"Your Highness... no, Your Majesty!"
The King of Huainan had seized the throne, yet his subordinates were still not fully accustod to addressing him in this manner.
After all, he had not yet formally held a coronation ceremony, nor proclaid himself emperor, nor established a new dynasty. In na and in practice, this was still a transitional mont, one soaked in blood and tension.
"What is it?"
After a prolonged campaign and a coup that had lasted through the entire night, dawn was finally approaching when everything ca to an end. Xiao Jinan had just found a palace hall where he could rest. Jiang Jiamian, who was no less exhausted, helped him remove his armor and lie down.
They had barely settled when hurried knocking sounded at the palace door.
Xiao Jinan’s expression darkened. He rose imdiately, opened the door, and looked coldly at the kneeling subordinate outside.
"Speak."
Sensing his displeasure, the subordinate did not dare delay and imdiately reported, "Your Majesty, following your orders, we surrounded the residences of the royal princes and the various ministers. All the princes were controlled and unable to resist, except one. The Fourth Prince, Chen Tangqing... is missing!"
"Escaped?"
Xiao Jinan’s eyes turned icy. "Didn’t I order that they be restrained before the main force forced the abdication? How did he escape?"
It would be one thing if a minister had slipped away.
But this was a prince.
No, this was no different from allowing the emperor himself to escape.
Once such a person was free, the trouble would be endless.
Whether or not Chen Tangqing could successfully rally forces and restore the Great An royal line was another matter entirely. Even a failed attempt would plunge the realm into long-term instability.
And worse, if he survived, lived long enough to have heirs, there was no guarantee that future generations would not rise under the banner of restoring Great An.
The consequences were imasurable.
"Who escaped?"
Jiang Jiamian, who had been resting behind him, was startled awake by the commotion. He threw on a cloak and stepped to Xiao Jinan’s side.
The Fourth Prince?
So it really was him.
Jiang Jiamian couldn’t help but sigh inwardly.
As expected of the male lead.
That ridiculous protagonist halo really was sothing else. Even under Xiao Jinan’s airtight control during the siege of the capital, Chen Tangqing had still managed to slip away.
If his only goal were survival, then perhaps fate itself had given him a small concession.
But if he intended to reclaim the throne, reunite with the reborn female lead, and walk toward so so-called perfect ending... that would not be so easy.
Wait.
The female lead.
Jiang Jiamian’s expression subtly changed.
In this world’s original plot, Yu Miaomiao was clearly the true protagonist. The male lead existed in relation to her, protected by the halo, but not its core.
The story revolved around her choices, her suffering, her rebirth.
The male lead’s halo, therefore, could not be as unreasonable or overwhelming as those found in certain web novels, where protagonists bulldozed through the world without consequence.
Which ant...
Chen Tangqing’s escape was suspicious.
Very suspicious.
"The Yu family." Jiang Jiamian suddenly said.
He lowered his gaze to the kneeling subordinate. "Have you controlled the Yu family? What was their reaction? Was there anything unusual?"
If the reborn female lead had already foreseen the collapse of the old regi, then helping the male lead escape at the last mont would make perfect sense.
The subordinate froze.
"The Yu family?" He repeated reflexively. "But the Yu family isn’t..."
Xiao Jinan interrupted him, turning his head with visible confusion. "Are you mistaken? Didn’t the Yu family declare their allegiance the mont we entered the capital? They even actively cooperated. Under such circumstances, why would we place them under control?"
From Xiao Jinan’s perspective, this was entirely reasonable.
He had only heavily guarded those princes and ministers who were either wavering or openly resistant. Those who surrendered early and decisively were treated differently.
The Yu family was far from an exception.
With the montum of the Huainan army, many officials had already submitted. The Yu family’s choice was pragmatic, even expected.
Moreover, the Yu family was a prominent military household, second only to the Jiang family in influence. They had once fought alongside the Jiang army. After witnessing the Jiang family’s tragic end, and now seeing the Jiang army join Xiao Jinan’s campaign against the capital, their disillusionnt with the emperor was natural.
Their surrender made sense.
Xiao Jinan had accepted it gladly.
"I know." Jiang Jiamian said slowly, rubbing his forehead. "It’s just..."
How could he explain the causal link between plot, rebirth, and protagonist interference?
In the end, he could only sigh. "Although the Yu family has surrendered, they are still powerful. We’ve only just seized the palace, the situation is far from stable. It would be best to proceed cautiously."
He continued, "We can’t openly monitor them, but we can quietly keep an eye on them. If anything unusual occurs, we’ll be prepared."
Xiao Jinan considered his words carefully.
"You’re right. The throne is unstable, and the Yu family holds too much power for blind trust."
He turned slightly. "Shadow One."
A figure silently erged from the shadows.
"Take a team of secret guards. Monitor the Yu family discreetly. Do not expose yourselves. If anything seems amiss, report to imdiately."
"And the eldest daughter of the Yu family." Jiang Jiamian added calmly.
Xiao Jinan glanced at him, surprised.
Jiang Jiamian lied without hesitation. "The Yu family is a military household. Their won are no less capable than their n. We can’t lower our guard just because she’s a woman. If there’s sothing they don’t want traced back to them, using her would attract the least suspicion."
Xiao Jinan: "..."
After a mont of silence, he said to Shadow One, "Do as he says."
As the figure vanished once more into the darkness, the system’s voice echoed softly.
"Host, do you believe the Yu family’s surrender is a facade? That the female lead may interfere with our mission?"
Jiang Jiamian’s eyes darkened.
"It’s not a possibility." He replied quietly. "It’s a certainty."
"The male lead has escaped. The female lead’s movents are hidden. This plot is no longer sothing we can relax about."
He bore no personal hatred toward the protagonists of this world.
In the original story, the female lead had never interacted with him. After her rebirth, she had even mourned the Jiang family’s fate.
As for the male lead, although his father had ordered the annihilation of the Jiang family, he himself later ascended the throne, cleared their na, and issued a self-reproach edict in the old emperor’s stead.
Jiang Jiamian neither hated him nor felt gratitude.
But all of that was predicated on one condition.
That they would not endanger his mission.
That they would not harm Xiao Jinan.
If the male lead fled, so be it.
If the female lead helped him, so be it.
But if one day they dared to erge, seize the throne, kill Xiao Jinan, or cause this mission to fail... Then, protagonist or not, halo or not, they would have to rely on their own abilities.
And Jiang Jiamian would show no rcy.
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