Seeing this, Empress Dowager Yan swept her sleeves and left.

Although she felt reassured, knowing that A’yan would not abandon Yan and leave her and her son behind, as A’yan’s sister-in-law, she couldn’t help but feel chilled on A’yan’s behalf that he had fallen for such a venomous and cold-blooded woman, fearing that A’yan would be hurt by Bai Qingyan in the future.

Since ancient times, the word “love” has been what people find most helpful.

She didn’t know whether she should tell A’yan about this matter, to have him guard against Bai Qingyan.

Feng Yao saw Empress Dowager Yan stepping out of the main hall threshold and hurriedly bowed to her.

Seeing Feng Yao, who had been sent here by Murong Yan, Empress Dowager Yan felt even more that Murong Yan was unworthy of such treatment, and vented all her anger on Feng Yao: “Prince Nine leads troops in battle for the Kingdom, yet Eunuch Feng, with your superior martial arts, instead of protecting Prince Nine, you come to curry favor with Great Zhou’s Emperor. What… does Eunuch Feng intend to follow the Great Zhou’s Emperor in the future?”

This was the first time Empress Dowager Yan had lost her temper with Feng Yao. Feng Yao maintained his neither servile nor overbearing demeanor: “Prince Nine has Yue Shi protecting him, so he’s certainly safe! This old servant is aged and useless. I shamelessly asked Prince Nine for an assignment, and only then did Prince Nine dispatch this old servant to serve as a messenger between the two armies. This old servant has no intention of serving Zhou’s Emperor.”

Empress Dowager Yan gripped A’nu’s hand tightly, snorted coldly, and swept away, but felt increasingly guilty toward Murong Yan.

She had previously suspected A’yan’s loyalty to Yan and A’li, but little did she know… A’yan was the most pitiable one caught in the middle. She absolutely could not let this Great Zhou Emperor take advantage of A’yan.

After seeing off Empress Dowager Yan, Bai Qingyan also emerged from the main hall. She hoped her words could ease Empress Dowager Yan’s suspicions about Murong Yan, so that when Murong Li brought up the matter of unifying the two countries in the future, it could proceed more smoothly.

“Your Majesty…” After bowing to Bai Qingyan, Feng Yao said, “This time, the Empress Dowager came to Pingdu City to seek Your Majesty—Prince Nine probably doesn’t know about this. If there was anything that offended Your Majesty, please forgive us!”

“Offense is not necessary. Eunuch Feng, the army is about to depart, so let’s talk as we walk…” Bai Qingyan said.

“Your Majesty, please go first. This old servant will follow behind Your Majesty.” Feng Yao was very humble toward Bai Qingyan. Following behind her, he spoke first: “Does Your Majesty wish to know about the jade cicada?”

“Exactly. I want to ask Eunuch Feng whether the jade cicada that Empress Ji once gave to A’yan was something she had carried since childhood, or was it given to Empress Ji by someone later?” Bai Qingyan glanced obliquely backward and saw Feng Yao still bowing slightly with a respectful demeanor.

“In response to Your Majesty, when this old servant served Empress Ji, she had already entered the palace, and at that time, Empress Ji already wore this jade cicada. This old servant once heard Empress Ji say that this jade cicada was like a key that could take her home, and was also a peace talisman her mother gave her. Empress Ji also said… If this jade cicada hadn’t saved her life once, she would have had no way to enter the palace! Later… when chaos broke out in the palace, Empress Ji placed this jade cicada on Prince Nine.” Feng Yao answered truthfully.

Given to Empress Ji by her mother, it had saved her life once…

Bai Qingyan imperceptibly tugged at the pouch containing that jade cicada. Could it be that Empress Ji had once used this jade cicada to reverse time?

“I’ve seen many records saying Empress Ji’s maternal family is unknown?” Bai Qingyan asked again.

“Empress Ji’s maternal family is not unknown. Rather, Empress Ji’s father favored his concubine and destroyed his wife, driving Empress Ji’s mother out of the house. After that… Empress Ji followed her mother’s surname and changed her family name to Ji. The once famous general of Yan, Ning Chu’ao, was Empress Ji’s younger brother from the same father and mother.” Feng Yao said.

Murong Yan had mentioned this to her before, but she hadn’t expected that General Ning Chu’ao was Empress Ji’s full brother.

General Ning Chu’ao came from a noble family of Yan!

With Murong Yan’s prior instructions, Feng Yao could be said to speak without reservation, telling Bai Qingyan all of Yan’s closely guarded secrets.

“Then, is it possible that Empress Ji’s jade cicada belonged to the Ning family?”

“This old servant truly doesn’t know about that.” Feng Yao said.

Bai Qingyan nodded: “I was merely curious. Thank you, Eunuch Feng, for speaking so freely. Please convey this message to Prince Nine: our Great Zhou army departs immediately and will advance eastward along the north bank of the Dan River together with the Yan army.”

“Yes!” Feng Yao responded.

“Qing Zhu, please see Eunuch Feng off…”

Shen Qingzhu made a gesture of invitation to Feng Yao: “Eunuch Feng, please!”

“Please wait a moment, Miss…” After bowing to Shen Qingzhu, Feng Yao turned and bowed to Bai Qingyan again: “Your Majesty, the young master once had this old servant organize all the bamboo scrolls and books left by Empress Ji and sent them all to Emperor Zhou. This old servant has also heard about the new policies Your Majesty has implemented in Great Zhou, and suddenly remembered that when Empress Ji was alive, she once described to this old servant that… a Kingdom where everyone is equal! If Empress Ji knew that her governance theories could be valued by her son’s…”

The words “daughter-in-law” almost slipped out, but Feng Yao swallowed them back. His eyes reddened with moisture as he smiled and said quietly, “Could be valued by the sovereign of her allied nation, and reforms have already been implemented, she would surely be very happy! This old servant truly wishes to see this while still alive, so that when I go to follow Empress Ji in the future, I can tell her that the world of equality she once depicted has been realized! This old servant… also wants to tell the one who wronged Empress Ji that her methods of governing were correct!”

Bai Qingyan steadily gazed at this kind-faced old man before her. His eyes no longer held any of the wariness he once had toward her, but were instead full of expectation, even expressing his goodwill toward Bai Qingyan.

“Regarding those bamboo scrolls and books, they were all written by Empress Ji while this old servant ground ink… Empress Ji always liked to chat with this old servant while writing. This old servant knows much content that wasn’t written down in those bamboo scrolls! This is also why the young master sent this old servant to Your Majesty! If Your Majesty needs it, you can send someone to summon this old servant at any time. This old servant will certainly speak without reservation! Hoping to… contribute to Your Majesty’s new policies and achieve the nation Empress Ji wanted to see sooner.” Feng Yao bowed to Bai Qingyan once more before saying, “This old servant takes his leave!”

Bai Qingyan watched Feng Yao’s already slightly stooped figure, and the corners of her lips curved slightly. This Eunuch Feng was truly loyal to Empress Ji. After Empress Ji’s death, he protected her child, and now, seeing her use the governance theories left by Empress Ji to reform the nation, he expressed his wish to vindicate the deceased Empress Ji.

He probably not only wanted the Yan Emperor, who had wronged Empress Ji, to see… that Empress Ji was right, but also wanted all the people under heaven to see that Empress Ji’s methods of governance were correct!

So loyal that… he even supported Empress Ji’s governance philosophy. This showed that Feng Yao was a person of great loyalty and righteousness.

That Empress Ji could have such a loyal servant showed what kind of person Empress Ji was.