The flames flickered and surged inward.

Chu Hongyu heard Yun Chu calling him from behind, telling him to escape quickly.

However, inside the Cigu Hall, there were close to a thousand children, with the youngest being less than a month old.

“Your Majesty, run quickly!”

Lin Dongdong grabbed Chu Hongyu’s arm and dragged him toward the exit, but couldn’t move him.

Because the smell of gunpowder was spreading, the children confined in the rooms all ran out after catching the scent.

Although these children didn’t recognize what it was, humans have an instinctive perception of danger, and they fled immediately.

The oldest children here were just over ten years old, the younger ones were four or five, and there were close to a hundred children who couldn’t walk yet. The scene instantly descended into chaos.

Meng Shen and Yun Zhenjiang grabbed Chu Hongyu from both sides: “Your Majesty, leave quickly!”

They had just learned that the Cigu Hall was surrounded by gunpowder. Once the flames reached it, the entire Cigu Hall would be blown to pieces.

The Yun family’s secret guards and the adults from the Cigu Hall each carried an infant in their arms or grabbed a half-grown child, rushing toward the door.

The scene was extremely chaotic.

“Everyone stop!” Chu Hongyu shouted loudly. “You won’t get far. Even if you escape from here, you’ll still be blown up. It’s a dead end either way. Everyone stop!”

Lin Dongdong was nearly in tears: “Your Majesty, it doesn’t matter if they die, but you cannot die. If you die, Great Jin will fall into chaos…”

Chu Hongyu’s eyes were fixed intently on the flames.

There must be a way!

He refused to believe he couldn’t think of a solution!

They had to quickly extinguish the flames, but the lake water was somewhat far away, and there were too many fuses. Going back and forth would be too slow!

Although various thoughts flashed through his mind, in reality, it was only the blink of an eye.

Yun Chu had already rushed in from outside and immediately picked up Chu Hongyu.

The little one was already over eight years old and was slightly difficult to carry, but fortunately she had learned martial arts. She hoisted the boy onto her shoulder and rushed outside.

At this moment, she was not the Grand Empress Dowager of Great Jin, but merely an ordinary mother.

Among so many children and her own son, she selfishly chose her own son.

“Mother, let me go!” Chu Hongyu struggled. “I’ve thought of a solution. Mother, put me down quickly!”

Yun Chu asked: “Are you certain?”

“Absolutely certain!”

Immediately after, Chu Hongyu was put down.

He shouted loudly: “All boys, take off your pants and urinate!”

Lin Dongdong immediately understood: “Quick, do it like I’m doing!”

He walked to a fuse, pulled down his pants, and urinated on the flames. With a hissing sound, the flames were extinguished.

The other children followed his example. With at least a dozen boys beside each fuse, after several streams of urine, all the flickering flames were put out.

“Your Majesty is amazing!” Lin Dongdong’s eyes sparkled. “So much gunpowder, and Your Majesty solved it with one sentence.”

The corner of Chu Hongyu’s mouth twitched: “Could you please put your pants back on before talking?”

“Hehe!” Lin Dongdong pulled up his pants. “I was just too excited!”

Countless children gathered around.

“So you’re the newly enthroned young Emperor.”

“The Emperor is actually younger than me.”

“But the Emperor is smarter than you.”

Many children examined Chu Hongyu with curiosity.

A smile appeared on Chu Hongyu’s face: “What do people say about me in the common world? Tell me about it.”

“Everyone says the Emperor is intelligent and invented some kind of ship that utterly defeated the Dongling Kingdom.”

“They say the Emperor is only eight years old but already this formidable—he’ll surely be extraordinary in the future.”

“Your Majesty, we have several older brothers in the Cigu Hall who are excellent students, but their status and household registration prevent them from participating in the imperial examinations. Is there any solution?”

In Great Jin, orphans’ identities were mostly unclear, and therefore their status was even lower than ordinary commoners. To participate in the imperial examinations, they had to be adopted first and have their household registration changed before they could take the exams normally.

However, several orphans who were good students were already grown up. No family was willing to adopt them, so no matter how much they studied, it was meaningless.

Chu Hongyu said: “I will address this matter. Rest assured.”

At this time, Yun Chu walked to the front of the Cigu Hall.

She looked up to see Chu Rui being held up by two secret guards, his face pale as paper with blood still trickling from the corners of his lips.

“Yun Chu, cough…”

As soon as he opened his mouth, he coughed and bled, extremely weak.

Yun Chu drew a short sword from her sleeve, wiped the blade with her sleeve, and said coldly: “Before you die, do you have anything to say?”

“Nothing to say.” Chu Rui closed his eyes. “Do it.”

Yun Chu threw the short sword in her hand to Fan Ming: “Give him his end.”

Fan Ming didn’t hesitate for a moment and thrust the sword through Chu Rui’s chest.

A gush of hot blood spurted from Chu Rui, and his body slowly fell to the ground.

Lin Qiang knelt on one knee, pleading: “Grand Empress Dowager, please allow this subject to bury him properly.”

Yun Chu nodded.

After Chu Rui was buried, Lin Qiang voluntarily resigned from office, and Fan Ming once again became the commander of the Yulin Guards.

As for all the Lin and Feng family members in the court, Yun Chu dismissed them all, including some court officials who had followed Chu Rui’s lead—all were removed from office.

The Great Jin court finally settled down.

It was at this time that Yun Chu fully delegated authority. Although she still listened to government affairs from behind the curtain, she rarely spoke on political matters, returning most of the governmental power to the young Emperor.

Originally, the Censorate had been preparing to impeach the Grand Empress Dowager for having excessive power, but before they could speak, the Grand Empress Dowager had already delegated authority.

“Great victory! Great victory!”

An urgent report covering eight hundred li brought good news.

“Our Great Jin, united with the Dayuan Kingdom, has trampled the Dongling Kingdom! Now Great Jin and Dayuan Kingdom govern Dongling together, with the eastern part of Dongling incorporated into our Great Jin territory!”

This news caused the court to boil with excitement.

“Grand Empress Dowager, here is a secret letter from General Weiwu!”

A guard presented the letter.

Yun Chu received it and opened the letter. It was written in General Weiwu’s own hand: “Grand Empress Dowager, after the Dongling Kingdom was subdued, the Second Prince of Dayuan Kingdom sent this subject a secret letter, expressing his desire to unite with our Great Jin to work from within and without to destroy the Dayuan Kingdom. This subject determined it was a trap, but the Second Prince of Dayuan Kingdom sent this object…”

There was also a token inside the letter. Yun Chu poured it out.

When she saw that exceptional green jade pendant, she was stunned—this was her betrothal token with Chu Yi!

Chu Yi wasn’t dead!

He truly wasn’t dead!

“The Second Prince of Dayuan Kingdom said in his letter that once this object is delivered to the Grand Empress Dowager, the Grand Empress Dowager will agree to cooperate. Please instruct us, Grand Empress Dowager!”

After reading the letter, Yun Chu took a deep breath.

She lowered her eyes in contemplation.

Chu Yi wasn’t dead and had become the Second Prince of Dayuan Kingdom, yet he had delayed writing to her, indicating his situation was difficult.

She didn’t know how he had become a prince of another kingdom, but she could be certain that the Dayuan Kingdom had not treated him well; otherwise, he would never want to destroy the Dayuan Kingdom.

She wrote a secret letter and had someone send it to General Weiwu by urgent eight-hundred-li courier.

Just as she finished handling government affairs, Chu Changsheng rushed in, tears streaming down her face: “Mother, I heard from elder brother that Father isn’t dead. Is it true?”

A smile appeared at the corners of Yun Chu’s lips: “Yes, your father is alive and well. He didn’t die. He should be returning soon.”

“That’s wonderful, that’s wonderful.” Chu Changsheng cried as she threw herself into Yun Chu’s embrace. “Father isn’t dead, yet he never came back. I hate him, I hate him so much…”

“If your father heard you say this, he would be very sad.” Yun Chu stroked her daughter’s hair. “Our Great Jin was able to successfully unite with the Dayuan Kingdom to destroy Dongling thanks to your father’s great efforts. Now, under your father’s planning, the south of Dongling Kingdom and the entire Dayuan Kingdom will all be incorporated into our Great Jin territory. Although your father never formally ascended the throne, he will leave a rich and colorful mark in Great Jin’s history books.”

After the first Emperor of Great Jin founded the kingdom, the next several emperors were all mediocre, causing the loss of territory. It was the Emperor before the previous one who went to war comprehensively and reclaimed Great Jin’s lost lands.

If that Emperor reclaimed Great Jin’s dignity,

Then Chu Yi displayed Great Jin’s magnificent national prestige, expanded Great Jin’s territory, and extended Great Jin’s lands overseas.

His identity required him to do all of this.