As she woke, the sun was setting, casting a warm orange hue through the window, painting everything in the room with its golden glow.

Qin Zheng rose quietly, draped herself in a robe, and pushed open the window shutters.

She looked out at the courtyard bathed in the sunset, feeling a sense of inner peace and tranquility she couldn’t quite explain.

The pearl curtains in the inner room rustled softly, but Qin Zheng didn’t turn around.

The person behind her gently embraced her, resting his chin on her neck, his voice husky from just waking up. “When did you wake up?”

“Just now,” Qin Zheng shifted her weight backward, leaning into him, and gazed at the fiery clouds in the sky.

“Beautiful.”

Chu Chengji watched her graceful profile under the evening sun and softly murmured in agreement.

The slanting shadows of the trees, the returning birds, and the elongated shadows of their embrace painted a serene picture under the setting sun.

“Are you hungry?” Chu Chengji asked, leaning down.

They had a celebration banquet scheduled for the evening, and there would be a lot of toasting and business discussions.

In such settings, one couldn’t eat much. It would be better to have a light meal beforehand.

Knowing this, Qin Zheng nodded thoughtfully. “Let’s have the kitchen send some light dishes.”

She went back to the inner room to dress, while Chu Chengji instructed the servants to prepare the food.

When he returned to the inner room, Qin Zheng had changed into a dignified dress, selecting a suitable hairpin from her jewelry box.

Chu Chengji noticed that the string of Bodhi beads he had brought back from the imperial tomb was now kept separately in a wooden box by her.

She had never worn them since he gave them to her.

He picked up the Bodhi beads and looked at her delicate wrist. “They’re for blessing and protection, meant to be worn.”

But Qin Zheng shook her head. “I don’t practice Buddhism. It wouldn’t be appropriate for me to wear these beads.”

Although Qin Zheng didn’t adhere to any religious beliefs, she still maintained a basic level of respect for them.

She kept the Bodhi beads because they were something Chu Chengji had used in his past life, holding onto them out of sentimentality.

Chu Chengji listened to her explanation and nodded, placing the Bodhi beads back into the wooden box. “Azheng, you’re wise and sensible.”

When they were at Liangyan Mountain, he had thought about having another string of Bodhi beads made for himself.

But after retrieving this string from the imperial tomb, he never wore them again.

Having experienced worldly desires and emotions, his heart was now firmly rooted in the mortal world.

It would be disrespectful to wear the Bodhi beads again.

After finishing her hairpin, Qin Zheng adjusted a hairpin, glanced at herself in the bronze mirror, and remembered the “deal” they had initially struck.

She tilted her head slightly and looked at Chu Chengji with a playful glint in her eyes. “Your Highness, when you meet Lord Zhang later, remember to help me collect the payment for the project.”

As she applied her vibrant lipstick, Chu Chengji lowered his gaze slightly, pressing his thumb against the corner of her lips, smudging the lipstick slightly. “Sure, I’ll help you collect it.”

Qin Zheng instinctively felt a sense of danger, but then she heard his cool voice. “Let’s go there an hour later.”

While the morale of Chu’s army was high, the Chen army suffered a defeat and retreated.

The soldiers who fled back spread rumors of the ghost army.

For a while, rumors of Chu’s army being aided by a ghost army spread like wildfire.

Li Xin usurped the Chu family’s throne, destroyed the Chu family’s imperial tombs, and provoked the anger of the Chu emperors of past generations.

Emperor Wu Jia personally sent the ghost army to demand back the kingdom from Li Xin.

Such rumors were discussed vividly in tea houses and taverns.

This fear not only spread to the Chen army stationed on the banks of Yuan River but also to the Chen army far away in Bianjing.

People began to feel anxious.

People said it was retribution for Li Xin’s crown prince for desecrating the tomb of Emperor Wu Jia.

Li Xin had spent a lot of effort fabricating various miracles to bolster his own reputation, but now, he found himself losing ground due to these rumors of the ghost army.

Enraged, Li Xin learned that Shen Yanzhi was the one behind the plotting for the crown prince.

He was so angry he nearly broke a tooth.

“Does he think I don’t know what the Shen family is planning? The crown prince has been falsely accused of desecrating Emperor Wu’s tomb.

With all the former Chu loyalists in court, who dares to support him? If the crown prince inherits the throne in the future, won’t that be providing evidence for the Marquis of Lianqing and Prince Huaiyang to demand retribution?”

“The eldest is too eager for quick success and instant benefits. Shen Yanzhi’s apparent support for him is actually just to let him suffer losses while fighting against the remnants of the former dynasty.

Once the eldest loses the power to contend for the throne, the Shen family will support what’s inside Shen’s concubine’s belly to ascend to power!”

“Shen Yanzhi is so cunning! He pits my two sons against each other, while the Shen family reaps the benefits.

Since he doesn’t know how to be a loyal dog, I’ll give him some training!”

He angrily smashed the teacup presented by the eunuch, shattering it to pieces, and shouted, “Summon the commander of the Forbidden Army. Order him to personally go and settle the matter of Shen’s concubine’s pregnancy!”

After Minzhou fell, Shen Yanzhi’s official position was demoted, and her sister went from being a noble consort to a concubine.

Since Shen Chan was pregnant, she had been trying to hide it.

Using the excuse of visiting her family, she temporarily left the palace.

The Shen family claimed that she stayed at home to take care of the elderly Shen mother, who was said to be in poor health.

But unexpectedly, the news still reached Li Xin’s ears.

The Shen family had finally seen through Li Xin’s true nature.

They knew that it was better to place all their bets on the child in Shen Chan’s belly rather than remain subservient to Li Xin.

Therefore, they had been cooperating with Shen Yanzhi to protect Shen Chan.

Regardless of whether Shen Chan gave birth to a prince or a princess, the public announcement must declare her child as a prince.

After Shen Chan returned home, the Shen family cleared out a separate courtyard.

They invited many pregnant women from poor families to the courtyard to nurture their pregnancies.

The courtyard was staffed with attendants to take care of these women, and after giving birth, they would receive silver.

This plan of the Shen family was a precaution in case Shen Chan gave birth to a princess.

They would then select a male infant from these peasant women to pose as the prince.

When the commander of the imperial guards led his soldiers to surround the Shen residence, Shen Chan was reciting sutras in the backyard’s Buddha hall.

The doors and windows of the Buddha hall were tightly closed.

The white jade Guanyin statue on the altar looked down compassionately at the human world, with incense burning slowly before it, the smoke curling upwards.

Shen Chan was dressed in the loose robes of a Taoist nun, with only a wooden hairpin in her hair and no other ornaments.

She was very thin, with the pallor of long illness.

Her frail body seemed like it could be blown over by a gust of wind, but her expression was peaceful.

The floor was covered with the Buddhist scriptures she had copied over the past days, each character delicate and orderly, reflecting her utmost devotion.

“Bodhisattva, after I give birth to this child, I willingly consign myself to the deepest hell, as long as the Bodhisattva can bless my brother with a long and worry-free life. The fifty thousand soldiers at Qinxiang Pass rebelled because of me. This massacre is my sin, not my brother’s…”

She knew what haunted her brother.

After the battle at Qinxiang Pass, when her brother saw her in the camp, his face was covered in blood.

She was terrified, thinking he was injured, and rushed to check his wounds. But he just looked at her with an unprecedentedly desolate expression and said, “Chan’er, I’ve come this far, and there’s no turning back for me.”

At that time, she didn’t fully understand his words.

That night, Shen Yanzhi did not sleep at all. She had never seen him in such pain.

He never washed the blood off his face. When tears streamed down his cheeks, it seemed as if they were blood tears.

The next day, the news came that fifty thousand Chu soldiers had been massacred at Qinxiang Pass.

Only then did she understand the meaning of her brother’s words.

Fifty thousand souls had become her brother’s debt.

But all of this was just a scheme by their “good” father to pave the way for his youngest son.

Her brother’s infamy enabled their “good” father to successfully submit to Li Xin.

Once the situation stabilized, her brother’s title as heir would be stripped and passed to their pure and noble younger brother.

What a brilliant plan.

Knowing all this, Shen Chan had considered ending her own life, but her brother begged her, “Chan’er, live well. In this world, I have only you as my family.”

She could never forget the heart-wrenching look in her brother’s eyes.

Yes, their mother was gone, and the siblings were each other’s only family.

When the Prince of Rong and their stepmother married her off to Li Xin, she no longer had a father.

Shen Chan knew that death would be a release, but for her brother’s sake, she had to live.

Those fifty thousand wronged souls at Qinxiang Pass—someone had to share the burden with her brother so that he wouldn’t suffer alone.

If she were gone, he would be the only one left in the world to bear the pain for those fifty thousand souls.

Her brother had turned against his comrades for her sake.

If she died, everything her brother had done would be meaningless.

She lived for her brother now, just as her brother lived for her and Sister Qin.

But with the death of the Duke of Qin, there was nothing more between her brother and Sister Qin…

Her brother was on a path of no return, and she had to support him so he could continue down that path.

If there were gods or Buddhas in this world, she only prayed they would show mercy and help her brother…

A maid opened the door to the Buddha hall, and the wind blew the Buddhist scriptures scattered on the ground into the air.

“Madam, people from the palace are here.”

Shen Chan knelt on the prayer mat, her wide Taoist nun’s robe covering her rounded belly.

A hint of sorrow appeared on her pale face. “Bodhisattva, please help me protect this child.”

She had come into great wealth and fortune.

She didn’t seek the riches of the nine-fold palace; protecting this child was enough for her because she knew her brother needed this child.

With this child, they could turn the tide.

The Shen family was now notorious.

Only by elevating this child to the throne could they command the lords under the pretense of the emperor’s will.

The incense smoke curled around the altar, making the Guanyin statue look even more compassionate.

The back gate was broken open, and the commander of the imperial guards led a group of armored soldiers into the Buddha hall. “This subordinate greets Lady Shen.”

Shen Chan remained kneeling on the prayer mat, her eyes closed as if in prayer, ignoring the noise outside the hall.

The commander shouted, “Lady Shen, His Majesty has an order…”

“Suhuan, this is a place of peace and quiet. Escort the guests out,” Shen Chan’s voice was weak, yet she exuded a calm composure.

The commander looked at her thin back and raised his voice, “Lady Shen, are you defying the imperial decree?”

“General, please wait outside the Buddha hall for a moment. I will receive the decree after I finish my prayers,” Shen Chan had always been soft and gentle, but her words now carried unusual strength.

At this moment, the Shen family’s guards arrived, surrounding the Buddha hall and confronting the imperial guards.

The commander recalled Li Xin’s orders and felt a chill in his heart.

There was still time to accuse this Shen family woman of defying imperial authority.

He turned and walked out, “I will wait for Lady Shen to finish her prayers.”

A cup of tea’s time passed, and Shen Chan still had not come out of the Buddha hall.

The commander finally sensed something was wrong.

He forcefully broke in with his men and searched the hall thoroughly but found no trace of Shen Chan.

The commander was shaken and shouted angrily, “Search! Even if you have to dig three feet into the ground, find Lady Shen!”

Lady Shen was pregnant, but there was no record of any imperial physician examining her pulse.

If it was declared that Shen Chan had committed adultery and was carrying someone else’s child, the entire Shen family would be executed!

And now, Lady Shen had escaped!