Bai Lu was eventually persuaded by Xu Xian, but she was still feeling quite upset and hadn't been able to eat for several days.
Xu Xian wasn't good at comforting people, and besides, he was actually maintaining a neutral stance and didn't intend to get involved in this mess, so he didn't say much.
On the contrary, former prime ministers Li Xuan and Chen Shu were extremely anxious after hearing about this. Li Xuan was particularly moved, saying, "I thought Princess Heyang was all talk and no action, but I never expected her to go to such lengths."
Chen Shu still couldn't quite accept the fact that the main rebel in Heyang County was Li Xuan. Just as Shang Shaoyan thought, Li Xuan was worldly and seemingly difficult to persuade, but in fact, he was more likely to accept such things. Chen Shu was upright and incorruptible. Although he admired Shang Shaoyan and regarded her as a rare talent, he couldn't quite understand her "rebellious" idea.
Upon hearing that Shang Shaoyan's life hung by a thread, Chen Shu disregarded any notions of treason or rebellion; all he wanted now was for Shang Shaoyan to survive safely.
After all... Princess Heyang is a good person.
Not to mention that she also captured two cities in the Western Turkic Khaganate.
Shang Shaoyan firmly held the Northwest in her hands, only sending messages to those she was willing to send messages to, such as Emperor Chen, the Crown Prince, and the Prince of Nan'an, and still thought that she had been sent by Emperor Chen to the Northwest to do hard work.
As for Cheng Chu and Tai Jian, they were soldiers after all. Upon hearing this, they couldn't wait to rush to the Northwest to help Shang Shaoyan conquer the country. Tai Jian was a simple-minded person. He didn't think that the rebellion of the Heyang County Princess was such a shocking thing. He just felt that as long as he could eat meat by following the county princess, that was enough.
Shuzhou was in chaos. Just when everyone was getting anxious, they heard that Shang Shaoyan was out of danger and was on his way to Shuzhou.
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, but then immediately held their breath again—why was Princess Heyang coming to Shu Prefecture instead of consolidating the gains of the war?
They arranged everything in Shu Prefecture perfectly!
Then they immediately received another message.
It wasn't Princess Heyang who came, but rather her lover—he merely spread the news of Princess Heyang's return to Shu Prefecture, intending it for the likes of Emperor Chen and the Crown Prince.
He did this to lower the guard of Emperor Chen and the Crown Prince, to let them know that Princess Heyang was not interested in the tiger tally, and that he would rush back immediately after finishing his business.
Naturally, if the county lord of Heyang were to fall ill in Shuzhou, or even die, how could he possibly make it back to Shengjing?
Alas, I can only recuperate now—the scenery of Shu Prefecture is beautiful, and only after I recover can I return the Tiger Tally to His Majesty and His Highness.
Upon hearing this, Bai Lu exclaimed in amazement at Xu Xian, "It's truly remarkable that the Seventh Young Master can actually use his brain!"
Xu Xian was also surprised, and even somewhat gratified.
He patted Bai Lu's shoulder with emotion: "Lady Bai, you can rest assured now. The Seventh Young Master is gradually becoming smarter, which means that the County Princess will be able to relax a lot."
Bai Lu: "...My surname is Yu."
Xu Xian scratched the back of his head somewhat embarrassedly: "I'm just used to it."
Bai Lu remained silent for a moment, without saying a word.
Xu Xian asked curiously, "What are you thinking about?"
Bai Lu laughed heartily: "I was thinking, when will I learn martial arts from the county princess... that way if you call me Lady Bai again, I can beat you to death."
Xu Xian: "..."
He cautiously took a step back: "I was wrong."
Bai Lu was in a good mood and didn't argue with him anymore. She glanced at Xu Xian and then laughed: "Just kidding. Call me whatever you want."
Then, humming a song, she returned to the county magistrate's mansion.
Xu Xian watched her retreating figure for a long time before shaking his head with a smile and following her.
...
Northern Zhou Dynasty, imperial palace.
Qiao Yu's health was deteriorating, and he had been coughing up blood for several days. He felt that his days were numbered and just wanted to get things in order in Bei Zhou as soon as possible.
He will only reserve that position for his younger brother; no one else should even think about it.
As for Emperor Zhou... Qiao Yu closed her eyes, her heart turning cold and hard.
Emperor Zhou was not without his loving fatherly instincts, but ever since Qiao Zhuo went missing, Empress Cheng harbored resentment towards him, and their relationship plummeted to its lowest point. Qiao Yu naturally sided with Empress Cheng, but after Emperor Zhou lavishly bestowed titles and honors upon his concubines, Empress Cheng regretted her decision.
She disregarded her eldest son, who had been poisoned by the concubines and whose life hung by a thread several times, and her youngest son, who had gone missing and whose fate was unknown; she only cared about vying for the emperor's favor.
The situation improved slightly after Qiao Zhuo was found.
The two brothers depended on each other for survival in this cannibalistic palace, but they never expected that a concubine would try to poison Qiao Zhuo again.
Qiao Yu shielded her younger brother from this ambush, but her health deteriorated further. At this time, Empress Cheng finally shifted her attention to her two children—it's unclear whether it was because she truly loved them or because she had grown cold towards Emperor Zhou and remembered that she still had two children.
Neither Qiao Yu nor Qiao Zhuo cared much about Empress Cheng's change of heart after her initial infatuation.
On the one hand, they longed for maternal love and were happy that Empress Cheng was paying attention to them again; on the other hand, they felt that Empress Cheng was also a pitiful person.
Life went on like this, just getting by.
Qiao Yu thought that his only relatives were his mother and younger brother. If the Zhou Emperor blocked their path, then he would have no choice but to disregard past ties and push him into the abyss.
He wouldn't let Xiu Yu do things like patricide and regicide. Xiu Yu was simple-minded and kind-hearted. Putting aside whether he could bring himself to do it, just the fact that he would be infamous for patricide and regicide for eternity made him unwilling to let Xiu Yu do it.
As Qiao Yu pondered these things, her heart remained completely undisturbed. She was simply coldly contemplating how to remove the claws and teeth of Emperor Zhou, this obstacle on her path, and turn him into a sick tiger.
After all, Emperor Zhou was no longer a family member to him.
His thoughts raced for a moment, then he began coughing violently again. After a long while, he summoned his advisor from the Eastern Palace and asked, "How has the Seventh Prince been lately?"
The advisor stroked his long beard, looking at Qiao Yu with some concern.
Every time the Crown Prince asked this question, it was because his health had deteriorated further. If things continued like this… the advisor dared not think too deeply about it and could only sigh: “The Seventh Prince is doing very well recently. The letter he sent said that he is currently in the Northwest, traveling with Princess Heyang.”
He paused, then asked the Crown Prince, whom he could never understand, with some doubt: "Why won't you read the letter sent by the Seventh Prince?"
Qiao Yu gave him a cold look and said nothing. The aide was startled by the look and quickly bowed and apologized, saying, "It was I who overstepped my bounds."
Qiao Yu sighed, took a sip of tea, and covered the bitter smile on her lips.
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