That phrase “May the Great King live ten thousand years, ten thousand years, ten thousand times ten thousand years” was shouted to Natuo’s great satisfaction.

He laughed loudly several times.

“Marquis of Pingyang, oh Marquis of Pingyang, after this Prince ascends the throne, you will be second only to one, above all others.”

“This subject thanks the Great King for his great kindness.”

Natuo sat down in a chair in the room, his palm lightly patting the armrest of the chair. His eyes suddenly darkened as he said, “Now… all that’s left is to sit on the dragon throne.”

The Marquis of Pingyang stood up. “There are still over ten days until the ancestral ceremony. The Prince only needs to wait a bit longer. How could you fear not sitting on the dragon throne?”

But Natuo had concerns and asked, “But on the day of the ancestral ceremony, inside and outside the imperial palace, even all of Gaoding City will be heavily guarded. The Marquis says to act during the chaos, but how exactly should we act during the chaos? What should this Prince do that day?”

“Has the Prince forgotten?”

“Hmm?” “My two sons—one is responsible for security within the palace, constantly at the Great King’s side! The other is responsible for the safety of Gaoding City, controlling the entry and exit of the city gates. These two crucial checkpoints are already in our hands. On the day of the ancestral ceremony, with just a slight stratagem, the palace will certainly fall into chaos! And with the city gates and palace gates closed, Nayan’s troops can’t get in, and the Emperor’s troops can’t get in either. At that time, the entire palace will be the Prince’s domain. With one command from you, you can achieve your wishes.”

Natuo suddenly understood.

“No wonder you arranged for Li Cheng to go to the City Security Department. So you had already been planning this all along, just waiting for today!” The Marquis of Pingyang didn’t plan to conceal it and said directly, “Yes! From the moment I secretly made this dragon robe, I’ve already been planning everything for the Prince, just waiting for the time to be ripe. When that time comes, once the east wind rises, it will be the day the Great King ascends the throne. And in this matter, I’ve also held something back—Left Prime Minister Gong doesn’t know about it, so the Prince can rest assured. This matter will absolutely not leak out.”

What a cunning old fox! No wonder, even though he himself was a marquis and his eldest son worked beside the King of Huyi—with just one word he could have gotten Li Cheng into the court as an official with a higher rank—yet instead, he asked Gong Chi to arrange for Li Cheng to enter the City Security Department, responsible for the security of entering and exiting Gaoding City. So he had planned this all along.

The city gates.

The palace gates.

Both gates firmly grasped in his own hands.

This was equivalent to controlling the King of Huyi’s safety.

Step by step planning, the game had begun.

Just waiting for the ancestral ceremony to arrive.

Natuo felt relieved.

“Good, good, good!”

He said “good” three times in succession.

That night, the heavy snow fell urgently.

In just a short while, thick snow accumulated on the ground.

All of Gaoding City turned white.

With the New Year approaching, lanterns and decorations were hung throughout the city, extremely lively.

The common people began preparing New Year goods and purchasing new clothes.

Full of joy and celebration.

Outside the city, a carriage’s wheel got stuck in the snow and mud.

No matter how the coachman pushed, he couldn’t get the carriage out.

And the horse seemed to have lost patience too, neighing and crying out.

Its front hooves rearing high!

The two women inside the carriage looked worried.

“Miss, in this desolate wilderness, if the carriage can’t move anymore, what should we do?”

Zhao’er lifted the curtain to look outside. All around were forests, small paths and trails.

The heavy snow was falling urgently.

A few flakes blew in.

The maid quickly said, “Miss, it’s very cold outside. You should lower the curtain.”

“We should get out and help.”

“Better not. Miss, you sit here. I’ll go down and help.”

Zhao’er insisted on getting out. “Let’s go together.”

Disregarding the maid’s attempts to stop her, she got off the carriage.

The maid quickly came up with an umbrella, trying to dissuade her. “Miss, with such heavy snow and your poor health, what if you catch a cold! You should listen to this servant and quickly get back in the carriage and sit down.”

“Why are you so long-winded!”

Zhao’er walked to the back of the carriage and saw the coachman pushing with all his might.

Covered in sweat!

Zhao’er rolled up her sleeves. “Let me help you.”

After speaking, she began to push.

The maid had no choice but to put aside the umbrella and lend a hand too.

The coachman pushed while saying, “Miss, I can push by myself. You should get back in the carriage.”

“It’s fine.”

The three combined their efforts, but two women simply didn’t have enough strength.

The wheel kept going back and forth in the snow and mud, just unable to come up.

Suddenly—

“Crack!”

The wheel suddenly separated from the carriage—it broke!

The entire carriage toppled over and fell on its side.

At the same time, the rope binding it to the horse also snapped.

The horse was startled and bolted away.

It quickly disappeared into the forest.

“Oh no, it ran away! The horse ran away! Miss, what should we do?” The maid frantically paced in circles.

The coachman also panicked, not knowing what to do.

“Miss, don’t worry. You rest to the side first. I’ll go chase the horse.”

Without a horse, they couldn’t move an inch, especially in this desolate wilderness.

The coachman hurried to chase after it. Zhao’er and the maid could only go to the forest at the side to wait, where they could at least avoid some of the snow.

Zhao’er’s entire body trembled with cold.

The maid quickly went to the carriage to retrieve a cloak and draped it over her. “Miss, wear this properly. Don’t catch cold.”

Zhao’er blamed herself. “It’s all my fault. If I hadn’t been in such a hurry to return to the city and taken this shortcut, this wouldn’t have happened.”

“How can this be blamed on Miss? Miss was only anxious to return to see Madam. It’s understandable.”

“I don’t know if we can catch that horse. If we can’t get it back, we…” She sighed softly.

This place wasn’t far from Gaoding, but it wasn’t close either. If they tried to walk back, they’d probably freeze to death on the road.

…

Bai Yin was practicing swordsmanship in the forest not far from the bamboo cottage, facing the falling snow.

He actually wasn’t skilled at swordsmanship!

But he wasn’t clumsy either.

Suddenly, a horse’s neighing came from within the forest.

He sheathed his sword and looked toward the source of the sound, then saw a completely out-of-control horse charging toward this direction.

Crashing into everything!

He quickly moved forward, his body leaping up as he mounted the horse.

He grabbed the reins.

With human control, the horse calmed down.

Bai Yin dismounted and stroked its coat. “Where did this horse come from? How did it end up here?”

“Neigh~”

The horse couldn’t understand his words.

And that coachman also struggled to catch up.

“That… that’s my horse.”

He came running, panting.

Bai Yin looked at him coldly. “This is your horse?”

“Thank you for your help, hero. This horse was startled and broke free from its rope! It ended up running into the forest. If not for you, hero, I wouldn’t have been able to catch this horse, and my young miss wouldn’t be able to return to the city.”

Startled or not startled?

Young miss or not young miss?

Bai Yin didn’t care about these things. He tossed the reins in his hand to him. “Next time watch your horse properly.”

After speaking, he turned to leave.

“Hero, please wait!”

Bai Yin turned and asked, “Is there something else?” The coachman pleaded with his eyes full of entreaty. “In this desolate wilderness, finding someone to help is truly difficult. To be honest, our carriage overturned and we can’t move for the moment, so… I’d like to ask the hero for help. When the time comes, my master will surely repay you, hero.”

“Who is your master?” The coachman said, “Duke Wangguo!”