Gu Weijun hadn't expected his father-in-law, Tang Shaoyi, to be so decisive. When their carriage arrived in the southern part of Beijing, Tang Baoyue was already waiting in another carriage. Seeing her father and husband arriving together, a smile finally appeared on Tang Baoyue's anxious face.

"Baoyue, you go south with Shaochuan. Don't worry about me. You two must take care of yourselves!" Tang Shaoyi said with a calm expression.

Tang Baoyue hadn't expected her father to say such a thing. She clearly felt the finality of parting in his words, as if they would never meet again. Tang Baoyue couldn't help but cry out, "Father, come with us!"

"At this point, whether I live or die, everyone knows that I, Tang Shaoyi, am the Deputy Prime Minister of the Beiyang Cabinet. Aside from staying here in Beijing, I have nowhere else to go!" Tang Shaoyi smiled miserably. "Baoyue, you and Shaochuan must escape. As long as you are alive, someone will remember your father."

Tang Baoyue hadn't expected Tang Shaoyi to speak such words of life and death. In fact, when she was pulled out of the study by the servants, she had been happily embroidering a swaddle for her baby. She was already pregnant with Gu Weijun's child.

"Father! What exactly happened?" Tang Baoyue asked anxiously.

"You and Shaochuan head south now. Shaochuan will tell you what happened." Tang Shaoyi suppressed all his emotions and spoke with the kind of cold expression only a father could have. "Your brothers have already gone south; now you are the only one left. Money has been placed in the carriage. Be careful. Go quickly!"

Gu Weijun already knew his father-in-law's plan. Although he couldn't fully understand Tang Shaoyi's intentions, Gu Weijun had no intention of resisting. As far as he knew, the danger Beiyang faced was greater than imagined. Their terrifying opponent, the People's Party, showed no hesitation and was lunging mercilessly towards Beijing.

Tang Baoyue was forcibly pulled into the carriage by Gu Weijun. Watching the carriage head south, Tang Shaoyi heaved a deep sigh of relief, finally feeling a sense of lightness in his heart. Sitting back in his own carriage, Tang Shaoyi picked up the leaflets that had fallen from the sky. Just looking at the text, he could be sure that this "The Life of Yuan Shikai" was written by Chen Ke. A few years ago, Chen Ke had written a leaflet titled "The Life of Cixi," and the result was the sudden deaths of Cixi and Guangxu. Now that such a manuscript had appeared, there was no need to consider what Chen Ke's intentions were.

The leaflet was printed on both sides, but even so, the paper wasn't enough; it required two sheets to piece together the entire article. In this article, Chen Ke explicitly informed the world, or rather the residents of Beijing, that Yuan Shikai was once a hero, but in the current situation, for his own interests and for the existence of Beiyang, Yuan Shikai would become a traitor.

This prediction was not absurd. At least in terms of what Tang Shaoyi knew, this was an existing fact. Regardless of Gu Weijun's attitude, the Beiyang government had already pinned its hopes on foreign powers. Whether it was the two "Reorganization Loans" or various other interactions, Beiyang currently would be at a complete loss without foreign support.

On this point, even if Tang Shaoyi didn't agree with the People's Party's attitude, he agreed with the words in "The Life of Yuan Shikai": "Yuan Shikai represents the interests of the propertied class. If the significance of the old democratic revolution was for the propertied class to replace imperial power as the ruling class, then Yuan Shikai has undoubtedly given everything for this propertied class, or rather to control this propertied class. Although Yuan Shikai considers himself the sole regime above the propertied class, he himself has to admit that the propertied class and the army are the foundations of his rule. This is something any ruler with the slightest sobriety can understand..."

"...If Yuan Shikai's army and the regime supported by that army fall, Yuan Shikai's Beiyang regime will fall. On this point, Yuan Shikai will absolutely not consider the interests of China or the Chinese people to be above the interests of his Beiyang regime. Compatriots, we must recognize this point. Even for our own personal interests, we must recognize this point. The order of interests in Yuan Shikai's heart is the Beiyang regime, the propertied class, and lastly, the vast working people..."

"...If the reactionary Beiyang regime of Yuan Shikai cannot be overthrown, the Chinese people will face the greatest traitor, Yuan Shikai..."

These words pointed directly to the core of Beiyang. Tang Shaoyi knew very well that Gu Weijun's refusal could not stop the general trend of Beiyang. Under Yuan Shikai's command, Beiyang was already requesting intervention from foreign governments. Although this move was recent, or rather, before this war, Yuan Shikai and the Beiyang regime were full of confidence, thinking they could annihilate the People's Party's forces, they had still privately put forward their requests to Britain, France, and Japan, hoping they could "co-construct China."

However, the current Gu Weijun had become a stumbling block to this policy, which slightly surprised Tang Shaoyi. Gu Weijun's firm attitude also surprised Beiyang. Tang Shaoyi had thought Gu Weijun would prioritize the Beiyang government's stance, but now it was proven that this idea was wrong. If it were before, Tang Shaoyi would have felt there was time to reverse his son-in-law's "incorrect stance," but now there was no time. The People's Party's marching speed exceeded Beiyang's imagination.

As the Deputy Prime Minister of the Cabinet, after learning that the People's Party had conquered Cangzhou, Tang Shaoyi knew the situation was hopeless. The reason Beiyang could be Beiyang was largely because it occupied Zhili, that is, Hebei and Shandong. It occupied Beijing, the old imperial city.

If Beiyang were driven out from these two major foundations by the People's Party—more bluntly, if Beiyang were driven out of Beijing by the People's Party—then Beiyang would be reduced to a local regime. Until now, Beiyang's status as the central government was largely determined by the fact that the Beiyang government occupied Beijing.

Driving back into Beijing, Tang Shaoyi found that the gates of the outer city had begun to be sealed. Large groups of Beiyang troops were running to set up defenses at the city gates and checking passersby. Although this move could create a tense atmosphere, it was meaningless. Such a blockade line was meaningless against the People's Party, and letting Beijing citizens know that the People's Party was about to attack the city walls had no meaning other than creating panic given the current situation.

Tang Shaoyi knew he would probably have to take charge of Beiyang's Ministry of Foreign Affairs again immediately, but apart from sorrow, he surprisingly had no other thoughts. The Qing Dynasty had only been forced to acknowledge selling out the country under the condition of defeat in war, but now Beiyang had to accept it without having been defeated externally. This greatly exceeded Tang Shaoyi's psychological tolerance.

Things developed just as Tang Shaoyi had expected. As soon as he arrived at the Cabinet, an attendant military officer from the Presidential Palace who had been waiting there immediately told Tang Shaoyi to go see Yuan Shikai.

"Shaochuan! You go meet the foreign ministers right now and demand that they support us immediately. We will agree to any conditions!" Although Yuan Shikai wanted to say these words with gravitas, his voice contained a panic that could not be hidden.

Tang Shaoyi was truly in despair. It wasn't that he didn't want to do as Yuan Shikai wished. Regardless of what Gu Weijun thought, fearing foreigners, respecting foreigners, and even relying on foreigners were not rare ideas within Beiyang. No matter how the Beiyang New Army originally shouted "Reform and Strengthen the Nation" or held nationalist stances, no one truly dared to ignore or even despise foreign power like the People's Party did.

Tang Shaoyi was not a superstitious person, but he couldn't help but fear Chen Ke. There was a precedent for this, not to mention that Chen Ke had explicitly pointed out in "The Life of Yuan Shikai" that Yuan Shikai would either die as a Chinese person or as a great traitor. The difference between the two determined Yuan Shikai's posthumous evaluation. But in Chen Ke's own prediction, he wasn't optimistic about Yuan Shikai's posthumous reputation at all. Since it wasn't optimistic for Yuan Shikai, Tang Shaoyi felt there was no way to make a final decision regarding the question Chen Ke emphasized: "Where will Yuan Shikai's accomplices go?"

Yuan Shikai saw the expression on Tang Shaoyi's face and sneered, "Shaochuan, have you already seen those notices?"

These notices were definitely dropped by the People's Party's aircraft; Yuan Shikai was clear about that. Beiyang also had its own aircraft, just that they couldn't compare to the People's Party's air force in performance. At least this basic knowledge—that leaflets falling from the sky were dropped by planes—was known. Yuan Shikai didn't have any superstitious attitude.

"President, how exactly should we speak to the powers about this matter?" Tang Shaoyi asked with a dry throat.

"I actually don't care what you all think anymore." Yuan Shikai laughed, a laugh containing a hellish gloom. "But if you are going to say anything to the foreigners, Shaochuan, tell them: whatever they want to take from the People's Party, we will give to them!"

"You mean Beiyang won't yield anything? We are just asking the Allied Powers to intervene?" Tang Shaoyi felt he had recovered quite a bit of vitality. If Yuan Shikai had proposed completely surrendering and selling out the country, Tang Shaoyi wouldn't have been able to accept it.

"Shaochuan must have read the People's Party's leaflet, right?" Yuan Shikai sneered. "If you read it, the People's Party is saying nothing more than that I, Yuan, am selling out the country. Am I, Yuan Shikai, afraid of death? I just want to maintain Beiyang. If Beiyang is gone, where does everyone plan to go?"

Tang Shaoyi dared not deny anything. If the current Beiyang didn't have Yuan Shikai, heaven knew what would happen.

"Shaochuan, go see the foreigners now. Agree to everything regardless of what happens! I can tell you beforehand, even if our Beiyang ceases to exist, I can't let the foreign devils and the People's Party have it easy!" Yuan Shikai said furiously. Just after speaking, Yuan Shikai began to cough loudly.