Xue Liulan's hopes were dashed. The battle report in his hand deepened the furrow in his brow. The Turkic leader had anticipated every move, as if he had been reading Xue Liulan's mind.
"Your Majesty." Li Yan rushed into the palace. He had barely returned home when Little Dingzi had dragged him back.
"Look at this." Xue Liulan handed him the report.
Li Yan took it, suspicious. Unlike the clean, celebratory report from before, this one was stained with blood, crumpled as if someone had guarded it with their life.
The handwriting was hurried, but unmistakably Murong Yan's.
This guilty subject is incompetent. Wuchuan's vanguard is lost. I beg Your Majesty to order Zhao to attack immediately.
The strokes were crooked, written in blood. Murong Yan had bitten his finger to write it.
"Wuchuan has fallen?" Li Yan gasped. "If we don't send troops, the Turks will sweep south."
"I know." Xue Liulan nodded. "Gongzi Moran should have received my letter by now. But my spies brought back another piece of news."
"What news?"
"After taking Wuchuan, the Turks withdrew immediately. It's as if their goal was only to destroy Murong Yan's army."
"What?" Li Yan paced. "Someone promised them benefits to destroy the Murong family?"
Xue Liulan was silent. He picked up a brush, wrote a character on his palm, and handed the brush to Li Yan.
Li Yan understood. He wrote a character on his own palm and showed it.
Guo.
Xue Liulan opened his hand. Guo.
They exchanged a look. "What will Your Majesty do?" Li Yan whispered.
"No evidence. He'll deny it."
"So we wait? Without the Murong family in Wuchuan, the Turks will run wild." Li Yan frowned. Crushing Guo Shangzhong was important, but the safety of the dynasty was paramount.
"When the skin is gone, where can the hair attach?" Xue Liulan scoffed. "He isn't stupid enough to hand over the dynasty. He knows the Turks can't swallow us whole."
Li Yan understood. The vassal states were strong. They balanced each other out. Everyone wanted the throne, but no one wanted to be a slave to barbarians.
"I worry someone might be that foolish," Li Yan sighed. "Greed blinds men."
"True." Xue Liulan nodded. "Gongzi Moran is capable, but he may not be able to stop the full force of the Turks. Send word to Jin and Yin. Tell them to prepare. And… recall the Fifteen, secretly."
"Them?" Li Yan asked. "If someone finds out…"
"They are shadows. No one is looking for them anymore." Xue Liulan was confident.
Just then, Little Dingzi stumbled in, clutching a bloodstained letter.
"Your Majesty! This… this just arrived!"
Xue Liulan snatched it. He opened it, and his heart went cold. Another report from Wuchuan, but not in Murong Yan's hand. Not even Zuo Xunxiao's.
"Wuchuan has fallen." His hand dropped. The letter fluttered to the floor.
Li Yan picked it up. It was a memorial from a local official named Chengguan. Wuchuan had fallen quickly. Murong Yan and Zuo Xunxiao were missing.
"What do we do?" Li Yan looked at him helplessly. He was a scholar, not a general.
Xue Liulan was silent. He hadn't expected Wuchuan to fall so fast. It had always been the shield of the north. Now, the shield was broken.
"Mobilize the Jindu garrison."
"But Your Majesty, an army is easy to raise, a general is hard to find. The only person capable of this… is the Empress." Li Yan hesitated.
Murong Jin was a general, yes. But she was also the Empress. And Xue Liulan cherished her above all else.
"I will lead the army myself. The Empress stays in Jindu." His voice was iron.
"Your Majesty, reconsider!" Li Yan dropped to his knees. "You are the Emperor! If anything happens to you, the realm will be leaderless!"
"Li Yan, listen to me. I leave you an edict. If I fail, dead or alive, you must support the new ruler. My son is too young. Send for my seventh brother." Xue Liulan spoke calmly, as if he had already accepted death.
"Your Majesty!"
"He may not want to return. If so, ask Siyou. His health is poor, so you must share his burden." Xue Liulan bowed deeply.
"Your Majesty, you cannot!" Li Yan kowtowed. "I will go in your place."
Xue Liulan pulled him up, smiling. "Do you even believe that yourself? You've read a few books on war, but you can't command an army."
"But you are the ruler of the nation! Even if we must ask the Empress…"
"I will not send Murong Jin to the battlefield." Xue Liulan cut him off. "She has suffered enough to find peace. And she has Qi'er."
Li Yan fell silent. He hoped Xue Liulan would return victorious. Otherwise, the chaos in Jindu would be beyond any edict's power to quell.
"Your Majesty! Bad news!" A maid's scream shattered the quiet. Xue Liulan's heart leaped.
"What is it?" He recognized her. A maid from Zhaoyang Palace.
"Your Majesty… the Empress… she's gone."
"What?" Little Dingzi jumped. "Gone? How can a living person just be gone?"
Xue Liulan's fist clenched. Before he knew it, he was striding out, heading straight for Zhaoyang Palace.
Li Yan and Little Dingzi ran to catch up.
"Eunuch Ding, how did that report arrive? Was it announced with drums?" Li Yan asked, breathless.
"No." Little Dingzi shook his head. "Just a soldier covered in blood, riding straight to the gate."
"Who else knew?"
"The guards… maybe." Little Dingzi thought. "But no one from Zhaoyang Palace was there."
"Hard to say." Li Yan quickened his pace. Someone had leaked the news to Murong Jin. Knowing her, she wouldn't sit by while her father was in danger.
She has been played.
Xue Liulan pushed open the door. Her sword was gone from the wall. Her armor was missing from the wardrobe. Qi'er's clothes were scattered on the bed. She had left in a hurry.
"Little Dingzi. Order the gates closed. Bring Murong Jin back. If she resists, bind her."
"Ah?" Little Dingzi froze. Bind the Empress? Even if he dared, who among the guards could defeat her?
"Go!" Xue Liulan roared.
"Yes! Yes!" Little Dingzi ran.
Li Yan stood behind him, silent.
"Li Yan. Tell the Ministry of War to ready the troops." Xue Liulan took a deep breath, steadying his racing heart. "If Murong Jin does not return today… tomorrow, we march for Wuchuan."