No sooner had the state banquet ended than the Southern Border launched a massive assault along Great Xia’s border passes.
Military dispatches arrived one after another, piling up on Dongfang Mo’s desk and the news was far from encouraging.
At the same time, the real Southern Border envoys, who had been hiding in the capital, unleashed a plague of Gu insects within the city.
Panic spread rapidly among the people both inside and outside the capital, and Great Xia suffered heavy losses.
……
……
At the Palace of Long Peace.
Over the past few days, Yi Yi had been unusually well-behaved, clinging to Jiang Wantang from morning till night.
“Mother, I love you more than anything~”
“Mother is the prettiest of all, and I love you so much!”
After showering her with sweet words, the little girl would plant two kisses on each of Jiang Wantang’s cheeks.
Jiang Wantang shook her head gently. “Save your flattery.”
A mother knows her own child best this little one was clearly trying to make up for the trouble she had caused.
Seeing her mother’s stern look, Yi Yi quieted down. “Where is Auntie Qinghe? I haven’t seen her in ages.”
Jiang Wantang’s expression turned grave.
Three days had passed since the banquet, and Qinghe was still nowhere to be found. She already feared the worst that Qinghe had likely met with foul play.
“Your Ladyship… Your Ladyship…” A palace maid rushed in, breathless and pale. “One of the matrons just reported that… they found… the body of Sister Qinghe in the pond.”
“Take me there.”
Qinghe’s body had already been pulled from the water. Jiang Wantang stepped forward and lifted the white sheet covering her, her heart sinking into despair.
Though the body was swollen, it was unmistakably Qinghe from the clothes and ornaments she wore.
“Auntie hurts… let me blow it better.” Seeing how puffy and wrinkled Qinghe looked, Yi Yi pursed her lips and blew softly over the body. “Mother, why won’t Auntie speak to me anymore?”
Her large eyes filled with tears, and great drops rolled down her cheeks.
She could smell the heavy, cold scent of death clinging to Qinghe.
Jiang Wantang lifted her into her arms and gently patted her back to soothe her.
“Ugh, what is that terrible stench?” Noble Consort Shen held her nose from a distance, her face twisted in disgust. The maids and eunuchs beside her looked on with equal revulsion.
“Your Royal Highness, you are still crying? If it weren’t for you, Qinghe would never have fallen into the hands of those villains.”
One of her maids added in an overly casual tone, “Why, does that make the Princess… a murderer?”
Noble Consort Shen pretended to scold her lightly, patting the girl’s cheek. “Nonsense! The Princess is of noble blood. What does the life of a lowly maid matter? How dare you compare them?”
She turned back to Jiang Wantang with a false smile. “By the way, Consort Xi, I heard you are skilled at the lion dance. It is most unsettling to have a corpse lying here. Why not perform one more dance to drive away evil spirits from the palace?”
A ripple of mocking laughter went through the onlookers.
Jiang Wantang did not even lift her head; she simply covered Yi Yi’s ears to shield her from their cruel words.
“Bad people hurt Auntie Qinghe… I will make them pay!”
Yi Yi could not possibly miss what Noble Consort Shen had said if anything, those words reminded her that she must avenge Auntie Qinghe.
She would hunt down every last one of those villains and knock them all flat!
That’s right… the bad men!
Suddenly, she caught their scent.
She wriggled free from Jiang Wantang’s embrace, raised her small nose, and sniffed the air carefully.
Her eyes lit up instantly the scent was coming from inside Qinghe’s clothes.
Her face grew serious, without a trace of fear. She pulled the white sheet aside a little further and reached into the sleeve of Qinghe’s robe, pulling out a scrap of cloth.
It looked like nothing special at first glance. The only thing unusual was its ragged, uneven edges, as if it had been torn off in a desperate struggle.
Seeing Yi Yi rummage around only to pull out a scrap of cloth from a corpse, Noble Consort Shen rolled her eyes and spoke in a sneering tone. “How very kind of Your Highness even after she is gone, you take something from her to remember her by.”
Taking things from the dead… how unlucky.
Yi Yi ignored her completely, staring fixedly at the scrap of cloth.
Yes this was exactly the scent!
It was the same smell she had caught on the men who locked her in the iron cage, the moment she woke up.
With this, she could track them down wherever they were hiding.
A bright, triumphant smile spread across her face though with her eyes still glistening and tear tracks still fresh on her cheeks, she looked as if she was both laughing and crying at once.
Noble Consort Shen stared, unnerved, as if thinking the girl had been possessed, and quickly stepped back.
“Mother, take me to see Father!” Yi Yi stretched out her arms, asking to be carried to the Purple Star Palace.
Jiang Wantang had no idea what she had in mind, but after all that had happened, she knew her little girl possessed strange and extraordinary abilities. Perhaps she had indeed discovered something important.
She gave orders for Qinghe’s body to be properly prepared and buried, then carried Yi Yi straight to the Purple Star Palace.
Inside the Purple Star Palace.
Dongfang Mo sat with furrowed brows and a face as dark as storm clouds.
The Prime Minister and other high-ranking officials had gathered, arguing fiercely over the crisis.
The military commanders spoke gravely. “Your Majesty, reports from the front confirm it: the Southern Border’s puppet army has been fully revived and they are even stronger than before.”
One civil official stepped forward to offer his advice. “Your Majesty, the Southern Border has sent word: if we send the Princess to their land as a hostage for ten years, they will withdraw their troops immediately.”
Before Dongfang Mo could even reject the proposal, Prime Minister Lu Zhao snorted in outrage. “You coward! Surrendering before we have even fought what sort of counsel is this? Asking a little girl of two and a half years to sacrifice herself for the nation have you no shame?!”
Spittle flew from his mouth as he spoke, landing on the other man’s face. The official retorted, “As the Princess of Great Xia, it is her duty to give everything for her people!”
“Bah! Never mind that she only returned to the palace a few days ago we are a great and mighty nation! We will never hand over our own treasure as a bargaining chip!”
The two men went back and forth, their faces turning red with anger, shouting over each other.
“Enough!” Dongfang Mo slammed his cup down hard on the table. “The Princess will never be handed over.”
“Those Southern Border envoys are hiding somewhere within our capital we must root them out first.”
For days he had ordered every corner of the city searched, yet no trace of them had been found.
This issue sparked another round of heated debate, with no clear solution in sight.
Every face in the room was drawn and tense, the atmosphere heavy with anxiety.
“Father, I’ve come to help you catch the bad guys~”
A bright, cheerful little voice cut through the silence. Yi Yi ran in, her eyes sparkling, and threw herself straight into Dongfang Mo’s arms.
“Your Royal Highness,” said the same official who had suggested sending her away. “We are discussing matters of state with His Majesty. Please go play elsewhere for now.”
Lu Zhao, who had already taken a firm dislike to this man, immediately snapped back. “You old fool! Did you not hear the Princess say she is here to catch the bad men? She has come to show us the way!”
After the events of the banquet and what had happened with Lu Jingchuan, Lu Zhao now firmly believed Yi Yi could do anything. He had become her most loyal supporter.
Hearing him claim the little girl could solve their problems, the official burst out laughing. “All of us seasoned ministers and commanders have failed to find an answer and you say a two-year-old child can give us guidance? Lu Zhao, have you lost your wits? If a toddler proves more capable than I, I will turn my name upside down and go by Yang Wei from this day forward!”
At the sound of that ridiculous name, Lu Zhao burst into hearty laughter. “Very well! We shall see Yang Wei!”