"Fourth Brother won’t go. Now he spends all day planting flowers and playing with dogs in the house. After his engagement was annulled, he has no other ambitions. He seems to have lost his spirit," Song Li said with some regret.

Song Wei chimed in, "I’ve tried persuading him twice. Fourth Brother is utterly unambitious now, so let’s forget it. If we entrust him with something, he might make a mistake."

Song Jing hadn’t expected this. Come to think of it, she really hadn’t heard much about Fourth Brother in recent days."Second Brother, Fifth Brother, you must be careful on this journey."

After a moment’s thought, Song Jing added, "I’ll pack some gold and silver ornaments. If you encounter the Cui Family, could you please give it to them? I didn’t dare do anything before because I knew Yu Chen wouldn’t let the Cui Family off easily, so I didn’t dare act."

Honestly, she didn’t care much about the life or death of the Cui Family.

But now that Second and Fifth Brothers are going, if by chance the Cui Family is still alive, perhaps they can be of help to them.

Even though the Cui Family was exiled to the east by her father, it was because of Yu Chen.

Their common greatest enemy is Yu Chen, and the Cui Family should understand that only by restoring Nan Qi do they have a chance to rise again. As long as Yu Chen exists, the Cui Family will never have an opportunity to regain power.

Song Li agreed, "Okay."

It wasn’t surprising for Song Jing to have some things hidden away. Given their previous status, it was easy to hide a few things, though not too much due to time constraints, and some hidden items were quickly discovered.

But what they had was more than enough to support their journey to the east.

Ten days later, at dawn, Song Mo, Song Wei, and Song Li disguised themselves and secretly left Capital City, heading east.

"Your Majesty, they’ve left," Lu Zhu reported.

Ah Chen nodded, "Good. Have people watch closely. The excuses to attack the east are increasing."

Once everything stabilizes, they can take action. It remains uncertain what kind of waves the Song Family men could stir up there, as the forces in the east are mostly unscrupulous and dangerous.

Hong Zhu laughed, indeed.

"Song Jing, as expected, didn’t leave," Lu Zhu remarked.

Hong Zhu responded, "Ha, the east is so harsh, how could she go? Unless those Song men can make a name for themselves there and live well, only then would she consider it. She only chooses what’s most beneficial for herself."

Ah Chen agreed with this. Song Jing was indeed a shrewd person.

As for the few Song men who went, they probably didn’t understand what kind of person Song Jing was. Compared to Song Lian, they were still too naive. Song Lian was the truly smart one, having seen the situation clearly, and now lived a peaceful life, enjoying each day as it came.

Soon, the news of Song Mo, Song Wei, and Song Li’s escape spread.

Ah Chen had people pursue them, but they weren’t caught, so the matter temporarily came to a close.

Upon hearing the news, Song Lian smiled and sighed, "I just wish my brothers good luck."

"Is the external guard more vigilant now?" he asked.

"Sir, it is not."

Song Lian understood and expected this.

The Canglan Empress simply didn’t care whether they escaped or not; she might even think it’s better if they did.

They thought going east was an opportunity, not realizing that place was likely a target for the Canglan Empress and would eventually become hers. Only those barbarian lands didn’t attract her interest, so she wouldn’t attend to them for now. However, the conditions there were harsh and it wasn’t the Central Plains. To regain their lost status, those brothers wouldn’t opt for foreign lands, and even if they went, they wouldn’t succeed.

"Sir, is this the end now?" the attendant asked, having noticed Sir had no intention of doing anything.

Song Lian replied, "What else can we do? Given Canglan Country’s current strength, no one can oppose its might. Looking throughout history, how many peoples have been able to immediately restore after being conquered? Bei Qi and Nan Qi fell for their reasons and because their time had run out. Without Yu Chen, it might have taken a bit longer, but not by much, it was inevitable. Both nations had internal issues, with structural problems that only their extinction could rectify, paving the way for new beginnings."

"Consider when Bei Qi fell, how many people sought the Canglan Empress’s rule out of disillusionment from Bei Qi’s oppression."

"Nan Qi wasn’t as severe as Bei Qi, but it wasn’t much better."

"Yun Sheng, just wait and see. Canglan Country will grow stronger beyond your imagination. Perhaps stripping my status as a Prince of Nan Qi isn’t beneficial to me, but it is a good thing for all the people under heaven. Once you understand, it’s alright. If Nan Qi hadn’t fallen, my ending might not be as peaceful as now; Nan Qi’s lifespan wasn’t long, and likely turmoil would occur within my lifetime."

"In the distant future, when people speak of what the Canglan Empress did, they will consider her actions to have been just and splendid, causing this historical period to shine."

Three months later, Ah Chen almost finished dealing with affairs in Capital City, setting off to return to Canglan’s Capital City.

Just upon returning to the Imperial Palace, a servant reported, "Mr. Song mentioned that when Your Majesty returns, he would like to have an audience with you."

If the servant hadn’t mentioned it, she might have almost forgotten about it; it was indeed time to meet him. He probably still thought of Song Jing. Her people didn’t conceal anything about Song Jing’s situation and disclosed it all to him.

When Ah Chen arrived, Song Yuheng recalled the words he once said to the guards.

After Nan Qi was vanquished, knowing the details, he had no desire to see Yu Chen, nor did he have the face to.

It turned out Song Jing was the real Princess, and he had merely been sent as a substitute. Reflecting on past words, he felt a burning shame.

"Does the Third Prince have anything to say?" Ah Chen asked.

Song Yuheng glanced at Fan Shi beside Ah Chen. Since she had come, surely she wanted to say something, but he wished to converse with her privately.

Yet, Ah Chen held onto Fan Shi’s hand, telling Song Yuheng, "Go ahead, he’d also like to listen."

Song Yuheng paused, staring silently at Fan Shi for a long time. Mr. Fan had indeed achieved his wish, truly able to follow her throughout his life. Undeniably, she was an excellent monarch, continuously improving the people’s lives.

Fan Shi was delighted that in front of others, Your Majesty dared not hide their relationship.

In official matters, they were sovereign and subject; privately, they were lovers.

It was heard many desired a position close to Your Majesty? They must be dreaming; they’d have to surpass him first. Both in words and deeds, he could cope with everything.

Song Yuheng sighed, realizing he had nothing more to say.

"It seems the Third Prince has nothing left to say," Ah Chen laughed. "Song Jing is the Ninth Princess. Returning to the start, if the Third Prince had known this truth, what would you have done?"

Song Yuheng remained silent and didn’t respond.

"You’d likely think replacing her was proper and view my resistance as treachery, correct? After all, the Third Prince also harbored many. Consider the two who disguised themselves as Song Jing and Cui Chen. Were it not for Bei Qi’s demise, they’d have faced a miserable end. If unwilling at that time, what would you have done? You wouldn’t kill them, not being extremely evil or cruel, but you would cast them away. They would still bear the infamous label of ungratefulness. As slaves, they had no identities. If expelled, what future awaited? Unquestionably poor."

"Though you kept them alive, they lacked the wings needed to survive in this environment."

"Their miserable plight from birth was due to Bei Qi, so Bei Qi had to perish."

Song Yuheng turned pale, speechless; she was entirely correct.

"Prepare yourself; in ten days, I’ll arrange for you to be sent to Capital City."

"You’ll meet Song Jing then. It’s been long; surely you both have much to say. Weren’t you once enamored with each other? You share the same lineage, but the blood relation is distant, so it doesn’t matter."

Watching Ah Chen leave, Song Yuheng didn’t retort but currently harbored no special feelings towards Song Jing.

On the third day back, during the morning court, ministers brought up selecting a Court Consort.

Fan Shi took note of each proposing official, keeping them in mind; they were simply too idle.