Hearing the commotion outside the Platform of Inquiry into the Dao, Xiao Mo shook his head helplessly.

“Let Her Highness the Princess come in.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Only after receiving permission did Wei Xun open the main gate to the Platform of Inquiry into the Dao’s courtyard.

Qin Mujiu hopped in happily like a little white rabbit and called out sweetly, “Your Majesty Brother.”

“The wedding date is getting close. Mujiu, you should be pretty busy these days, no?” Xiao Mo smiled. “How do you have time to come to me?”

“It’s exactly because I’m busy with the wedding rites all day that the moment I have free time, I come,” Qin Mujiu said, her eyes curving. “Mujiu wants to go somewhere today. Can Your Majesty Brother go with Mujiu?”

“Fine.” Xiao Mo tossed his sword onto the rack. “Where to today?”

“To the Library Tower...” Qin Mujiu said lightly. “Mujiu once heard that one of Zhou’s former rulers loved collecting books. He spent enormous sums gathering ancient texts from all over the world. May Mujiu go take a look?”

That was true. That former Zhou ruler was not fit to be an emperor, but he truly was fit to be a scholar. He loved reading, and he loved collecting books even more—so much so that for the sake of a single book, he would trade away an official post in Zhou.

Zhou had once been strong ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ beyond measure, yet its territory shrank smaller and smaller, its national power weaker and weaker.

Zhou reaching its present state really did have a great deal to do with that former ruler.

“Of course.” Xiao Mo agreed. “Let’s go.”

“Yes, yes!”

Qin Mujiu held her hands before her and walked at Xiao Mo’s side.

Before long, Xiao Mo brought Qin Mujiu into the Library Tower.

Qin Mujiu flitted through the sea of books like a butterfly.

Xiao Mo casually picked up a book and sat in a wooden chair to read.

A quarter hour later, Qin Mujiu finally chose her book and sat down beside Xiao Mo.

Xiao Mo did not mind. He simply continued reading the Illustrated Guide to Talismans in his hands.

The two of them sat by the window, both reading with full focus, without saying a single word.

Half an hour passed. Xiao Mo finished the book in his hands and turned his head, only to find her still carefully turning pages.

Warm sunlight spilled over her. Her slender waist was straight, her delicate hands softly flipped each page, and now and then she tucked long hair behind her ear. With her quiet like this, Xiao Mo felt a brief daze—then, for reasons he could not name, a trace of inexplicable guilt rose in him.

And just as Xiao Mo was looking at Qin Mujiu, Qin Mujiu turned around. Her clear, bright eyes blinked at him.

“Why is Your Majesty Brother staring at Mujiu? Is there something on Mujiu’s face?”

“No.” Xiao Mo came back to himself and shook his head, finding an excuse. “I was just wondering what that book was about, for you to be so absorbed.”

“This book is about what happened after the gods of the heavens fell—how Zhou split apart, how Zhou rites collapsed, how the Ten Thousand Laws world entered the Warring States era, and events from the later period when Ancient Qin unified the world.”

Qin Mujiu explained.

“But because the ancient Warring States are simply too distant from our time,

most books about that era are written from folk legends. Many people’s names were never even recorded, and a lot of names are just things scholars made up at random.

“This book is the same.

“As for that Ancient Qin Empress and that general, the book doesn’t even bother inventing names. It only calls them ‘the Empress’ and uses the folk name ‘Frost King.’

“Still, there are a few novel points.

“If Your Majesty Brother is interested, Mujiu can tell Your Majesty Brother about it—shall I?”

“Mm.” Xiao Mo nodded.

Seeing Xiao Mo agree, Qin Mujiu pulled her chair closer, placed the book between them, and pressed her soft arm against Xiao Mo as she spoke gently.

“Back then, after the Northern Pacification King passed away, Frost King returned to the Qin imperial capital.

“And one day, the Qin ruler sent his daughter away and gave Frost King a letter...”

Night fell. Back at the Frost King’s residence, Xiao Mo opened the envelope alone in his room.

After Xiao Mo finished reading the secret letter, the very first thing he did was burn it.

Thinking back on what the letter contained, Xiao Mo could not believe how bold the ruler truly was.

The next day, Xiao Mo sent word by flying sword to the Northern Wasteland.

“Qiu Wen pays respects to the master.”

Three days later, Qiu Wen appeared before Xiao Mo and bowed.

“I will give you several tasks. Remember each one. Do not be careless in the slightest.” Xiao Mo spoke slowly. “First, have every assassin of the Wasteland Tower who is still in the Northern Wasteland come to the Qin imperial capital. Second, have General Fang lead fifty thousand Snow-Treading Dragon Cavalry—”

Xiao Mo instructed her word by word, as if afraid she might miss even a single line.

The more Qiu Wen listened, the heavier her expression became.

When he finished, Xiao Mo asked again, “Did you remember everything I said?”

“Yes, Master. This servant will go carry it out at once!”

Qiu Wen nodded heavily, then vanished in the blink of an eye.

Two months passed.

In those two months, the border remained tense, the court remained anxious over the matter of the Crown Prince, and in Qin—both in court and among the common folk—everything looked the same as ever.

But in truth, Xiao Mo, Prime Minister Li, and the others were using every moment, quietly and without fanfare, to prepare something.

Xiahou Nan, Li Jing, Zhao Guang, and the other commanders guarding the frontier also received Xiao Mo’s flying-sword letter.

After the three read Xiao Mo’s message, their hearts all sank with crushing weight.

Inside the palace, the Imperial Guard commander was already advanced in years and voluntarily retired to return home.

And the one who replaced him as Imperial Guard commander was a fierce general under Xiao Mo—Black Big Ox, a man from the Iron-Tiger Army.

Another winter arrived.

Compared to past winters, this year’s winter seemed even colder.

That morning, the Qin ruler canceled morning court due to the cold.

When the news spread, the civil and military officials of the court were all stunned.

Because since ascending the throne, the Qin ruler had never once canceled morning court or failed to attend it. Even when gravely ill, he insisted on holding court, listening to memorials, and only then returning to the inner palace.

Yet this time, His Majesty canceled morning court simply because of the cold?

Many began to probe the ruler’s intent. Quite a few officials even went to Xiao Mo’s residence or to the residences of the Three Excellencies to ask what His Majesty intended to do, and whether something major had happened in court.

But Xiao Mo, Prime Minister Li, Baili Xi, Jian Shu, and the others either closed their gates and refused visitors, or kept silent, or only said, “This old man does not know, either.”

At the same time—

Within the Qin royal palace, Qin Siyao was already running toward her father’s sleeping quarters.

“Father!”

When Qin Siyao reached the courtyard before her father’s sleeping quarters, she saw her father sitting on a stone stool in the yard, reading.

“What is it?” Qin Shengtian set the book down and lifted his head, smiling at his daughter. “Why are you making such a fuss?”

“Father still asks what is wrong? It’s I who should be asking Father what is wrong.”

Qin Siyao let out a breath of relief and hurried over.

“Your daughter heard Father canceled morning court. It startled your daughter. I thought something had happened to Father.”

“Hahaha. What could happen to me in this royal palace?” Qin Shengtian chuckled. “And it was only canceling morning court once. Is there really a need to react so strongly?”

“Of course there is.” Qin Siyao sat across from her father and poured herself a cup of hot tea. “Father has gone more than a hundred years without change, never canceling morning court. For Father to suddenly cancel today—who wouldn’t worry?”

“It is not so serious. Your father only feels that after living this long, it is time to rest properly.” Qin Shengtian rose and asked his daughter, “How about it? Since there is nothing today, do you want to take a walk with your father?”

“All right. Then your daughter will accompany Father on a walk.” Qin Siyao agreed. “Where is Father going?”

“Just walking. Wherever we reach, that is where we’ll be.”

With his hands clasped behind his back, Qin Shengtian walked out of the courtyard.

Qin Siyao followed at his side, the two of them walking through the palace together.

The Qin imperial capital had already seen several heavy snowfalls. Today the snow had stopped, but the entire palace still wore a thick coat of silver.

Father and daughter walked slowly forward, leaving one footprint after another.

Yet for some reason, Qin Siyao’s heart could not help recalling the day her mother died.

That day, her mother had also been walking with her through the palace halls...