In the Taiji Hall of Luoyang’s Southern Palace, Wei Shao faced south to discuss matters of state.

Several days had passed since the capture of Luoyang, and all of Xing Xun’s associates had been eliminated. Although the curfew was still in effect, due to effective pacification and the fact that the main army had not entered the city gates, the atmosphere of panic in the city was gradually dissipating. Yesterday, the markets that had been closed for days began to reopen.

As the citizens slowly returned to normal life, they were all waiting for one thing: Wei Shao’s ascension to the throne.

Not only did the people of Luoyang speculate about this, but some of Wei Shao’s subordinates were also eagerly anticipating it. In the past few days, the court officials who had surrendered to Wei Shao after the city fell had been constantly submitting joint petitions, piling up on his desk like snowflakes.

Although the contents were diverse and extensive, they all centered on one idea: believing that Wei Shao was worthy of the title and should ascend to the throne.

Gong Sun Yang had privately told Wei Shao, “Those surrendered ministers, though senior officials, first served Liu Tong, then bowed to Xing Xun, and now they shift allegiance to you after capturing Luoyang. My Lord should not listen to them. Ascending the throne at this time is premature and not opportune.”

Zhu Zeng also advised, “Yue Zheng Gong has long harbored ambitions to emulate Xing Xun. I urge my Lord to wait patiently for a few more days. If I’m not mistaken, Yue Zheng Gong will secretly plan to declare himself emperor upon returning to Hanzhong. When he dons the dragon robe, it will be even more justifiable for my Lord, with the prestige of holding Luoyang, to ascend to the ultimate position.”

At this moment in the Taiji Hall, the debate about whether he should take advantage of the situation to ascend the throne continued.

But Wei Shao’s mind had already wandered.

The day before, he had received news from Yuyang.

Xiao Qiao had given birth safely, delivering him a daughter.

His grandmother had named her Feifei.

Wei Shao imagined holding his daughter’s soft little body in his arms, and his gaze unknowingly softened.

The corners of his lips curved slightly upward.

The ministers finally noticed the mysterious smile on their lord’s face.

They all stopped talking and looked at him.

Wei Shao came back to his senses and met the eyes staring at him from all sides. He shrugged his shoulders and frowned, saying, “Although Xing Xun is dead, Liu Yan has declared himself emperor in Langya, Yue Zheng Gong firmly holds Hanzhong, and there are still Wu Yue and Changsha in the south. I have merely captured Luoyang. How can I rest easy and ascend the throne? This matter need not be discussed further!”

Everyone fell silent, then unanimously said, “My Lord is wise. We shall obey.”

After the meeting, Wei Shao kept Gong Sun Yang behind and first asked about the defensive situations in Jingzhao, Zuofengyi, and Youfufeng.

Gong Sun Yang was somewhat puzzled.

These three areas guarded Luoyang and were geographically important. On the night Luoyang fell, troops were immediately dispatched and quickly occupied these areas within three days, firmly securing them.

The commanders were all personally selected by his lord.

He didn’t know why Wei Shao suddenly seemed to have forgotten and kept him behind to ask about this.

Though confused inwardly, he didn’t show it on his face and simply said, “My Lord can rest assured. The three areas are firmly under control and will not be lost.”

Wei Shao nodded, “I’ve always been at ease with Sir’s handling of matters. If that’s the case, there’s nothing urgent for me here. I’ll return to Yuyang for a while.”

Seeing Gong Sun Yang looking at him, he added, “It’s nothing too important. I just received a letter a couple of days ago saying that the Lady has given birth to a daughter for me.”

His expression was calm.

“She misses me a bit,” he added with a slight cough.

Gong Sun Yang finally understood his lord’s thoughts.

Suppressing a smile, he said, “Congratulations to my Lord on this precious pearl! Even if the Lady hadn’t expressed her longing, after such a long campaign and now with this great victory, my Lord should go back for a visit! Please go without worry, I’ll take care of things here!”

Wei Shao smiled, “Thank you for your trouble, Sir.”

After arranging the remaining matters, as soon as Gong Sun Yang left, he immediately summoned Lei Ze, selected over a dozen men, and prepared to depart.

Just before leaving, he suddenly remembered something.

Wei Shao hesitated for a long while but finally made up his mind and called Wei Liang over.

He dismissed everyone else, leaving only Wei Liang.

“My Lord has summoned me. What are your orders?”

Seeing that his lord remained silent as if the words he wanted to say were particularly difficult to express – which was rare – he added, “If my Lord has any matter, please just give the order!”

Wei Shao finally said, “I want to send you on a trip to Dongjun.”

Wei Liang was taken aback.

“If I’m not mistaken, the seventh day of this month is the fortieth birthday of Qiao Ping, the Duke of Dongjun. Go on my behalf, remember, in the name of the Lady, to send him a birthday gift. Also, pass on a message, telling the Duke that the Lady has safely given birth to a daughter, and both mother and child are well.”

Wei Liang was surprised.

But he quickly said, “I obey.”

“The reason I’m sending you is that you’ve been to Dongjun before and are acquainted with the Qiao family…” Wei Shao explained.

“My Lord, rest assured. I will handle this matter perfectly,” Wei Liang smiled, “It’s been a while since I last saw Young Master Qiao Lu Li. Coincidentally, General Li mentioned Young Master Qiao to me a few days ago. This visit will be a good opportunity to see him and check on his martial arts progress.”

“You haven’t been back for a long time, right? I remember you were in Bingzhou for the entire year last year, and then we’ve been fighting this battle. Now that you finally have a chance to relax, after returning from Dongjun, I’ll give you some time off. Go back and see your aunt and sister-in-law.”

Wei Liang hadn’t been back to Yuyang for a year and a half.

Hearing this, he was overjoyed and quickly expressed his thanks.

Wei Shao nodded with a smile, “There’s nothing else. I’ll have the birthday gift prepared and sent to you.”

…

The next day, at dawn, a group of over ten warhorses galloped out of Luoyang’s East Gate, heading north along the main road, disappearing in a cloud of dust.

Wei Shao had set out on his journey back north.

The fierce battles of war usually left no room for such leisurely thoughts.

But his longing for her, and the wild joy of knowing he had become a father, could no longer be suppressed from the moment he saw that family letter. These emotions overflowed from the heart of this man who usually possessed an iron will.

So much so that he felt he could no longer delay.

Yue Zheng Gong, Liu Yan, and ascending the throne…

These matters could wait for a while.

He needed to see her and their daughter as soon as possible.

Otherwise, he couldn’t bear it any longer.

Early that morning, as he headed north, Wei Liang also set out on the road to Yanzhou with a group of attendants and gifts.

The birthday gift for Qiao Ping was personally and carefully selected by Wei Shao the night before.

A pair of jade dragon pendants, a pair of high-footed gold cups, ten pieces of kesi silk woven with patterns of auspicious clouds, longevity, and joy, and two famous silk paintings.

Even after Wei Liang had left for Yanzhou, Wei Shao still felt uneasy and even ashamed about what he had done.

It felt like a complete betrayal of his father and brother, and he felt increasingly unable to face the family’s ancestral temple.

However, Qiao Ping hadn’t directly participated in that battle years ago.

He was her father, his daughter’s maternal grandfather.

Since he had married Xiao Qiao by a twist of fate, and now she had borne him a child, surely the spirits of his father and brother in heaven would understand.

Moreover, this was probably his grandmother’s wish as well.

He knew his grandmother had always hoped he could learn not to be so consumed by past grudges.

He needed to learn to be a person with a broad mind like his grandmother.

After setting out, Wei Shao kept comforting himself in this way.

Finally, as the distance to Yuyang shortened day by day, the conflict in his heart was completely overshadowed by the emotion of soon seeing her and their daughter.

He stopped thinking about anything else, feeling only immense joy and anticipation.

…

That night, he finally reached Renqiu City.

If they continued without stopping, they were only a day’s journey from Yuyang.

Wei Shao felt he could continue pushing forward.

But lightning tore through the night sky, and thunder rumbled heavily overhead.

It started to rain.

Exhaustion showed on the faces of Lei Ze and the others.

So Wei Shao ordered them to stop and spend the night at the Renqiu postal station.

They had traveled light all the way. Upon arriving, he also instructed the station master not to alert the Renqiu magistrate, as he would only stay for one night and continue his journey in the morning.

Lei Ze had someone bring in the box and place it on the table.

The box was about a foot high and wide, adorned with a whole piece of beautifully patterned python skin. It had some weight to it, and Lei Ze didn’t know what was inside.

Wei Shao himself felt tired too.

But his spirits were very high.

He lay on the bed in the late-night postal station, eyes closed, listening to the distant rumbles of thunder.

Raindrops pattered steadily, hitting the tiles above his head.

This scene reminded him of that night last year.

On a similar rainy night, he had chased her alone to a postal station and finally caught up with her.

He had surrendered to her.

And she had returned his joy in equal measure.

That night, she had displayed her charm and beauty beneath him. Even now, as he recalled it, that soul-stirring, ethereal feeling seemed not to have fully dissipated.

It was as if he had ascended to a celestial mountain palace, an extremely beautiful world.

Wei Shao’s mouth went dry at the memory.

Entangled in reverie, he momentarily lost control of himself, almost wishing he could get up and set out again immediately.

A flash of lightning struck outside the window. For an instant, the blue electric light illuminated the walls of the postal station snow-white, also lighting up the python-skin box on the table and Wei Shao’s sword beside it.

An ear-splitting thunderclap followed overhead, exploding, and the roof beams seemed to shake slightly with it.

From the cracks in the roof tiles, a layer of fine dust fell softly.

Suddenly, someone pounded frantically on the door.

After the thunderclap, this urgent knocking sound seemed particularly jarring.

Wei Shao opened his eyes, leaped off the bed, and quickly opened the door.

“My Lord, terrible news! An urgent report just arrived from Luoyang. General Wei Liang and his party were ambushed outside the gates of Dongjun. The General is seriously wounded but manages to fight his way out. All his attendants were killed. Subsequently, Qiao Yue and Qiao Ping jointly issued a public declaration, leading Yanzhou to submit to Liu Yan!”

Wei Shao’s figure froze.

Another lightning bolt struck, illuminating his face, as pale as a ghost.

He whirled around and drew his sword in one motion.

A flash of cold blue light swept past, cleaving the python skin box on the table clean in two.

Zhenzhus from the East Sea, rare jade from Kunlun. Precious and exotic treasures scattered across the floor with his sword stroke.

This was what Wei Shao had packed from the Luoyang treasury the night before he left.

He had put in whatever caught his eye.

At the time, he thought that even if they couldn’t please Manman’s eyes, they could be toys for his daughter.

“My Lord!” Lei Ze called out uneasily, looking at his rigid back as he held the sword.

Wei Shao slowly turned around.

“Prepare to move. We’re returning to Luoyang.”

His tone had become calm, his expression gloomy and cold.