Qiao Yan responded, “His Majesty was captured by Dong Zhuo and taken to Chang’an. But please rest assured, once we have regrouped, we will proceed to Chang’an and rescue the Emperor.”

Empress Dowager Dong was shaken by the news and weakly waved her hand, “Marquis Qiao, you have worked hard. Please go and rest.”

She had endured much, having lost her husband and son, and after the death of Empress Dowager Dou in the first year of the Xiping era, she finally became the legitimate Empress Dowager as Liu Xie’s mother.

She had hoped for a time of peace and stability, but now…

Chang’an? Attacking Chang’an is not so easy!

There are 800 miles between Luoyang and Chang’an!

Even if she didn’t understand military matters, she knew that such a distance couldn’t be covered in just a day or two.

Once Dong Zhuo established himself in Chang’an and was able to mobilize troops from Liangzhou, he would likely create an insurmountable barrier.

She regretted deeply that she had accepted bribes from people who sought connections in exchange for official posts during Liu Hong’s time.

Now, the money she had didn’t even cover the cost of the journey, and it might have damaged Liu Xie’s luck!

Qiao Yan watched as the Empress Dowager walked towards the Yongle Palace, looking somewhat dazed.

She shook her head.

The power struggle with Empress He from years ago might have exhausted the Empress Dowager’s health.

She was supposed to die this year anyway, and now it seemed like she had reached her limit.

Qiao Yan didn’t feel much sympathy for her, given the many criticisms of her actions while in power.

She turned to Zhao Yun and asked, “What is the situation in Luoyang?”

There had been so many changes in Luoyang yesterday that it was overwhelming.

Zhao Yun summarized the key points, starting with the North Palace fire, which Qiao Yan was most interested in. “The fire was started by the Yuan clan members in the North Palace, with the intention of rescuing the King of Hongnong.”

“Their choice wasn’t wrong. Before fleeing Luoyang, Dong Zhuo intended to eliminate the King of Hongnong.

At that time, there were still troops from Guo Si in the North Palace.

They killed most of the Yuan clan members involved, leaving only Yuan Taifu and the King of Hongnong to escape.”

“However, it’s strange that after Marquis Qiao went to pursue Dong Zhuo, Feng Xian and Wen Xian stayed to put out the fire but didn’t find any trace of these two in the North Palace.”

Qiao Yan thought it was odd that no trace had been found even now.

Zhao Yun continued, “We’ve sent people to search in all directions. It’s likely that due to the chaos in the North Palace, they moved to a hiding place temporarily to avoid further disaster and will come out once the capital is stable.”

“Also, the person who fought with me yesterday was Zhang Xiu, the nephew of Zhang Ji, a commander under Dong Zhuo.

His uncle has left with Dong Zhuo, leaving him behind to cover the rear. He has now been captured and is at your disposal, Marquis Qiao.”

Qiao Yan thought for a moment and then asked, “What about the officials in the capital?”

Zhao Yun replied, “Because Dong Zhuo left with the Emperor in a hurry, the officials outside the North Palace argued for quite some time yesterday afternoon.

I listened for a while, and their opinions split into two groups.

Some wanted to follow the Emperor wherever he went.

With Dong Zhuo’s defeat and his troops diminished, they thought that by going, they could ensure the Emperor’s safety and prevent Dong Zhuo from harming him in a fit of rage.

They also hoped to act as inside informants to discuss how to deal with Dong Zhuo.”

“That’s a good point,” Qiao Yan noted.

If there were no officials supporting Liu Xie, Dong Zhuo might think the hostage wasn’t worth the effort and neglect the Emperor.

Fortunately, Liu Xie was indeed the legitimate successor established by Liu Hong.

The remaining Han officials would still go to support him.

“The other group thinks it’s better to declare the Emperor dead and support another member of the royal family as the new Emperor…”

For example, Liu Yu, the Governor of Youzhou, is highly respected and esteemed.

It’s not surprising.

Qiao Yan had assessed the current situation and responded, “Fortunately, I left Feng Xiao and Wen He in Mengjin for their safety. But you need to stay alert and keep an eye on things for me.”

Lu Bu would certainly lack this kind of political finesse.

Zhao Yun felt a bit undeserving of the praise but listened as Qiao Yan continued, “For now, don’t worry too much about these trivial matters. Find the King of Hongnong first. We can discuss other issues once everyone has arrived. However, be sure to avoid disturbing the residents of Luoyang while searching.”

She was definitely not the second Dong Zhuo.

Zhao Yun immediately took his orders and went off.

Sun Jian and Sun Ce also joined the search party.

Qiao Yan, of course, didn’t idle around.

She found no trace of Liu Bian and Yuan Ji inside or around the North Palace, which led her to an almost instinctive conclusion, directing her attention towards the South Palace.

Since Yuan Shu’s arson and Dong Zhuo’s usurpation, the South Palace had been under tight blockade.

Apart from occasional visits by Xun Shuang to the Lantai and some guards in a few southeastern palaces, few people came here, making it a logical blind spot for the search.

Qiao Yan had another purpose for going to the South Palace.

She walked slowly around the palace walls and, upon reaching a small side door, noticed it wasn’t fully closed.

She cautiously pushed the door and found it opened.

Following the small path behind the door, she saw some bloodstains on the ground.

She crouched down to examine them and confirmed they were not from the battle between Yuan Shu and Zhang Rang.

These could only be from Yuan Ji and Liu Bian fleeing here!

Qiao Yan quickly followed the trail, recalling the system’s reminder and opened the value panel.

Just as she was following the faint bloodstains and searching for the hidden figures, she suddenly noticed her luck value had dropped by ten points.

She glanced sharply at the palace across from Lantai, her eyes showing a hint of surprise.

This kind of change in luck value had never occurred before.

If the system’s advice was correct—

The currently unclaimed jade seal was not something she could take with her current personnel and territory.

If she acted recklessly, she would only bring about disaster.

The decrease in luck value made sense!

So, the jade seal must be in that place!