Outside the Imperial Astronomical Observatory, the Shooting Sound Colonel Li Shouguo stood as if facing a formidable enemy. Two carriages raced toward him from the left, stopping abruptly not far from the main gate in eerie unison.
Two carriages?
Who else besides the Northern Liang King would dare wade into this mess?
Could it be that the Xu family had reinforcements?
Li Shouguo signaled Li Chang’an to stay by the gate and walked toward the carriages alone, only to freeze in shock.
From the two carriages stepped two women dressed in simple yet elegant attire.
But the moment Li Shouguo recognized one of them, he immediately dropped to one knee, clasping his fists and declaring solemnly, “This humble general, Li Shouguo, pays respects to the Empress Dowager!”
After Zhao Zhuan ascended the throne, Zhao Zhi, once the queen of the nation, had become the Empress Dowager of the current dynasty. She nodded slightly. “Rise. Guard the gate. No one is to enter.”
Li Shouguo scrambled to his feet and returned to the main gate of the Imperial Astronomical Observatory. Sweat poured down his face as he caught sight of his eldest son, Li Chang’an, who now wore an expression of relief. He couldn’t help but chuckle inwardly—*Good lad! If not for the Empress Dowager’s arrival revealing your true colors, I’d have almost believed you weren’t the least bit afraid!*
The two women, similar in age but vastly different in demeanor, stood apart, separated by five or six paces, their gazes fixed on the far end of the street.
Empress Dowager Zhao Zhi’s voice was hoarse as she said, “Today, even if you must die, you must stop him. Otherwise, *he* will die.”
The proprietress of the Ninety-Nine Tavern laughed. “Back then, you deceived his mother. This time, is it still a lie?”
Zhao Zhi whipped her head around to glare at the woman, biting her lip so hard it drew blood.
This woman, who had once married the scholar named Xun Ping, seemed almost mad as she laughed heartily. “Me? I’m just a woman, and now I’m a widow running a small business. Back then, even though I knew my husband was seeking death, I held myself back from interfering. On the way here, I truly intended to risk my life to stop that boy. But just now, when I stepped out of the carriage, for some reason, even if I had to watch him die, I felt I shouldn’t stand in his way. Women—we’re all capable of turning our backs on people. It’s not just you, Zhao Zhi. Anyone can do it.”
Zhao Zhi narrowed her eyes. “So you *want* Xu Xiao and Wu Su to lose a son?! And their eldest, Xu Fengnian, at that?”
The proprietress smirked. “Zhao Zhi, my memory is better than yours. I remember Xu Xiao once said long ago—no one in this world is entitled to live, nor is anyone exempt from death. That’s just how it is! A man struggles to walk this earth once. Wanting to live isn’t shameful! But sometimes, he must be ready to die when the time comes!”
Zhao Zhi’s face darkened like still water.
Unnoticed, two young women had taken their places behind the older ones.
Princess Suizhu, Zhao Fengya.
Chen Yu.
One looked haggard, the other radiant.
When the proprietress spotted a distant black dot at the edge of her vision, she turned to Chen Yu with a smile. “Back then, you really should’ve seized the chance to strike. Some men—once you miss them, it’s a pity.”
Chen Yu seemed to recall something. She raised a hand to her chest, shaking her head with a faint smile. “Aunt Hong, the first time I met that fellow, he couldn’t stop staring right here. A man like that… it’s really hard to bring myself to strike.”
The proprietress stifled a laugh, cursing under her breath. “The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree! Just like his father!”
Chen Yu hummed in agreement, her gaze lowering slightly to the ample scenery below. Her eyes sparkled with amusement, though her tone feigned grievance. “This… surely can’t be fake, right?”
※※※
The carriage drew near.
Even though Li Chang’an knew Empress Dowager Zhao Zhi’s presence meant today’s events at the Imperial Astronomical Observatory wouldn’t escalate, his heart still clenched in an instant. Li Shouguo, meanwhile, was drenched in sweat, his vision nearly blurred.
A young man lifted the curtain and stepped out.
He neither deliberately avoided Zhao Zhi, Zhao Fengya, Xun Ping’s widow, and Chen Yu, nor did he make a point of approaching them.
Zhao Zhi, seeing this, clenched her fists and said sternly, “Xu Fengnian!”
Facing the Imperial Astronomical Observatory, Xu Fengnian slowed his steps.
Zhao Zhi studied that handsome face—so alike in both form and spirit to a certain woman from years past. This still-youthful man was different from the last time she’d seen him, brimming with vigor, or the time before that, his hair stark white. This time, the young man named Xu was restrained and steady.
Zhao Zhi snapped, “Xu Fengnian, don’t forget you are now the Northern Liang King! The Northern Barbarians could march south at any moment!”
He didn’t stop. A dozen more steps, and his back would be to them.
Zhao Zhi’s voice grew sharper. “Yuan Benxi, Yang Taisui, Han Shengxuan, Liu Haoshi—one by one, they’ve all died! Aside from Yuan Benxi, the other three fell directly by your hand! They’re *all* dead!”
When the young man still showed no sign of halting, a flicker of panic—deeply hidden—crossed Zhao Zhi’s eyes. Forcing calm, she said, “Xu Fengnian, even if you don’t care for your own life, think of the millions in Northern Liang! If you die in Tai’an City today, don’t you realize the three hundred thousand iron cavalry will storm the capital?! Don’t you see the Northern Barbarians will seize the chance to invade the Central Plains?!”
The young man finally stopped.
Zhao Zhi could now see the sharp contours of his profile.
Perhaps tempered by the harsh northwestern winds and the crucible of battle.
His youthful face had shed all softness, leaving only resolve.
Seeing him pause, Zhao Zhi didn’t relax. She pressed on, “The Emperor has shown nothing but tolerance and concession to your unauthorized entry into the capital. You *must* understand this, Xu Fengnian!”
Xu Fengnian didn’t turn. His gaze remained fixed on the foreboding Imperial Astronomical Observatory. “Many people—including you and Zhao Dun—never understood why, after the White-Clothed Case in the capital, my father left the city and returned to the Xu family’s camp with its hundred thousand armored soldiers, yet never led them back to raze Tai’an. And until his death, he never told me why.”
He paused. “But after I wandered beyond Northern Liang like a stray dog for three years, I learned why. Xu Xiao *dared* not—nor was he willing—to drag his brothers-in-arms, who had fought tooth and nail across the land for half their lives, to die with him. But if he hadn’t been just a second-rate martial artist, but one of the greatest, he would’ve charged into the palace alone and slaughtered every last one of you! Do you know what I wanted most after returning to Northern Liang? Not to one day inherit the title and command the three hundred thousand border troops—but to train, to become the strongest under heaven! Back then, I truly wasn’t afraid to die. What I feared was training all my life only to end up like Xu Xiao—a second-rate master. I *ached* to train even in my dreams.”
No one knew of the young man at the Liang-Barbarian border who, defying all notions of noble restraint, had felt such exhilaration the moment he finally broke through to the first-tier Diamond Realm.
Xu Fengnian narrowed his eyes. “I say this because you’re women. But Zhao Zhi, don’t forget—in the White-Clothed Case, my mother was a woman too!”
He began walking forward.
From the gates of the Imperial Astronomical Observatory, a dense swarm of armored soldiers poured out.
At the same time, from both ends of the street, countless elite cavalry thundered into view!
Zhao Zhi, the proprietress, Chen Yu, and Zhao Fengya—all four heard the young man’s final words.
“What Xu Xiao wished to do but couldn’t—today, I, Xu Fengnian, will do.”
※※※
Xu Yanbing rose from the carriage, slowly fitting the spearhead onto his *Shanla* spear.
Inside the carriage, neatly folded, lay a discarded black-and-gold python robe.
The young man walking toward the Imperial Astronomical Observatory.
At his waist hung an old Liang blade.
Clad in white mourning robes.
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