My Prince said he'd break my legs.

Pei Yue led his army out of the city, followed closely by a large army outside the city.

Although Liang Zhiyi was traveling by carriage, she did not slow down at all, keeping up with the pace of the group.

For several days in a row, there were only brief breaks.

Midway through, Yan Ci and Liang Shu each led their troops, splitting into three routes with Pei Yue, preparing to attack and encircle the Great Wei from three sides.

Pei Yue hadn't seen her for the past few days, and the thin chain on her ankle hadn't been removed.

Wearing the chain, she felt ashamed and would never get off the carriage unless absolutely necessary.

Finally, the vast army stopped and set up tents.

Liang Zhiyi was placed in Pei Yue's tent.

A young soldier, head bowed, brought her hot water and poured it into the bathtub, then left with his head still down, not daring to glance at her even out of the corner of his eye.

The maids who were previously there were from the imperial palace. Pei Yue did not bring them with her, but instead had someone buy several maids with respectable backgrounds to accompany her and serve her.

Although there were people guarding outside the tent, it was still inconvenient, so she quickly washed up and put on her robe.

When she was with the army, Pei Yue had men's robes prepared for her, which was good and more convenient.

She had been confined in the carriage for several days, and the carriage was moving very fast and bumpy, so she hadn't slept well at all.

I ate a quick meal in the evening and went to bed. I fell into a deep sleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.

She had thought she could rest and recuperate tonight, but when the drums sounded in the middle of the night, Pei Yue, who was prepared, ordered a direct attack on the gates of the Great Wei city.

In just one night, they captured another city of the Great Wei, the horns of victory sounded, and the morale of the army soared.

The next day, Pei Yue unlocked her anklets, threw her a set of soldier's clothes, and took her to the battle site.

Over the next month, Liang Zhiyi truly witnessed what it meant to have mountains of corpses and fields strewn with bodies.

She was born in a peaceful era and grew up under the protection of the Gu family. She had never even seen ordinary people fighting, let alone such a bloody scene.

Fortunately, Pei Yue did not massacre the city after he captured it; he spared the lives of the common people and those who surrendered, which greatly reduced the mortality rate.

Pei Yue led hundreds of thousands of troops in a swift and unstoppable attack on the city, advancing all the way to the gates of the capital of Wei. Once the city fell, Wei was completely destroyed.

However, with only 10,000 soldiers defending the city, facing Pei Yue's hundreds of thousands of troops pressing in, the Great Wei was doomed to perish; it was merely a death throes.

The Crown Prince of Wei stood on the city wall, supporting Princess Lunyue, whose belly was swollen high, with a sinister and deranged expression.

"If you do not retreat, I will make my soldiers taste the pleasures of your Princess Lunyue before they die. I wonder what the world will think when a princess of the Great Yu becomes a plaything for my soldiers?"

Liang Zhiyi, dressed in soldier's uniform, sat on a horse next to Pei Yue. Having fought all the way, she had learned to ride a horse.

She tightened her grip on the horse's reins and turned to look at Pei Yue.

Pei Yue's expression remained unchanged as he calmly stated, "We will not kill prisoners of war or harm civilians. Those who surrender will be incorporated into the Great Yu army, those who open the city gates will be awarded a first-class merit, and those who rescue the Great Yu princess from the Great Wei crown prince will be granted a marquisate and a noble title."

As soon as he finished speaking, the hundreds of thousands of soldiers behind him were filled with high morale and shouted in unison: "We will not kill prisoners of war or harm civilians. Those who surrender will be incorporated into the Great Yu army. Those who open the city gates will be awarded first-class merit. Those who rescue the Great Yu princess from the Great Wei crown prince will be ennobled and granted titles."

The sound swept into the city like a tsunami, striking the hearts of the Wei army.

The Great Wei has long been doomed, and there are no generals or troops left to contend with the Great Yu. If they surrender now, they will not only avoid becoming prisoners of war of a conquered nation, but they can also be reintegrated into the army and reunite with their families.

The soldiers guarding the city gates benefited even more; they could earn a first-class merit simply by opening the gates. A first-class merit—who could refuse?

In the blink of an eye, the Wei soldiers threw down their weapons, and then the city gates slowly opened.

The Crown Prince of Wei knew he had no way out, and he was determined to take someone down with him, so he raised his sword to slit Princess Lunyue's neck.

Unexpectedly, several soldiers beside him pounced on him, snatched the sword from his hand, and subdued him.

During the argument, Princess Lunyue fell to the ground. She was nine months pregnant and could not withstand such torment. Suddenly, she felt a sharp pain in her abdomen and blood flowed from between her legs.

Liang Zhiyi followed behind Pei Yue. When they entered the city, the Crown Prince of Wei was forced to kneel before Pei Yue.

Liang Zhiyi dismounted, spoke to Pei Yue, and after receiving his permission, ran up the city wall.

Princess Lunyue lay curled up on the ground, clutching her abdomen and groaning in pain. Blood was everywhere beneath her. The soldiers of the Great Wei stood helplessly by, not knowing what to do. They were all grown men, and none of them had ever seen a woman give birth before.

Liang Zhiyi rushed forward and had the soldier who was close to her carry Princess Lunyue on a stretcher to the barracks where the guards rested.

"Quickly go find the midwife and the royal physician."

The Wei soldiers trembled and cried out, "The...the midwives have all been killed by His Highness! The imperial physicians...the imperial physicians..."

Liang Zhiyi said no more and turned to ask the soldiers to fetch the imperial physician who was accompanying the Great Yu army.

The soldier agreed and ran off to fetch the imperial physician.

Liang Zhiyi looked at the people in the room: "All of you go out and find a few women who have given birth. It would be even better if you could find a midwife. Quickly prepare hot water, lots of it."

The soldiers of the Great Wei were naturally the ones who went to handle the matter. They dared not delay and quickly ran off to do so.

Soon, the accompanying imperial physician and several women arrived. Upon seeing Princess Lunyue's condition, the imperial physician disregarded the strict separation between men and women, stuffed a ginseng slice into her mouth, and quickly began acupuncture.

One of the women was a midwife who had just delivered a baby when she was captured by the soldiers of the Great Wei and brought here.

Having just lost their way in the city, the group was already disoriented, and now they were being captured. They were terrified.

Liang Zhiyi said, "Don't worry, I only asked you to come and help the princess give birth. You must protect the princess's health. After the delivery, you will be richly rewarded."

The implication is that if anything unexpected happens, save the adult.

Hearing this, the group breathed a sigh of relief and nodded in agreement.

With the midwife present, the others followed her instructions and soon began to help Princess Lunyue give birth.

Despite the dead of winter, Princess Lunyue's forehead was covered in fine beads of sweat. She gripped Liang Zhiyi's hand tightly, the intense pain almost driving her mad: "Zhiyi, Zhiyi, please, please save my child."

Liang Zhiyi reassured her, "Don't worry, with the midwife and the imperial physician here, everything will be fine, the baby will be born safely."

In truth, both of them knew that Princess Lunyue was carrying the child of the Crown Prince of Wei. If it were a girl, she might have a chance to live, but if it were a boy, she would certainly be executed.

"Princess, push! Push! We can see the baby's head!"

"I understand... ah..." Princess Lunyue obediently pushed down harder, "Ah..."

She endured the excruciating pain and looked at Liang Zhiyi: "Zhiyi, this is the only family I have left in this world. If this child is gone, I can't go on living."

Liang Zhiyi nodded repeatedly, choosing to calm her down first: "I know, I know. Listen to the midwife, give birth to the child first, then we'll talk about it."

Princess Lunyue fell silent, following the midwife's rhythm, and with her last bit of strength, she fainted amidst the midwife's joyful cries of "She's given birth! She's given birth!"