The heavy rain fell intermittently for no little than half a month, and the entire city was shrouded in haze, causing the early autumn to suddenly turn cold..

In just mere days, the battle between the Yan Family and the Wang Family had been extremely heated. In fact, the entire country was already divided into three factions, mainly the two oppositions, the former being lead by Wang Yong and the latter is being lead by Yan Jing. Meanwhile, the neutral faction had taken it upon themselves to support the royal family.

And right before the battle reached its peak, there were news among the city claiming that Queen Dowager Chu had fallen critically ill.

“How did she get sick so suddenly?” Yan Luan wondered curiously, in fact, at her late 30s, the Queen Dowager was still considered young and healthy.

Even the imperial doctors were helpless, as the palace began gathering help from the outside, hoping to find someone who could do something.

Yan Dao was forced to read a book about army structures grumpily nearby, the tactics and strategies were enough to confuse him to no ends. There was no doubt that he’s an exceptional warrior, but he could never be a leader as his brains are really not suitable for military strategies.

“Illness? Tsk, if it wasn’t for our elder brother, that old woman would’ve died many times over.”

Upon hearing his words, Yan Luan, who had been teasing a koi fish within the glass fountain, stared at him in disbelief, “What exactly happened?!” She jumped into Yan Dao’s arms as she beamed with curiosity.

“It was none other than the traitorous wolf she raised, that bitch from the Chu Family had poisoned her. But our brother claimed that she was still useful, otherwise she would ‘ve died of poisoning a long time ago.”

Traitorous wolf? The only woman that Yan Dao would call a ‘bitch’ was obviously none other than Chu YunShang, in fact, he already harbored murderous intentions for her ever since that incident.

“Did she really?”

Jiang FuYuan once told her that Queen Dowager Chu would eventually raise a traitor, but Yan Luan honestly did not expect it to actually happen. Furthermore, her actions showed that she’s probably fixed on supporting the Wang AnZhi’s position, to think that she would cut herself off from her own family just to help Wang AnZhi reach his goals.

Glancing down at the warm lady within his arms, Yan Dao instantly toss the army book nearby as he hugged her warmly, before running his fingers through her smooth and silky hair, “No running around these days, our brother managed to slain Wang Yong’s brother, and he’d turned rabid, you never know what a crazy dog will do.”

The Wang Family does not have a bottom line in doing things, and knowing how sly they were, it was safe to assume that he might try something, which was why Yan Jing had left Yan Dao at home, to protect her.

“Yes, brother.”

In early November, Queen Dowager Chu was pronounced dead at the age of thirty-five. She was given the grand title “Queen Dowager WuYing ZhaoLie” and the country was to mourn for three full days.

Yan Luan, too, was dressed in mourning clothes as she sat with Jiang FuYuan in the main hall of the palace, playing with her best friend’s Mark of the Phoenix, “Please be more careful in the future, especially with the food served here.” Yan Luan frowned as she watched her best friend played around with her newly owned Mark of the Phoenix1.

“I know right, I was already super careful ever since the incident.. Sigh, this imperial palace is truly not for the kind.”

In fact, Jiang FuYuan had been extremely cautious ever since her miscarriage, she even took it upon herself to take care of the Emperor’s meals. The Queen Dowager’s death only managed to make her more diligent in safeguarding themselves against anyone who wished to harm them.

But still, it was a really frustrating way to live.

After the national funeral, rumors began to spread around the city, claiming that the Queen Dowager’s death was not of natural causes. Citizens were making all sorts of conclusions as they speculated, though every reasoning pointed towards the Wang Family.

In the past few days, various ministers had visited their residence, to the point that for many days on end, Yan Luan was unable to meet her elder brother as he would always be in a meeting, though she occasionally stood quietly outside the room to listen.

“Lord, now is the time to get the emperor on our side and attack, once Wang Yong loses his strengths, victory will surely be ours.” One of the minister said in a definitive manner.

“Few days ago, I received a letter regarding this exact issue. It seems that there had been a change in the army near our city. Lord Yan should begin making early preparations for the upcoming war, just in case that old thief decided to attack the city with his private army.” Another minister added in.

The room was filled with men speaking, only quieting down when Yan Jing finally spoke.

Meanwhile, Yan Luan was totally fan-girling outside the room at the domineering aura of her elder brother, as the wise man once said, “A man is most charming when he’s focused on work.”

Yan Luan had deliberately went to the kitchen that evening and personally made a whole pot of chicken essence soup, even taking it upon herself to serve the soup to her brothers.

“Our Ah Luan is all grown up,” Yan Jing chuckled in joy as he watched his sister scurrying around busily.

Meanwhile, Yan Dao had already cleaned out his bowl of soup, “Actually, the soup tasted really good.” He licked his lips in delight.

It was rare for her to cook, but still, they would drink anything she offered, to the point that if she ever made them poison, they would finish it to the last drop. Though, it was still an unexpected surprise for them that the soup tasted really good.

“After everything ends, let’s take a vacation in MiYang city,” Yan Jing knew that she is exceptionally fond of her own city.

Yan Luan’s eyes shone brightly at his words, before landing a huge kiss on his lips, only to be caught instantly as he deepened the kiss.

In a blink of an eye, it was almost time for winter.

“Time flies so swiftly.” Yan Luan sighed as she watched her servants clear out her autumn clothes, before replacing her cupboards with newly made winter dresses.

Both of her brothers were out, and as someone who was weak to the cold, she spent her entire day in her room as she practiced her embroidery skills.

“WengZhu, one of the Imperial Queen’s eunuch, Li GongGong, is here with a message, he claimed that the queen had requested for your presence.”

“Is that so? Bring him in.”

In no time at all, the maid returned with the eunuch following closely behind her. Yan Luan gazed closely at the eunuch, confirming that he was indeed one of Jiang FuYuan’s personal eunuch before ordering the servants to prepare her carriage.

“Did the Imperial Queen mentioned what this is about?”

“This slave does not know, as her majesty merely said to bring you over, but knowing her majesty, it is probably about the emperor.”

The emperor? Did something happened?Yan Luan wondered nervously as she remembered her brother’s warning, before deliberately bringing more guards with her.

And still, what she feared happened.

As soon as they were far enough from the Yan Residence, her carriage was instantly surrounded by men dressed in black, and in a blink of an eye, her guards were mostly killed or injured. These men were well-trained killers, and she was obviously their target.

“Shit, I got tricked!” She muttered under her breath as she watched the eunuch drew his sword and slashed at her guards.

And as the scent of blood filled the air, Yan Luan quickly jumped out of the carriage and tried to flee to the alley with her remaining guards. However, she was quickly surrounded as they were badly outnumbered, but weirdly, as she saw her men fell, she began calming down.

“Stop! I will go with you.” These killers were deadly, but she could see that they were extremely careful with their swords when facing her, it was obvious that they were to capture her alive.

“To think that WengZhu is such a smart lady, let us go then,” The leader of the killers chuckled deeply before waving his hand at his companions.

No one noticed it as Yan Luan hid her trembling hands behind her as she crushed a tiny thing that her elder brother gave. ;The men closed in a quickly, and soon, her hands were bounded together tightly while her eyes were blindfolded entirely.

And as they tossed her on horseback, she could only pray that her brothers will find her soon.

The killers rode in dead silence as they travelled, and about half an hour later, the group finally stopped and she was taken away.