Zhou Hong had been making way for his biological older brother since childhood. Because his brother was frail while he was robust and healthy, it seemed as if this too had become some kind of fault. Every time the autumn hunt came around, the Empress Mother would repeatedly instruct and admonish him to keep a low profile.

He had always obeyed his mother’s words without question, feeling that his brother was truly pitiable.

But no one had ever pitied him. When yielding became a habit, even if your heart was gouged out, people would only think you’d suffered some minor scrapes—nothing painful, nothing serious. In the end, even the woman he cherished most in his heart was surrendered to another.

He knelt in Qingning Palace for three full days. He thought fate would favor him just once, thought his mother would show him partiality just once. But what he received instead was an edict to leave for his fiefdom, along with an imperial decree bestowing marriage to the Lu family.

This feeling of never having fate in his own hands was absolutely terrible. He had sworn an oath—never again would he let himself fall back to those days of being at the mercy of others.

The Chief Administrator understood his prince’s current state of mind very well. When entering the capital, the prince had been a hegemon in his own domain, a beloved feudal lord. But by the time he left the capital, he had become like a homeless dog, anxiously insecure day and night. For someone of such noble imperial blood to endure such suffering—it would be strange indeed if he could tolerate it. He sighed, looking at his prince, dutifully trying to persuade him: “Now is perhaps not yet the time. I know Your Highness feels wronged. But the Emperor is still alive—alive and well. If we were to raise the banner of rebellion now, what justification could we claim? He is the father, you are the son. He is the sovereign, you are the subject. No matter how you look at it, you have no ground to stand on!”

The wind whistled all around them. The dozen or so remaining guards simultaneously tensed their bodies, standing up as if facing a great enemy, patrolling in all directions—though the remaining men might be able to hold off the Imperial Guard for a while, the Imperial Guard was not easy to deal with after all. Following the slightest trail of clues to reach this place was not impossible.

Prince Gong glanced over at them, finally fixing his gaze on the Chief Administrator: “That’s what you scholarly types should be thinking about. In any case, you must come up with a solution for me!”

The Chief Administrator was left speechless for a moment. After a pause, he looked at a piece of tattered cloth nearby that had been sun-bleached beyond recognition of its original color, and asked in a low voice: “Why not first send word to consult with the Marquis?”

As long as Emperor Jianzhang remained alive, if Prince Gong dared to rebel, he would be a traitorous subject. The spittle of all under heaven could drown him. Lacking legitimacy was one thing, but without righteous cause, he wouldn’t even have the people’s hearts on his side. This matter was no joke. Following Prince Gong in escaping had already put their heads on the line. If they weren’t more cautious, even the heads of their entire families might be lost. This was a losing proposition, and the Chief Administrator wasn’t quite willing to undertake it.

Prince Gong’s sword-like eyebrows furrowed tightly. After a moment, he let out a cold laugh: “Send word? How do we send word?”

Now the entire northwest region was filled with eyes everywhere. Openly there were the Imperial Guards, covertly there were Zhou Weizhao’s people, and Zhennan Prince’s trusted confidants had already reached Taiyuan one step ahead. Even if they wanted to send a message to Datong, how could they?

How vast the world was, yet there was almost no place left for him to shelter. Just thinking about it made his heart ache terribly.

This time the Chief Administrator wasn’t left speechless. He looked at Prince Gong with full confidence, raising his hand to fan himself, calm and composed as he said: “Have Wu Feng go!”

Wu Feng, who was roasting sweet potatoes nearby, lifted his eyelids and shook his head without hesitation: “That won’t work! If I go, who will be responsible for Your Highness’s safety?”

Wu Feng was the grandson of the former Governor-General of Shaanxi-Gansu. His family had risen through military service, and Wu Feng had grown up struggling and fighting in such an environment. His martial skills were extremely strong. What was rare was that he had exceptional talent in military affairs. Prince Gong’s Left Guard Army of twelve thousand men had been entrusted to him for training, with remarkable results. The bandit suppression in Shanxi had almost entirely been completed by Wu Feng’s subordinates.

Prince Gong valued him extremely highly. He had originally planned to recommend Wu Feng for appointment as Commander-in-Chief of Xuanfu during this celebration of Emperor Jianzhang’s birthday.

Prince Gong also pondered for a while. He certainly wanted advancement, wanted those in the capital who had humiliated him, who had made him live in fear and trepidation his entire life while stepping on him, to all prostrate themselves at his feet. But right now, the most important thing was his own life.

At present, with wolves ahead and tigers behind, if even Wu Feng left, his very life would be in question—what talk could there be of grand plans?!

Seeing Prince Gong hesitate, the Chief Administrator exhaled, releasing some of the stale air lingering in his chest: “Your Highness, besides Wu Feng, no one else can deliver the message. As for your safety, as you yourself said, you’ve been operating in Jin territory for over ten years after all. Even Elder Du doesn’t know everything. Let’s first find a place to hide.”

He earnestly persuaded, his throat nearly smoking from the effort, yet he felt no pain: “Matters concerning future prospects cannot be handled carelessly in the slightest.”

From the moment they deceived the heir of Marquis Guangping, killed the Imperial Guards, and escaped the capital, they had already lost all paths of retreat. Since there was no retreat, the only thing they could do was strive to smooth out the path forward.

As for finding a place to hide—that wasn’t something so easily accomplished either.

Prince Gong thought carefully, then suddenly asked: “We’re currently in Wu’an territory. How about going back to Guangping Prefecture instead?”

The Prefect of Guangping had previously been an official in Prince Gong’s domain territory. Later he was promoted to a capital official, then transferred out to Guangping Prefecture. With this significant connection between them, Prefect Liu Baichuan’s place was indeed somewhere they could go.

The Chief Administrator indeed nodded: “Though Prefect Liu once served as an official in our domain, he was promoted early and left early. Even Elder Du might not be clear about his background. We can go there. When the time comes, we’ll first scout the way for you. If he’s reliable, you can temporarily take shelter there, while Wu Feng goes to Datong to deliver the message.”

Not just Datong—Prince Gong’s lips moved, but in the end he still didn’t speak aloud. He was desperate to get the fifty-nine thousand guards throughout Jin territory into his hands before Zhennan Prince arrived, but now was not the time—far from the time.

After mulling it over for a long while, he felt this was the only plan for now, so he nodded: “Let’s do as Chief Administrator says. Only…”

The Chief Administrator immediately understood his meaning. He glanced at their remaining numbers and lowered his voice: “We now have only seventeen men left. Leave ten by your side, and have the other seven continue along our originally planned route.”

At least they could divert some of the Imperial Guard’s attention and reduce the pressure on themselves. Otherwise, if the Imperial Guard kept chasing them like this, after just a few more encounters, they might all become souls under the blade.

Prince Gong made the final decision: “Let’s do it this way!”

Since even Prince Gong had spoken thus, Wu Feng naturally had no objections. The Chief Administrator then consulted with Wu Feng to select ten men to remain by Prince Gong’s side to escort him to Guangping Prefecture, while the other seven would split up to divert the Imperial Guard’s attention.