“How could a child of my Han bloodline take the surname Li!” Han Fengnian shot back before he could stop himself — then, composing himself, added, “…If she truly is of my Han bloodline, she should of course be returned to her rightful roots and raised by the Han family. But how will you prove she is Fengyue’s child?”

Han Fengnian paused, his dark and calculating gaze fixed on Li Wu, heavy with implication. “If you are trying to trick me into forming an alliance… you will not leave here alive.”

Li Kun, hearing this, immediately turned a furious glare on him, and the muscles rippling beneath his clothing visibly tensed.

Li Wu patted Li Kun’s arm — solid as a boulder — and looked at Han Fengnian, his manner easy and relaxed:

“We’re on someone else’s ground, so I ought to observe some basic rules of conduct. He is your own full-blooded younger brother’s flesh and blood — surely you could recognize her yourself? The child is five years old now. If you want to see her for yourself, I can make the arrangements.”

“…You didn’t bring her here?” Han Fengnian said.

“If I’d brought her here, could I have taken her back?” Li Wu’s eyes went wide, and he said with unabashed certainty, “Until the Wuying Army agrees to the alliance, she stays under the name of our Li family’s little Juan’er!”

Han Fengnian nearly choked.

He had grown up from birth surrounded by aristocratic families — the people he encountered were either Fu Xuanmiao or half a Fu Xuanmiao — and had never once in his life encountered someone like Li Wu: utterly shameless, playing by no rules whatsoever. He pressed his intellect hard to suppress his fury, but could not hide the anger blazing beneath his eyes. If looks could kill, Li Wu would have died a thousand times over beneath his knife-sharp glare.

“Since you claim she is Fengyue’s child, of course I want to meet her.” Han Fengnian said.

To confirm whether the child was truly his younger brother’s bloodline, the cautious and suspicious Han Fengnian switched from host to guest and brought five hundred elite soldiers to the Blue Phoenix Army’s camp.

The two of them had agreed it was only a meeting.

But the moment they met face to face, Han Fengnian could no longer hold himself together.

He could not stop himself from taking a great stride toward the little girl hiding behind Niuwang, only to be stopped by Li Wu stepping in beside him with an equally large stride, arm outstretched as a barrier.

“Master Han, as we agreed — only a meeting.” Li Wu said. “Our Li family’s little Juan’er is shy around strangers. Don’t frighten her.”

Juan’er stood rigid, clutching Niuwang’s sleeve, her expression shy and timid, casting small, cautious glances at the unfamiliar man before her whose eyes had grown red-rimmed.

Han Fengnian looked at the face that bore five parts resemblance to his younger brother, and his vision blurred without him realizing it.

He crouched down, bringing himself level with Juan’er’s gaze, and asked in a trembling voice: “Child… how old are you?”

Juan’er said softly: “I’m five years old…”

“And your mother — who is she?” Han Fengnian asked again.

“My mother is dead.” Juan’er said.

The small girl seemed not yet to understand the meaning of death. There was not a trace of sorrow on her face.

Han Fengnian looked at Li Wu. The latter spoke: “Her mother was a courtesan at Chunfeng Tower. When she became pregnant, she refused to end the pregnancy and used every coin she had saved over a lifetime to buy her own freedom.”

“Impossible!” Han Fengnian erupted in fury. “Fengyue was not that kind of person! If he had known the woman was with child, no matter what, he would have bought her freedom himself and taken her out of that place!”

“Because by the time the woman discovered she was pregnant, your younger brother was already nowhere to be found.” Li Wu said. “Han Fengyue had already set out for Dongdu to join you.”

Han Fengnian stood speechless.

“When the woman left Chunfeng Tower, she had not a coin to her name, and was carrying a child besides. The neighbors, knowing her past, wouldn’t even give her mending work. With no choice, she left her home behind while heavy with child, traveling to a place where no one knew her and struggling to survive. Eventually she gave birth to Juan’er — but the ordeal left her with a lasting ailment, and she died a few years later. She left Juan’er alone to wander the streets, living among beggars.”

“Then how did you find her?!” Han Fengnian demanded.

“The Bai Family Silver Exchange reaches every corner of the land — and so does its news. Finding one person — is that really so hard?” Li Wu said.

Han Fengnian fell silent.

He turned back to look at the small figure before him, and the longer he looked, the more he saw his younger brother’s shadow reflected there. The same upward-slanting almond eyes, the same delicate, tilted nose, the same cherry-red mouth. Fengyue had always been teased for his feminine features, and it was precisely because of those classmates’ mockery and ridicule that he had mistakenly gone down a path of wild, dissolute behavior.

If he had known that the child who inherited his beautiful looks was a girl, he would surely have been overjoyed…

“My name is your father’s older brother. You may call me Great Uncle.” A rare and gentle warmth appeared on Han Fengnian’s ever-cold face. He placed his right hand lightly on Juan’er’s shoulder and said softly, “From now on, I will look after you just as your father would have. Would you like to come home with me?”

Juan’er looked at Han Fengnian, then looked at Li Wu, and gave a timid little nod.

Han Fengnian looked at the small hand that reached out on its own to take hold of his sleeve, and a look of quiet joy settled into his eyes.

“You let me take the child, and I will help you form the alliance.” Han Fengnian rose and turned the gaze he fixed on Li Wu back to its usual coldness in an instant. “But the scores between you and me have not been wiped clean.”

“Understood.” Li Wu nodded without much concern. “Once Fu Xuanmiao has been toppled, if you want to kill me on your own merit, then try and see if you’ve got what it takes.”

Han Fengnian departed from the Blue Phoenix Army camp along with his five hundred men.

Li Wu watched them heading off in the direction of Dongdu where Chunyu An was stationed, then turned and walked down from the watchtower, where a cold wind was stirring.

Li Kun followed behind him, chewing absentmindedly on a sprig of mint someone had given him. Niuwang wore a baffled expression — he had spent a long while turning it over in his mind without figuring it out, and finally could not hold back the question burning in him:

“Master, does the Bai Family really have the resources to find a child across the whole country within just a few days?”

“No name, no appearance, no mother to speak of — and you think anyone could find that in a few days? You think the Bai Family are gods?” Li Wu said.

“Then how did Juan’er…”

“Finding a child that might or might not exist — that’s hard. Finding a child who looks like Han Fengyue — how hard can that be?” Li Wu said without the slightest concern. “There are so many homeless children wandering the streets out there, not to mention the orphans all over the five provinces near the capital because of everything Fu Xuanmiao has done — it’s effortless for the Bai Family to find one among them with delicate, gentle features.”

“Juan’er isn’t Han Fengyue’s child?” Niuwang was aghast. “Master, aren’t you afraid they’ll find out, fly into a rage, break the alliance, and turn around to attack us?”

“Afraid of this, afraid of that — then what kind of great things are you ever going to accomplish? You might as well go home and cuddle your kids on a warm bed.” Li Wu said disdainfully. “When you’ve lost the person closest to you, and then suddenly discover the only blood they left behind in this world — do you want to prove that truth, or do you want to disprove it? Right now, the person who wants to confirm that Juan’er is of Han blood more than anyone else in the world — it isn’t us. It’s Han Fengnian.”

Li Wu said with complete certainty: “As long as that’s what he wants to believe, he’ll always find a reason to explain away any cracks he notices in our story.”

“Master truly is Master!” Niuwang said, completely convinced. “Truly the boldness of a master hand — I still have so much to learn…”

After a pause, Niuwang suddenly thought of something and added: “Juan’er is so young — she won’t accidentally say something she shouldn’t, will she?”

“Children from hard lives grow up fast… Juan’er isn’t that young.” Li Wu said.

He thought back to the first time he had seen this child.

The resolute light in her eyes and the unyielding determination in her expression had let him take the risk without a second thought.

“I want to go.” That was how she had answered Li Wu’s question.

He had asked: “Are you willing to go?” She had answered: “I want to go.”

In that moment, Li Wu knew — this was the one he was looking for.

Returning to the main tent, he lifted the door flap and immediately saw Juan’er — who hadn’t yet grown tall enough to reach the tabletop — standing on her tiptoes, carefully tidying up the teacups Han Fengnian had left behind.

“That’s enough — you don’t need to do that.” Li Wu said.

Juan’er said nothing more, set down the teacups quietly, and stood before the table with obedient stillness.

“In a few days, you’ll be leaving here and heading to Dongdu.” Li Wu said. “Do you have any regrets? If you don’t want to go, I can still find a way to let you stay.”

“No regrets.” Juan’er said without hesitation.

“Why?”

“I don’t want to go hungry anymore.” Juan’er raised her head and looked directly at Li Wu. “I don’t want to be a beggar and be bullied by everyone.”

The fire shining in the eyes of this girl of only five years old was one of fierce and burning resolve —

Through those eyes, Li Wu found himself thinking of what had first drawn him to Shen Zhuxi — that same tenacity, that refusal to give up even when cornered with no way out.

“Good. I’m giving you your chance,” Li Wu said. “Whether you can seize it — that’s up to you.”

Three days later, Li Wu received a letter from Han Fengnian.

Two days after that, Li Wu brought along trusted personal guards and traveled deep into Wuying territory, holding his first meeting with the Wuying Military Governor Chunyu An in Dongdu.

The negotiations started out in the Wuying Army’s military camp, the atmosphere tense and edged with hostility — but as the talks went on, even Han Fengnian, who had also been present at the negotiations table, never quite understood how the solemn war council table had turned into a drinking table with dice cups clattering. The business of the alliance was tossed aside, and as the sun came up, the two sides’ men each carried away their leaders — who were reeling and swaying, dead drunk and beyond reason — from the table.

After Li Wu and Chunyu An slept off their stupor for a full day and night, on the third day they faced each other over a pot of chrysanthemum tea, still nursing the remnants of their hangovers with aching heads, and reflected that youth was behind them both.

The two men spent one hour discussing the merits and flaws of wines brewed in various regions, one hour exchanging views on local customs and ways of life, half an hour expressing their respective preferences in women, and one incense stick’s worth of time settling the terms of the alliance — and then they handed the full written agreement off to the strategists on both sides, and went off arm in arm to find somewhere to drink.

Once the alliance between the Blue Phoenix Army and the Wuying Army was made public, it sent a tremendous shock through the interior of Jianzhou. Those who had been wavering between the two sides became even more uncertain, and a great many prefectures and counties adopted an attitude of holding their forces in place and waiting.

Taking on Li Wu was manageable. Taking on Chunyu An was more or less feasible. But taking on the combined armies of both — that was something they needed to think more carefully about.

Fu Xuanmiao’s title of “Number One Young Lord Under Heaven” had not been earned for nothing. And the reputations of Li Wu, Chunyu An, and Han Fengnian — one famed for wit, another for valor, and the third for both — had not been blown in by the wind.

No one wanted to be the reckless vanguard sent off to die.

At the very moment Li Wu succeeded in forging an alliance with Chunyu An, Shen Zhuxi was also working hard to win the support of the Jihai Military Governor.

With Kong Ye’s guarantee behind her, Shen Zhuxi brought the thousand elite soldiers escorting her — plus three thousand troops provided by Cangheng — and arrived in Jinhua County, the seat of Jihai, in an imposing procession.

That very evening, she was warmly received by the Jihai Military Governor Jiang Xinchuang.

In Kong Ye’s descriptions, this was a middle-aged man who was always cheerful and easy-going, gentle in disposition, devoted to his people, and often of one mind with Kong Ye on matters of governance. But when they met in person, Shen Zhuxi discovered that perhaps because the world had been so turbulent in recent years, Jiang Xinchuang’s face was shadowed with an anxious unease.

This sense only grew stronger as Shen Zhuxi worked to persuade Jiang Xinchuang to join forces with the Blue Phoenix Army. More than that — it was as though his anxiety was contagious. A vague and nameless unease began to rise in Shen Zhuxi as well.

In the depths of her mind, a voice was urging her to return to Yangzhou — as though something were about to happen there.

After another restless, sleepless night, A’Xue, who had been keeping watch on a small bed nearby, rose quietly and moved to the bedside. She crouched gently and wrote in the palm of Shen Zhuxi’s hand:

“…What is Your Highness troubled by?”

“…I can’t quite explain it. But I can’t seem to set my mind at ease. It feels as though something terrible is about to happen.” After a long pause, Shen Zhuxi said. “We’ve been away so long — I don’t know what’s been happening in Yangzhou…”

A’Xue listened, then sat for a long moment without replying.

Shen Zhuxi had expected some reassurance — that she was surely overthinking it — but what A’Xue wrote in her palm instead was: “If that is how Your Highness feels, why not set out and return to Yangzhou?”

“Now?” Shen Zhuxi was startled. “But Jiang Xinchuang — I feel his position isn’t firm yet, and there’s a real chance we could bring him over to our side…”

“If he truly intends to resist Fu… Fu Xuanmiao’s rule, then even if Your Highness leaves for a time, Lord Kong is still here to continue persuading Jiang Xinchuang to leave the dark and come to the light.” A’Xue’s expression was composed and steady. “Why does Your Highness not trust her own instincts?”

Shen Zhuxi turned it over and over in her mind, and gradually grew resolved.

The very next morning, she informed Jiang Xinchuang of her intention to depart. He was taken aback, and urged her repeatedly to stay, insisting on giving her a farewell feast.

Though Jiang Xinchuang had not given her a clear answer over the past few days about whether he would join the alliance, his hospitality had been considerate and thorough throughout. Even just as a courtesy to Kong Ye, Shen Zhuxi found it hard to refuse his insistence on seeing her off properly.

Because of Shen Zhuxi’s determination, the farewell banquet was set for two hours later at midday. At Jiang’s manor table, richly laden with dishes prepared for her send-off, Shen Zhuxi was still trying to secure Jiang Xinchuang’s support — and it was out of respect for Kong Ye that her persistent, earnest persuasion finally moved Jiang Xinchuang.

“…If everything Your Highness has said is true, Jihai could never support a treacherous usurper who stole the throne.” Jiang Xinchuang said, his face full of worry. “I am honored by Your Highness’s confidence in me, and I am willing to lend what strength I can. Fu Xuanmiao already controls the central military forces, and has the Fu Army at his back besides — if we can only count on the support of Jihai and Cangheng, I fear it will still not be enough to stand against Fu Xuanmiao…”

“We are of course not relying only on Jihai and Cangheng. The Wuying Army has already agreed to join us — and as long as our four sides act in concert, we can absolutely defeat the enemy.” Shen Zhuxi said with confidence. “Fu Xuanmiao’s crimes are so great that words fail to describe them. Once the tide of the greater situation turns in our favor, countless people of resolve will certainly come forward to stand against his tyranny together.”

“Fu Xuanmiao was once Your Highness’s betrothed. Does Your Highness truly have no hesitation whatsoever in opposing him now?”

“…Hesitation?”

Jiang Xinchuang quickly added in explanation: “I heard many stories in the past about how deeply devoted Your Highness and Fu Xuanmiao were to each other. Now that Your Highness has come forward to oppose him, I only worry that when it truly comes to making a decision, Your Highness might soften because of past ties…”

“There are no ties between Fu Xuanmiao and myself.” Shen Zhuxi said without hesitation. “Those stories are nothing but stories.”

Jiang Xinchuang’s expression shifted subtly. After a brief silence, he said: “That Your Highness can uphold the Shen name even in Great Yan’s hour of crisis — truly, no woman need yield to any man. And yet… has Your Highness considered what happens if this endeavor fails —”

“Then I will fall fighting for it.” Shen Zhuxi said without a moment’s pause. “I am Great Yan’s Princess. I have already lived the first half of my life in wealth and luxury — it is only right that the second half of my life be devoted wholeheartedly to Great Yan’s survival and to the people of this world. Only then can I face myself without shame.”

Jiang Xinchuang stared at her, and all at once a look of struggle and remorse flooded his face.

Years of reading people and situations told her in that instant that something was deeply, terribly wrong. In the space of a single flash — Shen Zhuxi suddenly saw it clearly.

It was not Yangzhou that was about to change. It was Jinhua.

Almost in the same instant her mind blazed with understanding, soft footsteps sounded outside the door.

A figure she had once known well stepped out from behind the door.

Ink-dark wide sleeves, a tall and slender frame, a face that was striking and coldly composed.

Fu Xuanmiao blocked out the light pouring in from outside.

Shadow fell across her pale face.

The air in the hall seemed to freeze still. Beyond the walls, the sky held a rare warmth and clarity for an autumn day — but inside the hall, it was as though they had plunged into an ice cellar, the cold so sharp it was stunning. Something like the sound of a drum seemed to reach her — but a moment later, Shen Zhuxi realized, with delayed recognition, that it was her own heart pounding in rapid, urgent beats.

The Jihai Military Governor had already gone over to Fu Xuanmiao —

She had walked into a trap.

Fu Xuanmiao stood in the doorway, utterly still, his gaze fixed upon her. His expression was controlled and restrained — yet beneath his eyes, great waves moved and surged.

“…Between you and I,” his voice was barely above a murmur, as though speaking to himself alone, “is there truly no bond of any kind?”