Shen Chan did not expect Shen Yanzhi to realize so quickly.

She panicked and denied it, saying, “No one told me anything. Brother, you’ve already been criticized for detaining General An’s family. We were harmed by Li Xin, but what you’re doing now is no different from him!”

In her impulsiveness, Shen Chan realized she had said something wrong.

How could she compare her brother to Li Xin?

She bit her lip. “I’m sorry, Brother, I…”

Shen Yanzhi gave Shen Chan a deep look. For a moment, there was a hint of vulnerability in his eyes, but it was quickly replaced by a coldness.

He interrupted Shen Chan, “If I had been like Li Xin earlier, I wouldn’t have lost everything.”

Then he turned to leave. “Chen Qin, take people to the monastery.”

The four main gates of Bianjing had long been sealed.

If the wandering doctor wanted to leave the city, it could only be through the secret passage in the monastery.

Shen Chan was deeply distressed.

To stop him, she urgently pulled out the hairpin from her head and held it to her neck. “Brother, if you go after them, we will have to be siblings in the next life.”

Shen Yanzhi’s body stiffened.

A hot tear rolled down Shen Chan’s cheek. “I know you love and hate me, but I really can’t stand by and watch you make another big mistake!”

“Brother, please turn back!”

“Turn back?” Shen Yanzhi said with his back to Shen Chan, so she couldn’t see his expression.

His voice carried a sense of exhaustion and desolation. “Will everything be the same as before if I turn back?”

He chuckled lowly, “It’s useless… I just want to get back everything I’ve lost in my own way.

The royal power that forced A-Zheng to remarry and forced you into this pit of fire has already been trampled under our feet.

Why should we turn back?

To watch A-Zheng be forced into the Eastern Palace?

To watch you be taken to Li Xin’s camp? I’d rather keep going down this path.”

Shen Chan was heartbroken and shook her head repeatedly. “I’m living well now, and Sister A-Zheng is also living well. Brother, please stop. Those innocent people don’t deserve this.”

Shen Yanzhi slowly turned to look at Shen Chan. “Weren’t you and I innocent back then? Did Heaven ever show mercy to us because of our innocence?”

Shen Chan cried, “There is a cycle of cause and effect. Li Xin did evil and has now received his retribution. I don’t want you to end up suffering the consequences of your actions too.”

Shen Yanzhi laughed, but it was more painful than crying. “Wasn’t the former Crown Prince of Chu the one who deserved retribution the most?”

Shen Chan looked at her brother, who was beyond saving in his stubbornness, and finally asked the most heart-wrenching question, “Brother, even if the former Crown Prince of Chu didn’t exist, do you really think you and Sister A-Zheng still have a chance?”

She spoke each word with emphasis: “Duke Qin is dead.”

Shen Yanzhi clenched his teeth tightly, and blood vessels slowly filled his eyes.

Shen Chan, tears streaming down her face, said, “The Qin family hates us. If you really care about Sister A-Zheng, don’t disturb her anymore. Don’t use grand ideals to force her to make a choice.”

Shen Yanzhi turned his back to her.

His thin figure seemed unable to withstand even a gust of cold wind.

His eyes, reflecting the snowy sky, were filled with a dead silence after all hope had burned to ashes. “I just want to see her one more time.”

For his entire life, he had too many regrets about her.

When they were in love, he couldn’t protect her.

By the time he finally gained power, Duke Qin’s death had become an insurmountable barrier between them.

He hated the heavens for being unkind to him.

If letting go were so easy, he wouldn’t have stepped over mountains of corpses and seas of blood just to see her again.

He was already in hell, so being a bit more ruthless, even if covered in blood, he could still embrace her.

But he was afraid that his blood would stain her clothes.

He couldn’t bear to…

Wanting but not getting, unwilling to let go—he suffered endless torment for this his entire life.

Shen Chan managed to delay Shen Yanzhi, preventing anyone from blocking the doctor at the secret passage, but there were still several cities between Bianjing and Jianghuai.

Shen Yanzhi and Li Zhong were at a standoff, and all the cities were sealed.

Even if the doctor escaped from Bianjing, he couldn’t reach Jianghuai.

At this time, the request for a passage permit from Qin Zheng was handed to Shen Yanzhi.

The news of the fierce battle in Beiting had already reached Bianjing.

The officials were moved when they heard that even women had gone to the battlefield.

There was no opposition to the request from Great Chu to allow the women’s army to pass through and bring back the coffin.

In fact, they even felt a bit ashamed.

While the women were fighting to defend against the enemy, they had not only failed to send troops but were also engaged in internal conflicts.

Shen Yanzhi sat in his high position for a long time without speaking.

Allowing the passage meant opening all the city gates and letting the women’s army pass through their territory to return to Jianghuai.

This would also give the doctor an opportunity to head to Jianghuai.

After a long silence, he finally said, “We can grant the passage to former Chu, but their escorting troops must wait ten miles outside of Sisui City.”

The ministers had no objections.

After all, if they let those twenty thousand troops into the city to escort the women’s army, and the troops suddenly attacked, they wouldn’t be able to resist.

The long-sealed city gates were opened once again.

As the women’s army carrying the coffin passed through each gate.

Chen soldiers would check their portraits one by one before allowing them to leave the city.

The leader of the women’s army this time was Magpie.

Noticing the soldiers’ strange behavior, she paid attention to the portraits and saw that they depicted a one-eyed woman.

Magpie secretly sent someone to investigate, but they couldn’t find out who the woman in the portrait was.

The news of the women’s army fighting in Beiting had already spread throughout Nandu.

The story of Lin Zhao saving Marquis Lianqin was retold many times by storytellers, and even theater troupes were staging plays about this heroic female general.

When the people heard that a women’s army was returning with the coffin, they crowded the streets to watch.

It was a sea of people, but there was no noise; everyone was silent and filled with compassion.

The women’s army had trekked through mountains and rivers from Beiting, and they all looked worn out.

Their hair was like dry grass, their faces were cracked from the cold, and their clothes had been mended many times.

Their shoes had holes, revealing toes suffering from frostbite.

In the crowd, some women couldn’t stop wiping tears from their eyes with their sleeves upon seeing the condition of the women’s army.

An old, blind woman, hunched over and leaning on a fortune-telling staff, also stood and pondered for a long time when she saw the group.

The snow around Bianjing hadn’t melted, and it was bitterly cold to camp.

Magpie and the others found a broken temple and decided to make do for the night.

The women’s army gathered firewood and used a large pot they had carried to melt snow for cooking.

The old, blind woman with the fortune-telling staff also appeared at the broken temple.

One of the women’s army members scolded, “No one needs their fortune told here. Go somewhere else!”

Magpie had just finished burning incense in front of the coffin.

Hearing the commotion outside, she came out of the temple and saw the blind, hunched old woman.

She said, “Maybe she’s just looking for a place to shelter from the wind and snow.”

She called out to the old woman, “Granny, we’re just passing through and staying in this broken temple.

If this place is yours, we’re sorry to bother you for a night.

If you’re just looking for a place to avoid the wind and snow and don’t mind the coffin here, you can stay too.”

The old woman said, “I want to find a place to avoid the wind and snow.”

Magpie replied, “Ah Xiang, help the old lady into the temple.”

The women’s army member who had spoken harshly added some firewood to the fire, patted her hands, and went to help the old woman.

Once inside the temple, Magpie let the old woman warm herself by the fire and had someone bring her a bowl of porridge. “Granny, we’re on the march and don’t have much food. Please make do with this.”

The old woman held the chipped porcelain bowl but didn’t drink the porridge.

Instead, she looked at Magpie and said, “Young lady, I have a request.”

Magpie was taken aback by her sudden clear voice, “You’re not an old granny?”

The old woman removed the tattered cloth from her head, revealing that she was the Wandering doctor Mu.

She said, “This is a long story. Please, young lady, help me.”

…

Sisui City was the last city before reaching Jianghuai.

Qin Zheng had received the news that the women’s army would pass through Sisui City today.

She had already stationed her twenty thousand soldiers ten miles outside Sisui City.

While the main army couldn’t approach Sisui City, scouts could go and gather information.

The wind was strong and the snow heavy.

As the soldiers’ armor was covered with a thin layer of snow, a scout rushed back with news that it wasn’t the women’s army:

“Reporting to the Princess, the Regent of Chen State has arrived with three thousand cavalry!”

Lin Yao and Dong Cheng, who were standing beside Qin Zheng’s carriage, both turned pale.

When Shen Yanzhi’s three thousand cavalry arrived at the Ten Mile Pavilion, they were met with the imposing sight of the twenty thousand soldiers, ready and waiting.

But Shen Yanzhi seemed not to notice the overwhelming force that could crush his small cavalry.

His gentle, somewhat pained gaze was fixed on Qin Zheng’s carriage.

He smiled, “The wind and snow are strong. Princess, would you do me the honor of a conversation at the nearby Ten Mile Pavilion?”

Lin Yao approached the carriage and, after a moment, relayed the message: “Our Princess says, Chen State’s kindness in allowing us passage will be repaid by Great Chu in the future. Besides that, there is nothing else to discuss between Great Chu and your Chen State.”

The cold wind cut like a knife across their faces, making Shen Yanzhi’s eyes a bit red.

He said, “Is the Princess not interested in the cure for the plague?”

Without waiting for a response, he added, “I just want to ask the Princess a few questions. After that, I will personally hand over the Wandering doctor Mu’s notes on treating the plague.”

Lin Yao dared not make the decision for Qin Zheng and looked to her inside the carriage for her decision.

Qin Zheng knew that what must be faced could not be avoided.

After a moment of silence, she said, “General Lin, gather some troops to accompany me. General Dong, stay here and await orders.”

Lin Yao quickly assembled two hundred elite cavalry to escort Qin Zheng to the Ten Mile Pavilion.

To put them at ease, Shen Yanzhi only brought a dozen guards with him.

The pavilion by the roadside was dilapidated, with bamboo curtains installed by Shen Yanzhi’s men to block the wind.

Inside, there were straw mats, a small table with a clay stove and tea set, and cushions on either side of the table.

Lin Yao whispered to Qin Zheng, “Princess, do not eat or drink anything inside. If he wants to light incense, do not let him.”

Having once been a bandit, Lin Yao was more cautious about such things.

Qin Zheng whispered back, “I understand.”

The two hundred soldiers Qin Zheng brought and Shen Yanzhi’s dozen guards stayed outside the pavilion.

Only Lin Yao accompanied Qin Zheng inside, while Shen Yanzhi was accompanied by Chen Qin.

The two of them sat on the cushions, with Lin Yao and Chen Qin standing tensely behind them.

Shen Yanzhi wanted to lower the bamboo curtain that had been tied up for easy access, but Qin Zheng refused, “Let the wind and snow in; it’s refreshing.”

Shen Yanzhi began making tea, a bitter smile on his face, “A-Zheng, there’s no need to be so wary of me. I’m just worried you’ll catch a cold.”

Qin Zheng frowned and said coldly, “The Regent’s title is inappropriate. You should call me Princess.”

She was unusually calm and indifferent, “Regent, if you have questions, you may ask them now.”