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Under the midday sun, as Wanyan Qingjue and the others headed to the palace, a team of carriages and horses was gathering in the small square on one side of the imperial city. Search: \(?Perfect?Book?Station) to read quality literature for free.

Palace servants carried and lifted various boxes to the square. Concubines of the harem followed with anxious expressions. Some boxes were dropped on the ground during the move, spilling various items. The concubines would shout anxiously and even scold the palace servants.

Everything was as bustling as a vegetable market.

Zhou Pei emerged from within, accompanied by guards. Her demeanor was indifferent but dignified, and the nearby palace staff and concubines subconsciously avoided her gaze.

She walked through the square, observing the chaotic scene around her. The palace gate ahead was tightly closed. She headed towards a ladder leading to the top of the city wall. The guards immediately blocked her way.

"Your Highness, please do not go up there."

"Try and stop me!"

"It is dangerous up there."

"What danger! Have the Jurchens attacked?" Zhou Pei's eyes seemed to hold pools of blood. "I want to watch them attack!"

"Please, Your Highness, do not make things difficult for us."

Zhou Pei confronted the guards at the stairwell. The people in the square stole glances at them. When Zhou Pei swept her gaze sadly towards the rear, they quickly avoided her eyes.

A gentle breeze rustled through the phoenix trees in the palace. Zhou Pei's gaze swept over the scene of flight and panic. She wasn't in Bianliang during the Humiliation of Jingping many years ago, and the subsequent "search the mountains and dredge the seas" felt more like a forced escape after a major battle. Only at this moment did she suddenly understand what it meant for "fourteen hundred thousand to cast off their armor, not a single man among them."

The sky was still warm. Zhou Yong, wearing a large robe, strode towards the square. He had appeared thin and sullen in recent days, but now seemed to have some vitality. As people knelt around him, he waved his hands vigorously as he walked. "Rise, rise, hurry and move things. Don't bother bringing useless junk."

The imperial palace was in chaos. Many people had not anticipated the sudden change. In the Golden Luan Hall, various ministers were still arguing endlessly. Some knelt and begged Zhou Yong not to leave, but these ministers were blocked by the generals Zhou Yong had sent – their relationship had been unpleasant before, so there was no need to be polite now.

Zhou Yong paid no attention to the inner concubines of the palace. He had been excessively indulgent in his early years, and had produced no heirs after ascending the throne. To him, the concubines were merely playthings. He made his way across the square, heading towards his daughter, his face flushed and breathless, but also somewhat embarrassed.

"Alas, daughter..." He hesitated. "Your father spoke harshly before, but there's no choice now. There are villains causing trouble in the city. I know it has nothing to do with you, but... Jurchen envoys have already entered the city."

Zhou Pei looked at him coldly.

"Furthermore, that dog thief Wushu's cavalry has already set up camp, wanting to put pressure on us. Qin Qing was right. Let's leave first and stay on the Qiantang naval ships. As long as they can't catch me, they can't do anything. If they can't destroy the Wu Dynasty, they'll have to negotiate!"

At this moment, Zhou Yong was quite proud of his response. The Jurchen envoys would surely be shocked upon arriving at the palace. No matter how fierce and powerful they were, he would leave first and stall them. He would refuse their exorbitant demands... The more he thought about it, the more reasonable it seemed.

Zhou Pei looked at him. After a moment, her voice was hoarse, each word distinct: "Father, if you leave, what about the people in the city? What about the people of the Central Plains? If they can't destroy the Wu Dynasty, there will be another 'search the mountains and dredge the seas.' How will the people of the world survive!?"

Zhou Yong was slightly stunned. Zhou Pei stepped forward, grabbed Zhou Yong's hand, and walked towards the stairs. "Dad, come up with me! Just on that side of the palace wall. Come up with me and look over there. Those hundreds of thousands of people, they are your subjects – if you leave, they will..."

Zhou Yong flung her hand away as if it were burning, and took a step back. "I told you, what can I do! Can I save them by staying here? I'll be sold along with them! That Ning rebel also said that people must save themselves!!!"

He shouted these words loudly. Zhou Pei's eyes widened in anger. Zhou Yong said: "I'm also saving myself. I'm only doing this because I can't win at the front. I'm cutting off my arm like a hero... There's not much time left. Get in the carriage, and we'll get on the ship first. The officials and palace belongings can come slowly. Even if the Jurchens come, they can only sigh in vain once I'm on the ship!"

As he spoke, he pointed to a carriage not far away, telling Zhou Pei to go there. Zhou Pei shook her head, so Zhou Yong waved, and the nearby female officials came over, lifting Zhou Pei towards the carriage. Zhou Pei was pushed along in a daze until she was about to enter the carriage, when she suddenly struggled: "Let go of me! Who dares touch me!"

The female officials were startled and quickly withdrew their hands. Zhou Pei ran towards the palace gate. Zhou Yong shouted, "Stop her! Stop her!" The nearby female officials came closer again, and Zhou Yong strode over as well. "You get in there!"

"You go! I'll stay! Father, if you want to go, go. Leave me to hold the fort in the capital."

"I won't let you stay! I won't let you stay!" Zhou Yong stamped his foot. "Daughter, don't make trouble!"

Zhou Pei wrestled with the female officials.

The people in the palace rarely saw such a scene. Even if they were wronged in the inner palace, even the most headstrong concubines wouldn't do such undignified and futile things. But now, Zhou Pei finally couldn't contain her emotions. She waved her hand, knocking the female official beside her to the ground. Several nearby female officials were then slapped or scratched, their faces bleeding and disheveled. The female officials didn't dare to resist, and in the Emperor's shouts, they pushed and pulled Zhou Pei towards the carriage. It was during this struggle that Zhou Pei pulled out the hairpin from her hair and suddenly stabbed it into the neck of a female official in front of her!

The sunlight shone down vertically. Blood splattered in the square, covering Zhou Pei and the surrounding female officials' heads and faces. People screamed. Zhou Pei's long hair was disheveled. She paused slightly, then waved the blood-red hairpin. "Get out of the way, everyone get out of the way!"

"Catch her, take her hairpin!" Zhou Yong shouted. A female official who knew martial arts rushed up and snatched Zhou Pei's hairpin. The surrounding female officials gathered again, and Zhou Yong also rushed over, grabbing Zhou Pei around the waist, lifting her up and pushing her into the carriage made entirely of iron. "Lock her up! Lock her up!"

Zhou Pei's tears were already flowing. She climbed up from the carriage and tried to rush forward again. The two doors slammed shut with a "clang." Zhou Pei slammed into the door, hearing Zhou Yong shout from outside, "It's okay, it's okay, this is to protect you..."

"Worthless emperor—"

"Don't say that..."

"Everyone in the world will look down on you, look down on our Zhou family... Dad, you're no different from Zhou Zhe—"

Her body slammed against the carriage door. Zhou Yong patted the carriage wall and walked to the front. "It's okay, it's okay, it's all happened, it's all happened... Daughter, I can't just be captured like this. I want to give you and Jun Wu time. I want to give you a way out. Let me bear these insults. It will be better in the future. You will understand eventually, you will understand eventually..."

His murmuring continued for a long time. He got into the carriage himself. Various things were loaded and unloaded in the square. Before long, the palace gate was finally opened, and a large procession moved along the long street towards the south gate.

In the dim iron carriage, Zhou Pei felt the movement of the carriage. She was covered in blood. A long strip of light shone through the crack in the front door. The carriage was traveling along the familiar streets of Lin'an. She pounded for a while, then started banging on the door again, but it was no use.

As the carriage traveled, a chaotic sound faintly came from the front, as if a crowd had surged up, blocking the path of the procession. After a moment, the chaotic sound grew louder, as if someone had launched an attack on the procession. A figure came to the crack in the front door, crouching down, seemingly being protected by the Imperial Guards. It was her father, Zhou Yong.

He said over there, "It's okay, it's okay, they're just clowns, it's okay..."

After a while, the chaos outside was resolved. Whether it was people coming to block Zhou Yong or to rescue her, they had been cleared away. The procession started moving again, and from then on it was smooth sailing, until the Qiantang River dock outside the city.

When the triumphant Wanyan Qingjue arrived at the palace, Zhou Yong had already boarded the ship at the dock outside the city. This was probably the only unexpected thing he had encountered along the way.

During the "search the mountains and dredge the seas" nine years ago, in order to live stably at sea, Zhou Yong had ordered the construction of a huge dragon boat. Even floating on the sea, this large ship was as calm as living on land. After nine years, this ship was brought out again.

After boarding the ship, Zhou Yong sent people to release her from the carriage, arranged accommodation and servants for her. Perhaps because he felt guilty, Zhou Yong did not appear before her that afternoon.

The huge dragon boat fleet was anchored on the surface of the Qiantang River. Throughout the afternoon, various things were continuously transported on board, including officials and wealthy merchants, with their families and various treasures. Zhou Pei was confined to her room, and did not go out for two days, April 28th and April 29th. She sat in her room in a daze, unable to close her eyes. Until late at night on the 29th, Zhou Pei, who had finally slept for a moment, was awakened by the noise. Some kind of change had occurred within the fleet, and there were huge collisions.

Rapid footsteps sounded outside the door. Zhou Yong, dressed in white, rushed in. Seeing that she was sleeping fully clothed, he came over with a look of grief and indignation, grabbed her and walked outside.

Zhou Pei followed him out without a word, gradually reaching the deck of the dragon boat. Zhou Yong pointed to the movement on the river surface not far away for her to see. There were several warships already engaged in battle. Flames were burning, and the sound of cannonballs echoed across the night sky, with light flashing everywhere.

"Look! Look! Those are your people! Those must be your people! I am the Emperor, you are the Princess! I trusted you, that's why you had the power of the Princess Manor! Now you want to kill me!" Zhou Yong's words were full of grief and indignation. He pointed to Lin'an City on the other side, where there were also faint chaotic fires. "Rebels! They are all rebels! They will not have a good end! Your people also damaged my rudder! Fortunately, it was discovered in time. It's all your people, it must be, you are rebelling—"

Tears welled up in Zhou Pei's eyes, and she couldn't help but shed them. She naturally understood in her heart that her father had been frightened out of his wits. He was frightened by the act of someone damaging the rudder, thinking that he could no longer escape.

At this moment, the distant mountains were dim, the nearby water was sparkling, and the firelight from the city reflected on the sky. Zhou Pei understood that the various factions in the city were fighting and gambling with each other. Including the warship battle on the river surface, the desperate warmongers were making one last stand. There must be efforts by Li Pin, Cheng Zhouhai and others in the middle, but the Princess Manor had never prepared to resist Zhou Yong. Even with Cheng Zhouhai's abilities, in this situation, it would probably be difficult to succeed. Perhaps the Huaxia Army had also intervened, but the Princess Manor had always suppressed the Huaxia Army, and their reach was finally ineffective.

The flames in the night sky were like the ashes of a huge palace burning and disintegrating on the black sea.

The fleet stayed on the Qiantang River for several days. Excellent craftsmen repaired the small damage to the ships. After that, officials and wealthy gentry continued to arrive, bringing their families and various treasures, but Crown Prince Jun Wu never came. Zhou Pei, in confinement, no longer heard those news.

Until the fifth day of May, the fleet set sail, carrying the small court and the people who depended on it. It sailed through the estuary of the Qiantang River. Zhou Pei looked out through the cracks in the sealed windows, and free seabirds were flying across her vision.

She grabbed the iron window bars and cried. The most painful cry is silent. At this moment, the Wu Dynasty existed in name only. They were sailing to the sea, her brother, the bravest Crown Prince Jun Wu, and the entire Wu Dynasty people of this world, were left behind in the fiery hell...

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