Her words carried implications, and Dudu Liang was not deaf to them.

That Shu Wenlan’s man arrived before His Majesty’s edict could only mean one thing—what Lord Shu transmitted was a private order, not an imperial command.

Ordinarily, upon receiving a private order from a Cabinet assistant, Dudu Liang would naturally follow it. But now, with both the Tenth Prince and Lord Shen present, and Lord Shu’s private order lacking any reasonable justification, he found himself in a dilemma—unable to either detain them or let them pass.

Shen Xi glanced at Dudu Liang and also discerned his predicament.

After briefly considering the implication in Su Jin’s words, he added lightly, “Since Lord Shu of the Cabinet has given an order, this matter must be of no small importance. I hope Dudu Liang will immediately supplement the manpower and establish additional barriers, and inform all checkpoints along the way. This official has urgent business to see His Majesty. After escorting the Tenth Prince and returning, I hope all checkpoints will grant immediate passage.”

With this prompting, Dudu Liang’s mind became much clearer.

Indeed, the Tenth Prince was ultimately being sent off by Lord Shen. When Lord Shen returned to see His Majesty, he would naturally give Lord Shu an explanation. He himself was merely a sixth-rank dudu—what need did he have to worry about such matters?

He immediately invited Zhu Nanxian and Shen Xi into their carriages, made a hand gesture, and ordered the soldiers before and behind to remove the barrier.

Past noon, though there were postal stations along the way, Zhu Nanxian and Shen Xi’s party showed no sign of resting. Instead, they moved faster and faster.

The situation was far worse than they had imagined.

Shu Wenlan’s actions were not rash. To so brazenly send someone to order Dudu Liang to establish a barrier meant that after meeting Zhu Yushen this morning, he had likely guessed the sovereign’s intentions and preemptively sent his own people to alert the dudu commanders along the route.

In other words, from Dudu Liang’s perspective, Shu Wenlan’s advance dispatch of people to obstruct them could have two explanations:

First, Lord Shu was on bad terms with the Tenth Prince, and thus privately sent people to prevent him from leaving Sichuan.

Second, the Tenth Prince was actually Emperor Jin’an, and Lord Shu, having either guessed the sovereign’s intentions or acting from personal motives, could not allow this second emperor to flee far away under Emperor Yongji’s very nose.

Just now, Su Jin’s words had accomplished much with little effort. Combined with Shen Xi’s tactical retreat—outwardly complying with Shu Wenlan’s decision—this led Dudu Liang to focus only on considering the consequences, forgetting to question the reason for Shu Wenlan’s dispatch. Thus he only thought of the first explanation, not the second.

But Dudu Liang was no fool, nor was the Left Military Governor’s Office. Even if the two from Shen and Su had temporarily blinded him, after another hour, when they met Zhu Yushen’s personal guards, they would understand that they had been deceived by Zhu Nanxian, Shen Qingyue, and Su Shiyu working together.

One hour was far from enough for their party to leave Jianmen Mountain.

By then, these towering mountains, these overlapping peaks—all would become a prison locking them in.

And this still wasn’t the most critical matter…

Along the mountain slope, a horse’s neigh was heard, and Shen Xi’s carriage at the very front came to an abrupt stop.

Shen Xi looked around and saw that there were no more soldiers guarding the road along the way. He walked to Zhu Nanxian and Su Jin’s carriage, directly lifted the curtain and entered, not forgetting to turn back and instruct, “Keep going, as fast as possible.”

Inside the carriage, all three remained silent for a moment.

Not because they had nothing to say, but because there was too much, and they didn’t know where to begin.

Speaking of the past would be inappropriate. Ask if they were well? They knew each other too deeply—one glance was enough to see.

After a while, it was Shen Xi who spoke first, his tone somewhat difficult, “Back then, when I was in Wuchang, I guessed that something had probably happened to you two. Before rushing back to the capital, I first sent Shuxiang and Lin’er to Shu. As for why I had them go to Cuiwei Town, it’s because Shiyu’s former residence is there. I knew she would surely return to her old home one day, and if she reunited with Lin’er and Shuxiang, they could look after each other.”

He didn’t ask Zhu Nanxian why he was alive.

Without even thinking, he knew that in the Sui Palace back then, besides Zhu Yushen, who else could have concealed it from everyone and rescued Emperor Jin’an from the great fire at Minghua Palace?

As for why Liu Yun would save Zhu Nanxian.

Though Shen Xi couldn’t figure it out, he also knew that given Liu Yun’s temperament, unless necessary, he wouldn’t bother explaining to anyone.

Su Jin asked, “Then what is your reason for personally coming to Shu this time?”

She naturally knew that Shen Xi had come for Zhu Lin and Shuxiang, but that wasn’t what she was asking about.

Shen Xi was the esteemed Minister of Finance, a first-rank duke. Under ordinary circumstances, he need only dispatch someone under his command to make the trip to Shu. This time, what exactly was the reason that required him to come personally?

Shen Xi considered for a moment and asked, “Have you already met Liu Yun here in Shu?”

Zhu Nanxian and Su Jin exchanged glances and both nodded. This was also one of their puzzlements. Liu Yun was the Grand Secretary of the Cabinet, a regent minister. By rights, with Zhu Yushen absent from the capital, court affairs should have been managed by him. What kind of change could have occurred to make Liu Yun also appear in Shu—and not in the name of an imperial commissioner?

Shen Xi fell silent again for a while before saying, “This matter is somewhat complex. Let me start with the simplest part.” He looked at Su Jin. “Shiyu, do you remember how many circuits are under the Imperial Censorate?”

Su Jin was startled. This question was simple enough. The Imperial Censorate, with the purpose of surveillance, had twelve circuits established beneath it—such as the Huguang Circuit, Zhejiang Circuit, Shanxi Circuit, and so on. Each circuit had supervising censors assigned to patrol the entire nation.

But thinking again, Shen Xi’s intent in asking seemed not so straightforward.

“You mean Zhu Yushen wants to establish a thirteenth circuit?”

“Yes.” Shen Xi nodded. “He wants to establish the Yunnan-Guizhou Circuit.”

Zhu Nanxian frowned, “But Yunnan and Guizhou border Annan, with constant warfare. They’ve always been military strongholds under the direct jurisdiction of the Governor’s Office. If the Imperial Censorate establishes a thirteenth circuit, not to mention the manpower and resources required—should war break out, wouldn’t it be thankless work?”

Shen Xi said, “This brings us to the purpose of Zhu Yushen’s personal expedition to Annan.”

He looked at both Su Jin and Zhu Nanxian. “Annan is a small country. For ordinary warfare, simply dispatching a general to quell the rebellion would suffice. Do you know why Zhu Yushen insisted on personally leading the campaign?”

Zhu Nanxian understood, “He didn’t go to quell rebellion—he went to… take the opportunity to recover Annan?”

Shen Xi nodded again. “Yes. Although Annan was in internal turmoil last year, they actually hadn’t violated the treaty that Shiyu drafted back then. In other words, they hadn’t sent troops to harass the Great Sui border. Zhu Yushen’s claim that they violated the treaty was just an excuse to dispatch troops to Annan, wanting to bring them into Great Sui territory.”

“Now, with Zhu Yushen entering Shu from Yunnan-Guizhou, the war in Annan must have been settled. Within these few days, he will have Liu Yun draft a memorial to establish Annan as Jiaozhi, incorporate it into the Yunnan-Guizhou Circuit, and from then on, make it part of our Great Sui realm.”

Hearing this, Su Jin understood.

No wonder Liu Yun would leave the capital and come to Shu. As the Left Censor-in-Chief of the Imperial Censorate, with the establishment of the thirteenth circuit beneath the Censorate, and the Great Sui territory thus encompassing such a large area, he would need to personally establish the administrative prefectures and surveillance offices.

But she still had doubts. “If they’re establishing the Yunnan-Guizhou Circuit, wouldn’t it be more convenient for Zhu Yushen and Liu Yun to go to Yunnan? Why come to Shu?”

Zhu Nanxian, having served in the military since childhood, understood first, “Because Shu is the gateway to the southwest.”

He paused. “If I’m not mistaken, establishing the thirteenth circuit is still secondary. More importantly, Zhu Yushen wants to establish the Southwest Grand Military Commission in Shu. The one hundred thousand troops that entered Shu from Huguang, and the two hundred thousand troops that accompanied Zhu Yushen on the personal expedition to Annan—from this day forward, they will all be stationed at the Southwest Commission.”

At this point, he thought more carefully. Zhu Yushen’s recovery of Annan, establishment of the thirteenth circuit, and deployment of three hundred thousand troops to establish the Southwest Grand Military Commission were all to ensure that the southern regions would no longer suffer from warfare. Though his determination deserved praise, it was somewhat reckless. After all, every step he took left no room for retreat. For instance, mobilizing two hundred thousand troops for the personal expedition to Annan—if the war became bogged down and the north simultaneously erupted into chaos, what then?

Or rather, Zhu Nanxian wondered, behind these decisions, what more significant policies might be included?

Before he could ask, Su Jin had already said, “Zhu Yushen is taking such pains to ensure peace in Great Sui’s southern territory—could it be that some major change is about to occur in the court and realm?”

Shen Xi looked at the two of them. After a moment, he nodded again. “Yes. I’ve heard it’s something Zhu Yushen and Liu Yun agreed upon years ago. Apart from the Cabinet, no one else knows about this matter yet.”

“They’ve decided to relocate the capital.”

“Since Great Sui established the dynasty, the north has been in constant warfare. The root cause is insufficient military strength at the borders and inadequate defense, leading to the northern nomadic tribes, northwestern Chili, and the former dynasty’s Northern Liang all eyeing us covetously. If the capital were moved north, with the emperor himself guarding this gateway, pushing the northern frontier defense line further north—first, it could protect the northern people from the suffering of warfare; second, using Beiping and Yingtian Prefecture as base points, opening canal transport could promote production, allowing the people north of the Huai River, even north of the Taihang Mountains, to no longer suffer from famine.”

“But if the capital moves north and the emperor goes north, he’ll be farther from the south. Therefore, before this can happen, the primary task is to ensure the south, especially Yunnan-Guizhou and Lingnan regions, no longer suffer from warfare.”

“This is the reason behind recovering Annan, establishing the thirteenth circuit, establishing the Southwest Grand Military Commission, and even why the new land reclamation policy was implemented.”