Xie Qingxiao said, "Since you forgot, it's not a very important matter. Go back and rest first."

After Xie Qing finished speaking, he picked up Qin Wan and strode towards the East Palace.

Qin Wan was furious and annoyed. She punched him and said, "What are you doing? There are so many people watching! Why don't you put me down? Are you stupid for not riding in the sedan chair?"

Xie Qingcai refused to let go: "You've been gone for so long, and it was so dangerous. I have to check carefully to see if you are injured."

Longing turned into a dense kiss that fell on her body. Qin Wan softened into a puddle of water. However, Xie Qing was also very restrained. He pulled away in time when he could no longer control himself, helped Qin Wan smooth her hair, and said, "I asked someone to prepare hot water. You go take a shower first, and then have a good rest."

Qin Wan nodded, thinking that he would do something after taking a bath, but he didn't.

Xie Qing just hugged him gently, covered her with the quilt, and patted her shoulder gently: "Go to sleep."

Qin Wan was also very tired and fell asleep as soon as she closed her eyes.

Qin Wan slept soundly, but the emperor was not.

He looked at Prince Yong standing in front of him, feeling a little excited and a little scared. The emperor's hands were shaking a little. He tried hard to hold back, but in the end he couldn't.

The emperor staggered to his feet, walked up to Prince Yong, and hugged him: "Why are you here? Why did you come just now?"

The emperor cried.

Crying like a child.

This made the commander-in-chief of the Left Army next to him want to find a crack in the ground to crawl into. He looked left and right and saw Eunuch Zhang almost curled up into a ball. He suddenly had an idea and quietly moved to the corner of the wall, squatted down and curled himself into a ball.

Prince Yong felt the dampness on his clothes and helplessly reached out to pat the emperor: "You are such an adult, and you are still crying. Isn't it shameful?"

"My son is rebelling. I have lost all my face. What's wrong with crying a few times?" The emperor cried even louder. It was too embarrassing, especially in front of Prince Yong.

He must be feeling pretty proud right now, right? Look, what good is it just to have the kingdom? He hasn't even sat still yet, looking at these sons fighting each other to the death.

Where is King Yong?

I heard that each of my sons is more obedient than the other.

I'm already the prince's son, so why should I strive for honor? Being obedient is the most important thing.

With this comparison, the emperor felt more aggrieved and wanted to cry more. He didn't want to cry anymore because it was so embarrassing. Prince Yong must be even more proud. But then he thought, they had already embarrassed themselves. If he didn't cry together, wouldn't it be a waste of embarrassment?

The emperor cried even harder, really crying loudly.

Prince Yong wanted to laugh at first, but as the emperor cried longer and longer, he became more and more helpless, and a little... nervous. What evil plan was this old man up to?

The two brothers hugged each other with different thoughts and did not separate for a long time.

Eunuch Zhang stepped forward at the right moment and said, "Prince Yong, shall I have someone take you to change your clothes?"

King Yong looked at himself, his body covered in tears and snot. He said with disgust, "Go, go, go, change your clothes."

The emperor, having Eunuch Zhang wait on him and wiping his face, turned to the quail-like commander of the Left Army and said, "Tell me, how did Prince Yong end up with you and even come to the capital?"

The Left Army Commander, still in shock after what had just happened, was stunned by the question. He quickly walked from the corner to kneel before the emperor, his mind racing, "Your Majesty, the Third Prince of the Qiang tribe is causing chaos, colluding with the Fourth and Fifth Princes, and frequently invading the border. The Crown Princess is short of troops, so she's seeking assistance from Prince Yong."

"In the past..." The Commander-in-Chief of the Left Army felt the Emperor's gaze sharp without even looking up. His heart skipped a beat, and he quickly changed the subject: "Prince Yong received a request for assistance from the Crown Princess, so he went to the Qiang tribe to help the eldest prince seize the throne, and thus quelled the war between the Qiang and our Great Zhou."

"Later, the Crown Princess led the Yongzhou Prefecture's troops eastward and captured Dujiang Prefecture, Huzhou Prefecture, and other places. After Prince Yong returned to Yongzhou, he received letters from Yuguan and Wuguan Pass requesting help. The routes for transporting food and fodder from the capital to the border areas had been cut off by the rebels, so Prince Yong personally brought the letters to the Crown Princess and was subsequently kept by her. As for why Prince Yong followed him to the capital, I do not know."

The Commander-in-Chief of the Left Army wiped a cold sweat from his forehead after he finished speaking. His Majesty was extremely pleased with the Crown Princess, so it was okay for him to shift the blame onto her, right? Besides, he was just speaking the truth.

The emperor looked at the commander-in-chief of the Left Army with an unsure expression, and asked in his heart, "Crown Princess? Why didn't she say anything just now?"

The Commander-in-Chief of the Left Army had no idea what the Crown Princess had just said. He gritted his teeth and said, "Perhaps there are too many things to tell Your Majesty, so he forgot about this. After all, Prince Yong is coming to see Your Majesty as well."

After hearing these words, the emperor's expression seemed to ease a little. The commander-in-chief of the left army did not dare to look up. He could only guess the emperor's mood based on the gaze falling on him. He quickly told him all the big and small things that happened when the crown princess was patrolling the border.

The commander-in-chief of the Left Army was thinking in his mind as he spoke, he must not miss any key things, no matter how big or small!

After finally finishing his words, the Commander-in-Chief of the Left Army quickly presented the list of meritorious personnel and specifically mentioned Lu Yan: "It was only after we captured Zhengnan Prefecture that we learned of the crimes committed by the Marquis of Pingyang and saw the arrest warrant."

"Well, the Crown Princess just mentioned this," the Emperor asked, looking at the Commander-in-Chief of the Left Army. "Did he really accomplish much this time? Was the military token really lost accidentally?"

The Commander-in-Chief of the Left Army replied, "That's what he said. Later, they captured Bai and wanted to interrogate her, but she escaped. The Crown Princess ordered Lu Yan to chase her, but while trying to capture her, he ignited the explosives and died."

The emperor raised an eyebrow: "Is he really dead? Didn't he let him go to hide his tracks?"

The Commander-in-Chief of the Left Army said, "I've ordered an investigation. The village isn't large, and only the two of them were there that night. People witnessed the altercation, and some even saw Bai Shi fail to escape. She was grabbed by Lu Yan and thrown back into the house, where she exploded. She certainly couldn't have escaped."

The emperor asked a few more details and said that it would be better for the person who knew how to make explosives to die if he couldn't use it for his own benefit.

After questioning the commander-in-chief of the Left Army, the emperor summoned Lu Yan into the Palace of Heavenly Purity. Looking at the man before him, who looked as dejected as a living dead, the emperor frowned and asked, "Do you admit your guilt?"

"I acknowledge my guilt." Lu Yan readily admitted it. With Bai Wanyi dead, no one would know about the incident. As long as he could survive and take care of his grandmother, that would be all that mattered. He looked up at the emperor and said, "The Crown Princess promised me that if I could capture Bai, she would let me live. I wonder if Your Majesty would grant this?"

The Emperor wasn't about to deny Qin Wan this favor. He said, "Since the Crown Princess has agreed, I won't reject it. However, losing the military token is a serious crime. Moreover, you and Bai Shi didn't divorce each other peacefully, and she and Xie Xiao rebelled, so you can't escape the blame. So, the death penalty can be avoided, but the punishment of life cannot. I will punish you with one hundred strokes of the cane. If you survive, you're lucky. If you die, you deserve it. Do you have any complaints?"