She had only taken a brief look at the youth on the throne. When she met with Emperor Yang Zhou back then, he was dressed rather simply and not as much as when he was sitting at the throne.

This time, he looked regal and elegant at the same time.

“You may rise.”

Old Master Nan stood up but still didn’t look directly towards Emperor Yang Zhou. Instead, he was looking slightly below the Emperor as if he didn’t dare to look directly at the person in front of him.

Emperor Yang Zhou looked at the scene in front of him calmly. “Everyone leave.”

The soldiers who were tasked to guard frowned, but since it was the direct order from the Emperor, they obeyed. There was no way they would want to risk losing their lives just to stay here and listened to the conversation between the great general and the Emperor.

Soon, the hall was empty except for the three of them.

“There’s no need for you to be too polite, Great General Nan.” Emperor Yang Zhou let out a faint laugh. “I have never remembered you to be someone who liked to put on the appearance.”

“As the humble subject of His Majesty, I have no other choice but to put on appearance.” It was only now Old Master Nan looked at Emperor Yang Zhou directly. He smiled faintly. “You have grown, Your Majesty.”

Emperor Yang Zhou nodded. “I’m surprised you would agree to my request so quickly.”

“I’m only a loyal subject to the kingdom.”

Kingdom.

That one word had told Emperor Yang Zhou everything he needed to know about Old Master Nan’s stance. What Old Master Nan cared about was more about the kingdom stability as a whole rather than who would sit at that very throne.

And this realization was more than enough for Emperor Yang Zhou.

“Have you recovered, Great General Nan?”

“Replying to Your Majesty, my legs have mostly recovered. However, the doctor suggested for me to rest more as it hadn’t fully healed.” Old Master Nan was saying the truth about this. He hadn’t fully recovered, but there was no problem if he wanted to walk around as long as he didn’t exert himself.

Emperor Yang Zhou nodded. He tapped the armrest. Now that he had gotten married, the officials wouldn’t be able to stop him from taking the throne and fully assumed his position as the Emperor.

There was no need for his mother and those two prime ministers to be the one to make the decision anymore.

However, they wouldn’t make it easy for him to take over.

“Would it be possible for you to recover in Autumn?”

Autumn was only in a few more weeks.

Old Master Nan’s eyes narrowed as he knew what Emperor Yang Zhou was planning. However, he had no intention of allowing those people from staying and assuming power when the one who should take it was Emperor Yang Zhou.

“I might not be able to return to my original state, but it should have already recovered a lot.”

“That’s good to hear.” Emperor Yang Zhou nodded. “Please take some rest for the time being, Great General Nan.”

“Thank you for your kindness, Your Majesty.”

The two of them didn’t speak anything explicit, but Nan Hua understood everything they said. The underlying meaning was very clear and if she didn’t understand, that would be an insult to her intelligence.

Emperor Yang Zhou shifted his gaze towards Nan Hua. His eyes narrowed slightly. “I believe this is Adjutant Nan who stayed in the army with Nan Luo.”

“Replying to Your Majesty, yes, this is Adjutant Nan. Your Majesty requested for me to bring him here, so I did as you say.”

“Raise your head.”

Nan Hua knew that Emperor Yang Zhou was asking her, so she raised her head. Her clear black eyes looked straight in Emperor Yang Zhou’s direction without any layer of falseness within it.

Looking at the young kid in front of him, Emperor Yang Zhou thought for a moment. “The one who wants to meet with Nan is not me but Qian Xing. I believed he’s at the field, waiting for you to have another duel with him.”

Another duel?

Nan Hua was speechless.

Did that Long Qian Xing actually asked Emperor Yang Zhou to bring her here just because Long Qian Xing wanted to have a spar with her?

“Go there.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Nan Hua always lowered her voice when she was acting as Nan. This would allow her to hide the fact that Nan was a girl and to prevent them from suspecting her being Nan Hua. Thankfully, Nan Hua had learned how to control her pitch in order to be able to imitate other people’s speech.

As Nan Hua walked out, Emperor Yang Zhou turned to look at Old Master Nan. “Did Grandfather told you something?”

“There are many things that he had said to me.” Old Master Nan paused for a moment. “But I can only tell you half of it. The rest of it could only be said after you have finally taken that steps.”

“I see.”

Emperor Yang Zhou was not surprised. When he was young, his grandfather had once told him that there was something that his old friend would tell him when he grew up. His grandfather was only close to the three old generals, so he assumed that the three of them would know the message.

“Originally, the one who should have passed this message is Old Master Long.” Old Master Nan sighed. “A pity he couldn’t be here today.”

Emperor Yang Zhou was silent. He knew the deep friendship between these four because his grandfather had told him a lot. In the past, he didn’t understand why his grandfather would pick him and not his younger brother.

But it might be because he had known… no, he had guessed that things would end up this way.

“Please tell me, Great General Nan.”