At the end of the gathering of four countries, there was such a big incident, but the Xie family didn’t panic at all, and the newly enthroned Fu Yanran was also extremely calm. He quickly dealt with the Xue and Lin families and put the Crown Prince and the others into permanent detention according to the law, locking them up. By the way, he dealt with the Western Regions that participated in the conspiracy and then appointed Xie Lin as the regent according to the plan.

Everything went very smoothly. However, there was no movement on Xie Ke’s side.

Everyone knew that Xie Lin was getting older; besides, he had another injury and wouldn’t be able to last for a few years. In the future, the foundation of the Xie family would be handed over to Xie Ke.

Even the people inside knew very well that in fact, all this was planned by Xie Ke. Even Shen Yang, who replaced Prime Minister Xue, had an unspoken cooperative relationship with him. But after all this was successful, this person disappeared. 

In the true sense, he was gone. He didn’t appear at Fu Yanran’s enthronement ceremony, as if he had vanished into thin air.

However, no one dared to ask.

After the entire capital was stabilised, the envoys of the four countries were allowed to leave. Before that, they were brought back from the hunting ground and then locked up in the embassies. Although they were ostensibly “strictly protected in case of accidents,” everyone knew it was house arrest.

It wasn’t until a month after the enthronement ceremony that envoys were allowed to leave one after another.

The ancient countries of the Western Regions ran the fastest, followed by Chen, but the Lord of Jing was left behind by Xie Lin and didn’t know when he would leave. As for King Xidan, who didn’t play cards according to the rules, he really didn’t leave. After staying in the capital for a few days, he was asked to leave by Xie Lin very amicably.

Before leaving, Xidan also met Fu Yanran in a friendly manner and said in front of the new emperor: “I underestimated you.”

Fu Yanran didn’t look at him much and waved his hand with the meaning “get out of here”.

“Do you know what happened when the Xie family signed the agreement with me after the Qianyuan Battle?” King Xidan said, “Even Emperor Qingyuan didn’t know. My first surrender was signed to Xie Ke, and I only signed it to him alone. I did serve him willingly.”

“Stirring up trouble is of no use to me,” Fu Yanran gave him a look, “I know where my place is, I don’t need to be reminded by King Xidan.”

King Xidan’s smile became more and more obvious. He stopped speaking, saluted Fu Yanran, turned to leave, but as if remembering something, turned back and asked, “Is Xie Ke dead?”

Fu Yanran glanced at him as if looking at a fool.

“I was thinking too much,” King Xidan sighed regretfully, and asked again, “Fu Zhiyu, Wang Zhao, is he dead too?”

Fu Yanran frowned and said, “It is none of your business.”

King Xidan didn’t get any answer from him, so he finally left. He was “sent” away by Lu Linhai all the way to the border between the two countries.

The Lord of Jing then left, too. Princess Miaotang had recovered from her injuries. Fortunately, she hadn’t officially been engaged with Wang Zhao. If it had happened, she would be a widow even before she was married.

Du Yin was in charge of the escort. He rode a horse next to the princess’s carriage. As soon as he left the capital, he saw Lin Miaotang secretly lift the curtain, look around, stare at Du Yin for a long time and whisper to him: “General Du?”

“Is there something wrong with the princess?”

“Where is Wang Zhao?” she asked, “I… don’t believe he just died like this.”

“If you don’t believe it, I can’t help it,” Du Yin said. “Everyone has their own destiny.”

Lin Miaotang wiped her eyes and then said in a small voice: “I know… He saved me at that time, I heard his voice.”

Du Yinka glanced at her without answering.

“Actually, I woke up a long time ago, but Father changed my medicine. He said that it was safer for me to sleep,” Lin Miaotang said. “I don’t even know what happened. When I woke up, the whole world changed.”

Du Yin still didn’t say anything. He was always taciturn, and naturally he wouldn’t say a word about this matter.

“The only thing I remember very clearly was when His Highness Wang Zhao found me,” Lin Miaotang said. “I know he was there. There was another person. He came with him. He was the young General Xie.”

Lin Miaotang’s hand lay on the edge of the window, tightly clasping the wood of the carriage.

“After I came round, they said that it was the young General Xie who saved me,” she said, “No, he, he did it on purpose.”

Lin Miaotang wasn’t stupid, not to mention that she had heard so much.

Later, it was said that His Highness Wang Zhao burned to death in a fire, and Xie Ke disappeared with him.

“He also likes Wang Zhao, I heard it all,” Lin Miaotang said; her intuition for a rival seemed to be particularly keen, “No wonder, at that time, the Thirteenth Prince… no, His Majesty, said that, said that… it was impossible for me and Wang Zhao.”

“The princess should be careful with her words.”

Lin Miaotang had held back these words for a long time, and only dared to say them when she left the capital. As for why she chose Du Yin, she knew that Du Yin was Xie Ke’s confidant, it was no secret.

“Will he be nice to His Highness Wang Zhao?” Lin Miaotang said, “He is, he is such a terrible person.”

Du Yin didn’t answer.

“But Wang Zhao is so good,” Lin Miaotang murmured again, “He is very good-looking and gentle. Even if I can’t marry him, I hope he will live well.”

Du Yin glanced at her and suddenly said, “The princess has talked to Wang Zhao many times. Do you know… what happened to him before? Wang Zhao, did he ever mention it to you?”

“What?” Lin Miaotang raised her head with a confused expression, “What… what happened before?”

Du Yin said a little more obviously: “Didn’t Wang Zhao tell you about the feelings that he experienced before?”

“Do you mean those concubines? I know about them,” Lin Miaotang felt a little uncomfortable after mentioning this, but she also grew up in the palace and wasn’t so naive about this kind of thing, “The imperial family can’t avoid it.”

“No,” Du Yin shook his head, “I’m talking about the relationship between Wang Zhao and Xie Ke… they might have been together before.”

Du Yin actually regretted it a little bit when he said it, but he had already started, so he simply said it to the end. He wanted to know if Lin Miaotang had heard anything from Fu Zhiyu that could give him some understanding of this matter. 

Others didn’t know Xie Ke’s situation but he knew.

It was being dead without dying; just lying on the bed for a long time with his eyes closed. If it weren’t for weak breathing, Xie Ke would be no different from a corpse. The Shadow told him everything about the situation at the time. In addition, Xie Ke explained a bunch of things before he fell into a coma, all of which were related to Fu Zhiyu. He repeatedly told them that they would never be allowed to disturb Fu Zhiyu for any reason.

…Xie Ke loved him so much that he had to protect him even after Fu Zhiyu almost killed him with an arrow?

Du Yin really couldn’t understand. He and Xie Ke had known each other since they were children. Obviously, Xie Ke and Fu Zhiyu had never seen each other before the ice lake. After the ice lake, it suddenly became like this. Was this love at first sight explainable?

He also asked Nong Yu. After thinking about it for a long time, Nong Yu hesitated: “I think… they should have known each other for a long time.”

Du Yin: “??? I have no idea.”

Xie Ke had been practising martial arts outside for a long time, and only returned to General Xie’s residence at the age of twelve. Du Yin thought it might have been before he came back, but Nong Yu had no idea either. Wang Zhao had never been out of the capital when he was a child, and the two had no chance to meet, so it was even more impossible.

Du Yin rarely was curious about anything, but he really wanted to find a reason for this matter. Wang Zhao was very good-looking, but just for good looks, there was really no need for Xie Ke to do all this.

It was impossible for Xie Ke to explain to them why he liked Fu Zhiyu so much. Maybe he could find out why from Fu Zhiyu’s point of view.

This was why he couldn’t help asking Lin Miaotang, but Lin Miaotang was as confused as he was.

“Have been together before…?”

Because she had guessed it, she wasn’t particularly shocked when she learned of this, but she was a little uncomfortable.

The princess stared at the edge of the window for a long time, then said softly: “His Highness Wang Zhao… he is really a very gentle person.”

“I knew he didn’t like me and didn’t plan to marry me, but he really treated me well and saved me,” she murmured. “If he likes someone, how nice he will be to the person he likes… Even if just once, this person will be very lucky.”

Du Yin was taken aback, and for the rest of the journey, he didn’t speak again.

Du Yin’s heart was biassed. After all, he had been with Xie Ke for so long, and he followed Xie Ke in whatever he wanted to do. Only one Fu Zhiyu was an unexpected person.

He really didn’t feel how good Fu Zhiyu was. That person was lazy and indifferent; apart from his face, there seemed to be nothing special about him.

He had repeatedly heard the Shadow’s description of that arrow, from strength and speed to accuracy, impeccable. So many people in the Shadow had failed to stop the arrow, so there was no need to say more about the power of it.

Du Yin began to sincerely admit that he underestimated Fu Zhiyu, wondering how many secrets were hidden under this person’s harmless face, and what kind of experience he had with Xie Ke that made Xie Ke willing to become like this.

It was precisely because of these many doubts that Du Yin quickly accepted a new order after escorting the Jing party and coming back to the capital.

“I… I have never had a problem with Jiangnan as the fief of the Ninth Brother,” Fu Yanran said. He had become the emperor just a short while ago and hadn’t switched his manners yet. He coughed, and then said, “The young General Xie mentioned it to me a long time ago. The decree has been prepared. He wanted to tell the Ninth Brother the news in person, but he is now in a coma. I thought it could be delayed a bit, but I didn’t expect him to still be thinking about it. Let’s not drag it on, just go now.”

The Fu dynasty had never had such a thing as a fief. Usually, a Wang was given some towns and villages, but never a fief. This was to prevent the Wangs from separating and isolating the imperial power.

The area of Jiangnan was a treasure. Although it was far from the capital, there were wealthy people gathered there, and the prosperity was more than that of the capital. Setting this place aside was really digging a treasure from Jilin’s heart.

But Fu Yanran really accepted it well, not just in words. He had been prepared a long time ago. This was just one of his transactions with Xie Ke. He knew in his heart that whether he went Emperor Qingyuan’s road or Xie Ke’s road, it was because Fu Zhiyu didn’t fight for the throne that this whole Jilin country could be his.

It was also because of Fu Zhiyu’s help in the imperial garden that he had become the Fu Yanran now. Today, there were many people who could be a puppet emperor. If it weren’t for the Ninth Brother, he wouldn’t even be qualified to talk to Xie Ke.

It was a gift or sorts. Although it was a bit expensive, the Ninth Brother deserved it.

Xie Ke was unconscious, and Du Yin took the initiative to take on the errand of delivering the decree.

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