Xie Xun looked at Xiao Rongyan, his eyes aching and swollen, tears hanging at the corners, not daring to blink.

Seeing Xie Xun’s remorseful appearance, Xiao Rongyan’s voice became calm instead, carrying a barely audible sigh: “This… is what you, Xie Xun, should do as a man and as a soldier!”

After speaking, Xiao Rongyan pulled open the latticed partition and strode toward the outside of the Huang residence without looking back.

Xie Xun knelt beneath the bed, hearing Zhang Yan’s footsteps chasing after Xiao Rongyan as they departed. The tears at the corners of his eyes could no longer hold back, sliding into his mouth with a bitter taste.

Before long, a fine rain arrived silently, growing louder and louder, adding a curtain of rain to the corridor eaves.

Xie Xun’s legs had gone numb. All he could hear was the sound of rain beating against golden osmanthus leaves. He turned his head to look at the heavy, overlapping dark clouds in the low sky beyond the unclosed window lattice. Weak and powerless, he supported himself on the bed’s edge to stand up, his gaze inadvertently falling on the Eight Immortals table where Xiao Rongyan had just sat.

Remembering Xiao Rongyan’s gesture of tapping the table’s edge before leaving, he struggled to walk to the Eight Immortals table…

When the purse personally embroidered by Princess Mingcheng appeared before his eyes, Xie Xun immediately burst into tears, nearly unable to stand and almost falling.

His trembling fingers gently caressed the purse, then gripped it tightly in his hand, biting his teeth hard, his eyes bloodshot and red, his ears filled with Xiao Rongyan’s parting words.

He, Xie Xun, must stand up. He must lead Great Yan’s iron cavalry to sweep across all nations. He must make Great Yan a strong nation feared by all countries, become a hegemon capable of unifying the realm, strong enough that Great Yan women would never again need to travel to foreign lands for marriage alliances!

In chaotic times, strong armies make strong nations, and strong nations mean people need not fear neighboring powers.

He, Xie Xun, must become Great Yan’s true war god. He must make the people of Great Yan believe that he, Xie Xun, can lead troops to protect the entire nation of Great Yan. He must ensure that Great Yan never again has women marrying far away for political alliances.

·

On the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month in the sixteenth year of Xuanjia, twenty thousand soldiers from Anping Camp escorted the Crown Prince back to the capital. They met with the Crown Prince’s carriage, which had encountered two assassination attempts, at Huaibi City on the twenty-seventh day of the ninth month, heading straight for the capital.

On the twenty-ninth day of the ninth month in the sixteenth year of Xuanjia, the Crown Prince was blocked at Huayang City. The Huayang City commander claimed he had received orders from above that only the Crown Prince’s carriage could pass, while the soldiers from Anping Camp were not permitted to leave Anping Camp without imperial decree. If they did not return quickly, they would be charged with treason.

Princess Zhenguo held high the Emperor’s secret edict summoning the Crown Prince back to the capital, declaring that if the Huayang commander dared to obstruct them, he would be charged with treason and his entire clan of nine generations would be executed. Seeing the imperial edict, the Huayang commander opened the city gates and let them pass.

The Empress received the news and became restless in the palace.

Prince Liang had always presented himself as weak and incompetent, nominally managing government affairs. However, with Imperial Teacher Old Tan and Chancellor Lu controlling court politics, the Empress couldn’t interfere. Within the palace, the Grand Princess had taken over the rear palace affairs under the pretext that the Empress was pregnant and the Emperor cherished the Empress’s hardships.

Now, even when the Empress went to visit the unconscious Emperor, the Grand Princess stood nearby. The Emperor’s bedchamber was surrounded, giving the Empress no opportunity to act before the Crown Prince returned to the capital.

Throughout this journey, Bai Qingyan kept Fu Ruoxi’s situation strictly concealed. The Empress didn’t know… whether Fu Ruoxi was coming for her or returning for the Crown Prince. She lived in daily fear and trembling, her pregnancy unstable, and summoned Prince Xin back to the palace for company.

Prince Xin entered the palace, dismissed those around him, knelt beneath the curtains, and spoke in a low voice to the Empress seated high on the phoenix throne: “Mother Empress, Fu Ruoxi probably cannot be relied upon. If Father Emperor truly saw the records of Fu Ruoxi’s palace visits, once he awakens… Mother Empress will face eternal damnation!”

The Empress leaned against the hidden cushion, her slender onion-white hands gripping tightly the ruyi scepter on her knees, her eyes deep: “I made it clear in my letter. Fu Ruoxi is not stupid. Doesn’t he realize… his palace visits are recorded with timestamps? If he doesn’t help us mother and son, once something happens, I will certainly drag him down with me!”

Prince Xin lowered his eyes in thought, then rose and lifted his robes to quickly walk to the Empress’s side and kneel, lowering his voice: “Although the Grand Princess now controls the palace and Imperial Teacher Old Tan assists Prince Liang in managing court affairs, Prince Liang is our man! If Mother Empress could write a letter to Uncle…”

“Mother Empress knows what you’re plotting! You want Mother Empress to contact your uncle… to control the Imperial Guards, and when the Crown Prince returns to the capital and enters the palace, intercept and kill him halfway! Is that right?” The Empress’s phoenix eyes looked toward Prince Xin, her gaze deep, “Do you think Mother Empress hasn’t considered this? But the Grand Princess was prepared early on. She promoted your uncle in name but demoted him in reality. The Imperial Guards probably won’t listen to your uncle anymore! Moreover… Prince Liang is also your father’s son. He also has qualifications for the succession struggle.”

Prince Xin was startled: “But Prince Liang initially forged that old thing, Bai Weiting’s handwriting, for your son’s sake, wanting to…”

“Do you think Prince Liang is weak and incompetent, only following your commands? Naive!” The Empress sternly scolded Prince Xin, pain shooting through her abdomen. She frowned and covered her belly, gritting her teeth: “It’s all because Mother Empress protected you too well in earlier years, leaving you without any wariness of others! That Prince Liang… is not as weak and easily bullied as he appears. On the contrary, this brother of yours is extremely patient. Anyone who can endure what ordinary people cannot is a formidable character and must not be underestimated.”

Prince Xin dismissively pursed his lips: “What waves could he possibly make!”

The Empress glared at Prince Xin, forcibly suppressing her anger: “Remember this: stay away from Prince Liang! Don’t believe what he says! Leave everything to Mother Empress. Your imperial throne… Mother Empress will not let anyone take away! Now is not the time for us to fight to mutual destruction with the Crown Prince, letting Prince Liang benefit. You must remain patient! Only those who can remain patient can win!”

“Your son remembers!” Prince Xin nodded with complete trust in the Empress.

The Empress raised her hand to touch Prince Xin’s head, her voice softening: “Those few people in your household who know you sent assassins after the Crown Prince should not be kept, lest the Crown Prince investigate after returning and discover something!”

Prince Xin lowered his eyes without speaking, feeling very disdainful in his heart. Prince Qi was merely a bastard son… if he hadn’t been demoted to commoner status, how could the Crown Prince position have fallen to him?

The Empress heard that the Crown Prince had encountered two assassination attempts. Prince Xin had only sent out one group of death warriors, so the other group… if the Empress wasn’t mistaken, must have been sent by Prince Liang.

After all, Prince Liang was no longer alone now. Behind him stood the idle Prince of Nandu, who held military power. The Empress had to be on guard.

On the second day of the tenth month in the sixteenth year of Xuanjia, twenty thousand soldiers from Anping Camp escorted the Crown Prince to arrive outside the capital. Prince Liang, Imperial Teacher Old Tan, and the Grand Princess led hundreds of officials outside the city to respectfully welcome the Crown Prince’s return to court.

The Crown Prince, who had been fearful throughout the journey, finally saw hope. The heart that had been hanging in his throat settled down with relief, but instead, he developed a high fever.

Prince Liang, the Grand Princess, and Imperial Teacher Old Tan stood at the forefront of the hundred officials, watching as the guard army raising the Crown Prince’s banners drew closer and closer. Prince Liang could also clearly see Bai Qingyan leading the way on a white horse.

Her armor gleamed silver, its cold light intimidating.