Like a child stubbornly insisting on determining a winner.
And she wasn’t wrong—if she died, she had no regrets.
But what about him? He had schemed and accumulated for half a lifetime. If he died and his son died, there would be nothing left.
This was indeed his loss.
Prince Zhongshan looked at this girl and smiled.
The deathly silence in the hall was broken at this moment as generals, officers, and guards erupted in protest.
“Your Highness, don’t listen to her wild talk!”
“No matter how many private troops there are, they cannot harm our Zhongshan commandery!”
“Capture the Empress and take her to the front lines. If they want to attack the city, they’ll have to trample over the Empress first!”
Becoming a prisoner who wanted to die—where was it so easy? There were a thousand and one methods of torture and humiliation—
But Prince Zhongshan didn’t let them continue, raising his hand to stop them, then looking at Chu Zhao with a long sigh.
“Chu Zhao,” he said. “What exactly do you want?”
Chu Zhao said flatly: “Withdraw your troops, cease warfare. You remain a prince, but Heir Xiao Xun enters the capital as a hostage.”
Prince Zhongshan’s brows shot up as he said coldly: “Chu Zhao, that’s not what you said before.”
What she had said before was conferring the golden seal and obtaining princely authority.
Now not only was there no golden seal or princely authority, but the heir had to be sent as a hostage.
Chu Zhao smiled: “Your Highness, if you had agreed earlier, it would have been our mutual victory. If Your Highness agrees now, you’ve lost.”
Having lost, naturally there was a price to pay.
“As for the heir,” Chu Zhao said, “earlier Your Highness didn’t say you didn’t care about this son. Now that this palace knows Your Highness’s true feelings, I think it’s better to keep the heir in the capital, lest he hear rumors and you father and son develop resentment toward each other. This palace cannot bear to see father and son turn against each other.”
Prince Zhongshan laughed coldly: “The Empress is truly thorough in her considerations.”
Chu Zhao looked at him and said: “Thus, this palace and Your Highness can both live. I continue as Empress, Your Highness continues as prince.”
Prince Zhongshan laughed heartily, then his laughter abruptly stopped.
“Empress, you speak too boldly too soon,” he said, looking at this girl. “The Empress is courageous, but you are only the Empress. This world is not yours to command alone. Things have reached this point—even if this Prince is willing to yield, others will not let this Prince retreat.”
Chu Zhao understood his meaning. Although Prince Zhongshan’s troops were marching under the banner of begging the Emperor’s forgiveness and hadn’t directly declared rebellion, his intentions were as obvious as Sima Zhao’s—known to all under heaven. How could the court let him go?
Moreover, there was still Xie Yanfang in the world.
……
……
Xie Yanfang reined in his horse on a desolate hill, looking ahead.
Before him were cities and wilderness. Banners flew from the city walls, and military camps dotted the wilderness—this was where the capital army’s main camp was located.
Cavalry were galloping from there toward here, with commanders leading the charge.
“Welcome Your Majesty!” they shouted repeatedly.
Behind them, the city gates were opening, and countless citizens poured out. Even from this distance where faces couldn’t be seen clearly and words couldn’t be heard, one could feel the surging joy.
“The Emperor has come—”
“Welcome Your Majesty—”
Xiao Yu sat on horseback, lifting his head to look at Xie Yanfang. Although they had encountered this everywhere along their journey, his eyes still shone as brightly as the first time.
“Uncle,” he said. “Everyone is truly very happy to see me.”
Previously, as the Crown Prince’s eldest son and the Emperor’s eldest grandson, he had been treasured in the palace. Everyone cherished and revered him, but he had never felt the people’s love.
This was an unprecedented feeling.
“Because you came to their side in a time of danger,” Xie Yanfang said. “The people genuinely feel Your Majesty’s care. At this moment, even though you are only a seven-year-old child, you have become the true sovereign in their hearts.”
Xiao Yu nodded: “I will definitely be a good emperor.”
Xie Yanfang stroked Xiao Yu’s shoulder and said: “Your Majesty, remember this moment and keep the people’s respect and love suspended in your heart forever.”
Whether he became a good emperor or not didn’t matter.
As long as he remembered this moment, felt the emperor’s might, experienced the emperor’s power, developed an emperor’s heart—then he would also develop an emperor’s desires.
This way, the young emperor would know who was working tirelessly for his imperial throne, and he could also guard against those who wanted to divide his imperial power—people like Deng Yi, and people like—
Xie Yanfang lowered his eyes.
The child in his arms lifted his head again.
“Uncle,” Xiao Yu asked, “but why doesn’t it seem so tense?”
Although he had never been on a battlefield, having rushed through that night’s chaotic fighting, the atmosphere of life-and-death struggle was etched in his heart.
Now this place was filled with troops deployed in formation like a forest, the atmosphere tense, but without the air of death.
Xie Yanfang’s brows furrowed slightly: “You’re right. The situation is off.”