Lan Xiuyuan felt as if there was a huge void in his heart, empty and desolate, with only countless winds blowing through it, yet unable to stir even a ripple.

For the first time, Lan Xiuyuan learned what it meant to be worse than dead, and what it meant to be caught between life and death.

For days, Lan Xiuyuan had no idea how he had survived, whether he had eaten, drunk, or spoken to anyone.

He doesn't like to talk now, and nobody talks to him.

Even Feng Zhouyuan, who was always his favorite, remained silent. He really didn't know what else he could say.

Sometimes he would lie in bed, staring intently at the bed curtains, his eyes remaining motionless for a long time.

The servants were frightened by his appearance, but dared not approach him. The entire Prince's mansion seemed to be shrouded in gloom and despair along with the downfall of the Hu family.

At this moment, Lan Xiuyuan sat alone in the darkness.

He kicked everyone around him out; he just wanted to be alone, doing nothing and thinking nothing.

Just when Lan Xiuyuan thought he had fallen into hell, a faint sound suddenly came from the roof at midnight.

Lan Xiuyuan heard it, but he still didn't want to move or do anything.

If any thief thinks there's anything valuable left around him, they can steal it; after all, he has nothing left to hold onto.

The soft sound quickly disappeared, and then a black figure appeared on Lan Xiuyuan's window, gently knocking on it.

Lan Xiuyuan raised his dark eyes and stared silently at the shadowy figure, still without saying a word.

"Your Highness, an old friend from the Northern Kingdom has come to visit. Won't you even invite him in?"

Upon hearing the words "old friend from the North," Lan Xiuyuan's eyes suddenly lit up. After a long pause, he said in a deep voice, "Please come in!"

Upon hearing this, the dark figure outside quickly walked to the door, gently pushed it open, and then closed it again.

Lan Xiuyuan sat motionless in the darkness, simply watching the black shadow without uttering a word.

The black figure was quite burly, but moved with exceptional agility in the darkness.

The man in black quickly walked to a spot not far from Lan Xiuyuan and stood there, his face hidden as he stared intently at Lan Xiuyuan.

Lan Xiuyuan stared at him fearlessly, and the two of them gazed at each other, seemingly trying to find the other's bottom line.

Finally, the man in black couldn't hold back any longer and said in a hoarse voice, "Why has the prince become so despondent so quickly? Did the Prime Minister's death only bring you despair, but not hope?"

Lan Xiuyuan sneered, "Do you think I have any hope at this point? Without the Hu family, Lan Xiuyuan is nothing but a walking corpse!"

The man in black seemed to give a cold laugh, making an unpleasant sound.

"If that's what the prince thinks, then all the prime minister's efforts have been in vain! Does the prince know why the emperor and Lan Linxue have been searching the whole city for us northerners, but they still haven't found us? Why did we appear after the prime minister died?"

Lan Xiuyuan smiled faintly: "Are these things important? Do you think that with you all around me, I can continue to dream of my grand ambitions?"

"Of course! With us, the bravest men of the North, your emperor is utterly insignificant!"

The man in black seemed very proud of his identity, and he stood up straight as he spoke.

"You guys are so capable, would you really be willing to work for me? I don't think there's such a good thing in the world!"

The northerner chuckled coldly: "Of course not! You must pay the price for allowing us to remain hidden for so many years! However, Your Highness, you need not worry, because Prime Minister Hu already paid the deposit many years ago! The treasures of the Qin family have greatly satisfied our Prince and the Emperor! Our Prince believes that as long as Your Highness becomes the new Emperor, our Northern Kingdom will surely have even more and better things! For example, the three cities of Jiangnan!"

Upon hearing this, Lan Xiuyuan immediately frowned and sneered, "Your prince certainly knows how to pick things, taking away our best spot! Why don't you just say he wants to come and become the emperor?"

The northerner immediately laughed heartily: "Your Highness is joking! Our Prince is a very pragmatic man! There are some things we can obtain, but there are some things we absolutely cannot rush. However, I must tell Your Highness something: even without three cities, Your Highness can still control everything else; but if you give up now, you are destined to become a prisoner in less than a month! Moreover, what Your Highness has now was all bought with the Prime Minister's life! Do you really want to sink into such a state?"

Upon hearing this, Lan Xiuyuan immediately fell silent.

After a long silence, Lan Xiuyuan finally spoke again, asking, "How did the Prime Minister inform you of this?"

The Northerner immediately gave a strange smile: "You people will never guess how the Prime Minister told us! To put it bluntly, this was arranged more than ten years ago! The signal was that the Prime Minister would die, and the Northerners would emerge! In other words, only when the Prime Minister dies can we be resurrected from the dead and do what we are supposed to do! If the Prime Minister is alive, then Lan Linxue and the others will never find us!"

As he spoke, the northerner raised his head and laughed heartily.

But a tear uncontrollably streamed down Lan Xiuyuan's cheek in the darkness.