Young Master Su approached, allowing Mr. Su to lift him onto the horse.

But just as Su Chong reached out, Young Master Su took a step back, pinching his nose and said, "I’d rather not ride with Brother."

He threw eggs, but others threw rotten vegetable leaves and stinky eggs.

Su Chong was not far from the prison cart, and when a gust of wind blew, the smell...

It was truly overwhelmingly pungent.

Young Master Su and his group turned and ran away.

Su Chong turned back to look at the prison cart, where Xie Jingchuan’s forehead was covered in rotten vegetable leaves.

Su Chong escorted him to the Ministry of Justice, then went to the palace to report to the Emperor.

Su Chong saluted the Emperor, and the Emperor helped him up, touching the egg white on the armor. His expression...

Hmm.

The Emperor thought it was bird droppings.

The Emperor didn’t have a handkerchief, so he wiped it casually on Eunuch Fu.

Eunuch Fu, "..."

Emperor, you’re quite the bully, aren’t you?

Seeing the expressions of the Emperor and Eunuch Fu, Su Chong’s mouth twitched and he said, "It’s not bird droppings, it’s eggs thrown by Yangyang and the Ninth Prince, which accidentally landed on me."

Emperor, "..."

Eunuch Fu, "..."

Luckily,

It wasn’t bird droppings.

The Emperor sat back on the Dragon Chair and asked Su Chong about the situation at the border.

When Su Chong left the border, Duke Huguo had died, his body still in the military camp taken by Nanliang.

However, all the major events that happened on the way back from the border, Su Chong knew, and the Emperor should also know.

The Prince of Nanliang arrived at the border, and General Shi betrayed, taking forty thousand troops to join the orphan Zhao Xu of the Donglin Prince Mansion.

"Father said that the war at the border will not resume," Su Chong said.

"Once the peace talks with Nanliang are settled, he will join forces with the Prince and Grandfather to eliminate Prince Qi."

Although this was expected, hearing Su Chong say it felt different.

Initially, when Daqi and Nanliang went to war, the Emperor was not very confident.

Unexpectedly, Daqi not only forced Nanliang into retreat but also captured several Nanliang cities.

The Emperor looked at Su Chong and said, "If the war continues, is it possible for Daqi to annex Nanliang?"

Nanliang has ambition.

The Emperor is no stranger to it.

He just wasn’t so ambitious as to insist on destroying Nanliang.

But now with the internal chaos in Nanliang, this is an excellent opportunity, and it’s no wonder the Emperor has such thoughts.

Su Chong looked at the Emperor and said, "If we must fight, we can annex half of Nanliang."

"Why only half?" The Emperor frowned.

Su Chong looked at the Emperor and said, "The Beimo Cheng King is still alive, and he is in the Nanliang Capital, which Beimo King already knows."

"If we Daqi wish to annex Nanliang, Beimo will definitely intervene."

The other half of Nanliang’s territory will surely be swallowed by Beimo.

Although Beimo has a good relationship with Daqi, they will not sit idly by and watch Daqi annex Nanliang. Even if within three to five years, they will not be destroyed, once they recuperate, they will surely strike Beimo down.

Before the power of the throne, the camaraderie between the Beimo King and Marquis Dongxiang is insignificant.

Moreover, even without the pretext of collusion between Beimo Cheng King and Nanliang, Nanliang once lent soldiers to Beimo, although we all know what’s going on.

But it does not impede Beimo from striking under the banner of repaying kindness after Daqi annihilates Nanliang...

At that time, Daqi will be in grave danger.

As long as Daqi harbors the thought of annexing Nanliang, the hard-won rapport with Beimo will not only be burned to ashes but also spark renewed warfare.

Moreover, Daqi’s internal strife has yet to be resolved, and the war with Nanliang relies entirely on intercepting the grain and money Nanliang took from Beimo.

Both Marquis Dongxiang and the Prince are generals, which general does not want to capture half of the land and leave their name in history?

Indeed, this war should not continue; capturing five cities of Nanliang is already commendable.

The Emperor also knew that destroying Nanliang was not easy, although Zhao Xu had also raised troops, Zhao Xu is after all Nanliang’s compatriot and descendent of loyal martyrs.

Nanliang’s people might not mind switching emperors to another Nanliang native, but they may not be willing to let Nanliang be annexed by Daqi.

Emperors, too, should know contentment brings happiness.

The one most moved was Eunuch Fu.

He had unexpectedly formed a good bond with Zhao Xu in the past, only to realize this good bond extended into Nanliang, potentially to the future new Emperor of Nanliang.

Back then, the harshly worded phrases Young Master Zhao helped with for a fee, Eunuch Fu couldn’t bear to throw away.

He must find someone to frame them beautifully; they are in Young Master Zhao’s own handwriting after all.

Su Chong stayed for two quarters of an hour before taking his leave of the Emperor to return home.

Prince Zhenbei Mansion.

Princess Nanzhang and Xie Jinyu were clamoring to leave the mansion, but Chief Steward Li blocked them.

The Princess Consort had ordered them not to step outside the Prince’s Mansion.

Chief Steward Li stood blocking the way, while the surrounding maids and old servants looked at Princess Nanzhang with deep sighs.

Princess Nanzhang often resided in the Buddhist Hall, shielding her from all except her trusted maid.

Unexpectedly, after more than half a year, Princess Nanzhang had become so gaunt, her hair graying, entirely different than before.

In the past half month, Princess Nanzhang visibly withered away by the day.

When Xie Jingchuan was to go to the border, Princess Nanzhang gladly agreed.

She thought Xie Jingchen was dead, and the Princess Consort gave birth to a commandery princess, leaving the Prince with only Xie Jingchuan as his son. Even if she had been indifferent to Xie Jingchuan before, she would cherish this sole son now.

Moreover, the child in Su Jin’s womb was the biggest threat to Xie Jingchuan, and by eliminating it, he could rest easy.

She trusted her son’s judgment, not expecting Xie Jingchuan to collude with Duke Nanliang to destroy the Flying Tiger Army.

This decision wasn’t wrong; if Duke Chong hadn’t destroyed the Flying Tiger Army back then and eliminated the Heir of Duke Xian, he wouldn’t have had the chance to ascend to Duke Chong’s position.

But while Duke Chong succeeded, her son failed.

Not only did he fail to destroy the Flying Tiger Army, he was caught red-handed by Prince NanAn and his group.

Marquis Dongxiang personally wrote a memorial to the Capital, petitioning for Prince NanAn and his group to be rewarded, and the Emperor praised them in front of the civil and military officials.

So much so that Prince NanAn and his men blushed from the praise.

Though unsure of the details, they felt their son had pure luck.

Caught red-handed and escorted back to the Capital, Princess Nanzhang knew Xie Jingchuan couldn’t escape death.

Devastated, how could she not go to see him?

Blocked by Chief Steward Li, without anyone to assist except Mrs. Zhao.

Princess Nanzhang pulled out the golden hairpin from her hair, pressing it against her neck, "Let me pass!"

"Or I will die here at the mansion gate today!"

Even if she was scorned by the Prince, she was still the concubine of Prince Zhenbei Mansion! A master!

If she’s forced to take her own life, she doesn’t believe the Prince could ignore it!

Chief Steward Li was vexed.

Some people must push themselves towards destruction, step by step.

Having caused such chaos already, they still wish for more.

Princess Nanzhang pressed the golden hairpin to her neck and approached, leaving Chief Steward Li no choice but to let her through.

Princess Nanzhang requested a carriage and headed straight to the Ministry of Justice.

Chief Steward Li sent someone to follow her, ensuring she didn’t run away, then went to the Peony Garden to confess his incompetence to the Princess Consort.

"Princess Consort, forgive me for failing to stop the concubine," Chief Steward Li said.

The Princess Consort was busy playing with the Little Princess, who babbled unintelligibly.

The Princess Consort looked up at Chief Steward Li and said gently, "It’s fine."

"Once she doesn’t see anyone there, she will naturally return."

The Ministry of Justice is not the Prince’s Mansion and will not be coerced by Princess Nanzhang.