At the same time, in the capital, at Prince Mu’s Residence.
Mu Hanhe jolted awake from a nightmare, sitting bolt upright in bed.
Cold sweat had soaked through his inner robe, clinging to his back with an icy chill.
He gasped for breath, his fingers gripping the embroidered quilt beneath him so tightly that his knuckles turned white.
Memories of his previous life came flooding back like a tidal wave.
He saw the day he had been dragged out of the Prince of Zhenbei’s Residence.
There had been no imperial decree, no official verdict.
Only a squad of Imperial Guards bursting through the gates.
Leading them was the emperor’s most favored eunuch, who shrieked in his piercing voice,
“Mu Hanhe, Prince of Zhenbei, has plotted treason! His estate is to be confiscated immediately, and he is to be exiled. His entire household shall share his punishment!”
He hadn’t even had time to change his clothes before he was dragged out of the residence.
The entire household was in tears. His princess consort, Xiao Shuwan, knelt on the ground, wailing uncontrollably, her face covered in tears and snot as she cried,
“My Prince, save me!”
Back then, he had actually felt guilty.
He thought he had dragged an innocent woman into his downfall.
During the journey into exile, he wore a twenty-five-pound wooden cangue around his neck, while heavy iron shackles dragged at his feet as he trudged south step by step.
Xiao Shuwan followed behind him.
At first she cried endlessly, lamenting their fate, but little by little, she fell silent.
When they reached Qingzhou, the escorting soldiers suddenly became unusually attentive.
They served him food with meat and wine and even gave Xiao Shuwan a fresh change of clothes.
He had immediately sensed something was wrong, but before he could think it through—
That night, he was awakened by laughter.
Xiao Shuwan was sitting beside the campfire, snuggled in the arms of one of the escort soldiers, laughing so hard that she trembled with delight.
The soldier’s hands wandered freely over her body while several others laughed nearby.
One of them chuckled.
“Your ladyship’s body is even softer than the girls in the brothels.”
Xiao Shuwan laughed sweetly.
“That useless man never even touched me. I’m still a proper virgin. You’re the lucky ones.”
Mu Hanhe closed his eyes without making a sound.
It wasn’t that he wasn’t furious.
It was simply that his fury was useless.
Bound in iron chains with a fifty-pound cangue crushing his neck, he could barely even stand.
The following night, Xiao Shuwan approached him carrying a bowl of porridge.
She crouched before him with a smile.
“My Prince, have some porridge. We still have a long journey tomorrow.”
He looked at the bowl without saying a word.
She held it to his lips.
He turned his face away.
Xiao Shuwan suddenly smiled.
It was exactly the same gentle, obedient smile she had worn back in the prince’s residence.
“You’re not going to drink?”
She stood and smashed the bowl onto the ground.
“Fine then. Whether you drink it or not, you’re going to die anyway.”
The porcelain bowl shattered.
Hot porridge spilled across the dirt, steam rising into the night air.
Staring at it, Mu Hanhe suddenly understood.
Slowly, Xiao Shuwan drew a dagger.
It was one he had given her as part of their wedding gifts.
The scabbard was inlaid with gemstones, and the hilt was engraved with the words “Zhenbei.”
She drove that very dagger into his chest.
Blood gushed from the wound, soaking the earth beneath him crimson.
Then he heard hoofbeats approaching from afar.
His shadow guards had finally arrived.
But they were too late.
The last thing he saw was Xiao Shuwan’s head being severed by one of his guards.
It rolled into the pool of his own blood, her face still frozen with the cold indifference she hadn’t had time to hide.
Mu Hanhe suddenly came back to himself.
He was still sitting on the bed in Prince Mu’s Residence.
Outside, dawn was just breaking.
The morning breeze stirred the curtains, and everything appeared exactly as it should.
He looked down at his chest.
There was no stab wound.
No blood.
Closing his eyes, he drew a deep breath.
When he opened them again, calm had already returned.
He had been reborn.
The emperor had feared him.
Prince Ning had framed him.
His estate had been confiscated, and he had been sent into exile.
Xiao Shuwan had betrayed him, colluded with the escort soldiers, and personally driven a blade into his heart.
None of those things had happened yet.
Mu Hanhe sat silently on the edge of the bed for a long time.
Of course he wanted revenge.
As for Xiao Shuwan…
He wanted nothing more than to tear her apart with his own hands.
But not yet.
He lowered his gaze to his hands.
These hands had wielded swords and sabers.
They had once held the military command seal of two hundred thousand troops.
In his previous life, all that power had ultimately earned him exile—
and a dagger through the heart.
This lifetime…
He would never repeat the same mistake.
Mu Hanhe rose from the bed and summoned his attendants to help him dress.
Instead of wearing the gold-embroidered princely robe, he chose a plain everyday outfit.
Standing before the bronze mirror, he straightened his clothes and looked at his reflection.
His face remained cold and composed.
His eyes were steady.
Nothing revealed the storm beneath.
“Prepare the carriage.”
“I’m going to the palace.”
The emperor received him in the Imperial Study.
Hearing that Mu Hanhe had requested an audience, a flicker of surprise crossed the emperor’s face.
Mu Hanhe knelt in the center of the study, removed the princely crown from his head, and laid it before him.
“Your Majesty, I have come to surrender my military authority and return to my hometown to recover from illness.”
Silence filled the Imperial Study.
The smile on the emperor’s face froze—not out of displeasure, but sheer surprise.
For a moment, he didn’t know how to respond.
Mu Hanhe continued,
“I entered the army in my youth and have spent more than ten years on the battlefield. My body bears countless old wounds. Recently, those injuries have flared up again. The imperial physicians say I require three to five years of quiet recuperation. After much consideration, I have decided to relinquish my command, return home, buy a few acres of farmland, and spend the rest of my life in peace.”
The emperor studied him for a long while, trying to determine whether he was telling the truth.
“Hanhe…”
He carefully chose his words.
“I have never doubted your loyalty. Why go to such lengths?”
Mu Hanhe raised his head and met the emperor’s gaze.
“It isn’t that Your Majesty doubts me. It’s simply that my body can no longer serve Your Majesty as it once did.”
The emperor fell silent.
Gradually, the vigilance in his eyes gave way to satisfaction.
“Since you’ve made up your mind, I won’t force you to stay.”
He sighed, feigning regret.
“Simply hand your military command over to the Ministry of War. Once you’ve recovered, you may return to court.”
Mu Hanhe did not argue.
He kowtowed once.
“Thank you, Your Majesty.”
After leaving the palace, Mu Hanhe climbed into his carriage.
As the curtain fell, the respectful expression vanished from his face, replaced by icy indifference.
Instead of returning to Prince Mu’s Residence, the carriage turned into a quiet alley in the eastern part of the city.
At the end of the alley stood an inconspicuous teahouse.
Its exterior was shabby.
It didn’t even have a signboard.
Mu Hanhe stepped inside.
There were no customers.
Only eight men dressed in black.
“Master.”
These eight were his most elite force—
an eight-man squad of death warriors.
They had no names.
No origins.
No identities.
They obeyed only Mu Hanhe.
For him, they would do anything.
In his previous life, after learning of his exile, they had pursued him desperately.
By the time they arrived…
All that remained was his corpse.
The eight of them had fallen to their knees in the mud, digging frantically with their bare hands to pull his body from the shallow pit.
But it had already been too late.
This lifetime…
Things would be different.
Mu Hanhe sat in the seat of honor and looked at the eight men kneeling before him.
“I have three tasks for you.”
“First, go to Lingnan and purchase three thousand mu of fertile farmland. Spread the land across different locations—don’t concentrate it all in one place. Also acquire three properties: one near the mountains, one beside the water, and one in a town.”
“Second, stockpile enough grain and medicinal herbs to last five years. The grain should be suitable for long-term storage—rice, wheat, soybeans. As for the medicine, prepare a complete supply, especially remedies for blade wounds and fever. Buy plenty.”
“Third, establish hidden outposts throughout Lingnan. Set one every thirty li so that every stretch of the road from the capital to Lingnan has someone ready to provide assistance.”
The eight men answered in unison.
“As you command.”
Not one of them asked why.
Mu Hanhe merely waved his hand.
The eight accepted their orders and disappeared into the depths of the alley.
He remained alone in the empty teahouse.
Picking up the cold tea on the table, he took a slow sip.
The next thing he needed to do…
was leave the capital for a while.
The emperor might have accepted his surrender of military power, but he would never truly feel at ease as long as Mu Hanhe remained in the capital.
Only by leaving completely would the emperor lower his guard.
And Mu Hanhe needed to leave as well.
Because only after leaving the capital…
could he begin doing the things that could never be done while he remained there.