Before they could figure anything out, the two of them had arrived before the army.
Unfamiliar soldiers in black armor stood in neat formation less than a hundred zhang from Ziyang Pass. Banners fluttered, showing no sign of a prolonged march.
The man leading them appeared to be in his sixties. His features were aged, but it was clear he had been a handsome man in his youth.
On horseback, he was even taller than the strong, young soldiers beside him.
Lu Qing Wan and Feng Xi Wu dismounted simultaneously. The other party also moved, with the man and a group of generals on horseback behind him landing at the same time. They spoke in unison, "Greetings to His Highness the Prince of Qin, and Her Highness the Princess of Qin!"
"All generals, dispense with the ceremony!"
Feng Xi Wu granted the soldiers their release, then reached out to help the elder man. "You have traveled far, Prince of You Zhou. I am remiss in not welcoming you sooner. Please forgive my impoliteness."
The Prince of You Zhou looked up, unabashedly scrutinizing Feng Xi Wu, meticulously detailing his features.
"So alike, truly so alike. You resemble your father even more than your elder brother."
He then turned his gaze to Lu Qing Wan beside him. "The one who shouted in the city earlier, that was you, wasn't it?"
Lu Qing Wan, not fully understanding, adopted the posture of a junior. "It was this junior. I hope I did not amuse Your Highness."
The Prince of You Zhou laughed heartily. "Amuse you? You are far more capable than the mothers of these two brats! What use is it to learn calligraphy, chess, painting, and music, or poetry, books, rituals, and etiquette? At a critical moment, it is not as useful as a single punch! It is also my fault. I wanted my only daughter to be delicate and soft, so I did not teach her martial arts or the struggles of the court. When danger arose, she could only be captured. If she were like you, perhaps she would not have passed away so soon!"
The Prince of You Zhou's eyes reddened as he mentioned his beloved daughter who had met a violent end.
Lu Qing Wan, not familiar with him, feared saying too much might reopen old wounds. She said, "Your Highness, please do not speak like that. When villains commit evil, how can we blame the victim's flesh and blood for being unable to withstand the blades and weapons of the evildoer? Even if you and the other Marquises had trained my mother to be the foremost expert in the land, it would still not prevent someone who was determined to take her life! If you blame yourself so much, would that not disturb my mother's soul in the afterlife?"
Feng Xi Wu chimed in, "For the twenty-three years I have been in Da Gan, my hatred has been directed only at Emperor Geng Shi and the many villains who betrayed my father, mother, paternal grandfather, and maternal grandmother. I have never blamed anyone else. Maternal grandfather, you need not blame yourself. Without you, my elder brother and I would not have survived these twenty-three years."
Lu Qing Wan glanced at him in surprise. Feng Xi Wu spoke frankly, "Lian Yu was personally tutored by Maternal Grandfather and sent to my side. The three generals under my command, Qin, Shen, and Lin, were also once Maternal Grandfather's personal guards. Even the tutor who taught me academics and martial arts from childhood was found by Maternal Grandfather for me."
The light in Lu Qing Wan's eyes was almost impossible to conceal. "No wonder! I always wondered how you knew so much without any teachers or guidance. I thought you had learned it all from the battlefield. I never dared to ask and you tricked me into shedding so many tears!" The key was that this grandfather and grandson, meeting for the first time, were acting like colleagues. There was no intimacy at all, and he had been worried! Now, it seemed her worries could be fed to the dogs. There was no need for them!
The Prince of You Zhou burst into laughter. Feng Xi Wu affectionately squeezed Lu Qing Wan's fingers.
"The situation within the city is not yet clear. I was thinking it would be best for Maternal Grandfather and the army not to enter the city, to avoid arousing suspicion. What are Maternal Grandfather's thoughts?"
The Prince of You Zhou was unconcerned. "Whether to enter the city or not, I don't care. But on the way here, this brat said he saw Wei Wu Zu heading east. If I stay here, can you handle Wei Wu Zu yourselves?"
As the Prince of You Zhou finished speaking, the person he mentioned stepped forward. Lu Qing Wan was stunned. "Xiao Ba?! I asked Ying Yi to send someone to deliver a message to the Prince of You Zhou. It was you who he sent?!"
Ying Ba, who had been forced to change his name, nodded helplessly. "It is indeed this subordinate. Your Highness, Your Highness the Princess, on the way here, this subordinate discovered that the Prince of Ji Zhou's Wei Wu Zu is converging on Dong Huang Pass, and furthermore, traces of the Imperial Guard were found within them. Since the Imperial Guard already knows that we use golden eagles for communication, this subordinate dared not risk sending a message to you via golden eagle, which is why there was a delay. I beg Your Highness and Your Highness the Princess to forgive me!"
"Forgive what? I was the one who stopped him from sending the message," the Prince of You Zhou said, as if inviting trouble to come to him.
Feng Xi Wu did not stand on ceremony. "When a vassal king enters the capital, regardless of the direction of arrival, he can only pass through Ziyang Pass. This is the iron law of Da Qin. The Prince of Ji Zhou is deliberately concealing his movements and taking the detour through Dong Huang Pass, which clearly indicates malicious intent. If Maternal Grandfather did not allow him to report, does he have other plans?"
The Prince of You Zhou stepped aside. "This place is directly in the wind. Let's talk somewhere else."
Lu Qing Wan and Feng Xi Wu followed him and saw a tent. Not far away, the soldiers were still setting up tents. Lu Qing Wan asked in surprise, "Did the old Prince decide long ago not to enter Ziyang Pass for the time being?" The tents were already mostly set up. If the decision hadn't been made beforehand, so many ready-made tents couldn't have been erected.
The Prince of You Zhou was unfazed. "I originally intended to have a fight with that old scoundrel Lan An. But as soon as I arrived here, I knew that Zhong Zhou today would have no place for me. That way, I won't give Emperor Geng Shi and those old fellows in the court any chance to yap!"
Good heavens, he had figured out the behavior patterns of Emperor Geng Shi and the court ministers! Not wanting to anger this hot-tempered old Prince any further, Lu Qing Wan immediately fell silent.
After they were seated, the Prince of You Zhou asked them directly, "Dong Huang Pass. The name itself sounds unusual. Do you know the origin of this name?"
Feng Xi Wu nodded. "I caught a glimpse of it when I was looking through historical records. It is said that at the time, the Grand Ancestor and the King of Nan Cheng divided the world. They agreed that whoever first captured Zhong Zhou would become emperor. At that time, the previous dynasty had been defending Zhong Zhou for many days, and Zhong Zhou's defenses were already quite thorough. The King of Nan Cheng arrived in Zhong Zhou before the Grand Ancestor, but was unable to take Ziyang Pass after a prolonged siege. When the Grand Ancestor learned of this, he took a different approach. He used gunpowder to blast an opening at the location closest to the imperial city, capturing Zhong Zhou before the King of Nan Cheng and thus establishing Da Qin..."
"That's right!" The Prince of You Zhou stroked his beard and said leisurely, "Since you know the origin of Dong Huang Pass, you must also know that it is a pass that only generations of emperors have used when personally leading troops or personally welcoming meritorious officials into the capital. If the Prince of Ji Zhou does not go through Dong Yang Pass, everything is negotiable. But if he dares to set foot on Dong Yang Pass with even one soldier, without anyone saying a word, he will be guilty of rebellion."
Lu Qing Wan had not expected a pass to have so many implications. She said urgently, "Even so, we can't just do nothing, can we? The current military strength of Zhong Zhou combined is less than a hundred thousand, while the Prince of Ji Zhou has nearly two hundred thousand troops. If a war breaks out, who will care which pass he used? We need to survive first before we can accuse the Prince of Ji Zhou, right?"