Late at night, two visiting envoys came to Prince Yan's Mansion. One of them was a thin, fair-faced, and extremely elegant person. He was Yue Yuanting, the Right Chancellor of Yan Kingdom. The other person was plainly dressed and inconspicuous, with a thick black beard covering most of his face. He looked powerful, and he turned out to be the military General Han Xiaoyun in disguise.

The two of them walked into the room and saw Ji Fan sitting behind the desk. They couldn't help but be overjoyed with excitement. They immediately went forward and knelt down to greet: "We'd like to pay homage to His Highness the Crown Prince."

Yue Yuanting and Han Xiaoyun were both pillars of the Yan Kingdom, serving together under the Queen Mother, so Ji Fan treated each other with courtesy. He left his seat from behind the desk and personally helped the two of them up from the ground: "You two gentlemen, there is no need to be polite. Please sit down."

Han Xiaoyun looked at Ji Fan, whose youthful aura had long faded from his face. His face was full of shame. He hesitated to speak. After a long silence, he finally sighed and uttered a sentence: "It has been seven years since we said goodbye to Yan. Your Highness has suffered... "

When the City of Changling was defeated, it was Emperor Yan who was eager for success, but all the blame fell on a young man. When Han Xiaoyun personally sent Ji Fan out of Yan, he was only eighteen years old. He was thin in white clothes, shackled, and not strong enough, so he just shouldered the crime of the country.

Seven years have passed in the blink of an eye. Spanning thousands of days and nights of torture.

Han Xiaoyun can no longer remember what Ji Fan looked like back then. He only remembers that he did not cry or got upset when he accepted the order, he was extremely calm, and his back was straight in the court. Although the appearance of Ji Fan in front of him has not changed greatly, his behavior is impeccable and his smile has become an unpredictable deep pool.

Many things are different and people changed.

When Ji Fan heard Han Xiaoyun mention the past events, he paused slightly and smiled: "General, you have a good memory. It turns out it has been seven years. At that time, I only felt that the days were like years. Looking back now, it was only a blink of an eye."

He turned around and sat down behind the desk, raising his hand to signal: "Gentlemen, please take a seat."

There is a screen next to him, and behind the screen is the couch. The curtain fell quietly, covering the person lying on the bed. Rong Xuan deliberately concealed his breathing and hid inside to eavesdrop on their conversation. Of course, it was with Ji Fan's permission.

Han Xiaoyun looked around: "Your Highness, why don't I see Fengchen?"

Ji Fan: "He is in the Princess's Mansion, and there are many people there, so he is not allowed to come over."

Han Xiaoyun also knew about Yan Fengchen's marriage to the princess. Hearing this, he sighed and nodded, saying nothing more.

Right Chancellor Yue Yuanting cupped his hands and said: "Your Highness, in the past few months, the ministers have sent several memorials to Emperor Zhou on the orders of the Queen Mother, hoping to fulfill the seven-year promise to welcome you back to Yan, but they have been rejected in every possible way. Now that Our Emperor is seriously ill and has not woken up for many days, the three princes were ordered to supervise the country and work on their own affairs with the Queen Mother. This time when this minister and General Han entered Zhou Kingdom, they will definitely obey the Queen Mother's death order and must ensure to escort His Highness back to Yan. Otherwise, once His Majesty dies and the third prince ascends the throne with some pretext, it will be difficult for Your Highness to make a comeback!"

Ji Fan was the Crown Prince appointed by Emperor Yan himself. He had endured humiliation and heavy burdens for his country for many years. If he could return to Yan in time, there would be less resistance to his ascension to the throne. From the officials to the people, even if they want to use his status as a ger to create criticism, they can't make sense.

Ji Fan fell into deep thought after hearing this, his profile looking dim under the flickering candlelight. After a while, he finally spoke: "How many people did you bring with you into Zhou this time?"

Han Xiaoyun only said two words: "Five thousand!"

He gritted his teeth and said: "There are five thousand people in total, all with swordsmanship of the seventh and lower grades. This is already all the idle soldiers and horses that I can mobilize. Now they are all disguised and ready to ambush outside the city.”

Ji Fan frowned when he heard this: "Five thousand people?!"

This place was at the feet of the Zhou Emperor, and there were tens of thousands of defenders. How could Han Xiaoyun dare to bring only five thousand people to plot to leave Zhou?!

Seeing this, Yue Yuanting quickly stood up and explained: "Your Highness does not know that the Jishu Battalion under General Han is currently suppressing the rebellion in Jiangyan, and the water far away cannot quench the thirst of the people nearby. The Shenwei Battalion is stationed in the Royal City. If we could mobilize the troops as easily as that, it will inevitably cause some suspension. This time when this minister entered the Zhou Kingdom, five thousand people were already all the elites that we could get. For fear that the third prince would hear the news of our plan, General Han even claimed that he was ill and could not leave home, just so he could sneak into the mission team."

"These five thousand soldiers and horses were not registered. They were dispersed into several batches and quietly left Yan from Beiming Pass, thus evading the interrogation of the third prince. This time, the letter sent to Shengjing stated that only 500 people came to the surface, but in fact, it was five thousand people who were secretly lying in ambush on the outskirts of the city."

Han Xiaoyun also looked solemn: "Fortunately, His Highness still has three thousand cavalry in his hands. If necessary, he can also stand behind and block them for a while."

Ji Fan's eyes sharpened when he heard this, and he raised his eyes to look at Han Xiaoyun. He slowly clenched his fingertips, with a gloomy look on his face, and said in a cold voice: "How many people did I bring with me when I left Yan? Now that I'm back to Yan, I naturally have to bring them all back complete and whole."

When Rong Xuan heard him mention the three thousand cavalry, he couldn't help but think of the original work and frowned worriedly: After Zhao Su ascended the throne, he regarded Ji Fan as a serious problem and ordered Xuanyuan Qing to lead troops to intercept and kill him. The three thousand soldiers fought with their lives, and in the end, they were all buried in the loess like Ji Fan.

For Ji Fan, not even Bodhisattva could protect himself when crossing the river, what more to these three thousand people? It would be as difficult as climbing to the sky to take them away from the Zhou Kingdom completely.

Ji Fan also knows that this matter is not easy, so he closed his eyes and said nothing for a long time: "...This matter needs to be discussed in the long run. You should go back to the post house first, so as not to attract the attention of others."

Han Xiaoyun seemed to have seen through what he was thinking, and warned in a deep voice: "Your Highness, even a strong man needs to cut his wrist off to save his life, and geckos cut their tail also to survive. There has never been anything that can be killed without seeing blood! As long as the overall situation can be taken into account, you can return to Yan, not to mention the three thousand cavalry. Even if you want me to raise an axe to kill the Zhou Emperor, I will never complain! You have been decisive in killing since you were a child, don't be benevolent now all of a sudden!"

Seeing Han Xiaoyun's fury, Yue Yuanting secretly tugged on his sleeves and came out to smooth things over: "The Emperor of Zhou will hold a banquet the day after tomorrow and wants to invite all civil and military officials to enjoy the snow wolf. We will find out more about it then. If this is not possible, we can only do what Han Xiaoyun did. As the general said, the strong man's wrist has to be broken, otherwise when His Majesty's condition worsens and the third prince ascends the throne to attack the Kingdom of Zhou, Your Highness will be in danger!"

Yue Yuanting and Han Xiaoyun were both pillars of the Yan Kingdom, both in literature and in military affairs. These two extremely smart people came together, but it was difficult to overcome the predicament at hand. They could only hold on to the determination to fight against the odds.

"Your Highness, please consider your words carefully today. I will take my leave first."

After Han Xiaoyun finished speaking, he cupped his hands and was about to retreat when he suddenly heard a very slight breath coming from the bed. His ears twitched and his eyes suddenly froze: "There is someone on the bed?!"

Ji Fan paused after hearing this, then subconsciously looked inside the gauze curtain, and then explained: "It's okay, he is my confidant. You two gentlemen, please go back first."

Han Xiaoyun frowned in confusion: "Confidant?!"

Why is the confidant hiding in the bed?

He was about to say something, but Yue Yuanting was very sensible and secretly pulled Han Xiaoyun away: "General, it's getting late. Don't delay His Highness' rest. Let's go."

The seven-year night was long and lonely. Maybe it was the confidant that His Highness found to warm the bed. Why bother asking so intently…

The door was closed with a soft creak. Ji Fan walked to the bed and lifted up the gauze curtain. Seeing Rong Xuan still lying inside, he couldn't help but say, "Everyone has left, why don't you come out?"

Rong Xuan was startled by Han Xiaoyun just now. When he heard this, he kicked the quilt aside, covered his heart and exhaled, lying on the bed with a faint smile, he said: "As expected of a first-class divine swordsman, with sharp ears and eyes. I didn't dare to breathe for a long time, I never thought he would still discover me."

Ji Fan lifted up his robe and sat down beside the bed: "Han Xiaoyun has been on the battlefield for a long time, and his ears and eyes are sharp, so he is naturally extraordinary."

Rong Xuan remembered their conversation just now and sat up straight: "Your father is seriously ill now, and it is urgent to return to Yan. However, the capital is heavily guarded. How are you going to get out? Fight them?"

Ji Fan frowned when he heard this and shook his head slowly: "How can a mere few thousand people fight against the elites of the capital? I'm afraid that not only will they not be able to get out, but they will also die here. What you don't know is that Yue Yuanting's martial arts is mediocre, but his strategy is extraordinary. Back then, He was the governor of Langping and was ordered to escort grains to the capital, but he was robbed by barbarians on the way. He was trapped in the foreign camp and could not get out. He only had four hundred guards around him, which was very similar to me now."

Rong Xuan subconsciously asked: "Then how did he escape?"

Ji Fan twitched his lips when he heard this, and said with some sarcasm for no reason: "How did he escape? The strong man cut off his wrist and lured the tiger away from the mountain. He asked the four hundred guards to flee south to distract the pursuers, while he sneaked into the northern mountains alone, and was able to survive. Those barbarians did not expect Yue Yuanting to be so bold and did not take any guards, so they naturally fell into the trap. He later sat as the Right Chancellor and became a very popular minister, but all four hundred guards died at the hands of the barbarians."

Ji Fan's voice suddenly became dull, and he could not hear it clearly in the dark night: "I'm afraid he will try his old trick again, trying to get those three thousand cavalry to escape and distract the pursuers. Four hundred people died back then, but now I'm afraid thousands of more will die…"

After he finished speaking, he silently squeezed Rong Xuan's hand, which was cold. He didn't know whether to blame or laugh at himself: "Human life is worthless. How could I have cared about this before? They say love corrupts the heart. This shows that this statement is true… This prince has stayed beside you for a long time and I have grown more indecisive."

Ji Fan's eyes used to be filled with indifference, but now, at some point, they have become tainted with a bit of human warmth.

Even if Rong Xuan's mind is skewed and unstable, hearing that millions of lives are being gambled inevitably touches his heart for a moment. Hearing this, he was about to say something, but suddenly heard a soft noise outside, his eyes froze, and he subconsciously stood up and said, "Who!"

Ji Fan's expression also changed, and he immediately opened the door to check, only to see that the person standing outside was actually the deputy commander Jiang Huan.

They fear that during the secret conversation just now, somebody might have eavesdropped. Jiang Huan had been standing outside the door, he probably heard everything. When he saw Ji Fan coming out, he subconsciously knelt down and apologized: "This subordinate deserves to die for disturbing His Highness."

Ji Fan stared at him expressionlessly, wondering about.

Rong Xuan thought more. Jiang Huan was the commander of the three thousand cavalry. Hearing that the Lord asked them to risk their lives, he probably felt resentful.

However, Jiang Huan paused, knelt on the cold ground, and remained silent for a long time. In the end, he only uttered one sentence: "The general has received the Queen Mother's secret order to escort His Highness back to Yan safely at any cost–"

He said in a deep voice word by word: "Your Highness, please don't care about us. We personally sent His Highness into this prison back then, now we should send His Highness back safely, no matter how hard, even through death!"

The last three words were squeezed out from between the teeth, like three lightning bolts that lit up silently in the dark sky. After the silence, there was a deafening sound. It is difficult to doubt the weight contained in this sentence.

This is an era where life is as cheap as grass, and this is an era where one cannot help oneself. From the moment a person is born, his life takes on many responsibilities.

In troubled times, half of the imperial power is divided, half of the family and country are divided, and half of the promise is divided, nothing is left.

Three thousand people are three thousand lives, but in the turmoil of the government and the increasingly declining family and country, it seems so insignificant.

Ji Fan said nothing. He stared at Jiang Huan for a long time, then slowly leaned forward and squatted down. Without saying a word, he stretched out his hands and gripped his shoulders tightly. His knuckles were blue and even his skin was rattling.

It was the first time Ji Fan spoke through gritted teeth. His eyes were fixed on Jiang Huan, his face even a little gloomy, and his words were full of cruelty: "Three thousand people, we will return how we came, no one will be left behind–"

At that time, there were three thousand people, and the horses' hooves rushed into the blue clouds.

Today, outside the Tianshan Mountains, there is snow, and even Beiming Tower cannot be seen in the distance.

When he left Yan for the Zhou Kingdom, Ji Fan was not the only one who did not return to his homeland for seven years.

Hearing this, Jiang Huan looked at Ji Fan in surprise, then his eyes turned red, and he persuaded in a frenzied tone: "Your Highness, it is not a pity for me to die, you should consider the overall situation!"

But Ji Fan stood up directly, kicked him to the ground, and scolded him in a cold voice: "Get out and guard! I have my own judgement on this matter, and I won't allow others to comment. If you dare to eavesdrop in the future, I will never be gentle!"

Jiang Huan got up from the ground and hesitated to speak, but seeing Ji Fan's gloomy expression, he had no choice but to pick up his sword and go to the outer door to guard it.

Ji Fan stood under the eaves, motionless. The night wind blew his fluttering sleeves, making his figure look even thinner. The cold moonlight fell on the side of the face, as bright as jade, but his eyes were also frosty and frigid.

Ji Fan didn't know what he was thinking, but his blackening degree quietly dropped to 20%.

Rong Xuan listened to the system prompts in his ears, slowly raised his hand and landed on Ji Fan's shoulder, and then slowly tightened his grip: "Ji Fan..."

There seemed to be a sigh in the words.

Ji Fan didn't look back. He just tried his best to raise his head, as if he wanted to see Yan Kingdom thousands of miles away through the moon. His low voice seemed lonely and distant in the night: "Rong Xuan, I feel like I am alone today. If I sacrifice the lives of three thousand people then ascend the throne as the emperor one day, it would only be for my own selfish interests."

"When I was reading history books when I was young, I understood a truth. A king can be cunning, deceitful, sinister or poisonous. They can deny their relatives, be unkind and unjust, not love their wives and children, but they can't help but love all their people."

"I will be the emperor of the Kingdom of Yan in the future. I can't abandon the territory of thousands of miles, and I can't also abandon the common people. If the precepts are broken today, it will be like ants hiding in dikes and sparks falling in the forest. I can no longer restrain my original intention."

Rong Xuan knew from the beginning that Ji Fan would be a good emperor. If such a person cannot be an emperor, what kind of person can be an emperor? He thought for a long time before finally uttering a sentence: "I want to find a way to see Zhao Su."

Ji Fan paused when he heard this and turned back to look at him in surprise.

Rong Xuan repeated it again: "When the Emperor Zhou holds a banquet, I will disguise myself and go to the palace with you. I wanted to find a way to see Zhao Su."