Regarding the matter of Prince Liang and the Emperor using one thousand boys and girls along with the Nine-Tiered Platform to trade for the throne, Bai Jinxiu hadn’t sent anyone to inform Bai Qingyan because she worried there were other generals around Bai Qingyan.

If other generals knew in advance, then… when they saw the miserable scenes of the common people on their way back to the capital, the generals would be mentally prepared and wouldn’t find it particularly shocking. Only by seeing it while completely unaware… would the impact on their hearts be greater.

Bai Qingyan was filled with rage, angry at both the Emperor and Liu Hong: “Prince Liang has already controlled the imperial city and the Emperor! What is his purpose in doing this? Could it be that Prince Liang was the one who initially had the Emperor build the Nine-Tiered Platform? Could it be that Prince Liang was the one who initially had the Emperor gather one thousand boys and girls?!”

If Bai Qingyan’s guess was correct, the Emperor had probably made a deal with Prince Liang using the throne, requiring Prince Liang to complete the Nine-Tiered Platform within ten days and collect one thousand boys and girls for him within ten days. In exchange… the Emperor would pass the throne to Prince Liang!

This point… Liu Hong had surely already guessed, but Liu Hong was unwilling to admit it was the Emperor’s fault.

Bai Qingyan turned to look at Liu Hong, raising her voice: “General Liu, you are not a mediocre person. Can’t you deduce that the Emperor is making a deal with Prince Liang using the throne?”

Liu Hong pressed his lips tightly together. Yes… he could think of it, but he was unwilling to think so poorly of the Emperor.

“Who are you?” Bai Qingyan’s gaze fell on the bailiff being pointed at by Yang Wuce’s sword.

“In… in reply to Princess Zhenguo, this humble one is a bailiff from Chunmu City!” the bailiff answered.

She asked again: “Are the children all confined in the prefectural office?”

The bailiff nodded carefully: “Exactly!”

“General Liu, have the army rest in place. I’ll trouble you to make a trip… come with me to the prefectural office!” Bai Qingyan said to Liu Hong. Some things needed to be seen by Liu Hong with his own eyes before he could understand.

Liu Hong nodded: “Very well!”

“General Lin, watch over the army here! We’ll go and return quickly!” Bai Qingyan said.

Lin Kangle had originally wanted to go along, but military orders were like mountains, so he could only salute and agree.

Bai Qingyan bent down to speak to the young woman who was tightly holding her children: “Don’t be afraid! No one can take your children away!”

Seeing the young woman glance at Liu Hong with some hesitation, Bai Qingyan added, “I am of the Bai family. From childhood, I was taught these four words: protect and bring peace to the people! I, Bai Qingyan, swear by the Bai family ancestors that as long as I’m here… no one can take your children away!”

Liu Hong looked at Bai Qingyan, seeing the woman crying as she kowtowed to thank Bai Qingyan, and a vague premonition arose in his heart.

Soon, Bai Qingyan, Liu Hong, Yang Wuce, and one hundred light cavalry entered the city.

Before Bai Qingyan’s group even reached the prefectural office entrance, they heard continuous wailing from the distance.

When they followed the bailiff near the prefectural office, they saw the entrance densely packed with kneeling people – women, couples, and even elderly people – all pleading with the bailiffs guarding the entrance to let them see their children one last time. Their cries were so miserable that anyone who heard them would be moved to tears.

Seeing armored soldiers on horseback arriving at the prefectural office entrance, these common people thought their children were about to be taken away. Their cries became even more hysterical, with several elderly women fainting from grief.

For a moment, wails filled the sky. The parents and relatives of those children didn’t know what to do, beating the ground and pounding their chests. Some even crawled forward on their knees to embrace the bailiffs’ legs, offering all their family wealth to spare their children, or at least to see them once.

Liu Hong’s emotions surged – how had the common people been pushed to such extremes?!

Moreover, there was a crippled, hot-blooded man with tears in his eyes who stood up, supporting himself with a crutch and shouting: “Damn it! I fought for Jin and lost my leg! Now this dog Emperor wants my son’s life to make immortal elixirs for him! A thousand children! A thousand children just to extend the dog Emperor’s life! If such an emperor truly becomes immortal, will we common people have any way to live?! Fellow villagers… let’s rebel against these bastards!”

Perhaps inspired by this hot-blooded man’s words, the common people all stood up.

“Rebel against these bastards!”

“Whoever wants my child’s life, I’ll take theirs!”

“Fellow villagers! Our children are inside the prefectural office! Haven’t we struggled our whole lives just to live for our children?! Let’s fight these bastards! Save as many children as we can!”

The common people responded one after another. Though they were unarmed, for their children they charged like madmen toward the main gate that separated them from their children.

The bailiffs were greatly alarmed, shouting: “You lowly people! Are you trying to rebel?!”

The crippled man stepped forward on his crutch, swinging it to strike the bailiff’s head. The bailiff immediately fell unconscious: “Rebel?! I’m rebelling today! Today, whoever blocks me… I’ll take their life! Fellow villagers, charge and save the children!”

With these words from the man, those mothers who had been weeping helplessly rushed forward to fight desperately with the bailiffs. The area in front of the prefectural office became completely chaotic.

The bailiffs who had been guiding Bai Qingyan quickly went forward to help, intercepting the common people.

Liu Hong’s horse was startled, and he gripped the reins tightly, calling out to Bai Qingyan: “Princess Zhenguo! We can’t let the people riot!”

Yang Wuce saw that Bai Qingyan sat high on her horse without giving orders, remaining unmoved. Even when Liu Hong looked at him, he remained unmoved like a mountain.

“Princess Zhenguo!” Liu Hong called out again.

Seeing the people’s emotions running high and fearing they would be hurt, Bai Qingyan finally turned to instruct Yang Wuce: “General Yang!”

Yang Wuce received the order, pulled his reins forward, and with a voice like a great bell, shouted: “Everyone stop!”

But the common people’s hearts were filled with thoughts of their children crying and calling for their mothers and fathers inside the prefectural office – how could they listen to Yang Wuce’s command!

The bailiffs’ clothes were torn to shreds as the people roared and charged at the prefectural office gate. Soon, the gate was broken open, and the people surged in like a flood, crying out their children’s names and rushing in following the sounds of children crying and shouting.

Yang Wuce rode back quickly, saluting Bai Qingyan: “Princess Zhenguo! We couldn’t stop them! The people have already rushed in!”

“This won’t do! It will incite civil unrest!” Liu Hong’s heart was in turmoil.

“Does General Liu think this doesn’t already count as civil unrest?” Bai Qingyan didn’t look at Liu Hong, her voice bone-chillingly cold. “This is just Chunmu Mountain. Throughout Jin’s territory, wherever the edict has been issued, who knows how many such disturbances will arise!”

Liu Hong was worried about exactly this!

“Quick! Quick, call for people, we must stop those people. If we let them take the children away, none of us will survive!” the prefectural office’s head bailiff shouted.

The bailiff who had been guiding Bai Qingyan saw this situation and hurriedly ran toward Bai Qingyan and Liu Hong. Seeing they had brought one hundred light cavalry, he bowed deeply and said: “Please lend your aid, Princess Zhenguo and General Liu!”