Rise of a Lonely City: From Exiled Prince to Ruler of the Nine Provinces

On the twelfth day after leaving Yingchou Gorge, the outline of Zhenbei Pass finally appeared on the horizon.

That was a truly formidable pass.

The city wall was built against the mountain, and was more than five zhang high. The bluish-gray bricks gleamed with a cold, hard luster under the bleak winter sun.

The city gate tower stands majestically, its eaves soaring upwards, and the large black banner with the gold lettering reading "Zhenbei" flutters in the north wind.

In front of the pass was a wide moat, which had now frozen into ice, reflecting a blinding white light.

The group stopped three miles before the pass.

"What a magnificent pass." Xiao Chen rode on the snow-covered horse, squinting as he gazed into the distance.

The team underwent significant changes over the past twelve days.

With the thirty captured warhorses, Wang Dashan managed to train a cavalry unit of thirty men—although most of them still had stiff riding postures, at least they could wield swords on horseback.

Zhao Tie's injuries have stabilized, but he still needs to rest in the carriage.

More importantly, after the battle at Eagle's Sorrow Gorge, the way the veterans looked at Xiao Chen completely changed.

It was no longer about seeing a prince who needed protection, but about seeing a leader worth following.

"Your Highness, according to the rules, we must first submit the documents and wait for the garrison commander to verify and stamp them before allowing us to pass."

Wang Dashan said, "Zhou Tong, the garrison commander of Zhenbei Pass, is a man of the Fourth Prince. I'm afraid..."

"Will they make things difficult for us?"

Xiao Chen said calmly, "As expected. Go, follow the rules."

Wang Dashan, carrying documents and official seals, rode alone to the pass.

The gates were tightly shut, and the city walls were lined with guards.

Wang Dashan raised his head and shouted, "The Jingbei Prince's entourage, please open the gates and let them pass!"

There was a moment of silence on the city wall, then a captain poked his head out: "What prince? We haven't received any official documents from the court! Wait!"

They waited for two hours.

As the sun began to set, a cold wind started to blow.

The troops were shivering from the cold outside the pass, and several wounded soldiers had begun to cough.

Xiao Chen remained seated on his horse, expressionless.

Finally, the door was opened a crack, just wide enough for one person to pass through.

A general in armor stepped out, followed by a dozen or so personal guards.

This man, in his forties, with a square face, short beard, and arrogant eyes, was none other than Zhou Tong, the garrison commander of Zhenbei Pass.

He slowly walked up to Wang Dashan, took the document, and casually flipped through it.

"Where's the print?"

Wang Dashan handed over the golden seal of the Prince.

Zhou Tong took it, examined it against the light, and then weighed it in his hand. Suddenly, he frowned: "This seal... the weight is off. Could it be fake?"

Wang Dashan's expression changed: "General, watch your words! This is a golden seal personally bestowed by His Majesty; how can it be fake!"

"Whether it's fake or not, we'll only know after testing."

Zhou Tong casually tossed the seal to the guards behind him, "Take it back and examine it carefully. You wait here."

After saying that, he turned around and was about to return to the pass.

"Wait." A voice came from behind.

Zhou Tong turned around and saw a young man riding a black horse slowly approaching.

The boy wore a worn indigo cotton robe with a gray squirrel fur cloak over it, and there were still traces of blood on his face. But his eyes were as cold as ice.

"General Zhou."

Xiao Chen reined in his horse, meeting Zhou Tong's gaze. "How long will it take to verify the seal?"

Zhou Tong sized him up, a cold smile playing on his lips—this was the unfavored seventh prince?

They look tough, but unfortunately, once they come to my territory, even a dragon has to coil up.

"That's hard to say."

Zhou Tong gave a forced smile. "Whether the seal is genuine or not needs to be carefully checked. If it's genuine, then we'll let you through. If it's fake... Hmph, impersonating a prince is a capital offense."

"How many days will the inspection take?"

"Three days."

Zhou Tong casually replied, "It could take two days if things go quickly, or four or five days if things go slowly. What, is Your Highness impatient?"

Xiao Chen looked at him for a long time, then suddenly smiled.

The smile was faint, yet it sent a chill down Zhou Tong's spine.

"Alright, then we'll wait three days."

Xiao Chen said, "However, my brothers have been traveling for days, and some are wounded. It's freezing cold outside the pass. Could you please do us the favor of letting them enter the pass to rest?"

"That won't do."

Zhou Tong resolutely refused, "This is a heavily guarded area; how can we allow just anyone to enter? If a spies infiltrate, I cannot bear the consequences. You may set up camp outside the pass."

After saying that, he ignored them and turned to enter the gate.

The door slammed shut.

Wang Dashan trembled with rage: "Your Highness, this fellow is clearly deliberately making things difficult for us!"

"I know."

Xiao Chen stared at the tightly closed door. "He's Fourth Brother's man, of course he won't let me get away with this so easily. But..."

He paused, a cold glint flashing in his eyes: "The more he acts like this, the more it shows that he has a guilty conscience."

The team set up camp on a leeward slope three miles outside the pass.

The temperature dropped sharply at night.

The north wind howled, making the tents flutter loudly.

Although a fire had been lit, the chill still seeped in everywhere.

Several seriously wounded veterans developed high fevers, and Uncle Fu and his men took care of them throughout the night.

Xiao Chen did not sleep.

He sat in the tent, writing and drawing on a piece of paper by the dim light of an oil lamp.

The paper contained several lines of text:

1. Zhou Tong, garrison commander of Zhenbei Pass, and a henchman of the Fourth Prince.

Second, deliberately delaying in order to wear down the opponent.

Third, there must be someone inside the pass to provide assistance, or to prepare for the next assassination attempt.

Fourth, the delay of three days may be due to waiting for instructions.

five,……

He stopped writing at the fifth point, looked up, and asked, "How is Uncle Zhao's injury?"

Wang Dashan, who was guarding outside the tent, came in to report: "The fever has subsided, but he is still weak. The medicine that Old Man Han gave him is effective, and the wound has not become infected."

Xiao Chen nodded, then asked, "What's the movement of the garrison at the pass?"

"At dusk, a troop of cavalry left the pass and headed south. There were about twenty riders, and judging from their attire, they were messengers."

Wang Dashan said, "In addition, the number of sentry posts on the city wall has doubled compared to usual."

"South..."

Xiao Chen pondered, "Should we go to the capital to report the news, or contact the commander of the next pass?"

He stood up, walked to the tent entrance, and lifted the curtain.

In the darkness of night, the outline of Zhenbeiguan resembles a lurking giant beast.

The torches on the city wall twinkled like the eyes of wild beasts.

"Wang Dashan".

"Your humble servant is here."

"Why do you think Zhou Tong delayed for three days?" Xiao Chen suddenly asked.

Wang Dashan was taken aback: "Naturally, it's to make things difficult for Your Highness and make us suffer outside the Great Wall."

"It's not just that."

Xiao Chen shook his head. "If he really wanted to kill me, he should have realized after Eagle's Sorrow Gorge that ordinary assassinations wouldn't work. There must be another reason for the three-day delay."

He turned to Wang Dashan and asked, "Do you think three days is enough time to bring over a group of truly skilled fighters from Beijing?"

Wang Dashan's expression changed drastically: "Your Highness means..."

"Those men in black at Eagle's Sorrow Gorge, though skilled, are ultimately just a disorganized rabble."

Xiao Chen said slowly, "If I'm not mistaken, Fourth Brother should have realized by now that petty tricks won't kill me. So..."

He paused, his voice turning cold: "So he wants to bring the real experts and his most trusted confidants to the Northern Border. Three days is just enough time for these people to travel from the capital to Zhenbei Pass."

The tent was deathly silent.

Only the wind howled.

After a long silence, Wang Dashan hissed, "Then... what do we do?"

Xiao Chen did not answer.

He walked back to the table, picked up a pen, and wrote another line on the paper:

Will count.

The next day, Zhou Tong indeed did not turn it on or off.

They simply sent a junior officer to deliver a message: "The seal is still under inspection, wait."

The team continued to endure hardship outside the pass.

Food supplies are becoming scarce; there are only three days' worth of dry rations left.

More importantly, there wasn't enough firewood—trees were scarce outside the pass, and the available dry branches were quickly burned up.

At night, the temperature drops below freezing.

Several frail veterans were shivering, their lips turning purple from the cold.

Xiao Chen ordered his men to gather the last bit of firewood for the wounded and the elderly.

He and the other able-bodied veterans wrapped themselves in whatever they could find and huddled together around the fire for warmth.

"Your Highness, please enter the tent," Uncle Fu said in a trembling voice.

"No need." Xiao Chen shook his head and added a piece of firewood to the fire—it was the last one.

The flames flickered, illuminating the aged and weary faces.

"Brothers," Xiao Chen suddenly spoke, his voice not loud, but everyone heard him clearly, "I know many of you are wondering: is it worth it to follow this unfavored prince to this harsh and cold place?"

No one spoke.

Only the sound of the wind.

"I've asked myself the same question: Is it worth it?"

Xiao Chen looked at the flickering flames. "In the capital, I was at least a prince, living a life of luxury. Even if I wasn't favored, I could still survive. Why did I have to come to the Northern Border, to the Cold Abyss?"

He paused, his gaze sweeping over the crowd.

"Because I don't want to live a life of ignominy."

He raised his voice, "I don't want to walk with my head down for the rest of my life, I don't want to live my whole life watching other people's faces, I don't want to live my whole life... like I'm not even human."

The veterans raised their heads, their eyes shining.

"You too."

Xiao Chen said, "You were once soldiers of the Great Xia, men who guarded the borders and shed blood. But what happened after you retired? The court doesn't care anymore, nobody remembers you. You can only fend for yourselves, living worse than dogs."

Some people started wiping away tears.

"That's why I say, the Cold Abyss is not a dead end, but a way out."

Xiao Chen stood up, the firelight casting a long shadow on the snow. "There, no one will look down on you because you're old or disabled. There, you can pick up your knives again, stand tall, and live like human beings!"

He paused, then spoke slowly and deliberately:

"I, Xiao Chen, hereby swear: as long as I have a breath left, I will not abandon any of my brothers. No matter how bitter the cold, I will make sure you are well-fed and clothed. No matter how strong the enemy, I will stand in front of you. If heaven is truly blind and I die on the way—"

He drew a dagger from his waist and cut his palm.

Blood dripped onto the snow, specks of bright red.

"Then bury my body beneath the walls of Cold Abyss City. Let future generations know that once a prince led a group of veterans, attempting to carve out a path to survival in this harsh, cold land!"

silence.

A long silence.

Then, I don't know who stood up first.

One, two, three... all the veterans who could still move stood up.

They looked at Xiao Chen, at this sixteen-year-old boy, their eyes filled with no doubt, no fear, only an almost insane determination.

"I am willing to die for Your Highness!"

The voice wasn't loud, but it was heavy, striking everyone's heart.

The third day, early morning.

Zhou Tong finally showed up.

He led a group of personal guards out of the pass, holding the golden seal in his hand, a fake smile on his face.

"I've kept Your Highness waiting."

He handed the seal back to Wang Dashan, saying, "The seal has been verified; it's genuine. However..."

He then changed the subject: "The area beyond the Great Wall has been rather unsettled lately, with frequent bandit activity. For Your Highness's safety, I suggest we wait a few days and gather a caravan before setting off together; that would be the safest course of action."

Another instance of procrastination.

Wang Dashan gripped the knife handle tightly in anger.

Xiao Chen smiled.

He rode on the snow-covered horse and slowly walked up to Zhou Tong, looking down at him.

"General Zhou."

"What are your orders, Your Highness?"

How old are you this year?

Zhou Tong was taken aback: "Forty-three."

"How many years have you been in the military?"

"Twenty-six years."

"oh."

Xiao Chen nodded. "Twenty-six years, from a lowly soldier to the garrison commander of Zhenbei Pass, that's no easy feat."

Zhou Tong didn't know what he wanted to say, so he could only reply, "Thanks to Your Majesty's great favor, the soldiers fought bravely."

"Yes, Your Majesty's grace is truly appreciated."

Xiao Chen repeated the sentence, then suddenly asked, "General Zhou, what do you think His Majesty would think if he knew that you were deliberately making things difficult for the princes and delaying their enfeoffment?"

Zhou Tong's expression changed: "What do you mean by that, Your Highness? I was just following the rules..."

"According to the rules?"

Xiao Chen interrupted him, "According to the rules, when a prince passes through the territory, the gates should be opened to welcome him, post stations should be set up, and provisions should be replenished. Have you done any of these things in the past three days?"

"this……"

"In these three days, you have left my three hundred brothers to freeze and starve outside the pass, the wounded have become more seriously ill, and our food supplies have run out."

Xiao Chen's voice turned cold. "Zhou Tong, this isn't just making things difficult, it's murder."

Zhou Tong's forehead was beaded with sweat, but he forced himself to remain calm: "Your Highness is too kind! This is a heavily guarded area, and I was merely being cautious. What wrong have I done?"

"Be cautious?" Xiao Chen smiled and took out the letter from his pocket—a secret letter found on the black-clad man in Eagle Sorrow Gorge.

He unfolded the letter and waved it in front of Zhou Tong.

"General Zhou, do you recognize this?"

Zhou Tong's face turned deathly pale when he saw the sealing wax on the envelope.

"This, this is..."

"This is a secret letter from the Northern Yan people ordering me to be killed."

Xiao Chen said slowly, "Coincidentally, those assassins also had Zhenbeiguan's pass tokens on them."

He stared at Zhou Tong, speaking slowly and deliberately: "Tell me, if I were to send this letter, along with those tokens, to the capital, to before Father Emperor, what would he think?"

Zhou Tong was trembling all over.

He knew exactly what they would think—treason, a capital offense!

"Your Highness..."

His voice trembled, "This matter...this matter has nothing to do with me! Those tokens must be...they must be forged by thieves..."

"Forgery?"

Xiao Chen sneered, "Should I send someone back to the capital right now and ask the Ministry of War to send someone to inspect it?"

Zhou Tong knelt down with a thud.

"Your Highness, please forgive me! This humble general... this humble general was only following orders!"

"On whose orders?"

"Yes, yes..." Zhou Tong dared not say.

Xiao Chen bent down and whispered three words in his ear.

Zhou Tong froze, then collapsed to the ground.

"switch."

Xiao Chen straightened up, his voice not loud, but carrying an undeniable authority, "Now."

Half an hour later, the group finally passed through Zhenbeiguan.

The door closed slowly behind me.

Xiao Chen, mounted on his horse, glanced back at the city gate.

Zhou Tong stood on the city wall, his face ashen, as if he had lost his soul.

"Your Highness, are you just going to let him go like this?" Wang Dashan asked, puzzled.

"Let it go for now."

Xiao Chen said calmly, "Keeping him alive will be useful."

He paused, then added, "Moreover, I want Fourth Brother to know that I've made moves against his men. This is a warning."

The group continued north.

Two more checkpoints lie ahead.

There's still a long way to go.

But at least for now, they have overcome the first hurdle.

Xiao Chen gazed northward, towards the direction of Han Yuan, his eyes growing increasingly intense.

"Let's go," he said. "The road ahead is long."

With a long neigh, it strode off into the snow.

Behind him, three hundred veterans, thirty cavalrymen, and a carriage followed their prince silently and resolutely.

Towards the north, towards an unknown destiny.