To travel to Leping County, one needed a travel permit, one that would allow the shadow guards and the Prince’s elite forces to pass without obstruction.
Zhao Chengze, the most honored and least rule-abiding imperial elder brother in the Great Zhou Dynasty, did not hesitate for a moment. He simply stormed straight into the palace.
Inside the imperial study.
The current Emperor, Zhao Chengqian, dressed in a simple moon-white robe, was reviewing memorials. In stark contrast to Zhao Chengze’s domineering sharpness, he was always refined and gentle, like polished jade.
“Imperial Brother?” Zhao Chengqian was not surprised in the slightest to see Zhao Chengze barging in. He set down his vermilion brush and smiled warmly. “What wind has blown you away from your fish pond today?”
“Cut the nonsense.” Zhao Chengze had no patience and went straight to the point. “Give me a highest-level blank travel permit, stamp it with your seal.”
“Oh?” Zhao Chengqian raised a brow. “Where is the Imperial Brother planning to go? Is there anywhere in the Capital you cannot reach?”
“To see someone,” Zhao Chengze replied vaguely.
“To see someone?” Zhao Chengqian chuckled as he poured him a cup of tea. “If there is someone you wish to see, a single imperial decree would summon them to the Capital. Why bother yourself to go personally?”
“Not appropriate.”
Those two words froze Zhao Chengqian’s hand midair.
Not appropriate?
His imperial brother, the very man who had conquered half the empire, disregarded rules as if they were nothing, and had even abdicated the throne in front of the entire court without hesitation, was now saying… not appropriate?
That instantly piqued Zhao Chengqian’s curiosity.
“Imperial Brother,” Zhao Chengqian’s eyes lit up with undisguised intrigue, “could it be… a young lady?”
Zhao Chengze paused, his hand on the imperial seal stiffening.
“…Miss Xie?”
Zhao Chengze’s expression darkened.
“Imperial Brother!” Zhao Chengqian shot to his feet, shock written all over his face. “Don’t tell me you’re really going to Leping County to see that… that Miss Xie who’s recently turned Censor Wang’s household upside down?!”
“Swish!”
Zhao Chengze spun around sharply, narrowing his phoenix eyes. “Dear brother, are you investigating me?”
“I am not!!”
Zhao Chengqian was so startled he nearly knocked over the imperial desk. Memories of being beaten by his brother in childhood resurfaced instantly as he waved his hands in panic.
“Imperial Brother, you wrong me! I swear, I did no such thing!”
“Then how do you know?!”
“You said it yourself!!” Zhao Chengqian replied, half laughing, half exasperated.
“I did?” Zhao Chengze frowned.
“Yes!” Zhao Chengqian looked utterly speechless. “Every day in your residence, you sit by the pond sighing, muttering her name hundreds of times…”
He even pinched his voice, imitating Zhao Chengze’s lazy tone:
“Xie… Xie… how am I supposed to live without you…”
“Xie… you’ve won again…”
“The entire residence knows there’s a lady surnamed Xie in your heart!”
Zhao Chengze: “…”
His face flushed visibly, then froze in place.
He, Zhao Chengze, who had lived two lifetimes, experienced for the first time what it meant to die of social embarrassment.
“…Was it that obvious?” he asked stiffly.
Zhao Chengqian nodded solemnly.
“Yes, Imperial Brother. It really was that obvious.”
“…”
Zhao Chengze could not be bothered to deal with this all-knowing younger brother any longer.
He snatched the blank travel permit, grabbed the jade imperial seal from the desk, and stamped it down heavily.
“I’m leaving.”
“Wait, Imperial Brother!” Zhao Chengqian hurriedly called after him. “You stamped it upside down…”
The only response was Zhao Chengze’s retreating figure, laced with unmistakable embarrassment and irritation, disappearing through the doorway.
The Prince’s residence worked with remarkable efficiency.
Half an hour later, a low-profile merchant caravan departed quietly from the side gate.
The formation was anything but ordinary.
The dozen or so guards leading the group appeared to wear padded robes, but beneath them were suits of chainmail. Each stood straight as a spear, their eyes sharp as wolves.
Though they seemed to be escorting a caravan, each of them was in truth an elite guard of the residence, veterans who had crawled out of mountains of corpses, capable of taking on ten men alone. The calluses on their hands gripping the reins spoke volumes.
At the center of the convoy was a wide, luxurious carriage, deliberately aged to appear ordinary. Inside sat their master, the rumored wealthy merchant Zhou.
Zhao Chengze had shed his princely attire and transformed into Zhou Xunyin.
Clad in a dark-patterned silk robe, with only a fine piece of black jade at his waist and his hair tied simply with a wooden hairpin, he looked even more imposing than before. The disguise did nothing to conceal his commanding presence; instead, it made his authority all the more striking.
“Master,” Thirteen, now dressed as a steward, said quietly from outside the carriage, “you don’t look like a merchant at all in this outfit.”
“Silence.”
Zhou Xunyin’s voice came from within the carriage.
“Set off. Straight to Leping County.”
“Yes.” The caravan slowly moved forward, merging into the main road out of the city.
Leping County, south gate.
At noon, a long line stretched before the entrance.
A few veteran gate guards lounged lazily by the wall, inspecting the townsfolk and merchants one by one.
“Next!”
Zhao Chengze’s caravan rolled forward.
The gate guard, Old Liu, had been stationed here for ten years. Every merchant caravan that regularly passed through Leping County, he recognized, and each had paid him his share of “wine money.”
But this caravan was unfamiliar. Old Liu narrowed his eyes as he assessed them.
Something was wrong. Very wrong.
First, the horses. The animals pulling the carts were well-fed, tall, and powerful, clearly warhorses from the northern frontier. What kind of merchant would use warhorses for hauling goods?
Second, the men. The guards stood perfectly straight, their expressions cold, their gaze like that of predators sizing up prey.
Third, the carriage. The central carriage was made of golden nanmu wood. It looked worn, but the signs of aging were clearly artificial.
Old Liu’s heart skipped a beat.
“Halt!” he barked. “Where are you from? Show your permit!”
Thirteen dismounted without expression and handed over a document.
Old Liu took it cautiously.
Though barely literate, he could recognize seals.
He examined it carefully and grew increasingly uneasy.
The paper was top-grade palace-made Xuan paper.
The writing was bold and flowing, though he could not read a single word.
Most alarming of all was the seal.
Deep red, almost purple, with an intricate design he had never seen before. Which office used such a seal? In all his years here, he had never even heard of it.
As they conducted the inspection, the guards showed no sign of nervousness. If anything, they seemed faintly disdainful.
And the owner of the grand carriage did not even lift the curtain. By custom, the head of a merchant caravan was supposed to dismount and greet the gate officials.
This man was far too arrogant.
A sense of dread crept into Old Liu’s heart. He quickly signaled a subordinate to run up to the city wall and inform his superior, the gate commander Zhang Wu.
Thirteen noticed the movement but merely glanced at it before looking away.
Since the Prince had not spoken, they remained where they were.
Soon, hurried footsteps echoed from above. A burly man in light armor, followed by a dozen soldiers, rushed down.
“Old Liu! What’s going on?!” It was Zhang Wu.
The surrounding civilians scattered, watching from a distance.
“Boss Zhang!” Old Liu quickly handed over the permit. “This caravan is strange. Look at this…”
“Strange?”
Zhang Wu glanced at the caravan, his heart tightening.
Such killing intent.
He knew at once these were no ordinary people. Taking the permit, he looked at it once—
and his entire body trembled, freezing on the spot.
Old Liu could not recognize the seal.
But Zhang Wu had once served in the border army. By sheer chance, he had seen it once before, from afar, inside the commander’s tent.
That seal, entwined with nine dragons, in imperial vermilion—
the symbol of the highest authority in the Great Zhou Dynasty.
The imperial seal.
The Emperor… had arrived in person?!