West City, Zhongjing. Diplomatic Envoys' Residence.
Vassal Jia stumbled and crawled his way inside, crying out repeatedly, "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, something terrible has happened!"
He rushed through halls and corridors before finally collapsing before Prince Chunxuan's couch. Sobbing, he said, "Your Majesty, something terrible has happened!"
Prince Chunxuan was toying with a jade artifact he had just purchased. Casually, he said, "What could be so terrible? Has my royal brother died, perhaps?"
Vassal Jia shuddered all over and hurriedly explained, "Your Majesty, it is not that, not that. It has nothing to do with His Majesty. Rather, rather, the Pseudo-Dynasty suddenly broke the pact and attacked us last night. They wiped out all our troops stationed before Yaolan Pass. Your Majesty, th-this may mean the Pseudo-Dynasty intends to destroy our ancestral shrines and state!"
"Oh?"
A peculiar look appeared in Prince Chunxuan's eyes. "Where did you get this news? Is it true?"
Vassal Jia said, "A young master from the household of a certain minister whom we bribed earlier secretly informed this servant."
Prince Chunxuan considered it. He knew that person; he had never passed along any useful intelligence before.
The man appeared to be a wastrel, but he was actually very tight-lipped. Yet he had suddenly passed such important news to them. Either they would soon learn of it anyway, or something even more important had happened, making this news irrelevant.
What could it be?
Thinking of the fall of Yaolan Pass, an idea surfaced in his mind. He asked again, "Who was the Pseudo-Dynasty general who captured Yaolan Pass?"
"It is said to have been the Pseudo-Dynasty's Mysterious Mechanism General, Chen Chuan."
"Oh? Him? Tsk, tsk..."
Prince Chunxuan could not help shaking his head. "Then it was not that my royal brother had been negligent in his