The sky was overcast, as if it was about to rain.

Shen Yanzhi had been waiting outside the Crown Prince’s tent for a while, hearing continuous sounds of scolding and the smashing of tea cups and utensils from within.

The noise was sharp and piercing.

“Useless! All of you are useless!”

The Crown Prince kicked the young officer who had fled, sending him sprawling backward.

The young officer, ignoring the dull pain in his chest, quickly got up and continued kneeling, begging for mercy.

The Crown Prince had already smashed everything that could be broken on the table, but his anger was still not appeased.

He pointed at the young officer and cursed, “Go receive your punishment, and tell Shen Yanzhi to get in here!”

The young officer stumbled out of the tent.

He didn’t need to relay the message, as Shen Yanzhi was right outside and had heard the Crown Prince’s words clearly.

As the young officer passed by him, he paused slightly.

Seeing the officer clutching his chest with blood at the corner of his mouth, Shen Yanzhi patted his shoulder, “Go see the military doctor first.”

The young officer, who hadn’t made a sound despite the Crown Prince’s beating, had his eyes reddened by Shen Yanzhi’s words.

He clasped his fists in gratitude before leaving.

Shen Yanzhi watched the young officer’s retreating figure, a faintly mocking smile playing on his lips.

For those in high positions, winning people’s hearts sometimes only required a few words.

Shen Yanzhi’s expression remained calm throughout.

He entered the tent and respectfully saluted the Crown Prince.

The Crown Prince’s face grew even darker upon seeing him.

He sat grandly on the main seat, his gaze like poisoned knives. “You gave me a brilliant idea!”

“Your Highness, please calm down. Victory and defeat are common in warfare.

The remnants of the former dynasty staged a ‘ghost soldiers’ act to disrupt our troops’ morale.

The urgent task is to understand what these ‘ghost soldiers’ that the returning soldiers spoke of are, to prevent the remnants from using the same trick again.”

Shen Yanzhi spoke calmly and slowly.

Having been demoted three ranks, he could no longer wear the crimson official robe, now dressed in a dark blue robe that highlighted his thin frame, yet did not diminish his refined air, as if he was separated from others by a cloud.

This time, the Crown Prince’s forces had suffered over half their numbers.

Shen Yanzhi, however, still had his two thousand troops that had originally been used to suppress bandits.

No matter how angry the Crown Prince was, he couldn’t truly punish him.

Tearing apart their relationship at this moment would not benefit the Crown Prince.

The more composed Shen Yanzhi appeared, the more frustrated the Crown Prince became.

He shouted, “In this battle, I lost over thirty thousand troops. My father’s orders will arrive in a few days. By then, I might not even retain command of the army tasked with eliminating the former dynasty’s remnants!”

Shen Yanzhi still had the leisure to pour himself a cup of tea, “Among His Majesty’s adult sons, only you and the Second Prince remain.

The Second Prince is not skilled in martial arts and is currently confined as punishment.

Among the civil and military officials, besides you, no one is capable of taking on this important task.”

Those who defected to Li Xin were mostly mediocre or opportunists.

If the court still had a few capable generals like those from the Luo family, the capital of the Great Chu would not have been captured, and a commoner like Li Xin would not have ascended to the throne.

In the end, there was no one they could rely on.

Even lords with powerful armies, such as Marquis Lian Qin and King Huaiyang, had watched the collapse of the dynasty with indifference.

It seemed indeed that the Great Chu dynasty was destined for a change of regime.

However, the former Crown Prince of Chu had become a wildcard, rekindling uncertainties.

Li Xin had originally feared Marquis Lian Qin in the north and King Huaiyang in the south.

Now, with the remnants of the former dynasty blocking the Jianghuai region, they were keeping King Huaiyang at bay, giving Li Xin a temporary reprieve from being attacked on both fronts.

Marquis Lian Qin’s ten thousand iron cavalry, renowned for their fierce battles against the northern barbarians, were coveted by Li Xin from the moment he ascended the throne.

Shen Yanzhi understood this better than anyone.

The old wolf had to die so that the young wolf could be tamed into a loyal dog.

For Li Xin to take control of Beiting, Marquis Lian Qin had to be eliminated.

When the northern barbarians captured the Hexi Corridor, Li Xin sent the youngest daughter of the Qin family as a princess for marriage alliance.

Shen Yanzhi had already sensed the brewing conflict between Li Xin and Beiting but didn’t know why it had been delayed.

However, considering their loss of Mengjun’s grain depot and the difficulty in transporting grain from Taiyuan, it seemed likely that the provisions from Taiyuan were being allocated elsewhere.

The war between Li Xin and Beiting was imminent.

Even if Li Xin was angry at the Crown Prince, he wouldn’t remove him from his position.

He needed the Crown Prince to hold off the forces of the former dynasty’s Crown Prince.

Shen Yanzhi’s flattery somewhat calmed the Crown Prince.

As long as the military power didn’t fall into the hands of the Second Prince, enduring Li Xin’s scolding was tolerable.

The Crown Prince paced back and forth in the tent, “Han Xiu has been captured by the remnants of the former dynasty.

They sent a message demanding that I exchange Wucheng for Han Xiu.

If not for his identity as the father of my consort, just his failure in this battle alone would warrant his death as an atonement.”

Shen Yanzhi remained silent.

Given Han Xiu’s status as the Crown Prince’s father-in-law, if the Crown Prince didn’t exchange Wucheng to ransom him, it would tarnish his own reputation.

The Crown Prince, speaking to himself, suddenly seemed to have an idea.

His anger faded, and he turned to Shen Yanzhi, “You may leave now.”

Shen Yanzhi noticed the change in the Crown Prince’s expression but maintained his composure, bowed, and exited the tent.

Before leaving, he gave a meaningful look to the guards outside the tent.

The guards subtly nodded in response.

As soon as Shen Yanzhi left, the Crown Prince immediately summoned his trusted advisor and handed him a letter of divorce, “Send someone to deliver this message back to the palace immediately! Inform the Han family that their father pursued the enemy excessively, fell into their trap, and caused the loss of thirty thousand soldiers of our Great Chen.

His crime is punishable by death! I have divorced her, and she is to return to the Han family!”

The advisor instantly understood the Crown Prince’s intentions.

After the disastrous defeat, Li Xin would undoubtedly hold him accountable.

The Crown Prince planned to shift all the blame onto Han Xiu.

Han Xiu, being the Crown Prince’s father-in-law, necessitated the rescue with Wucheng.

However, without the marital connection, Han Xiu’s death in the former Chu camp would be considered just punishment.

This plan was all profit and no loss for the Crown Prince; it would provide an explanation to Li Xin and prevent further coercion by the Chu army.

However, the advisor still had some reservations. “Your Highness… after all, the princess has borne you a son and a daughter…”

The Crown Prince’s gaze turned terrifying as he stared at the advisor, as if he wanted to devour him. “She bore me a son and a daughter, and for that, I should sacrifice everything for her Han family?”

He didn’t realize that his current actions mirrored Li Xin’s, who had once forced his own mother to death to marry an official’s daughter.

The advisor hurriedly said he didn’t dare question further and fell silent.

Only then did the Crown Prince slowly return to his seat, his voice menacing, “Send the letter immediately!”

The advisor quickly withdrew.

With no one else in the tent, the Crown Prince muttered to himself, “Father did the same thing back then. A man should not fear being without a wife! If Father could ascend to the throne, so can I!”

Thinking of how Li Xin had bound Shen Yanzhi, the mad dog, to his will, the Crown Prince toyed with the jade thumb ring on his finger and smiled oddly. “Someone, send a betrothal gift to the An family!”

An Yuanqing was still in the Chu camp.

To ensure this pawn remained loyal, he couldn’t keep the An family hostage forever, but marrying an An family woman would solve everything.

Just as his father still held Shen Pin’s life over Shen Yanzhi to keep him in check.

When the news reached Shen Yanzhi, he was drinking a bowl of bitter medicine that left his throat dry.

Upon learning of the Crown Prince’s plan, he merely smirked in derision.

The Li family, father and son, had certainly mastered the art of callousness and betrayal.

“Let him be,” Shen Yanzhi said, his voice unusually calm as he continued drinking the bitter, brown concoction that made others wrinkle their noses.

After drinking enough of the medicine, one gradually got used to the bitterness.

Likewise, witnessing enough filth hardened one’s heart.

Compared to the scheme that had dragged him into hell years ago, this was nothing.

That night, a heavy rain washed away the heat of the past few days.

But Shen Yanzhi felt worse in such weather.

The arrow that had pierced through Chen Qing and injured his lung left a wound that throbbed with pain, making sleep elusive, just like the bloody wounds the arrow’s owner had carved into his heart.

To survive in front of the old emperor, he had snatched his fiancée; his beloved A-Zheng had lost her memory, and that sanctimonious hypocrite had taken advantage of her vulnerability!

Hatred, like a wildfire laced with venom, burned through his organs, leaving him in excruciating pain.

Beneath this elegant and handsome exterior was nothing more than a ghost roaming the human world.

A confrontation between him and the former Chu Crown Prince was inevitable.

The Current Crown Prince was taking a concubine.

An Yuanqing was still in the Chu camp, and to prevent his identity from being exposed too soon, the matter of taking his eldest daughter as a concubine was known only to a few confidants of the Crown Prince.

The An family members detained in the Chen camp wept endlessly.

On the day of the concubine’s entry, a small sedan chair carried the bride into the prince’s residence.

Not only were there few friends and relatives present, but the dowry consisted of only a few sets of ordinary clothes.

Even a small household marrying off a daughter wouldn’t be so hasty and impoverished.

Although the current Crown Prince didn’t publicize the matter, Shen Yanzhi, as one of the “confidants,” still had to attend.

He only drank two glasses of light wine at the banquet before excusing himself due to his ill health and inability to drink much.

Chen Qin noticed how gloomy Shen Yanzhi looked upon his return but didn’t dare to ask, focusing instead on driving the carriage.

Shen Yanzhi, pressing his throbbing temple, closed his eyes in exhaustion.

In terms of causing disgust, the current Crown Prince had indeed learned everything from his father.

Deliberately mentioning the scene when Li Xin took Shen Chan as a concubine at the banquet was an obvious attempt to humiliate someone.

Back then, Shen Chan was secretly sent to Li Xin as a concubine by Prince Rong and her stepmother.

To avoid attracting attention, there wasn’t even a proper sedan chair, a situation worse than that of the An family girl today.

Shen Yanzhi’s thin fingers clenched into a tight fist.

What the Li family had done to him, he would eventually repay a hundredfold.

The carriage moved steadily forward until Chen Qin suddenly pulled the reins, exclaiming, “Who goes there?”

Inside the carriage, Shen Yanzhi opened his eyes at the shout.

Outside, a woman was crying and pleading, “Sir, please, have mercy, save me!”

Knowing their movements and accurately stopping their carriage, this woman was clearly not ordinary.

Chen Qin didn’t dare make a decision on his own and waited for Shen Yanzhi’s instructions from inside the carriage.

With a mocking curl of his lips, Shen Yanzhi slowly spoke, “Let her in.”

An Ruoyan nervously got into the carriage, clutching her bundle and sitting in a corner, not daring to look at the man inside.

Shen Yanzhi smiled gently yet dangerously, “Miss An, shouldn’t you be at the prince’s residence right now?”

An Ruoyan’s face turned pale as she said, “The one who got into the sedan chair was… my maid.”

Shen Yanzhi continued to inquire gently, though his eyes were cold, “Who told Miss An to stop my carriage?”