Chapter 248 Duty to Family and Country

Qin Feng’s face was ashen, his eyes filled with intense pain and deep disappointment. “Your Highness, you were raised away from the palace, without proper royal guidance. You don’t understand the duty to your family and country—we don’t blame you.”

He stepped forward, his voice choked, yet overwhelmingly forceful, trying to morally coerce Su Hewan!

“That is a blood feud, a hatred born of a fallen country and a destroyed family! Are the tragic deaths of the late emperor and empress, or the countless restless souls of our tens of thousands of dead in Great Yan, somehow outweighed by your so-called ‘stability’?”

“If you do not seek vengeance, how will you face the ancestors and the royal blood flowing in your veins in the underworld?”

This blatant moral blackmail only made Su Hewan scoff inwardly!

If it were the original owner of this body, she would have already broken down under such immense pressure—crying, kowtowing, and confessing her guilt!

But she was not her—she was a soul from the modern world!

Facing Qin Feng’s aggressive and overbearing demeanor, she showed not the slightest fear.

“Don’t try to use your so-called ‘great duty’ to morally blackmail me! You call me a princess, but why must I, who did not grow up like a princess, bear a princess’s responsibilities?”

“I am a person living in the present. I care about the living, not the dead!”

“You speak of duty to family and country, but my duty is to ensure every commoner has enough to eat and lives in peace. My duty is to end endless wars, so wives no longer lose husbands and mothers no longer lose sons!”

Born in spring breezes and raised under a red flag, she truly could not empathize with those ancient people burdened by the grief of a fallen nation.

But having witnessed true peace and prosperity, she would never allow herself to watch wars continue and the people suffer!

She took a deep breath and continued, “I understand your obsessions, but right now, you are forcing me to wield a sword I cannot even lift, to fight for something I have no desire to claim!”

“You call this revenge?”

She sneered, “What you’re doing is sending me to die. You want me to be the scapegoat for your personal revenge fantasies!”

Her words made Lin Shu collapse to the ground, sobbing uncontrollably. She wanted to speak, but not a single rebuttal could leave her lips.

Qin Feng staggered backward, his face pale as death.

Because he finally realized the truth:

This princess was not a puppet to be manipulated!

The atmosphere froze completely.

After watching silently for a while, Yu Qing could no longer hold back. She jumped out from behind Su Hewan!

“Exactly! What Wan Wan says is absolutely right!”

She placed her hands on her hips, chin slightly raised, like a fierce little wildcat guarding her food.

“Have you old men ever considered Wan Wan’s feelings? Did you ask if she even wants to do this job?”

Rolling her eyes and full of disdain, she continued to rant: “Besides, do you know how many people die in a regime change?”

“And how exhausting it is? Marching, fighting, handling logistics… Even if you win and become emperor, you’ll get up before the chickens and sleep after the dogs. Is that a life?”

She curled her lips in disdain: “If you have time to scheme about rebellion every day, you might as well figure out how to make the roast chicken in your village taste better. I smelled the seasoning as I came in—you definitely skimped on the cumin!”

【Seriously, even playing a palace survival game is making me starve. Can we eat first? Who even wants to be emperor?】

【Isn’t it nicer to be a rich, lazy, salted-fish kind of lady?】

Standing to the side, Lu Yan nearly choked on his own saliva hearing her bizarre inner thoughts!

Yu Qing’s comic relief completely shattered the previously tense atmosphere.

Shen Jue took the moment to let out a low, pleased laugh:

“Did everyone hear that clearly? Our Wan Wan cannot bear to see the world in flames. Since she does not want to be this empress, then this so-called Great Yan no longer needs to exist. Forget about restoring the kingdom—it’s pointless!”

Qin Feng gripped his sword hilt and barked sharply, “How dare you!”

“What is there that I don’t dare?” Her folding fan tapped against her palm, her murderous intent laid bare!

Lu Yan snorted, spinning his embroidered spring knife in hand, pointing it straight at Qin Feng!

“With a single order from the imperial army, in three days, they could flatten these hundred thousand mountains. Whether you continue living as obedient, law-abiding civilians, or once again experience displacement and become outlaws hunted by everyone, the choice is yours!”

Shen Jue and Lu Yan stood like two guardian deities, firmly shielding these two girls who did not belong to this era.

Lin Shu suddenly collapsed to the ground.

“Your Highness!”

“Could it be… that you truly intend to disregard the late emperor’s final wishes?”

Lin Shu lifted her head, tears streaming down her face, grief-stricken to the core.

“Could the Empress’s dying plea, the countless tens of thousands of innocent souls who perished, really be worthless in your eyes?”

Her heart-wrenching question cut sharply into the nerves of everyone present.

Su Hewan looked at her with neither sorrow nor joy.

【These people, who have spent their lives consumed by hatred, are, in a way, pitiful.】

【They lack the understanding of the modern world; in their worldview, loyalty to the sovereign, devotion to the country, and vengeance for bloodshed are the sole purpose of living.】

Shen Jue’s fingers paused slightly on the folding fan.

This girl… was still far too soft-hearted.

Su Hewan closed her eyes, inhaled deeply, and when she opened them again, her gaze was clear and resolute.

“Aunt Lin.”

Her voice no longer carried the sharpness it had before, instead carrying a hint of helpless sigh.

“I said it: restoring the kingdom—I cannot do it, and I absolutely will not try.”

The light in Lin Shu’s eyes instantly went out, as if her last ounce of strength had been drained.

Yet Su Hewan’s next words pulled her sharply back from that endless abyss.

“But your vengeance… I can help you achieve.”

The bamboo hall fell silent again, as though death itself had settled in.

Everyone stared in disbelief, as if their ears had deceived them.

Qin Feng suddenly raised his head, his voice trembling: “Your Highness… what… what do you mean by this?”

“Not fighting a war doesn’t mean one cannot kill.”

Su Hewan pointed to the rosewood box on the table, seized from Zhao Xie.

Inside were ledgers and secret letters.

“You want the Great Wei to pay a price. You want those enemies, stained with the blood of the people of Great Yan, to descend into hell.”

Her gaze grew unusually calm.

“We can take a different approach—a way without shedding our own blood, yet one that will utterly crush them!”

She turned to face the bewildered Xunlong Guard, a cold curve forming on her lips.

“I can help you organize this evidence, line by line, clearly and thoroughly.”

“Then… deliver it directly onto the desk of the current young emperor of Great Wei!”

At these words, Lu Yan’s pupils constricted sharply.