Wen Yu sat on the stool before the cradle, one finger still tightly grasped by A’Li’s tender yet strong plump hand. She didn’t speak, her tranquil eyes like a lake reflecting the cold moon.

Zhaobai pressed her lips slightly tighter and said: “This was all Pei Song’s scheme.”

Actually, when such rumors first began spreading in Liang territory, Zhaobai had ordered the Azure Cloud Guards to investigate what was really going on between Xiao Li and that courtesan.

Though she had many complaints about Xiao Li, since Wen Yu said she had chosen him, she regarded Xiao Li as Wen Yu’s possession.

However, the other party’s various actions didn’t seem like someone who only wanted to peacefully be an obedient favored subject. He had even repeatedly refused to return to the Liang faction. Wen Yu had endured the hardships of pregnancy to return to Chen Kingdom alone and still needed to face so many demons and monsters by herself. This made Zhaobai increasingly dislike Xiao Li.

When the other party spread the news during Wen Yu’s delivery period that he had massacred surrendered soldiers in a rage for a courtesan, Zhaobai was so angry she nearly took up a blade to go find him in Liang territory.

However, because Wen Yu had been suppressing the aristocratic family ministers too severely at that time, the Chen Kingdom court was already quite unstable, and since women giving birth had been especially perilous since ancient times, she couldn’t leave. So she concealed the news to let Wen Yu give birth and recover in peace, while first ordering people to find out what was really going on.

The news the Azure Cloud Guards gathered only made Zhaobai more furious. That courtesan had the same background as Xiao Li, both from the Zuihong Pavilion. Reportedly their relationship was very close. When the Liang faction was attacking Yongzhou from Pei Song’s forces, there were even people from Xiao’s forces who infiltrated the city specifically to rescue that courtesan.

These pieces of “ironclad evidence” all indicated that Xiao Li’s rage-fueled massacre of Pei Song’s twenty thousand surrendered soldiers for her was true.

Therefore, when Wen Yu later concealed A’Li’s identity and had absolutely no intention of letting Xiao Li know, in Zhaobai’s view this was perfectly natural.

On this trip back to Liang territory, besides rescuing Jiang Yichu and her daughter, Zhaobai hadn’t planned to have any contact with Xiao’s faction. However, fate played tricks—Jiang Yichu fell off the cliff, she herself was seriously injured, and staying in Luodu for an extended period, she accidentally learned the truth about Xiao Li killing those twenty thousand surrendered soldiers.

Zhaobai said: “The story of Xiao Li massacring Pei Song’s twenty thousand surrendered soldiers for a courtesan has long been known to everyone in Liang territory. Yet on this trip to Luodu, I saw quite a few storytellers in teahouses and wine shops ‘clarifying’ this matter.”

When Zhaobai first heard of this, she had personally taken people to a teahouse to listen. That storyteller slapped his gavel block loudly, vividly recounting that highly controversial battle of “massacring surrendered soldiers”:

“Everyone says the Northern Frontier Mister Xiao flew into a rage for a beauty, massacring twenty thousand of Pei Song’s surrendered soldiers for a courtesan. It sounds like a fine tale of a hero cherishing a beauty, but—not so, not so!”

Hearing he would speak of something different from the rumors, the crowd below naturally had their curiosity piqued and made a commotion urging the storyteller to explain how it was “not so.”

That storyteller stroked his beard: “To speak of this matter, we must start from when Marquis Shuobian died and his pair of children were also schemed to death by the Yu clan father and son. At that time, Great General Yuan Fang of the Wei faction withdrew his troops back to the Northern Frontier. The cities north of Guanzhong that had originally been occupied were retaken by Pei clan forces…”

Someone jeered: “We want to hear about Mister Xiao massacring Pei Song’s twenty thousand surrendered soldiers. Why speak of these old, stale matters?”

The storyteller only smiled cheerfully: “Please be patient, please be patient. Since this old man mentioned this matter, there must be a connection between the two.”

After the hall quieted down, the storyteller continued: “Subsequently, Mister Xiao captured that poisonous scholar Yu, set up a cauldron beneath Weizhou city walls, and dismembered and boiled him alive, finally forcing the younger one to reveal his true colors as well, clearing Mister Xiao’s name from killing the Wei siblings. Mister Xiao then led his army south—it was killing any god who blocked his path, slaying any Buddha who stood in his way…”

He suddenly changed his tone: “But do you all know what happened to those routed Pei soldiers after Mister Xiao conquered the cities?”

Someone below said: “Deserters! Surely they just found some place to become bandits?”

The storyteller said: “Precisely so. You must know that Pei faction soldiers had always looted wherever they fought. Burning, killing, and plundering had become their nature. After being scattered by Mister Xiao’s army, when they fled to surrounding villages, they would massacre and plunder villages at will! After learning of this, Mister Xiao was very angry and immediately led troops to kill clean all those routed Pei soldiers who had massacred villages.”

Hearing this, Zhaobai had already frowned but didn’t make a sound, listening as the storyteller continued: “How cunning is that Pei Song? Seeing Mister Xiao consecutively seizing several cities, with his Pei faction forces scattered like loose sand under attack from north and south, to prevent this collapse of military morale, he spread rumors within the army that whenever Mister Xiao took a city, he would certainly kill all the Pei soldiers in the city. When those Pei soldiers defending cities heard that fighting might let them live but surrendering meant certain death, to seek a way to survive, wouldn’t they fight desperately for their lives?”

The storyteller slapped his gavel block hard: “When that courtesan died, the battle when Mister Xiao led his army to attack the city was exactly like this. The Pei soldiers in the city feared being captured and killed after the city fell, so they fought Xiao’s forces with bloodshot eyes. By the time the city fell, corpses were piled like mountains at the city gates, and very few Pei soldiers remained in the city!

“After this crushing defeat, that villain Pei Song thought about it and decided to pin on Mister Xiao the evil name of killing surrendered soldiers. Though it made him appear cruel, the common people had long hated their Pei army—just killing surrendered soldiers alone wouldn’t ruin Mister Xiao’s reputation! So he schemed again, conflating the surrendered soldiers Mister Xiao had killed in daily life to protect the people’s peace with those Pei soldiers who died in that siege battle, claiming to the outside that Mister Xiao had killed twenty thousand surrendered soldiers from his Pei faction for a courtesan. Stories of heroes and beauties have always been easily spread. Once this reputation of ‘flying into a rage for a beauty’ got out, didn’t the label of ‘losing wisdom to lust’ also appear? What ambitious people in the world would still seek to serve such a lord?”

Someone questioned: “According to what you say, that courtesan had no connection at all with Mister Xiao? If there was no connection, why didn’t Mister Xiao clarify, and even built a tomb for her in Dingzhou?”

The storyteller wasn’t angered by being questioned and still said good-naturedly: “I imagine you all have this doubt in your hearts. Don’t rush, don’t rush. Let this old man explain one by one.

“First, why didn’t Mister Xiao clarify to the outside? After that battle, through that villain Pei Song’s machinations, everyone in the world knew of Mister Xiao massacring surrendered soldiers. Even if clarified, could these rebuttal words surpass the rumors? At that time, if that villain Pei Song turned it against him again, saying he dared to act but not acknowledge it, wouldn’t that be more loss than gain? Furthermore, Pei Song spread this rumor firstly to frighten the soldiers in his army, forcing them to fight to the death, and secondly to damage Mister Xiao’s reputation. Mister Xiao deliberately did the opposite!”

The storyteller spoke while slapping his gavel block again, flicking his sleeve to his elbow: “When Mister Xiao subsequently besieged cities, he proclaimed that those who opened the city gates to surrender, he would let bygones be bygones, but if they stubbornly resisted, after the city fell not one would be left! With Pei Song having helped Mister Xiao establish this killing reputation, how could those besieged Pei forces not fear? Thus when Mister Xiao led his great army continuing to press south, those in the Pei faction who surrendered were countless. Only then could Xiao’s great army advance with overwhelming momentum, pushing the northern battle line to beneath Luodu city walls when the Liang army attacked Luodu from the south.”

The reasons the storyteller gave didn’t seem fabricated, and there was the actual fact of Pei faction generals surrendering when their cities were besieged. The crowd whispered to each other, discussing heatedly. Some impatient ones urged: “Quickly tell us what connection that courtesan had with Mister Xiao!”

The storyteller took a sip of tea before saying: “To speak of the relationship between this courtesan and Mister Xiao, one must speak of Mister Xiao’s background.

“You all know Mister Xiao is from Yongzhou, and his birth mother was also a pleasure house woman. At age eight, to protect his mother, he killed someone and offended a local wealthy merchant. After seven years in prison, he came out and worked collecting debts at the local gambling house. But for him—a half-grown boy bearing lowly status—to enter the gambling house, there was some fortuitous circumstance. The reason was that during his imprisonment he met someone. Through this person’s introduction, he entered the gambling house and later even became sworn brothers with him.

“Speaking of this person, I imagine you all know—it’s the current Great General Song Qin of Xiao’s faction.”

Those who knew this past naturally didn’t find it surprising, urging the storyteller to quickly continue to the important parts. Those who didn’t know this past couldn’t help but sigh after hearing it, secretly lamenting that though Xiao Li was now the noble master of the Northern Frontier, he formerly had such a miserable background.

The storyteller continued amid this clamor: “As the saying goes, heroes grow old and beauties turn gray. When the once-flourishing courtesan fell from favor, the establishment would naturally promote a new one, right? This courtesan Mudan who was newly promoted by the madam, because she had received care from Xiao’s mother in the past, after gaining favor also cared for Xiao’s mother. With this favor, from that time Mister Xiao respected her as his own elder sister. If we speak of having some romantic affection with that courtesan Mudan, it would rather be his sworn brother Song Qin.”

Someone below questioned this. The storyteller heavily slapped his gavel block: “You all think this old man is speaking nonsense? Then dare I ask, who is it that is still building a tomb for that courtesan on Mudan Slope in Dingzhou now? Today we’ll only speak up to this point. If you all want to hear about the beginning of Mudan and Song Qin’s acquaintance, another day this old man will tell you about this pair of star-crossed lovers in chaotic times!”

As the storyteller stepped down from the platform, the crowd below was at the height of interest and naturally dissatisfied, clamoring for him to continue. Yet among the crowd, someone else said that the theater troupe had recently arranged a new opera “Blood Splattered on Mudan Pavilion,” telling the story of the courtesan Mudan leading the pleasure house girls in plotting to kill eleven Pei generals and meeting disaster. The play also depicted her various entanglements with Song Qin. Those guests who hadn’t gotten their fill also went next door to the theater.

After Zhaobai finished telling Wen Yu the full account of this matter, she continued: “This servant suspects that behind all these storytellers throughout the city and the arranged opera performances, there must be a mastermind. After careful investigation, I discovered it was that military advisor from Xiao’s faction giving orders. I just don’t know if their Xiao faction planned this early on, or if that military advisor did this to help Xiao Li restore some popular support. However, after ordering people to verify these clarifying statements that were released, I found they weren’t false. That General Song from Xiao’s faction is indeed still building a tomb for that courtesan in Dingzhou.”

She furrowed her brows tighter: “After that man surnamed Xiao left the pass and suddenly attacked the royal court—was it to compete with you for this realm?”

Wen Yu let her index finger be tightly grasped by A’Li. Her face still peaceful, showing not a trace of emotion, only when her long lashes lowered did she say: “No.”

In Zhaobai’s moment of confusion, she heard her say: “Thank you, A’Zhao.”

—

Great Liang, Luodu.

As Zhang Huai led his attendant carrying a stack of documents through the courtyard, he encountered Li Xun head-on. Both men nodded in greeting, their faces showing a harmonious manner.

Li Xun asked: “Has Master Zhang been organizing the library’s collection these days?”

Zhang Huai said modestly: “Making a small contribution.”

After the two exchanged simple pleasantries and each walked away, the trace of smile on Zhang Huai’s face finally disappeared.

The attendant, watching Zhang Huai’s change of expression, said: “These days we’ve been clarifying in the city our lord’s reputation of losing wisdom to lust and cruelty, yet the Liang faction people act as if they don’t know about this at all. Who knows what scheme they’re plotting.”

The Liang and Xiao factions had attacked Luodu together. Xiao Li and Fan Yuan pursued Pei Song’s remnant forces, while the remaining troops still garrisoned on the north and south sides of Luodu. They hadn’t made a division of Luodu’s ownership at present, only mutually agreeing not to harm a single hair of the city’s common people.

When the Liang faction civil officials proposed entering the capital to organize the library archives in order to convict Pei Song’s faction after Wen Yu returned to Liang territory, Zhang Huai used helping organize the library’s collection as a reason to enter the city as well.

When Wen Yu’s imperial appointment for Xiao Li reached Luodu, he had delayed it using the excuse that Xiao Li had led troops deep into the Western Frontier, wasn’t currently in the army, and couldn’t give the Liang faction a reply.

But he had begun clearing Xiao Li’s evil reputation and winning popular support. By rights, the Liang faction should be guarding against them, preventing Xiao Li from subsequently competing with Wen Yu for superiority.

Yet the Liang faction had taken no action thus far, instead seeming to tacitly permit them to clarify Xiao Li’s tarnished name. This made Zhang Huai unable to tell whether they were truly so magnanimous and confident their princess could win, or if they still had hidden cards up their sleeves.

Such speculation made Zhang Huai slightly irritated. Hearing the attendant’s muttering now, his head turned slightly back as he couldn’t help but reprimand: “What did I teach you?”

The attendant quickly lowered his head: “This humble one spoke wrongly.”

Zhang Huai withdrew his gaze. Continuing to walk forward, he finally said: “When troops come, we’ll block with generals; when water comes, we’ll cover with earth. We strategists need only ensure that whatever path our lord chooses, the road he walks will be smooth.”

—

Chen Kingdom, Royal Court.

The daylight was bright, birds chirping and singing outside the window.

Warm sunlight penetrated through the window gauze, shining on the bed. A slender, brilliant beam of sunlight fell across Xiao Li’s deep and slightly sharp brows and eyes.

Even while sleeping, his brows remained tightly knitted, as if even in dreams he couldn’t find a moment’s peace.

His eyeballs moved frequently under the thin layer of eyelids covering them, drawing a soft, chubby little white hand to reach out and touch, making a tender and puzzled babbling sound.

Xiao Li didn’t know how long he had slept, nor did he know whether it was because he had just experienced high fever or because he hadn’t eaten his fill in too long. Between waking and sleeping, he only felt his hands and feet still somewhat heavy.

He vaguely remembered being trapped in one endless nightmare after another. Now that his thoughts temporarily regained clarity, he couldn’t recall the specific content of the dreams, but the emotions from those dreams still affected him, making his brows unconsciously furrow tight.

Fortunately, the warmth of that sunlight slowly seeped into his limbs and bones, shining so that even in his sleep, everything before his eyes was orange-yellow.

The soft force touching his eye sockets grew stronger, and the babbling sound by his ear became clearer.

When Xiao Li finally slowly lifted those heavy eyelids, he saw gauze curtains hanging to the ground in the distance, wisps of incense slowly drifting from the beast-mouth incense burner, and jade-black floor tiles so polished they could reflect images.

Where he currently was seemed to be a palace chamber?

Xiao Li’s consciousness became completely clear. When his gaze swept toward the nearby bed, he saw the bed curtains embroidered with intertwining branch patterns hanging at the side. In his nostrils he could smell a scent that was clean but very unfamiliar, with a faint hint of milk fragrance.

Where was this milk fragrance coming from?

As soon as this doubt arose in his heart, his cheek was again touched by something soft, along with an extremely tender: “Yee?”

Xiao Li slowly turned his eyes and saw a small person lying on the pillow at the inner side.

A baby of indeterminate age, carved from powder and jade, with shallow short black hair tied into two upward tufts on top of her head. Discovering he was looking over, her mouth made another “ya” sound as she continued to pat his cheek with her tender plump hand, smiling to reveal four tiny white teeth barely visible.

Xiao Li’s mind, which had just cleared, became confused again.

He seemed to lose his ability to think in this instant. Looking at the baby on the pillow, not daring to touch, not daring to make any movement, just staring blankly like that, letting that baby playfully pat his cheek from time to time. After a long while, he finally spoke hoarsely: “Whose… child are you?”

As the words left his mouth, his eye sockets already felt somewhat burning and sore.

He had awakened from the water prison and was lying here.

Though the baby was all tender innocence, those brows and eyes resembled Wen Yu too closely, and around her neck hung a white jade peace lock.

Xiao Li suddenly felt somewhat unable to breathe. He raised his hand to cover his eyes in a disheveled manner. Despite trying his utmost to restrain himself, tiny sounds still emerged from his throat.

A’Li, who had originally been happy, seeing him like this, froze. Her mouth pursed, and she suddenly burst into loud wails.

When Wen Yu heard the sound and rushed over, she saw Xiao Li half-sitting against the headboard, his eye sockets still tinged red, using an awkward and stiff posture to very uncomfortably hold A’Li, woodenly coaxing: “Don’t… cry.”

A’Li cried even louder.

All of Xiao Li’s attention was on this little person crying at the top of her lungs. He didn’t even notice Wen Yu entering until she walked close. Looking at her, he finally spoke a sentence somewhat at a loss: “She… keeps crying.”

Wen Yu didn’t speak. Her hand gripped his forearm and moved it up a bit, saying: “Put your hand here. Hold her like this.”

After speaking, she gently patted A’Li’s back at the side: “A’Li don’t cry, Mother is here…”

Little A’Li, coaxed like this, indeed gradually stopped crying.

Xiao Li looked at the infant who had stopped crying and was reaching toward him again with babbling sounds. Feeling that soft weight in his hands like a ball of cotton, he only felt his throat clogged and sore, his eye sockets beginning to burn again, almost not knowing how to speak.

After a long while, he finally regained command of his words, looking at Wen Yu with red eyes: “This is… our daughter?”

Rather than asking Wen Yu, these words were more that he almost didn’t dare believe.

Wen Yu adjusted A’Li’s garment collar at the side, putting the white jade lock that had fallen out by her neck back inside her clothes, saying: “I named her Wen He, with the pet name A’Li.”

“A’Li?” Xiao Li slowly repeated this pet name. When A’Li reached out to touch his face, his rough large palm gently gripped that plump little white hand.

As if something magical spread from the pulse jumping at his fingertips, flowing through his blood into his limbs and bones, making the burning in his eyes intensify.

Xiao Li looked at his daughter, all tender innocence in his arms. Looking toward Wen Yu again, his bloodshot eyes seemed like charcoal fire seen through water, his breath clogged as he said: “Thank you, A’Yu.”

A’Li didn’t understand why the eyes of the person holding her suddenly turned so red again. She turned her head and babbled “ah ya” twice toward Wen Yu. Wen Yu only gently touched her head, saying: “This is Father.”

Just one sentence almost made Xiao Li’s eye sockets turn another shade redder.

—

A’Li was practically stared to sleep by Xiao Li. She hadn’t been this tired in a long time. No matter what she did, the other person stared at her without blinking.

Seeing someone so supportive, she took the wood carvings and cloth dolls scattered all over the bed and worked hard to play with the other person, finally successfully tiring herself to sleep.

After A’Li fell asleep, Xiao Li still guarded by the cradle for a while, as if he could never see enough.

Having experienced Wang Wanzhen falsely reporting her pregnancy months, he also easily guessed the reason Wen Yu concealed A’Li’s age to outsiders. After all, when Wen Yu returned to Chen Kingdom last year it was already March. If she didn’t report the child’s age as younger, it would be tantamount to telling everyone A’Li wasn’t Prince Chen’s bloodline.

Wen Yu still had a pile of government affairs to handle. Long ago when Xiao Li was watching A’Li play, she had returned to the main hall to review memorials.

When Xiao Li came over after A’Li fell into deep sleep, Tongque who was serving in the hall saw the two seemed to have words to say. Using the excuse of making tea, she tactfully withdrew first.

In the great hall, only Wen Yu sitting above reviewing memorials and Xiao Li standing below remained.

The sun’s shadow slanted west. Behind Wen Yu the window was wide open, the green grain in the courtyard that had grown tassels also seemed gilded with a layer of pale gold.

Xiao Li looked at that graceful figure also bathed in slanting sunlight, his Adam’s apple slowly moving: “You’ve hidden this from me so bitterly.”

Wen Yu slowly raised her eyes, saying: “Given Mister Xiao’s momentum in besieging the royal court previously, how could this palace know if you were friend or foe?”

Xiao Li naturally knew that besieging the royal court meant he was at fault first. After conquering the royal court, driven by jealousy and fury, he had indeed done quite a few bastard things. He couldn’t expect that in such circumstances, Wen Yu would still be in a good mood to explain everything clearly to him.

After two breaths of silence, he said: “Regarding besieging the royal court, I will give you an explanation. But A’Li is my daughter. I cannot let her acknowledge that useless waste Prince Chen as her father.”

Wen Yu frowned: “You want to fight me for our daughter?”

Xiao Li’s thin lips pressed tight as he said: “Chen Kingdom and Great Liang’s interests are too deeply intertwined. You can’t divorce Prince Chen and sever ties with Chen Kingdom—I accept that. But Prince Chen is dead now. With half of Great Liang’s territory as collateral, if you and I marry, who would dare say a word?”

After Prince Chen was whipped by him in the Heavenly Prison and then kidnapped on horseback by the Wolf Cavalry when leaving the city to use as a hostage to clear the road, by the time he was rescued, his courage was already shattered. He fell seriously ill and has remained so to this day, still lying bedridden in Zhanghua Hall.

Realizing the other person was essentially forcing marriage in a roundabout way, Wen Yu re-examined the person standing below.

After resting these two days, all trace of illness had completely disappeared from his body. The places on his hands and neck abraded by iron chains had all scabbed over. Compared to those wounds he’d received on the battlefield, these small abrasions weren’t worth mentioning at all. He himself seemed to pay them no attention whatsoever. His extremely strong physique, without needing to deliberately apply pressure, could make people feel that beast-like intimidating presence.

Wen Yu’s fingertip pressed against the vermillion brush as she asked: “What if I refuse?”

Xiao Li’s expression toward her seemed hurt for an instant, only this was quickly covered by that forcibly maintained hardness. He said: “Haven’t you always been best at considering the big picture? Marrying me, I’ll accept your previous imperial appointment. You won’t need to expend a single soldier to make the Northern Frontier return to Great Liang. Isn’t this benefit enough?”

After several breaths of silence, Wen Yu instead said: “So certain you want to bind yourself to me? Have you thought it through? As we are now, we can still part amicably. But gambling with territory as stakes—we won’t be able to part easily anymore.”

Xiao Li’s gaze staring at her, besides hidden pain, almost carried several degrees of fierceness: “That couldn’t be better!”

Wen Yu fell silent again. After a moment she said: “Xiao Li, your obsession with me—is it because of the affection from when we met in Yongcheng and went south experiencing life and death together several times?”

She looked toward the grain outside the window, seemingly with a brief moment of confusion: “But time can change many things. I’m no longer the me you knew two years ago, so I’m giving you a choice again. I hope you’ll consider it carefully.”

Xiao Li rarely cursed: “I want jack shit for a choice!”

His gaze was firm and deep as if he wanted to use a chisel to carve deep marks on what he looked at: “On this path I’ve walked, every single footprint behind me only has two names carved in it.”

“One is called Pei Song, the other is called Wen Yu.”

His jaw clenched tight: “You think after being apart for two years, I might not understand you anymore—but do you know that these two years I haven’t been constantly watching you?”

Brief confusion floated up in Wen Yu’s eyes, strange emotions churning in her heart.

Then, as if unwilling to let Xiao Li discover her abnormality, she continued to look sideways out the window.

Two years—not long if you say it’s long, not short if you say it’s short, yet she had already grown accustomed to being that Princess Hanyang who would never make mistakes at any moment, even rarely getting angry.

Every sentence she spoke, every decision she made, had to be deeply considered.

Her existence seemed only to solve one difficult problem after another on this land, no longer needing to live as a living, breathing person.

Wen Yu forced back the slight soreness and discomfort in her eyes. After taking a slightly deep breath, she said: “Aren’t you afraid I’m ruthless, vicious, and will stop at nothing?”

Xiao Li’s eyes showed a faint ring of redness, still staring at her without blinking: “Then it’s best if it’s toward me, not toward others.”

He had used tremendous effort to become the only king who could stand shoulder to shoulder with her.

Whether genuine sincerity or false sentiment, even if scheming exhaustively, even if fighting to the death, in this chess game concerning the realm, the one making the final moves with her—he only hoped it would be him.

The soreness in Wen Yu’s eyes intensified by another degree. Finally she took a deep breath about to say something, only before the words could leave her mouth, Tongque’s announcement came from outside the hall: “Princess, someone has come from Lingxi Palace saying the Empress Dowager wishes to see you.”

After the Yan clan father and son entered prison, Wen Yu had also ordered Third Miss Jiang and her son to be placed under watch first. For the Empress Dowager to want to see her at this time, she must want to plead for Third Miss Jiang.

When the Yan family launched the palace coup, the Empress Dowager still had some protective feelings toward A’Li. Considering this, going to see the Empress Dowager once was acceptable.

Currently Wen Yu’s state of mind was in chaos. The interrupted words also couldn’t be resumed, so she said to Xiao Li: “I’ll go to Lingxi Palace first.”

Then she directly left the great hall.

On this entire journey to Lingxi Palace by palanquin, Tongque discovered Wen Yu had been lost in thought. When they arrived outside Lingxi Palace and she helped Wen Yu down from the palanquin, she had to call Wen Yu twice before Wen Yu came back to her senses.

Tongque couldn’t help but ask: “What is the Princess thinking about?”

Wen Yu said: “Nothing, just somewhat tired.”

Tongque couldn’t help but start nagging: “You should have rested properly long ago. Tonight don’t stay up late reviewing memorials…”

The nagging continued until they reached outside the Empress Dowager’s Buddhist hall before stopping.

Seeing the Empress Dowager again, perhaps from worrying about her nieces below, the silver threads at her temples were more numerous than when Wen Yu last saw her.

The Empress Dowager looked at Wen Yu, her speech actually carrying several degrees of hesitation: “What the Yan family committed was too excessive. This Dowager knows there are some things This Dowager is too ashamed to ask you for, but Third Girl, Yu’er’s own younger sister, when giving birth to that child nearly lost half her life…”

Wen Yu stood in the light and shadow at the Buddhist hall’s entrance, her face seemingly as joyless and sorrowless as that Guanyin statue the Empress Dowager worshipped: “This palace can spare Third Miss Jiang’s life, but that Yan family son, having been designated as the heir before all the ministers, means even if the Yan clan father and son never intended to leave that child a way to live, you cannot blame this palace.”

The Empress Dowager fell silent. Wen Yu could spare a Yan family infant still in swaddling clothes, but having already been recognized as the heir, this wasn’t a matter of whether Wen Yu would show mercy.

Third Miss Jiang hiding behind the Buddhist hall, hearing the Empress Dowager fall silent, thought the Empress Dowager was unwilling to help her anymore. Unable to hold back, she stumbled forward quickly while holding the child and knelt before Wen Yu, tears streaming down her face: “Princess, this subject woman begs you, show mercy and spare this child’s life. That day when this child was brought to the Council Hall, it was absolutely not this subject woman’s wish. Had I known early that Yan Zhen had such wolfish ambitions, this subject woman… how would this subject woman dare to have relations with him…”

Wen Yu didn’t speak. Her face still appeared joyless and sorrowless, but her eye color seemed even paler than before.

The Empress Dowager naturally knew her niece had committed a great taboo. Just the fact that Wen Yu had shown leniency by not sending the Jiang household family members to the Jiaofang Bureau after confiscating their property, instead letting them serve in the palace, was already enough for them to be grateful.

Yet she still secretly had relations with the Deputy Commander of the Forbidden Army, secretly bearing fruit, creating such a huge mess.

Truly calculating by palace regulations, she deserved to be beaten to death with rods who knows how many times over!

The Empress Dowager was angry at her niece for failing to meet expectations. She called the name of the old nanny at her side, instructing: “Take Third Girl away.”

Third Miss Jiang, still holding the child and crying, was soon forcibly taken away by the old nanny.

Only then did the Empress Dowager say to Wen Yu: “It was This Dowager who spoiled Third Girl. What you said earlier wasn’t wrong—it was the Yan clan father and son who didn’t leave this child a way to live. But what if Third Girl and this child both ‘died’ in the palace?”

Wen Yu still didn’t speak.

The Empress Dowager pushed a brocade box toward her: “This is the deed and key to This Dowager’s private treasury. The private treasury was built underground at an estate in the suburbs. The treasures inside are no less than what you confiscated from the Jiang family.”

Wen Yu’s brow raised slightly as she asked: “The Empress Dowager has hidden this trump card for so long, yet now for the sake of your niece, you’re willing to part with it.”

The Empress Dowager smiled bitterly, then spoke frankly: “When This Dowager initially hid this private treasury, it was thinking of making a comeback someday. But after this year, This Dowager has thoroughly seen the situation clearly.”

“Those parasitic maggots have all been completely eliminated by you. You’ve also cultivated your own people in the court. Chen Kingdom’s court is stable, Liang territory’s war has ceased. What does This Dowager have left to compete with you? Moreover, This Dowager is confined in this Lingxi Palace, unable to avoid your people in any move. This private treasury’s deed and key in This Dowager’s hands are nothing but waste paper and scrap metal. Better to give them to you to preserve Third Girl’s child’s life.”

After the Empress Dowager finished speaking, she continued: “Rest assured, after news of Third Girl and her son’s ‘deaths’ spreads, This Dowager will have Third Girl take the child far from the royal court to live in anonymity for life. The entire Yan faction has been confiscated and won’t stir up waves again.”

Wen Yu didn’t take the brocade box the Empress Dowager pushed over, only saying: “Former Jin fell over a hundred years ago, yet to become a Former Jin subject again, Wei Qishan could still find a Former Jin princess. As long as there’s intent, how can waves not be stirred?”

The Empress Dowager knew Wen Yu was afraid ambitious people would seek out Third Miss Jiang and her son again.

That child was acknowledged by Prince Chen before all the ministers in the Council Hall. In the future, if someone found the mother and son, claiming that child was Prince Chen’s bloodline, sparing that child today would be tantamount to burying an enormous hidden danger for the future.

After holding the Empress Dowager’s gaze for some time, she steeled her heart and said: “There has never been a nine-fingered emperor in this world. The child Third Girl gave birth to happens to have nine fingers.”

Slight strangeness appeared in Wen Yu’s eyes. Tongque standing beside her was also suddenly shocked.

The Empress Dowager called in the old nanny who had earlier taken Third Miss Jiang away, instructing: “Chop off that child’s little finger.”

The old nanny withdrew for not long before Third Miss Jiang’s heart-rending cries came from outside: “What are you doing? Let go of my child! Aunt! How can you be so heartless!”

Then the infant’s shrill cries also rang out in Lingxi Palace, but were soon muffled.

In less than a moment, the old nanny carried that still-crying infant in swaddling clothes inside, showing Wen Yu and the Empress Dowager the infant’s hand with the little finger chopped off, saying: “Princess, this child was born with four fingers on one hand.”

Having reached this point, there was nothing more to say.

After Wen Yu closed her eyes for two breaths, she said: “The King has been bedridden with illness for long. To the outside, say he listened to a mystic’s words and took his own son’s blood as medicine ingredient, causing this child to die weak and ill.”

The Empress Dowager, hearing Wen Yu suddenly mention Prince Chen, thought Prince Chen had also participated in that palace coup and probably wouldn’t be easily spared by Wen Yu. Though still angry at him for failing to meet expectations, he was ultimately her own son. She slowly asked: “What do you intend to do with the King?”

Prince Chen was absurd. In the hearts of the common people and court ministers, he had long lost any reputation to speak of. The Empress Dowager had no objection to Wen Yu’s proposal to have Third Miss Jiang’s child “die” from being used as medicine ingredient for Prince Chen. But if Wen Yu wanted to resolve Prince Chen as well…

Wen Yu met the Empress Dowager’s gaze, her eyes dark and calm: “Precisely as the Empress Dowager thinks. The King has been bedridden with illness for some time. Even taking his own son’s blood as medicine ingredient showed no effect. ‘Dying of illness’ wouldn’t be strange, would it?”

From ascending the throne until now, Prince Chen hadn’t formally attended court more than a few times, and his absurd conduct emerged in endless layers.

In the ministers’ hearts, they had long placed their hopes on the next monarch.

Thus whether Prince Chen lived or died had long ceased to stir waves in the court.

She lowered her eyes: “The palace is cold and lonely. If the Empress Dowager wishes to go to Chanshan for purification and cultivation, this palace can find a quiet mountain temple to send the Empress Dowager to. After the King ‘dies of illness,’ if he appears before people again, it will be someone playing tricks with ghosts and gods, and should be executed on the spot.”

The meaning in her words couldn’t be clearer. She could stop confining the Empress Dowager and her son to the palace, sending them to a quiet place to be watched over and enjoy their twilight years in peace. To the outside, Prince Chen would be declared dead of illness. But if Prince Chen didn’t appreciate this and still wanted to cause trouble, he couldn’t blame her.

The Empress Dowager had once presided over court from behind a screen for a period. Thinking of Xiao Li’s various actions after conquering the royal court, she quickly understood Wen Yu’s intent. Her lips trembled several times: “You’re scheming with that jackal from your Liang territory’s Northern Frontier?”

Wen Yu didn’t answer, only saying: “In former years, the Empress Dowager made the decision to have Prince Chen petition my Imperial Father for my hand in marriage in order to borrow troops to resolve Chen Kingdom’s internal and external troubles in the succession struggle. Later when the Empress Dowager fulfilled her promise to have Prince Chen marry this palace, it was also to take the opportunity to enter the pass and return to Liang territory to avoid Xiling’s encroachment. Since this palace entered Chen territory, I dare say I have never wronged the Chen people by half a measure. Rectifying the court, reducing corvée labor, strictly investigating corrupt officials—all were to restore clear governance to the Chen people. Now that Xiling invades, Great Liang has also strongly supported us.”

Her eyes were peaceful yet firm: “All that Chen Kingdom wished for in allying with Great Liang, this palace has accomplished. The Empress Dowager and Prime Minister Jiang lost to this palace in political struggle. This palace doesn’t feel I owe the Empress Dowager or the Jiang family anything. Coming to see you today was also because the Empress Dowager previously showed some protective feelings toward this palace’s daughter. Thus when the Empress Dowager pleaded to this extent, this palace is also willing to spare Third Miss Jiang’s child’s life.

“This palace has not wronged Chen Kingdom’s court, Chen Kingdom’s royal house, or even Chen Kingdom’s common people in the slightest. Does the Empress Dowager understand?”

It was precisely because the Empress Dowager understood these things that she currently couldn’t speak a single extra word.

It was their Chen Kingdom that used endless schemes to deceive her into marriage first.

To truly discuss right and wrong in this rotten situation—how could it be sorted out clearly?

But losing in political struggle meant losing. Also as Wen Yu said, though she was extremely harsh toward Chen Kingdom’s powerful ministers and treacherous officials, she had never wronged the Chen Kingdom common people.

Thus when the royal court was besieged and news spread that the court had bound Wen Yu to offer surrender, the common people throughout Chen Kingdom were so angry that some even raised arms in revolt to attack the royal court to rescue her.

The Empress Dowager’s silver threads at her temples were obvious, as if she had aged ten years all at once, saying: “You’ve walked much farther than This Dowager thought you could. Chen Kingdom’s state and altars, This Dowager will completely hand over to you.”

Wen Yu spoke no more words.

Leaving Lingxi Palace, probably because she had handled too many government affairs today, Wen Yu only felt extraordinarily fatigued.

Tongque saw the exhaustion on her face and didn’t make a sound the entire way.

After returning to Zhaohua Palace, before even entering the main hall, they could hear the chaos of chickens flying and dogs jumping inside.

Wen Yu and Tongque exchanged glances. Both master and servant showed some puzzlement in their eyes. Pushing open the hall door to look, they saw a row of palace attendants standing at the side craning their necks. Aunt Yang, who had come at some unknown time, stood together with Xiao Li beside the large bed. The small quilts and small mattresses from the cradle had all been thrown on the ground, piled at the foot of the bed along with a stack of freshly changed diapers.

Yang Shi looked at this man like a fierce deity, heart trembling with fear: “Let me change the child…”

Xiao Li held a newly cut cloth piece in one hand, using the other hand to try to press down his daughter whose hands and feet were all flailing. But fearing his strength would be too great and hurt his daughter, his movements were extremely stiff. In Yang Shi’s eyes, that aura around him was more than just heavy and fierce. Yet when the other person turned his face, he very “amiably” said to her: “It’s fine, just tell me what to do.”

Yang Shi’s three souls nearly scared away two—she could only continue instructing with a trembling voice: “Put… put the cloth piece underneath…”

A’Li lay on the bed, her face toward the outside. With one glance she saw Wen Yu at the door and immediately waved her paws excitedly, babbling “ah ya.”

Xiao Li followed A’Li’s gaze outward and also saw Wen Yu standing at the door together with Tongque. He seemed to feel changing a diaper and not doing it well was somewhat embarrassing, so he straightened up slightly, saying somewhat uncomfortably: “You’re back?”

Wen Yu didn’t know what she was thinking. She hummed softly, then said to Yang Shi: “Aunt came over?”

Yang Shi smiled: “I came to see Li Li.”

She had long known from Yang Baolin who A’Li’s biological father was. Coming over today and seeing Xiao Li actually in Wen Yu’s hall, she immediately guessed the other person’s identity.

Now seeing Wen Yu return, she knew the two must have words to say. After helping A’Li change her diaper, seeing A’Li yawn, she smiled and coaxed: “Li Li is sleepy, right?”

The palace attendants below had already taken new bedding to re-make the cradle. Yang Shi placed A’Li into the cradle, thinking to help the two by coaxing the child to sleep before leaving. So while rocking the cradle she coaxed: “Sleep when sleepy, good baby. Li Li striped striped, jumped over South Mountain…”

From when Xiao Li heard this lullaby, his face showed strangeness: “This nursery rhyme…”

Yang Shi said cheerfully: “The first time Li Li heard this nursery rhyme she stopped crying. That’s why the Princess used this nursery rhyme to give Li Li her pet name.”

Xiao Li didn’t speak, only looked toward Wen Yu. The faint redness spreading in his eyes was hidden away in this gradually deepening dusk, but those sinking emotions within couldn’t be concealed by half a measure.

Wen Yu didn’t look at Xiao Li. She sat beside the cradle, gently patting A’Li who was gradually falling into deep sleep.

Yang Shi saw that after she finished speaking, the atmosphere between the two became somewhat off, but didn’t know what was wrong with her words. After A’Li completely fell into deep sleep, she gave two dry laughs and stood to take her leave.

The palace attendants below also tactfully withdrew. Once again only Xiao Li and Wen Yu remained in the great hall.

Xiao Li opened his mouth with some difficulty: “You…”

Wen Yu said: “Let’s get married.”