Chapter 886: Empress Qian

"It's all of us together," Pan Yu whispered. "No one person can achieve it—it takes unity."

After experiencing this, Pan Yu and Yu Rui both felt how small and powerless an individual is on the battlefield.

Even Pan Yun, with her formidable martial skills, could not turn the tide…

"We still need to use our minds," Pan Yu finally admitted, truly convinced: "My elder brother always scolded me, saying I had courage but no strategy. I thought I was just bad at the imperial exams, not at deploying troops. But on the battlefield, it seems knowing how to fight doesn't guarantee victory—it also takes… it also takes…"

Pan Yu scratched his head, unsure how to put it.

Yu Rui whispered in response: "It takes a ruler who listens to advice, an army that can be commanded, and comrades who cooperate properly—none of them stabbing each other in the back…"

The first half of this imperial campaign was the exact opposite of everything it should have been; only after suffering great losses did everything finally fall into place.

Yu Rui's tone grew firmer as he whispered: "I think it's the combined achievement of Lord Yu and your sister—but the greatest credit belongs to Prince Cheng."

Pan Yu looked at him.

Yu Rui grew anxious: "I'm not flattering you—I'm serious!"

His voice was too loud; he glanced around nervously and quickly lowered it: "If the late emperor had listened to advice even half as well, this imperial campaign would never have ended in defeat."

Ordinary soldiers didn't think much, but they felt deeply; and we officers—caught between the rank-and-file and the generals—can feel the soldiers' resentment and suffering, yet also see the efforts and pain of the ministers.

At this moment, Qian Zhong knelt before the Empress, his leg crippled, his face weathered: "If His Majesty had listened to counsel instead of blindly following Wang Zhen's foolishness, this would never have happened."

The Empress's face was numb, yet she could not help a sharp pang in her heart: "Second brother…"

She had cried so much these past days her eyes were nearly blinded; when raising funds for the emperor's ransom, she had fallen and twisted her leg, which still ached.

Qian Zhong's eyes filled with tears as he thought of the corpses he had dragged from mountains of blood and death; his voice choked: "Brother's body was cremated. I brought back his ashes. I've decided to bury him in three days, Your Majesty—we failed to protect His Majesty. We owe you this debt."

The Empress could no longer hold back; dry eyes spilled tears.

Qian Zhong's face changed; he crawled forward on his knees, alarmed: "Your Majesty, Your Majesty…"

The Empress reached up to wipe her tears—and her hand came away crimson. She stared, dumbfounded, her vision blurring.

Was she going blind?

The palace maids screamed for the imperial physician, then rushed to support the Empress.

The Empress took the silk cloth from her face, let her wrist fall listlessly, and whispered: "Why the panic? I'm only going blind. In a few days, I'll be joining His Majesty."

The emperor's corpse had been returned to Jingcheng long before the army came back.

It had passed by Prince Zhu Qiyu's relief force without meeting.

Empress Dowager Sun and the Empress both received the emperor's coffin and were heartbroken beyond words.

While the army fought abroad, Empress Dowager Sun had ordered ice kept around the coffin, waiting for Prince Zhu Qiyu to return with his civil and military ministers to mourn.

And she needed to know: who had assassinated the emperor?

She did not suspect Zhu Qiyu—but she suspected the frontier generals and the ministers in the imperial entourage, suspecting they had murdered the emperor to shift blame.

Empress Dowager Sun's suspicions were not hidden from the Empress.

The Empress did not believe it. She trusted the emperor had died by the hands of foreign barbarians.

"If… if he died by his own subjects, how much pain would His Majesty have endured?" the Empress shook her head. "How could it end in such failure? Even if His Majesty was no sage ruler, he was certainly no fool."

Qian Zhong nodded: "The one who killed His Majesty was the Oirat general Alar Zhiyuan—he acted to support Toghtoa Bukha's bid for power."

The Empress believed him at once. She dismissed the eunuchs, rose with the maid's help, refused the physician, and went straight to Empress Dowager Sun.

Qian Zhong saw the calm smile on her face, his heart leapt—he could not bear it. He rushed forward, clutching her robe, and wept aloud: "Your Majesty, Your Majesty—you are Empress—you must not die with him…"

"Brother," the Empress cut him off, serene: "Our ancestors' law decrees: those without sons must die with the emperor. I have no son."

Not only the Empress had no son—none of the emperor's other consorts had borne children.

Emperor Zhu Qizhen had few consorts. The Court of Imperial Clan Affairs thought too few would be sacrificed, so they had drawn up a long list, hastily elevating twenty palace maids to the ranks of Shu'nv, Xuan Shi, and Guiren; the Guiren brought their attendants, and the list grew longer still.

Now, everyone in the palace lived in fear. The maids walked on tiptoe, terrified of being noticed by the Court of Imperial Clan Affairs and added to the list of those to be buried alive.

Nearly half the women in the Empress's palace had been selected as attendants—but the Empress, in her kindness, insisted no maids or eunuchs accompany her; she would go alone with His Majesty. The Court of Imperial Clan Affairs reluctantly struck their names from the list.

The Empress: "Once His Majesty's posthumous title is settled, I will depart. While I still live, brother—do you have any request of me?"

Qian Zhong's throat tightened with blood; he clutched her robe: "Your Majesty, you and I are all that's left of our family. Please, live…"

The Empress's eyes were bloodshot; she shook her head: "Ancestral law cannot be changed."

"Why not? Princess Zhou had no son—and she lived! The emperor himself issued the decree! Clearly, he disliked live burial."

The Empress: "That was only because Prince Zhou pleaded repeatedly—His Majesty granted mercy out of kindness. Who will plead for me? And who is worthy to pardon me?"

Hearing her brother's agonized weeping, she ached—but hardened her heart, pulled her robe free, and strode forward with the maid's support.

Qian Zhong crawled after her two steps, his leg still unhealed, and collapsed with a thud: "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, little sister, little sister…"

The Empress quickened her pace, and only when she turned out of the hall did she open her mouth and weep silently.

The maid worried deeply: "Your Majesty, you must not cry anymore…"

The Empress shook her head, gripping the maid's hand, voice choked: "Take me to Empress Dowager."

Inside the hall, the maids and eunuchs lifted Qian Zhong from the ground, eyes red: "Your Majesty's only hope now lies with you, Lord Qian."

The Qian family's influence was slight.

The Qians were a military family. The Empress's great-grandfather rode with Emperor Taizong's cavalry; after the Jingnan Campaign, he was promoted to Deputy Commander of the Yanshan Guard. Her grandfather and father inherited the post; her father later rose to Vice Prefect of the Central Military Command through military merit.

Among the new and old nobility, her father's rank was truly insignificant.

But Great Ming's selection of empresses required only clean lineage—not noble birth. In fact, they preferred women from humble families.

One must admit: Great Ming's judgment in choosing empresses was far better than its judgment in choosing emperors.

Great Ming produced many virtuous empresses; even as a girl, Empress Qian was already known for her virtue.

Zhu Qizhen was an emperor who loved to grant titles and favors to those he liked and trusted; he had repeatedly tried to promote the Empress's family.

But the Empress always refused.

Soon after becoming Empress, her father died; the household had only two elder brothers.

Both brothers served in the military; this time, they both accompanied the emperor on campaign.

In Pan Yun's spacetime, both brothers died in battle, but here, Qian Zhong returned alive by sheer luck—though his leg was crippled.

The Qian brothers had kept a low profile to avoid causing trouble for the Empress, and had built no faction in court. Now that Qian Zhong needed to rescue the Empress, he was at a loss, not knowing who to turn to.