So the Xuanwei Army and the Ninth Guard each took turns guarding for a month following a temporary agreement reached between the Fifth Prince and the Ninth Prince.
They did not want to cause trouble; they just wanted to wait for the swift pacification of the southern region.
After all, it did not matter to them who the new emperor would be—they did not take sides. As long as it did not affect the Northern Lands, that was fine.
However, as if three years passed in a blink, with the changing situation in the south, it seemed unlikely a new emperor would emerge soon. Should the south indeed split into three parts, the Fifth Prince and the Ninth Prince would effectively become rulers of their own domains, albeit passively.
And so, the North-South Bridge became the critical route for connecting with the south, and both the Fifth Prince and the Ninth Prince wanted to secure ownership of this bridge.