Bathed in brilliant morning light, Fei Zhaoxing lead the triumphant troops on their march on a flat road. In the distance, they could see the gates to the capital of Gui Le.

The remnants of the Gui Le army had been fully wiped out. In the two boxes close to his reach, they respectively held the heads of Le Di and Le Zhen.

The father and son were once his masters. He followed, risked his life, and sweated for them until they finally tried to do him in like stewing the hounds after all the hares were killed or the setting aside the bow when all the birds were shot.

Unsatisfied! He was unsatisfied!

This dissatisfaction caused him to choose betrayal without further thoughts, and the very same betrayal gave him achievements.

Wuu...wuu... The ancient horn blew out another long, deep sound, welcoming their arrival.

The gates were opened. Fei Zhaoxing surged into the Gui Le capital with his soldiers, amongst the calls of the horn.

Gui Le no longer existed. He Su died, the Royal House destroyed.

On the sides of the pathway were peasants kneeling down in greeting. These people of a fallen country were obviously forced out of their homes to hurry over by the soldiers. They trembled as they knelt, their gazes perhaps both angry and afraid. They tried to hide, trying not to not let their piercing expressions rest on the soldiers.

These gazes couldn't be called good, but they did nothing to weaken Fei Zhaoxing's excitement and pride.

He didn't need to care. These peasants were humbly kneeling. They knew He Su was an incompetent coward. They didn't know as royalty, one must be decisive, heartless and vicious.

And who was better than He Xia, the romantic Marquess of Jing-An with great swordsmanship and looks?

The bystanders understood.

Fei Zhaoxing knew better than He Xia. Yaotian was a difficult checkpoint for He Xia.

When Yaotian took her last breath in the Yun Chang Royal Residence, nothing could bound He Xia, nonstop.

This made Fei Zhaoxing very happy. Life was a gamble to him. It was necessary to have insight to win. Fei Zhaoxing was wrong to follow Le Zhen, but this time he finally managed to beat on the right treasure.

He picked He Xia and obtained a golden opportunity.

After trotting past the kneeling peasants of the fallen country, the more he went inside, the more he realised how deserted the streets were. Occasionally he would see unsettled expressions, but under the cold glint of the Yun Chang soldiers in the sunlight, all of their expressions seemed to become statue-like indifference.

One of He Xia's trusted guards was waiting on the road. He was high-spirited as he spoke to Fei Zhaoxing who was about to head for the Royal Residence, "The Marquess of Jing-An isn't at the Royal Residence. General Fei, please go to the Jing-An Ducal Residence."

Fei Zhaoxing nodded, gathered his reins, and turned. The Jing-An Ducal Residence was He Xia's previous home so waiting there was very normal too.

He dismounted at the Jing-An Ducal Residence. The scene he saw was devastating. He was stunned for a moment before following the guard and stepping across the tall threshold.

The Residence had green moss everywhere and overgrown grass.

Across the carved columns charred by fire in the distance, He Xia was standing alone in this patch of barren solitude.

This lonely figure was about to have every river and mountain for eternities, and his name would be forever remembered.

Fei Zhaoxing didn't dare drop his guard. He walked over and stood there, respectfully saying, "Report to Marquess of Jing-An, I have already brought Le Di and Le Zhen's heads."

He Xia knew he arrived a while ago. He turned and assessed him with a glance, smiling, "Good job. You've done well and I have already prepared your reward. Come, read it."

A bodyguard came forward, opened up a scroll, and began to read aloud. The rewards were, as expected, abundant. Fei Zhaoxing used to follow Le Zhen hence he visited the Gui Le Royal Residence quite often even from his early years. The rewards included several prized treasures that even the King of Gui Le couldn't bear to give away.

He Xia picked the main seat. His expression was faint. It seemed as if he was smiling, but the laughter in his eyes wasn't very strong, so it was difficult to determine. Fei Zhaoxing waited until the guard finished reading and bowed to thank for his rewards. "I have only fought a shameless battle thanks to Marquess of Jing-An's blessings. I don't dare accept so many rewards." He then carefully asked, "Marquess of Jing-An has not yet seen Le Di and Le Zhen's head, perhaps..."

"No need." He Xia shook his head, "Why won't I trust you?"

Two glamourous maids brought forth hot tea, serving He Xia and Fei Zhaoxing. Fei Zhaoxing thanked He Xia and took the cup with both hands. The cup shone brilliantly. It was easy to tell it was a rare treasure. In this deserted Ducal Residence, it looked very out of place.

He Xia seemed to see what he was thinking. He took a sip of the hot tea, "I once instructed this place to be decorated in coloured silk, filled with fine furniture, but it did nothing to bring back a tiniest glimmer of life. I also ordered someone to repair the ruined walls, but once they started, I ordered them to stop. Do you know why?"

Fei Zhaoxing placed the tea down and sat up straighter before cautiously reply, "The Jing-An Ducal Residence of the past will always be the Jing-An Ducal Residence of the past. No matter how much it is rebuilt, the past can never come back."

He Xia's thin lips moved slightly as if wanting to twitch into a smile, but it soon faded. "That's right. What is lost will always be lost. Why is it that when people make their choices, they can never remember this? I really regret it."

Between his words, there was actually an extremely faint expression of pain.

Fei Zhaoxing hadn't thought He Xia would suddenly speak these words that dug at the heart. He was flattered by his trust but didn't dare answer.

In his heart, He Xia was a man with a rare type of dignity. This kind of person was emotional but hid them well in the depths of their mind as they were afraid of others knowing them.

Fei Zhaoxing lowered his head and raised his cup once more. He took a small sip as if trying to soothe his throat.

"I murdered He Su's entire family." He Xia suddenly asked, "Do you know the outside gossip yet?"

Fei Zhaoxing nodded, "I've heard about it as well as those other gossips too."

"What do you think?"

"The members of the Royal House from a fallen country are no more than ants. The Marquess of Jing-An has conquered the world, so what is killing a few ants in comparison?"

"I don't need to deceive you." He Xia looked at him in the eye before faintly smiling, "The outside rumours aren't quite wrong. He Su and the Queen didn't actually try to assassinate me after surrendering. I killed their family of three without reason." Fei Zhaoxing was stunned, not knowing how to reply. He Xia changed the subject, "General Shang Lu is dead now, so who shall be in charge of the Yongchang Regiment?"

Fei Zhaoxing replied, "When the army lost their advisor, the situation was dire so the decision was made quickly. Currently, I am in charge of them."

He Xia didn't particularly mind, "Dongzhuo is old enough. It's time to give him an experience to practice. The Yun Chang capital's situation has stabled now, so I am going to get him to go out on the battlefield to learn some skills. Leave the Yongchang Regiment to him and pass the message onto him when you leave."

Fei Zhangxing answered.

No one understood why but He Xia seemed to be more in thought than usual. He sighed, standing up from his chair to say, "Come, accompany me on a walk."

Fei Zhaoxing followed him, strolling around the Jing-An Ducal Residence.

The courtyard was completely abandoned, and the pond was full of duckweed. Occasionally there would be a few bubbles, causing a tiny current on the surface. They weren't from colourful carps but rather little gray-black wild fish that somehow mysteriously gotten into the pond.

The insects in the grass cried loudly.

They trampled over the tall grass, one after the other. He Xia walked for a long time before suddenly speaking, "I didn't expect that even Gui Le would fall so quickly." His voice held a lot of emotion.

Fei Zhaoxing speculated about him. He conquered the world, yet he was more upset than before.

He quietly looked at his back view, very straight and tight like a taut string.

Perhaps it was because there would never be anything that could compete against He Xia. His army's presence in this reunion with He Xia made Fei Zhaoxing feel that it was stranger than usual by ten times. His sense of supreme majesty had already started to flow out despite not ascending to the throne yet.

"The final army of Gui Le is now destroyed, so the four countries have already been conquered as one. I plan to issue a formal edict and in the name of the Marquess of Jing-An, establish a new country with the name Jing-An."

Fei Zhaoxing hesitated before tentatively advising, "Establishing the new country is very important, but the matters regarding Chu Beijie haven't been sorted. Shouldn't we..."

"No need to worry. Even if Chu Beijie has ten times his own ability, there is no way he can resist my army of several hundreds of thousands. What is there to fear about a barren general?" He Xia sneered, "When I ascend to the throne, my status is established. He will never be Dong Lin's Duke of Zhen-Bei but my Jing-An country's usurper. It'll be justified to kill him. Even though he isn't easy to get rid of, I'll have lots of time then so I'll deal with him slowly."

According to He Xia's thoughts, the four countries had already settled. There would never be any other opponent worth spending effort on and so he was a bit hesitant in killing Chu Beijie immediately. He rather slowly toy him to death, like a cat scratching a mouse.

One couldn't say He Xia was arrogant. After all, in the four countries, all of the armies that opposed He Xia were destroyed. What could Chu Beijie do by himself in challenging the Yun Chang army?

If he dared to openly recruit rebels, the Yun Chang army would immediately arrive, fighting with ten times more. It would be impossible for Chu Beijie to escape death then.

Fei Zhaoxing's heart felt rather unsettled, but after hearing He Xia's relaxed tone, he realised he couldn't convince him. He just remained silent, nodding.

He Xia suddenly stopped. "There's one thing I need you to do."

"Yes."

"I want you to collect every country's treasures, pearls and precious stones. Find a group of craftsmen that studies jewels."

Fei Zhaoxing understood, asking, "To create the King's crown, correct?"

He Xia shook his head, raising two fingers. "Two. One is the King's crown, the other is the Queen's. Both must be exquisite to perfection, not a hint of error."

Fei Zhaoxing answered and left after receiving a few more instructions from He Xia.

After returning to the residence and making provisional arrangements, Fei Zhaoxing began to think. He kept thinking something was wrong and called for a confidant who was left guarding Gui Le. "Did the Marquess of Jing An meet a woman after returning to Gui Le?"

That confidant pondered carefully, shaking his head, "Didn't hear anything about him getting close to a woman. After arriving in Gui Le, he immediately went to deal with various matters near the Jing-An Ducal Residence. It's not strange though. It's inevitable, wanting to pay tribute to dead relatives when seeing former homes."

Fei Zhaoxing felt there was a lump in his throat, but he couldn't think of what to say. He just felt like he was missing something. While he was thinking, another subordinate came to report the items He Xia rewarded him had arrived at his door.

Fei Zhaoxing personally went to pick them up. When he opened one of the boxes, he realised all of them were extremely rare. It seemed He Xia rewarded generously and would by no means be a stingy king in the future.

Fei Zhaoxing was secretly pleased and rewarded the deliverers a handsome sum. He Xia's bodyguard Toumu had also come, grinning while congratulating Fei Zhaoxing. "I have been ordered to come here for another reason too. It's about General Dongzhuo being in charge of the Yongchang Regiment; please, General Fei, use the military stamp and pass on the rights clearly."

Fei Zhaoxing knew about this already. He cheerfully took the document over and stamped it to exchange rights to the Yongchang Regiment. He then sent away the soldiers who'd gotten quite a bit of reward.

Because of his secret delight, although it was just the end of a long journey, Fei Zhaoxing couldn't sleep early. He summoned a few of his subordinate generals to drink with him to celebrate.

"Come on, cheers! This cup is dedicated to our general who is slowly rising through the ranks with immeasurable potential for the future. It's also dedicated to our Prince Consort so that he may ascend to the throne soon!"

One of the lieutenants hurriedly urged, "Don't mention the title, the Prince Consort. The orders from above say that from now on, we must address him as the Marquess of Jing-An. General Zhang, you'd better be careful not to break the rules."

"Heh, I am a man who fights on the battlefield. No way am I gonna care about rules. Cheers!" That lieutenant was still about to persuade him when General Zhang suddenly waved his hands, impatiently shouting, "I know, I know. The Marquess of Jing-An won't be called that for much longer either, but the Emperor. I heard those civil service workers are claiming to be officials too."

The generals were all strictly forbidden from alcohol on the battlefield. From their long abstinence, they greedily and happily drank several pots. Fei Zhaoxing stumbled in his haze and was somehow supported back to his bed.

His sleep was dreamy when there was a suddenjolt of cold for some reason, causing him to sober.

Suddenly opening his eyes, Fei Zhaoxing stiffly sat up from his bed. His heart hammered non-stop, feeling uneasy as if trying to jump out.

There had to be something wrong.

He had a strange sort of trust in his own intuition.

He felt a sudden unrest in his heart when Le Zhen prepared to murder him last time. He bolted out of the city at night to escape. His heart was now trembling. He couldn't help but be careful. He repeated the conversation he had with He Xia over and over again, thinking about it again and again but couldn't find anything strange.

He had done everything He Xia wanted him to do. He had not only ruined the Dong Lin army but killed Le Di and Le Zhen as well as deal with Shang Lu. How could he do any better than this?

If it was about how he was usually a little too greedy about gold and jewelry, He Xia should've had an idea about it earlier and wouldn't do harm to him for such an insignificant reason.

What on earth went wrong?

Could it be another stewing for the hounds once all the hares were killed, or the setting aside the bow when all the birds are shot-like action? Fei Zhaoxing stiffened but then shook his head.

No, no, He Xia wasn't Le Di, wasn't Le Zhen. He was the Marquess of Jing-An, ingenious and tolerant.

After the war finished, the new country would be established. It wouldn't be strange if he wasn't as courteous as before. But as long as he was willing to share a little bit of his great wealth, Fei Zhaoxing was all right.

He tried to think but couldn't think of anything before finally dozing off.

But from thereon, he really did become a bit more careful and a lot more cautious.

Moving rapidly, Chu Beijie and his men headed for Qierou. At first he was a bit afraid the road would be exhausting, and Pingting wouldn't be able to take it.

But Pingting was also someone who often accompanied on the army's expeditions both near and far, so Chu Beijie's worry was quickly dissolved, whole-heartedly dedicating himself to hurrying along.

The ten thousand elite soldiers disbanded at the borders to sneak into Yun Chang territory and quietly met in the outer suburbs of Qierou.

These people were all veterans refined by massive battles. Each, handpicked by Moran and instructed over and over again, were as slippery as ghosts, not making the slightest error.

Not a single alarm sounded by the time a thousand people snuck into Qierou. The Yun Chang army had no idea an entire enemy regiment had gotten so close. The people of Qierou city knew nothing of this impending disaster.

And Fanlu didn't know he had become the target of the Duke of Zhen-Bei either.

This Govenor of Qierou was currently pained over something completely irrelevant to Chu Beijie.

"They just want to force me to die! Fine, come on! Being in the army for so long, there's absolutely nothing I can't overcome!" The documents that just arrived was crushed to balls by Fanlu and mercilessly thrown onto the ground. The Governor's voice could be heard throughout the residence as he yelled, "How do I know where those two Sirs went? So many people witnessed them leaving Qierou, not to mention they often left flexibly. Maybe they crossed the borders long ago too. What's the point of sending me documents asking me to find them when they're already gone? To hell with this!"

The messenger in charge had long been scared away, only leaving Clerk Dujing. He frowned as he watched Fanlu, who appeared to have been stabbed on her behind, as he angrily paced up and down the room.

The Governor's fury was really quite something today.

"Sir, please calm down. Although this document is unreasonable, it still the higher-up's wishes so we can't just ignore it. This..."

"I know we can't just ignore it." Fanlu continued to rage for a few moments, venting out until his anger calmed. His body then seemed to relax. He shockingly began to laugh. His toe touched the rolling balls of documents when he suddenly added power, kicking it right into the corner.

He swaggered to a seat in his chair before nonchalantly propping his legs onto the table. "Hm, then we'll track them down. Clerk, for the Qierou city bulletin board, put up paintings of the two p...no, the two Sirs. Make sure to draw realistically and write..." He chewed on an end of a brush in his mouth, ambiguously instructing, "Two officials have been lost hence the Governor is looking for them. If alive, bring persons; if dead, bring corpses to me. The discoverer will be rewarded one hundred silver coins if alive and two hundred silver coins if dead. Just do that."

From his tone, Dujing could tell Sir Pu Guang and Sir Pu Sheng annoyed him greatly, but he wasn't too sure whether he was joking or not. He was almost in tears as he said, "Sir, I'm afraid one hundred silver coins is a bit too little if they are alive. Hm, as for dead, it's better not to add too much."

"Ok, ok, it's up to you." Fanlu waved his hand and sneezed, "Today's formal work has been done. Go post on the bulletin board soon; I have to get some rest."

After turning at the backyard, he grabbed onto Zuiju's wrist, heading straight out of the door.

Zuiju let herself be pulled. She was rather dumbfounded, "What's wrong now? You ought to look at the fleeing-like expression of yours."

"It's a good day. Accompany me on a relaxation trip."

At these words, Zuiju stopped