Qiao Chu

Xie Yanlai's residence was clean and tidy with incense burning, not at all inferior to the Empress's quarters.

A Le circled inside and out: "He hasn't returned all night, this place hasn't been used."

Was he in a bad mood last night? So he didn't come back? Chu Zhao looked at the soldiers guarding the area: "Where did he go? Was anyone following him?"

The soldiers replied, "Last night General Xie was with his personal guards and told us not to wait for him."

Although Xie Yanlai had come this time to recuperate from his injuries, he had brought over a dozen personal guards with him.

Chu Zhao immediately sent someone to summon them. The soldiers went and quickly returned.

"Those people are gone too," they said, their expressions shocked. "The guards said General Xie took his men and left last night and hasn't returned since."

Hearing this, A Le exclaimed, "Miss, he's run away."

Run away? Chu Zhao was momentarily stunned.

"He always said he wasn't here to fight. He must have gotten fed up and run back," A Le said. "Check towards the Border Commandery and the capital. We'll definitely find him."

Chu Zhao smiled and shook her head: "No, he wouldn't run away."

But the next moment, her brows furrowed. Not only would he not run home, but he might be doing something dangerous instead.

In the past, when Uncle Zhong wrote letters, half of each letter was filled with complaints and scoldings about Xie Yanlai—disobeying orders, acting on his own, never knowing what he was thinking. It was considered minor when he privately launched surprise attacks on Western Liang every ten days or half a month, until finally, he captured the King of Xiliang alive.

Uncle Zhong said that when he heard the news, he didn't feel any joy at all. Instead, he was so frightened he couldn't catch his breath.

Xie Yanlai hadn't been truly obedient while recuperating here either. As soon as he arrived, he commanded troops to attack Xiao Xun's rear, helping her cross the Yellow River. Later, when faced with Xiao Xun's troops using civilians as threats, he ordered a retreat—a decision that the main generals still resented. It wasn't that they didn't care about the civilians, but they should have discussed it first, or at least informed the Empress. Yet Xie Yanlai had made the decision on his own.

Now he had suddenly disappeared, and no one knew what terrifying thing might happen.

In truth, his injuries were indeed severe. After recuperating for so long, he had only just begun to improve.

Chu Zhao clenched her hand at her side, suddenly feeling breathless as a thought crossed her mind.

Could he have taken his men and gone after Xiao Xun?

"Your Highness," a soldier asked beside her, "should we investigate or not?"

Chu Zhao slowly shook her head, then nodded: "We cannot investigate, but we cannot not investigate either."

The soldier was confused. So, which was it?

A Le sighed beside her. A Jiu had driven the young lady to distraction.

What she meant was, she feared Xie Yanlai had indeed gone after Xiao Xun. Investigating might alert the enemy and expose Xie Yanlai's whereabouts. But if they didn't investigate and Xie Yanlai had truly gone after Xiao Xun, he and his few men would be like moths flying into flames—

Find him, stop him. If they couldn't stop him, they must assist him.

Chu Zhao took a deep breath and had A Le bring the Phoenix Seal to issue an order. She instructed the soldier: "Dispatch a group of scouts to investigate secretly."

The soldier acknowledged the order.

Watching the soldier leave to carry out the order, A Le quietly advised, "Miss, go rest for a while. You haven't slept for a day and a night." Then she quickly added, "Otherwise, when there's news of Xie Yanlai, you won't have the strength to catch him."

Chu Zhao smiled and said, "You're right. I'll go sleep and build up my strength."A Le nodded happily, inwardly breathing a sigh of relief. She had truly worried that the young lady would be so concerned about A Jiu that she wouldn't eat or sleep. Using A Jiu as a reason to persuade the young lady had indeed worked.

But then she felt puzzled—why should she be happy about using A Jiu to convince the young lady to eat and sleep well? Clearly, all of this was because of that A Jiu!

Regardless of how A Le repeatedly complained about Xie Yanlai in her heart, Chu Zhao ate, bathed, and lay down on the bed, drawing the thick curtains until the interior was as dark as night.

Chu Zhao closed her eyes.

He must have been furious after seeing the common people suffer and die.

But why couldn't he talk to her about it?

What was there that he couldn't say?

She hated Xiao Xun too—no one in this world hated him more than she did.

What if he never came back?

Chu Zhao opened her eyes, pressed a hand to her chest, her heartbeat so frantic it felt suffocating.

Would Xie Yanlai die?

In that other lifetime, she had never even heard of Xie Yanlai. She didn't know what his life had been like, or whether he had lived or died.

Chu Zhao couldn't lie still any longer. She wanted to get up and leave the bed but feared A Le would hear and worry. Instead, she sat up on the bed, burying her face in her knees with her hands.

What if Xie Yanlai died?

……

……

The weather grew increasingly hot, as if summer had arrived before the spring flowers had even withered.

Sitting in the main hall of the princely residence, Xiao Xun fanned himself vigorously a few times before slamming the fan down on the table.

A letter lying on the table fluttered to the floor.

Ning Kun entered and, seeing this, said, "The Heir Apparent shouldn't have paid any attention to this letter. Chu Zhao is surely trying to provoke you."

Earlier, news of the noble families in Han County rebelling and siding with the Empress had interrupted Xiao Xun and Ning Kun's discussion about writing to Chu Zhao to persuade her to surrender. But later, Xiao Xun still sent the letter.

And Chu Zhao had replied—the response had just arrived.

Xiao Xun glanced at the letter on the floor and laughed. "Miss Chu Zhao says she has no interest in becoming my Empress because she has already been an Empress. However, if I truly admire her and am willing to become her consort, she will reserve a place for me in the Imperial Palace."

Ning Kun fumed, "That shameless wench!"

Xiao Xun chuckled. "That's exactly the kind of thing Miss Chu Zhao would say."

Ning Kun said coldly, "That wench is gloating over capturing two cities, but both were due to local noble families rebelling. She really thinks she's something special."

Xiao Xun's smile faded. "That's exactly what was troubling me earlier." He pressed his fingers to his temples and sighed softly. "I don't know where I went wrong, making them betray me without a care, even though their sons and nephews hold official positions in the commandery."

Of course, by now, those sons and nephews had already lost their heads.

Ning Kun said bitterly, "This has nothing to do with you, Heir Apparent. These noble families are just like that—cunning rabbits have three burrows. Clearly, they had long been planning this, gaining the Prince's trust on one hand while inevitably forging ties with the court. Their rebellion couldn't have happened overnight."

He then glanced outside.

"Of course, if we must blame ourselves for something, it's because of Deng Yi."

Xiao Xun sighed softly. "It seems Deng Yi's execution of the Lin family over grain prices still left many feeling resentful. I failed to reassure everyone."

"Deng Yi even flaunts his authority in front of you, Heir Apparent," Ning Kun said quietly. "How could your reassurances possibly convince anyone?"Xiao Xun fell silent for a moment. "For now, he has the right to swagger before me." He glanced at Ning Kun. "You understand this better than anyone."

Outsiders believed the Heir Apparent appeared weakened before Deng Yi because the latter held the late emperor's decree to oversee state affairs while the throne remained unclaimed.

But for Xiao Xun, Deng Yi's true leverage lay in his knowledge of Prince Zhongshan's poisoning.

The longevity character scroll used to poison Prince Zhongshan wasn't part of any court conspiracy—it had been personally handled by the Heir Apparent. Ning Kun lowered his gaze; all of this had been arranged by his own hands as well.

He had forged Prince Zhongshan's seal, granting Xiao Xun access to capital connections, which enabled Xiao Xun's meticulous planning.

If this truth were exposed, the crime of patricide would bar Xiao Xun from the throne—even with the late emperor's decree.

Ning Kun sighed inwardly. What could one do? To gain what one desired, one inevitably sacrificed some freedom. Such was the difficulty of life.

"Heir Apparent—" A guard rushed in from outside. "The Grand Tutor has been assassinated—"

The Grand Tutor? Deng Yi?

Xiao Xun sprang to his feet. Ning Kun's face paled with shock, but the next moment they exchanged glances, seeing the same question in each other's eyes.

Was it your doing?

Instantly realizing the implication, Ning Kun hurriedly lowered his gaze, using the gesture to deny involvement.

Xiao Xun frowned and called for Tie Ying.

Tie Ying entered from outside the door.

Tie Ying was his most trusted and deadliest operative. If he truly wanted Deng Yi dead, he would have deployed Tie Ying.

So this wasn't his doing either.

Nor did he currently wish for Deng Yi's death.

"Tie Ying," Xiao Xun commanded, "investigate what happened."