The news from Zhenzhou reached the Capital City half a month later.

Mid-spring, February, the willows were enchanting and the flowers soft.

On the corridor draped with hanging wisteria, footsteps sounded "thud, thud, thud, thud."

Tang Xiaobai, hearing this rhythm, immediately knew it was the eldest young lady coming.

Raising her head, she saw a graceful figure in emerald appear at the door of the Bright Moon Building.

The subtle attire couldn’t hide the rich colors, and under the soft silk spring wear, curves rose and fell alluringly.

Tang Xiaobai held a brush between her fingers, propping up her chin with a smile, and asked, "Sister, why do you love wearing light-colored clothes lately?"

Tang Jiaojiao’s face inexplicably turned red: "I’ll wear what I want, why do you care?"

"I don’t care, I don’t care..." Tang Xiaobai shook her head, lowering her head to look and write again.

Tang Jiaojiao twisted and sat beside her, peering at the book before her and asked, "Have you heard about the matter in Zhenzhou—"

"I’ve heard."

Tang Jiaojiao originally came to share the news but felt a bit deflated upon hearing her response: "Su Shunqing has left, and how come you’re still so well-informed?"

"Ah Xiao wrote to me!" Tang Xiaobai boasted, "Prince Changshan is dead, the twelve thousand troops in Zhenzhou are now under Prince Li!"

Prince Changshan was shot dead by her family’s little ancestor with one arrow!

That scene, she imagined it, must have been extraordinarily handsome!

"That’s it?" Tang Jiaojiao raised an eyebrow, her eyes urging.

Her news was leaked from the court, surely not as detailed as what was in Qin Xiao’s letter.

Tang Xiaobai understood in her heart and said, "Earlier, there were suspicious circumstances around Princess Changshan’s death. It might have been caused by a concubine from the Prince Mansion, Ah Xiao was still investigating this matter when she wrote the letter."

Tang Jiaojiao frowned: "A concubine can harm a princess? How chaotic must the Changshan Prince Mansion be?"

Tang Xiaobai lowered her gaze: "Prince Changshan has controlled Zhenzhou for decades, how could the mansion be chaotic?"

It was precisely because the Changshan Prince Mansion was firmly controlled by Li Mingyi that Princess Changshan would die.

Tang Jiaojiao also understood, remaining silent for a moment before asking further, "And then?"

"After the death of Princess Changshan, Prince Changshan lured Prince Li back to Zhenzhou and then detained him—"

"Wasn’t his martial arts quite good?" Tang Jiaojiao frowned, not knowing who to be angry with.

"With the new mourning for his birth mother, being in grief, how could he expect to guard against his biological father?" Tang Xiaobai thought it over and found it dangerous, "Prince Changshan waited until Prince Li was disoriented after days of vigil before acting. Later, he also used medicine on him daily, fearing he would recover his martial arts. Fortunately, Prince Li had many supporters, and out of fear, Prince Changshan didn’t dare to act rashly."

"Beast!" Tang Jiaojiao gritted her teeth and cursed lowly, then pursued, "So... how did he escape danger later?"

"It was Qin Rong—" Tang Xiaobai mentioned, glancing at the eldest young lady.

As expected, Tang Jiaojiao’s expression turned distant, asking, "What good deeds has Qin Rong done again?"

"Qin Rong, mixing in with the people sent by Prince Qing, met with Prince Li and cured his poison, also rescuing the trapped Princess Zhen Ding. With no further worries, Prince Li, together with Ah Xiao and Su Shunqing, turned the situation around."

Tang Jiaojiao sneered, her tone sarcastic: "Indeed, we really owe her a lot."

Tang Xiaobai inwardly sighed.

Indeed!

This time, Li Xingyuan’s escape from danger, Qin Rong’s contribution was the greatest.

Even she didn’t know the heroine had such hidden skills in medicine and poison, quietly curing Li Xingyuan and even rescuing his biological sister. Such a favor wasn’t trifling.

But she also knew her sister was feeling uneasy, so she tried to comfort her: "It’s also thanks to Sister’s denunciation of Prince Li before Your Majesty, resulting in His Majesty sending Prince Jin to Zhenzhou, demanding Prince Li as a hostage. Ah Xiao said, Prince Changshan agreed to hold Prince Li as a hostage, likely intending to use a borrowed knife to kill. However, on the day Prince Li set out to the capital, the surrounding guard was most relaxed, providing them an excellent opportunity to act."

Tang Jiaojiao snorted, saying: "The grace of saving a beauty’s life, I wonder how Li Xingyuan will repay it!"

Tang Xiaobai fell silent.

She was also unsure how Li Xingyuan would repay it.

However, her little ancestor mentioned in the letter that, after arriving in Zhenzhou, he noticed that Li Xingyuan and Qin Rong were quite close, even bringing Qin Rong along for discussions with his subordinates, always together, like inseparable shadows.

"Prince Li has grown to such an age, he should have a sense of things." Tang Xiaobai said.

Whatever her little ancestor saw didn’t necessarily represent anything, better not to tell her sister just yet.

Let the bullet fly a little longer...

...

"Qin Rong asked me for half the military power in Zhenzhou, and I agreed." Li Xingyuan spoke very calmly.

But seeing that even the usually calm Crown Prince showed a look of shock, he felt a slight pride internally.

In Zhenzhou, there were twelve thousand stationed troops; half means six thousand.

Across the court, those who could command six thousand troops were few and far between.

To let go of six thousand just like that, even Li Xingyuan found himself generous thinking about it.

"Half of Zhenzhou’s military power? Half of Zhenzhou’s military power!" Su Shunqing laughed in exasperation, turning to Li Mu to ask, "Is our Prince’s poison really cured?"

Li Xingyuan coughed lightly twice and said, "Over in the capital, they won’t wish for me to continue commanding twenty thousand troops."

Su Shunqing’s expression gradually calmed down.

Not only would the capital not wish for it, but the Crown Prince himself would likely disapprove either.

Unless Li Xingyuan planned to make himself emperor, transferring military power was imperative.

Just that—

"This is military power you’re giving to a woman? How can you give it? Can she handle it?" Su Shunqing couldn’t help but mock.

His prince’s action seemed infatuated as if blinded by beauty.

Wasn’t he afraid of the eldest young lady in the capital finding out?

"It does require an opportunity." Li Xingyuan responded.

Li Mu’s gaze shifted slightly, meeting his eyes: "There is an opportunity."

Li Xingyuan’s expression tightened: "Your Highness means—" 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

"Defend against the Eastern Turks." Li Mu replied.

...

"Prince Changshan commands twelve thousand troops, overseeing the military horses of eight Hebei Road prefectures to defend against the Eastern Turks and to suppress the northern Xi tribes;"

"The Eastern Turk nomadic lands are closest to the Capital City. At the beginning of our dynasty’s founding, there was an Eastern Turk incursion into the interior, only a little over twenty miles from the Capital City. Thus, the court has always placed great emphasis on defense against the Eastern Turks, stationing heavy troops in Taiyuan and Zhenzhou;"

"Hedong Taiyuan has been scattered sand for over a decade, so Zhenzhou has become the main military force to defend against the Eastern Turks, who have also been deterred by Prince Changshan and have thus never launched a large-scale invasion;"

"But now, with Zhenzhou unstable, if the Eastern Turks get wind of it, they might take advantage of the chaos to move south, and now spring plowing is imminent—"

Tang Xiaobai paused, carefully considering and felt she had roughly said enough, so she summed up: "I believe the sooner the issue of Zhenzhou’s military power is settled, the better. What does Uncle think?"

Opposite her was Uncle Gu, Gu Zhun of the Gu family, Minister of the Ministry of Rites.

Gu Zhun listened, studied her for a while in surprise, then nodded, "What you said makes a lot of sense. However, Your Majesty will not be willing to hand Zhenzhou’s military power back to Li Xingyuan."

Though the emperor cannot retrieve the twenty thousand troops in Zhenzhou, as long as he doesn’t issue an edict for Li Xingyuan to inherit the title, it won’t be easy for Li Xingyuan to truly control Zhenzhou.

Tang Xiaobai had already considered this issue, approaching Gu Zhun, and immediately responded: "Your Majesty may not want to give it to Prince Li, but may not be unwilling to hand it to Qin Xiao!"