THE DAY EMPEROR: 阳明王 【The Night Emperor Book 2】

Chapter 37 Distinguish

Sze Chang recounted everything that had happened the morning after Ye An's escape. His words were methodical and structured with no room for emotions, resulting in a narration that was laid out in a matter-of-fact way. 

When General Shao discovered that Ye An was gone, he had the guard executed on sight. Prince Adlai was the prime suspect to have aided Ye An's escape and was about to face a similar execution, but Sze Chang stepped in without anyone's knowledge and was able to lend a hand in the prince's getaway.

Lucky for them, a large portion of the Northern warriors were still fiercely loyal to Chieftain Burat and that loyalty extended to Prince Adlai. With their covert help, Prince Adlai was safely stowed away. Given the choice, those warriors would've opted to leave with Prince Adlai. However, the Northern prince knew that it wasn't the right time. Leader Wakhia had a formidable ally in General Shao who had the backing of a lot of powerful men in the Middle Kingdom. The Northerners were, by all means, on foreign grounds. Without proper planning, rashly leading the warriors in opposition to the tribe leader would mean leading the men to their untimely deaths. In the end, they agreed on Bagvaai being the only one to leave with the prince. 

It wasn't the easiest of escapes. When they finally managed to get away from the clutches of both General Shao and Leader Wakhia, the borders were closed and they were locked in the Middle Kingdom. Even if they succeeded in getting over the border, there was no way for Prince Adlai to return to the North without alerting Leader Wakhia and thus General Shao. Of all the people back home, the Northern prince had no inkling on who were friend and who were foe who would report his presence to Leader Wakhia. Therefore, returning wasn't a risk he was willing to take. Instead he followed in the shadows of the party headed to capital with Baagvai by his side, all the while gathering people and slowly building a crowd for what would later become the resistance. 

According to Prince Adlai, growing the resistance was a feat that grew easier over time. At first, General Shao was able to package the situation in a favorable way and people were opening up and welcoming him whenever the party passed by. Especially with Sze Chang by his side, with everything that he had set up earlier with the flyers and rumors, things were smooth sailing. The commoners were rejoicing the return of the lost prince and the banishment of the female emperor. People assumed that Ye An was executed from her lies and celebrated it as a victory.

At this, Ye An's face pinched uncomfortably into a frown.

Sze Chang continued by saying that he remained friendly with General Shao. He was crowned as the new emperor and continued acting as the general's puppet to win the hearts of the people. All the while feeding information to Prince Adlai for the resistance to counter any evil deeds that the general and Leader Wakhia had drawn out of their own greed. Evil deeds that had become increasingly bold as the days passed. So much so that the people started questioning General Shao's intentions with some of them even starting to revolt against the general. Everything was as is, with Sze Chang acting as the perfect puppet under General Shao's stubby thumb while secretly siphoning information out to Prince Adlai. Up until a few days ago.

"One of the pigeons sending my messages was intercepted. I was found out and had to leave the Imperial Palace in a hurry. Since then, General Shao had been turning the capital upside down to locate me." Sze Chang's lips thinned. "He even burned down the inn that I had stopped by to ask for directions on the night I ran away. I was only there to ask for directions!" Sze Chang put his hands up in the air in disbelief and a twinge of guilt.