"He has been away for over three years, and the National Fortune Power has been asleep for two." Prince Ying's Princess Consort gazed toward the horizon, her expression worried.
Prince Ying sighed, seeming to fall silent in that instant as well.
"It will be all right. Mo'er will surely return. We will help him guard this realm, and when he comes back, we will return it to him."
Prince Ying's Princess Consort nodded gently.
The next day.
The Imperial Palace posted an imperial proclamation:
Heaven's fortune has sunk into calamity, and unrest shakes the lands. Yang Li, Yan Kai, and Zhuo Ji, vassal princes of the former nations, have shown no gratitude for heaven's grace, seizing this moment to rebel and wreak havoc in their territories. Prince Ying, the acting emperor, will now personally lead the soldiers to quell the unrest.
The proclamation shook the Imperial City.
Some of the common people, who had been filled with worry, seemed to breathe a sigh of relief the instant they saw the proclamation. Everyone knew that the current acting emperor was the Human Emperor's adoptive father. With him going to quell the rebellion, they seemed to relax all at once.
Before the world knew it, Prince Ying and his princess consort had already reached the military camp in the territory where the vassal princes from the former nations had rebelled.
"Prince Ying, Yang Kai holds Cold Pass. It is easy to defend and difficult to attack, and he himself has reached Spirit Transformation. We cannot readily fight our way into Cold Pass," a general standing before Prince Ying and his princess consort reported truthfully.
The generals all sat in a circle, studying the sand table before them.
Cold Pass was named for its location in Cold Mountain, at the edge of the