A Chapter of Volume Two

"What do you mean, fooling around? Sister, you wound Zhen's heart. Zhen is doing something that concerns life and death for your sake."

"How is dressing as a man and pretending to be a little eunuch anything so important..." She pouted, voicing her small complaint.

"Of course it is." The teasing warmth vanished from the Emperor's voice. "How else could you slip out of the palace with Zhen? As a woman, how could you enter Dongxu Mansion without dressing as a man? And if you cannot enter Dongxu Mansion, how can you discuss matters of life and death with Zhen's advisers?"

"..." Li Danxin froze. The Emperor picked up a dossier and slowly opened it. His eyes fixed on her, grave, as he read its contents word by word—

"Upon investigation—General Wu Yanju of Yuanzhou harbors disloyal intentions, and his treasonous designs are confirmed. He has written a seditious poem insulting the court and damaging the dragon Qi. His son has gathered troops to bolster his own power, recruiting a new army under the pretext of guarding the city. He intends to seize Jiangling and other cities in Nanjiang, then use Nanjiang's natural defenses to carve out a kingdom for himself. General Wu Yanju of Yuanzhou has now been imprisoned. To prevent his son from rallying the soldiers under his command and holding us back for fear of harming him, we respectfully request an imperial decision: execute the general on the spot and exterminate three generations of his clan."

"..."

"Do you know who placed this memorial on Zhen's desk?"

"..." Li Danxin bit into her lip.

"You should know... Zhen never sees memorials that have not passed through Prime Minister Father's hands. And Zhen has never refused a memorial Prime Minister Father has placed on Zhen's desk." He raised