Liu Chaoming looked at Zhu Nanxian and after a moment said: “I must also ask Your Highness for one person.” He paused. “Hanlin Scholar Shu Wenlan.”

Zhu Nanxian said: “Anyone—as long as they can save her, you may relay this palace’s verbal decree to mobilize them at will.”

The slanting sunlight dimmed somewhat. The sun seemed to have shifted westward an inch.

Another quarter-hour had passed.

Liu Chaoming said no more. He bowed to Zhu Nanxian, and as he turned, glanced at Zuo Qian: “Left General.”

Zuo Qian also bowed to Zhu Nanxian and followed Liu Chaoming, striding out of the mausoleum.

In the distance there was still fighting and clash of weapons. Shouts of battle shook heaven and earth. The dark red clouds above were like congealed scabs.

The mountain mist suddenly turned bitterly cold. Zhu Nanxian gazed somewhat blankly at the clouds, motionless for a long while.

Shen Xi called out again: “Thirteen.”

Zhu Nanxian lowered his eyes. After a moment, he said with exceptional calm: “I know.”

Only then did Shen Xi see clearly the emotion in his eyes.

It actually wasn’t bewilderment.

Rather, it was a kind of confusion formed from extreme worry and extreme grief, burned by a heart-searing fierce flame, then transformed into an ashen calm like death itself.

Zhu Nanxian still gripped the blade he’d seized from a guard earlier. He turned and walked to a nearby high platform, looking in all directions.

The Imperial Mausoleum was built at the mountain end of the water embankment, its terrain rising and falling in winding curves.

The place Zhu Qiyue was holding was a narrow pass. Though Zhu Nanxian commanded over ten thousand Imperial Guards, they couldn’t break through the enemy formation for the moment.

If Zhu Qiyue’s opponent were anyone else, they might have no way to deal with him.

Unfortunately, his opponent at this moment was Zhu Thirteen.

Zhu Nanxian had studied martial arts from childhood with exceptional talent, then personally led troops in the Northwest for five years—he had abundant experience in combat.

He stood on the high platform observing for a while, then said: “Qin Sang, go tell Shi Fei—no need to force through the formation. Leave two thousand men at the front to maneuver against Zhu Qiyue.”

“Yes.”

“Additionally.” Zhu Nanxian raised his blade to point at a wall in the southeast corner. “Tear down that wall for this palace.”

That wall was the Riding Clouds Wall. It was said the Ministry of Works had just urgently sent craftsmen to repair it at the beginning of the year, symbolizing auspicious protection.

After the imperial clan’s female relatives had retreated to Treasure Summit earlier, some principled officials had remained, including Minister Liu of the Ministry of Works, who had been at the Imperial Mausoleum since last night.

Hearing these words, Minister Liu hastily said: “Your Highness, this cannot be done! When that wall was just repaired, it cost quite a bit of silver. The current Ministry of Revenue…”

“Tear it down!” Zhu Nanxian’s brow furrowed as his cold gaze swept over him. “You feel sorry for the silver? Do you want this palace to compensate you?”

“I dare not, dare not.” Minister Liu, cowed by that coldly piercing gaze, was so frightened he fell to his knees and kowtowed. “This subject misspoke. I beg Your Highness’s forgiveness, Your Highness’s forgiveness.”

Zhu Nanxian paid him no further attention, saying to Qin Sang: “You personally take three thousand men. Tear down the wall and break through their formation from the flank. Also send men to tell the Nanchang Army stationed outside the Imperial Mausoleum to retreat five li up the mountain. Once they spot Zhu Zhaowei, they need not regard his imperially bestowed python robe—shoot arrows directly and execute him without question!”

“Yes!”

The sun sank westward some more. The sunset clouds that had been brilliant as blood gradually transformed into a pool of dark gold, yet still dazzling to the eyes.

Zhu Qiyue keenly noticed the frontal assault had eased considerably. He asked: “What’s happening?”

An elite soldier replied: “Reporting to the Twelfth Prince, on their side… it seems the Crown Prince himself has taken command.”

Zhu Qiyue’s brow furrowed. Before he could issue new orders, a scout he’d sent out earlier suddenly rushed back in great haste, reporting: “Twelfth Prince, this is bad! This subordinate heard that the Crown Prince learned the Seventh Prince buried gunpowder on the route Vice Minister Su and the Annan envoy took leaving the palace. He’s furious beyond measure and swears to kill the Seventh Prince. He’s already ordered the Nanchang Army stationed outside the Imperial Mausoleum to retreat five li up the mountain. Once they spot the Seventh Prince’s trail, they need not regard laws or protocols—execute him without question.”

Zhu Qiyue was astonished: “How did Thirteen learn about the gunpowder?”

But having asked this question, he immediately detected the irregularity in the scout’s words. He asked: “The gunpowder was buried on the route leaving the palace? Not in Yingtian City?”

“Yes.” The scout said: “I heard that precisely when troops were deployed, the gunpowder had already exploded. The Crown Prince was shocked and grief-stricken. He actually gave his most trusted Jinwu Guard and Left General to Lord Liu, having Lord Liu rush to the rescue.”

Hearing these words, Zhu Qiyue was stunned.

After a moment, he looked again toward the Filial Piety Platform.

Across the chaos of war, across verdant mountains and towering peaks, he seemed able to see Zhu Nanxian’s calm figure, containing not a trace of the seven emotions and six desires.

He was no longer the Thirteenth Brother of before. He was the Crown Prince, soon to be the emperor of this dynasty.

Zhu Qiyue knew what Su Shiyu meant to Zhu Nanxian.

And what it would mean for the entire Great Sui if the Annan envoy were lost.

It was he who had stopped Seventh Brother from killing Thirteen. It was he who had risked his life to protect Thirteen.

At this moment, this Thirteen he had protected was like an Asura, determined to take his Seventh Brother’s life.

It was he who had harmed Seventh Brother.

In the distance came a sudden thunderous crash. Zhu Qiyue shifted his gaze and saw that the Riding Clouds Wall at the southeast entrance had been breached.

As the Riding Clouds Wall collapsed, he saw Zhu Nanxian’s personal guard Qin Sang personally leading three thousand Huben Guards in attack.

A nearby elite soldier said: “Your Highness, this is bad. Guard Qin is leading men to attack from this side. We’re caught between enemies on both fronts. No matter how brilliant our formation, we cannot withstand this.” He added: “Your Highness, you must leave quickly. This subordinate will cover you!”

But Zhu Qiyue stood unmoving.

He raised his eyes to look around and asked a scout who had just returned: “Where’s Seventh Brother? Did you see Seventh Brother?”

“Reporting to the Twelfth Prince, this subordinate…”

“Twelfth Prince!” At that moment, from not far away, someone covered in blood staggered toward him.

Zhu Qiyue looked closely and saw it was actually a secret guard who usually stayed by Zhu Zhaowei’s side.

Two arrows protruded from his back, and countless other wounds covered his body.

Seeing him in this condition, Zhu Qiyue said: “How did you…” He paused, then suddenly reacted and asked urgently: “Where’s Seventh Brother?”

Even though someone stepped forward to support the secret guard, he couldn’t stand. Supporting himself against his chest, he collapsed to his knees. Mustering one last breath, he said haltingly: “We… escorted the Seventh Prince out of Pivot Star Gate, but were cut off by arrow fire from the mountaintop. We had to… retreat. His Highness disregarded… our dissuasion and went alone toward the direction of the Enjoyment Hall.”

The Enjoyment Hall was located in the eastern palace buildings. Behind it was a sheer cliff—no escape route.

Why would Seventh Brother go there?

Zhu Qiyue was stunned hearing these words. Just as he was about to ask more, that secret guard suddenly coughed up a large mouthful of fresh blood, his body going soft and powerless as he pitched forward.

The elite soldier supporting him reached to check his breath beneath his nose, then slowly shook his head.

Already dead.

Zhu Qiyue looked at the secret guard’s corpse on the ground. After a moment, he tightened his grip on Qingya in his hand and said: “Cover my rear. I must go find Seventh Brother!”

That elite soldier looked up in astonishment.

He seemed to want to say something.

He seemed to want to advise Zhu Qiyue that at this moment the Seventh Prince was already at the end of his road—going to find him couldn’t save him anymore. He seemed to want to tell Zhu Qiyue to just surrender now. If the Seventh Prince couldn’t be saved, perhaps the Crown Prince would show mercy and spare Your Highness’s life.

But in the end he said nothing. Instead, he clasped his fists and responded: “Yes. This subordinate will certainly do his utmost to cover Your Highness’s rear!”

Zhu Qiyue looked at him but didn’t immediately leave. He asked: “Do you still have Thirteen’s Cuiwei with you?”

Hearing this, the elite soldier removed the black cloth bundle from his back and presented it with both hands: “This subordinate received Your Highness’s command and has kept the Crown Prince’s Cuiwei on his person, not daring to forget for a single day.”

Zhu Qiyue quietly gazed at the black cloth bundle in the elite soldier’s hands. After a moment, he smiled bitterly: “I originally thought that as long as I kept Cuiwei safe for him, as long as I carried it with me, one day I could personally return it to him, could properly spar with him as we did that day at the year-end festival. Now it seems I thought too simply. All of this—can never return.”

He said again to the elite soldier before him: “You’ve followed me for over ten years. At such a time, you must be implicated by me. Take this Cuiwei and return it to Thirteen on my behalf. Perhaps it can save your life.”

Having said these words, he looked one last time at the distant Filial Piety Platform.

In the slanting sunset twilight, the Imperial Mausoleum had become a battlefield where even old bonds of friendship must be buried.

Separated by the chaos of war was like being separated by an impassable chasm. No matter how he gazed, it was something he could never return to in this lifetime.

The Enjoyment Hall was originally used for sacrificial purposes. To reach the Enjoyment Hall, one had to cross the Ascending to Immortality Bridge and climb the Ascending to Immortality Platform. Therefore, some also said that those who paid respects at the Enjoyment Hall would become immortals after death.

The sun had already sunk very low. The sunset glow at the cloud edges had gradually been dissolved by the dusk colors, no longer dazzling.

Cloud masses stretched thin and long like pulled cotton, hanging high in the firmament between darkness and light.

And a corner of the palace buildings beneath the dome had caught fire.

Zhu Qiyue looked closely—it was precisely the Enjoyment Hall.

With a creaking sound, the sound of doors closing came from the Enjoyment Hall.

Zhu Qiyue’s entire body trembled. Gripping Qingya tight, he ran swiftly toward the Enjoyment Hall and used all his strength to ram the doors open.

The wooden bolt shattered. Zhu Zhaowei, who had been about to lock the doors, was knocked back several steps by this sudden force. The bronze key in his hand fell to the ground.

Zhu Qiyue looked at Zhu Zhaowei in complete shock, then at the fire already blazing fiercely from the hall’s side. He shouted angrily: “Seventh Brother, what are you doing?!”

Zhu Zhaowei seemed not to have expected anyone would come looking for him at this time. He was stunned for a moment before saying: “What are you doing here?”

But Zhu Qiyue didn’t answer this.

The hall was full of cloth curtains and wooden beams. Many places had been doused with oil by Zhu Zhaowei. The fire was spreading rapidly.

He grabbed Zhu Zhaowei’s arm: “Come outside with me. I—” He paused. “I’ll send you back to Fengyang!”

Who knew that upon hearing the two characters “Fengyang,” Zhu Zhaowei would immediately wrench his arm free from Zhu Qiyue’s grasp and laugh scornfully: “How will you send me? This entire realm is about to be Zhu Nanxian’s. As soon as I leave here, countless Imperial Guards outside, countless arrows will be waiting for my life!”

As he spoke, he walked slowly back into the hall with hands clasped behind his back, paused, then added: “Don’t worry about me. Just leave. The court already lacks military officers. Thirteen—he won’t take your life.”

Outside was already the dark gloom of dusk. Inside the hall, flames suddenly licked up the cloth curtains, bursting into vigorous combustion with a whooshing sound.

But Zhu Qiyue didn’t move. After a moment, he asked softly: “If I leave, what about Seventh Brother?” He added: “I said long ago—I will never abandon Seventh Brother.”

Zhu Zhaowei’s back trembled slightly, but he didn’t turn around: “Don’t you understand yet? From the day Thirteen returned, I reached my end. This palace hall where no one comes temporarily—this is the backup plan I left for myself. Even if I die, I absolutely won’t let the Eastern Palace’s people strike me down. Even if I’m burned to ash, I absolutely won’t let them touch me in the slightest!”

He paused briefly. Not hearing departing footsteps, he continued: “You needn’t feel you harmed me either. Given my power in the palace at that time, even with your protection, if I’d wanted to kill Thirteen, there were actually many other methods. I didn’t act against him later because I suddenly understood something and wanted to keep him alive for a while.”

“What thing?”

Zhu Zhaowei laughed coldly: “Where did that guard who fell into the water go—the guard who knew Su Shiyu’s true identity? Who set up the trap at the palace’s front hall, and what was the real purpose? During the winter hunt, was it coincidence that Zhu Yiheng learned Father Emperor had secretly deployed Huben Guards to protect Zhu Minda? If not, what kind of arrangements did he, or they, make to know in advance even Father Emperor’s most confidential, most last-minute decisions? You must think about this—Father Emperor’s arrangement to send Huben Guards into Fenglan Mountain was something even favored Eastern Palace members like Zhu Minda and Zhu Nanxian didn’t know about. During the Zhaojue Temple incident, how did Liu Yun, a mere official, manage within half an hour to obtain a forged decree and urgently mobilize troops to launch a palace coup? How did he receive news so quickly?

“Too many secrets are hidden in this palace. Liu Yun is too formidable a person. Zhu Yiheng and Zhu Yushen shouldn’t be what I originally saw them as. I didn’t kill Zhu Nanxian because I felt that with these secrets unresolved, even if I ascended the throne, I might be pulled down one day. Just like Zhu Nanxian—fighting desperately for this throne to protect Su Shiyu, even if he succeeds to the throne in the future, can he really sit securely on it?”

A fierce flame burned through a crossbeam. The burning round timber crashed down thunderously, igniting the sacrificial platform at one end of the hall.

Having said this much, Zhu Zhaowei turned to look at Zhu Qiyue: “Well then, I’ve said what needed saying. Now leave.”

But after standing quietly for a moment, Zhu Qiyue said: “I understand.”

He bent down, picked up the bronze key, walked to the hall doors, and took one last look at the distant sky above the layered palace buildings—the dusk, and the sunset glow long since faded.

Between heaven and earth swirled the sound of bitterly cold wind. Yet Zhu Qiyue closed the hall doors left and right, forever isolating the wind’s sound in the outer world.

With a clicking sound—the sound of the lock falling into place.

Only then did Zhu Zhaowei realize what Zhu Qiyue was doing. Taking three steps in two, he came forward and grasped his wrist: “Zhu Qiyue, have you gone mad? Don’t you know you can live if you go out? Don’t you understand what kind of person Thirteen is? Even if the court is short of military officers, he won’t have the heart to kill you. You—”

Before he could finish speaking, with another thunderous crash, another crossbeam fell. The sacrificial platform on the other side also caught fire.

The entire hall filled with choking smoke.

Zhu Qiyue leaned against the bronze lock, head bowed, saying with exceptional calm: “Tenth Brother said I couldn’t be ruthless, that such loyalty was weakness—I accepted that. Thirteen won’t forgive me—I accept that too. Whether Seventh Brother resents me or blames me, I can accept it all. Maybe I still can’t see through Tenth Brother, can’t see through Fourth Brother, can’t see through this court situation. You all may think me dull-witted, that I please no one, that I act rashly, that in the end I harm both others and myself and don’t deserve a good end—I think you’re all right.

“Maybe… I’m just such an annoying person. Things have come to this—there’s no way to change it now. But back then I promised I would protect Seventh Brother. Now I can’t protect him anymore, so I… can still accompany Seventh Brother in death.”

Zhu Zhaowei stared blankly at Zhu Qiyue. After a moment, he withdrew his hand from his wrist, walked quickly back into the hall, then suddenly whirled around, almost beside himself with rage: “Zhu Qiyue! Why do you think when you were twelve and fell into mountain bandits’ hands, I saved you?! Why do you think when your bone was fractured, I carried you on my back seeking physicians?! I was already ambitious then, wanting to compete with Zhu Minda for the throne. But I had no subordinates. I just thought you were stupid, easy to manipulate, and a martial arts practitioner who would certainly command troops in the future. That’s the only reason I spent effort to bestow kindness expecting return! Now I—”

Zhu Zhaowei spoke these words very urgently. Stopping to catch his breath, he inhaled a large amount of choking smoke. Bending over and supporting himself against his knee, after coughing violently for a while, he continued: “Now I don’t need your repayment anymore. I find you very annoying and obstructive. Get out—get out right now!”

Hearing these words, Zhu Qiyue quietly smiled: “Seventh Brother has said these words many times since we were young. You’ve always found me obstructive. I know all this. It’s because I didn’t do well enough.”

Zhu Zhaowei’s expression froze. He opened his mouth as if wanting to explain something, but shifted his gaze aside without saying more.

Just then, Zhu Qiyue’s right hand suddenly clenched tight. Through a window gap, he threw the bronze key out of the hall.

With the clear sound of the bronze key hitting the ground, night suddenly descended. The flames on the beams suddenly swept down, instantly spreading across the hall doors.

They couldn’t get out anymore.

At this moment, the fierce fire consumed every part of the hall with ferocious momentum. The smoke was so thick one could barely see objects before one’s eyes.

Zhu Qiyue drew a breath, but what he inhaled was entirely billowing thick smoke. His lungs hurt as if about to explode. He clutched his chest, unable to stop himself from coughing violently.

“Twelve… come… to Seventh Brother’s side.”

Through the thick smoke came Zhu Zhaowei’s weak voice.

Despite the needle-sharp pain in his chest, Zhu Qiyue still responded with an “Mm,” then step by step felt his way forward.

Through the thick smoke, a hand reached out and pulled him to its side.

Then they collapsed to the ground together.

The ground was also scalding hot. His entire body was scalding and burning with pain. Who knew if his hem and sleeves had already been scorched by fire?

In his dazed state, Zhu Qiyue heard Zhu Zhaowei call out softly again: “Twelve.”

Somehow, his thoughts suddenly returned to childhood.

That year when he was locked in the mountain bandits’ dungeon, when Zhu Zhaowei burst in with government troops and shook him awake, he had called him just like this: “Twelve, Twelve.” Later when he carried him on his back from house to house seeking physicians, sweat dripping from his forehead, he had also called: “Twelve, don’t sleep. Twelve, do you hear me?”

He always said he only saved him to use him.

But Zhu Qiyue remembered—that year when Zhu Zhaowei looked at him, the thick worry and anxiety in his eyes. He remembered him constantly pressing silver into the physician’s hands, saying: “My younger brother practices martial arts. I beg you, no matter what, you must heal his leg.” He remembered even more clearly him keeping vigil by his bedside, not closing his eyes for several days and nights.

They were brothers, after all.

He always said he was stupid.

But whether feelings were genuine or false, he could still distinguish.

Zhu Qiyue mustered his last bit of strength to respond: “Seventh Brother.”

Then he heard Zhu Zhaowei laugh, laughing while gasping for breath: “Twelve, you really are… so annoying…”

Hearing these words, Zhu Qiyue couldn’t help but curl his lips too.

He thought—his Seventh Brother was someone who had burned down the Ascending to Immortality Hall. When they descended to King Yama’s underworld, with Seventh Brother’s temperament, even if the Ten Kings of Hell saw him, wouldn’t they be wary of him?

That was good. In the nine dark springs of the Yellow Springs, with him clearing the path, he wouldn’t be afraid anymore.

This time, even if he found himself annoying, he would still follow him just as he had in this life.

Always follow him.