You, a tyrannical ruler, roam the heavens; you cannot understand my joy.

In the late autumn of the Imperial Garden, the northern wind carried a biting chill, swirling the withered yellow grass and the last few tenacious petals.

The unfrozen water flowed gently past the rugged rockery, its sound unusually cold and clear in the empty garden. Wulinda Mingke silently took a half-step ahead, leading the way for Lu Zuo.

Her overly thin and brightly colored red dance costume looked out of place and fragile against the desolate garden landscape.

Occasionally, he would quietly describe one or two scenic spots, his voice flat and expressionless, his gaze lowered, as if his soul had been detached from this body that was forced to please him.

As you walk to a crabapple grove where all the leaves have fallen and the branches are gnarled and twisted, a slender white figure stands alone by the "Reflection Platform" overlooking the water, gazing at her blurry reflection in the water in a daze.

It was Princess Xue Ni, Wanyan Xue.

She was dressed in a plain white palace gown, without any makeup. Her delicate face appeared exceptionally pale in the grayish-white light, like a daffodil about to be broken by the cold wind.

Hearing footsteps, she turned around abruptly and saw Lu Zuo and Ming Ke. A look of panic flashed across her eyes, but she quickly composed herself, walked down the stone platform, and came to the side of the path. She bowed deeply, her posture standard and submissive: "This servant, Wanyan Xue, greets Your Majesty."

She lowered her head, revealing a section of her fair and beautiful nape, her body trembling almost imperceptibly.

Lu Zuo stopped, his gaze falling on her lowered head, his tone devoid of emotion: "Get up."

"You went to the imperial prison to see your emperor brother yesterday?"

Wanyan Xue's body stiffened abruptly, and her body, which had just straightened up halfway, almost went limp again.

He got it!

You found out so quickly!

Was it Ulji, or the guards?

A tremendous fear gripped her heart, making it hard for her to breathe.

She struggled to maintain her composure, her voice trembling with barely suppressed fear: "Your Majesty, this servant..."

"I was filled with fear and worry, concerned for my brother's safety, so... I dared to go and check on him for a while."

"This servant knows that I have violated the prohibition, please... please Your Majesty punish me."

She lowered her stance to the lowest possible level, her heart already ice-cold, wondering what kind of punishment awaited her.

Lu Zuo looked at her lips, pale with fear, and her trembling eyelashes, and said in a calm tone, "Brotherly and sisterly affection is only natural."

"Visiting is fine, what's wrong with that?"

Wanyan Xue felt a wave of relief wash over her, almost to the point of exhaustion, but this moment of joy hadn't yet spread—

"Now that your brother has been settled, you no longer need to worry about him."

Lu Zuo's voice rang out again, calm yet carrying an undeniable determination: "Tonight, you will serve me."

These words, like an icicle, instantly pierced through the last glimmer of hope that Wanyan Xue had just begun to have.

She looked up abruptly, her beautiful eyes wide open, filled with disbelief, shock, overwhelming humiliation, and deepest sorrow.

Last night she was still feeling sad about Mingke's fate, and today that fate has fallen on her own head without any room for maneuver.

So direct, so irresistible, it was as if she weren't a person, but an object that could be selected at will.

She opened her mouth, as if to say something, but her throat felt like it was being tightly choked, and she couldn't make a sound.

All the etiquette, pride, and restraint he had learned crumbled to dust in the face of national subjugation and the absolute authority of the conqueror.

She looked at Ming Ke beside her, her profile—submissive and lifeless—as if it were her own imminent future.

"……yes."

After a long while, a barely audible word, choked with sobs and trembling, was squeezed out from between her teeth.

She lowered her head again, not daring to let the tears welling up in her eyes fall in front of him.

There was a strange sense of relief that "it's finally here," but also a deep sense of humiliation that felt like being put on a pedestal, having no dignity whatsoever, and having everything crushed.

This is the cruelty of a princess who lost her kingdom.

Lu Zuo said no more, as if he had just dealt with a trivial matter, and continued walking forward.

Ulinda Mingke followed silently, passing by Wanyan Xue without pausing or even glancing at her.

Wanyan Xue remained alone in the spot, the cold wind sweeping by, lifting her white skirt and long black hair.

As she watched the two receding figures that held sway over her fate, icy tears finally welled up and silently streamed down her pale cheeks, dripping onto the withered grass at her feet and disappearing in an instant.

……

Time passed, and another ten days or so went by.

Yingtian Prefecture, thousands of miles away.

Inside the imperial study, the stove fire burned brightly, yet it could not dispel the worry in Li Qingzhao's eyes.

She had just closed a report on the loss of grain supplies in the southeast when her gaze drifted back to the huge map on the wall.

The red line representing the royal army never extended further after Dading Prefecture.

Judging by the time, the army should have arrived in Shangjing long ago, and may have even been fighting for a long time.

"The capital city is high and deeply fortified, the foundation of the Jin invaders for a century, and must be defended to the death."

Li Qingzhao put down her vermilion brush, her fingertips icy cold: "Your Majesty's efforts in conquering the enemy in winter are truly no easy task."

"Our soldiers are exhausted, and our supply lines are wide open. If the Jurchens follow the example of Taiyuan and Bianjing and put up a stubborn resistance..."

She dared not think any further. The historical records of armies being stranded in fortified cities and failing at the last hurdle were now vividly clear in her mind.

Her almost blind faith in Lu Zuo and the numerous risks deduced by reason were constantly tug-of-war in her mind, making every moment of these days without good news from the north particularly difficult to endure.

She got up and walked to the window, gazing at the gloomy, snow-threatening sky, as if trying to pierce through the clouds and see the battle situation in the north.

"My lady, have some ginseng tea to warm yourself up." The palace maid, Lü Rui, brought in a teacup. Seeing that she looked dazed, she whispered, "His Majesty is blessed with great fortune. He will surely turn misfortune into good fortune and return in triumph soon."

Li Qingzhao took the teacup; the warmth emanated from the porcelain, but it couldn't warm the chill in her heart.

How could I not be worried...?

She sighed softly, her voice ethereal: "These ten days of silence have been the most agonizing."

"Throughout the court and among the countless common people, the hearts of all are hanging on this corner of the north, yearning for good news as if a long drought were waiting for rain..."

……

This anxiety permeated every corner of Yingtian Prefecture.

As noon approached, the restaurant was bustling with people, but the heat and noise could not dispel the worry on the diners' faces.

Several guests who appeared to be merchants sat around a table, barely touching their food and drink, engaged in lively discussion.

"Master Wang, you've traveled all over the country and seen a lot. Tell me, how confident are we in this Northern Expedition?" a middle-aged man who looked like a silk merchant asked in a low voice.

The portly businessman, known as Boss Wang, sighed and wiped his face. "Brother Li, I dare not make a hasty judgment."

"but……"

"When I returned from the Jianghuai region last month, I saw a constant stream of convoys transporting grain and arrowheads, and wave after wave of laborers were conscripted."

"This posture clearly indicates that they are preparing for a major and tough battle."

A thin accountant standing nearby interjected, adjusting his glasses: "Wars are fought over money, provisions, and national strength."

"Has this been peaceful for only a few years?"

"Your Majesty's determination to launch a northern expedition is certainly wise, but the money and provisions are being spent like water; if..."

"If this drags on, the national treasury will be strained, and grain prices will likely skyrocket again. Those of us who run small businesses will be the first to suffer."

An old soldier who had been silent all along, with a scar on his face, suddenly said in a low voice, "You don't understand."

"In the capital, winter can freeze your ears off."

"Even if our soldiers from the South wear the thickest cotton-padded coats, their skills will be halved when they get there."

"Siege?"

"Hey, the ladders freeze our hands, the swords freeze their sheaths, and that golden dog is hiding behind the city walls, waiting in ambush... It's tough, really tough!"

He shook his head, downed a large mouthful of turbid wine, and said nothing more.

.......

At the entrance of a quiet alley in the west of the city, several neighbors were warming themselves around a stove selling roasted sweet potatoes.

"Aunt Zhang, I heard your eldest son went north with the army?" an old woman asked with concern, holding a hand warmer.

The woman, referred to as Aunt Zhang, immediately reddened her eyes and forced a smile, saying, "Yes...yes, I was a cook under Marshal Yue."

"This child, why does he insist on competing for military merit..."

"It's good to be a cook; at least you don't have to go directly to the front lines and stab people in the back."

Another old man offered words of comfort, but his tone lacked conviction: "It's just the weather... it must be so cold up north."

"This child grew up in the south and has never suffered like this before."

"Let's finish this battle quickly, regardless of whether we win or lose..."

"Pah! Pah! Pah! Old Liu, can't you speak properly?!" The old woman next to him immediately interrupted, "Of course we'll win!"

We must win!

"His Majesty and so many brave men are risking their lives at the front; we must not lose heart behind them!"

Despite her words, she couldn't hide the worry on her face, gazing northwards and murmuring, "But it's been so long since we've heard anything..."

......

At the canal wharf in the south of the city, the laborers squatted against the wind-sheltered wall, eating dry rations with cold water and talking in hushed tones.

"Why is there no new movement from the north? How many days has it been?" A dark-faced man rubbed his frozen hands, his tone uneasy.

"It seems we've run into a tough opponent."

"Shangjing? Is that something you can just take so easily?"

The older man beside him sighed, "It's getting colder and colder. We're shivering here, how are our brothers up north in the fields going to survive?"

"Sigh, wars are all about money, supplies, and fate. This dragging on can't go on..."

.....

Inside the Chengdong Academy, several elderly scholars, who were temporarily handling documents, were whispering under the eaves during their break.

"To besiege a fortified city is a cardinal sin in military strategy. If the Jin ruler retreats and holds out, and then sends cavalry to harass our supply lines, or even brings in troops from the grasslands as reinforcements, then the situation will be perilous." The lean scholar Wang stroked his beard, his brows furrowed.

"Furthermore, the weather was unfavorable. The soldiers' hands and feet were cracked and bleeding, greatly reducing the effectiveness of their bows and crossbows."

"I hope that Lords Han and Yue will be prudent and not take risks for quick results..." Another scholar, Li, shook his head and sighed, his words lacking confidence.

.....

Even the guards at the city gates couldn't help but whisper among themselves when they took shelter from the cold wind at the foot of the barbican wall during their shift changes.

"It's freezing cold! The roads up north must have been snowed in long ago." The young guard breathed white vapor onto his palm.

"No news is sometimes more agonizing than bad news."

A seasoned veteran, wrapped tightly in his old cotton-padded coat, said in a low voice, "Siege warfare is the most grueling."

"I'm really on tenterhooks..."

suddenly!

A distant, urgent sound of horses' hooves, seemingly about to shatter the somber twilight, faintly came from the direction of the northern city gate!

At first it was faint, almost drowned out by the wind, but it quickly became clear, dense, and wild, like the beating of war drums, getting closer and louder, and suddenly crashing into everyone's eardrums with a momentum that tore apart all silence!

Immediately afterwards, a hoarse, high-pitched roar suddenly exploded:

"Good news! Good news! Good news!"