We Still Must Chase Your Mother

　　Ru Jia was practically scared silly, as she reflexively turned to run. Unfortunately, in this sort of time, how could she still manage to run? Feng Yu Heng’s small hand was placed on her shoulder. Seemingly without using any force, Ru Jia was picked up. In a flurry, she was tossed into the room.

　　The door of the shop was closed up once more. Ru Jia raised her head and happened to be facing Xuan Tian Ming’s golden mask. In this dim light, the mask still reflected light, blinding her and causing her eyes to hurt.

　　Ru Jia turned her head away and found that there were four clerks on the floor of the shop. They had been tied up and tossed into a corner. They could not move, and they could not speak. It looked as though their eyes were filled with despair and desperation.

　　Just like how she hoped that the people in the shop could save her life, the people in the shop from Qian Zhou hoped that the two princesses could save their lives. Unfortunately, since her hopes had come up empty, the only path left for them was death.

　　Xuan Tian Ming looked up and said to Bai Ze: “Take them all to the back and interrogate them. Get the exact locations of their other hiding spots from them.”

　　Bai Ze smile and walked over to Ru Jia. Reaching out, he grabbed her arm and dragged her over to the corner. When they arrived in front of the four clerks, he finally said: “Let’s go! Follow this one out back to speak clearly.”

　　Roughly one hour later, Bai Ze finally returned to the room. Saluting the two, he said: “One of the clerks was unable to handle the torture and revealed everything. There are another three gathering points in the capital. They are in the North, West and East parts of the city. This subordinate remembers their locations.”

　　“Good.” Xuan Tian Ming stood up and curled his lips into a sneer. He then reached out to Feng Yu Heng, “Beloved consort, this prince will bring you to fight!”

　　In this sort of night with violent lightning storm and strong winds, the ninth prince, Xuan Tian Ming, and county princess Ji An, Feng Yu Heng, braved the lightning and rain, going to the four locations. One was a steamed bun shop, one was a pastry shop, one was a jewelry shop, and one was a rice shop, and they were all destroyed by the two. All of the people inside were captured, with none dying. All were captured alive.

　　The soldiers that had gone with them to take care of things were completely dazed. They had never seen things handled in such a swift manner, and they had never seen this sort of swift fighting style. They had heard rumors that the ninth prince was an expert martial artist, and they had heard that county princess Ji An was a divine doctor. But it was only today that they knew that their martial arts abilities were truly amazing. It was as though they were envoys from hell, here to collect lives. With an aura of murderous intent, they claimed the lives that they had come for on this stormy night.

　　This heavy downpour made their actions even more covert. The citizens kept their doors and windows firmly shut to hide from the wind and rain. Even if there was some movement outside, they would be completely covered up by the rumbling of thunder. Nobody knew what had happened that night. Only after the rain and wind stopped the next morning and everyone went out to buy steamed buns and pastries did everyone find that the shops had changed management.

　　But nobody cared if it had changed or not. They had managed to buy what they wanted to eat. Everything else was irrelevant.

　　When the hidden agents from the four shops and Ru Jia were sent to the prison in the mountain, Kang Yi, who had been enduring the entire time without speaking out finally let out a shriek and burst into tears. As for Feng Kun, he finally understood that Qian Zhou could not defeat Da Shun. In just a short night, the preparations that they had made over ten years was all wasted.

　　At this time, Xuan Tian Ming and Feng Yu Heng were already standing in Zhao He Hall’s bedroom. They had just finished telling the Emperor, who was putting on his dragon robe and getting ready for the morning court session, about everything that had happened the previous night.

　　The Emperor was quite hotblooded while listening, as he interjected many times, repeatedly exclaiming good. This caused Zhang Yuan to feel very helpless, and he had to remind him: “Your Majesty, you’ve already spent an hour putting on that dragon robe. Can you allow this servant to properly help you finish putting it on?”

　　How could the Emperor still be worried about putting on clothes. He simply removed the robe that he could not tie properly no matter what then put his hands behind his back and walked around the room a few times. When he finally stopped, he had a solemn look on his face.

　　“We can practically hear the sound of weapons clashing on the battlefield between Qian Zhou and Da Shun. A few years ago, the Northern border would occasionally have some criminals wandering around, but Da Shun’s attitude was mainly to appease them. This time, they completely tore away at our face. Since they wish to fight, we must get ready! Only now, we must focus on producing steel.” He looked at Feng Yu Heng, “Half a year is too long. We can only give you three months. After three months, there needs to be at least enough weapons for the soldiers of the military camp in the suburbs of the capital.”

　　Feng Yu Heng pulled her eyebrows together. Three months was too rushed. However, she also knew about the strong relations. The matter of Qian Zhou could no longer be dragged out for another three months. As long as this news made it to Qian Zhou, that side would definitely take action. The three northernmost provinces would be the first to be affected. For Da Shun, this was too great of a danger.

　　She pondered for a long time then nodded, “I will do my best.”

　　The Emperor, however, corrected her: “It’s not do your best. You must succeed.”

　　Xuan Tian Ming became unhappy, “What is this about must? Is steel something that can be made just by talking about it?”

　　Feng Yu Heng tugged at his sleeve and shook her head, “We do need to work hard. No matter how we look at it, there is not enough time.”

　　Xuan Tian Ming naturally understood this logic. He just could not get used to seeing the Emperor press Feng Yu Heng. After thinking a little, he added: “Aside from steel, we at least have a new Divine Intent Army. That is also important.”

　　“Right.” Feng Yu Heng said: “The Divine Intent Army will indeed be able to buy us a bit of time. We will deploy them as quickly as possible. Right now, we will secretly deploy a small group from the support team to the Northern border. We’ll see if we can deploy any small but useful arrays.”

　　The Emperor waved his hand: “We do not care what methods you use!” He said this while sitting in his chair. He then said to Xuan Tian Ming: “You also saw it. Your old man’s body is deteriorating with each passing day. That’s why this matter with Qian Zhou, from a filial perspective, is something that you should not trouble Us with. Moreover, this is so you can provide the world to your wife. As long as Qian Zhou is defeated, she will become the queen of Qian Zhou.”

　　Xuan Tian Ming heard this, “Do you want to just leave this matter to someone else?”

　　The Emperor glared at him: “What is there to care about? Didn’t you already say it? We are old, and my body is unwell. Even if I wanted to handle it, I do not have the energy to. Also, sooner or later, you would need to take care of this. Just treat this as practice.” Pausing a little, he added with some worry: “If someone else wanted this chance to practice, they would not get it, tsk!”

　　Xuan Tian Ming’s nose nearly became crooked from the anger. This old man had this sort of temper. No matter how serious the matter at hand, he would use very improper methods.

　　The Emperor gave him a great deal of face. To say that he was using improper methods, he used even more improper methods. “Also, don’t We still need to go chase after your mother? Between your mother and the court, are you unable to tell which one is more important?”

　　Xuan Tian Ming rolled his eyes, “Your meaning is that imperial concubine mother is more important than Da Shun.”

　　The Emperor opened his mouth, and it looked like he was about to say yes, but, in the end, after receiving a glare from Zhang Yuan, he did not speak the extremely improper words. He could only say: “Doesn’t Da Shun still have you!”

　　Feng Yu Heng knew that this discussion between father and son would never end and quickly interjected, picking something for the Emperor to promise: “After defeating Qian Zhou, it will really belong to me?”

　　The Emperor nodded, “Of course.”

　　“Good.” She also became happy, “At first, I wanted Qian Zhou for the Tianshan snow lotuses, but I was busy while in seclusion. I heard that they ended up drying out. After obtaining Qian Zhou, that will no longer be a rare item. I will need to come back to Da Shun to open a hospital. Father Emperor, you have said it, when I open a hospital, you will have a share.”

　　Either way, the Emperor was unable to understand what this so-called hospital was and thought that it might be something like Hundred Herb Hall. At the worst, he would just open a few more. How much money was there in having a share? He simply said: “When the time comes, We will give you some money. There is no need for a share.”

　　Feng Yu Heng nodded, “Then it has been settled.”

　　Xuan Tian Ming, however, saw a cunning look in her eyes and knew that the old man was about to be scammed!

　　Feng Yu Heng still had another matter, saying to the Emperor: “I must send my mother to Xiao Zhou immediately. Father Emperor, do not worry. After returning from Xiao Zhou, I will return immediately to the military camp.”

　　The Emperor rambled a little more. Zhang Yuan hurried him a few times to get to court before he finally began putting on his outer robe once more.

　　Right before leaving, he did not forget to remind Xuan Tian Ming: “Don’t forget, the matter of the battles will be left to you two to handle!”

　　Xuan Tian Ming pulled Feng Yu Heng along, practically running away from the imperial palace.

　　“That old man is becoming more and more improper.” He muttered inside the imperial carriage; however, Feng Yu Heng heard this.

　　She said: “In truth, father Emperor is hoping to pass along the throne to you, right? He has already made it this clear. You should understand what he means. Before, he made an issue of your injury to make sure the opposition would turn their attention elsewhere, giving you a great deal of safety. Now, he wants to use the remainder of his life helping you become a good emperor as soon as possible. Father Emperor is well-intentioned. Whether it is from a ruler-subject perspective or a father-son perspective, he should receive a perfect score.”

　　Xuan Tian Ming sighed and grabbed her hand, “I know, but I don’t want him to accept his old age and declining health. That’s all.”

　　Feng Yu Heng no longer spoke. She knew that the father and son had a deep relationship. Otherwise, it would have been impossible for the Emperor to dote on this son to this degree.

　　The imperial carriage went all the way to the Feng manor’s entrance when Feng Yu Heng called for it to stop. Xuan Tian Ming asked her: “Returning to the Feng manor?”

　　She nodded, “After leaving the capital for many months, I should go back to give a greeting. Also, we must find a way to delay the matter with Qian Zhou. I was thinking of going to see if there was anything that Kang Yi had written. We can copy her writing and send a letter back to Qian Zhou, reporting her safety.”

　　Xuan Tian Ming thought a little then said: “This is also fine. Just be careful. You did not sleep for an entire night. You must rest first. There is no rush on the letter.”

　　“Okay.” She smiled and got out of the carriage then looked up and said: “If you have a chance, remember to come and see me.” She then lifted the hem of her dress and ran into the manor.

　　Xuan Tian Ming looked at her small appearance and felt that it was funny. He thought to himself that when his wife was fierce, she was like a poisonous scorpion. When she looked innocent, she still looked like a 13-year-old little girl.

　　The people of the Feng manor had not seen Feng Yu Heng in many months. Now that she suddenly entered the manor, it gave everyone a fright. After being stunned for a moment, they finally managed to react and quickly go forward to salute: “This servant greets second young miss. Second young miss, you’ve returned!”

　　Feng Yu Heng greeted them while walking into the manor. She felt that the atmosphere in the manor was very oppressive, and there was not a single movement. Thinking about it, it must be that nobody slept last night, and they were all catching up on sleep now. She thought a little and turned toward Tian Xiang courtyard. At this time, she heard the sound of rushed footsteps coming from behind.