I slaughtered my way through the border at the start, I am the Great Ming's Night Raider!

The letter slipped from Chen Yuan's hand.

It turned out to be the case.

King Zhao was killed by Sun Zhong and Cao Jixiang.

Empress Sun inherited her father's ambition and ruthlessness.

And those two jade pendants...

Everything fits together.

"Young Master?" Uncle Zhao looked at him with concern.

Chen Yuan shook his head: "I'm fine. Let's get ready and head back to the capital."

"Now? Your injury..."

"Now." Chen Yuan stood up, wincing in pain from his wounds, but his eyes were resolute. "There are even bigger battles to be fought in the capital."

It was the 28th day of the twelfth lunar month, at noon.

Chen Yuan returned to Beijing.

The city gates were under martial law, and the number of guards was three times that of usual.

The streets were deserted, most shops were closed, and the atmosphere was somber.

But when he entered the city, the guards recognized him—no, not him, but the flag behind him.

The Grand Princess's command flag.

"Commander Chen is back!" The news spread like wildfire throughout the city.

Chen Yuan did not return to Yongshou Palace, but went directly to Qianqing Palace.

Outside the palace gates, officials knelt on the ground, mourning the late emperor—his coffin was still inside the palace, the funeral arrangements delayed due to the war.

He walked through the crowd and entered the main hall.

Inside the mourning hall, the Grand Princess, dressed in white mourning clothes, was burning paper money.

Crown Prince Zhu Qizhen knelt beside him, his little face red from crying.

"Your subject Chen Yuan greets Your Highness."

The Grand Princess turned around, saw him, and tears welled up in her eyes: "You...you're back..."

"I am fortunate to have fulfilled my mission," Chen Yuan said. "Juyong Pass has been defended, and the Tatars have retreated. The Nanjing rebellion has been quelled, and the Duke of Wei and the Duke of Cheng have both been brought to justice."

The hall was completely silent.

Then, cheers erupted!

"May Heaven bless the Ming Dynasty!"

"Your Highness is wise! Commander Chen is mighty!"

The Grand Princess walked over, helped Chen Yuan up, and carefully examined him. Seeing the wound on his shoulder, tears finally fell: "You...you're injured..."

"It's just a minor injury," Chen Yuan said. "Your Highness, I have important matters to report."

He glanced around.

The Grand Princess understood and dismissed everyone except the Crown Prince, Qin Xiang, and Chen Jin.

Chen Yuan took out Wang Ji's letter and the two jade pendants.

After reading the letter, the Grand Princess clutched the jade pendant, her hand trembling: "So...it was him..."

"Where is Empress Sun now?" Chen Yuan asked.

"She's 'nurturing' her pregnancy in Kunning Palace," Qin Xiang said. "Ever since the Emperor's passing, she's kept to herself and hasn't seen anyone."

"Then we should meet," Chen Yuan said. "There are some scores that need to be settled."

Just then, a commotion suddenly broke out outside.

A eunuch rushed in, scrambling around: "Your Highness! Something terrible has happened! Empress Sun... Empress Sun has hanged herself!"

Everyone was stunned.

Suicide?

Chen Yuan was the first to react: "Quick! To Kunning Palace!"

Inside Kunning Palace, Empress Sun's body was still hanging from the beam, her tongue sticking out and her eyes wide open, a gruesome sight.

But Chen Yuan immediately noticed something was wrong—the ligature marks on the neck appeared after death; the real cause of death was...

He pried open Empress Sun's mouth and saw that the base of her tongue was black.

"Poisoned." He stood up. "Disguised as suicide."

"Who did it?" The Grand Princess's voice trembled.

Chen Yuan looked around.

The eunuchs and maids of Kunning Palace knelt on the ground, trembling.

His gaze fell on an old eunuch—Liu, a confidant of Empress Sun.

Feeling his gaze, Eunuch Liu suddenly jumped up and rushed outside!

"Grab him!"

The Imperial Guards swarmed forward and pinned Eunuch Liu to the ground. They searched his pockets and found a small porcelain bottle containing half a vial of poison.

"Speak! Who ordered you to do this?!" Chen Yuan asked sternly.

Eunuch Liu gave a bitter laugh: "No one instructed me... I did it myself. Her Majesty the Empress made a mistake, and I... I'll see her off..."

"Nonsense!" Chen Yuan crouched down, staring at him. "It's 'that hand,' isn't it? The one hiding in the shadows, controlling everything. Cao Jixiang is his man, Empress Sun is his man, even... the Duke of Cheng and the Duke of Wei are his pawns. Am I right?"

Eunuch Liu's expression changed drastically: "You...how did you know..."

"Because his scheme was too grand," Chen Yuan said. "From the death of the Prince of Zhao to the rise of Cao Jixiang, to the Nanjing rebellion, to the crisis in the capital... all of this was a game of chess. And the one playing the game was right among us."

He stood up and looked outside the hall.

The snow began to fall again, swirling and covering the palace, the blood, and the secrets hidden in the darkness.

"But the game is over," Chen Yuan said slowly. "Minister Wang Ji risked his life to give me clues, the Duke of Wei gave me a warning before his death, and the account books found in the Duke of Cheng's mansion... gave me my name."

He took out an account book from his pocket—not the one in Nanjing, but another one, found in a secret compartment of the Duke of Cheng's mansion, which recorded all the transactions between the Duke of Cheng and a mysterious person over the past twenty years.

On the last page, there is a signature.

A signature that no one would have expected.

Chen Yuan raised the account book, facing the kneeling officials outside the hall, and spoke each word clearly:

"Zhu Zhanqi, a remnant of the Han Emperor!"

There was a commotion outside the hall.

Zhu Zhanqi, the second son of Zhu Gaoxu, the Prince of Han, disappeared after the Prince of Han's rebellion failed in the first year of the Xuande reign. The court searched for him for more than ten years without success.

It turns out he had been hiding in the shadows all along, setting up such a huge scheme!

"Where is he?" the Grand Princess asked.

"I don't know," Chen Yuan said, "but I know he will make another move. Because his goal has never been just the throne, but... the destruction of the Ming Dynasty."

The snow is getting heavier.

Chen Yuan walked out of Kunning Palace and stood in the snow.

Chen Jin walked over and draped a cloak over him.

"Brother Yuan, did we win?"

"We've won a game," Chen Yuan said, "but the game isn't over yet. Zhu Zhanqi is still lurking in the shadows, the Tatars will come again, and the crisis facing the Ming Dynasty... has only just begun."

"Then we..."

"We must keep going." Chen Yuan looked into the distance. "Just like what Zhang Baihu said at the border—'No nighttime raids, no daytime retreats, a nighttime raid with no turning back.'"

Chen Jin nodded vigorously: "I'll listen to Brother Yuan!"

The Grand Princess also came out and stood beside Chen Yuan.

She looked at her son with a mixture of pride and heartache in her eyes.

"Mingyuan..."

"Mother," Chen Yuan finally called out, "I will walk with you on the road ahead."

The Grand Princess burst into tears.

The snow fell on their shoulders and melted quickly.

Just like those hardships, those conspiracies, and that bloodshed... they will eventually be washed away by time and melted away by light.

In the distance, bells rang.

It was the sound of bells announcing the new emperor's ascension to the throne.

Crown Prince Zhu Qizhen is about to become the emperor of the Ming Dynasty.

Chen Yuan will become his sharpest blade and his strongest shield.

The road ahead remains arduous.

But some people are destined to forge a path to success amidst hardship.

Because they are the night clerks.

Because they are... the backbone of the Ming Dynasty.