Li Rong hadn’t expected Li Chuan to come in person. She frowned and lowered her voice. “What are you doing here? Is this a place you should be coming to?!”

“Don’t talk yet,” Pei Wenxuan walked up from behind, standing sideways in front of the siblings while looking around. “There are too many eyes and ears here. Let’s go inside first.”

Li Rong knew Pei Wenxuan was right. She turned and walked forward, saying in a low voice, “Let’s go in.”

The group entered the prison directly. A servant led the way in front. He didn’t dare look back, seeming to know who had come. He respectfully led them to the cell, then said to Li Rong in a low voice, “Your Highness, you can’t take too long. There will be a shift change in two quarters of an hour. Please hurry.”

After speaking, the servant withdrew. Li Rong looked up to see the person in the cell. After a brief moment of panic, the old man recognized the visitors and said urgently, “Your Highness! Is it Princess Pingle and His Highness the Crown Prince?”

“Lord Qin.”

Li Rong stepped forward and bowed. Looking at the person gripping the bars with both hands—the old man’s prison clothes stained with blood, his garments torn and tattered from torture—Li Rong felt compassion but maintained a calm expression. “You know that the Qin family case is now being tried by me?”

Qin Lang froze, then said slowly, “Did Zhenzhen come to you?”

Li Rong pressed her lips together and nodded. The old man sighed. “At least she got out. Otherwise, how could I face Shan’er in the underworld and Lin’er on the battlefield?”

Qin Shan was Qin Lin and Qin Zhenzhen’s father. He and his wife died early, so Qin Lang, as his father, took on the responsibility of raising his two grandchildren. As Qin Lang spoke, he remembered, “Your Highness, is Zhenzhen alright now?”

Hearing this, Li Rong instinctively glanced at Xun Chuan beside her.

Xun Chuan, wearing a mask, quietly watched the old man before her, her eyes showing some compassion.

But she didn’t speak, so Li Rong didn’t either. She said in a low voice, “We don’t have much time. Lord Qin, please tell me the entire case from beginning to end.”

“Where would Your Highness like me to start?”

The old man smiled bitterly.

Li Rong said calmly, “Huangping County.”

Xun Chuan fetched a chair from the side and placed it behind Li Rong, then got another chair and placed it behind Li Chuan.

Pei Wenxuan stood behind Li Rong, and Xun Chuan stood behind Li Chuan.

Li Rong tapped her fan lightly and spoke slowly, “This case began when Censor Wen Ping received an accusation letter saying you received bribes from the Yang family and instructed Qin Feng to deliberately abandon the city during the Battle of Huangping County. Then your deputy general Luo Juan’s testimony was used as evidence to confirm this. There was also gold in your residence and a letter from Yang Lie as supporting evidence. I originally wanted to find Luo Juan to ask about the whole process, but now he’s dead.”

Qin Lang stood frozen in place. He said incredulously, “Luo Juan is dead?”

“Yes,” Li Rong said calmly. “All the generals who participated in the Battle of Huangping County are now dead.”

Qin Lang’s face instantly turned deathly pale. His body swayed. Pei Wenxuan stepped forward first, reaching through the bars to support Qin Lang, saying urgently, “Great-Uncle, don’t worry. Her Highness is still investigating the case. There’s still a chance to turn things around. You just need to tell us clearly and truthfully what happened back then.”

“Tell truthfully…” Qin Lang’s lips trembled. “What… what use would that be? They would never let us overturn the case regarding Huangping County.”

“Just speak.” Li Rong said directly. “The Crown Prince and I are both sitting here. Don’t waste time.”

“Great-Uncle,” Pei Wenxuan gazed at Qin Lang, “you still have a household of old and young. If there’s even the slightest chance to survive, you must seize it.”

“You’re right.” Qin Lang took a deep breath and said slowly, “In the Battle of Huangping County, I had three thousand garrison troops defending the city, and the enemy had three thousand troops attacking. My son Qin Feng was the commanding general. Yang Lie originally planned for us to defend the city for five days, but we were defeated and couldn’t hold on. We could only have people escort the civilians out of the city first before abandoning it.”

“You were defending the city, they were attacking, with equal forces. You shouldn’t have lost by reason,” Li Rong reminded him directly. “Why did you lose?”

Hearing these words, Qin Lang fell silent for a moment, then smiled bitterly. “I was the one who told Feng’er to leave.”

“Why?”

Li Rong continued questioning. Qin Lang pressed his lips together. After a long while, he looked up and gazed quietly at Li Rong. “Because we had no one left.”

Li Rong was somewhat surprised. She didn’t quite understand and could only repeat, “No one left?”

“That’s right,” Qin Lang took a deep breath. “Three months before the battle, provisions had been insufficient all along. For three thousand people’s rations, what was transported over was half sand. The soldiers had nothing to eat. Every day they could only separate the rice from the sand and cook it into rice porridge to drink. And much of that rice was old grain. By the time the battle started, though we nominally had three thousand men, in reality many soldiers were already sick. Those who could fight numbered less than two thousand. Add to that the military pay being long overdue—if we had continued, we truly would have had no food at all.”

“How could there be a shortage of provisions?” Li Chuan frowned. “Didn’t you tell Yang Lie about this?”

“I did.” Qin Lang smiled bitterly. “But what use was it? The military pay the court provided was only that much. Distributed layer by layer, priority went to first-rank aristocratic families, and only then to us ordinary aristocratic families. Among the sixteen cities of the northwest, who would reach out for provisions?”

“But Huangping County was on the front line!”

Li Chuan was somewhat angry. “Did Yang Lie not even have that much sense?!”

Qin Lang didn’t speak. Li Rong asked directly, “Did you report all this?”

“I later wrote a report explaining it. It should have been at the back of the military journal.”

“I checked the military journals at the Ministry of War.” Li Rong frowned. “There was nothing.”

Qin Lang laughed softly. “Your Highness,” his voice was hoarse, “how could there be?”

“That is,” Qin Lang’s voice carried some choking emotion, “the Ministry of War controlled by the aristocratic families.”

No one spoke. After Li Rong paused for a moment, she said, “Give me a list of all the personnel involved that year.”

With that, Pei Wenxuan handed paper and brush to Qin Lang. Qin Lang, with trembling hands, wrote down the names stroke by stroke.

This man was already old. He had fought on battlefields his entire life and never bowed his head his whole life, yet here in this Great Xia prison, his spine was bent.

Li Chuan involuntarily clenched his fists. Just then, he felt something drop onto his shoulder. He turned back in surprise to see the person standing behind him staring fixedly at Qin Lang in the cell, tears falling silently.

Li Chuan was stunned. He felt the young man before him looked vaguely familiar, but couldn’t remember where he’d seen him. He watched quietly. After a short while, he heard Qin Lang say, “Your Highness, I’m finished writing.”

Li Rong took the list of events from that year from Qin Lang’s hands. She glanced at the names on it and remained silent.

Qin Lang sat cross-legged in the cell and sighed. “Your Highness, you’re still young. Please go back first.”

Li Rong held the list. She looked at the old man in the cell who, despite having endured punishment, still retained some dignity.

She looked for a long time, then raised her hand and bowed deeply to the person inside.

Footsteps came from outside. Pei Wenxuan said, “Someone should be coming.”

Li Rong nodded. Li Chuan put his hat back on, covering his features.

The servant came with a lantern and said quietly, “Your Highnesses must leave now.”

Li Rong acknowledged and instructed, “Watch him well. There absolutely cannot be any mishaps.”

The servant acknowledged. Li Rong was about to leave when she heard Qin Lang call out to her, “Your Highness.”

Li Rong turned back to see the old man hesitating before speaking. “Zhenzhen—how is she really?”

Li Rong didn’t speak. She looked at the old man’s worried yet hopeful gaze. After a long while, she spoke, “She’s doing very well. You needn’t worry.”

Qin Lang felt relieved and kowtowed to Li Rong. Li Rong turned back expressionlessly and led the group out.

As soon as they exited the gate, Li Rong immediately said to Xun Chuan, “Deploy some men. No matter what, tonight transfer the Qin family members directly out of the Ministry of Justice. If there are any problems, tell them to come find me.”

Xun Chuan responded respectfully, turned to get her horse, and galloped into the night.

After Xun Chuan left, Li Chuan withdrew his gaze and frowned. “That person just now—I always felt they looked familiar. Are they Sister’s new subordinate?”

Li Rong paused, then acknowledged with a sound. “You should return to the palace first. Don’t let anyone discover you were involved.”

“Sister…”

Li Chuan hesitated. Li Rong immediately understood his meaning. She looked up and said calmly, “This is my matter. I have my own judgment.”

Li Chuan fell silent. After a moment, he bowed. “I’ll take my leave first.”

After saying this, Li Chuan followed the servant back to his carriage. Before leaving, he paused and finally said, “Sister, the Qin family members must survive.”

“I know.”

Li Rong said coldly, “Go.”

Li Chuan nodded and finally left.

After Li Chuan departed, Pei Wenxuan stood behind Li Rong and said softly, “Your Highness, shall we return to the manor?”

Li Rong didn’t speak. She quietly looked at the long street. After a moment, she said slowly, “I thought I had grown old.”

Pei Wenxuan stood behind her without a word. Li Rong smiled. “But now I realize that no matter when, people always have that one obstacle in their hearts they can’t get past.”

“What does Your Highness plan to do?”

Li Rong didn’t speak. She placed her hands in front of her and slowly closed her eyes.

After a long while, she spoke, “Pei Wenxuan.”

“Please command me, Your Highness.”

Pei Wenxuan bowed. Li Rong said in a low voice, “Take the Constabulary Bureau seal and my token. Follow the route the military supplies took to Huangping Town that year. Along the way, transcribe all the records from the county offices of provisions passing through at that time.”

“I’ll wait for you.”

Li Rong looked up, gazing at him quietly.

Pei Wenxuan stared into Li Rong’s eyes. At that moment, he suddenly felt as if this person had entrusted her life and death to him.

“They won’t be unaware that I interrogated Qin Lang tonight. Qin Lang wrote out the list, so I’m afraid the danger is great. I’ll have Xun Chuan protect the Qin family. Tomorrow at court, I’ll request house arrest myself.”

“Twenty days from now is the day the Qin family will be executed. You must bring back this list before then.”

“Can you do it?”

Pei Wenxuan didn’t speak. He looked at Li Rong and smiled lightly. “To be driven by Your Highness, I would not refuse even ten thousand deaths.”

“The road may not be peaceful.”

Li Rong smiled lightly. “Be careful.”

Pei Wenxuan knew what Li Rong meant by “not peaceful.” If he left Hua Jing and wanted to investigate the granary accounts along the way, this wouldn’t just be “not peaceful”—it would be courting death entirely.

But Pei Wenxuan’s expression was composed. He swept his wide sleeves and clasped his hands in front, bowing. “This humble subject will depart immediately.”

Li Rong acknowledged. Pei Wenxuan turned to leave. Li Rong watched his receding figure and suddenly called out, “Pei Wenxuan.”

Pei Wenxuan had his hands tucked in his sleeves. He turned back sideways. The young man in blue robes and white garments—in his eyes that were usually calm as an ancient well—now held the lights and stars.

Li Rong looked at him. After a long while, she smiled.

“I’ll wait for you to return.”