The return of Prince Rong to the capital signified one thing that everyone in the court and throughout the realm understood.

To put it bluntly!

Jingrong had rebelled.

He had openly brought Kong Qu’s troops back in rebellion.

However, no matter how formidable Kong Qu’s soldiers were, and regardless of whether Jingrong had rebelled or not, as long as Jingrong could return alive from Hou Liao to the capital, then the outcome was already predetermined.

Wei Yi had ultimately miscalculated, because even Heaven itself had helped Jingrong!

He no longer had any chance of turning things around.

The eunuch, thinking he hadn’t heard, repeated once more: “Your Majesty, Prince Rong… has returned to the capital.”

Wei Yi gazed at the character for “approve” that he had written on the memorial, smiled faintly again, then closed the memorial and looked at the eunuch waiting before him, saying, “I know.”

“Then…”

“You may leave.”

The eunuch glanced at him several times, hesitating as if wanting to say something, but ultimately swallowed his words, bowed, and withdrew.

The Imperial Study fell quiet once more.

Only Wei Yi’s faint breathing could be heard…

Outside, ministers knelt in row after row, all prostrating themselves on the ground, not daring to raise their heads.

Although Hou Liao posed a threat to Da Lin and its complete destruction would have been thorough, Jingrong had clearly gone to Xiamen Pass with an edict of persuasion. By rights, as long as Hou Liao agreed, this war could have been avoided.

But Wei Yi had secretly issued two imperial edicts.

One to Ji Huan, ordering him to find ways to kill Jingrong.

One to Chu Chengyu, commanding that regardless of whether Hou Liao agreed to the persuasion or not, troops must be sent to destroy them.

After the army led by Ji Huan surrendered, this news spread throughout the court, and all the ministers were in an uproar.

None had imagined that the Emperor would have issued such edicts back then, having long planned to place both Jingrong and Hou Liao in mortal danger. And while they were still processing their shock, another message came from outside the capital’s city gates—Jingrong had not only rebelled but was returning to the city with his troops.

Wei Yi should have immediately dispatched troops to intercept him, or executed Jingrong for the crime of treason, but Jingrong, just as when he had entered the capital from the Imperial Estate, held the late Emperor’s posthumous edict, which no one could obstruct.

The late Emperor’s posthumous edict?

Everyone was utterly astonished.

But they had already guessed the implications.

Therefore, they all knelt together outside the Imperial Study—ostensibly kneeling to Wei Yi, but in reality welcoming a new sovereign!

By now, Jingrong had already entered the city.

Commander Xiao, the commander of the Imperial Forest Army, had personally gone to receive him and escorted him all the way into the palace.

At this moment, Jingrong still wore his full armor, the ice-cold scales still stained with blood that had long since dried and seeped into each individual scale. In one hand he carried a perfectly square redwood box wrapped in black cloth, and in the other hand he held the late Emperor’s posthumous edict aloft.

His iron boots rang as he walked all the way to the Imperial Study.

No one dared obstruct him!

When the ministers saw Jingrong’s return, they parted one by one, clearing a path.

Jingrong stopped at the entrance, his eyes icy cold as he stared at those closed vermillion doors.

He stood silently, and not a single person present spoke!

After a long while, Jingrong finally handed the late Emperor’s posthumous edict in his hand to Commander Xiao.

Commander Xiao understood his meaning and solemnly received the imperial edict before kneeling on the ground.

He kowtowed three times!

Jingrong then carried the box in his hand into the Imperial Study, while a young eunuch at the entrance followed him inside.

Wei Yi had been waiting for him inside for quite some time.

He had finally arrived.

Jingrong stood in the hall and stopped, looking at Wei Yi dressed in dragon robes. He sat above, his expression calm, so high and mighty.

Jingrong’s eyes narrowed slightly as he handed the box he was carrying to the eunuch beside him.

After the eunuch received it, he delivered it before Wei Yi and placed it squarely on the desk.

Then the young eunuch withdrew and closed those great doors!

Only the two of them remained!

Wei Yi stared at Jingrong’s cold gaze not far away, then raised his hand to untie the cloth wrapped around the box, revealing the rather solid redwood box inside. At this moment, he had already guessed what was inside, but still unlatched the iron clasp and slowly opened the lid.

Gradually coming into view was… a severed head.

Ji Huan’s head!

Wei Yi gazed at it quietly, his eyes and face showing not a trace of fear or alarm.

Instead, he smiled faintly and closed the box.

“Bang!” went the sound.

The noise echoed through the Imperial Study.

Jingrong stood there, maintaining his current composure. This time, he could yield no more. Reason told him repeatedly that he should take this step, that he should shoulder the responsibilities that belonged to him. It was precisely because of his earlier compassion, because of his trust, that he had made a wrong decision, leading to everything that had happened up to this day. The true culprit was actually himself, and this mistake should be resolved by his own hand.

Wei Yi slowly rose and descended from his seat.

Step by step he walked before him.

With sinister eyes, he said, “I had thought I would leave the city to receive your corpse, yet I never expected that you would enter the palace and stand before me.”

Jingrong’s expression was stern as he raised his chin slightly. “I too had thought the realm was at peace, yet I never expected the turmoil would continue all along.”

“Indeed! The turmoil continues all along. As long as you still live, as long as Shu’er still loves you, this turmoil will never cease!” Wei Yi’s tone still held no hint of regret whatsoever.

Jingrong looked at him, now impossibly unfamiliar: “Today as I stand here, I will not speak words urging you to turn back. Things have come to this—you can no longer turn back. Not only you, but I am the same. We have each walked different paths, and regardless of regret, neither of us has any way to return.”

“…”

“You’ve become what you are now, with only hatred and slaughter in your eyes. For the sake of your ambition and desires, you’ve committed irreparable wrongs. And I, time and again choosing to trust you and forgive you, have thus led to today’s situation. This is the mistake I’ve made, and I too cannot turn back. No matter how much time passes, I will live with guilt. It was my mistake that created the you of today, and it was my mistake that caused innocent people to lose their lives. I owe them in the end, and I owe all of Da Lin. The only thing I can do is to make all of this stop.”

Having heard him finish speaking, Wei Yi’s originally calm face gradually showed a trace of change.

Extremely unpleasant.

But he still glared at Jingrong with what remained of his self-respect.

He said, “That’s right, the wrongs cannot be remedied, but Jingrong, I have no regrets.”

“If you had regrets, I wouldn’t have come to see you.”

If Wei Yi truly had regrets, it would mean he still possessed a conscience, and then the originally peaceful Xisai Grasslands wouldn’t have been reduced to today’s devastation.

Shi Ziran would not have died!

Tang Si perhaps would not have died either!

Muruo would certainly not have died!

It was only because Wei Yi had no regrets!

Wei Yi did not respond to his words again. Instead, he returned to the desk and retrieved a book from the very bottom of the pile of memorials.

He flipped through several pages.

Then closed it.

He turned to face Jingrong, raising the book in his hand, and said, “Jingrong, I didn’t lose to you, but rather to this book.”