Lou Xin only believed it was all real once he stood atop the Liangzhou city wall.
The Princess Consort had actually persuaded Liangzhou's military commissioner, Xu An, to defect, personally welcoming them into the city and helping them seize Liangzhou.
"Princess Consort, this is the first time I've fought such an easy battle."
Returning to Qiao Xi's side, Lou Xin said excitedly, "I'd only ever heard that you were in poor health and had been recuperating in the depths of the palace. I never imagined you'd be even more formidable at taking cities than the Prince."
Lou Xin's praise was utterly sincere.
Taking Liangzhou would allow water to be channeled to Jiangbei. With water, the people and soldiers of Jiangbei could survive.
He had never expected Qiao Xi to resolve Jiangbei's predicament so easily.
Beyond gratitude, he felt admiration.
Qiao Xi stood by the window of the inn, watching the streets grow lively again after the mutiny, her expression calm.
She had merely used the foresight from her rebirth to strike first and catch them off guard.
This was only a small step. There was still a long road ahead.
Qiao Xi did not dare let her guard down.
"Lou Xin, yesterday you came to Liangzhou on the orders of the Prince of Jiangbei."
Until she had the strength to contend with the Emperor, she could not reveal herself. If she truly could not hide it, she hoped to delay it as long as possible, to buy more time to grow stronger.
"Taking the city was luck, but holding it will not be easy. From now on, Liangzhou will be guarded jointly by you and Xu An. Concealing my whereabouts is the first task I give you."
That night, after meeting Lou Xin, she had secretly left the Prince's residence, drunk a contraceptive decoction at the medical hall, then dealt with Bixiang's contact in the capital, and afterward came to Liangzhou alone.
After arriving in Liangzhou, she had covered her face with a veil. Among the five thousand soldiers, only Lou Xin knew that she was the one behind it all.
Lou Xin understood Qiao Xi's meaning and hastily gave a solemn assurance.
As for dragging Su Heting into this, he felt no burden of conscience. The Prince had already intended to move against Liangzhou for the sake of water. Now that the goal had been achieved without losing a single brother, letting the Prince be resented by the court and Ji Chuan seemed insignificant by comparison.
When there are enough lice, one stops scratching. Even without this affair, those people would never tolerate their Prince.
The Prince had dared to let him follow the Princess Consort's orders, which showed the Prince had confidence in his position.
Qiao Xi was unaware of Lou Xin's inexplicable confidence in Su Heting. After instructing Lou Xin on several matters, she went to Xu An's residence.
"Of Liangzhou's fifty thousand troops, fewer than forty thousand remain. Ten thousand fled to Jiangnan."
Xu An had not yet changed out of his bloodstained clothes.
The night before, he had risen in rebellion carrying Bixiang's corpse.
He declared to the world that only after reuniting with Bixiang did he learn that her stepmother and stepsister had not gone missing back then—they had taken up with the Emperor.
To cover up his shameless act of seizing a subject's wife, the Emperor had ordered the military commissioner and the prefect to murder his father.
As a son, he could not let the blood debt of his father's murder go unavenged.
His father had served as Liangzhou's prefect for many years and was deeply loved by the people. Many old subordinates, upon learning the truth, were willing to follow him.
But there were also those who had always been insubordinate to Xu An and wanted to seize the opportunity to rise against him, so Xu An inevitably had to kill some to make an example.
His expression was grave. "Ji Chuan will soon learn of what happened here. Perhaps in a few days, he will send troops to Liangzhou.
With only our people, it will be very difficult to hold Liangzhou. Do you have a plan?"
He looked at this woman whose eyes and brows remained perpetually indifferent, as though even the greatest of matters were beneath her notice.
During the mutiny the night before, he had witnessed her calm demeanor as she twisted a man's head off with her own hands—her brutality and decisiveness.
Xu An instinctively felt that she would not be without a plan.
Sure enough, listening to Qiao Xi speak slowly, "The ones who entered the city with me last night were the Jiangbei Army."
"You're one of the Jiangbei King's people?"
Qiao Xi shook her head. "From now on, they're all my people, and Liangzhou is ours as well."
The five thousand soldiers were the betrothal gift Su Heting had given her, so they were hers.
"But to the outside world, they remain the Jiangbei King's men.
You're someone whose father was killed, who's disillusioned with your superiors and the Emperor, and who couldn't bear to see the people of Jiangbei suffer from water shortages—that's why you took the initiative to welcome the Jiangbei Army into the city to dig canals and bring water."
In this way, Xu An's rebellion had a justification.
And by aligning with Su Heting, whether it was the Emperor or Ji Chuan, both would hesitate when deciding whether to send troops against Liangzhou.
After all, Su Heting's fearsome reputation preceded him; he wasn't someone to be trifled with.
As for the matter of Xu Ling'er being humiliated by the Emperor, the two tacitly agreed to keep it buried, which made Xu An feel a hint of goodwill toward Qiao Xi.
"Who exactly are you?"
She knew what happened inside the palace, had Bixiang following her, and could mobilize the Jiangbei Army.
Xu An suddenly recalled the rumors from some time ago—that the Jiangbei King had abducted the Princess of Zhaoyang, who had left the capital seeking medical treatment.
He suspected the person before him was the Princess of Zhaoyang.
But he wasn't certain.
How could a princess raised deep in the palace have such skills? Besides, everyone in the realm knew that the Princess of Zhaoyang and the Emperor shared a deep bond.
While he was still weighing his doubts, Qiao Xi pulled down her face veil.
She said, "My surname is Qiao. My family has guarded Jiangbei for generations—the Qiao family, one hundred and thirty-one members, all fallen on the battlefield."
"You…"
You really are the Princess of Zhaoyang.
Xu An's eyes went wide.
The Qiao family had one hundred and thirty-three members in total. Aside from Madam Qiao and Qiao Xi, who had gone to the capital, that left exactly one hundred and thirty-one.
But the Emperor had treated the Princess of Zhaoyang well—why would she…
Qiao Xi saw the confusion in his heart. "The Qiao family died because of the Emperor's scheming, and the Crown Prince never killed his father."
Xu An thought of what had happened to his own family and instantly understood the conspiracy behind it all. The Emperor's kindness toward the Princess of Zhaoyang was a facade.
Just as Cao Ying had done to his family—all of it was false exploitation.
Back then, Cao Ying had fallen in love with the Emperor at first sight during his incognito travels. After secretly consorting with him and bearing a daughter, she fled her sect with the child to search for the Emperor.
But she had used the Xu family as a stepping stone.
"The Qiao family was loyal to the state, and the Crown Prince was benevolent and virtuous. If what you say is true, then that dog of an Emperor murdered loyal ministers and killed his own son—he truly is unworthy to be sovereign. But relying only on your desire for revenge, it will be very difficult."
Qiao Xi looked at him, her gaze resolute. "For a blood debt this deep, even if I'm ground to bone and ash, I dare not retreat half a step."
Xu An studied her for a long moment, then made up his mind. "Alright. On this path, I, Xu An, will follow you."
If a woman like Qiao Xi could cast aside life and death for revenge, then how could he, Xu An, a man of honor, cling to life in fear of death and ignore the vengeance owed to his father and sister?
Besides, the Qiao family had once shown his father kindness.
"Xu An, I swear on the honor of the entire Qiao family that I will bring your sister back to you as soon as possible."
Qiao Xi promised.
"But can you return the Jade Cicada to me?"
Hearing this, Xu An suddenly remembered—the Jade Cicada was the token the Qiao family had given his sister when she was betrothed to Qiao Xi's eldest brother all those years ago.
Later, the entire Qiao family died in battle, and the Qiao estate was burned to the ground by the barbarians. If Qiao Xi was asking for it back now, she likely wanted to keep it as a memento.
The eldest Qiao brother was dead, and his sister was…
"This was originally the Qiao family's possession. I believe my sister would understand."
Xu An returned the Jade Cicada to Qiao Xi.
Qiao Xi clutched the Jade Cicada tightly.
After Cao Ying captured Xu Ling'er, she hung the Jade Cicada around her own daughter's neck.
In her previous life, after Xu Ling'er was tormented to death by Bixiang, Bixiang had wanted to remove the Jade Cicada, finding it inauspicious, but was scolded by Cao Ying. It was then that she inadvertently overheard the mother-daughter conversation and learned that Xu An had been deceived.
However, she had no idea what was so special about the Jade Cicada, but since Cao Ying valued it so highly, and it was a heirloom of her Qiao family, she thought there must be something unusual about it…
After leaving the Xu residence, when Qiao Xi returned to the inn, she saw Su Heting sprawled casually on the bed.
"Why has the Prince come?"
Su Heting glanced at her sideways. "If I hadn't come, I wouldn't have known that the Princess Consort has made me carry a huge burden."
Qiao Xi pressed her lips together. "I've already had Lou Xin begin work on the water supply matters."
She had borrowed his influence, and in return, she repaid him with water sources.
"If Liangzhou is retaken by Ji Chuan, he will certainly cut off the water supply. When that happens, the northern frontier will face water shortages again.
So what the Prince is protecting is not Liangzhou, but the lifeline of the northern frontier."
"Sharp-tongued."
Su Heting rose and pulled her into his arms. "It was only today that I learned how calculating my Princess Consort can be. Tell me, how did you scheme to make Xu An serve you?"
Xu An was a man of foolish loyalty, which was precisely why the Emperor and Ji Chuan felt at ease letting him command military forces. A man like that was not easily swayed to change allegiance.
Qiao Xi lowered her eyes.
Xu Ling'er alone could not make Xu An sincerely follow her. She had calculated the justice in Xu An's heart, calculated his reverence and admiration for the Qiao family, and the debt of gratitude the Qiao family had over the Xu family.
The man's scorching breath made Qiao Xi uncomfortable. She turned her face away and briefly recounted the matter of Xu Ling'er.
Su Heting saw her lashes, dark as crow feathers, flutter slightly, and knew she was hiding something. "And what else?"
Qiao Xi made an excuse. "Xu An cares very much about his sister."
She understood Xu An, but she could not see through Su Heting.
The matter of the Qiao family's downfall and the Crown Prince—she had no solid evidence yet. She dared to tell Xu An, but she did not dare reveal even a word to Su Heting.
Su Heting gave her a deep look and suddenly asked, "Did you have someone you admired in the past?"