for a moment, then opened it to look.

The letter was very short, only a few lines. After Jiang Yuanbai finished reading it, his expression was complex and unclear.

“Elder Brother, what does the letter say?” Jiang Yuanping asked.

“It’s from A’Li…” Jiang Yuanbai frowned. “A’Li is now in Huangzhou. Prince Cheng’s people took her to Huangzhou, and she was rescued by Duke Su. Right now, A’Li is with Duke Su.”

“A’Li has been found?” Jiang Yuanping was first delighted. During these days, in order to find Jiang Li, Jiang Yuanbai had practically turned all of Yanjing city upside down, but still returned with nothing. Everyone said she had probably been sent outside the city, but to search for someone outside the city now—which direction to go, how to search—hope was increasingly dim. Now, suddenly receiving news that Jiang Li had been found, Jiang Yuanping naturally also breathed a sigh of relief.

But immediately after, he looked strangely at Jiang Yuanbai. “She was rescued by Duke Su? How would Duke Su rescue A’Li?”

“Perhaps it was a coincidental encounter,” Jiang Yuanbai’s brows were deeply locked. “He’s met A’Li before.”

“But Elder Brother,” Jiang Yuanping still didn’t understand, “Duke Su is not someone who likes to meddle in other people’s affairs. Never mind A’Li—even with the Jiang family, we don’t have much connection with him. Would he be so kind-hearted as to rescue A’Li?”

Jiang Yuanbai was also somewhat suspicious. What kind of person Ji Heng was—his temperament unpredictable, his moods capricious—everyone in the entire court knew. As for words like kind and soft-hearted, they were even less likely to be tied to Ji Heng. If Ji Heng saw someone else encountering trouble, the most likely scenario would be that he’d stay out of it. Even if he and Jiang Yuanping met with trouble, Ji Heng would probably just watch the show from the side, much less offer assistance.

Yet the letter stated precisely this.

Involuntarily, Jiang Yuanbai thought of that time at Old General Ji’s birthday banquet when Jiang Li alone had been specifically invited to attend. Although Jiang Li herself said she didn’t know why, Jiang Yuanbai always felt there was more to it than that—that Jiang Li was hiding something from him.

But it was impossible now to inquire into what exactly the relationship between Ji Heng and Jiang Li was. Jiang Yuanbai instructed the servant outside, “Prepare horses. Immediately dispatch people to Huangzhou to bring Second Miss back to the residence!”

“Elder Brother,” Jiang Yuanping pressed down on Jiang Yuanbai’s hand. “You mustn’t!”

“Why not?” Jiang Yuanbai looked at him.

“Right now Huangzhou is in chaos. Prince Cheng’s troops are still outside the city and haven’t withdrawn. If you go to fetch her at this time, you’ll likely make things worse instead. Since those people abducted A’Li, they were targeting her specifically. If A’Li appears in their line of sight, she’ll be in danger instead. On the contrary, staying with Duke Su—Ji Heng’s abilities, you and I both know well. Even if all of Huangzhou falls, Ji Heng could probably still escape unscathed. A’Li following him is much safer than following anyone else.”

“I don’t trust him,” Jiang Yuanbai said. “Ji Heng’s thoughts are inscrutable. Who knows what he wants to do!”

“Elder Brother,” Jiang Yuanping said, “if he had any intention of doing something, he wouldn’t have needed to rescue A’Li from Prince Cheng’s hands. Even if he wants to use A’Li to scheme something, he would still preserve A’Li’s life. You shouldn’t worry. As things stand now, General Zhao De will soon return to the capital. You’d be better off considering what the Jiang family should do next!”