The Great Song Dynasty's Soul-Forging in Progress

But today, when she saw these villagers kneeling on the ground, when she saw them petitioning for a female doctor she didn't know, when she saw Yao Ye standing up despite the pressure... she suddenly felt that she could no longer remain silent.

It wasn't because of Chen Shimei (a notorious figure in Chinese folklore).

It was for Nianyao.

It's for those who are still alive.

She lingered on Chen Shimei's face for a long time with that one glance.

Extremely light, extremely faint, yet carrying a barely perceptible sigh.

She hoped that their fifteen years of marriage would earn him a sliver of a change of heart.

Chen Shimei only froze for a moment before recovering and smiling as he asked her why she had come.

She gently shook her head.

As expected, I still couldn't understand it.

Or rather, I never wanted to understand it.

She withdrew her gaze, turned to face the crowd, and spoke in a clear and firm voice.

At that moment, her heart calmed down.

Since he's taking his main road, she'll take hers.

From now on, she will no longer be the princess who hides in her boudoir and turns a blind eye to everything.

She is Zhao Jinyu.

She is Nianyao's mother.

Finally, she looked at Yao Ye and the villagers: "It is certainly safe for Miss Liu to be imprisoned, but since we want to show the court's favor, why don't I take care of Miss Liu myself?"

She walked towards the crowd, her voice clear and firm: "From this day forward, I will live in the same courtyard as Miss Liu, sharing meals and sleeping quarters. I guarantee her safety and her innocence. Until the truth comes to light, no one—regardless of their status—may approach, interrogate, or harass her for any reason."

She turned to face Chen Shimei, her tone calm yet authoritative: "Prince Consort... what does Lord Chen think?"

Chen Shimei's facial muscles twitched slightly, and he forced a smile, saying, "The princess is very understanding and righteous. That's... very good."

Zhao Jinyu nodded slightly, a fleeting hint of pity flashing in her eyes as her gaze swept over the villagers present. The composure and sense of responsibility displayed by this reclusive princess at this moment moved everyone present.

Lu Sanjun and Yao Ye exchanged a glance, feeling somewhat relieved. Yao Shi, standing in the crowd, tightly grasped Wang Zhuacai's hand and let out a long sigh of relief.

The unassuming butler, Shen Zhou, also breathed a sigh of relief.

Liu Xinyi was taken from prison and sent to a secluded courtyard in the back garden of the government office. Zhao Jinyu moved in there as expected, and the courtyard was guarded by the princess's guards and the yamen runners sent by Yao Ye.

The storm was temporarily quelled by the princess's intervention, but everyone knew that the real contest had just begun. And this seemingly weak princess's choices would stir up even greater waves in the future.

On the sixteenth day of the first lunar month, heavy snow fell like a curtain.

Countless times, Qin Tiehua was always protected by Wang Zhonghua. She felt that his back was so broad, as if it could block out the swords and shadows of the entire chaotic world. From childhood, Qin Tiehua had secretly developed a bad habit—she believed everything Wang Zhonghua said; she thought everything Wang Zhonghua did was right.

But now, Wang Zhonghua, the one who used to buy her candied hawthorns and tap her on the head to tell her "little girl, don't cause trouble," is leading the vanguard battalion through life and death at Black Wind Village. And Sister Liu, her only confidante and savior in this world, the apple of her and Wang Zhonghua's eye, has been falsely accused of murder and is in constant danger of losing her life.

Of course, there's also the father who's imprisoned; no one can guarantee that those bastards won't abuse an old blacksmith.

She knew she was just a blacksmith's girl, uneducated, and couldn't even tell which way Bianjing was. But she knew one thing—Wang Zhonghua was risking his life at the front, Sister Liu was in jail at the government office, and she, Qin Tiehua, couldn't just hide by the stove and shed tears.

She liked Wang Zhonghua. The person she liked was protecting the entire Junzhou; so she would also protect the person he was desperately trying to protect.

Qin Tiehua didn't understand so many matters of life and death. She only knew that if she didn't go, Sister Liu would die, her father, Old Qin, would die, and the entire Sanyi Village would come to a bad end. If Wang Zhonghua knew that Sister Liu died because of him, even if he won against the bandits and won everything, he would be unhappy for the rest of his life.

He couldn't help but be happy. When he smiled, his striking features, with their sharp eyebrows and bright eyes, were truly handsome.

If you like someone, you should go through fire and water for them; if you recognize someone as a sister, you should be willing to die for her.

So when Qin Tiehua cut her long hair with scissors, she didn't even flinch. She mixed stove ash and yellow soil into a paste and smeared it on her face, then used the tip of a knife to prick the mole on the corner of her mouth, the pain excruciating. Her image was no longer that of a healthy and lovely blacksmith; it was clearly that of a haggard, wandering village woman.

Qin Tiehua laughed, "In this way, who would still recognize Qin Tiehua?"

Her ten fingers were stained black with charcoal powder, and the tattered bundle on her back contained only half a moldy cornbread. Most remarkably, she used a branding iron to burn several charred holes in the scabbard of her "Jinghong" sword, then wrapped it with rags, making it look like a rotten carrying pole to anyone.

Before leaving, she took one last look at Sanyi Village and said to Lü Sanjun, "We have Chen Shimei's spies all within a ten-mile radius of here. In three days, spread the word that I have disguised myself and headed north. The message must be true, and we must make Chen Shimei believe that you are truly panicked."

Lu Sanjun was taken aback: "What are you doing...?"

"If he didn't believe I really left, why would he have mobilized all his hidden agents to chase me?" Qin Tiehua mounted a lame donkey. "The more fiercely he chases, the safer Zhonghua, Xinyi, and my father will be."

At noon, at the border checkpoint in Chenzhou.

Amidst the raging snowstorm, Qin Tiehua mingled among the refugees, deliberately rubbing the pus and blood from her left foot into the snow. She knew that Qiu Banxian's men were searching behind them with hunting dogs. Sure enough, soon after, the barking of dogs could be heard in the distance; the pursuers were approaching.

"Halt!" The captain stopped her, ripped open his bundle, and grabbed her chin, looking her up and down. Qin Tiehua's "Surprising Beauty" was right beside her. Her muscles tensed, and her fingertips were already touching the hilt of the sword—if she was truly exposed, she was prepared to kill the captain on the spot, splatter blood five steps away, and then charge out of the chaotic army.

Just then, a commotion erupted behind them. A "madwoman" suddenly rushed into the checkpoint, grabbing the captain's leg and wailing, "Son, don't you recognize your mother anymore?" The woman was filthy and reeked, and the captain, enraged, drew his sword. Taking advantage of this moment, Qin Tiehua shouldered his carrying pole, lowered his head, and walked away.

She didn't turn around, but she heard the scream of the "madwoman" as she was slashed down with a knife—it was a member of the "Dark Arrow" team in disguise, who traded his life for three breaths of time.

Qin Tiehua bit her lip, swallowing the blood mixed with snow water. She couldn't turn back; turning back would mean betraying another comrade and taking another life.

Another night, a dilapidated earth god temple.

Qin Tiehua used a red-hot dagger to cut open the festering sore on her left foot; the rotting flesh rolled back, and fine beads of cold sweat appeared on her forehead, yet she remained silent. Just as she was applying Liu Jueming's specially made wound medicine, the temple door was kicked open with a bang! Qiu Banxian stormed in with more than ten armored soldiers, his eyes sinister: "Search! The bloodstains stop here!"

Sun Kui, perched on the crossbeam, his eyes bloodshot, gripped his knife hilt, veins bulging, ready to leap down and fight. Qin Tiehua, however, suddenly looked up, her sharp gaze fixing him in place. She then rose to her feet, staggering forward, her voice weak: "Sir...please have mercy, my foot is badly injured and I can't walk anymore..."

The clerk glanced at her with disgust, his gaze settling on the bandage she had just applied, still seeping with blood. He drew his dagger, used the tip to lift the blood-stained strip of cloth, and brought it to his nose to sniff. Suddenly, he smiled sinisterly: "This medicine smells... bitter with a fishy odor. Is it Liu Jueming's unique Liu Ji Nu San?"

Qin Tiehua's pupils suddenly contracted.

"It really was you!" the clerk shouted sternly. "Seize this female thief!"

"Whoosh—" Sun Kui descended from the sky like a tiger, his blade flashing, and two soldiers fell to the ground. Qin Tiehua simultaneously sprang up, his "Jinghong" sword not fully drawn, but the hilt carrying the force of wind and thunder, slamming hard into the clerk's Adam's apple! The clerk didn't even have time to scream before his eyes widened, and he clutched his throat, collapsing to the ground convulsing.

"Let's go!" Sun Kui grabbed her and rushed out of the temple.

However, just as they rushed out of the temple gate, a whooshing sound filled the air! Arrows rained down from all directions like locusts; the government troops had already surrounded the area. Sun Kui roared, shielding Qin Tiehua with his body, and was instantly riddled with arrows, his blood staining the snow. Yet, with his last breath, he roared, "Miss Qin... don't worry about me... break through... and lodge a complaint with the emperor!"

Qin Tiehua's eyes instantly filled with bloodshot as she watched the blood gushing from his mouth. She snatched the knife from Sun Kui's hand and, to the horror of the pursuers, decapitated him with a single stroke. Holding the head in her hand, she rolled into the deep snow ditch beside her.

"The bandit leader, Sun Kui, has been killed!" Holding the still-dripping head, she shouted hoarsely towards the pursuers, "His head is here! Five hundred taels of reward! Who dares to challenge me for this honor?!"

The pursuers were stunned by her sudden, almost insane, ruthless demeanor, and their movements froze. Taking advantage of this brief moment of chaos, she clutched the severed head and rolled desperately down the steep snow slope, her figure instantly swallowed up by the swirling snow.

She didn't cry, she didn't even have time to grieve. The icy snow filled her mouth and nose, and she only etched a line of bloody words in her heart: Sun Kui's life was exchanged for the survival of everyone in Sanyi Village.

This blood debt must be settled with interest on Chen Shimei's head!