"A joke, my husband is dead and my father is gone, and I'm still afraid of having my entire clan exterminated?"
Lu Qingwan's voice was laced with killing intent. "If you really intend to exterminate us, the first to lose your head will be the emperor you chase after and flatter. But before that, I will first kill you beasts who can't distinguish right from wrong..."
As she spoke, people on and below the city wall watched in disbelief as Lu Qingwan produced a dark, shiny object from her person. Then, with a bang, a steel wire connected the carriage to the city wall, and Lu Qingwan, like a monkey, scrambled up along the wire.
"Shoot! Stop her!" the captain of the guards roared, his voice cracking. But before he could finish his orders, Lu Qingwan's dagger was at his throat.
"Now, can you open the city gates?"
"Open, open..." The captain of the guards, terrified, stammered his assent, even peeing himself. Lu Qingwan scoffed and ordered the equally stunned guards, "Go open the city gates!"
The guards ran down trembling and, along with the guards below, opened the city gates. Lu Zhenting and Feng Xiwu's coffins were thus allowed into the city. However, the guards quickly ran to report the incident.
Shen Qingzhou said uneasily, "My Princess, although we have entered the city, it was a forced entry. The new Emperor will likely not let this matter rest."
"He wants to let it rest? I don't!" Lu Qingwan scoffed. "Tell the procession to slow down. Have someone spread the news of the Prince's and my father's heroic return to the capital. I want to see if the people of this Great Gan are truly worth such desperate defense."
Li Jin withdrew upon hearing this. Shen Qingzhou whispered, "What is your standard for measuring whether they are worth it, my Princess?"
"I do not expect these unarmed commoners to advance or retreat with the Black Armored Army. If they show even a shred of regret or sympathy for my father's and the Prince's fates, I will uphold the Prince's dying wish and defend them to the end with the Black Armored Army. But if they are as heartless as Feng Qingheng and those sniveling beasts on the city wall, I will, even at the cost of my own life, lead the Black Armored Army away from this godforsaken place."
Shen Qingzhou remained silent. Lu Qingwan continued, "The agreement with the late Emperor and the former Empress Dowager was with the Prince, not me. Their agreement does not bind me. What can make me willingly lay down my arms is only the hearts of the people."
Shen Qingzhou likely knew of Feng Xiwu's agreement with Emperor Jingyou. Hearing this, he said solemnly, "Whatever decision my Princess makes, I and the brothers of the Sky Legion will support you unconditionally."
Feng Xiwu held high office and was deeply trusted by Emperor Jingyou. The Regent Prince's mansion was located next to the imperial palace, a considerable distance from the city gate. Li Jin, following Lu Qingwan's orders, paraded through the streets with a gong, shouting. Before the deliberately slow procession even entered the main urban area of Shangjing, the entire city had come out to greet them.
From the city gate to the Regent Prince's mansion, white banners were quickly hung, and the people lined the streets to welcome them. Wherever the funeral procession passed, the people knelt in greeting, "Welcome back, heroic spirit of the Regent Prince! Your humble subject welcomes back the soul of Marquis Zhaolie!"
"Regent Princess, please accept our condolences!" Sad cries rose one after another, and paper money, hastily prepared, fluttered down like snow.
Lu Qingwan, astride her horse, listened to the sorrowful weeping and gazed at the sea of white banners and paper money. Finally, beyond the agreement between Feng Xiwu, Emperor Jingyou, and the former Empress Dowager, she found a reason for the Black Armored Army to guard Great Gan.
Within the imperial palace, Feng Qingheng, having received news of Feng Xiwu's funeral procession returning to the capital early that morning, had already ordered the city gates sealed. He was waiting for Lu Qingwan to beg him, intending to humiliate her and vent his hatred. However, after waiting for a long time, he did not receive a desperate plea from Lu Qingwan. Instead, he heard news that made him want to spit blood.
"What did you say?" Feng Qingheng was enraged. He ran down from his throne, grabbed the collar of the Imperial Guard Commander Du Huihuang, losing all semblance of a monarch. Du Huihuang stammered his report, "The, the Regent Princess forced her way through the city gate, not only bringing the Regent Prince and Marquis Zhaolie's coffins into the city, but the citizens of the city also knelt to welcome them in. I also heard that the restaurants and shops along the street voluntarily closed, hanging white banners and mourning streamers on their doors and windows..."
Feng Qingheng shoved Du Huihuang away and turned to a minister. "Lu Qingwan led people to force their way through the city gate. What were you, the Censor of Surveillance, doing? And you, the Ministry of War, what were you doing with over a thousand men from the Sky Legion of the Black Armored Army entering the capital without authorization?"
...
In a short moment, Feng Qingheng had berated all his trusted ministers. These ministers were mostly temporary appointees, many of them deputy heads of ministries, and had no real authority. Now, being the target of his anger, they could only remain silent, further enraging Feng Qingheng.
"Speak up!" Feng Qingheng's anger intensified. "Do I keep you here just to be an eyesore? Issue an imperial decree: Feng Xiwu's poor performance in battle, his delay in military operations, and his disservice to the nation mean he is not permitted to enter the imperial mausoleum! As for Lu Zhenting, his failure to defend Beixiao Pass, resulting in the loss of troops and territory, leads to his demotion to commoner status..."
Seeing Feng Qingheng becoming increasingly outrageous, Grand Tutor Chen, who was seated below, finally could not bear it and shouted, "Your Majesty, absolutely not!"
Feng Qingheng, who was already furious, fixed his sinister gaze on Grand Tutor Chen. "What, are you also going to speak up for these two treacherous officials, Feng Xiwu and Lu Zhenting?"
A hint of sarcasm flickered in Grand Tutor Chen's lowered eyes, though his expression remained unchanged. "Your Majesty, please calm your anger. This old minister is not speaking up for them, but rather that the Black Armored Army has already retaken Beixiao Pass, and the Northern Wei and Yunqiang enemies have been driven out of Great Gan. The claim that the Regent Prince and Marquis Zhaolie performed poorly in battle no longer holds water."
"What do you mean it doesn't hold water? Is it not a fact that they suffered defeat? Even if they are to be compensated for their achievements, those achievements must be their own. Beixiao Pass was recovered after their deaths, and the enemy was driven out after their deaths. What does it have to do with them?"
When Feng Xiwu was alive, Feng Qingheng was always restricted by him. Now that Feng Xiwu was dead, Feng Qingheng wanted nothing more than to finally stand tall. Who knew that Grand Tutor Chen, contrary to his usual cautious demeanor, would repeatedly counsel against Feng Qingheng's fury.
"What Your Majesty says is factual. But Your Majesty, the Regent Prince and Marquis Zhaolie are no longer with us. Even if you truly deny them posthumous honors, they will not feel it. Instead, it will only enrage the Black Armored Army. Furthermore, not to mention that the Black Armored Army is already the elite force of Great Gan, and the cannons that turned the tide on the battlefield of Beixiao Pass are still in the hands of the Black Armored Army. If the Black Armored Army and the Regent Princess are truly provoked, and they turn their cannons towards the capital, do you, Your Majesty, have the confidence to withstand the forty thousand fierce wolves of the Black Armored Army, and those three iron behemoths that even the Northern Wei wolf soldiers fear?"
Feng Qingheng was initially annoyed by Grand Tutor Chen's incessant advice, feeling that his imperial authority was being challenged. But upon hearing these words, it was as if a lightning bolt had struck him, and he suddenly sobered up.