Even though Your Majesty had placed Gu Lan in a side hall of Yongming Palace under continuous guard by the Inner Supervision, how did Gu Lan manage to escape? Could it be that something happened in the palace? 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

"Gu Lan, how exactly did you escape the Imperial Palace?" Song Zhi gripped the hilt of his sword tightly and asked in a low voice.

Gu Lan’s gaze was cold, yet his tone was gentle: "Commander Song is so curious, you can just return to the Capital City and see for yourself... You might even catch Rong Jing’s last moments."

Song Zhi’s pupils constricted, almost causing his blood to flow in reverse: "Last moments—"

As he hesitated indecisively, Rong Heng stepped forward and said to Gu Lan, "This time, following the orders of the Emperor, Princess Changle also returned to the Capital City with me; yet, I wonder where she is at this moment and whether she has met her brother."

Gu Lan: "Oh, if you calculate the time, Baoyi would have probably already returned to the Capital City by the time you all started fighting."

Princess Changle!?

Hearing this, Song Zhi could no longer maintain his surface calmness.

His gaze searched behind Rong Heng, and indeed, he didn’t see Rong Baoyi’s figure.

If Rong Baoyi returned to the Capital City with Rong Heng but is not here now, it means they parted ways before they arrived in Mu City.

Song Zhi had never forgotten that last year, when Prince Rui returned victoriously with five hundred elite soldiers from the Southern Border who later got scattered into different regiments and became part of the Capital City Guard—

At this moment, among the twenty thousand imperial guard, five thousand had been taken by Fan Hongyan to the Northern Territory to convey a decree, five thousand were here confronting Rong Heng, and Su Zixiao had also brought three to four thousand; the ones left in the imperial guard camp were mostly useless, while the guard inside the Capital City numbered only a few thousand, led by Deputy General Yan Mo, who was a neutral figure leaning toward the civil and military officials.

The newly-appointed Capital City Governor also protested against Rong Jing a few days ago, and the government officials in the city can’t be considered combat-capable...

Princess Changle is Prince Rui’s only daughter; if she truly had some way to recall those five hundred elite soldiers from the Southern Border whose deployments had been disrupted, it would be enough to plunge the Capital City into chaos!

Song Zhi’s deep, narrow phoenix eyes were filled with a piercing coldness. He tightened his grip on the reins, looked at Rong Heng, and said in a low voice, "The Emperor ordered me to kill you here."

Rong Heng’s sword tip was straight, and his dark eyes were profound and calm. He spoke with poise: "Is that so? Unfortunately, you won’t be able to do that today."

Gu Lan and Su Zixiao distanced themselves from Song Zhi’s imperial guard and merged with Rong Heng’s remaining troops.

Currently, Song Zhi’s imperial guard numbered only four thousand, while Su Zixiao, being a colonel of the imperial guard, had incited over three thousand to follow him, nearly dividing them fifty-fifty with Song Zhi.

Su Zixiao spoke again; he had been a colonel in a regiment of the imperial guard, and thus his words had more persuasive power with them, making him seem more straightforward and sincere:

"You are all soldiers of Dayan; why must you fight against each other! Song Zhi, you have no Holy Decree from the Emperor nor evidence of Prince Xiang’s treason, yet you insist on besieging Prince Yan here—is it to make Dayan fall into civil war like Wei, descending into chaos?"

The surrounding imperial guard looked at each other uncertainly, their expressions varied.

"Commander, Su Zixiao has also brought many people; if we continue to fight, we may not kill Prince Xiang, but instead, deplete our forces..." advised Tan Ce, the deputy general beside Song Zhi softly, his eyes flickering.

"Return, to the Capital City."

Song Zhi’s eyes were filled with unwillingness, yet he still slowly gave the order.

He knew that even if he expended all his soldiers, he could not kill Rong Heng today.

Moreover, with the situation in the Capital City unclear, he had to return to protect Rong Jing.

A flash of guilt crossed Song Zhi’s eyes as he murmured, "I didn’t expect that I couldn’t even accomplish this much for you."

Gu Lan and Rong Heng stood side by side, watching as Song Zhi led the soldiers away. Only then did they glance at each other, their gazes seeming to intertwine like fine threads.

"Lanlan, I’m back."

Rong Heng whispered before Gu Lan, his eyes tender and full of deep affection.

Mo Feng and Hong, the two magnificent steeds that hadn’t seen each other in a long time, entwined like old friends. Rong Heng looked away from the horses, unfastening his cloak embroidered with a golden-threaded dragon pattern and draped it over Gu Lan.

They dismounted, and the young prince naturally pulled the woman in the red dress tightly into his embrace.

"I never imagined, Lanlan, that you’d look so beautiful in women’s clothing." His voice murmured alluringly and serenely in Gu Lan’s ear.

The familiar scent of medicine was faint, almost imperceptible, yet at that moment, the aura belonging to Rong Heng inundated and filled every inch of her heart, instilling a familiar sense of peace.

Gu Lan instinctively wanted to push him away, but her fingers beside her side slowly tightened and clutched his garment; a memory of what Rong Jing once said flashed through her mind, and her heart suddenly ached: