(The previous chapters were too mentally taxing, and I've been feeling a bit tired these past few days. I'm trying to adjust.)

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Looking at the Empress's corpse on the ground, at that splatter of blood and flesh, everyone was stunned into silence. Ye Zhong quietly gave a few instructions, turned his horse around, and began to pursue towards the city gate. On one hand, the Qin family's remaining forces were still strong, and he had to quickly coordinate with the various armies to ensure a decisive victory. On the other hand, with the Empress dead in front of him, for his own safety, it was best to stay as far away as possible. The Imperial family's affairs were best left to the First Prince and Danbo Gong to handle.

The Empress's suicide jump from the city wall took many by surprise. Although the Crown Prince had been defeated, and the Empress faced a grim fate, no one expected that the seemingly gentle and ultimately incompetent Empress would display such courage in her final moment.

At that time, the fighting on the palace grounds had not ended. The Qin family rebels were still putting up a desperate resistance. Fan Xian and the First Prince's trusted subordinates were concerned about the safety of the Empress Dowager and the ministers, and they did not ignore the Empress's presence, but they did not have the spare capacity to prevent that tragic leap.

And so the Empress jumped, dying in front of over ten thousand people, a scene that was utterly shocking.

The Second Prince stared blankly at the Empress's corpse like an idiot, and suddenly began to tremble from head to toe, his entire body enveloped in coldness, shivering uncontrollably. He didn't know what kind of fate awaited him. Instinctively, he looked up to confirm the safety of his birth mother, Consort Shu, before collapsing to the ground.

Soldiers from Dingzhou quickly helped him up, surrounding him respectfully and vigilantly, afraid that he might cause more problems. The Second Prince was expressionless, but his eyes were somewhat scattered, thinking to himself that everything had come to this point, and if someone wanted to take their own life, who could stop them?

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The Qin family's army had retreated, and the Dingzhou army was in relentless pursuit. The capital was filled with the sounds of slaughter, especially the rebel troops bearing the dragon flag, who moved with incredible speed, passing through the long street, past Zhengyang Gate which was personally guarded by Zhang Deqing, and rushing towards the outside of the capital.

Zhang Deqing looked at the scene before him with a deathly pale face, unsure of how to feel. Loyalty was a lifelong conviction, and even a slight wavering at the last moment could turn a lifetime of faithfulness into a prelude to treachery. He knew he had no chance of redemption, and he lacked the courage to use the three thousand soldiers and nine city gates under his command to slow down the Dingzhou army's advance for the Qin family.

City gates could only defend against those outside the city, so how could they defend against betrayal from within? Zhang Deqing sighed sadly, took one last look at the Zhengyang Gate, which seemed to shimmer with gold in the bright sunlight, and led his personal guards, following the dragon flag and the main rebel force, into flight.

Zhengyang Gate had not even had time to close when Gong Dian, leading the Dingzhou army, charged over, transforming into a yellow dragon in pursuit.

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...

Meanwhile, the Crown Prince, fleeing in disarray, used the dragon flag as a smokescreen while being protected by the few remaining generals of the Qin family, arriving at the Donghua Gate. Old Master Qin and Qin Heng were both dead, and the rebels were now without a leader. Fortunately, those family generals Old Master Qin had sent to protect the Crown Prince were still alive. In this moment of crisis, they came up with this escape plan, intending to leave the capital to the north and join the Northern Expedition Army at Cangzhou.

However, the Crown Prince's heart was already filled with despair. Since there was an ambush in the capital, Grand Commandant Yan might already be dead. Where could he escape to? He was not yet aware of the news of his mother's death by jumping from the city wall. He took a deep breath and forced himself to regain some composure, thinking that if his father was really dead, he might still be able to make a comeback with his aunt's help.

After all, he was the Crown Prince, and the empire belonged to the Li family, not the Fan family. Even if Fan Xian controlled the capital, he might not be able to control the entire country.

However, that glimmer of fighting spirit, so difficult to muster, was shattered by the two massive city gates that were tightly closed before him. The Crown Prince and his generals looked at the Donghua Gate, their faces ashen, at the city gate soldiers holding arrows on the stone steps on both sides, and at the white-robed official next to the general, their hearts tightening.

The Crown Prince recognized the white-robed official, knowing that he was the third-highest-ranking person in the Overwatch Council, Yan Bingyun, whom his father greatly admired. However, he had received news that this man had been captured by his aunt when he was trying to persuade Zhang Deqing, and then rescued with great difficulty... How did he end up here?

"Your Highness, please halt."

Yan Bingyun's white robes still had bloodstains from the predawn slaughter. He coughed twice, his expression grave.

The black-clad man who had saved his life in the early hours of the morning had disappeared after placing him in a safe area, and no one knew where he had gone. Yan Bingyun could not personally participate in the events that had unfolded in the capital that day, but he was still closely watching everything through a remaining channel. When there was an anomaly on the square, he had arrived at Donghua Gate ahead of time.

No government office was a monolith. Even if Zhang Deqing had been the commander of the City Gate Garrison for twenty years, he could not order all of his subordinates to be of one mind with him in this situation, especially now that the rebels had been defeated.

Yan Bingyun knew he was taking a risk, but he liked the feeling of risk, and he felt that after making a big mistake, he had to make up for something, to do something for Little Fan.

Fortunately, this time he had succeeded. The City Gate Garrison had successfully blocked the Crown Prince at Donghua Gate. The Emperor's strict control over the City Gate Garrison allowed the commander of Donghua Gate to firmly stand by Fan Xian's side when he learned of the specific situation – or rather, to stand by his own wealth and prosperity – because if the Crown Prince were allowed to lead his troops out of the capital and contact soldiers in the surrounding areas, who knew what kind of changes might occur in the world in the future?

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The rebels, desperate to break out of the city, did not give Yan Bingyun much time to negotiate. The Qin family's generals, without consulting the Crown Prince, began to prepare for battle. At the sound of a command, the rebels bravely charged towards Donghua Gate, and arrows flew from both sides, causing terrible casualties.

However, not long after the battle began, the Crown Prince's face turned pale because he heard a rumbling sound like thunder coming from behind him - it was the Dingzhou army's cavalry!

A banner fluttered in the wind in the streets of the capital, approaching Donghua Gate with incredible speed. The banner bore a large character 叶 (Ye).

Ye Zhong had personally led his troops here and was surprised to find that Donghua Gate was already closed, and the main force of the rebels, where the Crown Prince was located, was blocked in front of this not-so-wide city gate, densely packed and occupying half the street.

He took a deep breath, knowing that Donghua Gate could not be held for long. He raised his right arm, preparing to execute the bloodiest part of today's incident in the capital, but unexpectedly, at this moment, the rebels' violent attacks on Donghua Gate gradually subsided.

Since Ye Zhong had caught up, the Crown Prince had been keeping his head down, hanging in front of his chest, not knowing what he was thinking. Then he slowly raised his head, his eyes filled with despair and relief, and said:

"Surrender."

Everyone fell silent, looking at the Crown Prince with incredulous, angry, sad, desperate, and puzzled eyes, not knowing why he had suddenly lost all his fighting spirit.

The Crown Prince's gaze slowly swept across the faces of these loyal generals and soldiers. He knew that if they fought to the death, they might not be able to break out of the city, but at this point, the Crown Prince was tired, weary, exhausted, and desperate. Even if they did break out of the city, what then? The distance from the capital to Cangzhou was thousands of miles...

Was he supposed to let these thousands of soldiers die one by one in the long pursuit? Was he supposed to let the army clash on the fertile fields of the Qing Kingdom's people, killing and setting fires?

The Crown Prince turned his horse around, looked at Ye Zhong from afar, through the forest of spears of soldiers lining the street, and said, "General Ye, I don't want to go anymore."

Ye Zhong frowned slightly, not understanding why this scene had occurred. He couldn't imagine the Crown Prince's psychological changes. He always thought that the Crown Prince had some other ideas in mind, but since the Crown Prince had spoken at this time, it seemed that there was a chance. Ye Zhong was also unwilling to let his Dingzhou army suffer more casualties.

"Your Highness is wise."

At this time, Li Chengqian's position as Crown Prince had already been abolished by Fan Xian in the palace, but Ye Zhong still habitually said it.

Li Chengqian smiled bitterly and then said, "I have one condition."

"Please speak, Your Highness."

"I want to see Fan Xian, and he must agree to one thing for me."

Li Chengqian's face suddenly turned cold, not because he understood something, but because as a member of the Li family, as the Crown Prince who had been cultivated as the next ruler for many years, he vaguely guessed what kind of fate that hand in the sky wanted to create in this capital, and he did not want to submit to that fate, at least he wanted to let that hand be pricked by small pebbles while molding clay figures.

Ye Zhong was silent for a moment and then said, "I don't know where Duke Fan is at this time."

A strange color flashed in Li Chengqian's eyes, but he immediately guessed something. His face became ugly, and he began to worry about the safety of some people, thinking if his condition had not yet reached Fan Xian's ears, would it still be in time?

--------------------------------------------------

Ye Zhong was lying because he could guess where Fan Xian was.

But in the capital, which had essentially become a sea of blood, neither the rebels nor those who accepted Fan Xian's authority as regent had been able to find him. From the moment Old Master Qin was assassinated, Duke Fan, who had been in charge of major events in the capital, had disappeared.

The Crown Prince, who had made up his mind in front of Donghua Gate, had guessed Fan Xian's destination at the first opportunity, just like Ye Zhong. The reason why Ye Zhong could guess was because he had personally told Fan Xian that address. The reason why the Crown Prince could guess was because he cared very much about everything there, the people there.

Fan Xian was at the Taiping Villa.

Dressed in black, he stood on this bank of the Liujing River, looking at the scenery on the opposite bank, his whole body merging with the shadows of the trees. If you didn't look carefully, you couldn't see him at all. This was already the outskirts of the capital. After killing Qin Ye, he had used the fastest speed, taking advantage of the chaos in the capital, to cross the high city walls of the capital and come here.

Because in this royal villa, there were his most concerned wife, Lin Wan'er, as well as Da Bao, and the Eldest Princess, who had planned the DONGSHAN incident and the rebellion in the capital.

Fan Xian was no stranger to the Taiping Villa. To be precise, he was extremely familiar with it, because this manor had originally been his family's property twenty years ago, the place where his mother, Ye Qingmei, had lived after coming to Qing Kingdom.

After the Ye family was destroyed, this manor was confiscated by the royal family, but His Majesty had always kept the Taiping Villa sealed, guarded by the palace guards, and strictly prohibited any members of the royal family from entering, so its name gradually faded into obscurity.

In the summer and autumn of Qingli year four, Fan Xian had taken his sister to look across the river and offer a distant sacrifice, feeling melancholic as the river wind brushed against his body.

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Fan Xian didn't understand why the Eldest Princess had chosen the Taiping Villa as her residence to direct the affairs of the capital, but he couldn't think about these things at this time. The most important thing was how to safely rescue Wan'er and Da Bao.

Although Wan'er was the Eldest Princess's own daughter, Fan Xian didn't dare to guarantee that the crazy woman wouldn't become ruthless after seeing so many years of planning end in such a miserable way.

For the past ten days, he had always known what kind of situation Wan'er was in, but he had never been able to solve it, and he had not revealed a trace of anxiety in front of others, but only he knew how much Wan'er and Da Bao's safety was affecting his mood.

Standing on this bank of the river, looking at that bank, Fan Xian's heart ached slightly, and he realized that Wan'er was more important in his heart than he could have imagined.

Wu Zhu had personally told him about the room layout of the Taiping Villa, and Wu Zhu had also gone deep into the villa to retrieve something. After Fan Xian arrived on the opposite bank of the villa, he carefully examined the defensive strength of that secluded villa. It was much weaker than he had imagined. It seemed that the continuous attacks by the Overwatch Council and himself against Xinyang over the years had really had some effect, and many of the Eldest Princess's bodyguards had been reduced.

However, while the sound of killing was shaking the capital, the Taiping Villa in the outskirts of the capital was in a state of tranquility. This very clear contrast made Fan Xian always afraid to act rashly.

The location of the Taiping Villa was very special from the beginning of its construction. It was actually built on a small peninsula in the Liujing River. There was only one channel to enter the villa, and the terrain on the surrounding riverbanks was relatively lower and shallower. Fan Xian observed for a long time from the treetops, but found that the view was blocked by the courtyard walls, and he couldn't see the inside at all.

The design of the courtyard wall was very clever. It was not very high, but it just blocked all the views from the outside.

Fan Xian's lips were a little bitter. He knew that even bringing a heavy sniper rifle would be useless. At this thought, his heart couldn't help but skip a beat, thinking did his mother even consider resisting sniper attacks when she designed this courtyard?

However, there was no impregnable villa in the world, otherwise, the woman named Ye wouldn't have disappeared from the human world of Qing Kingdom twenty years ago. Fan Xian was just a little hesitant, not daring to attack strongly, because he knew that Li Yunrui's move had indeed seized his vital spot.

After not thinking for too long on this bank of the river, Fan Xian's expression calmed down. He took a deep breath and turned to a bamboo trestle bridge that he had once passed by, and walked to the main entrance of the Taiping Villa as if he were taking a walk.

Suddenly, many people appeared behind the bamboo forest on the wall, surrounding Fan Xian in the very center. These close bodyguard experts of the Eldest Princess looked at him with shocked faces. They had already recognized his identity, and didn't understand why he dared to show up like this at such a time!

Fan Xian's eyes were as calm as the slow-flowing water in the Liujing River, and he said, "I want to see her."