Priceless: A widow with a baby asks the prince to marry again

Above the city.

Seeing the enemy commander break away from the main force and enter range alone, several crossbowmen saw this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to capture and kill him! Some could no longer hold back, their fingers flicked slightly, the bowstrings twitched softly, and several sharp arrows flew out, shooting straight at Qin Shuangyu, who was kneeling under the city!

"Stop!" With a decisive shout, the rain of arrows that was about to follow was stopped.

Most of the arrows that were shot without permission fell into the air, and only one flew past Chu Wei's cheek, leaving a burning blood mark.

The pain briefly distracted her from the immense guilt she felt at watching her daughter dying. She raised her head to look at the city wall and saw the calm expression of the Minister of War, who seemed to be confident of victory.

The Minister of War turned around and said something to the man in black beside him, and the anxiety on the man's face was calmed down.

She remembered the man in black. He was Chu Tianming's subordinate who was defeated by Qin Shuangyu in the battle between them twenty years ago!

It was truly a replay of what happened twenty years ago! Everyone from that time, except Chu Tianming and Fang Kui, was here... No! Even though Chu Tianming was dead, he was still here, his will still dominating everything! The Minister of War was one of the chess players who executed his will!

She understood instantly! Chu Tianming wanted Qin Shuangyu to die, but he wanted Qin Shuangyu to die in a way that matched Chu Tianming's expectations! He wanted Qin Shuangyu to bear all the charges, and even more importantly, he wanted the Qin family army to lose their will to fight and give up the siege!

My daughter, it's too late to save her...

But Chu Wei still had to fight, for Qin Tao! For Qin Zhao! To fight for the slim chance of survival in "Jiangdong"!

A mixture of overwhelming hatred, boundless despair and the last bit of twisted maternal power supported Chu Wei's shaky body, and she suddenly grasped the blood-stained sword again!

The cold hilt of the sword carries the weight of the dead soul.

She did not hesitate at all. The last bit of weakness that belonged to "Chu Wei" in her eyes was completely frozen, leaving only the eldest princess's determination to care about Da Xia. She took a step forward, and the bloody sword blade made a sound of breaking wind as she accurately and coldly held her daughter's body on the neck of Qin Shuangyu, who was like a walking corpse!

The sharp sword blade pressed against Qin Zhong's skin covered with dust and blood, leaving a clear blood mark!

"The chief culprit is Qin Shuangyu! Confess your crime and be executed!!!" Chu Wei's voice was hoarse and cracked, but it was like thunder, waking up some of the Qin family army soldiers who were stunned by the tragedy.

They looked in horror at the even more horrifying scene before them - the eldest princess, who had just "killed" her daughter with her own hands, now held the sword to the neck of the grief-stricken general!

The 100,000-strong Qin army was plunged into complete grief and chaos due to the kidnapping of their commander and the madness of their mistress...

Chu Wei pressed the sword tip tighter, and the blood mark on Qin Shuangyu's neck became deeper. The blood flowed down the sword and mixed with the blood of Qin Zhen in his arms, which was shocking!

Qin Shuangyu's body trembled violently, as if numbed by the cold blade and piercing pain. But his eyes, which slowly lifted, were empty as he looked at Chu Wei, acting solely on instinct. There was no anger or resistance in his eyes, only the silence of a completely crushed ember.

His daughter's body temperature was disappearing in his arms, his wife's sword was on his neck...all of this was so absurd, like a nightmare from which he couldn't wake up.

"Retreat--!!!" Chu Wei no longer looked at him, but turned her head abruptly and issued the final, tearful order!

Her voice was torn from the strain, yet it carried an undeniable mad determination: "Immediately! Retreat! Withdraw ten miles! Set up camp and await the instructions of Prince Kang! Apologize to His Royal Highness Prince Kang someday! Anyone who disobeys the order will be considered a traitor! I...will personally execute your commander-in-chief-!!!"

This roar, which used the commander-in-chief to command the entire army, shook the remaining fighting spirit of the Qin family army!

The commander-in-chief, with the princess holding a sword to his neck, hangs on a thread! The princess has just personally "executed" the princess, proving her threats are not empty words!

The army of 100,000 was leaderless, with siege equipment right outside the city, but they were pinned down by the brutal fratricide and the desperate situation of their commander being captured!

"General!"

"what to do…"

Panic, bewilderment, and helplessness spread through the army like a plague. Several lieutenant generals looked at each other with pale faces. Attack the city? The princess might actually kill the general! Not attack? Were we just going to watch helplessly?

"Retreat... retreat..." One of the most senior deputy generals looked at Qin Shuangyu, who was holding his daughter in a pool of blood and being pointed at by his wife with a sword, looked at the bows and crossbows on the top of the city wall, listened to the eldest princess's crazy threats, and with tears in his eyes, he uttered two words with difficulty.

It was like pushing down the first domino.

"Retreat... retreat!"

"Sound the horn! Sound the horn to withdraw the troops!"

"Fall back!"

Chaotic and tragic orders echoed one after another in the army.

This time it was no longer the excitement of attack, but the wailing of retreat filled with humiliation, unwillingness and great sorrow!

Like a black steel torrent being forcibly reversed by an invisible force, the 100,000 Qin troops began to slowly and heavily move backward. The siege ladders retreated from the city walls, the battering rams were abandoned before the battlements, the soldiers lowered their heads, their morale completely broken, retreating like a tide.

All that was left was the glaring pool of blood, Qin Shuangyu kneeling and holding his daughter's body, and Chu Wei standing with a sword against his neck, seemingly with a proud attitude.

Chu Wei watched the army begin to retreat, but she still kept her sword firmly on Qin Shuangyu's neck. She raised her head slightly, and her cold gaze swept over the Minister of War on the city wall.

The Minister of War nodded slightly, and Chu Wei's tense nerves finally relaxed a little...

It seems to be what Chu Tianming wants...

Then the rest, next up is her and Qin Shuangyu...

On this deadly battlefield, where only the echoes of the Qin army's retreat remained, Chu Wei could clearly hear the low, dreamlike mumbling of the man beside her:

"Zhen'er... Daddy is sorry... Daddy forgot about you... Daddy only cared about himself..."

Qin Zhong hugged Qin Zhen's lifeless body tightly, his cheek covered with blood and tears pressed against his daughter's cold forehead, and turbid tears kept rolling down, mixing with the glaring bright red.

He whispered brokenly over and over again, "It's Daddy's fault... Daddy knew she was cold-blooded and heartless... But Daddy was still so self-righteous... He thought she wouldn't do anything to you..."

"Dad was wrong...Zhen'er...I'm sorry..."

The words "forgot" and "cold-blooded" were like red-hot steel needles, piercing Chu Wei's eardrums! Her tense nerves were instantly ignited! A rage mixed with overwhelming hatred and endless grievances erupted!

“Qin Shuangyu——!!!”

Chu Wei suddenly lowered her head, the sword tip trembling slightly with excitement, leaving a deeper bloody mark on Qin Shuangyu's neck! Her voice was sharp and piercing, full of deep resentment and accusation!

"If you hadn't been so determined to attack the capital! If you hadn't been so blinded by that wishful thinking! How could I have resorted to such a desperate measure?! How could Zhen'er...how could she..." She scolded angrily, but suddenly choked up and could hardly speak. Hot tears welled up in her eyes. She swallowed back the pain and cried and accused again, no longer caring about the eldest princess's arrogance!

"If it weren't for you! How could Zhen'er end up like this?! Qin Shuangyu! You are the stupid culprit! What right do you have to say that I am cold-blooded and heartless!!"

Qin Shuangyu's body trembled violently, his hollow eyes finally shifting from his daughter's face. He slowly raised them and looked at Chu Wei. His eyes were filled with unspeakable pain, confusion, and a sense of complete and utter weakness. He opened his mouth, but only a hoarse, bellows-like sound came out of his throat.

Chu Wei looked at his distraught appearance, indulging in pain, and her hatred intensified! She had to tear apart his useless sadness and make him see the cold reality!

"Do you think you've won by taking the capital?!"

Chu Wei's voice was like an icy spike, each word piercing the heart. "You reckless man! Idiot! The capital you've taken will become a useless, empty city! A dead city! Without the food and money from the grain-producing lands of Central China! Without the support of the other states and provinces! Without the hearts of the people of the world! You only have this one hundred thousand troops! Trapped in this golden cage of the capital, how long can you remain secure?!"

"Chu Shikun possesses a righteous reputation! He holds the power he has cultivated for many years! Now, under Chu Tianming's planning, he is about to seize control of the prosperous Jiangnan region! The remaining Jiangnan forces are probably looking forward to such an opportunity to redeem themselves! A traitor like you will be the last stepping stone for Chu Shikun to ascend to the heavens by killing and conquering and establishing his power!"

"When Chu Shikun has a chance to free his mind, a single letter will be enough to surround the loyalist armies of the world! He only needs to send people to find the families, elders, wives, and children of your soldiers! Talk to them one by one! Persuade them! Use threats and inducements! Tell me, Qin Shuangyu! How many loyal men are left in your 100,000-man army?!"

Chu Wei's voice rose higher and higher, with an almost cruel rationality, tearing Qin Shuangyu's illusory dream of revenge into pieces: "When the time comes, you will be deserted by everyone and surrounded by enemies! That will be your fate!!!"

"Just like Xiang Yu who refused to cross the Yangtze River to the east! He had only one way to go, and that was death..." Chu Wei said, her eyes becoming hazy. Her voice, which was filled with agony, suddenly lowered itself, carrying a fatalistic coldness and mockery. "You know what? Thinking of Xiang Yu, crossing the Yangtze River to the east... This is the destiny I received today... Chu Tianming left for us..."

Chu Wei suddenly dropped her sword! Across her daughter's body, she grabbed Qin Shuangyu by the collar! Through her own tears, she stared into her husband's empty eyes, numb with pain. As if her throat was entangled by a venomous snake, she let out an inaudible hiss: "Chu Tianming determined our fate long ago... Even if he's dead, we can't defeat him! If I hadn't known we couldn't win, why would I have given up my ambition to become emperor twenty years ago?"

With tear-blurred eyes, Chu Wei looked at her daughter nestled quietly in her father's arms. She could no longer suppress her heartbreak, as the cold-blooded decision she made twenty years ago consumed her soul. "If it weren't for Tao'er, how could I have watched my grandfather go to the Northern Expedition? How could I have presented the white silk to my mother? And how could I have personally fed poison to my naive brother, the Crown Prince..."

"We have no choice. Either we die together... or we are ruthless and maybe someone can survive..."

Qin Shuangyu's body felt as if every bone had been pulled out of it, completely limp. His arms, tightly wrapped around his daughter, unconsciously loosened a little. Chu Wei's words, like an icy tide, completely extinguished his remaining obsession with revenge and madness. He saw a hopeless future—trapped in an isolated city, his army demoralized, besieged by internal and external pressures, and ultimately crushed... just as Chu Wei had said...

But he still couldn't bear it, couldn't understand it, and murmured in a low voice that was almost inaudible, "Zhen'er... why was she the one who was cut off... She is also your flesh and blood... She has been with you day and night for seventeen years!"

Qin Zhong's hollow eyes, tears finally flowing from them, looked at Chu Wei, accusing her of partiality and saying sadly, "How could you be so cruel? Choosing to protect Qin Zhao, who wasn't even a year old yet? And giving up Zhen'er, the one who loved and admired you the most?!"

Chu Wei felt as if struck by an invisible thunderbolt! The hand that was clutching Qin Shuangyu's collar loosened powerlessly... The grief and indignation revealed in her husband's hollow eyes was like the cruelest mirror, instantly reflecting the abyss deep in her heart that she herself had never faced!

…Qin Tao was her first child. Twenty years earlier, during that bloody reckoning, she discovered she was pregnant, a thought that had ignited her desire to survive, no matter what! It was her obsession that kept her alive, enduring the torment! Her partiality for Qin Tao seemed to be camouflaged as "first child" and "special significance."

But what about Qin Zhao? A baby just a few months old! How could he be more important than her own daughter, whom she had carried for ten months? Why would she choose to sacrifice her well-behaved and obedient daughter Zhen'er for the life of her grandson Qin Zhao, who couldn't even speak?!

Is it just because... he is a boy? !

"Cough cough cough..." Chu Wei coughed violently and trembled. She was so embarrassed that she couldn't breathe!

Chu Wei shook off the handkerchief the maid silently offered her. She suddenly remembered how unwilling and resentful she had felt in her youth! Simply because she was a woman, even if she was the eldest and the legitimate heir, she was not the crown prince! She once harbored an unparalleled ambition to ascend to the supreme throne as a woman!

But now she discovered that she, Chu Wei, was the one who protected this power order! She was the one who had once bound her!

"Zhen'er... I'm sorry... I'm biased..." Chu Wei held her daughter's cold cheek with trembling hands, but her fingertips did not dare to touch the hideous wound.

The overwhelming regret and self-loathing wrapped around her heart like poison ivy, suffocating her. She threw herself on Qin Zhen, embracing the lifeless body with all her strength, trying in vain to pass on the last bit of her body warmth...

"Zhen'er... my Zhen'er..." The heart-wrenching cry echoed in the empty battlefield. It was a belated but useless cry.

Qin Zhong was still like a walking corpse, holding his daughter's cold body, and did not respond to Chu Wei's heart-wrenching confession. In his empty eyes, there were only endless ashes, waiting for the ending that he no longer cared about.

After an unknown amount of time, the sobbing subsided. Chu Wei propped herself up and climbed off her daughter's body. Tears still stained her face, but her eyes were as still as a dead, icy field. She bent down and once again picked up the longsword, soaked in the blood of her loved one. The blade felt cold and heavy, just like her soul at that moment.

He raised the blood-stained sword with both hands, trembling but holding it in front of Qin Shuangyu with great determination.

"Husband, both you and I have let Zhen'er down..."

Chu Wei's voice was as light as a feather, yet it carried a tremendous weight. "Let's go down together... to accompany her... to atone for her sins..."

Qin Shuangyu's body moved almost imperceptibly, and he finally raised his head slowly. His hollow eyes held no anger or sadness, only a palpitating exhaustion and complete alienation.

He looked at Chu Wei, and then seemed to be looking through her into nothingness. His dry lips moved and he uttered a few words: "I don't want to marry you..."

"I don't want to... meet you again..."

Every word was like an ice-cold knife, piercing Chu Wei's already tattered heart. Did it hurt? It hurt like hell... but more than that, it felt like a sense of relief, a sense of punishment for a crime.

"Okay..." Chu Wei's voice was unusually calm, with a kind of sacrificial determination, "The relationship between husband and wife is over, and we won't see each other in the next life... It doesn't matter."

As she spoke, her gaze passed Qin Zhong and turned to the slowly retreating Qin family army, to the towering city walls of the capital, and to the will of Chu Tianming who was watching everything from the dark.

"Zhen'er is dead..." Chu Wei's gaze fell back on Qin Zhong's lifeless face, with a final, cold hope: "Chu Shikun is somewhat merciful. If you and I commit suicide here and die to atone for our sins... perhaps we can buy a way out for Tao'er, Zhao'er... and the 100,000 soldiers of the Qin family army..."

Qin Zhong's gaze dropped, refocusing on his daughter's pale face in his arms. He shook his head very slowly, tightening his arms around her, as if to rub her into his own cold flesh and blood.

Finally, his voice was as low as a sigh, with complete powerlessness: "Whatever you want... just do it..."