Translator's note: This chapter is belated, as life got away from me. Thank you all for your patience. -  Jiang Changbai didn't pay her any attention; in an instant, her gaze swept past her, and shifted to look at Xie Qianbing. "What's the situation outside the Palace?" With a fight at the Imperial Palace's gates, the capital most certainly was affected. In comparison to interrogating Wu Lianyi, clearly knowing first about the situation in the city was more important. And Xie Qianbing had come here from her residence, and naturally understood best. Luckily, almost no worry appeared on Xie Qianbing's face. "Responding to Bixia, the might of the rebel forces ought to not be much, and adding on that the capital hasn't been stable in the past dozen or so years, the people are all experienced. On the way here, this minister only saw that the doors and windows of all the houses were closed securely, and there was barely anyone on the streets. But there ...

Though Wu Dongmu was broad and portly, and appeared quite foolish, when it came to the time of extreme risk to life, he was as nimble as a rat, and in a few seconds, he slipped into the crowd, such that Song Juguang's head ached a bit too. A ferocious ruthlessness flashed in Song Juguang's gaze, and she leaped to chase after him, but she hadn't gone far when she was obstructed by the soldiers in the middle of battle. Raising her gaze, she saw Wu Dongmu fleeing even further away, like a dog with its tail tucked between its legs, and her hands surreptitiously formed a seal, and the next moment, she turned and rushed towards the Rear Court. What was insignificant and what was not, she could still tell clearly. Over there, ever since Meng Daosheng had brought soldiers into the Imperial Palace, she'd pressed towards the Rear Court, cutting through thorns and overcoming all obstacles along the way, the battlefield behind her left largely to the sisters she'd brought along...

In this moment, the absurdity in Shen Yanyi's mind was greater than the fear. In this short half a day, her mood had gone through far too many ups and downs. It was as if this life of hers wasn't hers, but rather having been controlled and threatened by multiple different people. Just a moment before, she'd been immersed in the despair of losing her life, and in the next moment, she'd been moved by another's forgiveness. But now, this life could be counted as having returned to her. Jiang Changbai's expression was one of hard to hide emotion as well. She gazed at Shen Yanyi, and in a flash, a complicated set of emotions welled up in her. It wasn't that she hadn't seen the dead before; but even if she were more cold-hearted, she wasn't willing to see the life of someone who'd followed by her for a dozen or so years gradually disappear before her. The grief and anger mingled in her eyes, but she only said lowly, "If We don't allow you to...

"Hahahahahaha—" Wen Qing had only just finished speaking when Yang Zhuofei's near-maniacal laughter rose from behind the group. As it turned out, the imperial guard from just then had been hasty, and had only bound her hands and feet, but hadn't stuffed a cloth into her mouth. Now, having received this news, Yang Zhuofei believed even more so that Jiang Changbai wouldn't live for long, and so had laughed loudly, causing the gazes of the group to turn back and fall on her. As she laughed, Yang Zhuofei said, "Ah, you foolish girl—did you think that, as long as you confined this princess in the Palace, everything would be well? Did you believe that, as long as you were Emperor, you'd look down on the world with a thousand hands and a thousand eyes, and that you'd know all the matters of this world? Now that this princess' people have breached the Palace, you won't be able to stay on the Imperial much longer; it would be better for you to take of...

Jiang Changbai had just finished speaking when Shen Yanyi fell to her knees with a thud, practically falling to the ground. Only at this moment did she realise how much she'd overestimated herself; all of her plans, all of her jealousies, all of her unwillingness, in the end, it all came to nothing. She'd killed Han Yu, but soon enough, she herself would be be walking in her footsteps. Perhaps when she reached the path of the Yellow Springs, the two foes could even walk shoulder to shoulder for a bit. There was just one thing she couldn't understand. Shen Yanyi drew a deep breath, and raised her head to look at Chang Jiaye, standing by Jiang Changbai's side. She couldn't figure out when it was that Chang Jiaye had discovered her plans, or how she'd made the decision; when she'd revealed it to Jiang Changbai, had her mind hesitated in the slightest, and at this moment, what was her opinion on her? Shen Yanyi had too many questions she wanted to know the answe...

Today, the heavens seemed to quite favour Shen Yanyi; the leader of the currently on-duty imperial guards in the Imperial Palace was Chang Jiaye, whose relationship with her had always been good. Chang Jiaye, seeing Shen Yanyi, who had changed her clothes, hurrying over, covered in the dust of travel, said with a smile, "How is it that such a busy person has found the time to come spend time with me? Don't tell me that you wanted to find her majesty in the Palace and got lost and so dazedly came to me. Go any further and it's the Rear Court; you'd best not rush in like a fool." After she finished speaking, Chang Jiaye sniffed; she felt that there was a strange scent around Shen Yanyi today. But her thoughts didn't go towards the scent of blood; after all, she'd always felt that the impression Shen Yanyi gave one was that of a scholar; there couldn't be the slightest connection drawn to the scent of blood. Shen Yanyi raised her head to look at Chang Jia...

No matter how Bi Yushuang scolded her, this thought had still taken root in Liang Jiwen's mind. Liang Jiwen had her own plans in her mind; Jiang Changbai couldn't be counted as having treated her badly—at least, she treated her better than those who shared blood with her. If she were to cause trouble in the Great Li in the name of so-called supreme power, then that really would be being unable to recognise others' good intentions. But if she were to return to Shejin, then that would be an entirely different matter. To speak of it properly, the grounds for her going to be the King of Shejin were more proper and grounded than Jiang Changbai's grounds for being the Great Li's Emperor. After all, according to the legal system of the Great Li, at most, Jiang Changbai could be counted as a collateral relative; if not for the fact that everyone else had died, then this position perhaps truly wouldn't have fallen to her. But ideas were only ideas, and Liang Jiwen knew ...