Seeing his reaction, Princess Nalan felt a bit panicked and quickly explained, "You're already in prison like this. I've had to think about it too. Regardless of the reason for it, an accusation of treason is a serious matter, now that it's on the table, it's not possible to come out of this unscathed, not even with my grandfather's help. Your Emperor is stubborn too." She said with a frown and then quickly perked up.

"...But you don't have to worry. While the situation may not exactly be ideal. I'm already pregnant so my family will "have to accept you." Princess Nalan said with a reassuring smile, "I won't abandon you, I promise." She added, giving his hands a hard squeeze.

Prince Yi blankly stared at her and then took a step back, out of her reach, "Did he say that?" He asked, now glaring at her.

His expression surprised Princess Nalan, she had never seen him look this but she understood that this was indeed shocking news. If it were her, she would have brought this prison down but her Shan was too reserved to behave like that.

A glare was nothing, so she stamped down her disp.l.e.a.s.u.r.e and answered, "No, but it seems that's what he's leaning towards. Lei Xing said that was the best she could do and from his demeanor today, it seems there is really no better way out of this. At least it's better than being executed or rotting away in prison forev-"

Seeing Prince Yi's expression get worse, she agitatedly grabbed the bars and put on a reassuring smile, "But maybe my grandfather can still do something. You know he's very resourceful, no one can ignore him when he speaks, not even my father! Moreover, Zou is much better than this place, I'm certain you will prefer it! We also talked about traveling, we can do-"

"That's enough." Prince Yi interrupted in a quiet voice, "Go back." He said as he turned his back to her, walked back to his bed, and calmly sat down.

"But -" Princess Nalan started but then stopped herself, bit her lip with a disgruntled frown as she stared at Prince Yi who had retreated deep into his thoughts.

The two stayed quietly like that, one deep in thought while the other looked on with a frown, agitated and frustrated. Finally, the sounds of incoming footsteps could be heard and Princess Nalan turned to her left to see the eunuch and the guards returning.

"Princess, it is time to return." The eunuch respectfully said with a bow.

Princess Nalan glared at him and then turned back to Prince Yi and said, "Shan, Zou is a beautiful and warm place with great people. You will be happy there, I promise. Take care of yourself, I will come again."

She waited but Prince Yi said nothing in return, neither did he look in her direction.

"Princess, please y-"

"I heard you the first time!" Princess Nalan shouted at the eunuch, she glanced at Prince Yi again but he still did not look her way. Irritated beyond comprehension, she shoved the eunuch out of the way and stormed past the guards, who smartly moved out of the way.

She understood that being banished was not a small matter for a person, but Prince Yi had told her himself that his life here was not easy. His parents were already dead, and he had no extended family. He kept to himself, so he barely had friends, and his only relative, his brother, has now accused him of treason and wants his head. What kind of life does he expect to live here? How could he possibly live comfortably here?

Lei Xing's reassuring words echoed in her mind and she calmed down a little. It may be hard for him to accept at first, but he will eventually see that this was for the best. They just need to get to Zou first and he will come to appreciate her efforts, just as Lei Xing said. She is his benefactor so naturally, he will come to appreciate her efforts. He will be happy, no, they will be happy and free.

It was just the shock that was making him weird, very soon he will come to terms with it. With those reassuring thoughts in her mind, Princess Nalan's footsteps regained their confidence and she walked off feeling lighter.

Princess Nalan was right, Prince Yi was quickly coming to terms with this new development. Since the Emperor's visit, he had been expecting something, but then to think that the Emperor would pass the news of his exile through Princess Nalan... Wasn't this rubbing salt in his injury?

He had nothing left here and he knew it. The ministers who "supported", blackmail or not aside, were now imprisoned and all of them have turned to blame him for all their "misdeeds". Now his army was potentially decimated. Even if only a fraction of them were caught, the rest have still scattered and will need to be regrouped somewhere else.

Not to mention the supplies that have been lost. Since Jun Kai returned and assumed the throne, Prince Yi's access to funds has been greatly diminished since Prince Yi lost control of the court. His army was already suffering before this, so this will naturally be a huge setback even if they survived this. But it was not over, he still had Princess Nalan and potentially the armies of Zou, the problem was of course convincing those with power to fight his war. It was possible but...

Prince Yi's frown deepened, it seemed to achieve his dream he would have to sell out his own country. He had hoped that he and Jun Kai could resolve their differences quietly, without making a big fuss that would negatively impact the country. But as it stood now, if he were truly banished, he would have no choice but to kick up a big fuss. It was unfortunate,? but the country could be rebuilt after the fallout.

While the Long country may be strong, its foundation has been weakened by the multiple wars. The enslaved outnumber the free, five to one. Even though the enslaved come from various unfriendly backgrounds - after all, some of them had been at war with each other before they were conquered, with the avenue these enemies can be made to unite and work together. Prince Yi was now thinking that he could be that unifying force.

Even though this alone was not enough to topple the empire, it would be enough to weaken it enough for him to swoop in and claim victory. The problem was that this was a very delicate matter as his victory would rely heavily on others. If he made even a small mistake in handling this, then the empire would be torn apart and he would end up cooking a dish for someone else to enjoy.

Prince Yi took a deep breath and stood up, held his hands behind his back, and let out a heavy sigh, "Banishment..."

{...I don't want this either but you are forcing my hand... One way or another, I will claim what rightfully belongs to me. It is natural for sacrifices to be made...}

***

"He was calm?" The Emperor asked, slightly narrowing his eyes. The eunuch had just reported to the meeting of the ill-fated couple and its aftermath. Since Lei Xing asked him not to be "too hard" on Princess Nalan, he decided to grant her request to meet Prince Yi. He did not want Princess Nalan complaining to Lei Xing about it later. He knew Lei Xing was quite a compassionate person, he did not want her bothered by petty issues if he can help it.

Although he could not truly say his motives were entirely pure. He wanted to gauge Prince Yi's reaction on certain matters before making certain irreversible decisions - to make himself feel a bit better about the whole affair.

The eunuch respectfully nodded, "He seemed calm but he dismissed the Princess and even ignored her farewell... The news must have affected him greatly."

"As it should." Commander An responded with a light scoff. As someone who followed the Emperor all these years, it was very fulfilling to see him finally taking steps against this disrespectful and ungrateful brother of his. He had no idea what Prince Yi did for the Emperor that made him so lenient with him, but Prince Yi had been getting on everyone's else nerves for the longest time.

"And after that?" The Emperor thoughtfully asked.

"As per the guards, he sat for a long time and then stood for a long time. It seems he is still standing in place." The eunuch politely responded.

The Emperor knit his brows in thought for a bit and then sighed, "You may leave." The eunuch bowed and quietly withdrew. Once the doors closed behind him, Commander An turned to the Emperor and said, "Your majesty, he is obviously still scheming something."

The Emperor scoffed, "Scheming? He is already in the palm of my hand, what can he do?" He lazily responded, picking up his brush and resuming his writing.

Commander An frowned, "Your majesty, it is best to kill him now that we have the chance."

"He still has his uses..." The Emperor offhandedly responded, silent and simply concentrated on his writing. After a few minutes, he put down the brush and held out the sheet to Commander An, "Pass this on to the storytellers, I want this spread around the country within a week. They are free to embellish it as they will, so long as it riles up anger in the people, I do not care."

Commander An's face lit up when he read the contents of the sheet, "You mean to destroy his reputation?"

"I didn't write anything that is not true." The Emperor matter-of-factly stated, "Since he has chosen this path for himself and is unrepentant, we might as well make good use of it." The Emperor said, picking a memorial and opening it, signaling that he was done talking.

Commander An nodded, bowed, and then turned to leave but then? the Emperor spoke up again, "Also, inform An Hao to take extra special care with transporting our guest from Zou. I wouldn't want him to get hurt in his haste."

"How long?" Commander An asked, correctly concluding that the Emperor wanted An Hao to delay the Zou Lord's arrival.

"About three months should be enough." The Emperor calmly responded. The journey from the Zou border to the capital city took about a month on a horseback, three weeks if one were to rush it. He was asking for that time to be doubled, if not tripled, but he was confident An Hao was resourceful enough to sort through it.

"I will pass along the instructions." Commander An responded, bowed, and then left. With An Hao's resourcefulness and talent for irritating people into submission, it would most certainly be taken care of, even if he has to break the old man's legs to delay him. Commander An knit his brows as he made a mental note to remind An Hao not to cause too much harm to the old man.

As Commander An left, the Emperor dropped the memorial and sighed, from the report he received the old man was greatly displeased. He was aware that the old man already did not like the idea of Princess Nalan marrying him, the Emperor. So it naturally went without saying that the old man probably wanted Prince Yi's head on a platter given the recent developments. This visit was definitely not to congratulate them, most likely, he was coming to drag his granddaughter home.

The old man was also known for being unscrupulous, forcing Princess Nalan into aborting the baby or even using nefarious means to force it was a possibility. As it stood now, that baby was the only true tether between Princess Nalan and his brother. If that baby was gone, it would be troublesome. Therefore, the Emperor had to take some steps to protect it, for the sake of his brother's future happiness.

It would be hard to abort a four-month-old pregnancy without gravely endangering the mother's life.? Of course, if the old man cared nothing for Princess Nalan's life, then that would be irrelevant. At worst, the Emperor could step in but he preferred not to directly involved get in the middle of this dispute. It will be too troublesome.

But more important than his brother's happiness were his own plans. Prince Yi was integral for him right now and important matters could not be rushed.

The Zou prime minister rushing here himself complicates things, the Emperor had not anticipated this. Of course, he expected emissaries to be sent immediately - people he could have brushed off until he was ready to attend to the matter. But this stubborn headstrong old man would be a headache. Therefore, he needs to buy time.

The Emperor sighed, Prince Yi's tenacity was definitely something. Even when confronted with such a hard future, he still relented and began calculating again. He could guess what was now brewing Prince Yi's mind right now and he would not allow it.

While the Emperor cannot, or rather will not kill Prince Yi's because of his benefactor, the elusive voice's instructions. This did not mean that Prince Yi could not be punished, he had simply let him roam free all this time because of the personal debt he felt he owed him from their childhood - which, as Lei Xing said, he has rightfully paid many times over. If he left Prince Yi alone any longer, Prince Yi would grow to be a thorn in his side too deep to ignore.

He will let him go, but not before ensuring that Prince Yi's wings have not only been clipped but have been ripped right out of their joints and destroyed - for both their sakes.

The Emperor picked up his teacup, closed his eyes, smelled the fragrant tea, and smiled to himself, looking quite pleased. He truly did wish Prince Yi and Princess Nalan all the best in their future lives together.