At the Palace..

Qin Sheng and her mother knelt in front of the palace gate, with a few loyal family servants kneeling sporadically behind them.

They had been kneeling here for two days, their faces pale and haggard, unable to conceal their exhaustion.

Despite this, the mother and daughter kept their backs straight, refusing to lose their last shred of dignity.

The officials passing by either ignored them or sighed and shook their heads before moving on.

No one dared to intervene for the Qin family against the wrath of Li Xin at this moment.

Ever since the Lu Family of Yingzhou pledged allegiance to Prince Huaiyang, the Lu Family in the capital had become a withered branch on the family tree.

Just two days ago, the former Grand Tutor’s residence was raided, and dozens of people from the Lu Family were arrested and imprisoned.

They were soon to be sent to Minzhou.

The court intended to execute the family members of the Grand Tutor Lu in front of the people as a sacrifice.

Li Xin’s rise to the throne was notorious for his ruthlessness; he left no enemies alive.

Earlier, both the Duke of Qin and the Grand Tutor Lu had shown resolve in death.

Most of the former officials of Chu had yet to submit to the new dynasty.

Li Xin understood that even a cornered rabbit would bite, so he feigned compassion towards both families to show mercy.

Now that the new dynasty was established, Li Xin had no shortage of capable individuals, and dealing with the Qin Family conveniently provided him with a legitimate reason, supported by Lu Family of Yingzhou’s allegiance to Prince Huaiyang.

The Qin family was based in the capital, so it wasn’t easy to fabricate charges against them.

However, just a few days ago, a group of spoiled young men openly stopped Qin Sheng’s carriage as she was leaving the house, harassing her.

Qin Jian, the eldest son of the Qin family, angered, resorted to violence against them.

Qin Jian was scholarly and only had a single attendant with him.

He was no match for the entourage accompanying those spoiled youths and ended up seriously injured.

Shortly after, the Ministry of Justice came to the Qin residence, accusing Qin Jian of assaulting a court official on the street, demanding justice.

Among the group of spoiled youths was one who happened to be the nephew of the Noble Consort, holding a nominal position in the Ministry of Revenue, ignorant and indulgent in wine and women.

Upon hearing about the former Princess Consort of Chu’s exceptional beauty, and now with her whereabouts unknown, he led the group to stop Qin Sheng’s carriage, curious to see if this young daughter of the Qin family was as beautiful as the former Princess Consort.

After this incident, the Qin family sought help from every possible avenue, even going to the Noble Consort’s family to apologize, but they were not allowed inside the residence.

It was clear to everyone that this was not a mere family dispute but a move orchestrated by someone with power.

Qin Madam then turned to the high-ranking officials in the court for help.

Many initially sympathized with the righteousness of the Duke of Qin but since the dismissal of a former favorite student of the Duke of Qin, the voices of support had dwindled.

No one dared to risk their own future and the lives of their families.

Unable to find help, Qin Madam sold everything she could in the household to raise money to plead with the Ministry of Justice, hoping to reduce Qin Jian’s suffering in prison.

She then knelt at the palace gate with Qin Sheng, begging Li Xin for justice.

Li Xin could silence the mouths of the officials, but he couldn’t silence the voices of the people.

In the tea houses of the capital, storytellers and actors in theater troupes recounted the Qin family’s plight in veiled words, stirring up public outcry.

People even threw rotten vegetables and eggs at the gates of the Noble Consort’s residence.

The rapid escalation of the situation was undoubtedly fueled by the silver Qin Madam had used to manipulate public opinion.

Firm in her resolve as a mother, she knew that appealing to the officials was futile. So, she decided to escalate the situation to see if Li’s family had any dignity or public support left.

…

Imperial Study.

The scent of agarwood in the incense burner was as thick as ever, drifting through the hall in wisps, giving the impression of a layer of miasma hanging in the air.

Several ministers standing below the jade steps were sweating profusely, not daring to utter a word.

“The last county of Hexi has been taken by the Northern barbarians, and Minzhou in the south is also on the brink of danger. Yet at this time, Shen Yanzhi still refuses to move his thirty thousand elite troops stationed in Qingzhou southward. Excellent, quite excellent!” Li Xin sneered repeatedly, his anger evident as he swept all the memorials off the table in front of him. “Is the Shen family planning to rebel against the heavens?”

With Minzhou in urgent need, Li Xin ordered Shen Yanzhi, who led the thirty thousand troops in Qingzhou, to go to Minzhou for support.

However, Shen Yanzhi insisted on waiting for the military order before moving.

Moreover, the imperial envoy sent to deliver the military order was ambushed by bandits halfway, critically injured and delayed in delivering the order.

Li Xin was furious.

Several ministers knelt in fear, “Your Majesty, please calm down.”

Li Xin paced back and forth in front of the dragon desk with his hands behind his back. “Now that the court has just stabilized and the situation in the south is urgent, the Shen family, with control over thirty thousand troops, has also revealed its ambitious intentions. The court cannot afford to divert its forces to confront the Northern barbarians.”

Having said this, Li Xin looked towards a minister with hawk-like eyes. “My lord, please elaborate on how to negotiate.”

Cold sweat dripped from the minister’s forehead as he stammered, “If we can establish good relations with Qin and Jin, we can protect the territory of our Great Chen from the Northern barbarians.”

After ascending the throne, Li Xin changed the name of the country to Chen.

He chuckled ambiguously, “Apart from the princess who is already married, the eldest princess, who is only eleven years old, what do you suggest?”

Li Xin was clearly forcing him to say the answer step by step, leaving the minister no choice but to say, “Your Majesty could choose one of the princesses among the royal grandchildren, bestow the title of princess upon her, and send her to the Northern barbarians for marriage. This would be a great honor to protect the people of the empire from the ravages of war.”

Li Xin’s smile deepened, and the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes seemed to exude a chill. “I’ve heard that the youngest daughter of the Duke of Qin is gentle and virtuous, resembling her elder sister. Let’s bestow upon her the title of Princess Shengping and send her to the Northern barbarians for marriage. This also fulfills the Duke of Qin’s lifelong wish to serve the people.”

The ministers kneeling below dared not speak.

Li Xin clearly held a grudge against the Qin family for using the lives of the common people to pressure him into rescuing Qin Jian.

When the western sky was burning with crimson, Qin Sheng finally saw several ministers coming out from the palace gate.

She and Qin Madam had been kneeling for two days, their knees swollen. If it weren’t for their sheer determination, they might have passed out long ago.

Seeing someone approaching, Qin Sheng instinctively straightened her back a little more, refusing to let the Qin family be looked down upon.

The minister who proposed the marriage alliance in the Imperial Study was the same one who had come out now.

He looked at the mother and daughter of the Qin family, his gaze somewhat evasive. “Madam Qin, Miss Qin, you should return home. His Majesty was furious upon learning about the incident with the eldest son of the Duke of Qin.

He punished the Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Justice with a three-month salary deduction and ordered him to reflect on his actions! The eldest son of the Duke of Qin will be able to return home soon.”

The Qin family, who had been on edge for several days, almost burst into tears upon hearing this news.

Qin Madam was helped up by Qin Sheng and the loyal servants.

She bowed to the minister, “Thank you, Lord Zhou, for your great kindness. The Qin family will always remember your benevolence.”

Lord Zhou waved his hands repeatedly, looking visibly uneasy. “Madam Qin, you’ve suffered a lot these past few days, so go home and rest.”

Both Qin Madam and her daughter thought that Li Xin had made concessions due to public outcry and returned to the Qin residence in joy.

However, what awaited them was not Qin Jian being released from the Ministry of Justice, but an imperial decree naming Qin Sheng as the princess for a marriage alliance.

Qin Madam, a woman of such resilience that not even the death of her husband could break her, couldn’t hold back her grief upon seeing this decree.

Once she failed to protect her eldest daughter, and now she couldn’t even protect her youngest.

Anger, exhaustion, sorrow, and despair accumulated over several days surged up in her heart, overwhelming her, and she fainted.

The Qin family’s servants panicked once again, crying out and carrying Qin Madam back to her room while calling for a doctor.

The eunuch delivering the decree looked coldly at the scattered family, showing no trace of pity, as if he was merely watching a shadow play.

At this moment, Qin Sheng finally understood the difficult choice Qin Zheng had faced back then.

If she didn’t accept this decree, Qin Jian might not be able to return safely.

But if she did accept it, she would have to marry into the barbaric lands of the Northern tribes, with no hope of returning home for the rest of her life…

In the end, Qin Sheng clenched the decree tightly in her trembling hands.

The eunuch delivering the decree and his entourage of young eunuchs left arrogantly, leaving Qin Sheng kneeling alone in the empty courtyard, tears streaming down her face.

She was the youngest child of the Qin family, always well-protected since childhood, cherished by her siblings.

But now, there was no one left to shield her.

Her father was gone, her mother was sick, her sister’s whereabouts were unknown, and her brother was imprisoned…

She had never felt life to be so difficult.

Qin Sheng tightly gripped the decree in her hand, tears falling heavily onto the ground.

Yet, her gaze gradually became resolute.

Just as her sister had married into the Eastern Palace for her sake in the past, she could now marry into the Northern tribes for her brother’s sake.

By the time the news from the capital reached Liangyan Mountain, Qin Zheng had successfully fired a batch of green tiles using dried clay molds.

The problem of leaking roofs in every household in the village was finally resolved.

Chu Chengji had previously sent messages via carrier pigeons to the members of the Lu family hiding in Qingzhou, asking them to search for iron ropes to build cable bridges in the western Sichuan area.

Soon, he received a response.

However, in the letters sent this time, the Lu family mentioned the executions of the Duke of Qin and the Duke of Lu as an afterthought because the court had used prisoner carts to transport the people from the Duke of Lu’s mansion in the capital to Yingzhou.

After reading the letter, Chu Chengji fell into a long silence.

For the past few days after Qin Zheng returned to the village, she had been busy firing green tiles.

She noticed his unusually serious expression.

The smile on Qin Zheng’s face faded slightly as she placed the dumplings on the table and asked, “Husband, is something troubling you?”

Chu Chengji looked at Qin Zheng and hesitated for a moment before slowly saying, “Ah Zheng, there are some things that you should know.”

Qin Zheng saw the seriousness on his face and couldn’t help but also become serious. “Please go ahead, Husband.”

Chu Chengji handed her the piece of paper.

As Qin Zheng unfolded the paper, her brow furrowed deeper and deeper.

The Duke of Qin was dead?

The younger sister of the Crown Princess was to be sent to the Northern tribes for marriage?

This was quite different from the plot in the original book.

In the original book, after the Crown Prince and Crown Princess died, the Qin family was spared by Shen Yanzhi.

Although the Duke of Qin also died, he did not suffer execution by the court but rather died on his own terms.

The remaining members of the Qin family fled the capital and went to live outside the Great Wall.

Qin Zheng knew that the butterfly effect triggering all this must have been the variables of herself and the Crown Prince still being alive.

She rapidly recalled the plot in the original book, her nerves highly tense.

She was so focused on her thoughts that she forgot to show a grieving expression in front of Chu Chengji. “Hexi should not have been taken by the Northern tribes so quickly…”

Her and the Crown Prince’s actions shouldn’t have affected the northern war situation yet.

In the original book, Hexi was only completely occupied by the Northern tribes after being defeated by the enemy’s tactics when the Northern Marquis joined forces with the court.

Where exactly had the problem occurred?