After saving the Empress, I became the top scholar in the imperial examination.

The white horse galloped swiftly, raising a trail of dust on the main road.

...

When Qin Yuanyao met Prince Xin, it was already afternoon.

The summer sun finally blew away the clouds that had been obscuring it.

As the golden sunlight shone down, the gloomy white weather of the morning completely faded away, and the world was bathed in a warm, orange glow.

The surging Yangtze River reflects the golden light, its surface shimmering. Over thousands of years of erosion and scouring, the river has carved out an inconspicuous little tributary in Jiangning. Due to some hard-to-verify historical anecdotes, the locals call it the Erhu River.

The Erhu River originates on the right bank of the Yangtze River, meanders from north to south for two hundred miles, and eventually flows into Shijiu Lake in Sushui County.

Lijia Village is located on the west bank of the Erhu River, facing Yaozi Mountain across the river.

Yaoshan Mountain is not high, with an altitude of over 100 zhang, but it is long and has a very gentle southern slope with lush vegetation, making it green all year round.

A simple stone pavilion sits atop the mountain.

More than thirty Imperial Guards, under the command of an old centurion, have been deployed to guard key points throughout the mountains.

More than ten captains stood guard around the stone pavilion on the mountaintop, ready for battle.

Qin Yuanyao handed the white horse's reins and her sword to the brocade-clad officers on the outer perimeter and walked straight toward the stone pavilion.

A woman dressed in a simple cloth dress and wearing a hairpin sat gracefully in the stone pavilion, facing east. Her profile was as white as mutton fat jade, and the strands of hair on her forehead fluttered gently in the wind.

The other person seemed to be gazing at Nanjing, sixty miles away, with a slightly dazed look in their eyes.

"Qin Yuanyao, Commander of the Imperial Guards, pays his respects to Prince Xin!"

The female commander removed her straw hat, bowed deeply, and spoke in a hoarse, dry voice, which was even tinged with sobs that had been suppressed for many days.

"Commander Qin, you've worked hard."

The Prince's voice was gentle yet dignified, and his gaze turned to her.

"Please sit down," Zhu Cui said with a smile.

Qin Yuanyao took a breath, quickly clasped her hands and said that she dared not, and then reported that His Majesty and the Prince's Mansion already knew the whereabouts of Prince Xin and were sending people to him.

Meanwhile, an elite battalion of the Imperial City Military Cavalry is about to arrive at Hangezhuang, consisting of one rider on two horses, five hundred heavily armored cavalry, and three hundred laborers, who will be responsible for escorting Prince Xin back to the capital.

Zhu Cuiwei glanced at the dark-skinned and stubborn female commander, her eyes calm, neither agreeing nor disagreeing with the arrangements.

"Commander Qin, how is my brother's health?" Zhu Cuiwei changed the subject, her voice gentle.

"When His Highness first went missing, His Majesty was so angry that he suffered a heart attack, but fortunately the physician arrived in time and he is now out of danger."

"Your Majesty..." Zhu Cuiwei paused for a moment.

The mountaintop was cool, and the stone pavilion shielded it from the golden light and heat. The light inside the pavilion was dim, and occasionally a few fallen leaves would drift in with the wind, rolling on the ground and making a rustling sound.

"How's the investigation into the person who attempted to assassinate me going?" she asked calmly after pausing for a moment.

Qin Yuanyao's expression hardened, and she lowered her head, saying, "Your Highness, the assassins who tried to kill you that day were extremely skilled. Not a single corpse was left behind. Miss Ziyuan is dead, Miss Qinghuan is seriously injured, and everyone else in the Prince's Mansion has perished... After the coroner examined the bodies of Miss Ziyuan and the rest of the Prince's Mansion, they have been sealed in an ice cellar..."

Upon hearing of Zi Yuan's death, Zhu Cuiwei lowered her eyelids and her cheeks became slightly sunken.

Before this morning, I had always thought that the so-called Miss Zhu, whom the bookworm Li Yanting rescued, was "Zi Yuan".

That night, when the young doctor was asked about the woman's appearance, he heard that she resembled Zi Yuan. Qing Huan had a beauty mark at the corner of her eye, while Zi Yuan did not. Zi Yuan was also dressed in red, so he made a mistake and gave the young doctor a random name, "Zhu Qingmian".

Unexpectedly, this morning, "Zhu Qingmian" came to the Ning family, saying that she had heard that "Brother Ning's" mother was sick and came to visit her.

Moreover, he brought along Yang Qiniang and an honest-looking man. Qiniang introduced the man as Er Laizi's father, a butcher named Han Donghu.

Zhu Qingmian paid for Han Donghu to buy her silk and some tonics in Hangezhuang, and also brought two old hens with her.

This woman was indeed exceptionally beautiful; her appearance alone was truly outstanding.

Ning smiled and pointed to herself, introducing, "Miss Zhu, this is my daughter-in-law, Cuicui."

The woman's smile remained unchanged; she simply said that Brother Ning treated her extremely well and was a very good young man, and that Sister Cui Cui was truly blessed.

It wasn't until then that I recovered from the shock of hearing the name "Zhu Qingmian".

It's not Zi Yuan... Not only is it not Zi Yuan, but it's also a woman I don't recognize who has amnesia. Who exactly is this 'Zhu Qingmian'?

Seeing that Prince Xin seemed to be deep in thought, Qin Yuanyao paused her voice.

"Continue," Zhu Cuiwei said calmly when she saw her pause.

Qin Yuanyao nodded hurriedly, organizing the jumbled information in her mind, and slowly said, "...almost all the traces at the scene have been erased. We can only make judgments based on the coroner's autopsy report. Based on the wounds of the people in the Prince's mansion, we determined that the other party's weapons included some, some..."

"Just say it," Zhu Cuiwei told her not to have any reservations.

"Yes... We judged that some of the enemy's weapons were standard longswords of our dynasty, but most of them were spiked clubs, iron hammers and the like. The former has been investigated within the army, and the latter we judged to be the weapons of a group of bandits in the nearby mountains. The wounds were very messy, and the attacks were not as neat and crisp as those of standard longswords. At present, we have sent out a large number of secret agents to infiltrate various bandit dens to search for evidence."

Zhu Cuiwei nodded, pondered for a moment, and then said softly, "Black Tiger Stronghold, investigate Black Tiger Stronghold, but don't alert them."

That night, the young doctor, along with three strong men, ambushed the people from Black Tiger Stronghold.

Qin Yuanyao's eyes lit up. Prince Xin was indeed remarkable; he was able to find clues even in such a desperate situation!

She let out a soft breath and immediately cupped her hands in response, "Yuan Yao obeys!"

"How's the cleaning of the Prince's Mansion going?"

The question came out of nowhere, and Qin Yuanyao's pupils shrank.

She originally thought that Prince Xin would only start asking and investigating these matters after returning to his residence, since it was still too dangerous to be in Li Family Village. However, she did not expect that Prince Xin would keep asking these important questions almost non-stop.

"Commander Shangguan, together with the Grand Tutor and the Chief Secretary, conducted several investigations of the Prince's mansion. They found four maids, two stewards, and two eunuchs. These people had betrayed information about the Prince's mansion to varying degrees. In addition, there were three others who, from the very beginning, were not members of the Prince's mansion."

"Who sent them?" Zhu Cuiwei asked, amused.

Qin Yuanyao lowered her head and remained silent.

"The King of Qi? Or the King of Wu?" Zhu Cui smiled slightly. "If it's the King of Jing, then I'll really be a little disappointed in my Ninth Uncle."

These three men were all her uncles. Legally speaking, since her elder brother had no heir, the next emperor of the Great Liang would have to be chosen from among the sons of these three men, especially the Prince of Qi.

The Prince of Qi was her father's younger brother, born of the same mother, and was the second son in his family.

Qin Yuanyao's face showed struggle; she opened her mouth a few times, then fell silent again.

"What?" Zhu Cuiwei glanced at her and smiled, "I heard that the female commanders of the Embroidered Uniform Guard are like female Yama, the rulers of the Imperial Prison. Is Yama so timid?"

Qin Yuanyao took a slight breath, gritted her teeth, and was about to speak when Zhu Cuiwei raised her hand and restrained her.

"Actually, it doesn't matter whose it is... I was just joking, Commander Qin, don't be embarrassed."

Qin Yuanyao's eyes widened, and she swallowed back the words that were on the tip of her tongue, but she felt a little relieved.

At that moment, she had a strange feeling.

For some reason, even though Prince Xin was dressed in a simple cloth skirt and hairpin, like an ordinary woman, in her eyes he still appeared as majestic and dignified as if he were wearing a phoenix coronet and embroidered robe, making her somewhat afraid to look directly at him.

Zhu Cuiwei was completely oblivious to her subordinates' feelings. Her watery eyes were fixed on the mountains and land ahead, which were bathed in an orange hue. She tilted her head slightly and said softly, "Commander Qin, do you think they will still target me if I return to the capital?"

"Of course not!" Qin Yuanyao's gaze sharpened, and without any hesitation, she declared decisively, "Prince Xin, rest assured, whether it's the Prince's residence, the Imperial City, or the entire city of Nanjing, everything is now as impregnable as an iron barrel!"

Zhu Cuiwei's eyes turned cold, her piercing gaze striking the female commander like lightning: "Since they won't attack me after I return to the capital... then why should I go back?!"