The Mongolian woman official kept her head down.

  The queen said, "You've returned safely, but Shen's sister is even more pitiful... Alas, I didn't expect such a thing to happen. Mu Wu Wang dared to rebel and the Iron Armor Army dared to be disloyal to the emperor. The war broke out and it implicated you women..."

  "Shen Zhaoyuan?" Lin Yuen looked up in shock.

  "Yes, Shen and Zhao Wang rode out of the camp on horseback yesterday and have not been seen since." The empress wiped away a tear: "Shen is nothing, but my poor imperial son... he's the emperor's only child... originally the emperor wanted to spare no effort in searching for them, but then Mu Wu Wang rebelled, what a troublesome autumn... Gui Yi, you're also tired, go back and rest first."

  The queen didn't have time to talk to Lin Wan either. News just came that the rebel army suffered heavy casualties, but Mu Wu Wang escaped. The situation is still uncertain.

  Lin Wan bowed to the empress and retreated, her face darkening like water as she turned around.

  The Mongolian princess emerged from the golden tent and rode away on horseback, without even having time to accept the farewell gift that the empress wanted to give her.

  Lin Wan let out a sigh, and it was natural that someone who had just met her would not be willing to stay and testify for her - the queen's tongue was very poisonous, and it was indeed difficult for women in the chaotic army to survive, but compared to death, losing one's chastity was an even greater possibility.

  From the female official's actions in front of the queen, it can be judged that she is fluent in Chinese and can understand what the queen is saying, but she is unwilling to talk to Lin Yu. When the queen asked questions, she kept her head down and didn't speak, not wanting to get involved. Lin Yu was also helpless about this, as the other party had already helped her a lot.

  After Fan Yu appeared, Lin Wan suspected that the person who wanted to take her life was the Empress. However, for the Empress, using the secret forest as a trap to murder her investment was too big, she wasn't worth it for the Empress to do so.

  But now she can be sure that she is the queen. When she was rescued by Yuan Lie, there were no soldiers from Qin State around her. The fact that the queen knew that her real lifesaver was not this female official but the Mongolian king can only explain that the queen had sent someone to follow her secretly.

  That dense forest should have been prepared for Shen Yunrong and Zhao Wang, and she and Fan Yu were the unlucky ones who accidentally entered... In fact, it was not an accident, they had been part of the empress's plan from the beginning, not as targets to be hunted, but as test subjects.

  The two of them were killed and Shen Shi and Zhao Wang disappeared, just one day apart. This was a test conducted by the Empress for Zhao Wang and Shen Shi. As the only son of the Emperor, killing him would be too risky, so to prevent things from being exposed, the Empress first sent Lin Yu and Shan Yu into the dense forest to observe what happened. Later, when Mu Wu Wang rebelled and the scene was chaotic, she saw that the timing was just right and then sent Shen Shi and Zhao Wang in again.

  For this unfortunate mother and son, Lin Wan only wanted to send them seven words - Greed is not enough for the snake to swallow the elephant. If Zhao Wang had stayed in the rear camp honestly, instead of riding a horse at the back of the hunting team, how would the Empress have had the opportunity to make her move? Shen Yunrong was busy with her son competing for favor in front of the Emperor, and being calculated by others was also a must.

  ***

  Lin Yan fell ill after returning to her own account.

  She had always been delicate, and after being forced to play wilderness survival for two days, her body really collapsed. She was dazed and feverish, the first snow wiping away tears by her bedside, Wen Pei came to visit her once, but the Emperor didn't even show up - to be precise, Tuoba Hong stopped paying attention to her as soon as he knew she had returned safely, now Tuoba Hong himself was busy with his own troubles, no time to bother with personal matters.

  Lin Yan slept very restlessly, not because she was scared by nightmares, but because it was too chaotic outside.

  In the midst of war, Fan Yu had an encounter with Lin Wan but no conflict over interests, and she never made a move. Lin Wan met her by chance and was afraid of being dragged into trouble, so naturally, she couldn't go around asking about her whereabouts. Shen Yunrong and Zhao Wang were also unlucky, sudden war broke out, and the defending troops were insufficient everywhere, how could they spare manpower to search for them in order to protect the emperor and empress? If they were really unlucky enough to be trapped somewhere deep in the mountains or forest, dragging on for three to five days would truly leave no hope.

  Lin Yan patted her chest, what a close call, only she herself escaped from under the Empress's claws.

  At dawn, after two days of drowsiness and illness, she forced herself to get up and go outside. The sound of war drums was so close, and the beacon smoke was right in front of her eyes. Beiting was originally a battleground for military strategists, but now that there were no Xiongnu invasions, it had become the battlefield for the internal strife of the Great Qin. She saw Tuoba Hong standing on the highest city wall, his imperial majesty appearing even more intense amidst the flames and smoke of war.

  Lin Yan supported Xue's hand and climbed up as well.

  The city walls of Chuluo were a true stronghold, high and imposing with iron pouring down. Lin Yuen was shocked by the scene before her, the clash of steel beneath the walls, the defenders on the walls shooting out dense arrows, blood splashing everywhere.

  At this time, the people standing on the city wall with Emperor Daizong of Northern Wei were naturally his most trusted and favored officials: the Left Chancellor, the Grand General, the Ministers of War and Justice, and several generals from Beidi. The Empress stood one foot behind him, wearing her most formal red ceremonial robes; Consort Wen followed closely behind her, holding a bow and arrow to present to Emperor Daizong.

  In the midst of the clashing of swords and the din of battle, a loud shout suddenly rang out from beneath the city wall: "The late Emperor clearly passed on the throne to the three kings..."

  The soldier's loud voice suddenly stopped. When Lin Yu looked over, she saw Tuoba Hong holding a curved bow in his hand. The arrow that shot out was burning with fire and quickly turned the area below the city wall into a sea of flames. People on the city wall were still pouring oil down.

  The trump card in Mu Wu Wang's hand was actually just a thin piece of paper, known as the late emperor's edict. What was written on it would never be read out loud again, but everyone could guess - the old emperor had favored Li Guifei and the third prince back then, and it was possible that he had abolished the crown prince and established a younger son instead. Eight years had passed, and Mu Wu Wang only now had sufficient preparation to take out the edict and seize the throne from Tuoba Hong. Unfortunately, this piece of paper was easily destroyed by fire.

  Lin Wan knew that she didn't need to look any further. The outcome was already decided, and it was a foregone conclusion that left her with no surprises. Mu Wu Wang had lost his trump card, transforming from a righteous general to a genuine rebel traitor; whether he was captured alive or executed on the spot made no difference anymore.

  The only unexpected thing, however, was Tuoba Hong. Lin Yuan originally thought that it was Mou Wu Wang who forged the will of abdication, but when she saw that the person presenting the "true" will to the ancestral temple under Tuoba Hong's order was the Right Chancellor, she knew that the will in Tuoba Hong's hands was the forgery.

  According to Tuoba Hong's account, in order to obtain the edict of the deceased emperor, he ordered his trusted minister to rush back to the capital five days ago... But only Lin Yuan knew that five days ago, the Right Chancellor was secretly hiding at the entrance of a valley on the west side of the birch forest, exchanging messages with a concubine from the rear palace. At that time, he didn't even know that Mu Wu Wang was going to attack Tuoba Hong in the name of the deceased emperor's edict.

  Lin Wan didn't think Tuoba Hong did anything wrong, she just thought that Tuoba Hong's father was too unreliable, and in the end, he still had to pass on the throne to the third prince.

  With such a father, it's justified to rebel against him.

  As Lin Wan turned and left, Wen Pin's questioning voice behind her was somewhat sharp: "Why is the Right Chancellor offering sacrifices to heaven with the imperial edict? The Emperor actually entrusted him with the most important thing."

  Lin Wan suddenly remembered that Wen Pin's father was the chief academician of the Hanlin Academy, and things like imperial decrees, national books, and historical materials should be handled by the Hanlin Academy. The position of Chief Academician is similar to that of Right Chancellor, with no real power but a high official rank, known as "qing gui".

  It's interesting. It turns out that many people had been thinking of making a name for themselves in the matter of King Mu of Zhou.

  Unfortunately, the Right Chancellor reacted the fastest. He had already submitted a memorial to impeach Mu Wu Wang for having a treasonous heart when he first arrived at the arena, and Tuoba Hong took advantage of the opportunity to launch an attack, forcing Mu Wu Wang to rebel.

  As for why they ended up fighting, Tuoba Hong had originally planned to take down Mouyu King on the spot, but unexpectedly the latter pulled out something that belonged to the previous emperor and loudly declared in front of the Northern Wei soldiers and countless civil and military officials that Tuoba Hong was usurping the throne. The ministers were all shocked silly, many people took one look at the golden silk cloth and thought it was real, the court was turned upside down, and Tuoba Hong could not move for the time being.

  So King Mu of Zhou raised the great banner of justice with justification.

  But in fact, the will is ultimately useless. The real reason why King Mu of Zhou was defeated was that his 100,000-strong army from Qizhou was intercepted and killed halfway.

  Such things did not need Lin Wan to consider, she had not even thought about what to do if Taobao Hong lost. Those were areas she could not enter, and could only be arranged by fate.

  Lin Wan felt that she could go back. She was really having a fever, and she didn't want to stay like the queen either - as a concubine, it's best for her to keep away from the turmoil of the previous dynasty on the surface.

  This mutiny, later known as the "Northern Palace Rebellion", was not a major rebellion in the history of the entire Qin Dynasty. In the annals of history, Mu Wu Wang would be recorded as a rebellious vassal king who plotted to usurp the throne but ultimately failed. As the victor, Tuoba Hong's reputation would not suffer in the slightest, and no one would question whether he was truly the rightful successor appointed by the previous emperor.

  Cheng Wang defeated the Zhou, but it was just like this.

  ***

  Five days later in Zhu Lu Castle, the smoke of war had vanished without a trace.

  Mu Wu Wang was executed on the spot on the day of his defeat, and he could no longer be called Mu Wu Wang as he had been stripped of his imperial status. Tuoba Hong also gave him a posthumous title - Treacherous Subject.

  After sweeping the battlefield and repairing the fence, tent and other equipment of Beigong, Tuoba Hong held a grand ceremony to worship heaven. The reason is that the royal family of Daqin has not come to Beise for hunting in ten years, this time they came to inform their ancestors, let their ancestors know that their descendants have not forgotten the teachings of getting the world on horseback, and "by the way" inform them about eliminating evil officials and suppressing treason.

  The imperial court's ritual to worship the heavens was a grand spectacle, with the sound of horns piercing people's eardrums and the flames burning brightly, casting a reddish glow over half the sky. It was purely for the sake of displaying the majesty of imperial power. Amidst the loyal soldiers' shouts of loyalty and patriotism, everyone understood that the emperor standing at the highest point of the platform would only become more secure in his position, and who still remembered the dubious will left by the late Emperor Muwu?

  I wonder what kind of thoughts Emperor Daowu of Northern Wei had in his heart when he heard this from above.