If he could become a stepping stone on Bai Qingyan’s path to realizing her aspirations, it would repay the kindness of Bai Qingyan, who had openly and secretly protected the Fu family starting from Anping Camp.

“Bai Qingyan greets Your Majesty and Crown Prince. I arrived late to rescue Your Majesty, causing Your Majesty and the Crown Prince to be frightened! Please forgive me, Your Majesty and Your Highness!” Bai Qingyan knelt on one knee. Unable to lift her arm, she could only support herself on her knee with one hand and bow her head in salute.

Fu Ruoxi gazed down at the polished black stone floor, his eyes falling on the footprints left by Bai Qingyan ahead, fresh blood mixed with rainwater. He also followed Bai Qingyan in kneeling on one knee, his voice hoarse: “Criminal subject Fu Ruoxi arrived late to rescue Your Majesty. Please forgive me, Your Majesty and Your Highness.”

Because Bai Qingyan and Fu Ruoxi had been summoned inside, the great hall doors had already opened. Outside, Fan Yuhuai’s voice shouting in the rain for the Patrol Battalion to immediately detain the Nandu soldiers and rebel Imperial Guards was extremely clear.

The Anping Camp generals told Fan Yuhuai that they had killed their way in through the eastern and western gates, while Princess Zhenguo and Fu Ruoxi had killed their way in through Wude Gate at the southern entrance. Following Princess Zhenguo’s instructions, those who surrendered were detained, and those who resisted were immediately executed. There should be no more rebels at the eastern and western gates.

But Fan Yuhuai was still uneasy and sent people with soldiers to search once more to ensure His Majesty’s safety.

“Your Majesty, Minister Fan was severely injured protecting Your Majesty. Please summon Minister Fan inside so the imperial physician can first bandage his wounds and see if his eyeball was damaged,” Bai Qingyan said to the emperor.

Seeing the emperor prop himself up, the Crown Prince quickly stepped forward to support him, placing another hidden pillow behind the emperor and saying softly: “Father Emperor, please take it slowly…”

The emperor nodded and slowly leaned against the hidden pillow. When he had heard Bai Qingyan outside the hall saying she had arrived late to rescue him, his expression had already shown relief. Now the emperor’s sallow complexion had softened, returning to that lofty imperial demeanor as he spoke: “Princess Zhenguo has worked hard! Imperial Physician Huang… find an imperial physician to examine Fan Yuhuai.”

Imperial Physician Huang nodded and instructed a very young but highly skilled physician from the Imperial Medical Academy to carry a medicine chest to treat Fan Yuhuai’s injuries.

The emperor’s gaze then fell on Fu Ruoxi as he spoke: “Imperial Teacher Old Tan has already told me about the Empress threatening you. Drawing your blade against the Crown Prince was truly unavoidable. You have already lost an arm, and this time, you have merit in rescuing me. I will spare your life, strip you of your official position, and allow you to remain in the capital to observe mourning for Old Madam Fu. Are you satisfied?”

Fu Ruoxi immediately kowtowed heavily: “That Your Majesty allows this criminal subject to live and observe filial mourning for my mother is already heavenly grace. This criminal subject is deeply grateful and swears to be loyal to Your Majesty and the Crown Prince unto death!”

“I thought that last night… General Fu had been killed by people sent by the Empress. I never imagined you could still be alive to come rescue us. This is truly… wonderful!” The Crown Prince’s words of relief that Fu Ruoxi was still alive were genuine. If Fu Ruoxi had died, and the Empress claimed that the Crown Prince’s party had fabricated accusations against her, leaving no witnesses to testify, the Crown Prince would truly have no recourse.

Fu Ruoxi’s heart sounded alarm bells, thinking the Crown Prince suspected how he had left the city.

No matter what, Fu Ruoxi could not implicate Bai Qingyan. He could only say: “This criminal subject was rescued from Dali Temple prison by the Empress’s people. I also thought I would die without a burial place, but the Empress’s people took me out of the city, saying… this criminal subject’s drawing a blade against the Crown Prince was already an unforgivable crime, but if I could bring twenty thousand Anping Camp soldiers to assist Prince Xin, the Fu family and I could live…”

Fu Ruoxi thought of his words as he spoke.

He remembered the three signal flares Bai Qingyan had fired and knew he couldn’t completely exclude Bai Qingyan from the story, otherwise these three flares couldn’t be explained. He could only continue…

“When this criminal subject planned to go along with their scheme and head to where the twenty thousand Anping Camp soldiers were stationed, the guard troops from Duke Zhenguo’s mansion arrived to rescue me, saying that Princess Zhenguo had gone to the Crown Prince’s mansion to protect Crown Prince and asking me to immediately bring the twenty thousand Anping Camp soldiers to rescue Your Majesty! Because I had no military tally and no written orders from Your Majesty or the Crown Prince, I could only kneel and swear by the entire Fu family and my mother’s spirit, asking the Anping Camp generals to follow me into the palace to rescue Your Majesty. Only then did the Anping Camp soldiers gradually follow me toward the capital. Until… when the generals saw Princess Zhenguo in the capital, they finally believed… that I was truly rescuing Your Majesty and not rebelling.”

Fu Ruoxi’s words were not only reasonable and logical, but also cleared him of… the ability to command obedience as commander of Anping Camp even without an official position, reducing the emperor’s and the Crown Prince’s suspicion and wariness.

Outside the hall, the sound of rain and Prince Liang’s crying pleas to see the emperor were extremely loud. The emperor couldn’t help but look outside, his expression unreadable – whether angry or hateful.

Old Fang quietly clenched his fists. What he had been busy with these days was preparing to accuse the Empress and Fu Ruoxi of having an affair, and even that Prince Xin might not be the emperor’s son.

But when Old Fang looked toward the Crown Prince, he saw the Crown Prince looking at Fu Ruoxi with some gratitude. It seemed… now that Prince Xin was dead, the Empress would likely not survive either. The Crown Prince would certainly not continue pursuing Fu Ruoxi.

The emperor nodded and his gaze returned to Bai Qingyan, whose arm hung at her side: “How did you know the Empress’s people would rescue Fu Ruoxi?”

“Your Majesty, Bai Qingyan did not guess that the Empress would rescue Fu Ruoxi. I only guessed that the Empress would send people to silence Fu Ruoxi, so I specifically instructed Minister Lu to guard him strictly. But after returning to Duke Zhenguo’s mansion, Bai Qingyan still felt uneasy and sent people to watch Dali Temple, fearing that before Your Majesty could interrogate Fu Ruoxi, he would meet with misfortune. After all, the Empress is the nation’s mother. Whether to convict her should be… Your Majesty’s decision after interrogating Fu Ruoxi. This concerns the imperial family’s dignity, so being careful and cautious is always right,” Bai Qingyan said.

The doubts swirling in the emperor’s mind dissipated. He let out a gentle sigh: “Imperial Physician Huang, examine Princess Zhenguo’s arm injury!”

“Your Majesty, Bai Qingyan’s injury is minor and doesn’t matter!” Bai Qingyan lowered her eyes without showing emotion. “There are more important matters to handle now. Grandmother used protecting the Empress and the dragon heir as justification to shelter the Empress in her sleeping quarters. But to prevent the Empress from doing something irreversible upon learning of Prince Xin’s death, please, Your Majesty, immediately send the Crown Prince to personally invite the Empress here. General Fu is also present… everything can be confronted face to face, which would clear General Fu’s name.”

Concerning the imperial family’s dignity, Bai Qingyan knew the emperor probably wouldn’t truly summon the Empress for a confrontation. This time, Prince Xin had genuinely rebelled. Even if the Empress had the greatest grievances, the emperor wouldn’t believe a single word. The emperor might even send Gao Demao with a white silk cord to end the Empress’s life without even seeing her face.

As for the Crown Prince, he naturally didn’t want the Empress to see the emperor again either. What if the Empress was silver-tongued and made the emperor remember old feelings, sparing her life…