Grassland people traveled fast on horseback. Tuoba Yilu was also freed from his bindings and given a horse, guarded in the center by Yuan Li’s personal guards—ostensibly for protection but actually for surveillance.

He had no attendants. Before departure, he’d proposed selecting his trusted followers from among the prisoners to bring along, but not only did Tuoba Liuxiu object, Yuan Li also refused.

Tuoba Liuxiu still had sovereign-subject affection and gratitude toward Zhao Hanzhang. What did Tuoba Yilu have?

How could he allow him to bring subordinates to the capital?

Yuan Li not only didn’t let him bring anyone but also ordered the government offices and intelligence operatives along the route to carefully investigate southbound travelers.

If he were Tuoba Yilu’s subordinate, he should now be trying to intercept and rescue him on the road by any means.

They absolutely wouldn’t let Tuoba Yilu enter the capital like this.

Entering the capital as a prisoner versus killing the rebellious son and entering victoriously to congratulate the new Emperor’s enthronement were completely opposite outcomes.

In the latter case, even if Zhao Hanzhang was inwardly displeased, she couldn’t state his crimes.

In the former, entering the capital as King of Dai—whether he could even survive was questionable.

Tuoba Yilu also had this feeling. He was very afraid that going to the capital meant certain death, so he kept trying to reconcile with Tuoba Liuxiu.

He felt that after all, they were father and son—blood is thicker than water. He’d sent troops, but he hadn’t actually harmed him. Zhao Hanzhang was the external enemy. Their father and son should unite.

But Tuoba Liuxiu’s heart was thoroughly broken. He completely ignored him. Either he was surrounded by Su Hexiong and others in the center, or he rode alongside Yuan Li. Forget private moments—Tuoba Yilu couldn’t even say a word to him in public.

Whether Su Hexiong’s group or Yuan Li, neither wanted the father and son to reconcile.

With their brains beaten to pulp, if father and son reconciled afterward, all the crimes would fall on those around them. Besides, given Tuoba Yilu’s character and previous father-son relationship, even if they reconciled, he wouldn’t choose Tuoba Liuxiu as heir. So let the father and son remain estranged.

Su Hexiong and Tuoba Suzhou carefully kept father and son apart. Sometimes when Tuoba Yilu looked over, they would shift their feet to block his view with their bodies.

Yuan Li cooperated tacitly as well.

With Yuan Li’s arrangements and escort all along the route, they arrived smoothly at the capital. It was already the third day of the eighth month.

Upon entering the city, Yuan Li led them to a mansion to reside in. Tuoba Yilu was still kept under guard, with his room watched by layers of guards outside.

Seeing this, Tuoba Yilu’s heart jumped, and he said to Yuan Li, “I want to see Third Sister right now.” He needed to see her before Tuoba Liuxiu.

One matter could be explained in many ways. He believed the first to speak had the advantage.

Yuan Li reassured him. “King of Dai, rest assured. I’ll immediately memorialize Her Majesty. But with the great ceremony imminent, Her Majesty has already moved into the palace. Whether she summons you today depends on the palace’s decision.”

Tuoba Yilu’s expression wasn’t good. His gaze swept over Tuoba Liuxiu standing not far away, and he demanded, “I want to have an audience with that rebellious son together.”

Yuan Li didn’t agree but also didn’t refuse, only saying he would report it.

He sneered inwardly. Not even knowing how to soften and beg for mercy, thinking arguing at this point would work?

Yuan Li arranged Tuoba Liuxiu on the other side of this mansion, one east and one west with his father’s courtyard, while he lived in the middle, absolutely preventing them from engaging in father-son mutual destruction here as well.

After arranging them, Yuan Li took advantage of the remaining daylight to enter the palace and report.

Zhao Hanzhang had no intention of seeing the father and son before the great ceremony. “Prepare ceremonial robes for them. Have them enter the palace together the day after tomorrow to attend the great ceremony. After the enthronement ceremony, we’ll discuss this matter.”

Yuan Li respectfully agreed.

Hearing this, Tuoba Yilu couldn’t help but be dissatisfied and wanted to make trouble. But no matter how much he fussed, he was still trapped in one room. Yuan Li directly said, “It seems the King of Dai is fatigued from travel and in poor spirits. I’m afraid you cannot attend the enthronement ceremony the day after tomorrow.”

Only then did Tuoba Yilu dare not cause trouble.

Only then was Yuan Li satisfied, warning him, “The King of Dai probably doesn’t know yet—as soon as you sent troops to Xinping City, the White Tribe Xianbei rebelled. Now seven tribes have responded. To help the Second Prince quell the Dai Kingdom’s chaos, General Beigong and General Shi have been ordered to enter and station in the Dai Kingdom. Tomorrow’s enthronement ceremony is extremely important to Her Majesty and to the entire world. Even in the Dai Kingdom’s current situation, the King of Dai can still attend—this is Her Majesty’s great grace. Please don’t disappoint Her Majesty.”

Tuoba Yilu’s eyes widened. He hadn’t expected the situation had deteriorated to this extent.

Seeing he knew to be cautious, Yuan Li left.

By comparison, Tuoba Liuxiu was much simpler. He immediately accepted this matter. Well yes, Aunt was about to ascend the throne—she certainly had many matters to attend to.

So the next day, Tuoba Liuxiu took his subordinates out to appreciate Luoyang’s scenery.

Because of Zhao Hanzhang’s enthronement, many magistrates and generals came to observe the ceremony. Also, because of the long interval, many wealthy merchants and prominent scholars ran over to join the excitement. Luoyang at this time was more than twice as lively as usual.

The common people of Luoyang and surrounding areas were ecstatic. It was autumn—the harvest time for melons, fruits, and vegetables. Even chickens seemed to lay eggs more enthusiastically than before. These agricultural products flowed continuously to Luoyang, earning back large amounts of copper coins.

Even people from the Yushantang couldn’t help but claim a patch of wasteland near them, hoeing away the wild grass, then fertilizing and watering before scattering seeds…

Planting vegetables at this time, they could pull seedlings to eat in about half a month. Vegetable seedlings were very popular and somewhat expensive.

Besides this, they especially loved sprouting beans.

Yellow bean sprouts and green bean sprouts—everyone in Yushantang from sixty-year-old elderly women down to three-year-old children could sprout them. It was currently a required course at Yushantang.

Because winter lacked vegetables, and beans were inexpensive, bean sprouts were an essential winter vegetable at Yushantang.

The court ministers who’d originally worried about the autumn harvest because Zhao Hanzhang had chosen the fifth day of the eighth month for enthronement, seeing this situation, silently dismissed their concerns.

“Because of the flood, the replanted grain harvest will be delayed until September. Also, because Her Majesty demanded everything be kept simple, no laborers were recruited from outside areas. To date, the total manpower used hasn’t reached ten thousand, mostly drawn from the Six Ministries and military camps. So it doesn’t burden the people, yet has attracted so many to make money. This truly is the direction of Heaven.”

“Yes, Her Majesty is frugal. I hope she can always remain so.”

“Her Majesty seems very fond of Zhao Seventh Great-Uncle and never prevents his extravagance. I’m truly somewhat worried.”

“Sigh, may Heaven protect us—may Her Majesty in this regard resemble her grandfather rather than her great-uncle.”

“That… might not be good. Duke Zhao… our salaries… I’ve heard Her Majesty wants to modify how salaries are distributed and the regulations for annual stipends and grain rations for officials at all levels…”

If she were as stingy as Duke Zhao, wouldn’t they suffer greatly?

Hearing this, the other colleagues deeply agreed and changed their wish. “May Heaven protect us—may Her Majesty be like Duke Zhao regarding money internally but like Zhao Seventh Great-Uncle externally.”

Although they felt it was difficult for one person to have these two faces, they still made this wish.

Oh, they were currently inspecting the ceremonial platform. After enthronement, Zhao Hanzhang would come here to offer sacrifices to Heaven.

After finally confirming everything was correct, these Ministry of Rites officials left together. Walking onto the palace road, they happened to see a procession carrying things in a queue to enter. They could only step aside first.

After the people passed, they couldn’t help clicking their tongues. “So much silk and satin—I glanced at it, the colors are extremely vivid. Which province sent it?”

“It looks like Shu brocade and Shu damask. Probably sent by Young Master Li of Duke Chengguo?”

“Speaking of this year’s best gifts, they should come from Jiangnan. Yangzhou is wealthy. Except for last year’s battle, for decades it’s been relatively peaceful in its corner, accumulating who knows how much wealth.”

“Not only that—I heard Yangzhou even produced an auspicious omen.”

“An auspicious omen?”

“Yes, it was delivered to the capital today. But Chamberlain Ji doesn’t seem very happy. When I passed by his office this morning, I heard him cursing Magistrate Wang.”

“This auspicious omen appeared too late. Her Majesty is about to ascend the throne, and everyone up and down has already changed how they address her. If it had appeared half a year earlier, that would have been truly auspicious.”

“Who produced this auspicious omen? Magistrate Wang doesn’t seem like that type of person.”

Someone chuckled lightly. “I heard it was Zhou Zhi.”

“Zhou Zhi?” The officials exclaimed. “That’s even more impossible. When did he become so smooth and calculating?”

Zhou Zhi also felt very wronged.

On the eighth day of the seventh month, having recovered from the shock of the young emperor ceding his position to Zhao Hanzhang, he decided to take advantage of the agricultural off-season to lead troops to clear river channels blocked by flooding, while also using labor to work through his psychological distress.

A soldier clearing silt dredged up a huge natural stone turtle from the river.

It was truly natural, with a very unique shape. Whether viewed up close or from afar, it resembled a turtle. Most wonderfully, the stone turtle’s body and belly had many holes.

The belly holes were dense and large, while the stone surface had only five small holes in varying positions and sizes. At first glance, they corresponded to the five stars of the North Pole, with the hole representing the Emperor Star being the largest and most round.

What shocked Zhou Zhi most was that below the Emperor Star was a line of old characters: “Kun hexagram six-three, Heaven’s mandate returns.”

Zhou Zhi: …

The whole world knew that Zhao Hanzhang’s given name was He and courtesy name Zhenzhen. Whether name or courtesy name, both were selected from the Kun hexagram six-three of the Book of Changes.

The pointing nature of this line was abundantly clear—the Emperor Star corresponded to Zhao Hanzhang.

If Zhao Hanzhang’s enthronement wasn’t already a settled matter, he would definitely suspect this was her doing.

But on the first day of the seventh month, she’d accepted the abdication. Who would be so brain-dead as to still create an auspicious omen?

Creating an auspicious omen at this time was simply making things worse!

Who would need an auspicious omen?

Someone trying to force the old emperor to abdicate!

The young emperor’s heartfelt words during the abdication at the great court meeting on the first day of the seventh month were the best proof of legality, propriety, and heavenly mandate. Creating an auspicious omen now—wasn’t this slapping Zhao Hanzhang in the face?

Ordinary common people might believe in auspicious omens, but the aristocratic families basically wouldn’t.

Because of the young emperor’s sincere words, most of the realm’s aristocratic families were convinced he’d willingly abdicated to Zhao Hanzhang. It could be said to be the most harmonious and heart-satisfying pair among the three dynasty changes in nearly a hundred years.

Then an auspicious omen appeared at this time.

Zhou Zhi was going crazy. He wanted to immediately have someone sink this stone turtle to the river’s center and pretend it didn’t exist.

But the soldiers were very happy.

They didn’t know what the stars and characters on it represented, but they could see this uniquely shaped stone was very good.

They shouted joyfully, “General, we’ve struck it rich—”

Oh, forgot to mention—their current location was not far from Lake Tai.

Lake Tai stones hadn’t yet become popular nationwide at this time, but in Jiangnan, they were already very well-received.

There were already specialized stone quarriers. Most people lived very hard lives, but if someone had good luck and quarried a uniquely shaped stone, they could sell it for a good price and become wealthy overnight.

The soldiers who’d worked together to drag the stone turtle up felt this stone belonged to the type that could bring wealth.

They spread the word everywhere. Soldiers along the entire river channel ran over to join the excitement, along with common people who’d come to help clear silt.

Too many people saw it. Zhou Zhi wasn’t a villain—he couldn’t possibly kill people to silence them. He could only disperse the crowd and then swallow this bitter fruit alone.

After thinking all night, he still chose to report this matter to Wang Dao.

Producing an “auspicious omen” and reporting it upward wasn’t good, but concealing and not reporting was worse.

Jiangnan was already a step behind the north. Intelligence operatives hid deep and spread wide. This matter definitely couldn’t be concealed. If Zhao Hanzhang misunderstood that Jiangnan had different intentions, that would be counterproductive.

Wang Dao also hadn’t expected that clearing river channels could dig up trouble. He agonized with Zhou Zhi for several days and finally decided to first investigate the truth before reporting.

But after investigating for a long time, they still couldn’t find out who’d done this. Seeing the date of Zhao Hanzhang’s enthronement drawing closer, they had no choice but to report the matter while continuing to investigate.

After discussing, Zhou Zhi decided to take this blame himself.

“I’d rather let the world think I’m a flattering petty person than ruin the new Emperor’s reputation and authority.” Reaching this point, Zhou Zhi said through gritted teeth, “If I find out who did this, I absolutely won’t spare them.”

Wang Dao said, “Such a large stone couldn’t leave no traces. We’ll report first, then investigate carefully. We’ll definitely find out.”

The stone was too large and difficult to transport. They could only temporarily store it in a warehouse. Wang Dao could only paint it as a picture and send it to the capital for Zhao Hanzhang to decide how to handle this auspicious omen.

The matter first reached Ji Yuan, arriving with Jiangnan’s congratulatory gifts list.

Ji Yuan was still smiling while looking at Jiangnan’s gifts list. Upon seeing the latter part, his smile instantly dropped, and he couldn’t help cursing Wang Dao.

On such a joyous occasion, creating a reverse “auspicious omen”—what were he and Zhou Zhi thinking?

Ji Yuan could only seek Zhao Hanzhang’s decision, saying through gritted teeth, “Since it’s an auspicious omen, it cannot remain outside. It must be transported back to the capital. But this matter shouldn’t be publicized. Better to have Yangzhou send laborers and soldiers to secretly escort it, covering the stone with oilcloth so no one sees it.”

Zhao Hanzhang also finished looking at the painting. This “auspicious omen” was too specifically targeted—only she could use it. Otherwise, it could serve other purposes.

“Transporting it from Jiangnan to Luoyang—how much manpower and resources would such a large stone consume?” Just thinking about it made Zhao Hanzhang’s teeth ache. “I’ve heard that in the previous dynasty, there was an extremely wealthy person who became bankrupt transporting a strange stone.”

Ji Yuan, well-versed in history, looked somewhat blank. “Really? During which emperor’s reign was this?”

Emperor Wanli.

Zhao Hanzhang waved her hand. “It’s not important anymore. What’s important is that transporting such a large stone to Luoyang would be enormously costly. I feel a bit of heartache.”

Mainly, this stone had no use. If it had appeared two months earlier, it might have had a tiny bit of use.

No—even if it had appeared then, for stability’s sake, she wouldn’t have been very happy either.

Zhao Hanzhang was somewhat unhappy. “Who’s flattery is this, hitting me right in the leg? Zhou Zhi and Wang Dao don’t seem like this type of person.”

Zhao Hanzhang frowned and decided to ask the intelligence network.

The Jiangnan intelligence network actually knew who’d done it.