After just one night, the people who descended from Great Dong Mountain had dealt with everything. The first rebellion in the history of Qing Kingdom to unfold in broad daylight ended in a dismal failure, at least the assassination attempt did. It could no longer stir up any waves. Everyone, including the Emperor, coldly and nervously awaited the changes that would occur in the capital over the next ten days or so.

The Emperor was extremely exhausted at this time. Eliminating the two Grand Masters, Ku He and Si Gu Jian, was certainly the most glorious page in his life, but it had also drained too much of his strength and spirit. Especially the mental impact of this long-planned scheme becoming reality, made him much less powerful than people perceived.

In his life, this current phase was actually his weakest and most vulnerable moment. However, no one noticed this, and no one dared to exploit it. Because, aside from surrounding Great Dong Mountain and sealing off the news, the tens of thousands of state troops were also desperately hunting down the two forces from Dongyi City and Northern Qi that had infiltrated the country.

The tiger was dozing, but forcibly narrowed his eyes, radiating a cold light, scaring those who dared to offend him into fleeing prey. Shang Shan Hu, single-handedly, had to escort Ku He north, so naturally, he was powerless to do anything else. And Yun Zhi Lan, who was temporarily in charge of Dongyi City affairs, although a master swordsman, was not a master of military strategy. He simply couldn't conceive of launching a brave counterattack at this moment to achieve some earth-shattering effect. This had nothing to do with courage.

The Supervisory Council had also taken action. The advance teams from the three patrol divisions were already densely deployed on every road leading from Dong Mountain Road to the capital. Although Chen Ping Ping was in the capital, his subordinates still demonstrated the Supervisory Council's glorious tradition, showcasing an extremely formidable ability to control information.

Whether it was Shang Shan Hu or Dongyi City, even if they could release news along the way to inform Princess Li Yun Rui who was far away in the capital, it was impossible to do so within a few days. Plus, with detours and constant evasion of pursuit, the truth about Great Dong Mountain would reach the capital ten days or so later than usual.

The inconvenience of information transmission brought great convenience to Emperor and Chen Ping Ping.

At this time, Fan Xian was engaged in a final life and death battle with Yan Xiao Yi in the depths of the mountains. He didn't know what had happened on Great Dong Mountain. By the time he successfully killed Yan Xiao Yi, entered the Song Kingdom, and then traveled south from Yan Jing, the people who had escaped from Great Dong Mountain had already broken through the mountains and advanced into Dongyi City's sphere of influence.

Fan Xian was unlucky. He left the Song Kingdom a few days too early, so he didn't hear the news. Soon after he entered Qing Kingdom territory, the commander of the Yan Jing garrison had already received a secret decree, secretly taking over the leaderless Northern Expeditionary Army, and forcibly severing the borders between the three countries.

What was even more peculiar was that the people returning to Northern Qi and Dongyi seemed to be consciously keeping their mouths shut. By the time the Little Emperor of Northern Qi received the news, it was already too late. Even if he sent a message south to Princess, it was too late to change anything. And Si Gu Jian of Dongyi City... this heavily wounded, dying madman, for some reason, did not try to inform Li Yun Rui in the capital.

The reason was actually very simple. Once the news of the Emperor's survival returned to the capital, the internal strife in Qing Kingdom would probably end before it even began. The nation's strength would not suffer any losses, which was something Si Gu Jian was very unwilling to see.

The current Si Gu Jian had to consider the future path of Dongyi City after his death. In order to delay Emperor's unification of the world, letting the Princess know the Emperor had not died a few days later might better serve Dongyi City's interests. If he could allow the Princess to cause a big disturbance in the capital, Qing Kingdom's strength would be damaged. Once the war started, it would take two or three years for Qing Kingdom to recover and launch an external campaign.

Of course, Yan Jing and Cang Zhou were under strict lockdown. Even if Si Gu Jian wanted to notify Li Yun Rui, it wouldn't be that simple. The most terrifying thing was that Emperor seemed to have clearly calculated Si Gu Jian's current thoughts. The minds of Grand Masters were indeed so attuned.

There was also the most crucial issue, which was Fan Xian's safety. As long as Fan Xian could successfully break through Yan Xiao Yi's blockade and return to the capital... Si Gu Jian, considering the future of Dongyi City, couldn't let Fan Xian die so early.

In the final days of his life, a Grand Master needed to consider things that were more, farther, and deeper. They had lost the most crucial battle in Emperor's hands, but they left hope for the future, on Fan Xian, who at this moment seemed to be the least likely source of hope for Dongyi City.

These were all things that would happen in the following ten days or so. Qing Kingdom's Emperor was not a precise computer, he could only deduce the approximate possibilities. Fortunately, the development of the situation was not too far from his analysis.

After dealing with the matter on Great Dong Mountain, he did not stay at the foot of the mountain, but traveled northwest overnight, directly to Luo Zhou, entering the city at dawn and taking residence in the Governor's Mansion of Hou Yong Zhi, the Governor of Dong Mountain Road.

That day, Luo Zhou was under complete lockdown. The Jiang Bei Road state troops who followed Emperor north, under imperial decree, took over the responsibility of guarding the city from the local state troops. A dozen ministers and the inner court eunuch experts controlled the entire Governor's Mansion.

The people of Luo Zhou stared blankly at everything before them, wondering where so many unfamiliar soldiers had suddenly come from. And these soldiers had very unkind eyes, looking like beasts, with a faint bloody smell on their bodies, obviously fresh from the battlefield.

The soldiers patrolled the streets of Luo Zhou, vigilantly watching everything around them, bringing a sense of solemnity to the largest city on Dong Mountain Road, suppressing the ordinary people so much that they no longer dared to whisper on the streets, and mostly shrank back into their homes in fear, except for necessary matters.

Inside the Governor's Mansion of Dong Mountain Road, the Governor, Hou Yong Zhi, knelt before Emperor, not particularly frightened, his face ashen. After kowtowing twice, he remained silent, because he knew he was doomed to die. He just didn't know if he would be subjected to slow slicing or dismemberment by five horses. From the moment he joined Princess Li Yun Rui's plan, he knew what the consequences of failure would be.

He just didn't expect Emperor to resolve the situation on Great Dong Mountain so easily, and before anyone could react, like a sharp arrow, he had pierced into the Governor's Mansion, suddenly appearing before him.

Emperor didn't look at him, nor did he show any disappointment, because he knew that this minister kneeling at his feet would become the first Governor of Qing Kingdom in thirty years to be executed while in office. He just coldly calculated the days, seeing if he could leave enough time for his younger sister.

Luo Zhou became a dead city, no one could leave. Even if Princess had planted spies on Dong Mountain Road, they simply didn't know what was happening inside the Governor's Mansion. And some people outside the city noticed the anomaly in the city and began to send messages to the capital, but every time they progressed only a few dozen miles, they were killed by Supervisory Council agents disguised as various characters.

Chen Ping Ping invested as much as 40% of the Supervisory Council's manpower in these three directions, no wonder he was forced to lead the Kyoto garrison in guerrilla warfare around the capital. The old Director was staking everything for Emperor's decree.

After silently waiting in Luo Zhou for a few days, estimating that the news of Emperor's death on Great Dong Mountain should have reached the capital, and that Fan Xian should have arrived with the imperial edict, Emperor's expression inside the Governor's Mansion of Luo Zhou finally improved slightly.

A few days later, urgent secret reports from the imperial court were sent to several Governor's Mansions throughout the country, especially to Luo Zhou on Dong Mountain Road, where the reports arrived at the fastest speed, beginning to question the truth of Great Dong Mountain in order to confirm it.

Emperor very naturally confirmed his own death through the Governor's Mansion's procedures, and then waited for the imperial court's team to come and receive his remains.

The next day, another imperial court gazette arrived, mentioning the Crown Prince's affair and Fan Xian's assassination attempt. Several Governors submitted memorials, beginning to argue with the imperial court. Apart from the Governors of Jiang Bei and Jiang Nan, who knew the inside story, the other Governors were purely acting from the perspective of a high-ranking official and a loyal subject of Emperor.

Although Emperor had not received the memorials from the other Governors, he roughly knew what they would say. At this time, he ordered the guards to bring out Dong Mountain Road's Governor, Hou Yong Zhi, and slowly said, "I chose seven of you to govern the world for me. The other six have not disappointed me, only you..."

Hou Yong Zhi had been imprisoned for many days, deprived of food and drink, and was already exhausted. Hearing Emperor's words, he dared not beg for mercy at all, knowing that the day Emperor left Luo Zhou would be the day of his death. He just kowtowed desperately, wanting Emperor to spare his wife and children.

Emperor coldly looked at him, without saying a word.

The next day, Emperor led the state troops and the ministers and eunuchs out of Luo Zhou. Before leaving, Hou Yong Zhi was ordered to commit suicide, his three children were beheaded, and all the people in the Governor's Mansion and the officials at all levels controlled by Dong Mountain Road, a total of thirty-four people, were all strangled.

Emperor was not a person who was easily angered, nor did he bother to use those harsh punishments to torture Hou Yong Zhi, who had betrayed the imperial court. In his view, taking a person's life was only a necessary means for a monarch to exercise power, and had nothing to do with punishment.

On the sixth day after receiving the imperial court's gazette regarding the Crown Prince's ascension to the throne and Fan Xian's crimes, Emperor, traveling slowly from Luo Zhou to the capital, finally saw the team coming to greet him. Of course, the original purpose of this team was to receive his remains and soul.

After contacting the imperial court's welcoming team, Emperor coldly ordered the troops to slightly increase their speed and continue to press towards the capital.

Several days passed, and the capital was still far away. Emperor was not clear about the current situation in the capital. Emperor and Chen Ping Ping, this monarch and subject, were like two wandering ghosts on the fields of Qing, constantly floating, not focusing their efforts on gathering intelligence.

However, these two wandering ghosts cooperated too perfectly, appearing too powerful.

One day, Emperor passed by Xin Yang City, and looked silently at the unfamiliar city in the distance. After a moment, he turned his head to look at the hearse being dragged behind the team, and the large coffin inside, of unknown weight and layers, and a hint of self-deprecating mockery appeared on his lips.

"Tell Yun Rui," Emperor said.

Eunuch Yao, riding his horse beside him, quickly took out paper and pen to listen carefully.

"I'm back."

Emperor coldly said, then kicked his horse and, leading the troop, rode past Xin Yang City towards the capital in the distance.

————————————————————

The zither strings are broken, the flower trees are withered. Princess, adorned in a shimmering dress, was standing blankly by the lake of the Taiping courtyard, staring at the intelligence she had just received, completely ignoring Fan Xian, who was sitting not far from her feet.

From the beginning of her plan, she had gradually moved her forces from Xin Yang to the capital. This process took two years. Huang Yi, who was already dead, and Yuan Hong Dao, who was still alive, had both come to the capital from the Xin Yang palace. However, after the thunderstorm night earlier this year, Emperor and Chen Ping Ping had wiped out Princess's forces in half an hour.

In this rebellion, Princess was basically hidden behind the scenes, formulating the overall strategy and persuading the world's strong to take action. On the one hand, it was because she excelled in this role, and on the other hand, it was because she had no choice but to choose this role. She controlled the Crown Prince and the Second Prince, which was equivalent to controlling the Ye family and the Qin family, handling them with ease.

But her own intelligence system had suffered a devastating blow and could not be recovered in two or three years. So when she received an urgent secret report from Xin Yang, she couldn't help but frown, feeling a hint of surprise.

This intelligence was fake. As the master of Xin Yang, Li Yun Rui naturally recognized it at a glance. But this intelligence was real, or rather, Xin Yang had been completely controlled before it could use its own channels to send her an urgent secret report. Who was it?

Li Yun Rui was a little surprised, a little curious, a little expectant. She tore open the wax seal and glanced at it indifferently, and then her gaze froze on the letter.

There were only four characters on the paper, but she looked at them for a very long time. The emotions in her eyes were very complex, very complex. These four characters seemed to be reflected in her dark, clear eyes, and they struck out one by one, turning into the contraction and dilation of her pupils, and the intensity and lightness of her gaze.

Her pupils were first filled with strong shock, then faint disappointment, followed by inexplicable anger, and then turned into a faint self-deprecating smile, finally gradually turning into a peaceful as a stone falling into a lake.

In just an instant, this most beautiful and ruthless woman in Qing Kingdom had so many emotional changes in her eyes.

Fan Xian watched her quietly, noting the changes in her pupils. He did not see the madness that frightened him, and his heart was slightly relieved, but then it thumped as he guessed what was written on the letter.

Even the Ye family's rebellion and his control of the capital had not made Li Yun Rui so distraught. So only one person in the world could make her look like this.

Li Yun Rui looked down again, carefully savoring the four characters on the letter: "I'm back."

The handwriting on the letter was incomparably vigorous, exactly Emperor's handwriting. However, Li Yun Rui saw through it at a glance that it was Eunuch Yao's writing. Although Emperor was a very diligent monarch, to govern such a large country and deal with so many memorials, he would still be somewhat mentally exhausted. Some unimportant memorials were often given to Eunuch Yao to approve on his behalf. Over time, Eunuch Yao had learned 90% of Emperor's handwriting, enough to fool the ministers and censor officials of the court.

However, Li Yun Rui had put so much thought into her imperial brother, how could she not see the difference? But she did not suspect that this was a lie, that someone was using Eunuch Yao's handwriting to pretend that Emperor was still alive.

Because she knew that such simple and powerful four characters, no one but Emperor could have thought of saying them like this.

The meaning of these four characters was very simple: I am back, I am still alive, you deal with it yourself.

Two lines of tears fell for no reason from Li Yun Rui's eyes. It was an indescribable emotion that stimulated her tear glands, causing this woman, who loved to cry in front of the Empress Dowager, to cry in the desolate Taiping courtyard.

This was probably Emperor's last message, last words to his younger sister, Li Yun Rui thought sadly in her heart, didn't he even bother to write the last sentence himself?

Emperor certainly didn't expect these four characters to evoke so many emotions in Li Yun Rui. He was only proclaiming his return as an Emperor, like a lion, announcing to the four fields his supreme ruling power over his territory.

Fan Xian also did not understand why Princess was crying. This mad woman did not show any signs of madness on her face, only sadness. No matter what, he could not have imagined that Princess was angry and sad because Emperor had not written these four characters himself.

Emperor and Fan Xian were undoubtedly intelligent people, but they still couldn't understand women. To men, women were undoubtedly another completely different species, strangers from a distant and unknown space.

……

……

Li Yun Rui weakly released her fingers, and the paper fell from her fingers. Blown by the early autumn wind, it landed on the small lake in the center of the Taiping courtyard. The paper was soaked in the lake water and immediately sank to the surface of the water.

In a fleeting glance, Fan Xian clearly saw those four characters. His heart was shocked. Although he had thought about the possibility of Emperor still being alive after the Ye family's rebellion, he was still shocked to see it with his own eyes and confirm it, because he didn't know what had happened on Great Dong Mountain.

Since Emperor was still alive, Princess was naturally utterly defeated. Although she had said so earlier, Fan Xian knew that it would be most satisfying for her if she could eliminate all the powerful men in the world in one fell swoop.

This news was the good news that Fan Xian had been looking forward to. If Emperor had died, he would have been really worried about whether the Ye family would continue down this path.

Fan Xian couldn't suppress his excitement and clenched his fists. He slowly stood up and stared at Li Yun Rui's back, worried that this woman would issue some crazy orders under the stimulation of this news.

Li Yun Rui gently clapped her hands, and many experts poured in from around the small lake. Fan Xian glanced at them, not very afraid. These people recruited from Xin Yang might seem terrifying to ordinary people, but he didn't care about them at all. He was just worried about Wan'er and Da Bao.

To Fan Xian's surprise, and to the shock of those subordinates, Li Yun Rui said calmly, "You all go. I don't need you here anymore." She paused for a moment and then said, "Hide your names and live out the rest of your lives in peace and stability. Don't even think about revenge or other ridiculous things."

Those subordinates were in an uproar, looking at Princess in disbelief and saying in pain, "Your Highness!"

From the moment Fan Xian stepped into the Taiping courtyard, these people knew that the rebellion in the capital had encountered a huge problem. But they still had strong confidence in Princess.

Li Yun Rui just smiled indifferently, waved her hand, and said nothing more.

"Your Highness!" Those subordinates knelt down to her on the hill and around the lake, unwilling to leave. Some of them even cried.

Fan Xian looked at this scene in shock. Although he knew that Li Yun Rui had given up on the world after her defeat, so she sent away her subordinates, he really did not expect these subordinates to be so loyal to her.

He had very little contact with Xin Yang, and did not know how Princess controlled her subordinates. With Emperor's indulgence and Chen Ping Ping's help, he had won more and lost less in the war against Princess in the past two years, and could not help but feel a little contempt for Li Yun Rui.

But at this moment, seeing those crying and unwilling to leave, feeling everyone's loyalty to Princess, Fan Xian vaguely understood something, such as why this Princess could have so much power in the court, why she could persuade Ku He and Si Gu Jian to take action, why she could control the Crown Prince and the Second Prince, why...

This was just a feeling. He still didn't know where Princess's magic came from, but he knew that this was definitely not an effect that could be achieved with just peerless beauty. It was just a pity that Fan Xian didn't know it in the past, and now it seemed that there was no chance to see Princess's true ability.

There was crying all around, but Princess, who was by the lake, frowned slightly, looking a little annoyed, and waved her hand again.

A leading official, seeing this scene, knew that the situation was over. He wiped away the tears from the corners of his eyes, knelt down and kowtowed heavily, and resolutely turned and left. When one person left, many people left. Perhaps these people were not greedy for life and afraid of death, but since Li Yun Rui had issued an order, and Her Highness obviously did not like it, they had no other choice but to leave.

Thus, only Princess and Fan Xian were left in the entire Taiping courtyard. Although it had been the same before, Fan Xian knew that there were many people outside monitoring him. At this moment, knowing that those people had left, he felt even more lonely, and looked at Princess's thin shoulders, feeling slightly lost.

Li Yun Rui slowly turned around, her hands very gracefully placed on her abdomen, her wide sleeves drooping, forming beautiful and luxurious lines.

Her face was still full of smiles, but her eyes were exceptionally clear and bright. She was no longer the ruthless person in front of the enemy, no longer the cowardly pretender who was often slapped and cried in front of the Empress Dowager, no longer the stubborn, angry, and sad younger sister under Emperor's iron hand.

She was Princess, she was Li Yun Rui, the one and only unique person in the heavens and on earth.

Li Yun Rui smiled at her son-in-law and said, "Knowing that Emperor is still alive, you don't seem as happy as I thought."

Fan Xian lowered his head slightly and said, "Recently, too many people have died. I can't be happy."

"So that's how it is. It seems that you and your mother are really alike..." Li Yun Rui was slightly stunned and then laughed, using some inexplicable emotion to end this topic, and then asked lightly, "Have you ever thought about why the Qin family rebelled?"

Fan Xian frowned, not understanding the meaning of this sentence, and even more unclear why she would suddenly mention the Qin family, who had been driven out of the capital by the Dingzhou army, at this moment.

Princess looked at him with a slightly mocking gaze, then sighed, looking at the paper that had sunk to the bottom of the lake. The water in the Taiping courtyard's lake was extremely clear and shallow. The white paper gradually dispersed in the lake water, looking like soaked steamed bun slices, attracting countless red carp to compete for food, causing a burst of rolling in the water.

She watched this scene quietly and said, "Actually, we are all fish, but we are competing for different things. This time, I didn't get anything. I thought I would be angry and disappointed... and I was indeed angry and disappointed, but in the end I realized that he was still alive... I am still happy after all."

Fan Xian was stunned, and then thought sadly, according to Princess's earlier words, her life's goal had been achieved, so what did it matter whether Emperor lived or died? But since Emperor had returned, Princess was probably no longer alive.

Then he saw a scene that shocked him.

Li Yun Rui's expression was calm and peaceful, and she slowly lowered her arms. Her light-colored palace robe wide sleeves naturally drooped and spread out, like a great drama that had already ended, and the actors were walking out of the curtain for the last time to express their gratitude to the audience.

The last actor included not only herself, but also a black, poisoned dagger. This dagger was deeply inserted into her abdomen, the blade buried to the hilt.

Fan Xian's heart trembled, and he flew over, knocking her to the ground and reaching out to point to her abdomen.

……

……

(There will be a little more of Princess's scenes tomorrow, and I'm a little reluctant to write it.

Yesterday, the men's basketball team won, giving me a lot of strength. Then today, I looked at the monthly ticket list and found that recently, the list has perfectly implemented the Olympic spirit, you chase me and I chase you, it's so serious, earnest, nervous, and lively. I haven't seen such a tense and interesting situation for a long time. The Olympics is about participation. Since I am participating in it, of course I have to strive to be at the top. If you have any spare monthly tickets, brothers and sisters who have seen my suffering in these twenty-odd chapters, please give them to me. Thank you very much.

I won't say much more about soliciting votes, but at least, I have fulfilled my promise, Fan Xian knocked down Princess... cough cough, don't hit me in the face.)