General Xu was a man of strong emotions.

After a moment of silence, Jiang Huan suddenly let out a soft breath, looked at Bi Xie with a bitter smile and sighed, "I understand General Xu. The word 'love' can make people give up their lives and not be afraid of any difficulties." Isn't he also being tormented by the word 'love' now, yet he is happy to endure it?

Bi Xie turned his eyes back to Jiang Huan's haggard and pale face, and said slowly, "Since Young Master Jiang is unwilling to say, then allow me to guess, Young Master Jiang is... here for the Prince of Xiaoyao, right?" According to the schedule, Chu Wei should be escorted to the border soon.

With the memories of Xu Xie's previous life, she naturally did not believe that the Prince of Xiaoyao was really corrupt and embezzling. She sneered inwardly that Chu Chu was trying to eliminate all those who posed a threat to her step by step and then seize the throne. Who would have thought that the gentle and soft-spoken Empress she met on her wedding day was so suspicious and ruthless?

Staring at Jiang Huan's astonished face, Bi Xie smiled and continued, "Young Master Jiang has traveled thousands of miles to this remote land, and even went so far as to impersonate an assassin to break him out of prison in order to save Prince Xiaoyao. I admire and am moved by this act. I am willing to lend Young Master Jiang a hand in rescuing Prince Xiaoyao, but I have one request. If Young Master Jiang agrees to this request, I will do my utmost to rescue Prince Xiaoyao."

Jiang Huan froze, his eyes widening slightly: "General Xu is willing to help me?" The border was General Xu's territory. If General Xu was willing to help, Chu Wei would be saved. He clenched his fingers excitedly, "General, do you believe that Prince Xiaoyao is innocent? Why would you help me, General?"

Bi Xie smiled slightly, his hands behind his back as he looked at the rain dripping from the temple eaves: "As I just said, I am not helping Young Master Jiang unconditionally. I have conditions."

Jiang Huan gradually calmed down. Saving Chu Wei was tantamount to disobeying the emperor's order. How could General Xu, who always followed the Empress's lead, easily betray her? Besides, as far as he knew, Chu Wei and General Xu did not have much of a relationship.

His throat tightened, and after hesitating for a long time, he stared at Bi Xie with a solemn expression and asked, "General Xu, what are your requirements?"

Bi Xie's smile deepened: "Young Master Jiang, don't be nervous. My request is very simple. By now, Young Master Jiang should understand who truly wants the Prince of Xiaoyao dead. If it weren't for the Empress's permission, how could the people responsible for escorting the Prince of Xiaoyao dare to imprison him? If I'm not mistaken, there are two reasons why Her Majesty the Empress hasn't killed the Prince of Xiaoyao yet—"

"The first purpose is to create the illusion that the Carefree Prince died of illness on the road. The second..." Bi Xie's smile froze, "is to lure Young Master Jiang into appearing to break him out of prison. Young Master Jiang, have you considered what would happen to Prime Minister Jiang if you were caught by the authorities and reported to the court? What would happen to the Jiang family?"

"If you're determined to find fault, you'll always find a pretext. If you weren't truly desperate, why would Young Master Jiang have attempted a prison break? Perhaps Young Master Jiang has already realized something's amiss..."

Jiang Huan's face grew increasingly grim, his eyes suddenly filled with panic, confusion, and terror. He abruptly looked up and locked his gaze on Bi Xie, "General Xu, was it really Her Majesty the Empress who instructed us? Chu Wei is her imperial sister!"

“Not by blood,” Bi Xie said calmly. “Even if they were, what kinship could there be in an imperial family? How could one Chu Wei compare to the importance of the vast land?”

Jiang Huan frowned, his heart beginning to waver as Bi Xie spoke. Indeed, if it weren't for Her Majesty the Empress's orders, how could those soldiers escorting Chu Wei have dared to imprison her? They didn't even call a doctor to see Chu Wei when she was sick; it was clear... it was clear they wanted Chu Wei dead.

His face turned pale, and he suddenly knelt down before her: "Please, General Xu, save the Prince of Xiaoyao. Whatever you ask of the General, Jiang Huan will grant it."

That's exactly what I wanted to hear. Bi Xie lifted his arm, a half-smile playing on his lips. "Don't speak too definitively. What if I asked Young Master Jiang to persuade the Prince of Xiaoyao and your father to rebel against the Empress?"

The rain was heavy and the wind was strong. Jiang Huan's black sleeves and black hair were blown about in a mess. The cold raindrops hit his face. In the distance, a white flash of lightning illuminated the huge shock on his face and the handsome and slender figure behind the temple gate.

Bi Xie looked at the dumbfounded Jiang Huan and curled his lips in a mocking smile. "Her Majesty the Empress has only been on the throne for two years, yet she has already begun to take action against the Prince of Xiaoyao. She is so suspicious of her half-sisters. I, Xu, hold a large army. Now that the Ye Xi Kingdom is busy quelling internal strife and the border war has temporarily ceased, if I am not mistaken, Her Majesty the Empress's next target will be me. Rather than waiting to be killed, we should unite to save ourselves."

Jiang Huan stood there frozen, his face as pale as a corpse, his body trembling in the cold wind. Even if he didn't want to admit it, the Empress's actions towards Chu Wei along the way were not as gentle, kind, and virtuous as they appeared on the surface.

"You can take your time to think it over, but before you've thought it through, you must not attempt to break into the prison again, and you must not get caught by the authorities. If you are caught, the Prime Minister's Mansion will be found guilty, and not only will the Prince of Xiaoyao not survive, but the more than one hundred people in the Prime Minister's Mansion will also be implicated."

Rebellion is a major event. Historically, those who rebelled either succeeded and became emperors or failed and died as ghosts. Even if Jiang Huan wavered, he still had the entire Prime Minister's Mansion behind him. It was normal for him to be undecided for a while, and Bi Xie was not in a hurry.

Jiang Huan's mind was indeed in turmoil, as chaotic as the raindrops falling from the sky. Should he rebel? If he didn't rebel, Chu Wei would surely die; if he did rebel, what would happen if he failed?

“I’m tired too. We still have to travel tomorrow. Young Master Jiang, you should go and rest as well,” Bi Xie yawned.

Jiang Huan nodded, his face pale, then snapped back to reality and asked urgently, "General Xu, where are you going?"

Bi Xie glanced casually at the back of the temple gate and smiled, "Naturally, we'll continue our elopement. We haven't told Young Master Jiang yet that Han Yun is the young prince of Ye Xi Kingdom."

"Yexi Kingdom," Jiang Huan murmured, his eyes widening involuntarily as he looked at Xu Xie in shock. His expression was a thousand times more astonished than when he heard her say she wanted to rebel. "General Xu, you...you..."

Bi Xie's expression was much calmer: "I only found out recently, but no matter what country he is from or what his status is, it doesn't stop me from liking him."

Ru Hua's delighted voice pierced through my mind: "Congratulations, host! The villain's corruption level has decreased by 20 points, and your happiness level has increased by 10 points. Host, you said this on purpose for the villain to hear, didn't you?"

Bi Xie hadn't expected Han Yun to be so easy to coax. Wasn't he a reborn villain? His happiness level was rising so fast! It was like a dream.

Sure enough, once the points owed were cleared, the difficulty of the tasks was reduced.

“Here, you might find this useful,” Bi Xie said, taking a small, palm-sized jade gourd from his waist. “If you encounter difficulties at the border, take this to the military camp and find Military Advisor Wei Fang. He will naturally help you. Also… don’t tell her I went to Ye Xi Kingdom.”