Chapter 245 The Great Cause of Restoring the Kingdom

The moment Yu Qing heard this, she exploded on the spot. She slapped her hands on her hips, her brows tightly furrowed, and her tone full of defiance.

“Hey, can you use some sense? We fought our way out of the Valley of the Medicinal Beings together, so why are you turning your back on us now, treating us differently?”

【Wow, so this is how it is—you’re done with us and just want to ditch us? Even burning bridges isn’t usually this fast, there’s not even a doorway for that!】

Lu Yan didn’t even bother with words. His hand went straight to the hilt of his sword, knuckles tightening slightly. The message was crystal clear: anyone who dared stop them today, he would draw his sword and act immediately.

The tension skyrocketed, every nerve on edge, as if a fight could break out the next second.

Su Hewan stopped in her tracks and looked back at the standoff in front of her, brow furrowed. She was about to say something when Shen Jue stepped forward first, gently taking her hand, interlacing their fingers naturally.

His phoenix-like eyes held a lazy amusement, yet his voice was as cold as ice when he spoke.

“Can’t understand human speech, huh?”

He turned his head slightly, his peripheral gaze lightly sweeping toward Qin Feng.

“What Wanwan means is, the four of us are a team. If we go in, we go in together. If we leave, we leave together. No one can be left behind.”

Su Hewan tilted her head, utterly baffled in her heart. 【Huh? Since when did I say that?】

Shen Jue caught her thoughts, glancing at her sideways. She immediately realized what to do and hurriedly followed his lead.

“Yes, the four of us must go in together. Otherwise, just let us leave!”

Seeing her cooperate, Shen Jue’s lips curved slightly, his fingers lightly stroking the back of her hand. But his tone instantly returned to its cold, threatening edge.

“General Qin, if you say another word, believe me, I’ll take her away right now—and make your old acquaintance in there wait another sixteen years.”

Qin Feng’s face went pale as iron. His hand on the sword gritted so hard it creaked. He stared at Shen Jue with eyes full of anger and unwillingness, yet he had absolutely no way to act.

Just as Shen Jue had calculated, they had gone through so much effort to bring the princess here. If she were to leave now, all that work would have been for nothing.

“We four are one!” Yu Qing saw the opening and immediately rushed over, running to Su Hewan’s other side. Mimicking Shen Jue, she linked her arm with hers and even stuck out her tongue at Qin Feng.

“Hear that? One body, no one left behind!”

Seeing the two tightly guarding Su Hewan from either side, with Lu Yan ready to draw his sword at any moment, Qin Feng took a deep breath. His chest felt stifled. When he closed and reopened his eyes, the fire of anger had completely withdrawn, leaving only a deep helplessness.

“…Fine.”

He stepped aside, giving way to the bamboo building, and said in a low voice, “Please.”

The four turned and pushed open the bamboo door, walking in slowly.

A faint scent of white sandalwood drifted through the air. The beaded curtain swayed gently. A slender figure stood silently with her back to them in front of a painting of a tiger descending a mountain.

Hearing footsteps, the figure slowly turned.

“It’s you…”

Su Hewan spoke instinctively.

The woman in plain clothes before her was the same noble lady who had invested in her Women’s Guild in the capital and secretly slipped her an embroidered handkerchief—the same Mrs. Lin who had left a letter urging her to come to the Southern Frontier!

“Your humble servant, Lin Shu, pays respects to Her Highness the Eldest Princess!”

Madam Lin suddenly bent her knees and knelt directly on the ground, her voice both respectful and solemn.

“Your Highness, Long Live, Long Live, Long, Long Live!”

Su Hewan froze on the spot, stunned into silence by this unexpected grand gesture.

Shen Jue stood by the door, lightly tapping his folding fan against his palm, a trace of sudden understanding flashing in his dark eyes.

No wonder back in the capital, Madam Lin could easily avoid the Eastern Depot’s spies to contact Su Hewan—she was an old hand from the previous dynasty’s palace.

“Madam Lin, please rise first. We can speak slowly,” Su Hewan stepped forward quickly, reaching out to help her to her feet.

But Lin Shu tightly grasped her wrist, her voice trembling with emotion.

“Your Highness, my name is Lin Shu. Back then, I was the most trusted personal maid of the late Empress!”

Yu Qing covered her mouth, thinking this was utterly unbelievable. My heavens, this plot is explosive! Am I getting behind-the-scenes secrets for free?

Lu Yan’s face grew grim. His loyalty was to the current emperor, and everything happening here—every single event—was treason worthy of execution along with one’s entire clan.

Through tear-filled eyes, Lin Shu looked at Su Hewan’s face: “When the kingdom fell, the rebels stormed the main hall, flames everywhere. Before her death, the Empress entrusted the newborn you, along with this jade pendant representing the royal totem, to me.”

Su Hewan reached for the jade pendant around her neck and held it out before her: “Is this what you mean?”

Lin Shu took the pendant, her hands trembling as she said repeatedly, “It is! This is it!”

Yu Qing quietly found a place to sit nearby, resting her chin in her hands, silently waiting to watch the drama unfold.

“The Empress told me to bring Your Highness out of the palace, to survive at all costs.”

A sudden, sharp pain gripped Su Hewan’s chest. She knew this was not her own emotion—it was the deep, indelible sorrow etched into the very bones and blood of her former self.

“I carried Your Highness in your swaddling clothes and barely escaped the capital with our lives. When we were at our wits’ end, I sought out Lord Su, who was known for his integrity in the court at the time.” Lin Shu took a deep breath, her gaze filled with respect and grief.

“Lord Su, grateful for the late Emperor’s past kindness, risked being executed along with his entire clan to secretly recognize Your Highness as his own daughter and raise you.”

Su Hewan’s pupils constricted sharply, a tidal wave of realization crashing in her mind. So the Su family’s downfall wasn’t just court factionalism—someone must have realized my true identity! My father exchanged the lives of the entire Su clan to keep the original self alive…

Shen Jue’s fingers tightened around his folding fan. This layer of the story—he had already suspected it.

Lin Shu continued: “To avoid detection, I went into hiding, taking on the identity of a common merchant’s wife, silently guarding Your Highness from the shadows. These sixteen years, I have never forgotten the national and familial grievances, secretly contacting the remnants of the Loyal Dragon Guards who remained loyal to the previous dynasty. In the remote mountains of the southern frontier, we bided our time, waiting for the day Your Highness would come of age!”

She then carefully presented a rosewood, carved brocade box and gently opened it.

Inside lay a swaddling cloth of bright yellow. In the center rested half of a bronze tiger tally, exuding an ancient and dignified aura.

Lu Yan’s eyes darkened at once, and he involuntarily drew a sharp breath.

This was half of the supreme military tiger tally of the Great Yan Dynasty. Whoever possessed it could command all the loyalists of the previous dynasty scattered across the realm!

“Princess Your Highness!” Lin Shu lifted the brocade box high above her head, her voice ringing with power, each word striking like a drumbeat.

“This is the late Emperor’s final token for you! Now the court is in chaos, the new emperor is young, the Empress Dowager wields power, and the Eastern Depot and Embroidered Uniform Guards are at odds—leaving the people to suffer immensely!”

She suddenly turned, glaring coldly at Shen Jue and Lu Yan, her hostility unmasked: “If Your Highness accepts this tiger tally, with a single command, the loyalists scattered throughout the Nine Provinces will respond! The great undertaking of restoring the kingdom is within reach, Your Highness!”

With those words, she knelt heavily to the ground once more and offered a deep kowtow.