Later on, that Ministry of Works official came to the Duke’s mansion once more, delivering a second letter to Gu Juhan’s hands.

It turned out Qi Jingchen had made such arrangements—if Gu Juhan had refused the first letter, he would never see this second one.

The matters involved in his first letter were monumental, yet he had hidden this second letter even more carefully. Could it be that in his heart, there was something that weighed even more heavily than treachery, betrayal of country, and rekindling warfare?

Gu Juhan unfolded the letter again, never expecting… that the letter mentioned Shen Xiling.

Qi Jingchen said he was willing to use ten times the wealth in that wooden box as Shen Xiling’s dowry, having her marry far away to Northern Wei to become his wife.

This matter shocked Gu Juhan no less than before.

…Shen Xiling.

That woman whom he had encountered just once.

A month ago, he had chanced upon her on the main street. At that time, he was suffering from the great defeat of the Northern Expedition. Seeing common people on the street bullying visitors from the Southern Dynasty with their power, he originally didn’t want to interfere, but across the crowd he glimpsed that Southern Dynasty person still protecting the beggar child in her arms even while being bullied, which inevitably touched his heart, so he ultimately intervened to help her.

Before he intervened, he hadn’t seen her appearance, but after seeing it, it was difficult not to be moved by her beauty.

She was so beautiful as to leave one speechless, and one could tell she had extremely good upbringing, having been carefully cherished and raised. Even more wonderful was how her gaze upon people was pure and clean, and when she smiled faintly, it was soul-stirring, making one unable to help wanting to linger long in the ripples of her eyes, sharing endless years with her.

Just that one glance made his heart stir.

But before he could even exchange names with her, he knew she was already in another’s embrace.

And it happened to be Qi Jingchen.

That day on the street, when she turned back to see that man step down from the carriage, her eyes were so bright they startled his heart. The way she ran toward him was so resolute, as if no matter what happened, she would never be separated from him. And Qi Jingchen was the same as her—such a cold-hearted and cold-natured person, yet when looking at that woman, his expression was very gentle. That kind of favoritism wasn’t very obvious, but it was deep and enduring. Just seeing it from afar with one glance, one could immediately understand the bond between them.

It was an atmosphere that no one else could penetrate.

He understood, so he immediately put away those thoughts not worth sharing with outsiders, and stopped himself from thinking of her again—she was just a chance encounter like mist and rain, truly stirring his heart’s banner, but not enough to become any deep affection. Even that strange stirring in his heart was scattered before it could become clear. He could naturally let go very easily, very properly, very appropriately.

But now Qi Jingchen was asking him to marry her.

For a moment, he didn’t even know what feelings to have about this.

If he were to carefully analyze it… first was astonishment.

Qi Jingchen was someone who acted methodically and wouldn’t suddenly do absurd things. Gu Juhan quickly found the reason in the latter part of that letter—it was because of that woman’s background. She was of Great Liang’s Shen family bloodline, and moreover the daughter of Lord Shen Qian.

The Shen family’s destruction four years ago was a major case, not only known to everyone in Jiangzuo, but also heard of by northern people. What Gu Juhan hadn’t expected was that Qi Jingchen would have such audacity, daring to secretly preserve her and protect her for so many years. Now he had probably already sensed signs of exposure, and unfortunately it coincided with the Qi family falling into danger. He was no longer able to continue protecting her, so he wanted to send her away—only by leaving Great Liang could she survive.

Great Liang’s sovereign couldn’t possibly easily allow her to leave, after all she was a chess piece that could be used to convict Qi Jingchen. For her to leave Great Liang, there had to be a perfect reason, and marriage was perhaps the most reasonable explanation. At the same time, through this, wealth could be transferred openly and legitimately—Gu Juhan could obtain ten times the wealth in that wooden box.

Ten times…

What an astonishing amount this was, and Qi Jingchen’s feelings for that woman named Shen Xiling… were equally astonishing in their depth.

His family was on the brink of death, precisely when money was needed, yet he would rather throw all of this away just to exchange for that woman’s life.

He loved her to this extent, yet in the end had to personally send her to marry someone else.

Even though at that time Gu Juhan knew nothing of the origins between the two of them and had no deep connection with them, he still inevitably sighed with emotion, even feeling faintly sorrowful.

The impermanence of life, the twists and turns of love and hate, were truly so unpredictably changeable.

He briefly felt sentimental for a moment, then began to estimate the value of this matter.

If he obtained this sum of money, then the army’s provisions for nearly a year would be secured. A year’s time would be enough for him to recover lost territory, and he could even push the national borders dozens of li further into Jiangzuo. If the war ended within a year, the remaining wealth could be carefully managed and kept for future use, so that afterward the Gu family’s military campaigns would no longer need to be constrained by the Zou family.

Exchanging a marriage contract for such a situation was naturally worthwhile, not to mention he had originally had… quite favorable feelings toward that woman named Shen Xiling.

He was going to marry her.

Gu Juhan was somewhat dazed, while his heart also held some hidden joy, but after the joy came some guilt—she hadn’t originally been his. Did this count as taking advantage of someone’s misfortune?

He was somewhat uncertain.

But before great causes, romantic entanglements became insignificant. He wouldn’t give up that enormous wealth because of guilt toward her. He wanted to recover lost territory for Great Wei, he wanted his family to prosper eternally.

This matter was settled with finality.

In May, Great Wei tore up the recently signed Jiahe Agreement and declared war on the Southern Dynasty.

Compared to the haste of the previous war, this time Great Wei was obviously much more at ease. Gu Juhan personally led the troops, and after achieving a surprise victory in the first battle by taking Yongzhou, he proceeded steadily and methodically. No longer troubled by provisions and supplies as before, he captured another state in less than half a month, greatly inspiring both the Wei court and people.

But the Southern Dynasty was in a sorry state.

They all thought the previous Northern Expedition had damaged Wei’s vitality and could secure ten years of peace, never expecting that just a few months later, the Wei people would begin sharpening their knives again.

Really, really outrageous!

Great Liang’s generals were caught completely off guard, having to hastily don armor and mount horses to respond, but how could they match young General Gu who had prepared at leisure? Within just a month of battle, they suffered several consecutive defeats, beaten so badly they were utterly disgraced.

General Han Shouye unfortunately encountered Gu Juhan again in Jingzhou. This time he finally didn’t have the Secretariat’s constraints and could freely display his generalship, but unfortunately, without that “little wretch” he spoke of, General Han became completely lost, his mind blank, further terrified to the bone by the Wei army’s battle cries. Even after finally drinking strong liquor to bolster his courage, he was quickly punctured again by young General Gu, who was like the War Star descended to earth.

General Han was terrified and helpless. In the end, he could only rage impotently in his military tent, cursing his generals as useless. After cursing the generals, he cursed the strategists; after cursing the strategists, he cursed the common soldiers. After cursing the soldiers with nothing left to curse, he had no choice but to abandon his dignity and write to the court, begging His Majesty to temporarily spare that Qi Jingchen and quickly transfer him to the front lines to halt the decline, otherwise… otherwise the Wei people would cross the river!

Actually, the general needn’t have submitted this memorial—His Majesty had already understood that this time, he couldn’t kill Qi Ying.

Speaking of it, the first year of Jiahe was truly a year of great ups and downs. Xiao Ziheng had finally ascended the throne, signed an armistice treaty with Northern Wei at the beginning of the year—it was an atmosphere of renewal and vitality. He had even successfully caught the Qi family’s weakness and was just one step away from completely toppling them.

Everything was as he had dreamed.

But Heaven seemed to always enjoy playing jokes with people. Just when success was within grasp, everything returned to square one: war rekindled between north and south, and he had no choice but to continue relying heavily on Qi Ying.

How ridiculous.

The new emperor was also a figure of extremely deep scheming, but even so, he was still disturbed by these great ups and downs, unable to regain calm for over a month. Finally, he still couldn’t restrain himself and personally went to the Court of Judicial Review’s prison.

To see the Chief Minister.

Young Master Qi could be said to have a destined connection with this prison—he had already come three times. The first two times were to visit others; now it was finally his own turn to be imprisoned.

Since the public trial in court in May, he had been imprisoned on charges of harboring remnants of the Shen family and having treasonous intentions. This charge was no small matter. Previously, young Master Qi had merely been stripped of power; now he was truly dismissed and imprisoned in the Court of Judicial Review for interrogation. The only good news was probably that his property hadn’t been confiscated yet—the Qi family members were only under house arrest in the mansion and hadn’t yet been sentenced.

He himself wasn’t as fortunate as the Qi family members, enduring even more than his elder brother Qi Yun. Lu Zheng, the head of the Court of Judicial Review, personally presided over his interrogation. From May to June, it had barely ceased.

Although Lu Zheng usually appeared to be a spineless person who could be manipulated by anyone and listened to whoever had power, actually such people were the most ruthless—they would stop at nothing to protect themselves. He knew he had thoroughly offended the Qi family. If the Chief Minister ever turned the tables in the future, what good days would he have left? Therefore, he was determined to extract something from Qi Ying’s mouth, to quickly get a signed confession and settle the case cleanly, lest things become complicated with delay.

That day was Qi Ying’s twenty-first day in prison. His entire body was covered in blood, having been whipped over and over again with salt-water-soaked whips until he barely looked human—extremely shocking to behold.

Lu Zheng waved his hand to have the torturing guards pause, then approached Qi Ying somewhat helplessly, looking him up and down before saying: “Second Young Master Qi, I advise you to confess and sign. Continuing to drag this out isn’t a solution, and moreover, if you anger His Majesty, it might implicate your family members—why is that necessary?”

After earnestly persuading him, he heard no response from Qi Ying, making his heart somewhat dejected.

This Second Young Master Qi truly lived up to having controlled the Secretariat—he had probably seen many interrogation methods, and their department was likely even more ruthless than the Court of Judicial Review. Could it be that his methods were too light, which was why over half a month of forced confessions had been ineffective?

Lu Zheng was quite troubled, also wanting to be harsh, but young Master Qi had accumulated deep authority, especially with an excellent reputation among scholars. Currently, many court officials of common birth were watching this matter. Former Hanlin Academy Grand Academician Wang Qing was still outside leading tribute students and candidates in protests. If Qi Ying really had broken arms and legs, it would be difficult to explain to those people…

Lu Zheng was in a dilemma, truly uncertain about the proper degree for a moment. Fortunately, he didn’t have to struggle long before His Majesty personally came to the Court of Judicial Review.

Lu Zheng had served as head of the Court of Judicial Review for many years but had never encountered His Majesty visiting the prison. Naturally deeply terrified, thinking His Majesty had come to question why he still hadn’t obtained results after nearly a month of interrogation, he immediately knelt to apologize.

When His Majesty arrived, his face was dark as water, making one feel chilled to the bone even in this June heat. Lu Zheng was extremely frightened, but unexpectedly His Majesty didn’t hold much against him, only ordering him to have the prison cleared—he wanted to speak with Second Young Master Qi alone.

Upon hearing this, Lu Zheng’s heart jumped, then he keenly sensed the possibility of changing winds, but he dared not ask more questions. He only hurriedly went to arrange things, and before long had fulfilled His Majesty’s wish.