376 Peace and Prosperity

Master Liu, far from showing any fear, burst into laughter. "HAHAHA! You? With your half-baked Liu Family's Secret Skill? You think you can defeat me? You're completely delusional."

Master Liu's merciless taunt echoed in the forest.

"What about me?"

Just then, a cold male voice sounded. Zhao Yu, clad in a green robe and sword in hand, arrived, a sharp wind swirling around him.

Seeing the newcomer, Liu Baixue's eyes lit up.

"Zhao Yu!"

After giving her a reassuring look, Zhao Yu stared coldly at Master Liu. "Master Liu, let me see just how powerful the Liu Family's Secret Skill truly is."

As his voice fell, the sharp wind of his sword rushed out.

A howling wind swept up the fallen leaves, and the two instantly engaged in a fierce battle.

Nearby, Liu Baixue steadied her breath and raised her sword, preparing to join the fight.

Just then, Ding Xiang suddenly emerged from behind a tree. She stepped in front of Liu Baixue and smiled. "Miss Liu, do you want to know where your father's corpse is?"

Liu Baixue pointed her sword at Ding Xiang, her gaze sharp.

Ding Xiang laughed freely. "Don't be so hostile. I know where Master Liu's corpse is. Do you want to know?"

A dangerous glint appeared in Liu Baixue's eyes. "What do you want?"

Ding Xiang replied, "If you want to find your father's corpse, then follow me obediently."

With that, she turned and walked away.

Liu Baixue glanced at Zhao Yu, who was fighting with Master Liu, bit her lip, and finally followed Ding Xiang.

「 」

The rebellion lasted for a day and a night, and all the remnant rebels were captured.

Zhao Yu fought Master Liu for an entire night. The battle ultimately ended with Master Liu self-destructing.

Two days later, it seemed as if everything had settled down.

However, Liu Baixue suddenly disappeared.

No matter how hard they searched, they could find no trace of Liu Baixue.

By September of that year, Liu Baixue had been missing for six months. All signs pointed to one conclusion—one that nobody wanted to believe.

Liu Baixue might be dead.

Unwilling to accept this, Zhao Yu resigned from his position as a Seventh-Rank General and began searching everywhere for Liu Baixue.

Zhao Zhitong also refused to give up the search for Liu Baixue. In the bamboo forest where Zhao Yu had fought Master Liu, she found an earring dropped by Ding Xiang.

This meant that Ding Xiang had been to the bamboo forest that day, and the last time Zhao Yu saw Liu Baixue was in the bamboo forest.

Therefore, Zhao Zhitong suspected Ding Xiang was connected to Liu Baixue's disappearance.

Armed with this evidence, she went to Lingjian Villa to confront Ding Xiang about Liu Baixue's whereabouts. However, Ding Xiang was cunning, twisted the accusations, and instead claimed Zhao Zhitong was slandering her.

Liu Yian, the gullible fellow, believed everything Ding Xiang said. Seeing Ding Xiang aggrieved, he ordered Zhao Zhitong to be expelled from the Liu Clan.

In December of that year, Liu Yian, the new Villa Master of Lingjian Villa, married Ding Xiang as the Villa Mistress, bringing her to the villa in a grand eight-bearer sedan chair.

With Lingjian Villa backing her, Zhao Zhitong and the others could do nothing against Ding Xiang.

From then on, Lingjian Villa and Zhao Zhitong's group became adversaries.

「 」

In the first year of Jiahe, in March, Liu Baixue had been missing for two years.

Emperor Pei, his health failing, abdicated the throne at the persuasion of Lord Zhang. He became the Retired Emperor, and the new Emperor ascended, changing the reign title to Jiahe.

In July of that year, the Retired Emperor passed away and was buried with the former emperor in the imperial mausoleum.

After the Retired Emperor's death, the imperial court fell into turmoil. The new Emperor was too lenient and lacked political acumen. Queen Wang, aspiring to wield power like Emperor Pei had, allied with court officials and gradually seized control of the government.

Subsequently, officials allied with Queen Wang reported to the Emperor that the Minister of State, Elder Zhang, had plotted against the Queen. They spared no effort in slandering Elder Zhang, Zhao Yu, and others who opposed Queen Wang's faction.

Pressured, the new Emperor issued an edict dismissing Elder Zhang from his position as Minister of State. Lord Zhang then voluntarily returned to his hometown of Xiangyang to retire, serving as its governor.

Zhao Yue, as Lord Zhang's student, defended him and was consequently demoted to Cangzhou.

In August of that year, Wei Shulan and Zhao Yue bid farewell to Zhao Zhitong and Qiao Muchen, then departed for their posts in Cangzhou.

In September of that year, Princess Anping learned her daughter remained unmarried due to Qiao Muchen. For her daughter's sake, she planned to go to the palace and request an imperial marriage decree.

When the Emperor summoned Qiao Muchen to the palace to discuss the matter, Qiao Muchen refused without hesitation. He immediately made his engagement to Miss Zhao public.

"Your Majesty, my engagement to Miss Zhao has long been settled. I cannot become a faithless person like Chen Shimei."

With these words, Qiao Muchen left the Emperor no room to maneuver.

As the ruler of a nation, he could not force one of his officials to be dishonorable; such an act would become a laughingstock if word got out.

Thus, the matter of the imperial marriage was dropped.

This was a severe humiliation for Princess Anping, and she was deeply offended.

Before long, Princess Anping secretly allied with Queen Wang. Using trumped-up charges, they had Qiao Muchen stripped of his official position.

In November of that year, Crown Prince Xiao Jinyi was persecuted by Queen Wang's faction and was imprisoned in the East Palace.

On the day of his imprisonment, Qiao Muchen secretly met with Crown Prince Xiao Jinyi.

After that, Qiao Muchen and Zhao Zhitong left the Capital City together, fulfilling their promise to each other.

They began to travel the world, one teaching and the other practicing medicine.

In the third year of Jiahe, three years after the new Emperor's ascension, Qiao Muchen and Zhao Zhitong had traveled to every corner of the Great Zhou Dynasty.

Their fame had spread throughout the Great Zhou Dynasty.

In the winter of that same year, after searching for Liu Baixue for three years, Zhao Yu returned home.

In December of the same year, Zhao Zhitong and Qiao Muchen returned to their hometown for the New Year. Zhao Yue and Wei Shulan also received the news and came back from Xiangyang.

The previous year, Zhao Yue had been transferred to Xiangyang to serve as an Assistant Magistrate due to his meritorious work in controlling an epidemic.

He had now been working in Xiangyang for a year.

Reunited once more, everyone seemed to have a thousand things to say.

After a satisfying meal with plenty of wine, they sat under the moonlight, wine cups in hand, chatting about everything under the sun.

As the conversation turned to more emotional topics, Zhao Yue's eyes grew bloodshot. He stood up, angrily smashed his wine cup on the ground, and exclaimed, "With a court like this, I don't know how much longer I can endure!"

"Last year, during the Xiangyang flood, my teacher nearly worked himself to death saving the people, falling ill several times from exhaustion. And what was that Lai Changqing doing? He was embezzling disaster relief grain! My teacher reported him to the imperial court, demanding severe punishment for Lai Changqing and his ilk."

"But what was the result? The imperial court's indifference! My teacher was demoted again and again! When he died, his eyes were still filled with sorrow and indignation!"

The once carefree Zhao Yue, after several years navigating the complexities of officialdom, had lost his former sharpness.

The tragic end of his mentor, Elder Zhang, had deeply shaken Zhao Yue. It was as if, overnight, he had transformed from that carefree young man into someone burdened by concerns for the country and its people.

Everyone fell silent, their unspoken emotions channeled into the wine they downed cup after cup.

Zhao Zhitong looked up at the stars filling the sky without saying a word.

Their mentors, who had shown them such kindness, were either gone or demoted. Now, with an incompetent Emperor on the throne, Queen Wang's faction holding power, the common people suffering, and the imperial court in a precarious state... the times were truly dire.

Zhao Yu, after smashing his wine pot, sat down. "The Crown Prince is exceptionally talented, yet he's been persecuted by Queen Wang and confined to the East Palace for three years, powerless to act."

At this, Qiao Muchen suddenly spoke. "Who says he can't do anything?"

Hearing this, Zhao Yu was instantly stunned. He stared at Qiao Muchen, his mouth agape.

Qiao Muchen continued, "Yes, it's exactly what you're thinking."

...

「In the fourth year of Jiahe, February, early spring.」

With the help of Qiao Muchen, Zhao Yue, Zhao Yu, and others, Crown Prince Xiao Jinyi of the East Palace launched a coup, surrounding Queen Wang and her faction.

In March of that year, Queen Wang's entire faction was apprehended. The Emperor voluntarily abdicated in favor of the Crown Prince. The new Emperor, Xiao Jinyi, ascended the throne and changed the dynasty's name to Ning.

The new Emperor, strong-willed and decisive, swiftly and efficiently addressed the problems left by the previous administration upon taking the throne.

First, he decisively purged Queen Wang's faction, which had thrown the court into chaos. He then ordered an expansion of the imperial examinations to select talented individuals and fill the depleted ranks of officialdom.

Simultaneously, he placed great trust in individuals like Qiao Muchen to restore order and integrity to the imperial government.

By the second year of Ning, the imperial court, once ravaged by Queen Wang's faction, had been restored.

In that same year, the Emperor personally decreed the marriage of Qiao Muchen and Zhao Zhitong. With a dowry stretching for miles, Zhao Zhitong's magnificent wedding became the most talked-about event of the year.

As for Zhao Yue and Wei Shulan, after much playful bickering, they too eventually found their way to each other.

Xiao Ge Zhao Yu, for his merits in aiding the Emperor's ascension, was enfeoffed by the Emperor as a Senior Third-Rank Supervising General of the Qianniuwei Guard.

Among the new elite in the Capital City, Qiao Muchen and Zhao Yue were already spoken for. Thus, the still-single Xiao Ge Zhao Yu became highly sought after, with matchmakers practically beating a path to his door.

However, Zhao Yu never agreed.

Zhao Zhitong knew that Xiao Ge was still waiting for Liu Baixue.