Isolated town in northern border region

Xiao Lie did not notify anyone in advance, but just like when he came, he brought two hundred guards and Jiang Min's caravan.

But as soon as he stepped out of the city gate, he froze.

Outside the city gate, people lined both sides of the official road.

It was a dark, dense mass that stretched from the city gate all the way to the foot of the distant mountains, with no end in sight.

Some people were carrying children, some were carrying baskets, some were using crutches, and some were climbing up the haystacks by the roadside, craning their necks to look in his direction.

There were no drums or music, no ceremonial processions, only a silent wall of people, like a silent river, slowly flowing past him.

An elderly woman was helped out of the crowd, and Xiao Lie recognized her.

It was the old woman he had personally handed the land deed to.

Today she changed into a clean old outfit, carefully combed her hair, and held a rough porcelain bowl containing several steaming white steamed buns.

She shakily raised the bowl above her head, her voice hoarse.

"Your Highness... I'll follow your advice... and buy some fine grains!"

"Your Highness... please take this... to eat on the road..."

Xiao Lie dismounted and walked up to her.

He took the rough porcelain bowl, looked down at the few steamed buns, which felt heavy in his hands.

He raised his head, wanting to say something, but found himself speechless; he could only make a few silent thuds.

When the old woman saw him accept it, she grinned, but tears streamed down her wrinkles.

"Your Highness, I have lived for over sixty years and this is the first time I have land of my own."

Her voice trembled, yet carried an unwavering certainty.

"Your Highness's great kindness... I kowtow to you in gratitude."

As she was about to kneel down, Xiao Lie grabbed her and stuffed the steamed buns into his pocket one by one.

"Grandpa, get up!"

"Everything I've done in Yongzhou has been so that the people no longer have to kneel and beg for help, hasn't it?"

Xiao Lie helped the old man up and turned to shout to everyone.

"From now on, no one will have to live on their knees!"

"Go back home, everyone! Make your lives prosperous and thriving!"

"Buy a few yards of cloth to make clothes for the elderly, my wife, the children, and myself; buy some fine grains for the elderly, and show my filial piety!"

He mounted his horse.

The first shout came from behind.

"Your Highness—!"

Then came the second, third, tenth, and one hundredth tone!

"Your Highness!"

"Your Highness!!"

"You absolutely must go and see Yongzhou!"

The sound waves spread from the city gate into the distance, like a pot of water boiling, bubbling and surging in all directions.

Some people were stuffing freshly picked vegetables from their own fields onto the carriage, while others were handing out their food bags to the soldiers accompanying them.

Even more young men rushed to the roadside and shouted at Xiao Lie.

"Your Highness! I want to serve you!"

"Your Highness, please accept me!"

"My mother said that my family has nothing of value to offer, so I should serve the prince like a slave!"

A child was being lifted high above his father's head, waving an old piece of cloth that had been torn from somewhere at Xiao Lie. Xiao Lie didn't turn around.

He rode slowly forward, with shouts rising and falling behind him.

Bisu sat in the carriage, lifted the curtain, and watched the figures receding into the distance, her eyes red-rimmed.

"Your Highness...we are all kind-hearted people."

Xiao Lie turned around with a smile.

A great man once said, "The eyes of the masses are discerning!"

"With such discerning eyes, one is bound to be a person of discerning intentions!"

His voice was calm, but beneath that calmness lay something very hot.

The news spread like wildfire throughout the Great Chu.

Wherever the caravan went, the story of Yongzhou spread.

The news was circulating everywhere—in teahouses, restaurants, inns, and grain shops.

someone said.

"When the King of the Northern Frontier was in Yongzhou, he built up powerful families, distributed land, and opened businesses. When he left, half the city came to see him off."

Someone responded.

"That's nothing! My second uncle's third cousin's neighbor does business in Yongzhou; he saw it with his own eyes!"

"When the prince left, the people knelt for dozens of miles!"

Some people didn't believe it, but were immediately rebuffed by those around them.

Believe it or not!

"My cousin is from Yongzhou, and his father was allocated three mu of land!"

Do you know how many crops can be grown on three acres of land?

"That was the first time in three generations of their family that they owned their own land!"

When the news reached a remote county, a waiter who was pouring water for a teahouse overheard it and froze in mid-air.

"Is the King of the Northern Frontier... the one who's rumored to be a cursed lone star?"

An old tea drinker nearby chuckled.

"You know absolutely nothing! What nonsense are you spouting?"

"That 'lone star of ill omen' thing was all made up by the Second Prince to deceive people!"

"Can a jinxed lone star cure the plague?"

"Can a 'lone star' (a person destined to be cursed by misfortune) be allocated land to the people?"

Have you ever seen a person destined to be alone and cursed receive a send-off by people from the surrounding villages on their knees?

The waiter was stunned for a long time, then whispered something.

"Then... then is this prince a good person?"

The old tea drinker picked up his teacup and took a sip.

What defines a good person?

"If you ask me, that's a saint!"

The rumor of "a cursed lone star" fabricated by the Second Prince Xiao Zhang faded away like a grasshopper in autumn after a few days in the face of these vivid stories.

Yongzhou is living evidence, the people who received the land deeds are living evidence, and the people who knelt for ten miles are living evidence.

When the evidence is presented, even the most elaborate rumors will crumble on their own.

The capital city, the Imperial Study.

The Chu Emperor sat on the dragon throne, with a secret report spread out in front of him.

The secret report was written in great detail.

How Xiao Lie dealt with the powerful families in Yongzhou, how he forced them to hand over their land deeds, how he established the Limin Chamber of Commerce, and how he returned every single acre of land to the people without missing a single deed.

There's one more sentence at the very bottom.

"On the day he left the city, the people lined the streets and knelt to see him off, their voices echoing through the heavens."

The Chu Emperor put down the secret report and remained silent for a long time.

He picked up the teacup to take a sip, but found the tea had gone cold, so he put it down again.

"They knelt down to see him off... they lined the streets to see him off... and they deeply won the hearts of the people..."

His voice grew softer and softer, as if he were talking to himself.

"Xiao Lie... my good nephew... you are so virtuous... how come you were such a useless piece of mud when you were the Crown Prince!"

"Could it truly be a divine gift from my elder brother?"

His voice trembled in a way that he himself was unaware of.

The Chu Emperor couldn't understand why everyone had the blood of the Xiao family, and why his brother's lineage was so powerful!

He suddenly stood up and swept the teacup in front of him onto the floor.

"How could he possibly deserve it?!"

Broken porcelain shards flew everywhere, and tea spilled all over the floor.

Not a single eunuch dared to go up and clean it up; instead, they lowered their heads and slowly retreated.

The Chu Emperor was panting heavily, his chest heaving violently.

He walked to the window and looked at the upturned eaves of the palace in the distance. Suddenly, he felt that the buildings became unreal in the twilight, as if everything was just a reflection in the water or a flower in a mirror.

He recalled how Xiao Lie left the capital years ago, wearing old clothes, riding in an old carriage, with no one to see him off.

At that time, he felt that there was nothing more reassuring in the world.

A useless piece of trash, sent to his death in the northern frontier.

But he never expected that the good-for-nothing not only didn't die, but also gradually turned out to be what he is today.

He turned around and spoke to the empty imperial study.

"I supported the powerful families of Yongzhou and bail them out, and what was the result?"

"He dealt with all the powerful families, utterly subdued them, without them uttering a single word!"

He suddenly laughed, a laugh full of self-mockery.

"I thought he was offending the powerful families, I thought he was digging his own grave... but what happened?"

"He subdued the powerful families, won over the merchants, and distributed the land to the common people."

"He now has support not only in the northern frontier, but also in Yongzhou."

He looked down at his hands, turning them over and over as if examining them for the first time.

"What...what else can I do with him?"

After the court session ended, several officials stopped at the palace gate and talked in hushed tones.

"Have you heard? All those powerful families in Yongzhou have been dealt with by the King of the Northern Frontier."

"They've subdued them? They've beaten them into submission! They've handed over all the land deeds!"

"Tsk... It seems the King of the Northern Frontier is about to rise to power."

"Shh! Are you out of your mind?!"

An old official walked past them, paused for a moment, and left without turning his head, saying something.

"What do you mean by 'rising to power' or 'not rising to power'? Don't you all know who he is?"

The winds of change in the imperial court are subtly shifting.

Those officials who had just risen to power through the influence of powerful families began to secretly send people to gather information about the northern frontier.

Those powerful families who had previously avoided Xiao Lie began to secretly contact their collateral branches in Yongzhou to ask, "What kind of person is the Prince?"

Even several officials in the Ministry of War who had publicly criticized Xiao Lie for being "arrogant and conceited" have been unusually quiet these past few days. Some of them even quietly pulled the satirical poem they had written at the literary gathering out of their folded book.

No one said anything explicitly, but everyone sensed the change.

The Chu Emperor felt this change most acutely.

He sat on the dragon throne, looking at the empty hall, and suddenly felt a chill rise up his spine.

Then he stood up, walked back to his desk, picked up his pen, and wrote a handwritten edict.

"All secret guards are to be mobilized and immediately proceed to Bingzhou."

"Coordinate with the main army and seize the opportunity to assassinate Xiao Lie, the King of the Northern Frontier!"

"At all costs, regardless of the consequences!"

He sealed the edict and handed it to the head of the secret guards standing to the side.

"This matter must succeed; failure is not an option!"

"If this matter cannot be resolved, they need not come back."

When the leader of the secret guards received the edict, his fingers trembled slightly, but he said nothing, only kowtowed, and then silently withdrew.

The Chu Emperor stood alone by the window, gazing at the increasingly dark sky to the north, as if talking to himself.

"Xiao Lie... do you think you've won?"

"What I have prepared for you in Bingzhou is not just a large army and secret guards."

"There's still one more hidden arrow—it will surely kill you without a burial place!"

The night wind blew in through the cracks in the window and extinguished the candle on the table.

He didn't let anyone order any more. He just sat there in the darkness, like a wild beast cornered, silently crouching and waiting for the person who was about to step into the trap.

Meanwhile, a hundred miles away on the official road, Xiao Lie was riding his horse leisurely southward, with a few cold steamed buns tucked into his arms, a faint smile playing on his lips.

Bisu leaned against the car window and asked.

"Your Highness, what are you laughing at?"

Xiao Lie patted his chest.

"It's nothing, I just think these steamed buns smell really good with wheat."

He patted the Panlong Guard iron plaque in his arms again. The plaque was warm against his chest, touched by his body heat, and felt heavy, like a piece of unresolved worries.

His horse's hooves pounded on the official road, neither fast nor slow.

"I wonder how Xu De is doing in Bingzhou."

"We haven't heard anything after all this time!"