Gu Chaobei folded his arms and looked at him, “What use is knowing you’re wrong if you don’t admit it? If I don’t force you, you’ll just keep making your mother worry, won’t you?”

The First Prince turned his head away and muttered, “She lied to me first…”

“She lied to you to spare you pain and sadness,” Gu Chaobei snorted coldly. “Your mother is the one person in this world who would never harm you—remember that clearly. You’re still young, so I won’t lecture you on grand principles. Just one thing: you cannot make your mother sad or upset. Understand?”

The First Prince fell silent, his small face lowered. His eyes darted left and right for a long while before he finally grunted, “I understand.”

Gu Chaobei reached out and pinched his cheek, then took over from the palace attendants behind him and personally pushed him inside.

“First Prince!” Upon seeing him enter, Nuo’er happily bounced over and grabbed onto the wooden wheelchair, “Have you come to fetch Nuo’er?”

Ming Sigu’s ears turned red. He looked up at Shen Guiyan standing to the side and said, “This prince has come to apologize to Mother, not to fetch you. Little maid, mind your manners and stand aside.”

“Oh.” Nuo’er’s face fell as she obediently released the wheelchair and stepped aside.

Shen Guiyan didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Who had her son learned this contrary behavior from?

“Mother,” the First Prince said from his wheelchair, gritting his teeth as he lowered his head. “Your son knows his error. From now on, he will certainly come to pay respects to Mother every day.”

What mother doesn’t cherish her son? Since her son had taken the initiative to apologize, Shen Guiyan abandoned all pretense of dignity and immediately embraced him, “Mother doesn’t blame you. Mother was also wrong—lying is not right. Imperial Prince, you mustn’t learn this from Mother in the future.”

“Mm.” The First Prince nodded obediently. It had been so long since his mother had held him. Once in her embrace, the First Prince returned to being a small child, nuzzling and cuddling in his mother’s arms.

With one worry resolved, they could depart without concerns. Gu Chaobei silently admired himself—he felt he was a genius.

However, the next day.

“Your son has come to pay respects to Mother.”

At the break of dawn—what kind of morning greeting was this? Gu Chaobei hurriedly got up and had the attendants help him dress. They hadn’t even finished their tender moments.

Just after the midday meal, Gu Chaobei wanted to take Shen Guiyan boating on Taiye Lake. After all, they would be leaving the palace tomorrow—it would be good to walk around one last time.

But before they could even exit Yonghe Palace’s gate, Baoshan announced, “The First Prince has come to pay his respects.”

Gu Chaobei’s face darkened.

“Mother, look at the crickets Nuo’er caught! Such a big cage full—impressive, right?”

“Mother, are we going somewhere far away? Can we bring Nuo’er along?”

“Mother, this is a flower crown your son made with his own hands. Look…”

The sun outside shifted from directly overhead to the west. Gu Chaobei propped his chin on his hand, staring blankly at his wife playing outside with the two children.

The promised boat ride, the promised day of tender intimacy in the palace, the promised lovers’ time packing together—all ruined by this wretched boy!

He said he was apologizing, but he still held a grudge, didn’t he? Otherwise why deliberately torment him like this?

The First Prince sat in the courtyard, looking smugly at the Father Emperor inside the palace. Mother had said that when facing a strong enemy, don’t meet them head-on—use indirect tactics. Wait until your own strength is sufficient, then strike back.

He understood clearly and had finally gained experience from this practical battle with Father Emperor.

He couldn’t beat Father Emperor, his power wasn’t as great as Father Emperor’s, so he wouldn’t confront him directly. Father Emperor had Mother, but Mother was the perfect tool to restrain Father Emperor.

Never underestimate a young lad.

When the Shen family’s embezzlement of disaster relief grain and funds for the northern drought was exposed, the Emperor flew into a rage. He demoted over a dozen members of the Shen family from their official posts and consigned Empress Shen Guiyan to the Cold Palace. At the same time, foreign barbarians provoked conflict. The Emperor decided to lead the campaign personally, taking the young Imperial Prince along with elite troops to support Yecheng.

Empress Dowager Nian and Prime Minister Gu jointly managed state affairs. General Yuwen and Shen Guiwu together guarded the capital. The Shen family suffered a devastating blow—aside from Shen Guiwu, they all remained dejected for quite some time.

Shen Guiyan boarded the carriage with the Emperor without worry and headed west.

Both Nuo’er and the First Prince traveled with the Emperor and Empress. Everyone traveled light, so the carriage was fairly spacious. Nuo’er rolled around bouncing beside the First Prince.

“After two months of travel, we’ll pass by West Mountain,” Shen Guiyan said to the First Prince. “When the time comes, Mother will take you up the mountain.”

The First Prince nodded, but Nuo’er’s body froze. She glanced at Shen Guiyan and muttered quietly, “West Mountain is very scary.”

“You’ve been to West Mountain?” Shen Guiyan raised an eyebrow. This child should have grown up in the capital, shouldn’t she?

“This servant has never been there,” Nuo’er said softly. “But when we were leaving, this servant’s mother came to help pack and said we mustn’t go to West Mountain. West Mountain is a very frightening place.”

Gui Lan said that? Shen Guiyan paused slightly and reached out to pull Nuo’er into her arms, “What exactly did your mother tell you?”

Nuo’er thought for a moment and said, “Mother said that long ago there was a mountain called West Mountain. The mountain had wild beasts that ate people, and the paths inside—once you went up, you could never find your way out again. But the nanny beside her said West Mountain isn’t that scary, that Mother was just telling stories.”

Shen Guiyan glanced at the Emperor beside her. His eyes held the same puzzled expression as hers.

She reached into the cabinet beneath the sitting couch and pulled out the map Xu Mengdie had given her. The map was drawn in great detail—which road to take up the mountain, what landmarks were at which locations, even which trees grew on which sides of the mountains were all marked.

With such a map, they could go directly up West Mountain without even needing to ask for directions.

Could Nuo’er’s words just be childish prattle?

When leaving the capital, Shen Guiyan had gone to see Gao Jinxiu. Jinxiu’s health wasn’t very good—her complexion was quite pale. Upon hearing she was taking Nuo’er along, she smiled and said, “Nuo’er is a clever child.”

A nanny beside her said, “That child sometimes likes to talk nonsense. Hopefully she won’t cause trouble for Your Majesty.”

“Of course not,” Shen Guiyan laughed. “This consort is very fond of Nuo’er.”

At the time, Lady Gao had been smiling, her expression somewhat strange, as if she had something to say but couldn’t. Thinking back on it now, Shen Guiyan felt a chill run down her spine, “Where is Baoshan?”

Gu Chaobei said, “In the carriage behind, I suppose.”

“Stop the carriage!”

With a loud shout, the entire convoy halted. Before Gu Chaobei could ask what was wrong, Shen Guiyan had already run to the carriage where Baoshan was riding.

“Baoshan, do you remember—every time this consort went to visit Lady Gao, was there a nanny in blue robes standing beside her?”

Baoshan was confused by her mistress’s sudden question but still thought about it and said, “This servant hadn’t seen her two years ago, but she seemed to appear starting this year. This servant thought that nanny was somewhat strange, so I specifically made inquiries. I heard the steward hired her to care for Lady Gao, so this servant didn’t ask further.”

Last year? Shen Guiyan frowned. This year she had only visited Jinxiu once, and Jinxiu had barely spoken a few words to her before she hurried away.

“Yan’er,” the Emperor called from the front carriage. “Don’t delay everyone’s journey.”

They still had to deploy troops.

Shen Guiyan lifted her skirts and returned to the front carriage, grabbed Nuo’er and demanded, “Who exactly sent you into the palace?”

Nuo’er was startled and shrank toward the First Prince, saying quietly, “It was Mother who sent Nuo’er. The nannies at the residence said Nuo’er was clever, and if I learned the palace rules well from the palace nannies, I might be useful in the future…”

Gui Lan sent her, but whose idea was it? Shen Guiyan pressed her lips together and softened her voice, “Don’t be afraid. This consort means nothing by it—just asking casually. Now that you have the First Prince’s protection, Nuo’er doesn’t need to be afraid.”

Ming Sigu had been resting with his eyes closed. Upon hearing this, he pulled his sleeve from Nuo’er’s grasp. Who said he wanted to protect her?

Nuo’er blinked, feeling that today the Empress’s smile was very wrong somehow.

Gu Chaobei also sensed something, but he didn’t ask. He would wait until they rested, and Yan’er would tell him on her own initiative.

“Nuo’er, the day you met the First Prince, why were you in the Imperial Garden?” Shen Guiyan asked with a smile. “This consort had given orders that small children were not allowed in the Imperial Garden.”

Nuo’er pressed her lips together, clasped her hands behind her back, and said quietly, “This servant knows nothing. This servant just followed the other senior maids, and when we reached the Imperial Garden, they told this servant to play inside.”

If a young maid didn’t know better and randomly wandered into the Imperial Garden, that would be understandable—after all, ignorance is no crime. But senior maids should know the rules. Deliberately pushing Nuo’er into the Imperial Garden—what did that mean?

Xu Mengdie had once said that a maid of unknown origins like Nuo’er might harbor ill intentions, and for the First Prince’s protection, it would be better to eliminate her directly.

She had taken it as loyal advice, but thinking about it now, if she had casually killed Nuo’er that day, what would stand between the Imperial Prince and herself wouldn’t be a well-intentioned lie, but a human life.

Her eyes darkened. Shen Guiyan placed the map in her sleeve and tugged at the Emperor’s arm, “There’s no need to go to West Mountain. Let’s go directly to Yecheng. As for West Mountain, this consort asks Your Majesty to send someone to survey it and draw a new map. And for the capital… this consort presumes to request that Your Majesty send reliable people back to save Jinxiu.”

Gu Chaobei raised his eyebrows in surprise.

Gu Chaonan and Xu Mengdie were halfway there, garrisoned in a small town. Xu Mengdie was reading a secret letter when Gu Chaonan gently embraced her from behind, “Mengdie.”

“Mm?” Xu Mengdie didn’t turn her head.

Gu Chaonan sighed softly, “Isn’t this too exhausting for you? We already have enough. Why continue scheming for more?”

Xu Mengdie frowned and turned to look at him, “Do you think the Emperor and Empress are fools? Many things, once done, cannot be undone. Rather than wait for them to catch us and put us to death, better that we strike first.”

“But…” Gu Chaonan frowned. “A gentleman does some things and refrains from others. Colluding with foreign barbarians is tantamount to selling out the country—you’ll be reviled by all under heaven.”

“Who’s selling out the country?” Xu Mengdie laughed lightly. “From the beginning, I only ever intended to use them. They have iron cannons but insufficient troops. We can take their iron cannons for ourselves. With that kind of military power, need we fear what the Emperor might do to us?”