The Empress Dowager has fallen ill again.

No one knows what illness the Empress Dowager is suffering from this time.

The Empress Dowager didn't utter a single word about King Cheng's defection and betrayal, so the palace maids dared not utter a single sound.

The imperial physicians treated her extensively, and even Doctor Tao had to be invited to the palace twice, before they were able to barely stabilize the Empress Dowager's condition.

After the Empress Dowager's condition improved slightly, she was to move to the temporary palace.

The imperial physicians of the Imperial Medical Academy and Doctor Tao both disagreed with the Empress Dowager leaving the capital.

The temporary palace was more than a hundred miles away from the imperial palace. The Empress Dowager was in poor health and could not withstand the bumpy ride. Moreover, if the Empress Dowager went to the temporary palace, at least two imperial physicians would have to accompany her. No imperial physician was willing to be separated from his wife and children and go with the Empress Dowager to the temporary palace.

But the Empress Dowager was determined to leave, and no one could dissuade her. Princess Huyang escorted the Empress Dowager to the temporary palace.

On the day we set off, snowflakes were falling from the sky.

The Empress Dowager waited at the palace gate for a full half hour, but the Emperor did not come to see her off.

The Empress Dowager left in tears.

He left behind an imperial edict when he departed.

She will not return to the capital unless she dies once she goes to the imperial palace.

After his death, the funeral arrangements were kept simple.

After saying these two sentences, the Empress Dowager left the capital.

The Empress Dowager's departure from the capital sparked endless discussions both inside and outside the court, with everyone speculating whether it was related to Prince Cheng's defection to the enemy and betrayal of the country. However, it did not stir any waves in Shen Wan's heart. In her previous life, she had no feelings for the Empress Dowager, and in this life, she had even less.

However, the Empress Dowager hurt the Emperor too deeply for the sake of Prince Cheng. This was her last meeting with him, and the Emperor didn't even get to see her. The Empress Dowager should know how badly she had hurt the Emperor.

The matter was discussed for a day or two, then it subsided, or rather, it was overshadowed by another matter.

On the third day after the Empress Dowager left the capital, an urgent message arrived from the border, saying that the Crown Prince of Western Liang had been found.

The news caused an uproar throughout the court.

The Crown Prince of Western Liang was assassinated and fell off a cliff in Great Chu. After searching for several months, his body was finally found. Western Liang demanded an explanation from Great Chu and besieged the city. Right now, Great Chu and Western Liang are locked in a fierce battle, and then news suddenly appears that the Crown Prince of Western Liang has been found again.

Even though Shen Wan believed Xie Jingyan's guess that the Crown Prince of Xiliang was not dead, she was still stunned for a long time upon hearing the news. She asked the maid who reported it, "Where was the Crown Prince of Xiliang found?"

The maid said, "They said he was found in a small mountain village dozens of miles away from where he fell off the cliff. He lost his memory after being injured, but only recently recovered and remembered that he was the Crown Prince of Xiliang."

Shen Wan, "..."

That's a pretty good reason.

After all, he was the crown prince of a country. In order to find out the person who was secretly colluding with King Cheng and wanted to kill him, he kept his distance. This caused Xiliang to go to war with Da Chu for him, resulting in the deaths and injuries of countless people. This really damaged the image of a crown prince. So he fabricated a reason that he was injured and had amnesia. Not only did no one blame him, but they would probably feel sorry for him, a prince who was so precious and noble, suffering so much in Da Chu.

Xie Jingyan said that the Crown Prince of Xiliang would not remain in hiding forever, and he was right. Just half a month ago, Xie Jingyan tore off the mask of the Prince of Cheng on the battlefield, exposing the Prince of Cheng's collusion with the General Zhenyuan of Xiliang, and the Crown Prince of Xiliang's "amnesia" was restored.

The reason Xiliang attacked Dachu was to seek redress for the Xiliang crown prince who was supposedly assassinated in Dachu. Now that the Xiliang crown prince is still alive, the reason for Xiliang to attack Dachu no longer exists, and it is time to withdraw its troops.

Yinshuang said happily, "The Crown Prince of Xiliang is still alive, so does that mean we don't have to fight anymore? The Prince and the others will be back soon?"

Shen Wan also wanted Xie Jingyan to return to the capital as soon as possible, but her intuition told her that things would not be so simple.

Although she did not understand military strategy, she knew that a general in the field may disobey the emperor's orders. Currently, the general in charge of the war in Xiliang was the Zhenyuan General. The crown prince of Xiliang was hiding in the shadows and only showed up after Xie Jingyan exposed the Zhenyuan General's collusion with the Prince of Cheng. The Zhenyuan General's ambition was already known to the Xiliang emperor and his ministers. Would he obediently listen to the Xiliang emperor and withdraw his troops back to the capital?

Now that things have come to this, General Zhenyuan has no other options left.

The Crown Prince of Xiliang did not give General Zhenyuan a chance to ambush him on the way, so that his whereabouts would be known and he would disguise himself and sneak back to Xiliang, going directly back to the palace.

After the Crown Prince of Western Liang returned to the palace, he advised the Emperor of Western Liang to withdraw his troops. The Emperor of Western Liang also knew that there was no reason to continue attacking Great Chu. Moreover, after fighting for so long, not only had they failed to capture half of Great Chu's cities, but they had also lost two of their own. Continuing to fight would be disadvantageous for Western Liang.

The Western Liang emperor immediately issued an edict ordering the Western Liang troops to withdraw, but the edict was intercepted and killed on its way to the Western Liang camp.

Without an imperial edict to withdraw troops, General Zhenyuan tacitly agreed to the previous decision and continued to attack Da Chu.

There were also generals in the Western Liang army who proposed a ceasefire and waited for news from the imperial court, but unfortunately, they were all killed by General Zhenyuan with a single sword stroke. General Zhenyuan was the only one who could be trusted in the army, and no one dared to disobey him.

The soldiers of Great Chu were all waiting for the Western Liang to withdraw their troops, but instead, the Western Liang attacked the city. This angered the soldiers of Great Chu. Previously, the crown prince of Western Liang had come to Great Chu to celebrate his birthday and died in Great Chu. It was one thing for Western Liang to attack Great Chu, since Great Chu was in the wrong. But now that the crown prince of Western Liang was still alive and had not withdrawn their troops, did they really think Great Chu was easy to bully?

The morale of the Great Chu was already high, and now it was even higher.

That day, Shen Wan received a letter from Xie Jingyan, saying that the war would soon end. Shen Wan was so happy that she tossed and turned all night and couldn't sleep.

Neither Xie Jingyan nor the Crown Prince of Xiliang wanted to fight.

One of them wanted to become king, and the other wanted to become the Great General of Zhenyuan.

It just so happens that Prince Cheng and General Zhenyuan are in cahoots.

One of them is the Crown Prince of Western Liang, and the other is the heir apparent of Great Chu. If these two join forces and fail to quell the war as soon as possible, people will really have to doubt their abilities.

As they waited, the days passed and Shen Wan's belly grew bigger day by day.

After only seven months, she already has some difficulty moving around.

That day, Shen Wan watched as the wet nurse helped Jin'er walk. The little one walked towards Shen Wan, making soft babbling sounds. Shen Wan wanted to help Jin'er walk herself, but her large belly made it difficult to bend over, so she could only watch. The wet nurse smiled and said, "The little prince has strong legs, he should be able to walk in a few days."

The young prince clung to Shen Wan's leg, wanting her to hug him. Every time this happened, Shen Wan couldn't help but curse the bastard. If it weren't for him, she wouldn't even be able to hug Jin'er.

Fortunately, she will give birth in less than two months, and she doesn't plan to have any more children for the next three to five years after this one.

Shen Wan was about to bend down when Yin Shuang quickly said, "Your Highness, be careful of your stomach..."

The wet nurse quickly picked up Jin'er, and the little boy reached out his arm to Shen Wan. His pitiful appearance made not only Shen Wan but also the maids in the courtyard feel sorry for the young master.

Despite feeling sorry for her, no one dared to let Shen Wan carry her. The princess was so pregnant that she needed support to walk, and if the young prince were to accidentally kick her, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Fortunately, the child is young and his attention is easily diverted. When Shen Wan teases him with a rattle drum, the little guy doesn't want Shen Wan to hold him anymore and wants the rattle drum instead.

Just as she was playing with the child, a young maidservant hurried in from outside the courtyard, excitedly announcing, "Your Highness, a victory report has arrived from the border, saying that the heir of the Duke of Du has shot and killed the son of the Great General Zhenyuan of Xiliang with an arrow..."