Chen Jinan’s sudden betrayal stunned the imperial guards charging ahead. The battlefield shifted in a heartbeat. In that single moment of hesitation, the Princess’s people surged into the hall.
The escort force had only numbered a little over a hundred to begin with, and most of those were Chen Jinan’s loyal men. The moment he acted, the outcome was sealed.
From the moment Chen Jinan appeared, Ah Ye had been in a daze. Even after the battle ended, she hadn’t quite recovered. Looking at him now, she saw him bounding up to Feng Lezhen like a happy child, his usually clear eyes now filled with nervous anticipation.
“Your Highness…” he began, voice tight with emotion.
Feng Lezhen smiled, and as he had hoped, she reached out and gently ruffled his hair. “Well done. You’ve worked hard.”
Chen Jinan’s face lit up immediately. Meeting Feng Lezhen’s warm gaze, he suddenly had the urge to embrace her.
But his hand only rose an inch before he forced it down and instead knelt deeply. “Your humble servant greets Your Highness.”
Though he hadn’t knelt when they first reunited—to keep up appearances—he had always carried that guilt. Now, finally able to kneel before his mistress, he felt as though a heavy stone had been lifted from his chest.
“You’re still in full armor—what are you kneeling for?” Feng Lezhen chuckled and reached out to help him up.
Chen Jinan followed her motion and stood. Their eyes met again, and he couldn’t help but smile.
“Your Highness, these past days I…” I’ve missed you. The words reached his lips but wouldn’t come out.
But Feng Lezhen understood. Her smile deepened. “From now on, stay by my side. Don’t run off again.”
“…Yes.”
“W-Wait a second,” Ah Ye finally came back to her senses. She pointed at Chen Jinan, wide-eyed. “So you…”
But before she could finish, she realized there were too many people around—this wasn’t the place for questions.
Chen Jinan also recovered his composure. He stepped under the eaves of the main hall and looked out at the imperial guards who had been captured.
His own trusted men had already been separated out and now stood with the Princess’s people. The captured ones—around fifty in total—were tied up and looked utterly defeated, clearly unaware of what had just transpired.
“The emperor has repeatedly defied moral duty and familial bonds, attempting again and again to harm Her Highness the Princess. I will not assist a tyrant. I’d rather defy imperial orders to protect Her Highness,” Chen Jinan declared firmly. “If you’re willing to testify to His Majesty’s crimes, I will guarantee your safety and that of your families. But if you refuse—execution on the spot. Your clans eradicated!”
His voice rang out, strong and unyielding.
Ah Ye sidled over to Feng Lezhen and whispered, “Is this really the same Chen Jinan?”
“Of course,” Feng Lezhen said absently.
Ah Ye scratched her nose. “Power really is something… A humble servant turns into a full-blown general. Just listen to that presence—I’m almost afraid to talk to him.”
Feng Lezhen gave a vague sound of agreement.
Ah Ye paused and looked at her, puzzled. “Your Highness? What’s wrong?”
“…Hmm?” Feng Lezhen blinked back to awareness.
Ah Ye blinked too, meeting her eyes.
“It’s nothing…” Feng Lezhen pressed her lips together and frowned toward Chen Jinan, who was still negotiating. “I just feel… everything went too smoothly.”
It had all ended so easily that it made her uneasy. And on top of that—seeing Li Tong before they left…
Her brow furrowed even deeper. She couldn’t shake the feeling that something crucial had been overlooked.
“Smooth?” Ah Ye, understanding her thoughts, quickly reassured her. “If not for General… uh, Yang, today would’ve been a bloody mess. The only reason it felt smooth is because we had advance notice and were able to make the first move. And the emperor’s reinforcements were all intercepted by General Yang. The time, the place, the people—we had everything. Winning easily is normal.”
“…Let’s hope so,” Feng Lezhen sighed.
“Don’t worry, Your Highness.” To lighten the mood, Ah Ye hooked her arm through Feng Lezhen’s playfully. “There’s nothing urgent left here anyway. Why don’t I accompany you for a stroll?”
Chen Jinan glanced back at the sound of Ah Ye’s voice. Seeing her clinging affectionately to Feng Lezhen, a flicker of envy passed through his eyes—but he quickly turned back to his duties.
At Ah Ye’s suggestion, Feng Lezhen could only smile wryly. “Stroll where, exactly?”
“What do you mean ‘where’?” Ah Ye protested. “Your Highness, have you forgotten? Just behind the mausoleum is the Junan River. The water’s fast, sure, but the view is gorgeous. Every time you visited the tomb before, you always liked walking along it.”
Feng Lezhen had too much on her mind to enjoy any riverside stroll, and was about to refuse when Chen Jinan returned. “Your Highness, they’ve agreed to testify.”
His words were halting, tinged with nervousness—none of the commanding force he had when issuing threats just moments ago.
Feng Lezhen gave a soft laugh. “Alright.”
Though she still felt uneasy inside, it seemed, for the moment, that nothing had gone wrong. Steadying her nerves, Feng Lezhen turned her head and said to Ah Ye: “To avoid unforeseen trouble, have them pack up—we leave immediately.”
“Yes!”
Ah Ye responded at once and went to carry out the order. Chen Jinan hesitated, then finally walked over to Feng Lezhen’s side.
The sun was bright. Light fell on Feng Lezhen, making each strand of her hair visible, a few of them lifted by the breeze, brushing unintentionally against his cheek.
It tickled. Chen Jinan pressed his lips together, but couldn’t bring himself to take even a step away.
“How many people came today in total?” Feng Lezhen asked suddenly, her eyes still fixed on the chaos in the courtyard.
Chen Jinan immediately straightened up. “Just in the incense-bearing procession alone, there were one hundred thirty-seven people. Of those, one hundred five were soldiers, and the rest—thirty-two—were monks.”
“How many casualties?” Feng Lezhen asked again.
Chen Jinan replied, “It ended rather quickly—over thirty wounded, seventeen dead. Of the latter, nine were monks.”
“Nine monks dead, meaning twenty-three remain,” Feng Lezhen said slowly.
Chen Jinan froze for a moment, then instinctively looked toward the courtyard.
The Imperial Guards had already been loaded onto wagons. At that moment, Ah Ye was leading soldiers in escorting the so-called high monks to the gates. A single long rope bound them all together—it was easy to count them.
Twenty-one people.
Two short.
A jolt of dread struck Chen Jinan just as he heard a faint, sizzling noise.
It was very soft—most people might have missed it entirely. But having spent the better part of the past year on the battlefield, Chen Jinan immediately recognized the sound—
Gunpowder.
“Your Highness, look out!”
His eyes turned red as he shouted with all his might, but before his voice could reach her, an earth-shaking explosion roared out, drowning everything. Ah Ye, who had just stepped outside the main gates, was thrown to the ground by the blast. As she turned back in panic, all she could see was a wave of blazing fire.
The heavens collapsed. The earth cracked. Thick smoke billowed.
“Your Highness!”
Ah Ye’s scream was shrill and heart-wrenching. Without a second thought, she charged headlong into the fire that turned the world to ash.
In the capital city of Jingdu, no one knew who gasped first, but within moments, people on the streets stopped in their tracks, all turning to look toward the south where thick black smoke was rising. In the chaos, hidden within a civilian residence in the southern district, Li Tong silently watched the smoke curl upward, then turned with satisfaction to the courtyard filled with Imperial Guards: “Move out!”
The soldiers, long prepared, responded immediately and galloped off toward the imperial mausoleum without delay.
A teacup shattered to the ground.
Yu Shou shot to his feet, clutching his chest so tightly he could barely breathe.
“Master! Master!” The steward rushed to support him, yelling angrily at the panicked maids, “Go call a physician! Now!”
Yu Shou grabbed the steward’s hand with force. “Send someone—immediately—to the imperial tomb.”
“Yes, this old servant will go at once!” the steward answered hastily.
In the Eldest Princess’s residence, Qin Wan’s face had turned pale, but she still gathered her forces with remarkable speed. Holding a longsword, she was about to head out when Fu Zhixian galloped in on horseback.
“You’re taking troops to the tomb?” His voice trembled, but he remained composed.
Qin Wan’s expression was grim. “Yes.”
“This isn’t enough. Go to the drill grounds. Bring every soldier available. If anyone tries to stop you—kill without mercy.” Fu Zhixian gripped the reins tightly, his knuckles turning white. “As for these people—they’re coming with me.”
“Where are you taking them?” Qin Wan asked immediately.
Fu Zhixian’s gaze darkened. “The palace.”
Feng Lezhen wasn’t the only one who knew about the secret passage into the palace.
Qin Wan was stunned, but she didn’t hesitate. She leapt onto her horse and sped off toward the drill grounds.
Fu Zhixian looked at the group before him and wasted no time with speeches: “Her Highness’s fate is unknown. If we go today, even if we succeed…”
He drew a deep breath. “It will be a crime that warrants execution of one’s entire clan. If you don’t wish to go, I won’t force you—stay here quietly. But if you change your mind halfway, I will show no mercy.”
“We follow Lord Fu’s orders!”
“We follow Lord Fu’s orders!”
Fu Zhixian said no more. With his guards in tow, he rode straight toward the palace.
The smoke from the explosion still rose into the sky. A breeze slowly dispersed it, covering nearly the entire capital.
Though the sun was out and the weather fair, under this haze of ash, it felt as though storm clouds loomed overhead.
In the palace, Feng Ji sat on the steps outside the main hall, quietly watching the smoke roll through the sky. After a long pause, he finally spoke:
“So it’s come to this, after all.”
The eunuch beside him didn’t dare breathe loudly, bowing his head and saying nothing.
Feng Ji sighed, nudged a pebble at his feet, and muttered: “Why is she so d*mn hard to kill? Yang Yueshan brought a hundred elite soldiers and deployed several backup teams in advance, and he still lost to her. Luckily, I listened to Li Tong and made a backup plan. Sacrificing a mausoleum to eliminate our greatest threat… it’s not a bad trade. Still, she’s always been hard to kill—gunpowder might not be enough to finish her off. But that’s not our concern. Li Tong should be arriving by now…”
He raised his hand, and the eunuch rushed over to help him up, carefully brushing the dust from his robes.
“A pity about Yang Yueshan. Such a talented general—he could’ve done great things for me…” Feng Ji sighed again, then turned to the eunuch. “The Eldest Princess meddled in state affairs, usurped authority, and provoked divine wrath. I am grieved… but as she was my only sister, grant her some posthumous honor. Bestow her the title… Shunan.”
“May she, in her next life, submit dutifully to father and brothers, stay within the inner chambers, and never again harbor such needless ambition.”
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