The Empress has abandoned me? I'll support a new emperor and destroy your kingdom!

At the same time, a thousand miles away, in the capital of Jiangqiong, in Linyuan City.

Unlike the dilapidated Blackwater Town, Lin Yuan City, being the imperial capital, boasted high, thick city walls, wide streets, and rows of shops, bustling with pedestrians. On the surface, it still possessed the prosperous atmosphere of a southern metropolis. However, upon closer inspection, this prosperity seemed somewhat superficial and strange. The soldiers patrolling the streets wore worn-out armor, their eyes unfocused; the shops were well-stocked, but few customers thronged the entrances; in the alleyways, ragged vagrants walked side by side with well-dressed nobles, a deep chasm and indifference separating them.

The imperial city is located in the northern part of the city center. The palace walls are majestic, and the glazed tiles reflect a somewhat dazzling light in the autumn sun. However, upon closer inspection, weeds have grown at the base of the walls, and the paint is mottled, exuding a sense of decay.

Deep within the palace, in a corner of the Imperial Garden, lies a secluded little building called "Listening to the Rain Pavilion".

Princess Yun Jin stood by the window, gazing absently at the withered lotus pond outside. She was only in her early twenties, with a beautiful face and gentle demeanor, but a lingering melancholy hung between her brows, and her complexion appeared somewhat pale from the lack of joy she hadn't shown in a long time. She wore a worn-out palace dress; the fabric was still acceptable, but the style was outdated, and it was adorned with few ornaments, making her seem out of place in the magnificent palace.

Footsteps sounded softly, and a palace maid in green approached with a teacup, saying in a low voice, "Your Highness, please have some tea and snacks. You didn't eat much for breakfast."

Yun Jin seemed not to hear, continuing to gaze out the window. After a long while, she softly asked, "Qingdai, is there any news of a council meeting in the previous dynasty today?"

The palace maid Qingdai, her confidante, reddened upon hearing this and whispered, "I've inquired... His Majesty was in the alchemy room today and did not attend court. However... His Highness the First Prince and His Highness the Third Prince summoned several ministers to the Wenhua Hall, and... the envoys from the Northern Barbarians were also there."

Yun Jin's delicate body trembled almost imperceptibly, and she closed her eyes. The Northern Barbarian envoy... it was about that matter again.

"What...did they say?" Her voice was very soft, as if it might dissipate in the wind at any moment.

Qingdai bit her lip, her voice choked with sobs: "I heard...I heard from the eunuchs serving outside the palace...His Highness the First Prince say that the Northern Di King dominates the grasslands, with a strong and powerful army. If a marriage alliance could be formed, it could guarantee ten years of peace in the northern frontier, a blessing for both the country and its people. Although the Third Prince didn't explicitly agree, he...he didn't object either, only saying it depended on His Majesty's...and Your Highness's opinion. Among the ministers, some agreed, while others remained silent...Minister Wang of the Ministry of War did mention that the Northern Di are ambitious and that a marriage alliance might not be a long-term solution, but His Highness the First Prince rebuked him as 'lacking in understanding the bigger picture and spreading alarmist rumors'..."

Yun Jin slowly opened her eyes, her gaze filled with a deathly calm. What did His Majesty and she mean? Her father was engrossed in alchemy, not seeing anyone for months; what "meaning" could he possibly have? As for her meaning… from beginning to end, had anyone even asked?

She was merely an unloved princess from a fallen family, a pawn casually placed and used to exchange benefits in the power struggles.

"If my mother were still alive..." she murmured softly, her fingertips digging deep into her palms, yet she felt no pain. Her birth mother had died young, and her maternal grandfather's family had been raided and exiled due to an old case from years ago. She was left destitute and alone in the palace, surviving to this day a precarious existence, walking on thin ice. She had thought that as long as she remained obedient, she might be able to spend her remaining days within these cold palace walls, but unexpectedly, she couldn't escape the fate of being traded like merchandise.

Marry that cruel and lustful Northern Di king who is over fifty years old? Go to that bitter and cold land, where you can't speak the language and the customs are completely different, and become one of his countless wives and concubines, slowly withering away and dying in humiliation and homesickness.

Just thinking about it sent chills down her spine.

"Your Highness, let's...let's escape!" Qingdai suddenly knelt down, grabbing Yun Jin's skirt, tears streaming down her face. "I heard that some merchant caravans in the south can take people out. Let's pack some valuables and escape under the cover of night..."

"Escape?" Yun Jin smiled bitterly, shook her head, and reached out to help Qingdai up. "Under the whole heaven, all land belongs to the king. Where can I escape to? Even if I escape from the palace and from Lin Yuan, without identity documents, two weak women like us would probably die even faster and in a more wretched way in this world." It wasn't that she hadn't thought about it, but reality was even crueler.

"Is...is there really no other way?" Qingdai asked in despair.

Yun Jin remained silent. A solution? Unless a powerful external force intervened to change the political landscape, or… to make the Northern Di relinquish their position. But who would defy the First Prince's will and offend the fierce Northern Di for the sake of a mere princess like her?

Outside the window, the autumn wind rustled through the withered lotus leaves, adding to the desolation.

Just as the master and servant were speechless and shrouded in despair, a series of hurried and heavy footsteps suddenly came from the dilapidated wooden staircase of Tingyuxuan, approaching from afar with undisguised arrogance.

"Is my third sister here? Your brother has come to see you!"

A male voice, tinged with frivolity and arrogance, rang out.

Yun Jin's expression changed. It was the First Prince, Yun Jie!

She quickly composed herself and adjusted her clothes, then gave Qingdai a wink. Qingdai hurriedly wiped away her tears and stepped aside.

The door was pushed open without ceremony, and a young man dressed in a crimson python robe, wearing a jade crown, with a handsome face but arrogant and sinister eyes, strode in with two burly eunuchs. It was none other than the First Prince, Yun Jie.

"Your Majesty," Yun Jin bowed respectfully, his posture submissive.

"Third Princess, there's no need for such formalities." Yun Jie offered a slight gesture of support, his gaze sweeping over Yun Jin, lingering for a moment on her pale face and simple attire. A barely perceptible hint of contempt flashed in his eyes, but a smile plastered on his face. "I've come today with some momentous news to tell you, my dear Princess!"

Yun Jin's heart sank, but she forced a calm expression: "I wonder what joyous occasion Your Majesty speaks of?"

"Naturally, it's my royal sister's lifelong happiness!" Yun Jie laughed, taking his seat in the main seat. "The King of the Northern Di is a man of great talent and ambition, his power shaking the grasslands. He has long admired you, my royal sister, and has specially sent an envoy to propose marriage, wishing to offer you the title of Queen! Although Father is in meditation, he is also pleased to hear this joyous news. All the ministers in the court believe this is a wonderful event that will bring peace and stability to the country and forge lasting friendships! My royal sister, you have rendered a great service to our Jiangqiong!"

He spoke in a grand and dignified manner, as if what he was bestowing upon Yun Jin was not a pit of fire, but supreme glory.

Yun Jin's nails almost dug into her flesh, her face drained of color, yet she maintained a stiff expression: "Your Majesty... this matter concerns the relations between our two nations. Your Majesty... I am but a humble person, and I fear I am unfit for such a great responsibility. Moreover, the Northern Barbarians live in a far-off, bitterly cold land, with vastly different customs... Your Majesty..."

"Hey!" Yun Jie interrupted impatiently, his smile fading and replaced by a hint of pressure. "Your Highness, you are mistaken! As a princess of the royal family, enjoying the offerings of the people, you should naturally share the burdens of the nation! The Northern Di King's sincerity is evident, and Father and the court have already agreed; this is a done deal. Your Highness only needs to focus on preparing for your marriage. As for the dowry and ceremony, I will have people arrange everything for you, ensuring that it does not disgrace the Jiangqiong royal family."

He stood up, walked to Yun Jin, and looked down at her, his voice low and icy threatening: "Royal sister, you're a smart woman. You know perfectly well what to say and what not to say, what to think and what not to think, inside and outside the palace. Obediently marry into the Northern Di, and you'll still be a noble princess. If you have any inappropriate thoughts, or hear anything you shouldn't hear… Hmph, this Listening Rain Pavilion is peaceful, but that doesn't always guarantee peace. Your personal maidservant, doesn't she have an elderly mother and younger brother at home?"

Yun Jin trembled violently and looked up at Yun Jie, her eyes finally revealing undisguised shock, anger, and fear.

Yun Jie watched her reaction with satisfaction, patted her shoulder firmly, and said, "Think it over carefully, my dear sister. I have other important matters to attend to, so I won't keep you any longer. The Northern Di delegation will leave the capital on the eighth day of next month, and you will accompany them. Prepare well."

After saying that, he no longer looked at Yun Jin, whose face was ashen, and left with the eunuch.

The footsteps faded into the distance, leaving the Listening Rain Pavilion deathly silent.

"Your Highness!" Qingdai rushed over and supported the swaying Yun Jin, tears streaming down her face.

Yun Jin leaned against Qing Dai, as if all her strength had been drained away. The eighth day of next month... less than a month left.

Despair, like an icy tide, swept over us.

She looked up and gazed at the gray sky outside the window.

Is it really... that there is absolutely no way out?

Just then, in the corner of the courtyard outside the window, a clump of half-withered bamboo branches moved very slightly, even without any wind.

A figure, even fainter than the shadows and almost blending into the environment, had already quietly crouched on the eaves before Yun Jie and the others entered, taking in all the conversations inside the pavilion. At this moment, this figure slid down like a ghost, disappearing into the shadows of the palace in a few leaps, without attracting the attention of any guards.

In the western part of Lin Yuan City, there is an inconspicuous teahouse with a woodshed in the backyard.

One of the two elite guards dispatched by Zhao Jianing, codenamed "Grey Falcon," was silently memorizing a simplified palace layout drawn in charcoal on the wall. The other, "Night Owl," had just returned from outside and handed Grey Falcon a small copper tube.

"The highest-level secret report from the palace concerns the Third Princess's marriage to the Northern Barbarians and the First Prince's movements," Night Owl whispered, his voice carrying the weariness of a long journey mixed with a hint of excitement. "That princess's situation is worse than we anticipated. The First Prince has personally forced the palace to accept the marriage, and the wedding date is set for the eighth of next month."

Grey Falcon quickly finished reading the coded message in the copper tube, his eyes sharp: "Encrypt it immediately, and send it back to Blackwater Town using the fastest hawk. This is what the master has been waiting for."

"Also," Night Owl added, "I found a place in the south of the city. It used to be a warehouse, but the owner went bankrupt and ran away. It's big enough and remote enough to be a base. It's just a bit 'unclean,' supposedly haunted, so nobody dares to go there."

"Haunted?" Grey Falcon sneered. "Perfect. Take it over and clean it up as soon as possible. We need an eye and ear on the edge of the abyss, and more importantly, we need something that the desperate princess can grasp... a 'drift log'."

The two exchanged a glance, said no more, and quickly went their separate ways.

Dark clouds gathered above Lin Yuan City, threatening a mountain rain.

Meanwhile, a thousand miles away in Blackwater Town, a hawk with strong wings is soaring into the sky, carrying an encrypted message, cutting through the sky, and flying swiftly towards the northern border town where the first chess piece has just been placed.

On the other side of the chessboard, the player has already placed their piece.