Along this journey, Bai Qingyan had gradually received news from Yan. Xiao Rongyan’s methods were ruthless, and he had indeed intimidated the imperial clan members. Whether it was grain or medicinal materials, anyone who dared to hoard goods and drive up prices at this critical juncture would be killed by Xiao Rongyan without mercy. After he had passed through one or two cities… those that followed all became more cautious and dared not cause any more trouble.

She turned a page in her book, thinking to herself… soon, very soon, their family would be together. She wondered if the clothes mother had made for A’Yan fit him properly. Mother had probably made clothes for A’Yan for spring, summer, autumn, and winter!

Wei Zhong lifted the cotton curtain and entered, carrying two bowls of snow clam and squab soup in his hands. He gently placed them on the golden nanmu wood table and said quietly: “Your Majesty… this snow is visibly getting heavier.”

First, there was sleet, and now snowflakes were falling. This snow would accumulate, and if they departed tomorrow, the icy roads would likely be difficult to travel.

Hearing this, Bai Qingyan looked toward the window lattice and could vaguely see that the courtyard was already a vast expanse of white.

“This old servant heard that outside Bianliang City, there’s a Qinghe Temple with exceptionally beautiful snow scenery. If we’re temporarily stuck here and Your Majesty finds it boring… this old servant could escort Your Majesty and Prince Gaoyi to take a look tomorrow.”

Bai Qingyan shook the book in her hands and smiled: “I’m not a child anymore – do I need Eunuch Wei to coax me? Forget it… If the snow makes travel difficult tomorrow, we’ll wait until it stops before leaving. Let’s not go view the snow – it would trouble the soldiers to follow us through the snow, better to let them rest more.”

“Yes!” Wei Zhong responded with a smile and went to make arrangements.

Heavy snow fell, rustling down with an increasingly intense trend.

In Prince Xiping’s mansion, guards surrounded the prince’s study, watertight, allowing no one to approach.

Prince Xiping of Yan’s imperial family, Murong She, had spread maps across his desk and was huddled with his advisors discussing how to kill Murong Yan and Bai Qingyan.

“We can’t move our main forces at will. Any movement must strike successfully in one blow; otherwise, the regent has many eyes and ears. The moment we move here… the news might reach the regent’s ears!”

“Yes, the regent is full of schemes. If news leaks and we can’t kill this traitorous rebel, he might recall the troops stationed in Great Zhou, and we’ll be in deep trouble!”

Prince Xiping straightened up and pointed to two routes on the map: “Yesterday, this prince received letters from the other feudal princes, all saying that looking at Great Zhou’s emperor’s route and the regent’s inspection route, the regent seems to be heading toward Quwo just like Great Zhou’s emperor! Based on the Great Zhou emperor’s current traveling speed and the regent’s traveling speed, when the regent reaches our Xiping territory, the Great Zhou’s emperor might just arrive at Danzhou, which borders our Xiping!”

“So Prince Xiping means to set an ambush here?” Prince Xiping’s advisor drew a circle on the map with his finger.

Prince Xiping nodded: “But we need to see whether the regent and Great Zhou’s emperor will arrive simultaneously. If they don’t arrive together, we’ll have to make a choice! Kill Great Zhou’s emperor, or kill the regent!”

“Naturally, kill the regent. If the regent doesn’t die, the feudal princes and clan members will have no good days. The Great Zhou has already reduced feudal power. After the wager ends and the regent hands over our Yan, would Great Zhou’s emperor still tolerate the existence of feudal princes?”

“Right, our main purpose isn’t to oppose the Great Zhou, but to kill the regent! Otherwise, who knows how many more clan members the regent will kill!”

Prince Xiping listened to his advisors speaking one after another, all wanting to take Regent Murong Yan’s life first.

He casually picked up a nearby teacup, lowered his eyes and paced, standing beside a waist-high bronze crane lamp, gazing down at the flickering flame and taking a sip of tea.

“But in my opinion, both the Great Zhou’s emperor and the regent must be killed… we cannot make a choice!” The advisor dressed in dark robes turned toward Prince Xiping. “Prince Xiping, consider… The Great Zhou’s emperor and the regent are husband and wife. If we kill the regent, how could Great Zhou’s emperor not take revenge on our Yan?”

Prince Xiping turned to look at the dark-robed advisor and nodded: “Even if Great Zhou’s emperor endures for a while for the sake of the great wager, revenge will still come later!”

“Has Prince Xiping never considered that our Yan fundamentally cannot win this wager?” the dark-robed advisor said.

Prince Xiping wasn’t angered by these words – this was all within reason. The Great Zhou’s national strength was powerful, incomparable to their Yan.

“So… only by killing Great Zhou’s emperor and simultaneously killing the regent will our Yan have no regent internally disrupting the court and bewitching the young emperor, and externally… when Great Zhou’s emperor dies and they’re leaderless, Great Zhou’s revenge will just be a few battles. We’ll admit defeat and surrender, letting Great Zhou’s internal factions fight for power among themselves!” The dark-robed advisor stood before Prince Xiping. “I spent several years in Great Zhou with Master Ren and know that Great Zhou is so united and cohesive entirely because of this Great Zhou emperor!”

This dark-robed advisor was the Yan person who had previously served as an advisor alongside Ren Shijie in the Jin Crown Prince’s mansion. However, he hadn’t caught the Jin Crown Prince’s eye like Ren Shijie had, so he remained unknown and obscure.

Despite this, this dark-robed advisor also knew of the things Bai Qingyan had done over the years, and knew… how Bai Qingyan united people’s hearts, knowing what kind of influence Bai Qingyan had among Great Zhou’s court officials and common people.

He knew that outsiders all said the Bai family was united, but he simply didn’t believe it!

At that time, the Bai family descendants indeed didn’t compete for the Duke Zhenguo title. In Bai Qishan’s generation… all the Bai family protected Bai Qishan and obeyed his commands! Later in Bai Qingyan’s generation, this generation protected the legitimate main line’s Bai Qingyan and Bai Qingyu, following Bai Qingyan’s commands and protecting the young Bai Qingyu.

But now, as long as Bai Qingyan died, what they would fight over would be imperial power!

Under imperial power, there is no family affection!

Otherwise, throughout history, where would all those instances of competing for the throne, mutual slaughter among blood relatives, and brother killing brother come from?

As long as Great Zhou’s most unifying emperor died, Great Zhou… would not be as orderly and powerful as now. It would inevitably be divided into pieces by factional and power struggles, becoming scattered sand.

Precisely because this dark-robed advisor had spent a very long time in Great Zhou, Prince Xiping relied heavily on him.

“In your view, what should be done?”

“In my opinion, we should first kill the Great Zhou’s emperor, then kill the regent!” The dark-robed advisor bowed and straightened, his voice firm. “The regent’s usable troops are in Great Zhou – recalling them takes time! Killing the regent first would indeed be simple! But the Great Zhou’s emperor brought a large army and would naturally be prepared. The Great Zhou’s emperor’s military genius is something Your Majesty surely knows.”