Chapter 317 The Grand Finale

Shen Qingci forcibly suppressed the surging emotions in her heart; now was not the time to think about these things.

Regardless of the truth, the most urgent task at hand is to quell the rebellion.

Even the severed heads hanging on the palace gates were fake.

The real late emperor and Huo Yunting are still in Chu Jichen's hands, imprisoned in a secret dungeon.

Once this matter is settled, she will have plenty of opportunities to thoroughly question people and uncover the truth of what happened back then!

Shen Qingci's eyelashes trembled slightly, and she suddenly opened her eyes.

She had been wondering why Chu Jichen didn't just kill the late emperor and Huo Yunting, since they had already fallen into their hands by accident.

In this way, the rebels will be leaderless, their morale will surely collapse, and the rebellion can be quelled more quickly.

After connecting the Shen family's affairs with the late emperor, Shen Qingci suddenly had a sudden realization, as if struck by lightning, and vaguely began to have some guesses in her mind.

Chu Jichen, was it for her?

She was determined to personally kill her enemies and avenge the entire Shen family.

She had previously believed that Emperor Yongming was the mastermind behind everything, so she eliminated him without hesitation.

If the late emperor was the real mastermind behind it all...

Then she naturally wanted to avenge all the dead souls of the Shen family with her own hands, and use the blood of her enemies to appease the dead!

Chu Jichen spared the lives of the late emperor and Huo Yunting because he knew she would think that way and knew her obsession, so that she could deal with them herself.

Shen Qingci closed her eyes, a warm feeling welling up inside her, and her eyes also became slightly hot.

Chu Jichen really is...

She took a deep breath, her emotions churning violently. She had no choice but to stand up, walk behind her desk, and draw something next to the brush, ink, paper, and inkstone on the desk, trying to sort out the current situation.

The rebels had not anticipated that the troops in the city would be completely wiped out, and now they could only defend the city gates, caught in a dilemma.

But being surrounded and lacking supplies, they were bound to try to find a solution.

A cornered beast will fight back, which is the most dangerous situation.

The only way is to break through.

There are two ways to break out: one is to break out into the city, and the other is to break out outside the city.

However, entering the city would definitely not be a good choice. Even if they broke through to the city, they would still be besieged and would not be able to change their already inevitable defeat.

Only outside the city.

They only had one option left: the road outside the city.

She remembered that Chu Jichen had insisted on switching places with her, letting her stay in the city while he went outside.

She couldn't help but frown. Could it be that Chu Jichen had foreseen this step all along, knowing that if the rebels were to eventually flee, the outside of the city would be their only option, and that's why he wanted to go outside the city and personally cut off their escape route?

The rebels were numerous, but there were only a small number of soldiers outside the city, and a large portion of them were just ordinary civilians who had been conscripted recently, so their fighting strength was questionable.

He felt that the area outside the city was more dangerous and did not want to put her in danger, so he chose to face the most perilous situation himself.

This person is really...

He didn't say a word, but he schemed and plotted, all of which he used to protect her.

Shen Qingci's tears still streamed down her face, falling onto the Xuan paper and spreading into ink flowers.

Chu Jichen is such a nuisance! He always makes her cry!

Shen Qingci gritted her teeth, wiped away her tears, and called in the members of the Dark Guard: "Arrange for Zhuque to go to the city gate and beat the drums and gongs."

The ANBU member nodded: "Still the same old story, right?"

“No.” Shen Qingci took a deep breath, a resolute glint in her eyes. “This time, our message is mainly aimed at the rebels.”

Since the late emperor was able to obtain these troops from the border only after he had Emperor Yongming eliminated her father and brothers.

This suggests that among these soldiers, many had served under her father and brothers.

It was probably for this reason that when the news came out that she had Qingming recruit troops to guard the border under the name of the Shen family army, the late emperor and Huo Yunting could no longer sit still.

They were afraid—afraid that the soldiers they had brought back from the border would find out everything, that they had been used.

Therefore, they could only take advantage of the fact that the Shen family had not yet regrouped their troops to launch a rebellion and strike first.

"Have the people of Zhuque shout towards the city tower, saying—the late emperor was the culprit who wiped out my entire Shen family!"

"It was the late emperor who raised a tiger to cause trouble, keeping Liu Wenyuan in order to check the court. Later, he found that Liu Wenyuan was almost out of control, so he faked his death and pushed all the mess onto Emperor Yongming."

"The appointment of Chu Jichen as regent was also to check and balance Liu Wenyuan, so that they would kill each other."

"He fabricated rumors about a private army belonging to the Shen family, making Emperor Yongming and Liu Wenyuan wary of my Shen family, and then sought an opportunity to have the entire Shen family executed. Emperor Yongming and Liu Wenyuan both tried to use Huo Yunzhan to inquire about the whereabouts of the Shen family's private army, but they knew nothing about it. There was no such thing as a Shen family's private army..."

"But the late emperor knew that he wanted to use this opportunity to borrow troops from the border to regain imperial power, so he had to kill my father!"

Shen Qingci's eyes were dark and brooding: "That's basically what they mean, but their shouts can't be this long. Arrange for someone to turn it into a nursery rhyme, sing it, spread it, so that everyone can hear it and understand it!"

"yes!"

Shen Qingci let out a long breath, her eyes dark and brooding. Although she couldn't personally fight on the front lines, she could find ways to sow discord, demoralize the troops, and undermine the enemy from within.

News kept pouring in from the other side: "Your Majesty! Our prediction was indeed correct! The rebels were besieged and their supplies were cut off; they were already at their last gasp. Then, Your Majesty had those nursery rhymes sung, and suddenly they started fighting amongst themselves!"

"The commander on the city wall even shouted at us, asking if we had any evidence to prove it?"

“We immediately said that our Empress is the only daughter of the Shen family, the only survivor of the Shen family, and she has never given up on clearing the name of the Shen family and avenging them. Isn’t that obvious enough? Otherwise, why would Her Majesty the Empress target the late Emperor like this?”

"The general remained silent for a long time, then suddenly drew his sword and committed suicide on the city wall, shouting, 'I am sorry to General Shen!'"

"With their commander dead, the morale of the other soldiers naturally collapsed completely, and before long, some of them raised white flags to surrender!"

Shen Qingci's eyes shone brightly: "Excellent! Absolutely excellent!"

"But it is precisely at times like these that we must be extra careful to prevent those people from feigning surrender, using the guise of surrender to carry out a sneak attack."

"yes!"

Shen Qingci's eyes shone with an alarming light: "If their morale is truly broken, perhaps... we should launch a surprise attack first."

"You are only separated from the troops outside the city by a city tower. You can try to contact the secret guards outside the city, make an agreement with them, and launch a pincer attack from both inside and outside!"

"Just knock the city gates open, and everything... will be over!"

"yes!"

Shen Qingci looked at the darkening sky outside and let out a long breath.

Although it was still dark, it was the darkest hour before dawn.

But finally, she was about to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Shen Qingci's eyes were dark and deep as she pressed down on her hand, which was trembling slightly with excitement.

When the nursery rhymes were being sung, she, as the only legitimate daughter of the Shen family, should have actually gone to the city gate.

With her as corroborating evidence, the soldiers would be more likely to believe it.

But she can't go.

She cannot allow anything to happen before dawn.

She had to wait for Chu Jichen to come and pick her up.

After enduring two or three days of hardship, Shen Qingci finally couldn't hold on any longer and fell asleep on the bed soon after due to extreme exhaustion.

She was awakened by a deafening cheer.

"Your Majesty! His Majesty has arrived!"

Shen Qingci sat up abruptly with a quick movement. Chu Jichen had arrived?

it's all over?

Is it resolved?

Shen Qingci hurriedly got up, stumbled to the door, and opened it with a bang.

Then I saw that it was already daylight outside, with the rising sun casting its golden rays.

The courtyard gate was opened, and Chu Jichen walked in from outside, wearing a blood-stained suit of armor. The rising sun shone behind him, making him look as if he were plated with a layer of golden light, like a god descending from heaven.

Without any hesitation, and disregarding the fact that his armor was still covered in blood and dust, Shen Qingci lunged directly at Chu Jichen.

Chu Jichen reached out and caught Shen Qingci, pulling her tightly into his arms, his eyes filled with smiles and doting affection. After a long while, he spoke softly, his voice slightly hoarse, yet brimming with endless tenderness:

"It's all over, Qingqing, I've come to pick you up."

"Let's go home."

Shen Qingci's tears fell in a downpour, soaking his armor. She nodded heavily and choked out, "Okay, let's go home."

(over)