“Returning to court? Who gave him such audacity! My imperial commissioners haven’t arrived yet, haven’t delivered my edict to him, and he dares to come back like this!”

Li Qitian was both shocked and furious, pacing back and forth with his hands behind his back. The entire imperial study was filled only with the sound of his footsteps and heavy breathing.

After a long while, Li Qitian immediately issued an edict: “All northern cities, intercept Pang Xiao’s group with full force! Whoever can capture Pang Xiao alive—I will enfeoff them as Duke with hereditary succession without diminishment!”

It should be known that going back hundreds of years, since the founding of the Beiji Kingdom, there had been a rule that all noble titles were temporary positions with degrading succession. Hereditary titles without diminishment were extremely rare. Now that the Son of Heaven was willing to make such a promise, it showed how much he feared Prince Zhongshun’s return to court.

Pang Xiao had distinguished military achievements, and having now jointly defeated the Tatars with Ji Zeyu, his position in the people’s hearts had risen even higher. No matter how Li Qitian slandered and obstructed him, that former dynasty prince kept opposing him repeatedly, each time with great momentum that was impossible to guard against, making all of Li Qitian’s actions seem like mere accompaniment that instead highlighted Pang Xiao’s even more towering image.

It was precisely because Li Qitian deeply understood this that he was anxiously worried and desperately needed to control Pang Xiao.

But human calculations cannot match heavenly calculations—things had actually turned out this way.

The message bearers quickly departed for the northern cities.

Li Qitian anxiously waited for news.

In the rear palace, which concubine didn’t hope for the Son of Heaven’s personal visit? But since the outbreak of the Tatar war, the Son of Heaven hadn’t set foot in the rear palace for several months. The concubines had nowhere to pour out their sorrows, so they all tried various obvious and subtle ways to find out Li Qitian’s schedule, attempting chance encounters.

But they never got the opportunity.

Today several concubines gathered in Kunning Palace, discussing this matter with the Empress, when Nanny Sun from beside the Empress hurried in from outside with a grave expression and whispered a few words in the Empress’s ear.

When the Empress heard “Prince Zhongshun is returning to court and may encounter the imperial commissioners sent by the Son of Heaven midway,” her eyes couldn’t help but widen, and all color drained from her well-maintained face.

The several concubines, observing the Empress’s expression, knew something major must have happened. Otherwise, this master who handled affairs steadily and remained unmoved by eight winds wouldn’t show such an expression.

“Your Majesty, is there some difficulty? Speaking it out, we sisters can help share your worries.”

“Yes, Your Majesty, is there something wrong?”

The Empress’s heart was pounding. Some words couldn’t be spoken carelessly. The rear palace was forbidden from interfering in politics, and moreover, she understood too well what kind of temperament her husband had. Even if his skills were inferior, he wouldn’t allow anyone to speak half a word against him. If she said something here that these people passed to the Emperor’s ears, wouldn’t it all become her fault?

The Empress glossed over it, claiming she was tired, and dismissed everyone.

After everyone left, Nanny Sun leaned close to the Empress and said in a low voice: “Your Majesty, what do you think should be done about this matter? His Majesty arranged for people to deliver the edict, but before the edict even arrived, Prince Zhongshun dared to return to court. This clearly shows something’s not right.”

The Empress nodded, then asked: “Where is Hao Ge’er?”

Nanny Sun said: “The Prince is studying with his teacher. Does Your Majesty wish to summon him?”

“No, let him study well. It’s just these days…” Leaning close to Nanny Sun’s ear, also lowering her voice very low, “Prepare all of Hao Ge’er’s personal clothing and accessories. If the situation turns bad, immediately send the child away.”

“Your Majesty, you!” Nanny Sun was shocked and alarmed.

The Empress’s eyes were red-rimmed, tears in her pupils: “This is unavoidable. Being a prince is precious, but once things become deadlocked, being a prince might become Hao Ge’er’s death warrant! He’s only five years old—what does he understand? Why should he be implicated by others? I’ve lived so many years, it’s enough. In my fate there’s only this one Hao Ge’er. Even if it means defying heaven and earth, I must ensure Hao Ge’er survives.”

Nanny Sun’s nose became sour, tears pattering down: “Your Majesty, it won’t come to that, surely it won’t come to this. You are the mother of the nation, the little Prince is His Majesty’s only son. No matter what, it wouldn’t…”

“Precisely because of this, we must prepare for both possibilities.” The Empress suppressed her tears, saying softly: “I don’t ask for Hao Ge’er to become some eternal wise ruler. I only hope he’s an ordinary, healthy child who can live each day happily and safely reach old age. Only then would his coming to this world not be in vain.”

The Empress stood up, her body swaying involuntarily. Nanny Sun quickly supported her.

“Your Majesty, this servant understands your meaning. But if something really happens, the Prince cannot leave alone. This servant will find a way to arrange everything. If it doesn’t work, you should take the Prince and leave together.”

“Me?” The Empress laughed self-mockingly, no longer maintaining her Empress dignity, just shaking her head: “I can’t leave. Just like when the Son of Heaven settled accounts with Pang Xiao, he didn’t even spare the Qin family. Think about it—when any person opposing the Son of Heaven truly reaches that critical juncture, would they spare me?”

Nanny Sun was momentarily speechless, unable to find comforting words.

The Empress sighed: “I know your feelings and your loyalty. We’ve been master and servant for so long—all these years, I’ve always treated you like family. The current situation is urgent. There must be a battle between His Majesty and Prince Zhongshun. Who can survive to the end is unknown. I only want to request that when it becomes absolutely necessary, immediately take Hao Ge’er away to live an ordinary life outside. Then he’ll no longer be a prince, no longer Li Hao—he’ll just be an ordinary farm family’s child, and you’ll be his grandmother. I’ll prepare silver and a residence for you. I only ask that you raise Hao Ge’er like a grandson and let him become an upright person.”

Speaking to this point, the Empress was already choking with emotion.

Nanny Sun nearly burst into sobs.

The master and servant faced each other in tears, yet had to restrain their crying due to palace rules.

“Being a woman is so difficult. There’s no great fortune to be seen. Even as noble as an Empress, this servant has never seen you truly happy. But when danger comes, you still have to be implicated. What’s the point of this suffering?”

The Empress smiled bitterly: “This is fate. Aren’t all women under heaven the same?”

The Empress couldn’t help but think of the bits and pieces of Pang Xiao and Qin Yining’s interactions, what she experienced at Wanfo Temple that day. Recalling it now still brought some sweetness and some bitterness.

Qin Yining’s situation was the same as hers—prosperity together, ruin together—and she had also been implicated by Pang Xiao several times. But at least Qin Yining received Pang Xiao’s sincere love and protection. Even dying for such a man, she should be willing, right?

What about her? Her husband was no longer the same person he used to be. He had no patience with her, no love, not even affection. The only reason she still sat in the Empress’s position was because the Emperor wanted to demonstrate his devotion to show imperial monogamy, so he hadn’t divorced his first wife.

She was cautious and careful, no longer expecting any love, only wanting her son to grow up safely. But now it seemed that with storm clouds gathering, even her husband couldn’t give her this much, and she had to prepare mentally to be buried alongside him.

Was it fair?

Where in this world was there fairness?

Lei Guoneng and Song Deqiu, following the imperial edict to lead the Three Thousand Battalion north to deliver the decree, had just set out when they heard news that His Majesty had again issued edicts commanding northern officials to capture Pang Xiao with substantial rewards.

When their scouts investigated, they discovered that before they could deliver the edict to arrest him, Pang Xiao was already leading troops toward the capital.

Both Lei Guoneng and Song Deqiu panicked.

“Prince Zhongshun and Duke Dingguo are coming together, leading at least three hundred thousand troops. We nominally brought the Three Thousand Battalion’s forces, but adding them all up we have just over a thousand people. How can we possibly apprehend Prince Zhongshun?”

“Apprehend? From the beginning I knew we couldn’t. This matter is truly difficult to handle. We can’t win through force, capturing him is impossible. But if we don’t go, we’re defying the imperial decree.”

“But going will probably cost us our lives.”

The two ordered their accompanying thousand-plus men to camp in place and didn’t rush forward anymore.

At this time, the further forward they went, the closer they’d be to Pang Xiao. Both felt the same cowardly fear in their hearts.

On Pang Xiao’s side, he had indeed heard news that Li Qitian ordered officials everywhere to capture him with generous rewards. He originally thought that passing through cities would require considerable effort.

Unexpectedly, the first city they passed after leaving the four frontier passes opened its gates wide and let them through before they even needed to act.

“The Prince is our lifesaver. Without the Prince, would we still be able to return to our homeland to farm?”

“The Prince and the Duke drove back the Tatars. From now on, no more Tatars can charge in. The Prince’s great kindness and virtue—we’ll never forget for our entire lives. It’s just opening the gates to let you pass. How could that be troublesome?”

Pang Xiao’s great army traveled extremely smoothly. Wherever he led his troops, these were all places where the Tatars had been gradually driven out previously—essentially returning by the original route.

Though the Son of Heaven’s edict was posted on public boards and all the people saw it, the mountains were high and the emperor was far away. They simply pretended not to know and directly opened the city gates for passage. Some common people even stuffed food and clothing into the hands of the Huben Army and Pingnan Army soldiers.

Such an unobstructed scene was truly unexpected.

When Li Qitian learned the news, his eyes turned red with anger. He immediately flew into a rage at the grand court assembly.

“These people neglect their duties! They don’t know to stop invading enemies but instead open convenient doors wide. What kind of reasoning is this! Eating my salary, yet I’ve raised outsiders!”

All the ministers at court didn’t dare say much.

What could be done at this point?

The other side had superior numbers, and unfortunately, in order to fight the Tatars, the Son of Heaven had deployed all capable troops to the northern frontier. Only the Capital Guards and Three Thousand Battalion remained in the capital.

Pang Xiao’s frightening aspect was that he had too much prestige in the army. Li Qitian even worried that in the remaining territories, Pang Xiao would have smooth sailing all the way. When he reached the capital, would he lead people to attack?

If they really attacked, how could they resist?

Seeing that no one spoke, Li Qitian became even more irritable.

He didn’t know when he would be unable to bear it and go mad.

Pang Xiao was bringing troops back and definitely wouldn’t easily spare him! How could he oppose him?

“Your Majesty! Manifestos from the former dynasty prince have been discovered in the city again!” Just then, more bad news arrived.