Who put the yellow robe on me?

"Chen'er, what enemies are there in Daliang now?" The Liang Emperor's withered fingers suddenly clenched the brocade quilt, and the golden cloud pattern wrinkled into a ball under his palm.

The chamber was filled with a heavy medicinal aroma, mingled with the distinctly heavy aroma of ambergris, yet it couldn't suppress the bloody stench emanating from the emperor's throat. Candlelight danced on the gilded dragon candlesticks, casting the shadow of the Sixteenth Prince, Jiang Chen, into a long, slender form, twisting across the lapis lazuli floor like a dormant beast.

Jiang Chen knelt on one knee. When he lowered his head, the arrow scar on his forehead was faintly visible in the shadows: "Internal and external troubles!"

"Tell me about it." Emperor Liang suddenly coughed violently, and his bony back bent into an arch under his bright yellow pajamas.

The hand of the chief eunuch Zhao Ji holding the silver spittoon trembled slightly. The dark brown medicinal soup in the glass cup rippled, reflecting the falling locust flowers outside the hall.

"So-called external threats," Jiang Chen's voice was roughened by the wind and sand of the Western Regions, "the biggest enemy is naturally the Northern Qiang."

He raised his eyes, the flickering candlelight reflected in them. "Their Black Wolf Cavalry are now unrivaled. I saw them tear open the walls of Kucha with my own eyes—those beasts have red eyes and fangs three inches long. Even the mere scent of them would cause horses to convulse."

Prime Minister He's court boots rubbed lightly against the ground, and a crescent-shaped scratch suddenly appeared on the blue brick.

He recalled the tragic situation in Yunzhou mentioned in the secret report three days ago: where the Black Wolf Army passed through, even the land was dyed dark red.

"Although the Western Regions are on the verge of destruction, the Eastern Qi..." Before Jiang Chen finished speaking, Emperor Liang suddenly burst into a heart-wrenching cough.

Shi Baixia stepped forward quickly, the silver needle flying at his fingertips, but stopped when it touched the emperor's wrist - the purple veins under the skin looked very much like the dying vines on the top of Kucha City.

"Your Majesty's illness is in your heart and lungs." Shi Baixia's voice tightened, "I suggest..."

Emperor Liang waved his hand at Shi Baixia, cutting off his unfinished words, then pointed at Prime Minister He and then at the Sixteenth Prince.

The old Prime Minister He Wendao understood and stepped forward: "Sixteenth Prince, how should Nanchu and Bashu respond?"

Jiang Chen's thumb unconsciously rubbed the cat's eye stone inlaid on the hilt. "In Cangwu Ridge, at the junction of the three kingdoms," he said solemnly, "caravans mysteriously disappear during the rainy season. I've checked and found that the counters of the inns where these merchants were last seen all have the phoenix tail pattern unique to the Southern Chu royal family engraved on them."

"As for Bashu..." Jiang Chen said to Emperor Liang, "Secret reports I intercepted half a month ago indicate that the King of Shu is secretly forging a new type of repeating crossbow." He pulled a three-edged arrowhead from his bosom, the cold iron blade gleaming a faint blue in the candlelight. "This arrowhead can penetrate heavy armor and has a range three times that of an ordinary crossbow."

The Emperor Liang's cloudy pupils suddenly contracted. Three years ago, when the Crown Prince rebelled, it was the crossbow sent as tribute from Shu that almost shot through his shoulder blade.

The severe pain in his memory and the fishy-sweet taste in his throat at this moment intertwined, making him clench the dragon-patterned quilt tightly.

"Where is Dongqi?" Prime Minister He's voice seemed to come from far away.

Jiang Chen noticed that the old prime minister's fingertips were trembling slightly - five years ago, his son was killed by the Qi army's ambush.

"At the poetry meeting held by Emperor Huan of Qi last month," Jiang Chen pulled out a roll of blood-stained silk from his sleeve, "this poem "Ode to Chrysanthemum" was regarded as the winner." On the unfolded silk, the dripping ink stains read, "Wait until September 8th when autumn comes, my flower will bloom and all other flowers will die."

Zhong Wenbin sucked in a breath of cold air. Although the old general was not well-versed in literature, he could hear the solemn and murderous meaning between the lines.

Prime Minister He's face suddenly changed. He recognized that the handwriting was exactly the same as the anti-poem that appeared at the northern border three years ago.

"Your son suggests that Yu Wenbo, the Minister of Rites, be sent as an envoy to Dongqi." Jiang Chen's words made Emperor Liang's eyebrows twitch slightly.

The essay "On the Situation" written by Yu Wenbo during the palace examination predicted the crisis in the four regions today.

"Three years ago, at a poetry gathering at Canglang Pavilion," Jiang Chen continued, "Lord Yu used a poem called 'Song of the Frontier' to make the Minister of the Ministry of Rites of Dongqi throw down his pen on the spot."

He paused, his lips curled up subtly, "Even better, Madam Yu is the legitimate daughter of the Grand Tutor of Dongqi."

Emperor Liang suddenly made a hoarse sound from his throat and slapped the edge of the bed with his skinny hands.

Zhao Ji hurriedly raised the medicine cup, but the emperor pushed it away. The dark brown liquid spilled onto the lapis lazuli floor, and the rising steam carried the bitter sweetness of ginseng and the pungent smell of rhinoceros horn.

"Great! Killing three birds with one stone!" The Liang Emperor's hoarse laughter startled the night owls roosting outside the palace. "It not only showcases the literary talent of our Daliang, but also... cough cough..."

Zhong Wenbin suddenly took a half step forward, the iron soles of his boots scraping against the ground with a harsh sound. "Your Highness, the Prince of Yan, the Black Wolf Army has captured two states..."

"General, do you know where the food for the Northern Qiang army comes from?" Jiang Chen interrupted.

He pulled a charred wheat cake from his bosom, breaking it open to reveal undigested grass seeds. "This was picked up by the vanguard outside Shuozhou City. The Black Wolf Army is an elite force, yet they eat millet, which isn't even as good as horse feed."

Prime Minister He rapped his jade scepter against his palm. "No wonder the spies reported that the Northern Qiang have been buying up large quantities of old grain at the border recently!"

"Because their new granary," Jiang Chen tapped a certain place on the map with his fingertips, "was burned down by the third princess's personal guards ten days ago." On the sheepskin map, the location of Longcheng was clearly marked with scorched yellow burn marks.

A gleam of light suddenly appeared in the cloudy eyes of Emperor Liang. Twenty years ago, he took advantage of the civil strife in the Turkic royal court to enable General Mu of the previous dynasty to recover the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun.

At this moment, the old heart in the emperor's shriveled chest began to beat violently again.

"Yelü Wei is indeed dying."

Jiang Chen lowered his voice, as if he was revealing a taboo secret. "The life-extending elixir used by the Northern Qiang imperial physician is mainly composed of snow mountain ginseng and..." He paused deliberately, looking at Shi Baixia's suddenly pale face, "and arsenic."

The silver needle plate in Shi Baixia's hand suddenly fell to the ground, and the twelve silver needles formed a strange constellation on the ground.

Shi Baixia hurriedly bent over to pick it up, but beads of sweat oozed from the back of her neck - this recipe was the long-lost one...

"The eldest princess, Yelu Huimin, will lead the attack, while the third princess, Yelu Mengmeng, will lead the peacemaking."

Jiang Chen's sword suddenly unsheathed half an inch, and the cold light reflected a sneer on his lips. "But what's interesting is that among the Grand Princess's staff, there is a Han Chinese military advisor named Bai Ziyu."

Prime Minister He's court boots suddenly slipped, making a harsh sound as they rubbed against the blue bricks.

The bastard he had personally expelled from his family twenty years ago was called this. As the old prime minister held onto the gilded lamppost, he discovered his palms were covered in cold sweat.

"Last month, I rescued a deserter from the Northern Qiang." Jiang Chen took out a wolf-tooth talisman from the brocade pouch at his waist. "Before he died, he said that Military Advisor Bai should worship towards the south every night."

The totem of the royal family of Southern Chu was engraved on the wolf's fangs.

Emperor Liang suddenly trembled violently, his fingers like dry branches clutching the bed curtains tightly. Twenty years ago, when the Crown Prince's rebellion broke out, the Southern Chu envoys happened to be in the capital. Those jade-encrusted daggers, those poisoned tribute wines...

"Your Majesty, I am wise." Jiang Chen suddenly knelt on his knees, the scales of his armor colliding with the ground, making a sound of gold and jade. "Your Majesty, I am willing to go to the northern border in person. It will only take three months..."

"Your Highness!" Zhong Wenbin and Prime Minister He shouted simultaneously. The old general's scabbard collided with the Prime Minister's jade scepter, exploding like thunder in the silent chamber.

Jiang Chen looked up and looked directly at the emperor: "I don't want a single soldier, I just want..." His voice was suddenly drowned out by the sudden sound of the wind.

The locust trees outside the hall were swaying wildly, and the white flowers on the ground were dancing like funeral banners.