The battle within the Imperial Palace quickly concluded.

Under Bai Pu’s Sandfall Domain, the martial artists of the Central Plains, whose power had greatly increased, decisively killed the Jin soldiers and leaders who were tormented by the sandstorm.

Bai Pu also specifically assisted Qin in capturing the Jin General—Black Halberd Jin Bingnu, who led the Wolf Fang Iron Cavalry, alive.

With their leader gone, the Jin soldiers naturally collapsed, and were pursued and killed by the Iron Staff Gang and other Jianghu experts.

The Jin soldiers could contend with martial arts experts due to unified command and a strategic formation. Without command, the scattered defeated soldiers were nothing more than fodder for the Jianghu experts.

Nobody noticed that while the Jianghu experts were chasing the defeated soldiers, two people from the Iron Staff Gang quietly left.

Bai Pu did not join in the pursuit; given his status, it wouldn’t be proper for him to do such a thing. Besides, Bai Pu wouldn’t earn a Treasure Chest by killing enemies, so he ignored it.

"Your name is Jin Bingnu?"

Qin assisted Bai Pu in interrogating the captured Jin General.

"So what if it is?" Black Halberd Jin Bingnu said coldly, not even glancing at Qin, "I am not your captive, you have no right to question me."

"I caught you, how are you not my captive?"

"If it weren’t for the person in white helping, you wouldn’t have had a chance to use that Evil Demon Martial Art!" Jin Bingnu shouted.

Indeed, it was as he said. During the battle just now, it was Bai Pu who remotely used a Mystical Arts Skill to suppress, forcing Jin Bingnu’s consciousness to disconnect.

Qin’s Blood Magic Power took advantage, gripping Jin Bingnu’s heart fiercely, injuring him and causing him to cough blood, leaving him incapable of combat.

At this moment, Qin’s Blood Magic Power was still entrenched in Jin Bingnu’s heart.

"You disagree?" Bai Pu glanced at Jin Bingnu.

"This... I don’t recognize her, but I do respect you," Jin Bingnu said sullenly, "Your skills are impressive."

"Alright, let me ask... Of you three barbarian generals, who is the Main General stationed at Bianjing?"

"...Che Li Buhua."

"Then why are you inside the Imperial Palace?"

Jin Bingnu seemed to have made a decision and spoke straightforwardly: "Che Liqi and I led the Wolf Fang Iron Cavalry to capture an important figure at Yingtian Prefecture, passing through Bianjing on the way."

"Capture who?"

"Prince Kang, Zhao Gou."

...

On the outskirts of Bianjing City, two figures swiftly moved through the mountains and fields.

"Brother Misheng! That native named Bai Yujing is so formidable, are you truly not considering joining his camp?"

"Ye Zi, you must understand, we currently belong to Prince Kang Zhao Gou’s faction. Rashly switching to another prince’s faction means we’re not one of them, doing all the dirty and hard work without gaining their trust."

The young man named Misheng, with wisdom gleaming in his eyes, said, "Prince Kang Zhao Gou has a strong team of Awakened and has enlisted powerful native experts like ’Youyan Guest’ to protect him, and the odds of victory are much greater than Bai Yujing’s ragtag group.

"Moreover, historically, Prince Kang Zhao Gou did succeed in founding the Southern Song Dynasty. He became Emperor Gaozong of Song! This is the Great Trend of history, so following him isn’t wrong."

Ye Zi muttered, "Last time, in the world of the Flesh and Blood Plague, you also said that the Sweden Empire’s dominance was the Great Trend. Yet, the Imperial Army Marshal Dior Fulri we followed turned out to be a Huaxia Awakened..."

Misheng felt a bit embarrassed, coughed, and said, "That was indeed unexpected... Who would have thought an Awakened could be so powerful? We must reclaim that insult one day."

Ye Zi sighed lightly, "But speaking of which, Dior Fulri treated us fairly when we worked for him, rewarding us with merit and reputation, even later arranging for us to have a foothold in Mainland Sweden, establishing a base in the Sweden Empire’s camp..."

"Ye Zi, don’t be swayed by his small favors."

Thinking of being bossed around by "Dior Fulri," Misheng gritted his teeth in frustration, "There’s an old Huaxia saying: thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river, don’t underestimate the young and poor!"

"Hmm, hmm..." Ye Zi answered, somewhat absent-mindedly.

"This mission of gathering intelligence in Bianjing has yielded an unexpected gain. Who would have thought the Bianjing Imperial Palace would still conceal a Twenty-Eighth Prince. This news should be reported to Prince Kang promptly to increase our goodwill." Misheng said.

"In that case, Prince Kang won’t be the only surviving royal bloodline. If we endorse him to become emperor, won’t there be difficulties?"

"No. You also saw that Twenty-Eighth Prince, he’s only eight or nine years old! Prince Kang is already over twenty. Any civil or military official of the Song Dynasty would only support Prince Kang as the new king."

...

Outside of Bianjing, three hundred li away, at Yingtian Prefecture.

Inside a secret chamber.

Prince Kang Zhao Gou, of a rather thin build, glanced around nervously.

Opposite Zhao Gou was a tall and thin man dressed in black, carrying a long rectangular black wooden box on his back.

The tall and thin man said blandly, "What does Your Highness Prince Kang wish to discuss?"

"Senior Youyan Guest, today I heard some good news... My brother was rescued from the Bianjing Imperial Palace, and Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, Li Gang, is planning to support him to ascend the throne." The expression on Zhao Gou’s face didn’t align with the words "good news" at all.

"Is this news credible?" Youyan Guest lifted his chin slightly.

Zhao Gou clapped his hands, and immediately Misheng and Ye Zi, heads bowed respectfully, walked in.

"Greetings to Senior Youyan Guest. We saw this with our own eyes, it’s absolutely true!" Misheng said.

"Li Gang, I am well aware of this person, a loyal and upright man. If he is willing to support an immature child as emperor, he must believe there is no other option, thinking all royal blood has been captured." Youyan Guest said blandly, "Your Highness Prince Kang, Mr. Zong has long said that the country cannot be without a monarch for a day and advised you to ascend the throne sooner. But you’ve delayed, fearing the responsibility. If you had courageously taken the burden, ascended the throne, and proclaimed to the world that the Central Plains still has royal blood, Li Gang and the others wouldn’t pursue such rebellious actions."

"What you say is true, but what should I do now?" Zhao Gou said worriedly, "That Twenty-Eighth brother of mine remains in Bianjing, and he killed the traitor Zhang Bangchang, making his claim to the throne even more legitimate than mine. In that case... won’t there be two emperors in the world?"

"It seems I must make a trip to Bianjing to resolve this matter," said Youyan Guest.

"Take care, Senior. The Twenty-Eighth Prince is accompanied by a master named Bai Yujing, whose martial arts are unfathomably deep," Misheng quickly tried to earn favor.

Unfortunately, such light words didn’t move Youyan Guest, having no effect on his goodwill.

Ignoring Misheng, Youyan Guest took down the long black wooden box and flicked it lightly: "Bai Yujing... If he is wise enough to understand and is willing to turn from the dark to the light, acknowledging Prince Kang as emperor, then all is well. If he persists in his folly and covets the merit from accompanying the dragon, my Supreme Profound Sword will surely drink his blood!"