Winter night, the white plum blossoms in the courtyard floated with faint fragrance.

The lantern bearing the character “Tan” reflected against the snow accumulated on the steps. A noble young man draped in fox fur walked through the covered corridor, and from afar already heard the sharp sound of a long spear breaking through snow.

“Second Uncle is in good spirits.”

His voice was distant and cold.

“This is the first snow of the year in Wan Prefecture, yet Yanshan has already had snow for three or four consecutive days. Beyond Yanshan, it is less than a hundred li from the Goddess Terrace. I wonder if the people of Yanshan have ever tasted the deer antler sent from the northern lands?”

Tan Rong’s movements did not pause in the slightest. Amid the sound of air being split came his hearty laughter.

“Your Second Aunt hasn’t much appetite recently. Just a carriage of deer antler, could it be that a household like ours cannot afford such a thing?”

Tan Xun’s tone was extremely heavy:

“In Pingning Prefecture where Yanshan lies, the commoners who have starved to death have already reached a thousand. The remaining grain is almost none. This winter has only just begun.”

“So many have starved to death, the officials in Jiangzhou must have suffered for it.”

He turned around and thrust his spear. The snow scattered like fine salt. Tan Rong laughed and said: “You are right to remind me. We too must prepare early, keep watch over our gates, and not let those locust-like refugees who cross the borders affect Wan Prefecture.”

“Second Uncle!”

Tan Xun’s voice was sharp. “The Ever-Normal Granary was established by His Majesty precisely for disaster relief!”

A long spear sank into the snow one zhang away from Tan Xun.

Tan Xun watched him step by step approaching himself.

All members of the Tan family were very tall. Even his father stood eight chi in height, and his Second Uncle was all the more born with the talent of a general.

For some reason, a figure suddenly surfaced in Tan Xun’s mind.

The chieftain of Hongye Stronghold on Yushan, also one of the few among the southerners who was tall and robust.

“Yuhui, next year you too will come of age. Your father sent you here to gain experience, do you really think what you are to learn are those trivial clan affairs?”

Tan Rong drew out his spear and said indifferently:

“Three hundred thousand shi of grain—if sent out, it is only right and proper; my Tan family would not have even half a measure of merit. But if kept in hand, it becomes military provisions. Should war ignite in Jiangzhou in the days to come, these will all be the capital for our Tan family to rise straight into the clouds.”

Tan Rong stepped forward and patted his nephew’s shoulder.

Those pupils like black jade gradually widened.

“…Father and Second Uncle wish to nourish the clan through war.”

As if hearing the displeasure within his words, Tan Rong turned his head and glanced back, smiling:

“The ones who led the charge in impeaching Princess Qinghe the other day in court, who do you think they were?”

“Was it not Aunt?”

Tan Xun’s face was like frost.

“Your aunt at most can only incite a few of the Tan clan’s disciples, what great waves could she stir? Merely having the Grand Preceptor step out is enough to suppress it for the Princess. The one truly causing trouble is Chancellor Xue Yun.”

Tan Rong lifted the water flask behind him and drank in great gulps, then said again:

“They want to take this chance to arm-wrestle with His Majesty. Princess Qinghe is only a pretext. So you see, if you truly wish to protect the Princess, you must not let the Xue clan of Suinan continue to press down upon our family.”

Tan Xun pressed his lips together without speaking. After a moment, he said: “…Thanks to Second Uncle and Aunt’s blessing, my marriage engagement with the Princess has already been annulled. Why must Second Uncle bring it up again?”

“Annulled what? When in the future your Second Uncle makes great military merit, I will personally request an imperial decree for you. The legitimate eldest son of the Tan clan should be matched with the most noble Princess under heaven.”

“……”

Though Tan Xun did not agree with his Second Uncle’s actions, since the words had come to this point, he could only think of another way later.

After he left, the smile on Tan Rong’s face faded completely. He shook his head and said:

“His temperament is still too soft. So indecisive, too kind-hearted—how will he ever hold up the Tan family’s gate in the future? I think, he’s not even as good as that Princess Qinghe.”

Madam Guo came out from the inner chamber and helped him put on his robe.

Madam Guo smiled: “This time, was it not that chieftain of Hongye Stronghold who acted by holding the Princess hostage?”

“Madam, don’t tease me anymore. This time, the officials of the prefecture have all returned to their original posts, raising Cui Shiyong’s reputation and winning the people’s hearts. To so easily and subtly dissolve the court’s criticism—one glance and it’s clearly the style of someone from within the palace, not the thinking of those from the greenwood.”

Moreover, according to the reports from Yiling Prefecture, the refugees who flooded there this time were all settled under Princess Qinghe’s orders.

What exactly did she intend to do?

With the sharp intuition of a military man, Tan Rong immediately thought of one possibility.

Yet he felt it was far too bold, simply courting death.

Madam Guo said: “If that is so, then the Princess is using Hongye Stronghold?”

Before the words even finished, Tan Rong at once waved his hand and laughed: “Impossible.”

“Why?”

“That chieftain…”

Tan Rong was slightly lost in thought. Though he had never met that youth in person, ever since learning of the situation, he had secretly sent people to investigate.

Defying norms and rebellion, unrivaled in courage—fit to be a hero in chaos, fit to be a great general in peace.

If one were to take him under command—having such a man beneath oneself, which commander could ever sleep at ease?

Most likely, he would wish every night to sleep with one eye open.

A pity.

If not for his mother’s overly sensitive origins, and for his own way of conduct being too far from convention, their Tan family…

Tan Rong cast those thoughts out of his mind.

He said jokingly: “At most it’s only a temporary alliance. How could Pei Zhaoye obey her every word? If Princess Qinghe could truly order Pei Zhaoye around, with such a fine blade at hand—were I her, I’d have sent him to seize the grain already!”

The question was, could she truly command Pei Zhaoye?

Even if she could, did she have the courage to consort with mountain bandits, to tear her face with the Tan clan?

Lizhu indeed did not dare.

However, when she received the secret message smuggled back by Gu Bing’an, Pei Zhaoye had already led two thousand bandits, mobilizing all the boats in the stronghold, dividing into water and land routes, departing from the Yan River and entering the Xun River.

Within a single day, the bandits of Hongye Stronghold would cross into Wan Prefecture’s territory.

“…Princess! Princess!”

Chang Jun, quick of eye and hand, caught Lizhu as her legs went weak.

Lizhu’s vision went black for a moment, then blank. She murmured: “Does he think I truly won’t get angry? This time I really am angry, really, really won’t forgive him so easily…”

Over a thousand bandits, all well-armed and battle-hardened, plus another thousand for logistics.

Even if Lizhu had never fought a war, she knew the destructive power of the men Pei Zhaoye led.

At the least, they could seize grain from the soldiers of Wan Prefecture.

At the worst—with these three hundred thousand shi of grain alone, even taking the unguarded Wan Prefecture would not be difficult.

He could easily besiege the city while using the provisions to recruit troops.

Jiangzhou was in the midst of famine. As long as Pei Zhaoye spread the word, those refugees with nowhere to go would surely respond in droves.

—Just like that uprising army which suddenly rose from Yanshan in her past life.

Only now, it seemed the Yanshan Army was about to become the Yushan Army.

At this thought, tears welled in Lizhu’s eyes.

She had struggled so hard for so long, how had things once again come full circle to the same point?

Xuan Ying also took the letter and quickly scanned through it, sighing in amazement.

“…That Gu Bing’an, neither stopping the Mountain Lord Pei nor truly intending rebellion, yet claiming it is to seize grain for the Princess, saying his loyalty and patriotism are clear to heaven and earth—this is nothing but pushing the Princess to clean up the mess for them afterward!”

Truly a slippery one, offending neither side.

Lizhu steadied herself on the mat. After regaining her composure, she finally realized—

So that was what he had been busy with these past few days.

Did he truly harbor a rebellious heart?

No.

If he truly did, that day he would not have returned the bronze tiger tally to her.

Did he raise troops and march to Wan Prefecture for her sake, to seize the grain?

No, that was not it either.

The accumulated wealth of Hongye Stronghold, the thousand elite men within the stronghold—this was a decision that wagered the fate of the entire stronghold. Pei Zhaoye would never act with such recklessness. There must be a reason that left him with no choice but to do so.

Then there was only one possibility.

Lizhu’s heart slowly settled, her eyes calm and quiet.

The one backing the reed-canal bandits in secret was Tan Rong—therefore, Pei Zhaoye had to act.

He would no longer take blows passively, no longer allow Hongye Stronghold to suffer such inexplicable ambushes and attacks. Even if he could not destroy the Tan clan, he would make them taste pain and pay the price.

…But why did Tan Rong target Hongye Stronghold?

And why, with a single move, seek to wipe out the entire stronghold?

Lizhu faintly felt that there was some hidden reason behind it, something shrouded in mist—vague, elusive.

“I must clean up after them.”

Lizhu suddenly rose to her feet; the jeweled hairpin beside her temple swayed and jingled.

“We cannot let the identity of ‘traitor rebels’ be confirmed. Once confirmed, there will truly be no room left for retreat… Quickly, prepare carriage and boats, I am going to Wan Prefecture!”

Chang Jun had never seen the Princess so panic-stricken and helpless.

He froze for a moment, met Xuan Ying’s gaze; Xuan Ying gave a slight nod, and only then did he swallow back his words of dissuasion and order the men to harness the carriage.

Even after boarding the carriage bound for the ferry, Lizhu’s expression remained dazed.

How could it have come to this?

She had seen him return triumphant from battle, the city bright with flowers and brocade, the people lining the roads in welcome.

She had also seen him, for the sake of raising military provisions and funds, burning the midnight oil in bitter toil.

The power and dominance that the Tan clan desired—power enough to sway the court, even to change dynasties—had all been within Pei Zhaoye’s reach at that time. Yet he chose instead to go far away to the borderlands.

In the bitter cold winds of the northern lands, his old injuries would flare up every day.

He endured the hidden agony of ten thousand insects gnawing his bones, expending his final breath in the northern lands.

Her husband—he was clearly the great hero who fought for Nanyong.

How could he be a traitor?

How could he be treated as one?

The carriage suddenly came to a halt.

Lizhu lifted her hand and wiped the dampness from her cheek.

“Xuan Ying, what is it?”

Outside the carriage, Xuan Ying said, “Princess, the road ahead is blocked by refugees. We’ll have to lead the horses and pass slowly.”

Lizhu lifted the curtain to look out.

The sky was dim; the air carried a dry, musty scent of decay.

Many boats were moored along the riverbank. One after another, heavily laden boats with deep drafts docked at the ferry, and ragged refugees disembarked one by one.

“Princess, the time was rushed, and not all the luggage was prepared. Another boat will be sent later. The Princess may depart first… Princess?”

Chang Jun, seeing Lizhu unmoving for a long while, turned around in puzzlement.

It felt as if a stone pressed upon Lizhu’s chest; her breathing grew slightly uneven.

Was she truly going to stop him?