Chapter 1001

First Volume, Chapter 1001: Old Affairs of Bei Di Guo

Shen Qingci let out a light laugh, looking at Jing Ci as if she were a naive girl unaware of the world.

"Don't rush—I'll tell you everything in detail."

"If your kingdom had not initiated hostilities against Liang, seeking to plunder its resources, how could you have become entangled in this prolonged war? This war directly drained Bei Di's national strength, drove up prices, and imposed heavy Fu Yi and taxes, further squeezing your national strength."

"And our Liang, facing your aggression and invasion, naturally had to launch a full-scale counterattack."

"Striking Bei Di while it was weakest was the righteous path!"

"Otherwise, when Bei Di recovered its strength and gathered its energy, would you expect us to sit idle while it launched another invasion against us? Hehe, how could heaven allow such logic?"

"Princess, ask yourself honestly—if your kingdom weren't drained of strength, if you weren't utterly incapable of further warfare, would you have remained so passive? Wouldn't you have already assembled your armies and marched toward Liang?"

Faced with Shen Qingci's questions, Jing Ci opened her mouth but fell silent, ultimately saying nothing.

After all, Shen Qingci's words were not baseless.

And Jing Ci herself knew well that due to Bei Di's unique national conditions, if Bei Di wished to develop, it must wage war against Liang to seize land and materials; otherwise, with growing population and relatively barren land, even feeding the Common People would become impossible—how could development and expansion be discussed?

Seeing Jing Ci fall silent, Shen Qingci pressed forward without hesitation.

"By launching the Winter War while your kingdom was at its weakest, we permanently destroyed your capacity to wage war again."

"This Winter War was not Liang's unilateral attack on Bei Di—it was a counterattack!"

"You heard correctly—it was retaliation for the National War."

"Are you going to say that since the two kingdoms have already engaged in State Peace Talks, Liang's retaliation violates morality? Hehe—if State Peace Talks were so effective, why, over centuries of dozens of such talks, has Bei Di repeatedly violated Liang's Border?"

"Thus, this Winter War is merely an extension of the National War."

"Now I ask you, Princess—exactly who provoked this Winter War?"

Jing Ci opened her mouth but fell silent again; she now understood that the one who provoked this war was not Qin Feng, but the rulers who had decided to invade Liang.

In other words, had Bei Di not launched its initial invasion, Qin Feng's Winter Counterattack would never have happened.

Yet Qin Feng had already achieved his goal—even if he withdrew his troops now, Bei Di could not recover its vitality for at least a decade or more; during that time, Bei Di would have no capacity to challenge Liang again.

Why must Qin Feng utterly exterminate Bei Di? Was it merely to install Jing Qianying on the Imperial Throne?

Shen Qingci noticed the resentment in Jing Ci's eyes and burst into a clear, hearty laugh: "You probably don't know yet?"

"Your Father King—the current ruler of Bei Di—has never abandoned his pursuit of Jing Qianying, because he knows she is the only one who could ever undermine his legitimacy."

"It's not that Feng'er insists on Cutting Grass and Eliminating Roots—it's that the Bei Di King refuses to let Jing Qianying live."

Upon hearing this, Jing Ci's expression shifted slightly.

She stared blankly at Shen Qingci, incredulous: "Father King is hunting Jing Qianying?!"

She quickly turned to Zhang Chao and demanded: "Is this true?"

Zhang Chao offered a helpless, bitter smile: "Your Highness, how could I possibly know of such matters?"

At that moment, Shen Qingci's voice rang out: "Zhang Da Ren, you're being too modest. Even if you didn't know the Bei Di King has been hunting my fourth sister all along, as an Official of the Ministry of Rites, surely you must know whether the Bei Di King's ascension was legitimate?"

Faced with Shen Qingci's questioning and Jing Ci's stunned gaze, Zhang Chao knew he could no longer evade it—he let out a long sigh.

"According to the line of succession, His Majesty was never meant to inherit the Imperial Throne."

"Yet within half a year, the late Emperor passed away, followed immediately by the Crown Prince's death; among all the Princes, every one eligible to inherit either died under mysterious circumstances or was stranded at the Border and unable to return."

"As the saying goes, a kingdom cannot be without a ruler for a single day—so the court was forced to urgently appoint His Majesty as successor."

Seeing Zhang Chao reveal the truth of those years, Shen Qingci pressed further: "After the Bei Di King ascended, what became of the late Emperor's other Princes?"

Zhang Chao turned pale; he did not wish to revisit those old events, but being in Changshui County, he had no choice—he gritted his teeth and replied in a low voice.

"All Princes outside Wang Du either died in military death or… perished from cold on their way back to Wang Du."

"One Prince did manage to return to Wang Du—but less than half a month later, he was executed under the charge of Forced Palace Coup."

Shen Qingci couldn't help but sneer: "The late Emperor and Crown Prince died in succession; after the Bei Di King ascended, every single Prince of the late Emperor died under unnatural circumstances—not one survived."

"Even the young Princes, years later, died one after another in infancy."

"Undeniably, the Bei Di King was ruthless and merciless in consolidating his imperial power, leaving no threat alive."

"Yet he utterly disregarded the late Emperor's Princess—after all, a mere woman could hardly threaten his throne. But when he learned the Princess had fled to Liang, he feared she might become Liang's hostage to blackmail Bei Di, so he continuously sent assassins to kill her, crushing this final threat in the cradle."

"When he learned Jing Qianying had become the fourth daughter of the Qin Family and that Feng'er's power was growing ever stronger, the Bei Di King saw Jing Qianying as an even greater thorn in his side—he knew full well that one day, Feng'er would use the late Emperor's Princess as justification to wage war against Bei Di."

"Thus, by eliminating Jing Qianying first, he removed Feng'er's legitimate excuse to invade Bei Di."

Shen Qingci looked at Zhang Chao and asked softly: "Am I right?"

Zhang Chao shook his head with a bitter smile: "I did not know these hidden details, but since Shen Miss speaks with such certainty, they must not be baseless."

Although Zhang Chao did not directly confirm it, Jing Ci—who had witnessed everything—felt her entire worldview collapse.

She now believed without doubt: Shen Qingci was not falsely framing her Father King; his Forced Palace Coup, murder of his brothers, and pursuit of the late Emperor's Princess—all were true…

Jing Ci suddenly felt that everything she had ever held dear was laughably absurd.

The Bei Di she had been willing to die for now felt utterly alien.

Jing Ci felt her legs weaken; she sank limply onto the Stone Stool, her eyes lost and bewildered—she no longer knew what meaning her existence held, not even her identity as "Princess" was her own—it had been stolen.