Hearing this, Bai Qingyan quickly said: “How could the King of Wei demean himself to serve as an ordinary official in Great Zhou’s court? That would be far too demeaning to the King of Wei. Absolutely not, absolutely not…”

“Wei no longer exists, so what King of Wei is there!” Prince Xihuai laughed bitterly and desolately. “I only… hope he can become an ordinary Great Zhou citizen. If he can enter the Great Zhou’s service as an official, that would naturally be best. If not, it doesn’t matter either. His identity is special, so his sister-in-law’s concerns are perfectly reasonable. Just let him be a wealthy merchant, then.”

“If he wishes to take the imperial examinations to enter service, I wonder… does the King of Wei have Great Zhou household registration?” Bai Qingyan lowered her gaze, gently blowing on her teacup. “If not yet, I can have Weizhong arrange it. Then, whether the King of Wei wants to take the imperial examinations or do business… it would be more convenient.”

“Such a small matter need not trouble the sister-in-law. The household registration has long been properly arranged!” Prince Xihuai, having no guile, was quickly drawn out by Bai Qingyan’s questioning.

“I don’t know where the household registration was established. I could also look after him somewhat!” Bai Qingyan smiled as she spoke with Prince Xihuai.

“The household registration was established at the original Xiliang’s Ye Pass. Later, when this Ye Pass became a Great Zhou city, I paid some silver and smoothly got the household registration settled.” Prince Xihuai felt he had handled this matter quite well and had some intent to boast to Bai Qingyan.

After all, such matters were very common in their Wei state and nothing new. In Prince Xihuai’s view, it was a very small matter.

Bai Qingyan smiled and nodded: “That’s quite good. I’ve noted the location. If the King of Wei returns… I will certainly instruct the local officials to take good care of him. It’s just that the Xiliang lands are rather barren after all, not like the coastal areas that are spring-like all year round. Having been to the coast, Prince Xihuai must know that the place is suitable for long-term residence. How about… I have Weizhong transfer your household registrations there?”

“Then… thank you, sister-in-law! Sister-in-law is Rongyan’s wife, so I treat you with complete honesty without any deception, but… this matter must not be known to the Yan people. I fear they would eliminate us. Please, sister-in-law, keep this secret for us.” Prince Xihuai bowed deeply to Bai Qingyan.

“I understand. Prince Xihuai, rest assured.” Bai Qingyan nodded slightly. “Prince Xihuai, please eat first.”

Prince Xihuai shook his head: “My nephew hasn’t been found yet. Such a small child—I don’t even know if he’s eaten his fill or where he’s sleeping rough. As his uncle… I really can’t eat!”

Speaking thus, Prince Xihuai straightened up and bowed formally to bid farewell to Bai Qingyan: “I’ve disturbed sister-in-law for so long. I’ll take my leave now!”

Bai Qingyan nodded: “Prince Xihuai, Yan is currently suffering severely from epidemic disease. Prince Xihuai should not risk entering Yan. I think the possibility of the King of Wei entering Yan is small. After all, Yan has a great epidemic, and even if the King of Wei entered Yan, he might not be able to get close to Yan’s emperor! It would be better to stay with the Bai family in Great Zhou. In three years, regardless of whether Great Zhou or Yan wins the wager, the two emperors will meet face to face. At that time, the King of Wei might be able to assassinate the Bai family! So… Prince Xihuai might return to the capital to wait for news. As for Yan’s side… I’ll keep watch for Prince Xihuai!”

“Thank you, sister-in-law!” After Prince Xihuai sincerely thanked her, he added, “I hope in the wager… sister-in-law can win!”

“Certainly!” Bai Qingyan responded.

After bowing to Bai Qingyan, Prince Xihuai left the Great Zhou military camp and decided to take his people to watch at several passes that Yan had opened to the Great Zhou. As long as Tuoba Yao wanted to enter Yan to carry out an assassination, Prince Xihuai could catch that rascal at the passes.

“Your Majesty… Prince Xihuai has left!” Weizhong returned after seeing Prince Xihuai off and reported to Bai Qingyan.

“If I remember correctly, Ye Pass still uses the original Xiliang officials?” Bai Qingyan lowered her extremely long eyelashes and asked gently.

“Exactly. Initially, Your Majesty was concerned that replacing them with Great Zhou officials would unsettle the people’s hearts, so the parent officials of Ye Pass were not replaced.” Weizhong answered.

“Send someone to deliver a letter to Grand Commandant Lu. Have Grand Commandant Lu secretly send people to investigate these Xiliang parent officials. Those with problems… should be replaced promptly.”

Officials who dared to take silver to falsify household registration for Great Wei people would certainly do other things for money. It was better to deal with them early to prevent wrongful cases due to bribery or exploitation of the people.

“Yes!” Weizhong accepted the order.

On the fifth day of the twelfth month in the second year of Yuanhe, the Anping Army led by the Great Zhou’s emperor, escorting physicians and medicinal herbs, arrived at Zhou Territory in Yan lands one step ahead of Prince Zhenguo.

However, Bai Qingyan had not expected that when she arrived at Zhou Territory, the Yan spies that Empress Dowager Yan and Minister Meng had planted in the city were inciting the people to cause trouble.

Before Bai Qingyan had even entered, she could hear the people inside the tightly closed east city gate shouting, demanding that Great Zhou’s soldiers let them out of the city.

“We are Yan citizens! We are not the Great Zhou’s people! We voluntarily want to leave the city. What’s wrong with not wanting to be Great Zhou citizens?”

“Exactly! We are all Yan citizens. By what right do you, Great Zhou people, forbid us to leave the city?”

“When your Great Zhou made the wager with our Yan and took over the cities, your Minister Shen clearly said that if we felt Great Zhou’s national policies were bad, we could leave at any time! We now feel your Great Zhou’s national policies are bad, and you, Great Zhou people, are harming us!”

“Right! You just want to harm us! We don’t want to die here! Let us out!”

There were also weak mothers kneeling and crying: “Please, officials, we don’t want to die here. My child is still young! There’s no medicine in this city. It doesn’t matter if I die, but my child… my child is only two years old! Please give us a way to live!”

“Sir, please give our family a way to live! If there were medicine in the city, we wouldn’t beg like this, but there’s no medicine in the city… staying here is just waiting to die!”

“Please, officials, spare us and let us out of the city to seek a way to live!”

“Why beg these Zhou people? Even the Great Zhou Minister called Shen Tianzhi, has run away. They just want to trap us to death in this city. They want our lives!”

The city guard commander, with his mouth and nose covered by a face cloth, immediately shouted upon hearing this: “Don’t speak nonsense and confuse people’s hearts! Our Minister Shen went to inspect Liuxiang City, where the epidemic is most severe, not to flee… Don’t judge others by your own petty heart!”

“Bullshit! Whenever trouble comes, those officials always run away. Where would they care about us common people’s lives? Liuxiang City’s epidemic is so severe now—how could that Minister Shen possibly go to Liuxiang City? He probably ran away long ago!”

“Official, sir, maybe that Minister Shen wants you to trap us common people to death here and doesn’t even care about your lives! There’s no medicine in the city now! Please have mercy and let us go! If we leave… your chances of catching the epidemic would also be smaller, wouldn’t they?”