So, all counted together, it took at most three quarters of an hour. Qin Jingzhou, who had just warmed up his muscles, now saw no more armored men left standing—Guo Sida, seeing things turn south, had been the first to flee, and the Gu Family Army was nowhere to be found.
From the very beginning, the Imperial Guards had put on the air of amused spectators. Now both the Commandant and Deputy Commandant cupped their hands in salute.
Qin Jingzhou planted his saber—its blade untouched—into the ground at his side, then looked up at all those faces pressed close together on the surrounding walls, all grinning wide. He said nothing. He turned and headed home.
Only when his figure had completely vanished from sight did the Yan Family Army withdraw, followed by the marquis’s mansion closing its gate. The spies stationed by each household glanced anxiously at the devastated street, still uneasy: Marquess Jingwen, who had defended West Gate Pass for a decade and just this year routed the elite Jin Cavalry—his reputation was well earned. Assassinate him? Best not.
As for Guo Sida, he had run all the way home in a panic and only after gulping down a pot of hot tea did he finally begin to calm down.
The scene earlier had really rattled him.
It wasn’t as if he’d never set foot on the battlefield, but to actually witness such blood and carnage in person… this was his first time. Meanwhile, Yan Jingzhou had stormed through the chaos without so much as a speck of dust on him, and that last look he gave…
Just recalling it still sent shivers down Guo Sida’s spine. His hands trembled.
On top of that, his agitation made his wound ache all over again, prompting him to jump to his feet and summon his uneasy advisors. “I want to see the Emperor!”
Meanwhile, in Qianqing Palace, Emperor Yongning had just finished listening to the Secret Agent’s report, and for a moment, was at a loss for words.
Much as he enjoyed watching the Gu, Yan, and Wang families tear each other apart, the Gu family’s performance had been so appalling… He didn’t feel Yan Jingzhou was all that formidable—there were plenty of warriors in the Imperial Guards who could defeat ten men at once—but he deeply regretted not having taken action to weaken the Gu family earlier.
Ever since the previous Emperor had led a personal campaign and was defeated, losing the main forces of both West and East Gate, as well as the elite troops in the Capital Suburbs Camp, Great Qi had found it hard to stand tall against the tribes beyond the borders. The Jin north of West Gate and several nomadic tribes east of East Gate crossed the frontier year after year, draining the nation’s vitality.
Both the previous Emperor and his own father had struggled bitterly against this until death. Only after sending Yan Jingzhou to West Gate did things start to turn around. With no more double-sided attacks, and despite the ongoing unrest at East Gate, at least life was bearable.
Therefore, Emperor Yongning’s feelings toward Yan Jingzhou were rather complicated: he acknowledged his successes on one hand, but on the other was desperate to get rid of him—as waiting until Yan Jingzhou developed ambitions would be too late.
He had thought Guo Sida’s troublemaking was a stroke of genius, but who would have thought that not only was Guo Sida unable to fight back, he had lost even his will to resist in one blow.
Emperor Yongning knew well that things would not end cleanly this time.
After thinking it over for a while, he concluded that if worst came to worst, he would simply abandon Guo Sida. Once the Noble Consort bore him a son, Guo Sida’s children would have other chances to rise.
A little later, the Commandant of the Imperial Guards returned to the palace to report. After dismissing him, Emperor Yongning felt even more determined to “sell out” Guo Sida. He was about to summon Guo Sida, who had fled back to the Duke's Mansion, when an Inner Attendant arrived: Duke Anguo was requesting an audience.
All in all, it had taken just over two hours from the moment Guo Sida set out to make trouble to his ignominious defeat, so when Noble Consort Guo heard the news—from a maid who had served her—her “dear father” was already making his way to the palace to cry and confess, begging her to put in a good word for him…
The maid whispered, “Your Ladyship can rest easy in the palace—much credit goes to His Grace, the Duke.”
The Noble Consort grew more and more annoyed as she listened and finally waved the maid away.
She did not need to consult the plot to guess that her father had brought this disaster on himself, tried to stab someone and got stabbed in return. She wouldn’t have minded letting him fend for himself, but as the Noble Consort, she had to care about her reputation—and she had to consider how the male lead, Yan Duan, would see her.
With that, she made up her mind and quickly changed clothes. With two discreet maids in tow, she headed straight for Virtuous Consort’s Xi Kun Palace.
Yan Yun was inside, laughing so hard she doubled over. When the Noble Consort arrived, she did not bother to hide her amusement. “What on earth was your father thinking? Attacking mine here in the Capital?”
The Noble Consort answered bluntly, “He’s out of his mind!”
Yan Yun raised her brows and told the maids, “Seat the Noble Consort.”
The Noble Consort made herself comfortable without ceremony and got straight to the point. “I just need to know what Marquess Jingwen plans to do… I’m not after anything else, just for him to spare my father’s life.”
Yan Jun studied the Noble Consort and said, “I’ll ask my father.”
That was enough. The Noble Consort rose to take her leave, then went directly to Qianqing Palace to request an audience with Emperor Yongning.
When she saw the Emperor, the Noble Consort steeled herself and knelt at once. “He did a foolish thing and deserves to be punished. I only beg Your Majesty to spare his life. I dare not hope for more.”
Emperor Yongning felt somewhat comforted by this.
He personally helped the Noble Consort to her feet and soothed her gently. “Beloved, don’t be so anxious. I won’t let you down.”
So when Guo Sida, steeling himself against the pain of each step, finally arrived at the palace and entered to see both the Emperor and his daughter smiling, his heart calmed.
He selectively recounted the events of the fight, stressing again and again how Yan Jingzhou’s heart was deserving of death. Seeing Emperor Yongning deep in thought and his daughter smiling unchanged, he was confident that the “great crisis would become a small one, and the small one nothing at all.”
As long as he survived this, he would give careful thought to his next step.
After leaving the palace and returning home, his wound was swelling and throbbing. Guo Sida took his medicine and went straight to bed.
The next morning he received a Royal Edict ordering him to “remain at home and reflect on his faults.” He was first shocked, then furious, overturning his desk in rage… Even his humiliating flight at Yan Jingzhou’s hands hadn’t made him this angry.
Because Duke Anguo, Guo Sida, held the rank of Grand Commandant of the Left Army Guards, Emperor Yongning’s order for him to reflect at home was, in effect, a removal of his military command.
While this did not leave him unable to control the Gu Family Army, it made things much more awkward and illegitimate. In truth, the Gu Family Army was not the same as Guo Sida’s Private Troops. Most of them received imperial rations. They were called the Gu Family Army because the commanding officers were either Guo family members, or owed favors to the Guo family, so they sided with the Guo family and obeyed Guo Sida.
Guo Sida, having skipped his morning medicine, felt both dizzy and increasingly irritable after venting his rage. I may not be able to beat Yan Jingzhou, but can I not deal with you, useless Emperor?
You sent assassins after Yan Jingzhou. Yan Jingzhou may seem reluctant to retaliate, but he is bound to become disloyal! If I were to lead my troops and force the Emperor’s hand, Yan Jingzhou would probably just stand by! As long as I’m willing to hand over the Northwestern Provinces to him...
The more Guo Sida thought about it, the more sense it made. He immediately summoned his advisors to discuss it.
As for Emperor Yongning, he thought that after issuing the edict in the morning and stripping Guo Sida’s command, he finally had something to show for it—he was in high spirits, left the court and didn’t even bother with the memorials. Instead, he went off to see the Noble Consort and enjoy grilled meat in the Imperial Garden, admiring the snow—the Capital had seen a whole night of snowfall.
But the mood in the Imperial Cabinet was much heavier. These old ministers had trudged through snow to court, and afterwards, read the Emperor’s Edict... They had meant to counsel him thoroughly about yesterday’s incident, but now they were all too dispirited to even try. Duke Anguo, Guo Sida, had accused Marquess Jingwen of rebellion, which none of them believed the Emperor could be entirely ignorant of. The real issue was Guo Sida’s outrageous behavior, and not only did the Emperor fail to stop him, he even sent a thousand Imperial Guards to assist. In less than half an hour, Guo Sida had lost over a hundred elite soldiers and all dignity, yet the Emperor made no move to summon Marquess Jingwen and offer any apology, simply ordered Guo Sida to reflect at home—as if nothing had happened at all. From beginning to end, Emperor Yongning never intended to discuss the matter with the Imperial Cabinet, much less account for it to the civil and military court officials...
Moreover, Marquess Jingwen’s attempted assassination during battle also ended without resolution. As for who was really behind it—no need to say more.
Worst of all was that these past years the Lord Jingwen’s Army had not received adequate rations, yet could still maintain their fighting strength. It was clear who was feeding them now, and who they were loyal to.
Given all this, His Majesty still seemed so sure nothing could go wrong. Did he really think that, with Virtuous Consort still in the palace, he could rest easy? The Emperor had always been deaf to advice, but lately he had grown even more willful... The First and Second Ministers exchanged bitter glances. It was clear they, too, needed to start making quiet plans for themselves, their families, and their students.
Meanwhile, in the study, Qin Jingzhou was also trading smiles with Ling Jing.
Because for half an hour, Ling Jing had been opening letters, reading one and laughing for a while, then sharing the highlights with Qin Jingzhou.
Yesterday, after Qin Jingzhou showed his skills and frightened off Guo Sida, the whole Capital was abuzz with gossip today.
Duke Anguo, Guo Sida, had been ordered to stay home and reflect, while the Duke Cheng'en, Wang family, had their doors packed with guests—though Duke Cheng'en himself called in sick and had not attended court.
Ling Jing waved one of the letters and said, “The Wang family has seen their chance and want to swallow the Gu family whole; Empress Wang in the palace is plotting the same thing… My dear cousin, who’s just made Noble Lady, is full of disdain between the lines—what dreams are they chasing!” She laughed again. “My cousin says the first person she bribed was a Momo in Kunning Palace. Empress Wang keeps a tight purse—gives the smallest rewards every time.”
Qin Jingzhou lounged back in his rocking chair. “I thought she wanted to leave a child for her father, but now she’s changed her mind?”
Ling Jing nodded lightly. “It seems she thinks, with Emperor Yongning around, you would never dare rebel. After all, you’ve always exercised such restraint.”
Qin Jingzhou replied, “I just don’t want to see commoners suffer, and it would all be for the likes of Emperor Yongning and Guo Sida, those idiots.”
Ling Jing couldn’t hold back her laughter. “I bet Guo Sida won’t accept his fate. Once he realizes he’s truly ‘finished,’ he’ll give it one last try. He may not be able to beat you, but if he storms the palace, with a well-planned move against an unprepared foe, there’s a real chance he could succeed. Emperor Yongning is just that unpopular... I remember in the plot, the south floods in two years, and in real history, the end of every dynasty is a mix of natural disaster and man-made calamity. So the sooner Guo Sida storms the palace and the Duke Cheng'en takes Emperor Yongning and flees south, the sooner we can go back northwest, spend three or five years farming, and kick off the ‘take the throne’ mode.”
Qin Jingzhou laughed too. “With things planned out so well, I’ll leave it all to you.”
Ling Jing pointed upward. “Heaven is watching. I get overtime pay for working extra, so—may it all come true!”
Qin Jingzhou said from the heart, “That would be wonderful.”