She came to the bedside and softly called out, "Your Majesty?"

Su Wanyan's eyes flickered slightly, and the next second she opened them. Seeing the sliver of light on in the room, she struggled to get up despite feeling sleepy: "Is it time?"

"Yes, it's already past 3 AM."

Qiu Ye lit the candles in the room one by one, and curtsied to Su Wanyan, saying, "Your Highness, please wait a moment, this servant will go and fetch some hot water."

Su Wanyan got up, went to the clothes rack, took the clothes down, and slowly put them on.

In a short while, Qiuye had prepared hot water for washing up.

Su Wanyan shook off the last bit of drowsiness and scooped up some hot water to wash her face.

Qiu Ye handed Su Wanyan a cup of sandalwood tea and began preparing silver hairpins and jewelry for her to use for dressing.

Upon seeing this, Su Wanyan said, "No need to take it out, just tie it into a simple bun."

"Yes." Upon hearing this, Qiu Ye put the jewelry she had just taken out back.

Fucheng, the city gate.

A small door opened beneath the towering city gate, where Luo Xue and Huang Ye were already waiting.

Su Wanyan stepped down from the carriage, and Huang Ye first gave a curtsy: "As Your Highness instructed, everything has been arranged."

"Okay." Su Wanyan, dressed simply, looked at Qiu Ye and Huang Ye: "I'll leave the affairs of the courtyard to you two. If there's anything, just talk to Steward Wang."

With frequent troop movements around Fuzhou, if Yu Nanqing's side cannot strike first, Fucheng will be put in a passive position.

Su Wanyan had already told Steward Wang and the others about the escape route inside Prince Gong's Mansion, so that if there was really no other way, they could abandon the mansion and escape.

"Yes, Your Majesty, rest assured," Qiu Ye replied.

As they exited the city gate through the small gate, they saw Mingyu and Xiaobu leading four horses and waiting at the city gate.

Upon seeing Su Wanyan emerge, the two bowed respectfully, saying, "Your Majesty."

Without much hesitation, Su Wanyan pulled on the reins of one of the horses, kicked off, and mounted it.

The horse swayed slightly from her movement. Su Wanyan pulled on the reins, and the horse turned around. With a shout, it sped off into the darkness like a gust of wind.

Seeing this, Mingyu, Xiaobu, and Luoxue dared not delay and quickly mounted their horses. With a "giggle!", Luoxue and Mingyu took the lead and caught up with the horses.

Xiao Bu wasn't in a hurry. She looked at Huang Ye and Qiu Ye, who had come out to see her off, and said, "Before it's dawn, you two should hurry back. The Empress is under our protection, so don't worry."

"Okay, you all need to be careful too."

Xiao Bu nodded to them, and with a "giddy-up," he left the city gate.

Yu Nanqing traveled very quickly, and after two months, he had secretly arrived at the outskirts of the capital.

The situation in the capital was far more perilous than what they had heard in Fucheng.

All of Yu Nanqing's properties in the capital have been taken over by the Empress Dowager, including the Prince Gong's mansion in the suburbs, fields, estates, shops in the city, and the areas under her jurisdiction. The Empress Dowager's influence can be seen everywhere.

It was ostensibly for the safekeeping of Yu Nanqing, who was far away in Fucheng.

The common people were unaware of the dire straits they were in, but anyone with discerning eyes could see that the Empress Dowager wanted to strip Yu Nanqing of his power.

Yu Nanqing won Fucheng because of his military achievements. Even after leaving the capital, she was still worried. She was afraid that Yu Nanqing would recuperate and return to the capital. So, she was able to keep her composure for the first year after Yu Nanqing left, but now she is eager to get rid of him.

Controlling the resources of the capital was simply a way to control Yu Nanqing's financial resources, thereby restraining him.

Not only in the capital, but also in the north and south, where the Prince Gong's mansion had two trade routes, the Empress Dowager had already sent people to carry out treacherous schemes before the new year.

Of the more than ten merchant caravans belonging to Prince Gong's Mansion, five fell victim to the Empress Dowager's treacherous scheme. The caravans suffered heavy losses, including casualties, leaving Wei Xiang, who was in charge of the caravans at the time, completely disoriented. He had no choice but to go to Fucheng to meet with Yu Nanqing and report the situation.

Beneath the calm and peaceful surface, there are many other matters, big and small. The power struggle between the Empress Dowager and Yu Nanqing has never ceased. Even the recent assassination attempt at the temple during the Mid-Autumn Festival was carried out under the Empress Dowager's strict order to take the heads of Yu Nanqing and Su Wanyan.

After this incident, although the Prefect of Fucheng could not find anything, how could Yu Nanqing possibly let it go?

This is precisely why the Empress Dowager became increasingly anxious. She tried everything she could, but could not harm Yu Nanqing in the slightest. This made her increasingly extreme in dealing with Yu Nanqing, to the point that it was out of control.

The Empress Dowager had used Yu Nanqing's annihilation of the Bai family in Fucheng to make a big fuss in the court, wanting to get rid of Yu Nanqing as soon as possible. However, because the evidence presented by Yu Nanqing was conclusive and some court officials stopped her, the Empress Dowager had to swallow her anger and remain inactive once again.

This time, Fuzhou mobilized troops and sent assassins to kill Yu Nanqing and Su Wanyan. Firstly, they genuinely wanted to take their lives, and secondly, they wanted to force Yu Nanqing to take action. As long as Yu Nanqing made the first move and wiped out the Prince Gong's Mansion, she would have a legitimate reason.

"Your Majesty, I have something to report."

In the palace, the morning court session is in session.

A courtier from the back stepped forward, his lowered brows unable to conceal his booming voice in court.

He ascended to the throne as a young emperor, clad in a bright yellow dragon robe.

He looked completely numb. He sat upright, unmoved by the words of the court officials.

Behind the throne, separated by a beaded curtain, the Empress Dowager's voice came steadily from within: "What is it?"

"Your Majesty, winter is approaching, and there is a shortage of cotton and charcoal this year. The people in the city have no cotton to buy. Some merchants are taking advantage of this to hoard goods and raise prices, causing chaos. We hope that Your Majesty will issue an edict to appease the people and limit the prices of cotton and charcoal by merchants, so that the people can safely get through the long and harsh winter."

"Who is the Market Supervisor?" the Empress Dowager asked upon hearing this.

The Ministry of Revenue's Market Administration was a department specifically responsible for managing prices in the capital city.

Another official from the court immediately stepped forward and said, "Your humble servant is here."

"Is this true?" The Empress Dowager's voice was authoritative.

The market official dared not delay and reported, "Your Majesty, this is indeed the case in the city, but... it is truly unavoidable."

He bowed and said, “Winter warmth supplies are not only in short supply in the capital, but also in the surrounding towns where there is no cotton to buy. With cotton and charcoal in short supply, the prices that merchants are paying are high. It is not that the merchants are exaggerating the prices. If it were not for Lord Dong’s mention, I would have reported this matter to the Empress Dowager today, hoping that she would investigate it carefully.”

"Nonsense!" Before the words were even finished, Lord Dong, who had reported first, rebuked, "Cotton wadding that originally cost less than 2 coins per catty is now selling for 10 coins per catty, more than several times the original price. Cotton bolts that originally cost no more than 3 taels per bolt are now being sold for 10 taels by the common people. How many taels of silver do ordinary people earn in a year? Does Lord Jiu think that I haven't checked the purchase price of cotton?"