The leader

After the court assembly, the contents of the urgent dispatch, delivered over an 800-li express courier service, spread rapidly.

Every official in the capital was spreading the word, and everyone spoke in hushed tones, behind closed doors. It spread swiftly yet discreetly.

Before this, there was the Jingxiu Palace, where Consort Chen resided, with its layers upon layers of vermilion walls.

Lin'an, with her bright and radiant beauty and charming, affectionate eyes, had just finished paying her respects to her mother and stayed at Jingxiu Palace to keep her company.

Consort Chen sipped her health-preserving tea, gazing at her radiant and alluring daughter, and sighed.

"Wei Yuan's military expedition will bring him another lucrative military achievement. This Wei Yuan is the greatest threat to your elder brother, the Crown Prince, for the position of Crown Prince, but he is also the most solid foundation for the Crown Prince."

Lin'an took a sip of tea, her lips becoming moist and delicate, but she did not respond.

As a princess, she was clearly unqualified, but through exposure to the world, she had acquired some skills, so it's not hard to understand what her mother meant by those words.

There is no doubt that Wei Yuan supports the Fourth Prince, because Wei Yuan is a eunuch who came from the Phoenix Palace.

However, Wei Yuan was also the most solid "foundation" for the Crown Prince. The Emperor was suspicious, and Wei Yuan's achievements threatened the Emperor's position, so it was impossible for the Fourth Prince to become the Crown Prince.

Consort Chen sighed, "If only Wei Yuan could have died on the battlefield."

Hearing this, Lin'an frowned. It wasn't that she was unhappy with her mother Curse Wei Yuan; she and Wei Yuan had no real affection for each other.

She simply felt that her mother's tone and expression when she said those words conveyed a sense of certainty amidst hope—yes, certainty.

It's as if I know something, but before the final verdict, I feel uneasy and dare not be completely certain.

The second princess, with her innocent and carefree girlishness, certainly didn't possess the profound skills to read people's expressions, but the woman before her was her birth mother, one of the people she knew best.

As they were chatting, the light from outside was momentarily blocked. The Crown Prince stepped across the threshold and rushed in, calling out, "Mother! Mother!"

Lin'an turned his head and saw his elder brother enter the house. His expression was complicated, a mixture of excitement and regret, joy and grief.

Consort Chen smiled and said, "Your Highness, please have a seat."

She instructed the palace maids to prepare tea for the Crown Prince.

The crown prince waved his hand, indicating that he didn't need it, and dismissed the palace maids. He sat down on the soft couch covered with bright yellow silk, and after a long pause, slowly said:

"Mother, Wei Yuan died in battle in the Northeast."

The mother and daughter froze simultaneously, and a few seconds later, their expressions turned into two completely different looks.

Lin'an's face paled slightly, her shock mixed with bewilderment and worry.

Consort Chen was overjoyed; the joy was so immense that her body trembled slightly, and her voice trembled as well. "Really?!"

The Crown Prince nodded, giving an affirmative reply, "The urgent dispatch arrived last night. This morning, Father Emperor convened an emergency court meeting to discuss this matter. News of Wei Yuan's death in battle will soon spread throughout the capital. Of the 100,000 troops, only 16,000 were withdrawn. In this battle, our Great Feng suffered heavy losses."

Consort Chen's face flushed with excitement, radiating a spring-like glow. Even though her son and daughter were already adults, she still possessed a unique charm and showed no signs of aging.

"What do necessary sacrifices matter as long as I can ascend the throne?" Consort Chen said firmly.

It was as if he was educating the crown prince, or perhaps comforting himself.

The Crown Prince nodded, then sighed, "It's a pity Wei Yuan died. He had an extremely strong sense of the big picture. I had even hoped that after I ascended the throne, he would accept reality and serve me."

There were only three close relatives present, and the Crown Prince spoke without reservation.

"Your Highness, your biggest flaw is that you like to daydream and hope for the impossible."

Consort Chen gave a reprimand, then smiled, saying, "Stay at Jingxiu Palace for lunch. Have a few drinks with Mother. With Wei Yuan dead, Mother's worries have finally been lifted, and she feels completely relaxed."

The Crown Prince laughed too, "Very well, today I will drink to my heart's content with my mother."

Lin'an watched them silently, and as she looked at the two people who were connected to her by blood, she was suddenly overwhelmed with intense sorrow.

This sadness stems from loneliness; she can no longer identify with or empathize with what they say, what they do, what makes them happy, or what makes them angry, as she used to.

Without realizing it, I had gradually drifted further and further away from them.

Not long after the morning court session ended, a note was passed through layers of clandestine channels and finally ended up in the hands of the head guard of Dexinyuan.

He unfolded it and glanced at it, then his expression changed drastically, and he rushed towards Huaiqing's bedroom.

Huaiqing had already gotten up and was having breakfast in the outer room. She looked at the head guard who had rushed over and stopped at the door, and frowned as she asked, "What is it?"

The head guard didn't speak, but stepped over the threshold and nervously handed over the note.

Huaiqing frowned, a hint of doubt in his eyes, and took the note to read it.

Her beautiful face gradually turned pale, and even her lips lost their color.

She remained like this for a very long time, then suddenly awoke with a start, as if remembering something, and cried out, "Mother!!"

Huaiqing quickly got up, rushed out of his bedroom, went to his study, and pulled out a letter from a history book.

She tucked the letter into her sleeve, lifted her skirt, and rushed out of the study.

The letter was given to her by Wei Yuan before he went to war, and it included a piece of advice:

"Give this letter to your mother at the appropriate time."

Huaiqing didn't understand what the right time was back then, but now she does.

She ran all the way to Fengqi Palace, with two palace maids chasing after her, panting and clutching their waists, their faces pale, looking like they were about to die.

Inside the Phoenix Palace, the Empress sat at her desk, blending incense. She wore a magnificent golden robe adorned with phoenixes and a small phoenix crown, her beauty captivating and her demeanor elegant and noble.

This stunning beauty, secluded in the inner palace, seemed untouched by time itself, her breathtaking beauty seemingly untouched by its ravages.

In the entire capital, apart from the Empress being slightly inferior to me in her youth, all other women are ten or a hundred times inferior to me. --Mu Nanzhi's words

This is a very high evaluation.

Because in the princess's eyes, there are only two kinds of women in the world: one is Mu Nanzhi, and the other is all women in the world.

The fact that such a narcissist would acknowledge his good looks speaks volumes.

"Why did you decide to pay your respects to me?"

The Empress smiled when she saw her daughter approaching.

Her smile was elegant and dignified, but she did not show excessive enthusiasm for her daughter's arrival.

The Empress was still the same Empress, as gentle and dignified as ever.

To outsiders, the Empress was approachable, gentle, and the epitome of a woman who truly embodied the virtues of mother of the nation.

For example, there Xu Qi'an once exaggerated the Empress's gentle and unpretentious nature, and many others like him.

But in Huaiqing's view, this was true indifference.

In Huaiqing's memory, this mother was always dignified and aloof, gentle and reserved, so reserved that even she, her daughter, found it difficult to get close to her.

"Duke Wei died in battle at the headquarters of the Witch God Cult."

Huaiqing said succinctly.

Then, she saw this elegant and dignified woman, who had acted as an empress flawlessly, lose her composure for the first time.

You're lying!

She suddenly screamed, her phoenix eyes widening as she looked at Huaiqing not as a daughter, but as an enemy.

Huaiqing gazed at his mother, a look of sorrow flashing in his bright, clear eyes.

What Xu Qi'an could guess, she could naturally guess as well; the case of Consort Fu had already explained a lot.

She placed the envelope on the table and said calmly, "This is a letter that Duke Wei asked me to give you before he went to war."

After saying that, she turned and left.

Stepping across the threshold and leaving the room, she did not leave immediately, but waited in the courtyard for a moment until she heard the Empress's heart-wrenching cries coming from inside.

Every sound was a cry of blood, a pain that pierced the heart.

Huaiqing raised his head, and in the bleak autumn day, amidst the white clouds, he seemed to see that gentle and refined man again.

Duke Wei, what kind of story do you and she have?

The Xu Household once again came to the Cloud Deer Academy to seek refuge.

Xu Lingyin was dragged along by her aunt, reluctantly climbing the mountain. Her two light eyebrows were furrowed, and she asked loudly, "Mother, are you sending me here to study again?"

My aunt said curtly, "No, I've already given up on you."

Xu Lingyin bounced up and down, beaming, "Mother is the best to me!"

"How could I have given birth to such a good-for-nothing daughter?" My aunt was almost brought to tears by her daughter.

Upon arriving at the academy, they went directly to the courtyard where they had stayed the previous two times.

After settling their families in, Xu Qi'an and Li Miaozhen left the courtyard side by side and saw Dean Zhao Shou standing not far away, looking at them with a serious expression.

Before Wei Yuan went to war, he entrusted me with two things, asking me to give them to you when the time was right.

Zhao Shou took a letter from his pocket and handed it to Xu Qi'an, saying, "This is a letter he left for you."

There was another thing he didn't mention.

Xu Qi'an didn't ask any questions. He took the letter, put it in his pocket, and nodded slightly.

The two flew away on their swords.

Yuyang Pass, on the border of Xiangzhou.

The dog's mournful barking echoed across the sky, circling in circles in the far distance.

On the city wall, the soldiers hung their heads. A centurion spat and cursed, "Those bastards from Yan Kingdom, coming to show off again."

The target was too high and too far, beyond the range of the crossbows. The flying beast scouts were very experienced and did not give Great Feng high-ranking warriors of Da Feng any chance. If anything seemed amiss, they would immediately send their hounds away.

Even a fourth-rank expert couldn't catch up with such a speed-oriented beast by flying through the air.

The centurion turned to look at the demoralized soldiers, his anger flaring, and cursed:

"Damn it, look at you all now, like useless wretches whose wives have been slept with by some random man. Show some spirit! Duke Wei led his brothers to conquer Jingshan City. Jingshan City, the headquarters of the Witch God Cult."

"Don't even mention our Great Feng, even the Great Zhou has never seen anything like this before. It's something that will be recorded in history. Do you know what this means? You uncouth creatures."

The centurion pumped his fist excitedly. "You'll be remembered in history!"

But Duke Wei died in battle.

The soldiers around him whispered.

The centurion's face fell instantly, and he remained silent for a long time.

Was the war won?

In the eyes of these soldiers who went to war with the army, if they won, they would break through the heart of Yan Kingdom and capture the headquarters of the Witch God Cult. Such a victory would be worthwhile, not to mention the lives of more than 80,000 people, even if it cost 100,000 or 200,000.

The total number of people who died in this battle, including ordinary citizens and soldiers, has reached one million.

A tremendous victory.

However, Wei Yuan's death was a heavy blow to the soldiers of Great Feng.

The kind that directly crushes morale.

After withdrawing from the territory of the Witch God Sect, 16,000 remnants were stationed at Yuyang Pass, awaiting instructions from the imperial court.

During this period, scouts from both the Great Feng and the Yan Kingdom kept a close watch on each other, relaying messages and paying close attention to each other's movements.

Suddenly, the silence was shattered by the piercing howl of the dog, and the scout who had been swaggering in the distant sky, along with his flying beast, was torn to pieces.

Blood was splattered.

The soldiers on the city wall squinted and peered out, seeing a dark figure kill the scout carrying a dog, then turn and fly towards the city wall.

Immediately afterwards, they heard the woman in the Daoist robe announce loudly, "I am Li Miaozhen, a disciple of the Heavenly Sect."

The centurion slowly exhaled, as if relieved.

"She is the Holy Maiden of the Heavenly Sect, and the Flying Swallow Heroine."

Who is the Flying Swallow Heroine?

"You don't even know about Lady Flying Swallow? She's the Holy Maiden of the Heavenly Sect."

"Being able to fly on a sword seems pretty impressive."

"More than powerful, Flying Swallow Heroine is invincible. Wherever she is, no one dares to do evil."

"Really?"

That's what everyone says.

The soldiers whispered excitedly to each other. Those at the bottom had little or no concept of ranks. In their eyes, a third-rank master was not as good as a famous swordsman.

Looking to the future, there will be a specific term for it: "National popularity".

If it were Xu Qi'an, they would think they were invincible. Because Xu Yinluo acted out of a fit of rage for the people, killing a duke in the street, and the court didn't dare to say a word. Even the emperor was forced to issue an edict of self-reproach.

Li Miaozhen landed her flying sword, which came to a steady stop above the city wall, and then fell down with Xu Qi'an.

Is this the legendary Flying Swallow Heroine? Such a beautiful young woman! The soldiers' eyes turned to the two young men and women, their gazes filled with scrutiny.

Then, they all looked at the man behind the Holy Maiden of the Heavenly Sect.

His features are handsome and refined, not giving people a feminine or "beautiful" feeling, but rather a handsome and elegant appearance.

His expression was indifferent, and an indelible sadness was etched between his brows.

He looked familiar, like I'd seen him somewhere before, but I couldn't quite place who he was.

Until the centurion's body trembled, his rugged face suddenly flushed red, and he stammered, "Xu, Xu Yinluo."

Xu Qi'an looked at the centurion, but did not answer; he simply nodded slightly.

In the military camp below the city, more than 10,000 soldiers suddenly heard a loud cheer erupting from the city walls, creating a cacophony of noise.

Some rushed out of the camp, some reined in their horses, and some stopped what they were doing, all turning their heads to look at the city wall.

They heard countless cheers, merging into one voice:

Xu Yinluo!

For the Great Feng soldiers who were "leaderless," the name Xu Yinluo was a shot in the arm, a pillar of strength, and a guiding light that dispelled their confusion.

Throughout history, leaders have always been those whose prestige is at its zenith.

Inside the military tent.

"Duke Wei led five Golden Gongs on the expedition, why is it only you who came to see me? Where are the others?"

Xu Qi'an met Zhang Kaitai, whom he hadn't seen for many days, and asked in a calm tone.

Zhang Kaitai, whose stubble hadn't been shaved in a long time, said softly:

"They're all dead. They all died at the headquarters of the Witch God Cult. Some fought to the death with the witches, while others were caught in the crossfire of that earth-shattering battle and died on the spot. Of the fourth-rank members, only Chen Ying and I managed to retreat."

For the first time in a long time, Xu Qi'an felt an urge to smoke. He composed himself and said softly, "Where is Duke Wei?"

Zhang Kaitai looked at him; the young man had a calm expression, stable emotions, and appeared very composed.

However, when Zhang Kaitai met those bright eyes, he subconsciously looked away.

He looked to the side and said, "We couldn't bring him back."

Xu Qi'an swayed.

After a long silence, she slowly exhaled and said, "Tell me what happened, starting from when you set out on the expedition."

Zhang Kaitai nodded and said, "Actually, I'm only just realizing a lot of things now. For example, why did Duke Wei attack so hastily? Because from the beginning, we didn't have any supplies."

"No food supplies?"

Xu Qi'an's pupils contracted slightly.

A hundred thousand men are sent to war, and they're not given any provisions?

Is this a war, or sending people to their deaths? Has Yuan Jing gone mad? Have all the officials gone mad?

Do they really wish for Duke Wei's death that badly?

"After his brothers withdrew, Chen Ying, in a fit of rage, led his troops to slaughter all the officials of the Ministry of Ministry of Revenue in the three prefectures, killing hundreds. Then he returned to the capital with a hundred men."

Zhang Kaitai shook his head. "He wants to confront His Majesty, and confront all the officials."

Zhang Kaitai recounted in detail that after the expedition began, Wei Yuan secretly divided his troops, with one part taking the land route to attack cities and capture strongholds, aiming to conquer the Yan Kingdom in the shortest possible time.

However, they were hindered by the easily defensible and difficult-to-attack city walls of Yandu.

Although the capital of Yan was not captured, Duke Wei had achieved his goal of holding back the forces of Yan and Kang.

The story continues until Wei Yuan summons the phantom of a Confucian sage, who then fights a desperate battle against a sorcerer until he dies.

It was him, it was him, it was Joan of Arc. Xu Qi'an's face twisted in pain.

After listening to Zhang Kaitai's description, he was absolutely certain that the mysterious expert who joined forces with the Witch God Cult to kill Wei Yuan was the late Emperor Joan of Arc.