Pang Xiao frowned and stood in place without speaking.

But Li Qitian was already spinning in circles with rage.

The riding whip in his hand struck furiously at a dead tree by the roadside, sending bark flying in all directions.

“What a Lu Heng! How bitterly he has deceived us! First hiding the treasure, then lying to us, and now to escape in the chaos, he even tried to assassinate us! He has gone too far!” Li Qitian roared, nearly mad with fury.

“May Your Majesty calm your anger.” Pang Xiao, Xiong Jinshui and the others all knelt down.

But Li Qitian’s rage could not be quelled.

Looking at the chaotic camp before him, listening to the shouting of people fighting the fire, and seeing everyone’s disheveled state, then looking down at his own sleeping clothes, Li Qitian could hardly suppress his anger.

That scoundrel Lu Heng had played him like a child! He must have hidden the treasure long ago, deliberately implicating Pang Xiao to divert his attention. He had used his prestigious family background as leverage and accurately exploited his long-standing, undisguised wariness toward Pang Xiao.

He had been opportunistic and calculating, and ridiculously, Li Qitian had believed his words and given him this chance to escape!

Li Qitian even had a premonition that the remaining five routes probably wouldn’t find any treasure either.

Because Lu Heng had already hidden it all away!

“Ahhh——!” Li Qitian roared in fury.

Everyone once again fell silent as cicadas in winter, not daring to react in any way.

By the time the great fire was finally extinguished, the sky had already shown the pale white of dawn.

Ma Cheng came to report with soot covering his face: “Your Majesty, the fire has been extinguished. Fortunately, no casualties were discovered. A few war horses were burned, and some that weren’t tied securely escaped. Also fortunately, the wind was light yesterday and the fire didn’t spread to the nearby forest.”

Li Qitian snorted coldly with a dark expression, and Ma Cheng immediately bowed his head and stopped talking.

Where were all these “fortunatelys”?

As emperor, Li Qitian had already faced criticism for leaving the capital in pursuit of treasure. Now he hadn’t obtained the treasure, had instead triggered what the people called “heavenly disaster warnings,” and before the rumors had died down, encountered another great fire on the way back to the capital, nearly losing his life.

In such circumstances, Li Qitian’s heart was filled with gloom that couldn’t be dispelled. He couldn’t think of any “fortunatelys” because he didn’t care at all about casualties, whether war horses had burned to death, or whether the forest had caught fire.

His mind was entirely focused on how he had lost face this time.

What a tremendous loss of face!

Pang Xiao understood Li Qitian’s thoughts best. Seeing that Ma Cheng wanted to say more, he quickly gave him a subtle look.

Ma Cheng was startled, then understood. He gratefully winked at Pang Xiao and bowed his head, not daring to speak further.

But now poor Xiong Jinshui was in a difficult position.

Since neither the Prince nor the General would speak, he had to steel himself to ask: “Your Majesty, should we send word back to the capital for others to come escort you?”

Setting aside everything else, all of Your Majesty’s personal belongings had been burned clean – his dragon robes and ceremonial implements were gone. Surely they couldn’t have Your Majesty return to the capital quietly in common cloth, covered in soot?

The civil and military officials knew Your Majesty had left the capital and would certainly come to escort him back. Xiong Jinshui could hardly imagine what rumors would spread and how furious Your Majesty would be when the civil and military officials met such a disheveled emperor at the capital gates.

Li Qitian had obviously thought of these things too. His expression was conflicted, and he didn’t know how to decide for a moment.

Whether sending others to escort him or returning quietly, with so many people present, the situation here definitely couldn’t be concealed.

If he tried to cover it up, people might mock him for feeling guilty.

But if he didn’t cover it up, some would talk about heavenly warnings.

Either way was difficult.

Seeing Li Qitian’s predicament, Pang Xiao hesitantly said: “Your Majesty, why don’t we continue our journey first? When we reach the outskirts of the capital, we can have someone quietly enter the city to prepare Your Majesty’s ceremonial robes and implements. You led troops out to suppress bandits this time, which is like reenacting the battles of years past. Returning armies have never immediately entered the city – they always camp outside for a day to reorganize before entering. When we camp outside the city, it will also give the civil and military officials sufficient time to prepare for welcoming Your Majesty. As for encountering bandits on the road and Your Majesty dispatching people to clear them out, when the fighting was intense the bandits were driven to desperation and resorted to killing and arson – this subject thinks everyone would have no other thoughts about such matters.”

Pang Xiao’s suggestion made Li Qitian’s eyes light up, and his mood suddenly cleared.

“You’re still young with a nimble mind,” Li Qitian sighed with emotion.

Pang Xiao scratched his head and smiled: “Your Majesty is in your prime – it’s not that you couldn’t think of it, just that you were momentarily vexed.”

Why vexed? Naturally because of Lu Heng’s deception and assassination attempt.

Thinking of Lu Heng made Li Qitian grit his teeth. He commanded Xiong Jinshui in a low voice: “Then do as the Prince suggests.”

Xiong Jinshui immediately agreed, his admiration for Pang Xiao in his heart reaching towering heights.

To instantly think of a solution that both solved the problem and appeased Your Majesty, while also managing to blacken Earl Zhongyi’s reputation – such a person, no wonder he could become this dynasty’s only non-imperial surname Prince.

The group set out again. Without carriages and ceremonial implements, they naturally traveled faster. They came to camp outside the city gates and secretly sent someone to fetch yellow robes and ceremonial implements, but we need not discuss that further.

At this point, Pang Xiao’s suspicions regarding the treasure were completely cleared.

And Li Qitian’s anger toward Lu Heng would, without surprise, implicate the Lu family and all those connected to them. The imperial court was about to face a purge.

At this moment, Qin Yining was standing on a warship, using a telescope to look at the faintly visible land in the distance.

“Is that the Japanese country?”

Liao Zhibing nodded: “Yes, that’s a port of the Japanese country. Our people landed there last time. Near the port is the Mizusawa Domain of Daimyo Ishikawa Sanemi. But as you know, one of their ‘countries’ is like one of our larger villages or towns.”

Qin Yining nodded: “Even so, they are the local powers, so we cannot underestimate them.” She looked back at the warships behind her, thought for a moment, then said: “Is the port there very large? Is it as big as Jinggang?”

Gao Delai laughed honestly: “Alliance Leader, that port isn’t nearly as large as Jinggang. It can’t accommodate so many warships – at most it could berth two warships at the same time.”

Seeing this, Xie Yue and Xu Weizhi on the side somewhat understood Qin Yining’s meaning and asked with smiles: “Princess Consort, are you planning to?”

Qin Yining smiled: “The two largest warships carrying cargo naturally cannot dock. We’ll leave reliable people to guard them while the other warships prepare for landing. I’ll first take one ship closer to test their depths.”

“Does the Princess Consort plan to personally land and meet this Daimyo Ishikawa?” Xie Yue disapproved: “Princess Consort, your status is precious. You shouldn’t personally handle this matter. Why don’t this old one go meet him instead?”

“Yes. This old one is willing to accompany Brother Xie. We’re unfamiliar with this place, so it would be better if the Princess Consort didn’t show herself.”

Qin Yining took a deep breath and smoothed her hair that had been tousled by the sea breeze: “This is Sakurako’s homeland. No matter what, I must bring him back.”