Tan Zhaolin said: “In the first few days after I left the capital, I encountered many pursuers and some suspicious-looking strangers who were inquiring about my whereabouts. Lord Su taught me that in the most critical moments, I couldn’t trust anyone. I ignored everyone and just kept heading outward. It wasn’t until I left the jurisdiction of Yingtian Prefecture that I met Lord Zhou from the Office of Transmission. Like me, he had also escaped to report to Your Majesty. We became companions and covered for each other along the way—that’s how we made it to Qingzhou.”

Zuo Qian said: “Zhou Ping from the Office of Transmission? Where is he?”

“Waiting outside the camp,” Tan Zhaolin said. Without waiting for Zhu Nanxian’s instruction, he immediately lifted the tent flap to call for him.

Before long, Zhou Ping entered the tent with Tan Zhaolin.

He was already in his thirties, originally refined in appearance but now sporting two long whiskers on his face, adding three parts of official dignity.

After paying respects to Zhu Nanxian and dispensing with formalities, he said directly: “Your Majesty, the situation in the capital has become very dire. Before Lord Su disappeared, she had ordered Vice Minister He from the Ministry of War and Secretary Wu from the Ministry of Justice to jointly investigate the An’nan merchant case. By October, Vice Minister He was instead executed on charges related to the merchant case. After that, this humble official intercepted a confidential dispatch from Qiongzhou.

“The An’nan merchant case was actually committed by the Tenth Prince. Over these years, he has been working for the Fourth Prince. The millions of taels of silver obtained from trading goods were transferred from south to north to the Fourth Prince. The Fourth Prince took this silver—” He paused slightly and swallowed, “took this silver and bought the Muyan Three Guards within Dadan territory.”

“What did you say?” Mao Zuofeng was greatly shocked. “The Muyan Three Guards now belong to the Fourth Prince?”

“Yes,” Zhou Ping said. “Moreover, because the leaders of the Hachi Guard and Muyan Guard within the Three Guards were vying for power, the Fourth Prince sent people three years ago to ally with the leader of the Huba Guard to suppress them. Now several leaders have been stripped of their authority, and this mercenary force of one hundred fifty thousand men completely belongs to the Fourth Prince.”

No wonder A’Yu’s letter said that the An’nan trading activities stopped in the twenty-fifth year of Jingyuan—it turned out that once military authority was secured, there was no need to spend silver anymore.

Hearing this, Mao Zuofeng was still completely confused: “If these one hundred fifty thousand men belong to the Fourth Prince, why not recall them to Beiping? Why send them to the Qiongzhou border, nearly dispersing Your Majesty’s forces—”

But as these words left his mouth, Zuo Qian suddenly grabbed his arm, frowning and shaking his head.

Mao Zuofeng froze for a moment, then immediately understood: “Damn it, Zhu Yushen wants to rebel?!”

He strode into the tent, knelt on one knee, and requested orders: “Your Majesty, this general is willing to personally lead troops to storm the capital and capture the traitor!”

But Zhu Nanxian ignored him, looking at Zhou Ping: “What else?”

Zhou Ping was confused: “What else?”

Zhu Nanxian’s gaze was extremely calm: “Where is Su Shiyu? What do Zhu Yushen and Liu Yun want Us to do?”

All three were stunned. Tan Zhaolin couldn’t help but explain: “Your Majesty, Lord Zhou escaped together with me. He also doesn’t know my Lord’s whereabouts.”

Zhou Ping hastily said: “Yes, Your Majesty, this is all that your subject knows.” He paused. “Oh, right, I also brought the intercepted confidential dispatch.” He took a letter from his breast and presented it. “Please review it, Your Majesty.”

Zhu Nanxian stood up, came before him, looked at the letter in his hand but didn’t accept it. He only asked: “You won’t tell the truth?”

He extended his hand: “Knife.”

In a daze, Mao Zuofeng handed his own saber to Zhu Nanxian.

Zhu Nanxian moved extremely quickly. The moment he grasped the hilt, he had already pressed the blade against Zhou Ping’s neck.

“To seal off all news from the capital, one must go through two offices—the Office of Transmission and the Ministry of War. As Left Vice Minister of Transmission, at such a critical juncture, since you had the means to intercept such a classified confidential dispatch, why were you unable to send word to Shen Qingyue on the very day Su Shiyu met with trouble? There’s only one explanation—you were unwilling.

“Su Shiyu is a cautious person, but she alone doesn’t guard against those she trusts. If you hadn’t informed Zhu Yushen and Liu Yun of her operational plans, the general content of her correspondence, and the progress of her investigations, leaving her unable to defend against them, she would surely have detected something amiss long ago.

“You didn’t escape together with Tan Zhaolin. You were sent by Zhu Yushen and Liu Yun to see Us and relay a message.

“But the message they want you to relay will certainly anger Us, so you didn’t dare. You fabricated a pretext to deceive Us, didn’t you?!”

With the cold blade pressed against his neck, Zhou Ping was terrified and prostrated himself: “Your Majesty, your subject is truly wronged. Your subject has had ten years of friendship with Shiyu—how could I use her safety to deceive Your Majesty?”

“You still know you have ten years of friendship with her!” Zhu Nanxian roared.

Then his voice turned cold: “Still won’t speak? If you won’t speak, there’s no use keeping your life. We will personally end it for you, shall We?”

The cold blade moved away from his neck, as if about to fall in the next moment.

“Speak—your subject will speak.” Zhou Ping’s forehead knocked against the ground. “Lord Su is confined in the Liu residence.”

“What does that mean?” Tan Zhaolin said. “You knew where my Lord was all along?”

He was somewhat bewildered: “If you knew, why didn’t you go save her?”

He shook his head again: “No, wait—before she got into trouble, you knew the Fourth Prince and that Liu bastard were going to move against her? Not only didn’t you help her, but you colluded with those bastards to harm her?! Why would you—damn it—”

Tan Zhaolin couldn’t continue. He grabbed Zhou Ping by the collar, raised his fist, and struck down.

Zhou Ping was a scholar—how could he withstand a warrior’s brute strength? After two punches, he was knocked to the ground, his cheek bruised and swollen, blood seeping from the corner of his mouth.

Tan Zhaolin was about to strike again when Zuo Qian raised his hand to stop him: “Let him finish speaking first.” Then he grabbed Zhou Ping’s lapels and shoved him. “Speak quickly!”

“Yes, yes.” Zhou Ping prostrated himself properly again. “Your Majesty’s discernment is clear. Your subject was indeed sent by the Fourth Prince and Lord Liu. They did have your subject relay a message.”

He glanced up at Zhu Nanxian: “The matter is actually quite simple. If Your Majesty wishes to save Shiyu, first claim illness, then return to the capital. Your Majesty should go ahead alone first, with the dragon carriage and grand army following behind.”

What did that mean?

They wanted Zhu Nanxian to first claim illness, then return to the palace alone. The news of his return would not be revealed to anyone. When Zhu Yushen and Liu Yun felt the time was right, they would let the grand army escort the empty “dragon carriage” back to Yingtian Prefecture?

So this was to have Zhu Nanxian return to the palace alone to exchange his life for Su Jin’s?

Claiming illness was so that after Emperor Jin’an exchanged his life, he could naturally die of illness?

“I’ll cut down you bastard!”

Even with only one arm remaining, Mao Zuofeng could no longer restrain himself. Having given his knife to Zhu Nanxian, he turned to draw Zuo Qian’s sword, his eyes bloodshot, teeth nearly grinding to dust.

But Zhu Nanxian’s voice was calm: “If We don’t return?”

“Your Majesty knows,” Zhou Ping’s voice was as thin as a mosquito’s buzz, “Shiyu is in their hands.”

He paused slightly, then added, “The Fourth Prince also gave an additional instruction—he asks Your Majesty to remember Su Shiyu’s identity.”

Yes, he could lay ambushes, he could deceive the enemy, but no matter how many precautions he took, he couldn’t guard against A’Yu’s identity—a single phrase “being a woman who has entered the court” could have her cut to pieces by a thousand knives, not to mention her connection to the “ministerial calamity.”

Moreover, she was in their hands. How could he dare risk gambling with her life? He was too far from her—thousands of miles away, incomparable to others who could strike with a single blade within arm’s reach.

“Do you—” Zhu Nanxian was silent for a moment. “Have any proof?”

Zhou Ping nodded slightly and took out the Nine Dragons dagger from his breast: “This is the dagger Your Majesty gave to Shiyu. Your Majesty knows that she never parts with this dagger.”

Actually, he didn’t truly want to demand proof.

It was just that he still held onto a glimmer of hope.

Hope that she was still safe, hope that—he still had a chance to be with her.

But when the fierce pythons on the Nine Dragons dagger appeared before his eyes with their savage features, Zhu Nanxian’s expression utterly and completely collapsed.

He accepted the Nine Dragons dagger and laughed once, almost like a sigh, carrying a trace of sorrow and grief.

The next moment, he spoke hoarsely: “You… why did you treat her this way? How has she wronged you?”

Zhou Ping was stunned for some time before realizing Zhu Nanxian was asking him. He hastily said: “Your Majesty, your subject never wanted to harm Shiyu. These ten years of friendship with her came entirely from genuine sincerity, but… your subject came from the examination route. Back when I failed the imperial examination and had nowhere to turn, it was with the Tenth Prince’s help that I was able to obtain a position in the capital’s offices. The Tenth Prince said that in the future, I only needed to help him with some matters. Later, when Lord Liu found your subject, it was just to look at some correspondence. Your subject thought it was nothing serious. I never imagined it would harm Shiyu to this extent. Originally, your subject didn’t want to—I carefully considered whether I could save her, but she was already confined. First, I had no confidence, and second, if the Tenth Prince discovered it, wouldn’t these ten years of my official career be completely ruined? So I could only take advantage of the Fourth Prince and Lord Liu sending me out of the capital to come see Your Majesty. I beg Your Majesty, for the sake of my ten years of friendship with Shiyu, to spare your subject’s life.”

“Oh, so you’ve long been at the beck and call of Zhu Yiheng and his lot, yet you couldn’t bear to ruin these ten years of official career, so you aided the tiger in its cruelty? You clearly could have cut your losses, yet you coveted fame and profit and harmed a longtime friend?”

Zhu Nanxian’s voice was bone-chillingly cold: “Someone like you—are you even worthy of mentioning ten years of friendship with Su Shiyu?”

“She treats people with sincerity. To those she considers friends, she absolutely ‘never fails them.’ Back when she was merely a magistrate, she could risk her life for Chao Qing. She also considered you a friend. And you? This is how you treat her?!”

Zhou Ping kowtowed: “Your Majesty, your subject knows his error, truly knows his error. Your Majesty is benevolent and merciful—I beg Your Majesty to spare your subject’s life.”

“Benevolent and merciful?” Zhu Nanxian laughed coldly. “Since you’re already in the game, what right do you have to beg your opponent for mercy?”

“But We won’t kill you.” He sheathed the knife and returned it to Mao Zuofeng. “Because We fear dirtying the blade in Our hand.”

Then he raised his voice authoritatively: “Men, drag Zhou Ping out and execute him by military order!”

Two guards waiting outside the tent dragged Zhou Ping away, and the military tent fell silent again.

The sand table for deploying troops from earlier still remained, but in an instant, the winds and clouds of the situation had transformed.

Mao Zuofeng said: “Your Majesty, why not have this general and General Zuo lead the one hundred fifty thousand troops to storm the capital and—”

Before he could finish, he saw Zhu Nanxian shake his head.

The Nine Dragons dagger in his hand had fierce pythons that seemed to flick their tongues in his palm, yet carried a soft dampness, like catching eave-dripping rain in one’s palm during the warm-cold transition of spring.

She was trapped in a desperate situation and had painstakingly arranged for Tan Zhaolin to bring news from the capital to him—did she want him to change course southward and deploy troops to the capital?

But how could he possibly abandon her?

Zhu Nanxian reached up to touch his chest, where a piece of jade was hidden.

A jade pendant carved with the character “Yu” (rain).

He had carefully treasured it whether on the battlefield, in the court hall, presiding over government affairs, or fighting external enemies, and he too never parted with it.

He reached into his collar and took out the jade.

Wrapped around the jade pendant were coils upon coils of red thread—he had wound them on one by one when he was confined in the Eastern Palace. He too had been in a desperate situation then, and this had been his only hope.

A thousand coils of red thread, like her crimson robe when she impeached treacherous officials in the court, and like her wedding dress when she told him to wait for his return so they would never be separated again for the rest of their lives.

This brilliant vermillion color had long since kindled a fierce fire in his heart that would burn through his entire life.

Zhu Nanxian silently turned around, returned to sit before the desk, placed the dagger on the desk, then with a fierce tug at his neck, snapped the red cord on the jade pendant.

He gently placed this jade pendant carved with the character “Yu” beside the dagger and spoke hoarsely: “We… will return to the capital today.”