Qin Zheng noticed Shen Chan staring at her and asked, “What’s wrong?”

Shen Chan shook her head, remained silent for a moment, then said, “Sister Zheng, if one day, my brother falls into your hands, can you and His Highness… spare his life?”

Qin Zheng met Shen Chan’s pleading gaze and slowly replied, “Shen Chan, the path your brother chose was his own.”

Shen Chan smiled bitterly, “Thank you, Sister Zheng, I understand.”

Watching Shen Chan’s desolate expression, Qin Zheng felt a slight pang in her heart and said, “You too, your path should be your own choice. Don’t carry guilt that doesn’t belong to you throughout your life.”

Shen Chan looked up at Qin Zheng, a hint of hope in her eyes, and asked with a bitter smile, “During the Battle of Qinxiaoguan, Prince Rong and Lady Fang, to force my brother to join the Shen family in pledging allegiance to Li Xin, sent me to Li Xin’s camp as a concubine… My brother caused the deaths of fifty thousand soldiers for me. How can I not feel guilty?”

Listening to her, Qin Zheng understood where her inner turmoil lay and said, “The knife kills, but the person wielding the knife is the real culprit.

Your brother became that knife, it was his choice, his sin.

There’s no need to argue.

But the ones who should truly be condemned and held accountable, who should atone for the fifty thousand souls lost at Qinxiaoguan, are not your brother,

but Li Xin and Prince Rong and Lady Fang who plotted this vile scheme.”

Shen Chan stared at Qin Zheng blankly, then covered her face with her hands, tears streaming down.

This was the first time since the Battle of Qinxiaoguan that someone had told her that the real culprits were Li Xin and Prince Rong and Lady Fang.

Before this, everyone had blamed her brother, and she knew her brother had stepped into this quagmire to save her.

She had felt guilty and uneasy, praying and repenting, just to seek salvation for the unjustly deceased soldiers of Qinxiaoguan and to lessen her brother’s guilt.

But Li Xin and Prince Rong and Lady Fang, who were truly responsible for the deaths of fifty thousand soldiers at Qinxiaoguan, seemed to have disappeared without a trace, with no one mentioning them.

For a long time, Shen Chan had doubted herself: was she trying to absolve her brother by blaming Li Xin?

Now, hearing Qin Zheng say the same thing, Shen Chan tried hard to stop her tears, but it was futile.

She urgently sought an answer, “Why… why does everyone blame my brother, but no one mentions Li Xin?”

Qin Zheng sighed almost imperceptibly. Li’s family was indeed adept at manipulating public opinion after committing such despicable acts.

Objectively speaking, Shen Yanzhi was both wronged and not wronged for the loss of fifty thousand lives at Qinxiaoguan.

He was wronged because he was also a victim of Li Xin and Prince Rong and Lady Fang’s machinations and had no way out.

In the end, it was Li Xin who killed, Li Xin who ascended the throne, and it was he Shen Yanzhi who bore all the blame.

But he was not entirely blameless, because it was indeed because he betrayed military intelligence that General Luo and those fifty thousand soldiers lost their lives.

This was a messy situation, and it was difficult to untangle now.

Qin Zheng looked at Shen Chan’s pained eyes and said, “With Li Xin’s methods, how could he let the world know that it was him and Prince Rong and Lady Fang who forced your brother to rebel by keeping you hostage?”

In the eyes of all courtiers and the people at that time, it was the Shen family’s marriage alliance with Li Xin that made them traitors, and it was Shen Yanzhi who controlled military intelligence and killed fifty thousand soldiers at Qinxiaoguan.

Shen Yanzhi had been forced onto Li Xin’s ship of thieves, and the Shen family’s foundation with Li Xin was still unstable.

If he revealed the truth about his betrayal, the enraged courtiers, clouded by anger, would not believe him; they would only think he was making excuses.

Moreover, this would make Li Xin wary of Shen Yanzhi, and he would find a way to eliminate him.

If Shen Yanzhi wanted revenge, he could only endure and bury the truth.

Another reason was that betrayal by one’s own people was even more intolerable than aggression from outsiders.

So the courtiers and the people continued to blame Shen Yanzhi.

After hearing Qin Zheng’s words, Shen Chan’s eyes, moist with tears, flashed with pain and resentment.

Her brother and she had been ruined by Li Xin and Prince Rong and Lady Fang’s schemes.

Qin Zheng had said all that needed to be said, and from then on, Shen Chan remained silent for the rest of the journey.

Arriving in Qingzhou Prefecture, when Qin Zheng had a maid lead Shen Chan to the courtyard arranged for her,

Shen Chan took a few steps, then turned back to look at Qin Zheng standing under the eaves, bathed in the warm glow of lantern light.

Countless words surged to her lips, but in the end, she only said, “Thank you.”

Qin Zheng understood her gratitude, knowing it was for the words she had spoken earlier in the carriage.

She couldn’t help but sigh lightly in her heart.

As Lady Qin had said, this was a girl with a bitter fate.

But everyone had their own destiny, and Qin Zheng could only do so much.

She hoped Shen Chan could see things more clearly in the future.

When Chu Chengji entered through the drooping flower gate, he saw Qin Zheng still standing under the eaves.

Following her gaze to the path leading to the courtyard, he thought she hadn’t settled things with Shen Chan and said, “If she’s unwilling, there are other ways. No need to worry.”

Qin Zheng came to her senses upon hearing his words and shook her head, “She’s a sensible and kind-hearted girl. Her brother’s current situation is not what she wanted to see. She’s willing to help us.”

Chu Chengji approached with an umbrella, raindrops sliding off the umbrella surface.

Looking at Qin Zheng’s hand hanging under her wide sleeves, he reached out and held it, feeling it was indeed cold.

He held her hand in his warm palm, guessing that she might be feeling sorry for Shen Chan, and said, “This is her own fate.”

Qin Zheng heard him mentioning Buddhist teachings again, which dispelled the faint melancholy in her heart.

She turned her head to look at his profile, which appeared even more elegant and handsome in the dim light, with a hint of a smile in her eyes, “Master Chu’s words make sense.”

Chu Chengji glanced at her lightly, knowing she was teasing him, and pinched her hand slightly.

Qin Zheng exaggeratedly begged for mercy, “Ouch, it hurts!”

As night fell and the rain grew heavier, the lanterns under the eaves swayed in the wind.

In the quiet rainy night, her pleading voice echoed in people’s ears, scratching at their hearts like cat claws.

Chu Chengji paused for a moment, in the dim glow of the lanterns, his tall figure leaned towards Qin Zheng, his deep and cool eyes looking into hers, his lips close to her ear, his voice low, “You can scream like that later.”

The cry for mercy abruptly stopped, and Qin Zheng sensibly kept her mouth shut.

Wucheng.

The news of Shen Chan being taken to the Chu camp reached Shen Yanzhi’s ears the next day.

Shen Yanzhi asked the guard who brought the news, his face clouded with gloom, “How did the news leak?”

Since Shen Chan was brought back from the Chen family, Shen Yanzhi had sent her to the secluded Jingsi An, far from the flames of war between Wucheng and Qingzhou.

Shen Chan was pregnant and sometimes unable to move easily.

Ordinary maidservants didn’t have enough strength, and men couldn’t serve her closely, so he had ordered his men to buy martial maidservants to assist in taking care of Shen Chan.

Jingsi An was in a remote location and surrounded by guards like an iron bucket.

There shouldn’t have been anyone who knew about Shen Chan being there.

The guard dared not look at Shen Yanzhi, trembling as he replied, “Subordinate doesn’t know… it’s just that there was a battle between Wucheng and Qingzhou before, and some villagers from nearby villages fled elsewhere.

When they passed by Jingsi An and came to beg for food, I drove them away with my men. It alarmed Madam Shen, who is kind-hearted and ordered food for those refugees. Perhaps… that’s when the news leaked.”

Shen Yanzhi was furious, kicking over the table in front of him, his face almost unable to suppress the surging anger.

The last time someone used Shen Chan to coerce him was during the Battle of Qinxiaoguan.

That was a battle he still didn’t want to think about too much.

All the falsehoods and pain seemed to have started from that time.

It was a nightmare he could never wake up from, sinking deeper and deeper into this quagmire.

Seeing Shen Yanzhi getting angry, the guard became even more frightened and bowed his head lower.

Shen Yanzhi closed his eyes and asked with difficulty, “Was Madam Shen troubled before she was taken away?”

The guard quickly shook his head, “The one who led the troops to the temple was the Crown Princess.

The Crown Princess and Madam Shen sat in the meditation room for a cup of tea, and Madam Shen followed the Crown Princess onto the carriage, without any trouble.”

Hearing that it was Qin Zheng who took Shen Chan away, Shen Yanzhi suddenly opened his eyes wide, his facial muscles tightening, “Zheng?”

A servant hurriedly came in from outside and reported urgently, “Young Master, something’s wrong! An Yuanqing and the Chu army are besieging Wucheng together! They said Madam Shen is in their hands and demanded that we hand over An Yuanqing’s family!”

Shen Yanzhi stood with his back to the servant, remaining silent for a long time.

For a moment, the servant even glimpsed a trace of desolation and bleakness in Shen Yanzhi’s figure, frightening himself with this thought, and quickly lowered his head.

Ever since learning that Shen Chan had been captured, Shen Yanzhi had guessed the current situation.

If it had been Chu Chengji who directly ordered Shen Chan’s capture, he might still be able to deceive himself, telling himself that Shen Chan might not know why she was captured.

But if Qin Zheng personally went to fetch Shen Chan, then it was clear that Qin Zheng knew everything Shen Yanzhi had done to the An family, and had told Shen Chan.

He wasn’t afraid of being despicable and ruthless in front of outsiders, after all, that clear and upright young master Shen had died long ago, and the only one left in this world was a cunning villain.

But those were the two people he was willing to protect with his life, the two people he wanted to never see him like this!

And now they were both in front of Chu Chengji, witnessing his despicable actions.

“Se…Se…?” The servant, seeing Shen Yanzhi remaining silent for a long time, cautiously called out to him.

A high candlestick on the table was forcefully thrown, crashing heavily onto the ground, the bronze candlestick deeply dented, a testament to the fury of the one who threw it.

Bloodshot rage surged in Shen Yanzhi’s eyes, the veins in his neck bulging one by one, as he hysterically shouted, “Get out!”

The servant and the guard who brought the news dared not linger in the room any longer, scrambling out of the door.

As the door closed, Shen Yanzhi seemed to lose all support, slumping desolately onto the steps in front of the writing desk, pain covering his eyes as he covered them with his hands.

After a cup of tea, Shen Yanzhi appeared on the city tower of Wucheng again, now dressed in a long indigo brocade robe, his hair tied up meticulously with a jade crown.

From afar, he still looked handsome and spirited, despite being slightly thinner.

An Yuanqing had clearly unified his forces with the Chu army.

Seeing Shen Yanzhi appear on the city tower, he immediately shouted, “Shen Yanzhi! Release my wife, children, and mother immediately!”

The An family members tied up on the city tower seemed to realize that they might be saved, some were crying, some were loudly calling out to An Yuanqing.

But Shen Yanzhi seemed to not hear these voices, his gaze falling straight onto the two women in front of the Chu army’s formation.

Shen Chan was not tied up, on the contrary, her two maidservants were still following behind her, serving her closely.

Just after a rain shower, the weather suddenly turned cooler.

Shen Chan was wearing a cherry blossom-colored embroidered ruqun, with a goose-yellow fur cloak draped over it, revealing her palm-sized thin face, her eyes reddened.

Although she appeared frail, she didn’t seem to have been mistreated.

Qin Zheng stood beside Shen Chan, dressed in white with a red cloak, her brows and eyes cold yet unable to suppress her extraordinary beauty.

She never once looked up at the city tower, it seemed that her presence here was just to prevent Shen Chan from feeling too isolated in front of the enemy forces.

From a distance, Shen Yanzhi looked at her cold and indifferent face, a faint taste of blood on his tongue, before perfectly concealing all traces of pain in his eyes.

Below the city tower, Lin Yao, who had just returned from Meng County, was rubbing his hands together on horseback, planning how to attack Wucheng.

Suddenly, he felt a dark gaze fall upon him.

He quickly raised his head and saw Chu Chengji looking at him with a dark expression.

He straightened his posture, wondering why the Crown Prince suddenly looked at him with such a gloomy gaze.

As he tried to sit up straight, he noticed the man surnamed Shen on the city tower, his eyes glued to the Crown Princess like they were stuck.

Lin Yao understood immediately why Chu Chengji suddenly looked at him like that.

Clearing his throat, Lin Yao quickly scolded, “Shen! If you don’t release General An’s family soon, don’t blame us for being rude!”