Nasu was surprised that Princess Tana would say such a thing. But thinking it over, being forced into this marriage alliance, having some thoughts was inevitable.

In any case, given Princess Tana’s personality and abilities, being in Great Zhou, she could hardly interfere in Tatar affairs anymore.

“Your Highness the Princess is overthinking.” Nasu smiled composedly. “Telling you these things was the Khan’s intention. Even married far away, you are still Tatar’s princess after all. Moreover, the Khan never said you must help with anything—being in the palace, there’s really nothing you could help with anyway.”

Princess Tana’s breathing caught, somewhat embarrassed as she turned away.

She had once been a freely soaring eagle, but now could only be caged in a golden prison. No one cared how high she could fly; others only cared whether her plumage looked good.

Seeing Princess Tana’s expression change again from just a few words, Nasu couldn’t help but chuckle and shake his head.

This princess couldn’t be called stupid, but she truly wasn’t someone with delicate thoughts or great wisdom. She acted too straightforwardly, like most Tatar women, but in Great Zhou’s harem, this might not serve her well.

“Tell me then, how does the Khan plan to move against Prince Zhongshun? Is there anything this palace can do?”

“This…” Nasu smiled with apparent hesitation.

Princess Tana didn’t press, only looked at Nasu inquiringly.

Nasu seemed helpless as he said: “What the Khan plans to do, even I don’t know precisely. It’s probably just men’s bold and decisive actions. Being in the palace, Your Highness can only add a few worries for that scoundrel Pang Zhixi.”

“How so?” Princess Tana raised an eyebrow.

“I wonder if you’ve heard—when the Qin woman was surrounded and pursued by our Tatar forces, Prince Zhongshun even defied imperial orders to search for her? Though these two have poor character, their deep affection is genuine. Why doesn’t Your Highness speak to Great Zhou’s emperor, finding some excuse to keep the Qin woman by your side?

“This way, you could both avenge A’na Ri Khan and cause trouble for Pang Zhixi, possibly even creating discord between Pang Zhixi and Great Zhou’s emperor. You know that Tatar territory is currently in chaos—if Great Zhou wanted to conquer us in one fell swoop, we couldn’t resist. But if Great Zhou becomes chaotic internally, wouldn’t they have no time to harass us?”

Princess Tana paced slowly, her soft boots crunching in the snow. The more she thought, the more reasonable Nasu’s words seemed.

Regardless of whether Great Zhou could actually be thrown into chaos, being able to avenge A’na Ri Khan would make this trip worthwhile.

“This palace understands.” Princess Tana sneered coldly. “When she falls into my hands, heh…”

A cold laugh replaced her unfinished words.

Seeing this, Nasu relaxed his anxiously clenched fist hidden behind his back. “Then how does the Princess plan to speak with the Emperor? She is, after all, a Great Zhou princess consort, and the inner palace is equivalent to the Emperor’s private residence—casually allowing an external minister’s wife to live here would be hard to justify.”

Princess Tana waved dismissively: “It doesn’t matter. The Emperor dotes on me greatly—if I say one word, he’ll agree.”

That depends on how you plan to say it.

Nasu rubbed his forehead, thinking before carefully reminding: “That Qin woman knows some Tatar language, doesn’t she? She also learned Great Zhou etiquette to serve as marriage envoy. Why don’t you tell the Emperor that you need companionship, that the Qin woman has interacted with you before so she’s familiar, and since you share a common language, she could also teach you etiquette.”

Princess Tana was startled, then nodded with a smile: “This is an excellent idea. With proper justification, Great Zhou’s emperor will be even more likely to agree.”

Having reached agreement, both their expressions became very relaxed.

The farewell atmosphere also became warm yet melancholy.

After Princess Tana returned to the palace, she began considering her wording.

What no one knew was that when Nasu’s group departed the capital and made camp that evening, a guest arrived at their campsite.

“Master Qiu, I’ve been waiting here for you quite some time.” Nasu smiled as he welcomed the person into the tent, attentively serving a bowl of hot tea.

This Master Qiu was past thirty, fair-faced with a short beard, very handsome—clearly a Qiu family member. He was one of Qiu Yuanqing’s men, named Qiu Feipu, a clan brother of Qiu Feishan.

In this Qiu family upheaval, Qiu Yuanqing’s successful assassination of Qiu Guang to become family head owed much to Qiu Feipu.

“How did the matter go?”

“Master Qiu need only tell the Qiu family head—mission accomplished without disgrace. Please have the family head honor his promise. After we Tatars help your Qiu family eliminate Pang Zhixi, the Qiu family will cooperate with us to eliminate Ji Zeyu!”

“Naturally.” Qiu Feipu smiled. “Master Nasu acted decisively. Since you so readily helped accomplish this, our Qiu family naturally understands Tatar intentions. After both Pang Xiao and Ji Zeyu fall—first, we’ll have our revenge; second, with Great Zhou lacking fierce generals, they probably won’t have strength left for northern invasions, so Tatar territory will be safe.”

“Exactly so.” Nasu lifted his tea bowl and sipped leisurely. He calculated his words mentally, then said after a moment: “The Qiu family head’s strategy is also excellent—no need to act personally when Great Zhou’s emperor will naturally help eliminate Pang Zhixi.”

Qiu Feipu smiled: “Indeed. Since ancient times, heroes have trouble passing the beauty barrier. Pang Zhixi could be called a formidable character—his greatest weakness is the Qin woman. Once something happens to the Qin woman in Great Zhou’s palace, or worse, if Great Zhou’s emperor kills the Qin woman, Pang Zhixi will certainly fly into a rage for his beauty.”

Whether Li Qitian killed Pang Xiao or Pang Xiao rebelled and killed Li Qitian, Great Zhou would be thrown into chaos, with both Li Qitian and Pang Xiao suffering mutual destruction.

Then the Qiu family could perfectly support Yuchi Yan’s rise to power.

Actually, Qiu Feipu didn’t think highly of Yuchi Yan, finding him too incompetent and slow-witted. But the family head had long favored Yuchi Yan and chosen him.

Whether Pang Xiao or Ji Zeyu, both were too opinionated and unwilling to listen. Better to choose someone malleable. Besides, Yuchi Yan was legitimate Great Yan orthodox bloodline.

Having chosen Yuchi Yan, anyone who could compete with him for supremacy should be eliminated—Li Qitian was such a person, as were Pang Xiao and Ji Zeyu.

The Qiu family could cooperate with the Tatars because their goals aligned perfectly.

Qiu Feipu smiled as he stroked his beard.

But Nasu wasn’t as confident as Qiu Feipu felt internally.

“Actually, I have some doubts about this strategy. Would a man really go mad over a woman like that? Pang Zhixi commands heavy troops and has campaigned for so many years. His ability to stand firm in court proves his mind is sharp enough. Would such a person really rebel over one woman?”

You didn’t see how Pang Xiao looked when he led troops to storm Jianchuan City.

Qiu Feipu had been mixed in with the Qiu family forces then and was nearly scared into wetting himself!

Of course, Qiu Feipu couldn’t say this aloud. He only smiled mysteriously: “You’ll know when the time comes. Rest assured, this plan came from the Qiu family—we won’t blame you Tatars if things go wrong. The agreement to kill Ji Zeyu after cooperating to kill Pang Xiao is settled; we absolutely won’t renege.”

Hearing this, Nasu felt relieved and nodded with a smile.