“Xie Yanfang has brought the young emperor to the front lines.”
Prince Zhongshan held a letter in his hand and looked at Chu Zhao.
Although Chu Zhao held no letter, a narrow strip of paper lay on the table beside her.
Prince Zhongshan knew that what he knew, Chu Zhao also knew—and moreover, she had learned it before him.
This wasn’t the first time either. Prince Zhongshan had initially ordered searches and strict precautions everywhere, but now he couldn’t be bothered—Chu Zhao had come prepared with contingencies. There was no preventing it, so better not to try.
“The Emperor’s personal campaign is praised by all the people, with momentum like a rainbow,” Prince Zhongshan said, tossing the letter in his hand onto the table. “Unstoppable. How could Minister Xie give up?”
He looked at Chu Zhao.
“Empress Chu, you said before that the court won’t care about your life or death, Minister Xie won’t care either, so your words count for even less.”
He shook his head as he spoke.
“Therefore, this Prince finds it regrettable. Empress Chu, this choice of yours is truly unwise. If you had chosen this Prince, at least we would be two people.”
Chu Zhao smiled: “Not choosing Your Highness, this palace is not alone either. In today’s world, this palace can still have a say.”
She pointed at the table.
“Order it immediately, right now. Otherwise, Your Highness and the heir won’t live to see with their own eyes how His Majesty is praised by all with momentum like a rainbow.”
Before His Majesty’s momentum-like-a-rainbow campaign, she would kill the father and son? Prince Zhongshan laughed coldly: “The Empress should worry about herself. You will die earlier than us.”
Chu Zhao paid no attention to the threat, placing the brush in Prince Zhongshan’s hand: “Let’s all strive to stay alive. Living a life is not easy. Your Highness, it’s been even less easy for you—suffering so much, losing your legs at such a young age, abandoned and ignored by your own father emperor—dying at the hands of me, a mere girl, could you die with your eyes closed?”
Prince Zhongshan laughed in exasperation, looking at this girl. Was this what they called the barefoot having nothing to fear?
“Fine,” he said, taking the brush. “This Prince will wait to see whether the Empress can die with her eyes closed in the future.”
……
……
The commandery city controlled by Xiao Xun was even more heavily guarded than before.
Troops galloped through the streets day and night without cease.
“My lord—Xie Yanfang has already broken through the vanguard positions—he’s coming this way—”
A personal guard rushed up the city wall, only to be kicked down the next moment by the city defense commander.
“Shut your mouth,” the commander said in a low, harsh voice. “Tell them to hold their positions.”
The guard clutched his leg: “My lord, the heir must show himself, otherwise morale is unstable. These past few days there have already been rumors—”
The commander glared angrily: “Anyone who disrupts military morale—execute them!”
The guard lowered his head, not daring to speak further.
The commander took a deep breath, suppressing his agitation, then turned and descended the city wall, riding his horse swiftly toward the government office.
The government office where the heir was held was surrounded by troops like an iron barrel. Even birds occasionally flying overhead were shot down.
But the generals and soldiers guarding the courtyard were as restless as trapped birds, pacing back and forth. After hearing the city defense commander’s whispered report, a general kicked over a chair.
The commotion startled awake the clan elders huddled in the corridor. Were they about to fight?
But looking over, they saw that the general, as before, had only rushed to the tightly closed hall door, roaring: “If you’ve got the guts, bring the heir out to see that child! Without seeing the heir’s face, we absolutely will not cease warfare!”
Inside the hall, silence. After a moment, a voice emerged: “Send some tea, good tea.”
As if they hadn’t heard what the general was shouting at all.
Perhaps they heard but didn’t understand.
The general’s face flushed red. These petty thieves and rogues—deaf to both good and bad words, impervious to reason—seemed determined to hold the heir captive here for the rest of their lives.
They wanted food and drink, and even reminded them not to use poison or drugs.
“This old man grew up playing with poisons and drugs.”
“Besides, whatever it is, we’ll have your heir enjoy it first.”
The general swallowed his anger, closed his eyes, and shouted to the guards behind him: “Bring good tea.”
The guards immediately prepared tea—they had become quite practiced at this over the past days.
“My lord, are we still going to wait?” a deputy general asked quietly.
The commander’s face was grim: “The Prince said to stay calm and not be anxious.”
As soon as the incident happened, they had sent word to Zhongshan commandery. Prince Zhongshan had also quickly replied, saying this was all the Empress’s trick, that the Empress was now trapped in Prince Zhongshan’s manor, and told everyone to stay calm and guard without attacking.
“We could guard before,” the deputy general said urgently. “But now that young emperor has come in person!”
The commander gritted his teeth, his anger surging again. What should have been an excellent situation had been disrupted by a group of petty thieves and rogues. How hateful!
“So what if the young emperor has come? Their troops are evenly matched with ours—”
Before he could finish, another messenger came racing: “Report—”
The messenger practically fell to his knees, his body also covered in bloodstains, clearly having fought his way through with difficulty.
“We’ve been ambushed from behind—it’s not court troops,” the messenger said breathlessly.