in2ebook Chapter 289 Jade Falls 26 Thinking of Xiang Yu Crossing the Yangtze River
Chapter 289 Jade Falls 26 Thinking of Xiang Yu Crossing the Yangtze River
The housekeeper anxiously entered the hall and reported, "Your Highness! More and more ministers have arrived. Even Prince Min, the head of the Imperial Clan Bureau, is outside! Some of the servants they brought with them are almost fighting with our guards... Prince Min has told me to announce that if Your Highness doesn't open the door, they will just burst through the gate and come in!"
Chu Wei listened to the report, sitting in the ceremonial hall, her heart in turmoil! Her middle-aged, still delicate and white hand pressed against her forehead, a splitting headache!
She had tried to persuade him long ago! She had written countless letters! But all of them fell on deaf ears! Qin Shuangyu hadn't replied at all. Although the Qin army's advance towards the capital was slow, it never stopped!
Is Qin Shuangyu crazy?!
She wrote everything she could! Every word was tearful, every sentence was a plea, analyzing the pros and cons, and she even put down her dignity and begged!
However, Qin Shuangyu seemed to have been bewitched and had lost his mind. He rushed towards the abyss of certain death without hesitation!
At this moment, a trusted maid rushed in, practically tumbling and crawling, her voice tinged with tears, "Your Highness! Bad news! Just heard! The Fifth Prince, Chu Shihuan, betrayed us in public on the battlefield, accusing you of being the mastermind of the rebellion! Then... he was rescued by a group of experts from the Qin family army and brought to the capital! Now... now the general... has ordered an attack on the city!"
Chu Wei's eyes went dark as she just stood up, and she had to rely on the maid beside her to support her before she could stand still!
Chu Shihuan turned against him at the last minute?! And he was even rescued?! This undoubtedly made matters worse! Qin Shuangyu's last bit of "legitimate" fig leaf was completely torn apart, and he became a naked traitor, publicly reviled!
"Qin Shuangyu! You idiot! You're dragging all of us down with you!"
Chu Wei couldn't hold it in any longer and let out a heartbreaking scream at the invisible yet tangible war clouds outside the window! Despair, anger, fear, and the incomprehensible hatred for Qin Shuangyu almost tore her apart!
At this moment when he was tormented internally and externally, his mind was broken, and he was almost completely swallowed by despair.
A servant walked into the hall quietly and stood in front of the eldest princess. He did not speak, but lowered his head and respectfully held up a palm-sized wooden box sealed with wax in his hands.
There was no marking on the wooden box, but the wax mark made Chu Wei's pupils shrink suddenly!
This was… the mark Chu Tianming had used when he was still the Prince of Ning! The last time she had seen it was twenty years ago! This mark stood at the center of the 500,000-man army that crushed her ambitions!
The memory, with its heavy smell of blood and the cold sound of iron clashing, instantly overwhelmed her! A 500,000-strong army was at the gates of the city! But that wasn't the most terrifying thing! The most terrifying thing was Chu Tianming's seemingly calm yet ruthless reckoning after the city was breached!
Her grandfather, a founding father of the country, was forced to go to the Northern Expedition. All male members of the nine clans of the Su family who were over ten years old served as vanguard soldiers, and all of them died "gloriously" on the battlefield!
Her mother, the queen at the time, committed suicide with a white silk thread and was "granted" to be buried with her father!
Her own brother, the crown prince at the time, was falsely accused of regicide and forced to feed him poisoned bird's nest with her own hands, causing him to fall into eternal sleep...
Her closest relatives were ruthlessly wiped out by Chu Tianming with thundering means!
She, Qin Shuangyu, and her unborn baby Qin Tao... are the only remaining "survivors".
Chu Tianming "mercifully" let them go.
Chu Wei's heart almost stopped beating at that moment! An indescribable complex emotion, a mixture of a huge ominous premonition and a glimmer of hope, seized her. With trembling hands, she almost snatched the wooden box!
Chu Wei roughly tore off the sealing wax and opened the lid of the box.
There was no letterhead inside, only a stack of paper with records titled with dates and places!
Chu Wei looked intently and discovered that it contained some records of Qin Shuangyu's secret contact with the Northern Tribe outside the Great Wall! There were also some vague but highly indicative lists of material transactions!
These pieces of paper were light, but they were like red-hot irons, burning Chu Wei's eyes!
They silently declared a crime that was enough to wipe out all nine members of the Qin family and condemn the Princess's Mansion to eternal damnation - treason and collaborating with the enemy!
There is no recovery!
Those four words rang like a death knell in her mind! Qin Zhong actually...actually...?! No, that wasn't important! What mattered was that this evidence had fallen into Chu Tianming's hands?
Chu Tianming is already dead! But what did he want to do?!
Chu Wei's fingers trembled as she convulsively flipped to the bottom sheet of paper. It was no longer a cold record. She looked carefully and recognized Chu Tianming's handwriting. Six words, written with such force that they could be seen through the paper, with such sharp strokes, seemed to carry an endless stream of cold sarcasm:
Thinking of Xiang Yu, crossing the Yangtze River to the east.
boom--! ! !
These six words, like thunder from the heavens, fiercely shattered the last shred of hope in Chu Wei's heart and plunged her completely into the abyss of cold despair!
"Chu Tianming!!!"
Chu Wei let out a shrill, inhuman scream! That voice was filled with the deep-seated resentment of being schemed against! The humiliation of being manipulated without realizing it! And the deepest despair at the cruelty of fate!
She tightly grasped those light yet heavy pieces of paper, her knuckles making creaking sounds from the excessive force, as if she wanted to crush them along with Chu Tianming's ghost!
At that time, she thought it was because of her "knowing the current situation" compromise, or because Qin Shuangyu still had value! It wasn't until today, seeing the Ning Wang mark reappear and seeing these unforgivable evidence! She suddenly felt a chill in her bones - the so-called "letting go" was just a foreshadowing by Chu Tianming to uproot them today!
Keeping them for twenty years would stabilize the remaining members of the Su family and force them to give up their desperate struggle. As her grandfather's bloodline and the eldest princess, she could secretly take care of the remaining males under ten years old in the Su family, as well as other women and children...
However, twenty years have passed, and the remaining strength of the Su family has long been devoured and wiped out by Chu Tianming!
But why?
Her cold-blooded and heartless brother! How could he have silently watched Qin Shuangyu's unquenched ambitions, even until now! Why would he have allowed her to marry Qin Shuangyu, who had escaped death! And even allowed Qin Shuangyu to control the military power and watch the Qin family army recuperate?
The eldest princess suddenly looked at the servant who presented the wooden box. She remembered that this was not a servant in their house!
Chu Shihuan fled the capital. To avoid being hunted by Chu Shiqi, she went to the suburban training ground of Qin Tao, the Prince of Changtai! With her tacit consent, Qin Tao volunteered to protect Chu Shihuan and left the capital for Baoding, gathering the ministers who had been led astray by the death of Prince Kang.
This steward of Chu Shihuan was left in Qin Tao's training ground because he was ill and unable to travel. Later, he was taken to the princess's mansion in the capital to communicate with Chu Shihuan!
Now, this person is holding up this work from Chu Tianming! It can be seen that this is the person Chu Tianming planted next to Chu Shihuan!
So, Chu Shihuan's ending up with Qin Shuangyu was not the fate she thought it was! It was just like what she had done before, when she was provoked by Chu Tianming's words and killed her then-fiancé. This was the direction Chu Tianming had planned!
Chu Tianming has been waiting for this day!
"Chu Tianming! Chu Tianming--!!!" She screamed crazily, tears mixed with overwhelming hatred pouring out, "You have such a cruel heart! Such vicious means! You can even use it to plot your own death! How far do you want to go to plot against me?!!!"
Chu Tianming was waiting for the moment when Qin Shuangyu would be completely consumed by ambition! The moment when he could no longer contain himself and leapt out! He was waiting for the moment when they would be completely drawn into the vortex of rebellion, unable to escape!
Chu Tianming wants to destroy the Princess's Mansion and the Qin Family in a legitimate and righteous manner!
Chu Wei was going crazy but suddenly calmed down strangely. It was not just them.
Those insignificant Jiangnan families, destined for defeat, are in cahoots with Prime Minister Zhou's family! They're guilty of the unforgivable crime of poisoning the late emperor, and they even aided Chu Shiqi in his rebellion and usurpation of the throne! They're destined to be purged under Chu Shikun's wrath! Never again will they rise to prominence!
Those were deep-seated, lingering illnesses that had taken root in this land before the founding of Great Xia! Now that Prince Kang had legitimately dispatched troops to the south of the Yangtze River, what stubborn illness couldn't be cured?
Chu Tianming was paving the way for his chosen successor, Chu Shikun! A clean and complete road to becoming an emperor!
The Qin family army's 100,000 swords ultimately chopped off their own necks! And Chu Tianming, from the depths of hell, was watching all this coldly!
Looking at the six words on her hand again - Thinking of Xiang Yu, Crossing the River to the East - it was like a basin of ice-cold water poured over her head, which suddenly cooled down Chu Wei's wildly burning brain!
The bloody purge of twenty years ago was still fresh in her mind! Chu Tianming spared her and Qin Chong not out of mercy, but because the time had not come yet and they were still useful! Now, she and Qin Shuangyu were useless and had even become a threat to the new emperor!
Chu Tianming is still the cold-blooded and ruthless Chu Tianming who does everything for Daxia! Then why did he send these people?
To make her regret and despair? Chu Tianming would not do such a meaningless thing! Chu Tianming's chess game, even if he died, would only run according to his will!
Chu Wei's frantic thoughts were split apart as if by a cold bolt of lightning! The desperate wails in her mind abruptly ceased, replaced by a near-death silence, a cold clarity that seemed to have grasped some clues!
Qin's Army!
The Qin family army's 100,000 elite soldiers are a vital force in defending Daxia's northwest! If Qin Shuangyu really goes crazy and attacks the city, engaging in a bloody battle with the capital's defenders and even Chu Shikun's soon-to-be-triumphant army, regardless of who wins or loses, Daxia's national foundation will be affected!
This is not the situation Chu Tianming wants to see!
He sent this evidence not to humiliate her, but as a warning, and even more so, as an order! It was the only way out he had predetermined in his grave! She, Chu Wei, had to make her move on the chessboard Chu Tianming had drawn up!
"Thinking of Xiang Yu, crossing the Yangtze River to the east"—Chu Wei stared at these six words, wondering what the ending of this story would be? Suicide at the Wujiang River…
Who could survive? It certainly wouldn't be Xiang Yu, nor Yu Ji!
"Crossing the river east" is not a way for her and Qin Shuangyu to survive! Qin Shuangyu's crime of treason has been exposed! As Qin Shuangyu's bedside companion, she has the status of the eldest princess who can still survive. If she survives, she may become a threat to Chu Shikun in the future!
A resoluteness colder than ice replaced all the anger and despair, gathering in Chu Wei's eyes. She and Qin Shuangyu must die, but to contain the 100,000 Qin family troops, someone of the Qin family's bloodline must remain...
Qin Tao! Qin Zhen! Her children! And Qin Tao's only son, who wasn't even a year old yet... They were the ones she could still fight for!
Where is Qin Tao now? Beside Prince Kang, Chu Shikun! He set out to protect Chu Shihuan! Now that his troops have split, he's voluntarily surrendered to Prince Kang's army! As a mother, Chu Wei knows that while Qin Tao is competitive, he's never harbored ambitions for the throne! Qin Tao simply wants to participate in the war against the Eighth Prince, Chu Shiqi!
Prince Kang must have noticed the unusual movements of the Qin army in the capital, and he's probably keeping Qin Tao with him as a hostage...
Haha, they are really father and son, exactly like Chu Tianming!
But since Chu Tianming had taken action before him, he didn't intend to leave the Qin family army to Chu Shikun to deal with! Then, as long as there were other hostages first to contain the Qin family army, Qin Tao would no longer have to become a hostage...
Chu Wei rushed to the incense burner in the corner and set fire to the deadly pieces of paper in her hand that accuse her of treason! As if to burn her destined fate to ashes!
The servant who presented the wooden box was still there, with his head lowered, without any words or movements, just like a stone sculpture that had completed its mission.
Chu Wei knew that Chu Tianming had foreseen her ultimate struggle for her children and had left a backup plan. She could only gamble, betting on Chu Tianming and Chu Shikun, the future successor, believing that Qin Tao's survival was more valuable than both of them perishing.
However, we should still do our best to prevent it!
Chu Wei strode to the weapon rack next to her and grabbed a gorgeous and sharp sword!
The sword was unsheathed, and the cold light reflected her face, which was as cruel as a devil, yet as resolute as iron.
The long sword suddenly pierced the servant's back!
Even if killing him to silence him is useless! But he is just a servant, and it will not affect Chu Tianming's calculations!
The long sword was drawn out, and the servant fell to the ground with a wail, blood gushing out immediately, and the glaring red spread on the floor tiles.
However, Chu Wei murmured softly and apologized to the other person: "Zhen'er... don't blame mother..."
Chu Wei's eyes were completely frozen. She gripped the hilt of the sword tightly, feeling the cold touch, as if she was holding the key to hell and a slim chance of survival.
She strode forward, carrying with her a storm of despair and a last-ditch effort, heading straight for Qin Zhen's boudoir!
Inside the boudoir, Qin Zhen was sitting by the window anxiously, her brows furrowed, her heart full of worry about her father, brother and the future of the Princess's Mansion.
She heard hurried footsteps and looked up in surprise. She was stunned when she saw her mother Chu Wei coming in with a blood-stained sword.
"Mother?" Qin Zhen's voice was filled with confusion. She stood up to greet him. Although she saw the blood on the sword, she didn't care. Her mother was the precious eldest princess, and she was also well aware of her decisive and murderous skills.
She knew that some people outside were pressuring her mother. Maybe someone was blind and contradicted her mother?
"What's wrong with those foolish officials outside? Are they still forcing my mother to come forward?!" Qin Zhen's tone was a little angry. Her mother was the eldest princess Taihua! How could those people offend her?
"Don't ask! Follow me!" Chu Wei's voice was hoarse and cold, carrying an unprecedented harshness. Without even looking Qin Zhen in the eye, she stepped forward and, with her free hand, violently grabbed Qin Zhen's slender wrist!
The force was so strong that it hurt Qin Zhen.
"Mom! You hurt me!" Qin Zhen subconsciously frowned and complained, with the unique pout and a hint of grievance of a spoiled child, "Where are you taking me? It's so chaotic outside..."
Her panic was only due to her worry about the war outside and her confusion about her mother's abnormal behavior. Although her body was staggering, she obediently followed her mother's footsteps.
She hadn't felt a single ounce of fear. From childhood, she had been the apple of her parents' and brothers' eyes, the most cherished treasure in the Princess's mansion. Three years prior, her brother, Prince Duan, had died unexpectedly. She had heartbrokenly declared she would never marry, and her parents had let her be. If she didn't want to marry, she could stay in the Princess's mansion and marry when she wanted. She acted arrogantly and domineeringly outside, and her mother and brother always backed her up.