Shen Yanzhi’s hand hesitated for a moment as he poured the tea.

Scalding water splashed onto his hand, the brief burning sensation like sparks drilling into his skin.

He set down the teapot, his fingertips slightly curling from the burn, but his heart felt as cold as if it were filled with icy wind.

“Are you… doing well?”

His voice was a bit hoarse.

Ignoring the red mark on his hand, he poured out the water used for rinsing the cup and brewed a new pot of tea, pushing it towards Qin Zheng.

Qin Zheng didn’t touch the tea and simply said, “As you can see, Regent.”

Shen Yanzhi poured himself a cup of tea and drank it in one gulp, as if hoping the warmth of the tea could dispel some of the chill in his heart.

“There are things in this world that are done for others to see, and things only oneself knows.” He looked up slowly. “I want to know the latter.”

Qin Zheng met his gaze without flinching, her eyes cold and distant. “What others see is not even a tenth of how well he treats me.”

Shen Yanzhi’s face turned even paler. Smiling, he said, “That’s good.”

As he poured himself another cup, his grip on the teapot tightened until his knuckles turned white.

The itch in his throat that he had been suppressing suddenly erupted, and he started coughing violently, almost as if his lungs would come out.

Tea splashed all over the table.

Chen Qin, standing behind him, stepped forward to take away the teapot and gently patted his back, worried. “Master?”

Shen Yanzhi waved his hand, signaling Chen Qin to step back. “It’s nothing.”

Seeing Shen Yanzhi like this, Qin Zheng’s brow furrowed slightly. “I told the Regent before, the old Qin Zheng is dead. I am not her.”

Seeing Shen Yanzhi’s eyes reddening and his expression becoming more distressed, seemingly not understanding her implied meaning, Qin Zheng’s lips tightened.

With a cold and sharp gaze directly meeting Shen Yanzhi’s eyes, she emphasized again, “She died during the palace coup.”

With Lin Yao and Chen Qin also present in the pavilion, Qin Zheng could only say so much.

Both Lin Yao and Chen Qin found Qin Zheng’s words somewhat puzzling, but they mostly believed she wanted to separate her current self from her past, not wanting any more entanglement with Shen Yanzhi.

This was also what both Lin Yao and Chen Qin hoped for.

Lin Yao didn’t want his princess to be stuck with such a persistent problem, while Chen Qin hoped his master would no longer be mired in these personal affairs and instead focus on managing the hard-won empire.

Only Shen Yanzhi, upon hearing Qin Zheng repeatedly emphasize that she was no longer the original Qin Zheng, had his pupils tremble.

He slowly scanned her with his eyes.

The person in front of him had the familiar features he knew so well, but there was an unfamiliarity in her every expression.

Her eyes, once full of wariness when she looked at him in the villa in Qingzhou, were now only indifferent.

There was no love or hate in them anymore.

When he first rescued her from the bandits, seeing those wary eyes, Shen Yanzhi knew she had lost her memory.

He felt heartbroken for what she had gone through and guilty towards Duke Qin.

He focused all his energy on the pain and struggle of how to move forward with her, never suspecting anything else.

Now, even though she knew about Duke Qin’s death, she still looked at him with calm and indifferent eyes, without even a trace of hatred, repeatedly telling him that the old Qin Zheng was dead…

Shen Yanzhi suddenly felt a sharp and intense pain in his heart.

Qin Zheng noticed Shen Yanzhi’s unusual reaction.

She said, “I thought the Regent wanted to discuss matters concerning Chen and Chu. Since it’s personal, I am not your old acquaintance and have no obligation to answer.”

She took out a letter she had prepared earlier and pushed it towards Shen Yanzhi. “As for the plague cure, if you still have any compassion and guilt for the people, I believe you know what to do after reading this letter.”

With that, she stood up and left the pavilion. Lin Yao glanced at Shen Yanzhi, whose face was filled with pain, and at the letter before quickly following Qin Zheng.

Outside the pavilion, the sound of two hundred elite cavalry departing could be heard.

Shen Yanzhi clutched his chest tightly, unable to stop himself from curling up in pain.

Chen Qin, thinking he was having another attack, hurriedly stepped forward to support him, but was stunned by Shen Yanzhi’s expression.

He had never seen his master look so tormented, his eyes so red it seemed they might bleed.

Chen Qin, thinking he was hurt by the Princess’s harsh words, said, “Master, you should let it go.”

“Get out.”

His voice was hoarse, almost unable to make a sound.

Chen Qin hesitated, worried. “Master, you…”

“I said, get out!” Shen Yanzhi knocked everything off the table, roaring in despair like a trapped beast.

Chen Qin, afraid to provoke him further, bowed and left.

The bamboo curtain outside the pavilion fell.

In the cramped space, the sharp pain in Shen Yanzhi’s heart became more pronounced.

Shen Yanzhi trembled, barely able to breathe.

He turned to look at the letter on the table, his pale, slender fingers tearing it open.

He read it quickly.

The letter contained only a few sentences:

“On the day the Eastern Palace fell, she died. There is an old legend story of Li the Immortal borrowing bodies to return to the mortal world.

Now the Crown Prince and I are the same.

The land weeps, the people suffer, we fight to remove the evil for the sake of the people.

The dead are gone, the living endure.

The plague has killed thousands.

Why should old grudges harm the innocent? If you still have any conscience, release the doctor.”

Each word was like a heavy stone on his heart.

Shen Yanzhi’s eyes stayed on the phrase “Li the Immortal borrowing bodies to return to the mortal world, now the Crown Prince and I are the same,” his expression twisted in pain.

He laughed bitterly, “My A-Zheng, how could she not be in this world?”

The next moment, clutching his chest, he coughed up blood, staining the letter and hurting the eyes with its stark red.

Tears rolled down his cheeks in waves of pain.

He crumpled the letter, his hand veins bulging, and threw it into the clay stove to burn, as if that would change the truth.

Blood continued to seep from his mouth, staining his robe a deep color.

Watching the letter burn, he laughed sadly, “Why write such a letter to deceive me?

I know you hate me.

I used the doctor to force you to come, just to see you, ask if you were well, and remind you of your promise to marry me.

This life is too hard. I can’t go on. A-Zheng, please marry me in the next life.”

His fiancee was taken, the love of his life,

His father used him as a pawn,

His sister was sent as a concubine,

The 50,000 soldiers of Qin perished unjustly and he was the one who was blamed,

And the court and the people condemned him…

This path was too painful, and he was too tired.

“I have arranged everything. When I and Chan’er are gone, the forces of old Chu in Bianjing are yours. If Chu Chengji betrays you, you can declare yourself an Empress. He can’t stop you.”

His time was short.

He couldn’t let go in life, but in death, he could finally let her go.

In the end, was it she who gave him a farewell in death?

Shen Yanzhi looked at the ashes of the letter in the stove, and his low chuckle turned into uncontrollable laughter, so hard that tears streamed down his face.

When Chen Qin heard the laughter and came in, he saw Shen Yanzhi’s face mixed with blood and tears in a crazed expression, unable to tell if he was laughing or crying.

Chen Qin was too afraid to approach, standing there in shock.

Qin Zheng and Lin Yao had walked some distance from the Ten Mile Pavilion when they heard the eerie, tear-like laughter from within, causing them to pause and look back.

Lin Yao suspected it was related to the letter Qin Zheng had given him, but he couldn’t ask about its contents directly, so he asked indirectly, “Princess, do you think Shen Yanzhi will give us the cure for the plague?”

Qin Zheng was silent for a moment before saying, “I don’t know. It depends on his decision.”

When she wrote that letter, she hadn’t sealed it, worrying that its contents might spread and cause trouble.

After much consideration, she used the story of “Li the Immortal borrowing a corpse to return to life.”

In practical terms, it meant a soul returning to life in another body after death.

But figuratively, “borrowing a corpse to return to life” had become a strategic term, often used to describe a scenario where the descendants of a fallen ruler were promoted to rally support after a regime change.

She and Chu Chengji fit both scenarios perfectly.

By hinting at this in her speech and then giving the letter, she knew Shen Yanzhi would understand her message, while others might not.

Hearing the laughter mixed with sobs from the Ten Mile Pavilion, Qin Zheng felt a tinge of pity.

But it was only pity.

In these chaotic times, she had seen too many separations and deaths,

Women dying in the war,

Women dying in childbirth while fleeing…

These deaths, whether considered heavy or light by others, all had loved ones and were all heartbreaking.

Death wouldn’t end the chaos but would push the living forward.

In the vast snow, Qin Zheng took one last look at the Ten Mile Pavilion before turning away.

“Let’s go back.”

As they reached the bend in the road ahead, they saw a group of riders approaching through the snow.

Recognizing the lead rider, the weariness on Qin Zheng’s face finally eased, like a tired bird finding its nest.

Lin Yao also saw Chu Chengji and his men, exclaiming in surprise and joy, “The prince is back!”

In no time, Chu Chengji’s horse was in front of them.

Qin Zheng stood still, her thick brocade cloak fluttering slightly in the cold wind.

As she tilted her head, the white fur-trimmed hood slipped back, revealing her fair face and a faint smile, warming the snowy scene. “You’re back?”

Chu Chengji replied with a deep “Hmm” and asked, “I heard Shen Yanzhi forced you to see him?”

Qin Zheng said, “It’s all settled.”

With her simple statement, Chu Chengji didn’t ask further and extended his hand to her.

Qin Zheng took his hand, and as they walked in the snow, her hand was chilled by the wind, but his hand remained warm.

He pulled her up onto his horse, her back pressing against his chest.

As they rode back, Qin Zheng leaned against his solid chest, finally able to relax her tense nerves.

She closed her eyes and said hoarsely, “There was trouble in Beiting. Many women in the women’s army were lost…”

“I know,” Chu Chengji said. “I rushed back as soon as I received your letter.”

He gently kissed her temple. “Don’t be afraid. I’m here.”

With just those words, even if the sky fell, she wouldn’t be afraid anymore.