“The bitter winter has finally passed,” he said softly.
Beside him, Steward Cai’s face was colder than bitter winter: “Deng Yi doesn’t want to live!”
He held a scroll in his hand—bright yellow with dragon patterns. But the next moment he threw the scroll on the ground, and the crooked blade of grass was immediately flattened and disappeared.
“Prince Zhongshan failed to properly teach his son. The heir Xiao Xun was domineering, defied superiors, disobeyed orders, and threw our nation into chaos.”
He recited the contents of the edict word by word: “These few lines still sound like human speech, but what follows—”
“In consideration of Prince Zhongshan supplying a hundred thousand troops for the court’s campaigns, and sending his heir to the capital for instruction, knowing one’s errors and being able to reform—there is no greater good. We specially grant Prince Zhongshan the title of Kingdom-Protecting Prince, praying for Da Xia’s eternal stability and the people’s peace and health.”
“Deng Yi—how dare he draft such an edict!”
Xie Yanfang looked down at the edict and suddenly asked: “Did the Empress write to him?”
Steward Cai was startled. Right now they were discussing Deng Yi’s edict—
Of course, the timing of Deng Yi’s edict was too coincidental. Clearly it had been negotiated with Prince Zhongshan, and Prince Zhongshan was being besieged by the Empress, or rather, the Empress had ventured alone into danger and was sitting in Prince Zhongshan’s estate.
This matter ultimately came back to the Empress.
“The postal station reports have no letters from the Empress,” Steward Cai said coldly. “However, the Empress has people we don’t control.”
So although the Empress was at the border commandery, she was clear about the court and capital’s movements, which was how the Chu Lan family could flee yet she could still capture Prince Zhongshan’s heir.
Prince Zhongshan and his son suddenly confessing, Deng Yi suddenly sending such an edict—this must have been—
“The Empress colluded and negotiated with Deng Yi,” Steward Cai continued.
Xie Yanfang interrupted him, sighing softly: “The Empress actually didn’t write to me, didn’t collude with me, didn’t negotiate.”
Steward Cai was startled again, then said angrily: “Young Master, what are you thinking? What nerve would she have to write to the Third Young Master! She only dares hide and avoid the Third Young Master, secretly trading with Deng Yi, ruining the Young Master’s plans.”
The more he spoke, the more hateful it became. Deng Yi, Chu Zhao—these two petty people! Base! Shameless!
“They’ve made the court a laughingstock!”
Xie Yanfang smiled and comforted Steward Cai: “This isn’t a laughingstock. This is just a transaction.”
He reached out to pick up the edict, gently supporting the flattened blade of grass with his other hand, then stepped forward.
When Xiao Xun knelt at the front—no, it should be said, from when Prince Zhongshan’s troops began retreating, he had known.
That girl had done it.
Her transaction with Prince Zhongshan, her transaction with Deng Yi—she had accomplished both.
Steward Cai’s angry voice echoed in his ears:
“Using the court, using Da Xia to trade with Prince Zhongshan—by what right do they!”
“Deng Yi has many followers and relies on having the imperial seal, forcibly issuing an edict.”
“Young Master, he can write it if he wants—he can send it, but we can also make it disappear from this world!”
Although the edict had left the court, it hadn’t actually been presented at the front lines to be read aloud. Midway it was intercepted by the Xie clan’s people.
Not only intercepted—they could make it completely disappear, as if it had never existed.
Did they really think that with the Xie clan not in court, Deng Yi could do anything he wanted?
Hearing this, Xie Yanfang, who had seemed distracted all along, stopped and looked at the edict in his hand.
Steward Cai reached out: “I’ll burn it!”
Xie Yanfang raised his hand high to avoid Steward Cai’s hand. In the night, a smile even appeared on his face.
Steward Cai was somewhat helpless: “Young Master, don’t joke around.”
Xie Yanfang smiled: “Steward Cai, don’t joke around. We can intercept the edict, burn the edict, but we can’t stop this matter.”
Steward Cai’s face darkened.
“The root of this matter isn’t the edict,” Xie Yanfang said, swaying the edict in his hand. “It’s authority.”
As Grand Tutor, entrusted by the late Emperor, holding the imperial seal to supervise the government—no matter how petty Deng Yi was, how shameless, he had authority, and so he could do this.
No matter how absurd this matter was.
Chu Zhao was the same.
She was young, had lost her father, had a thin family foundation. She was made Empress by the late Emperor, the Mother of Great Xia—she had the authority to use Da Xia to make transactions.
Authority—the more it was used, the better one became at using it.
Xie Yanfang looked toward the northwest: “Look, how well Miss A’Zhao used it this time.”
Authority—the more it was used, the more it flourished.
This battle—he, Xie Yanfang, gained illustrious fame.
This non-battle—Empress Chu gained illustrious fame.
Xie Yanfang looked down at the edict again and called out to Du Qi, flicking it with a snap.
Du Qi, hidden in the night, reached out and caught it.
“Proclaim it to all under heaven,” Xie Yanfang said.