Just as Duan Yunfeng finished replying to the letter, preparing to put on his outer robe, he heard a commotion outside his tent:

“Who are you?”

“I am the court official whom the general saved at Jiuqu Pond. I have urgent matters to discuss with the general. Please allow me to see him…”

“Wait here for a moment.”

“General, someone is here to see you.”

Hearing someone lift the tent flap, Duan Yunfeng quickly fastened his collar, turned, and walked out.

Duan Yunfeng frowned. “Who?”

Who couldn’t wait and had to come in while he was changing clothes?

“Your servant, Wang Muchuan, greets the general.”

The visitor lifted his robes and knelt before Duan Yunfeng, his back straight.

Duan Yunfeng, however, grabbed his arm before he could kneel, gently pulling him up. He said, with a composed expression, “Minister Wang, I’m just a rough warrior. I’m not worthy of such a grand gesture.”

Despite both being officials of the court, Wang Muchuan was very different from those flatterers like Gao Cheng. Wang’s ancestors were all renowned civil officials. His forebear, Wang Boyan, had once fought alongside Emperor Taizong in the north and later became a prime minister, even holding the title of Grand Tutor to the Crown Prince. The Wang family was known for their unblemished reputation, with four generations holding high office.

Now, Wang Muchuan, his hair streaked with gray, sighed in sorrow. “General, you flatter me. I’ve long been dismissed from the position of prime minister. How can I still be called ‘Minister Wang’?”

“What is it that you wish to tell me, Lord Wang?” Duan Yunfeng didn’t have time for the flowery talk of scholars. While he could easily have Gao Cheng thrown out, he still showed some consideration for Wang Muchuan.

“Only the general can save Great Yan now. You can save the royal bloodline!”

Wang Muchuan suddenly pointed toward the military camp across the Luo River. Duan Yunfeng saw several of the emperor’s brothers—King Jing Xiao Yu, King Duan Xiao Bin, King Dai Xiao Xi, and King Jing Xiao Yan—once noble princes, now bound and dragged to the riverbank by men under King Chu Li Ji Chang, humiliated as their crimes were read aloud.

Duan Yunfeng found it laughable. “I think you’ve come to the wrong person.”

Wang Muchuan grabbed his sleeve, his voice full of emotion. “The Northern King has been loyal to the country for generations. I know that you and King Chu Li Ji Chang are not on the same side. The Northern King has saved His Majesty multiple times from danger…”

“Loyalty? Hmph…” Duan Yunfeng sneered, interrupting him harshly. “When the court issued orders to punish and send troops to attack Hedong, where was this ‘loyalty’? When my father was surrounded by a hundred thousand troops at Hangu Pass, where was this ‘loyalty’? When the eunuch An Youliang killed my brother, where was this ‘loyalty’?”

“When the court needed us, my family was full of loyalty. When you didn’t need us, we were savage barbarians. How can the world be so conveniently one-sided?” Duan Yunfeng threw Wang Muchuan’s hand off, pulling his sleeve free.

Wang Muchuan was stunned for a moment, then murmured, “This was not His Majesty’s intention! You know, when An Youliang took control of the court, the eunuchs held all the power, and there was no place for the courtiers to offer counsel. Now that he’s fled to Fengxiang, the emperor is also missing…”

At this point, his voice cracked with emotion.

The Northern King, Duan Yunfeng’s father, was a man of the Mo Bei Liyue tribe. After surrendering to Emperor Taizong, he fought in many northern campaigns against the Turks, playing an important role in the military power that suppressed foreign invasions. His family’s military prowess helped solidify his position as a prominent general. He later moved his forces south to Hedong, where he was granted the title of Northern King.

After An Youliang took over the court, driven by personal grudges, he not only increased the taxes and labor of Hedong, but also accused the Northern King of harboring rebellious intentions, intending to strip him of his titles and exile his family. He then mobilized the armies to attack Hedong.

When the Northern King was besieged at Hangu Pass, it was King Chu, who controlled the two military regions of Henan and Huainan, who sent troops to break the siege, allowing Duan Yunfeng to lead reinforcements to the rescue.

Unexpectedly, the Northern King later allied with King Chu, annihilated the forces that had been sent to subdue him, and marched toward the capital, claiming to ‘cleanse the emperor’s side,’ leading to the current situation.

At present, with An Youliang’s escape, the central army was without power, the imperial family was in decline, and the feudal lords were divided, with frequent uprisings. If anyone could still be counted on to support the emperor, Wang Muchuan could only think of the Northern King.

“Lord Wang, do you see that river?” Duan Yunfeng asked as he walked toward the Luo River. He pointed to the flags on the opposite bank, which had red borders and black backgrounds with the character “Chu” flying proudly.

He turned to Wang Muchuan and said, “Across this Luo River, on the other side, is the Chu army’s camp.”

Wang Muchuan stared at him blankly.

Duan Yunfeng continued, “On this side of the river are my men, and on the other side, are King Chu Li Ji Chang’s army.”

“No matter how far my hand stretches, I cannot cross this river.”

Duan Yunfeng made his stance clear.

At that moment, the executioner on the opposite side of the river raised his voice and began reading aloud the charges against the princes. The charges were “rebellion.”

The youngest prince, only eight years old, knelt on the rough gravel ground, unable to understand the accusations that were being fabricated against him.

Soon, someone came forward and beheaded the four princes, who carried the royal blood of Xiao Yan, by the Luo Riverbank.

Also put to death were more than a hundred palace servants.

Their bodies were thrown into the roaring Luo River, the blood staining the river’s surface, and quickly disappearing into the rushing waters.

Witnessing all of this, Wang Muchen sat helplessly on the ground, his tears soaking his collar, letting out a helpless and mournful sigh.

It was unclear whether he mourned the death of the royal heirs or the impending end of the Great Yan Dynasty.

He looked up, seeing a few white flakes drifting down from the vast sky, gently landing on the desolate riverbank.

It had started to snow in the capital.

On the other side of the river, someone, not sure who, started the suggestion that “a country cannot be without a ruler for even a day” and began advising King Chu to temporarily take the role of regent.

King Chu repeatedly declined, but eventually, worn down by his subordinates’ constant persuasion, he reluctantly crossed the bridge with a few personal guards to join the military camp on Duan Yunfeng’s side.

“I really can’t stand them…” King Chu Li Jichang, nearly fifty, with a burly build and a pair of eyes that always seemed to smile, making it hard to read his thoughts, shook his head helplessly when he crossed the bridge and approached Duan Yunfeng. “If your father were here, he’d be the perfect candidate for regent. I wouldn’t be getting my ears worn out by these people.”

“My father only knows how to march and fight. He doesn’t know anything about ruling the country.” Duan Yunfeng, hearing the hidden meaning in his words, simply smiled and said, “As of now, aside from Your Highness, no one else is suitable for the position of regent.”

“You,” Li Jichang chuckled, “You’re just like them, making it impossible for me to get off the stage…” He pointed at Duan Yunfeng with a helpless grin. “If even you say this, then I have no choice but to accept the regent position temporarily.”

Duan Yunfeng replied, “Your Highness, please don’t blame me.”

Li Jichang laughed and patted Duan Yunfeng’s shoulder twice. “Why still call me King Chu? That makes us sound distant!”

“Your father is a few years older than me, and by seniority, I should call him ‘Big Brother,’ which makes you my nephew, so you should call me ‘Chang Bo.'”

Duan Yunfeng’s gaze slowly scanned Li Jichang’s face, paused for a moment, and then said, “Chang Bo.”

“Ah!” Li Jichang seemed very pleased and began mentioning Duan Yunfeng’s heroic actions when he broke the three-trunk coalition army, asking his subordinates to bring some of his gold, silver, and jade treasures for Duan Yunfeng to choose from.

Duan Yunfeng casually picked out two items. Li Jichang observed, “Why do these look like things women would like? When did my wise nephew develop such refined tastes?”

A vice-general beside them teased, “Seems like the general’s intentions aren’t just about the treasure; perhaps he’s trying to impress a lady?”

Li Jichang and his men laughed at this.

“You’re still young, youth is truly a good thing…” Li Jichang sighed for a moment, then looked at Duan Yunfeng, “You and my son are about the same age, you must be twenty this year…”

Duan Yunfeng replied, “After the New Year, I’ll be twenty.”

Li Jichang said, “You should be getting married soon.”

Duan Yunfeng’s gaze froze, and he exchanged a glance with the vice-general standing next to him.

Li Jichang didn’t beat around the bush. “A few days ago, I happened to speak with your father about this. He said that if it weren’t for the war, you would have married by now. As it happens, I have a daughter, seventeen years old, gentle in temperament, and about your age…”

Just a moment ago, Duan Yunfeng was happily calling Li Jichang “uncle,” but now, he suddenly took a step back, distancing himself from him. He smiled slightly, showing a touch of charm, looking like a young, wealthy, and playful noble.

“Thank you for your kind offer, Chang Bo, but I am already attached to someone. I’m afraid I must decline your good intentions.”

Li Jichang’s face stiffened for a moment, and his smile vanished.

“Is that so?”

He turned his eyes, and the smile on his lips became rigid.

The atmosphere became tense.

However, the tension lasted only a brief moment.

Li Jichang lowered his gaze, and as if the awkwardness had never existed, he teased Duan Yunfeng, “I’m curious, who is the lady who has captured my wise nephew’s heart? So much so that you’ve even kept it from your father?”

Duan Yunfeng raised his gaze and glanced at him, saying, “It’s the current princess. Chang Bo, you’ve misunderstood. It wasn’t that I intentionally kept it from my father. It just happened suddenly, and I didn’t have time to inform him. It seems you learned about it before he did.”

Li Jichang’s eyes flickered for a moment, then he laughed aloud, “Ah! All of us in the military camp are busy beyond belief, and yet you still have time to steal away and meet a lady!”

Li Jichang continued, “I’ve heard that the Xiao family bloodline is exceptionally beautiful. If my wise nephew is so smitten, this princess must be a stunning beauty, and beauty and heroes make a fine match!”

He immediately ordered his subordinates, “Bring a thousand taels of gold, a thousand taels of silver, and fifty bolts of silk. Let this be a gift from your uncle to you!”

---

In the endless darkness, Xiao Heng felt like he had become a wandering soul outside his body.

Some images that didn’t belong to his memory flooded in.

Before his eyes flashed the absurd but uncontrollable life of Emperor Jianing Xiao Huan, who had been controlled by eunuchs and powerful feudal lords throughout his reign.

The most outrageous thing the emperor, who had lived a life of transgression, did was not escape Luoyang with the Lieutenant Eunuch An Youliang when the army of Hedong and Chu forces were invading. Instead, he dressed in his mother’s clothes in the Chengde Palace, facing the ancestral temple, and shouted, “Emperor Taizong, your descendants are incapable, watching the imperial legacy about to be destroyed by their hands. If you are watching from heaven, please save the Great Yan!”

After this, he slammed his head into a pillar and died.

At this moment, it felt as if his soul was possessed. A sharp, bone-piercing pain radiated from his temple. Xiao Heng woke suddenly from his dream, sitting up abruptly, beads of sweat dripping from his temples.

Xiao Heng’s gaze darkened as he recalled everything that had happened in the dream…

This was what had summoned him.

Nearby, Li Jinxi, who had been waiting, first exited the camp, carefully checked inside and outside, then bowed and approached the bed. He whispered, “Your Majesty, you’re finally awake.”

Xiao Heng lifted the blanket and noticed that he had been changed into clean clothes.

– A new set of women’s clothing.

His expression darkened even further as he asked, “Where am I?”

Li Jinxi: “Duan Yunfeng is at the military camp stationed in the western outskirts of the capital.”

Hearing this, Xiao Heng began to walk out.

Li Jinxi: “There are Duan Yunfeng’s personal guards outside the tent!”

Xiao Heng paused in his steps.

Li Jinxi: “While Your Majesty was unconscious, this old servant had someone gather intelligence on the current defenses of the capital. I have both good and bad news to report to Your Majesty.”

Xiao Heng surveyed his surroundings for a moment before flicking his robes and sitting back down in front of the bed. “Speak.”

Li Jinxi poured him a cup of hot tea and said, “Currently, the capital is under martial law, with heavy guards at the city gates, and the waterways have been blocked. It would be very difficult to leave the city at this moment…”

Xiao Heng took a sip of tea, his eyes showing no sign of emotion.

He wasn’t surprised by this outcome.

Li Jinxi: “However, according to what I know, the heir of the King of the North seems to be preparing to propose to you.”

“Cough—”

Xiao Heng nearly crushed the tea cup in his hand.

His brows furrowed, and his expression became somewhat sinister, as if wondering whether he had misheard, “What did you say?”

Li Jinxi spoke clearly, “The heir of the King of the North—he’s preparing—to propose—to you.”

Xiao Heng: “…………”

He raised an eyebrow slightly, extracting a key word, “The heir of the King of the North?”

Li Jinxi: “The same person who jumped into the lake with you by the Nine Curves Pool earlier.”

Xiao Heng thought for a moment, “That assassin?”

Li Jinxi: “…Uh… Yes, that’s him.”

“He’s preparing to propose to you.”

Xiao Heng: “Propose to me?”

“Propose to me—?”

“Me—?”

“Zhen—en—?”

Li Jinxi lowered his eyes, his voice barely above a whisper, “He seems to have mistaken Your Majesty for a princess. The situation was urgent at the time, and in my panic, I ended up going along with the mistake… I said… I said you were Princess Zhaoyi of Yongning Palace.”

Xiao Heng: “Absurd!”

He raised his hand sharply, “Is he blind? If the commander’s eyes are so poor, how did the rebel army manage to enter Luoyang? Where do I look like a…”

His gaze landed on the layers of delicate embroidered sleeves, and Xiao Heng took a deep breath, swallowing the words he was about to say.

The Emperor Jianing was already so foolish—why dress in women’s clothes?

Li Jinxi hesitated and then said, “Your Majesty…”

“Alright, enough.”

Without waiting for Li Jinxi to finish, Xiao Heng pressed his fingers to his brow, preparing to skip over this topic. “The bad news is over. What about the good news?”

Li Jinxi blinked, “Ah?”

“Your Majesty, this… this is the good news.”