The Marchioness gripped the Buddhist prayer beads in her hand tightly, steadied her mind and said: “Regardless of whether we have dealings or not, guests who come should be received…”

Soon, news that the Great Zhou Emperor had personally come in mourning clothes to pay respects to Marquis Dingyong spread throughout the capital. Many nobles and scholars who had originally planned to come pay their respects in the afternoon hurriedly harnessed their horses and rushed over.

Even Prince Hancheng, who usually had little dealings with Marquis Dingyong’s mansion, surprisingly came as well.

Prince Hancheng had just received a secret letter from the Dongyi Kingdom when he heard that Bai Qingyan was here. After pondering for a moment, he had someone harness a carriage to come to Marquis Dingyong’s mansion. It wasn’t that he was also rushing to curry favor with Marquis Dingyong’s mansion like the others – he had official business to discuss with Bai Qingyan.

When Prince Hancheng offered incense and was invited to the back hall, he saw Bai Qingyan sitting with the masked Ninth Prince, talking about something. The partition doors were open, with Wei Zhong, Chun Tao, and Chun Zhi guarding the entrance. No one dared to approach and eavesdrop inappropriately. Prince Hancheng couldn’t approach either, so he could only call Wei Zhong and tell him he had urgent matters to discuss with His Majesty.

Wei Zhong glanced back at Bai Qingyan and had a rough idea in his heart. He said to Prince Hancheng: “His Majesty will probably stay for at most half a cup of tea’s time before leaving. If Prince Hancheng truly has urgent business, you might wait by the carriage – you’ll surely see His Majesty soon.”

“Thank you for the guidance, Eunuch Wei!” Prince Hancheng bowed formally and left.

In the main hall, Bai Qingyan sat in the place of honor, holding a teacup, saying to Xiao Rongyan: “Your coming to Marquis Dingyong’s mansion today might bring quite a bit of gossip upon the mansion.”

“I guessed you would come, so I couldn’t resist coming…” Xiao Rongyan’s deep eyes gazed at Bai Qingyan. “It’s my fault – I didn’t think that much, only thought… coming here I could see you.”

After speaking, Xiao Rongyan set down his teacup: “I just saw that Prince Hancheng seems to have urgent business with you. I’ll wait for you outside the city…”

“Outside the city?” Bai Qingyan was quite surprised.

“In a few days, the matter of the national wager between our two countries will probably be settled, and then I’ll have to depart for the Yan capital.” Xiao Rongyan stood up and formally bowed to Bai Qingyan, appearing to others like a farewell. “You rarely abandon state affairs to leave the palace. Let us, as husband and wife, go out for a walk.”

“I’ve already appeared at Marquis Dingyong’s mansion. Leaving the city together with you might reveal something to observant people.” Bai Qingyan also stood up. “Before you leave, I’ll make time to accompany you. For safety’s sake, it’s better if we each return separately.”

Xiao Rongyan knew Bai Qingyan’s concerns were reasonable, yet he still felt inevitably disappointed.

Bai Qingyan stepped forward and said quietly to Xiao Rongyan: “A’Yan, once the national wager matter ends and the two countries merge into one, we’ll have plenty of time. There’s no rush.”

Xiao Rongyan very much wanted to step forward and hold Bai Qingyan’s hand, to embrace her, but ultimately restrained himself: “Alright, then let’s go out together…”

Bai Qingyan nodded. As the two walked out together, she heard Xiao Rongyan say again: “A’Li and Xie Xun have both sent letters saying that Tianfeng Kingdom shows no intention of sending envoys to Yan Kingdom, so… you’re probably right in your guess that Tianfeng Kingdom is coming for the jade cicada.”

“Probably also for that disciple of the great shaman of Tianfeng Kingdom. That disciple was captured at Hanwen Mountain. If Tianfeng Kingdom values this person highly, they might try to get this disciple back.” Bai Qingyan lifted her skirt hem and stepped out of the hall threshold together with Xiao Rongyan. “If it’s purely for the jade cicada, when Tianfeng Kingdom’s envoys arrive, they’ll see jade cicadas that look similar all over Great Zhou’s streets and alleys. If they’re smart, they’ll know… I’m already prepared.”

“Tianfeng Kingdom is still somewhat strange. Calculating the time, when they arrive in the capital, I’ll have already left. Be careful in your dealings.” Xiao Rongyan followed closely behind and also stepped out of the hall.

“Thank you for the Ninth Prince’s concern. Regarding this matter… I have my judgment.” In front of outsiders, Bai Qingyan was still very polite and distant toward Xiao Rongyan.

The two were escorted out of the mansion gates by people from Marquis Dingyong’s mansion, watching as Bai Qingyan boarded her carriage.

When Wei Zhong helped Bai Qingyan out, he had already told her that Prince Hancheng was in the carriage. As soon as Bai Qingyan got in the carriage, she saw Prince Hancheng kneeling inside.

Bai Qingyan calmly sat down. After the carriage started moving, she said to Prince Hancheng, “Get up! What matter made you so urgently rush to Marquis Dingyong’s mansion?”

But Prince Hancheng didn’t get up. He only spoke after kowtowing heavily to Bai Qingyan.

“Your Majesty, there’s a secret report from the Dongyi Kingdom. The Dongyi Kingdom has begun mobilizing its naval forces. Although their purpose is unclear, it also indicates that perhaps the border people who make their living by fishing along the coast will be in danger. Since the Great Zhou’s founding, we’ve campaigned south against Xiliang and fought with the Tianfeng Kingdom. After taking over the former Great Liang navy, it hasn’t received proper attention!” Prince Hancheng looked deeply worried. “Your Majesty probably needs to urgently intensify training, otherwise… if the Dongyi Kingdom fights at our doorstep, only our own Great Zhou people will be hurt.”

Bai Qingyan knew that Prince Hancheng still cared about the people. She helped Prince Hancheng up: “The day you came to tell me about Yan Kingdom sending envoys to Dongyi Kingdom, I already had Wei Zhong send a letter to Minister Zhang of the War Ministry. Don’t worry…”

Previously, Zhang Duanning’s lack of attention to the navy also had its reasons. Because the former Jin Kingdom had no coastal territories, there were no capable people to train naval forces. Therefore, in naval matters, the Great Zhou couldn’t intervene and still used the original Great Liang generals. Later attempts to send people were useless – even if their official ranks were high… the subordinates would say “the lord doesn’t understand naval training matters, leave it to this humble official,” deflating any authority.

Zhang Duanning had intentionally suppressed the navy, so since the Great Zhou took over the Great Liang, he reduced naval funding and cut naval personnel. Naturally, Zhang Duanning planned to first reduce and remove former Great Liang naval generals who remained loyal to Great Liang and wouldn’t follow orders, then slowly replace them with Great Zhou people. But now with Dongyi Kingdom’s sudden movements, they probably couldn’t wait for Zhang Duanning’s gradual approach.

This matter was reported by Zhang Duanning to Grand Marshal Lu, and approved by Grand Marshal Lu, without reaching Bai Qingyan. After all, after conquering a country, this method of incorporating and reorganizing its military forces had always been used by various states – it was a very routine operational method that didn’t warrant reporting to Bai Qingyan.

Seeing the current situation, Prince Hancheng was truly afraid that if fighting broke out, the border people would suffer. He couldn’t help but tell Bai Qingyan about Zhang Duanning’s reduction of naval funding and cutting of naval personnel.

“Since Your Majesty has a plan in mind, this minister is naturally reassured. But now that the navy has been reduced too severely, Your Majesty still needs to send someone of high position, great authority, and reliability to take charge of the overall situation and recruit back the former naval subordinates!”