White Birds on the Lake, People on His Mind

"All for the Kingdom of Qing."

"All for the Kingdom of Qing?"

Yuan Hongdao sat in the carriage headed for Xinyang, the fiefdom of Eldest Princess. The phrase that he had kept deep in his heart for so many years felt absurd.

Many years before, when the Eldest Princess had first taken a liking to the man who was now Prime Minister, Yuan Hongdao had been a secret officer of the Second Bureau of the Overwatch Council. Chen Pingping had arranged everything for Yuan Hongdao: he was to have a new identity and a new life, and would gradually ingratiate himself with Lin Ruofu, who at the time had yet to reveal his talent.

At the time, they were simply two scholars who happened to cross paths.