Shen Yanzhi raised his hand to wipe her tears and asked, “What makes you sad? Isn’t it good that I hold all the power?”

Shen Ting choked with sobs as she replied, “What’s so good about power?”

Shen Yanzhi’s gaze turned empty; he didn’t even notice that his own eyes were slowly turning red. “Indeed, it’s not good. They took away Aqian, and now they’ve taken you too. That’s why I must hold onto power tightly; no one else should be able to take anything from me again, and perhaps I can even retrieve what I’ve lost. In that sense, power can be considered a good thing, isn’t it?”

Shen Ting, overwhelmed by her emotions, took deep breaths of cold air, which felt like knives cutting into her heart as she cried and asked, “Does that mean one can resort to any means necessary? Where has my kind and honorable brother gone?”

Shen Yanzhi’s expression changed instantly. “Who told you that?”

He glanced behind Shen Ting, and his face turned grim. “Where has Doctor Mu gone?”

Chapter 134: The 134th Day of the Fallen Nation

Shen Ting didn’t expect Shen Yanzhi to notice so quickly; she panicked and denied it, saying, “No one told me anything. Brother, you previously detained General An’s family and made them be falsely accused of illness. It was Li Xin’s family that brought us to this situation. But what’s the difference between what you’re doing now and what Li Xin did?”

In her haste, Shen Ting said something she regretted immediately. How could she compare her brother to Li Xin? She bit her lip and said, “I’m sorry, brother, I…”

Shen Yanzhi looked at Shen Ting deeply for a moment; there was a hint of vulnerability in his eyes, but it was quickly replaced by a dark expression. He interrupted her, “If only I had acted like Li Xin back then, I wouldn’t have lost everything I had.”

After saying that, he turned and left, ordering, “Chen Qin, take people to the monastery.”

The four main gates of Huaijing were already sealed off; it was only possible for itinerant doctors to leave the city through secret passages in the monasteries.

Shen Ting felt heartbroken. In her desperation to stop him, she pulled out a hairpin from her hair and pressed it against her neck, saying, “Brother, if you go after them, let’s be siblings again in our next life.”

Shen Yanzhi froze.

A tear rolled down from the corner of Shen Ting’s eye. “I know you resent me and hate me, but I truly can’t bear to watch you make another grave mistake!”

“Brother, please turn back!”

“Turn back?” Shen Yanzhi faced away from her, and Shen Ting couldn’t see his expression. His voice was filled with exhaustion and desolation, “Will turning back make everything like it used to be?”

He laughed bitterly, “It’s useless… I just want to retrieve what I’ve lost in my own way. The imperial power that forced Aqian to remarry and forced you into this predicament is now under our feet. Why should I turn back? To watch Aqian get forced into the Eastern Palace? To see you taken away to Li Xin’s camp? I’d rather continue down this path.”

Shen Ting was heartbroken and shook her head repeatedly, “I’m doing well now, and Sister Aqian is also doing well. Brother, please stop this! Those common people are so innocent…”

Shen Yanzhi slowly turned back to look at Shen Ting. “Weren’t we both innocent back then? Did heaven show mercy just because we were innocent?”

Shen Ting cried, “Retribution follows a cycle. Li Xin committed evil, and now he has received his punishment. I don’t want my brother to end up suffering the same consequences.”

Shen Yanzhi’s smile was even more disconcerting than her tears: “The former Prince of Chu committed countless evils; shouldn’t he be the one who deserves retribution the most?”

Looking at her brother, who was so obsessed and beyond redemption, Shen Ting finally asked the most painful question: “Brother, even if there were no former Prince of Chu, do you really think there is any chance between you and Sister Aqiong?”

She spoke each word carefully: “The Duke of Qin has died.”

Shen Yanzhi clenched his teeth so tightly that blood streaks appeared on his whites of the eyes.

With tears streaming down her face, Shen Ting said, “The Qin family hates us. If you truly care for Sister Aqiong, then stop bothering her, and don’t force her to make a choice under the guise of some so-called ‘greater good’.”

Shen Yanzhi turned his back; his frail figure seemed unable to withstand even a gentle breeze. In his eyes, reflecting the snow and the sky’s light, there was only dead silence after all his hopes had burned to ashes: “I want to see her one more time.”

Throughout his life, he had so many regrets regarding her.

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

By the time he finally gained power, the death of the Duke of Qin became an insurmountable barrier between them.

He hated that fate was so unfair to him.

If letting go were truly that easy, he wouldn’t have braved the mountains of corpses and seas of blood just to approach her again.

He was already in hell, but if only he could be heartless enough… even covered in blood, he would embrace her.

Yet, he feared that the blood would stain her clothes.

He couldn’t bear to do that…

Unable to obtain what he wanted, unable to let go, he suffered through endless torment throughout his life…

Shen Ting managed to stop Shen Yanzhi from blocking the secret passage. However, from Bianjing to Jianghuai, there were still several cities to cross.

Shen Yanzhi and Li Zhong had sealed off all the cities; the itinerant doctor, having escaped Bianjing, could not flee to Jianghuai either.

It was at this moment that the letter from Qin Aqiong reached Shen Yanzhi’s hands.

The tragic battle of Beiting’s news had already reached Bianjing, and when the court officials heard that women had joined the battlefield, they couldn’t help but sigh.

They had no objections to the idea of allowing the “army of women” from Great Chu to pass through their territory to bring back the remains of their fallen soldiers.

In fact, they even felt a hint of shame.

Women were fighting against foreign invaders, yet they not only did not send troops to support them but also engaged in internal strife.

Shen Yanzhi sat in silence for a long time.

To agree to allow them passage meant opening the city gates, allowing that army of women to cross their territory and head towards Jianghuai.

This also gave the itinerant doctor an opportunity to make his way to Jianghuai.

After a long silence, he finally said, “We can allow them passage, but the troops from Great Chu must wait ten miles outside Sishui City.”

The ministers had no objections. After all, if they allowed those twenty thousand soldiers to enter the city to meet the army of women, and if the enemy launched a sudden attack, they would have no chance to defend themselves…

…

Các cổng thành đã bị phong tỏa nhiều ngày, giờ đây chúng lại được mở ra một lần nữa. Những người phụ nữ mang quan tài trở về sau cuộc chiến, mỗi khi đi qua một cổng thành nào đó, đều phải được các binh sĩ của triều đình Chen kiểm tra kỹ lưỡng bằng cách so sánh với hình ảnh của họ trước đó, mới được phép rời khỏi thành phố.