Yes—ceding territory and paying indemnities!
Ninth Royal Uncle had never intended to occupy Tyre City right now. Even if he could take it by force, neither the Emperor of Eastlyn nor the Emperor of Southlyn would allow Tyre City to fall into his hands.
With Tyre City standing, Eastlyn and Southlyn have a buffer zone at the Shandong border. If Tyre City disappears, there’s nothing separating the two empires; both sides would have to station massive armies face-to-face, costing a fortune in military expenses. Neither Eastlyn nor Southlyn wants that—they’d rather keep Tyre City as a shield between them.
Southlyn doesn’t want Tyre City; they only want a few small towns closer to their border. Ninth Royal Uncle wants silver. The two sides quickly reach an agreement: after scaring Tyre City into submission, they’ll force Lord Tyre to cede the towns near Southlyn and pay for their losses in this campaign.
After this ordeal, Ninth Royal Uncle is convinced Tyre City won’t recover for twenty years—and he’s certain he’ll take it within that time.
Everything outside is unfolding exactly as Ninth Royal Uncle predicted. But the wound on Serena’s shoulder is another matter entirely—it’s far worse than he expected.
“How many days has it been now? Why is it getting worse instead of better?” Serena doesn’t have Ninth Royal Uncle’s freakish healing abilities; her wound heals at a normal pace, and Nolan knows that. He can accept slow recovery, but he can’t accept her wound getting more and more serious.
Serena feels guilty and tries to appease him: “It’s the heat—the wound’s just inflamed.”
Serena would never dare admit it—her injury got worse because she went to intercept the Third Prince.
“Really?” Nolan clearly doesn’t believe her. He holds Serena down, removes her outer robe, unwraps the bandages, and checks the wound himself.
Serena can’t avoid it—she can only let Nolan check the wound, silently cursing her luck. After all these days, he still found out.
Sure enough, Nolan sees that Serena’s wound shows no signs of inflammation. He’s clearly displeased: “Does this look inflamed to you, Dr. Feng?”
He even called her 'Dr. Feng'—Serena knows that’s a bad sign. She quickly puts on a smile: “I just treated the inflammation. I promise it’ll heal in a couple days, really.”
“You said the same thing a few days ago.” Nolan lets Serena off the hook, personally applies medicine to her wound, and Serena, unable to refuse, has no choice but to let him take care of her.
The wound on Serena’s shoulder wasn’t scary at first—after stitching, it looked like a thin centipede line. But now the wound has split open, the stitches have snapped, and Serena picked out the broken threads herself. The skin is red, swollen, and puckered, dotted with needle holes—a close look would make anyone’s scalp tingle.
Once he’s finished treating it, Nolan re-bandages Serena’s shoulder. Watching her bite her lip against the pain, his heart finally softens—he reaches out and gently strokes her head.
“In two days, we have to leave for the capital. I’d planned to visit Skyvault Palace first, but with you like this... how can I rest easy?” Nolan sighs.
With Serena’s injury worsening, the trip to Skyvault Palace has to be canceled.
“Why go to Skyvault Palace? Did something happen to Sean?” Serena asks worriedly.
Hearing Serena call Sean so intimately, Nolan feels a stab of jealousy and answers, not very happily, “The Palace Master is fine—it’s someone else who’s in trouble. It’s nothing, just a small matter. We don’t need to go.”
Serena’s condition makes traveling impossible, and the issue Sean mentioned isn’t urgent. Nolan drops the subject and tells Serena to rest.
“The Shandong situation is basically settled. I’ve done all I can; the rest goes to the Emperor. Is there anything else you need to do?” Whether it’s dealing with the Lewis Clan or cleaning up the Third Prince’s remnants in Shandong, Nolan isn’t planning to get involved—he’ll leave it all to the Emperor.
“No, this is fine.” Serena knows Nolan hates wasting time on thankless tasks—he’d rather keep an eye on the gold mine.
The gold mine is already being excavated, and none of the stationed officers know about it. Clearly, the Lewis Clan’s secrecy was airtight—Nolan just scored a huge windfall.
After sitting with Serena for a while, Nolan returns to his study. His shadow guards bring him the latest news.
“Prince, the Crown Prince’s health is much improved—he can move around normally. The Little Divine Doctor, Simon Sun, says he can live at least another ten years if he’s careful. But the Crown Prince is still staying at the villa and shows no sign of leaving, so Simon Sun and Divine Doctor Redwater can’t leave either.”
“The Crown Prince?” Nolan’s voice turns cold, making the shadow guard freeze in place.
Everyone knows why the Crown Prince won’t leave, but no one dares say it. Simon Sun probably had no choice, so he reported to Nolan.
It’s a tough situation.
After a moment’s thought, Nolan says, “Tell the Crown Prince he can choose freely—whether to return to the capital or go down to the Jiangnan region, I’ll personally ensure he arrives safely.”
As for the consequences, Nolan makes no promises. He feels he’s already been generous to the Crown Prince—compared to what happened to the Third Prince, the Crown Prince should count himself lucky.
“Yes, sir.” The shadow guard breathes a sigh of relief and quickly reports everything else. Nolan listens to each matter, gives orders for what can be handled, and puts off the rest. By midnight, when he finally returns to his room, Serena is already asleep.
Nolan slips quietly into bed, gathers Serena into his arms, and a flash of tenderness passes through his eyes.
Imperial Noble Consort Helena Hsieh is about to give birth, and even before re-entering the Capital, Serena is already drawn into palace intrigue. Who knows what awaits her when she finally returns...
While Nolan and Serena prepare to return to the Capital, the Crown Prince and Prince Colin are also getting ready to leave their convalescent villa. But the Crown Prince still hasn’t decided where to go.
“Brother, what are you really thinking?” Prince Colin watches the Crown Prince recover his health, but instead of being happy, he grows even more somber. At last, he can’t hold back and asks.
The Crown Prince’s brow is furrowed with worry. He stares blankly into the distance, eyes unfocused, and sighs softly: “I don’t know what I’m thinking, either.”
When his heart was sick, all he wanted was to recover and live. But now that he’s healthy, it’s not enough—he wants more.
“You’re still after that position, aren’t you?” Prince Colin immediately sees through his brother’s thoughts.
In this villa, aside from Simon Sun, the child obsessed with medicine, everyone knows exactly what the Crown Prince wants.
“I’m so close to the throne—how could I not think about it? As soon as Father dies, I’ll be the rightful heir.” The empire is within reach. When his health was poor, he had to give up, but now...
Simon Sun said that as long as he avoids strenuous activity and keeps his emotions steady, he could live for decades. How could he not be tempted?
Prince Colin sees the Crown Prince isn’t joking and feels bitter, but he still fulfills his duty: “Brother, once you’ve decided, I’ll support you—whatever you choose, I’ll stand by you.”
His brother had seemed so free, so at ease—Colin had even rejoiced that he’d finally escaped the palace’s endless strife. But now, why can’t he let it go?
Felix Dongling shakes his head and sighs. He wonders if Serena somehow ‘repaired’ his brother’s heart wrong, making him think about things he shouldn’t.
“I... need to think about it some more.” The Crown Prince sighs too—he doesn’t know what’s wrong with him. Maybe people are just never satisfied...
Return to the Capital or go south to Jiangnan? That’s the question!