Sa’er Khan picked up the copper-wrapped charcoal tongs and stirred the brazier: “As long as we can capture Li Zhijie, we’ll be able to follow the vine to find the melon and locate Li Tianjiao and Yun Poxing… as well as that Huoyun Army.”

“Your Majesty, rest assured. We’ve already dispatched soldiers to search. As long as Li Zhijie hasn’t been hidden by the people of Great Zhou and Yan, we will find him!” said the Great Shaman’s disciple.

What the Great Shaman’s disciple least wanted to see was Li Zhijie being hidden by the people of Great Zhou and Yan, because… Li Zhijie and Li Tianjiao already knew the legend of Tianfeng’s jade cicada. If they were to tell the Emperor of Great Zhou, and the Emperor of Great Zhou also began searching for the jade cicada, this would be extremely disadvantageous for Tianfeng.

For Tianfeng to search for a jade cicada within Great Zhou would certainly be far less convenient than for the Emperor of Great Zhou himself.

Moreover, if that jade cicada was in the tomb of the Great Zhou’s imperial consort, the Emperor of Great Zhou could easily obtain it.

The Great Shaman’s disciple only hoped that those sent to Great Zhou to investigate the tomb of Great Zhou’s imperial consort would quickly determine whether the jade cicada was there. If it wasn’t… they could also quickly find the lost jade cicada.

What Sa’er Khan, the ruler of Tianfeng, and the Great Shaman’s disciple worried about most had already happened. At this moment… Li Zhijie, who had barely saved his life after having one leg crushed by a giant elephant in Pingyang City, was already prepared to tell Bai Qingyan the story of the jade cicada under her interrogation.

Bai Qingyan was sitting on the soft couch by the window. The glazed lamp placed on the black lacquered small square table illuminated half of Bai Qingyan’s indifferent face. She lowered her gaze, using the lid of her sweet porcelain plum-painted teacup to press down the floating tea leaves in the clear tea, one press after another.

During yesterday’s great battle, Bai Qingyan had been puzzled… It was just Li Zhijie!

If Li Tianfu wanted to make such a big commotion to demand his return, it was intentional, wanting to provoke war between the Great Zhou and Tianfeng, using Tianfeng’s hand to avenge Lu Tianzhuo.

But what about Tianfeng?

Tianfeng’s original intention should have been to occupy territory first, then gradually encroach. They should have maintained good relations with both Great Zhou and Great Yan while… letting Great Zhou and Yan see Tianfeng’s strength. But… not wanting to maintain good relations on one hand while dispatching troops to attack Great Zhou’s cities on the other.

Furthermore, Bai Qingyan didn’t believe that during the Four Nations Alliance, Tianfeng’s ruler, Sa’er Khan, was foolish enough not to see that Li Tianfu wanted to provoke Tianfeng and Great Zhou into fighting each other for her revenge.

Under such circumstances, if Sa’er Khan still had people bring the elephant army together with Li Tianfu to demand the person, then… Tianfeng also didn’t want to see Li Zhijie remain in Great Zhou, and had reasons why they had to help Li Tianfu retrieve Li Zhijie.

The Tianfeng envoy who had come to apologize was waiting outside the courtyard at this moment. Li Zhijie lifted his eyes and through the window lattice could vaguely see the Tianfeng envoy standing in the courtyard, dressed in Tianfeng attire, waiting quietly.

Li Zhijie looked toward Bai Qingyan again…

“Prince Yan brought this disaster to my Great Zhou. That my Great Zhou soldiers didn’t leave Prince Yan in the snow to fend for himself is already magnanimous! If Prince Yan continues to be ungrateful and doesn’t speak clearly… I can only hand you over to the Tianfeng envoy!” Bai Qingyan still kept her gaze lowered, not looking at Li Zhijie, and slowly lifted her teacup to take a sip. “This unprovoked disaster was brought by Prince Yan, and Pingyang City’s gates were also damaged by the giant elephants. If a few more elephants come, Great Zhou won’t be able to bear it!”

“Is Your Majesty planning to yield to Tianfeng?” Li Zhijie asked unwillingly, feigning sarcasm.

Li Zhijie, whose face was completely bloodless, leaned against the simple chamber’s soft bed. His forehead and back were covered in sweat, his face bruised and injured, the wound on his neck wrapped in fine cotton cloth. His right leg, under the cloud-patterned brocade quilt, was gone, causing unbearable pain.

“Prince Yan’s skill at provocation and goading isn’t as accomplished as Li Tianfu’s! Great Zhou has never feared fighting other nations, it’s just that…” She placed the teacup on the black lacquered small table, lifting her cold and indifferent eyes to look at Li Zhijie. “For an enemy nation’s prince, it’s not worth it!”

Li Zhijie’s hands, hidden under the brocade quilt, clenched tightly. What Bai Qingyan said was correct…

After he woke up, he heard that the reason Great Zhou fought with Tianfeng was because Li Tianfu wanted to kill the Bai family guards, so Bai Qingyan intervened.

The Bai family had always been protective of their own, but they wouldn’t protect him, an enemy nation’s prince.

“If… this foreign minister spoke of something useful to Your Majesty, would Your Majesty… be willing to withstand Tianfeng’s pressure and protect this foreign minister?” Li Zhijie asked.

“That depends on what you say, and whether you’re being completely honest.” Bai Qingyan turned to glance through the window lattice. “The Tianfeng envoy is still staring. Prince Yan should make your decision quickly and stop bargaining with me here.”

Li Zhijie followed Bai Qingyan’s gaze to look outside. He closed his eyes, finally speaking slowly about the jade cicada rumors he had heard to Bai Qingyan.

Bai Qingyan’s half-lowered eyes imperceptibly glanced at the sachet hanging at her waist… containing the jade cicada.

Time reversal…

Her heart suddenly beat faster.

In her previous life, A’Yan had given her this jade pendant that symbolized the Great Yan Regent’s identity, telling her to flee for her life. But she was captured by Prince Liang on her way to find Xiao Qi. Prince Liang threatened her with Xiao Qi’s life, and she could only surrender.

When she died, this jade cicada was still on her body…

Later, she was reborn, reborn to the day before Jinxiu’s wedding.

She casually straightened her sleeves, resting her elbow on the black lacquered table, turning to gaze steadily at Li Zhijie: “These legends—where did you hear about them?”

“Does Your Majesty think that Tianfeng took such great risks to replace our Xiliang Empress, finding a… madwoman who only wants revenge for a dead eunuch to take the throne, simply because our Xiliang Empress was difficult to control?” Li Zhijie spoke through gritted teeth. “It’s because our Empress learned this secret. Tianfeng’s ruler feared that our Empress wanted to covet the jade cicada, so they wanted to eliminate our Empress.”

Seeing that Bai Qingyan seemed to show no expression, Li Zhijie continued: “It seems Your Majesty doesn’t believe the jade cicada legend.”

“This mythical story is full of holes. If the jade cicada from back then truly had the power of time reversal, and Tianfeng experiences all four seasons as summer because of this, then… with time reversing four times a year, how have the Tianfeng people managed to reproduce until now? The Tianfeng people should also be living in constant reversal, unknowingly repeating the lives of hundreds… even thousands of years ago.”

Bai Qingyan tapped her finger on the small black table and smiled: “And there’s that Tianfeng queen you mentioned. She claimed… that she used the jade cicada’s time reversal ability to learn of Hanying’s deployment, leading Tianfeng to great victory, losing her child for this… her relatives, and finally even her husband. Yet Tianfeng’s subjects had no memory due to time reversal, isn’t that so?”