TRBDM -Chapter 170 The Eldest Princess’s Past

“Fifth Highness, what is this?”

Jiang Yuelin took out a letter.

The letter was written in the language of the Northern Border. The wording itself wasn’t difficult, but it contained many coded terms, making it hard to decipher.

Zhao Jingrui glanced at it with disdain. “Jiang Yuelin, there are so many capable people in the Court of Judicial Review. Just find someone who knows the Northern Border language to read it—then you’ll know.”

He was very confident. People of the Dachong Dynasty could not possibly crack it.

Jiang Yuelin had already converted the Northern Border text in the letter. On the surface, what it described was plain and unremarkable, revealing nothing problematic.

Zhao Jingrui was counting on exactly this. He wasn’t afraid at all.

“Give it to me.” Zhao Lingchen suddenly spoke.

Jiang Yuelin handed the letter over.

Zhao Lingchen held the paper between her long fingers, her gaze lowered, her voice cold. “Half of this letter is written in Northern Border cipher. Someone—bring me a brush.”

The guard reacted swiftly and presented a writing brush.

When Zhao Lingchen had been in the Northern Border, she had learned their cipher. Over the past dozen years, some terms had grown hazy in her memory, but it didn’t hinder her from deciphering it.

Zhao Jingrui stared in disbelief, shouting inwardly: Impossible, impossible. How could the Eldest Princess know the Northern Border cipher? Even he himself would never have learned it if his mother consort hadn’t taught him personally.

This letter recorded matters concerning Zhao Lingchen and Fu Wei. It mentioned that she had a son who was now in the capital, and instructed Zhao Jingrui to find the child and use him to threaten the Eldest Princess.

But Zhao Lingchen’s brush moved swiftly, deciphering word by word. Before long, she had decoded half of the content.

No—no—if this went on, all his secrets would be exposed before the eyes of the people of Dachong.

Zhao Jingrui suddenly sprang to his feet and rushed toward Zhao Lingchen. He wanted to snatch the letter, tear it up, and swallow it.

But he was already at the end of his strength and badly wounded. Under the heavy guard of the soldiers, he barely took a single step before someone kicked him to the ground.

The wound that had already split open tore even deeper. Zhao Jingrui collapsed on the floor, wailing in agony.

Not long after, from excessive blood loss, he passed out.

At that moment, Zhao Lingchen abruptly raised her head. “Quick—call the imperial physicians. Save Zhao Jingrui. He must not die!”

“Yes!”

The guards stepped forward and carried Zhao Jingrui out for treatment.

Jiang Yuelin and Zhao Jingheng exchanged a look. Both understood: there had to be something extremely important written in that letter.

Zhao Lingchen stared at the letter, her breathing uneven. The face that was usually cold and proud seemed as though a corner had been torn open, pain spilling out from what she had long concealed.

Zhao Jingheng dismissed everyone else, leaving only Jiang Yuelin.

“Imperial Eldest Sister, what does the letter say?”

Zhao Lingchen instantly returned to her usual composure, but the faint tremor in her fingers betrayed her.

After a long while, Zhao Lingchen finally spoke: “It was the people of the Northern Border who stole my child!”

Sealed memories were pried open once more.

More than ten years ago, Zhao Lingchen had gone to the borderlands to gain experience. On the road, she encountered bandits among the refugees and was rescued by Fu Wei, the Great General who guarded the frontier.

She concealed her identity, but Fu Wei recognized her nonetheless.

Zhao Lingchen asked Fu Wei to keep it secret, and he never mentioned her status again.

They toured the military camps together, trained the soldiers together, and planned troop deployments together. The tacit understanding between them was such that they didn’t even need to exchange glances—just the slightest movement from the other was enough to know what he was thinking.

In those years, conflicts between the Dachong Dynasty and the Northern Border never ceased. Large and small battles flared up one after another.

With Fu Wei around, the Northern Frontier people had never gained the slightest advantage.

The Northern Frontier tribes were skilled in coded language. Although Dachong’s side could read the Northern Frontier script, they were unable to decipher their encrypted letters.

So Zhao Lingchen and Fu Wei disguised themselves as a pair of siblings and infiltrated a border city of the Northern Frontier.

They stayed there for three months and learned the Northern Frontier code.

Just as they were preparing to withdraw, their whereabouts were discovered by the Northern Frontier.

At that time, in order to protect Zhao Lingchen, Fu Wei was struck by an arrow in the leg. Fortunately, the Dachong army arrived with timely reinforcements, and they managed to escape the Northern Frontier.

The hatred between Fu Wei and the Northern Frontier deepened yet again.

The King of the Northern Frontier swore many times that he would kill Fu Wei.

Later, Zhao Lingchen and Fu Wei developed feelings for each other and became a couple. They spent a period of happy days together.

Not long after, Zhao Lingchen discovered she was pregnant.

Before she even had the chance to share the good news with Fu Wei, urgent news arrived from the front: the Northern Frontier had assembled sixty thousand troops and launched a sudden attack.

Upon hearing this, Fu Wei immediately led fifty thousand soldiers to meet them in battle.

It was thought to be nothing more than an ordinary confrontation. Given Fu Wei’s abilities, it seemed certain he would return in triumph before long.

But half a month later, what Zhao Lingchen received was news of Fu Wei’s death—along with the furious accusations of Dachong’s generals.

They claimed that Fu Wei, despite being the Grand General, had colluded with the Northern Frontier. During the border battle, he had deliberately leaked military intelligence, causing the fifty-thousand-strong army to fall into a trap laid by the enemy, resulting in total annihilation.

Amid the chaos of the battlefield, Fu Wei’s alleged collusion was exposed, sparking public outrage. He was shot to death by his own soldiers at the border and his body was left in the desert, abandoned to be devoured by vultures.

When Zhao Lingchen heard this, she fainted on the spot.

After she regained consciousness, the first thing she wanted to do was retrieve Fu Wei’s body, but she was stopped by everyone around her.

“Fu Wei’s crime of colluding with the enemy and betraying the country has been confirmed. It cannot be overturned. Our Dachong military camp will not allow the body of a traitor to be brought back.”

“How dare you!” Zhao Lingchen’s eyes were nearly bleeding with grief. She took out the token of the Eldest Princess. “I am Zhao Lingchen, Eldest Princess of the Dachong Dynasty. I command you to immediately retrieve Fu Wei’s body.”

However, the deputy general would rather kneel and lose his head than comply.

“Your Highness, because of Fu Wei’s mistake, thirty thousand of our soldiers died at the hands of the Northern Frontier. Even if you execute me, I will not obey this order.”

Zhao Lingchen’s emotions surged violently. Newly pregnant and unable to withstand the shock, she fainted once more.

When she awoke again, she had already left the military camp and was settled in a residence in the border city.

“Fu Wei was wronged. I will clear his name.”

Her limbs felt weak. She tried to climb down from the bed but fell to the ground.

“Your Highness!” The wet nurse hurried forward anxiously to help her up, only to find her hands covered in blood.

“Your Highness… your child… the child—”

Zhao Lingchen felt numb, without sensation. Hearing the wet nurse’s words, she lowered her head. The white trousers beneath her were stained with bright red blood.

To protect the child in her womb, Zhao Lingchen endured the pain of losing Fu Wei and lay in bed for a full hundred days.

As her belly grew larger, she had no choice but to refrain from personally investigating the case at the military camp, lest others discover her pregnancy.

Fu Wei’s alleged collusion and defeat—his falling into an enemy trap—were supported by letters bearing his general’s seal and by the testimony of captured Northern Frontier prisoners. The crime seemed firmly established, leaving almost no possibility of overturning the verdict.

Zhao Lingchen did not believe it at all and swore to uncover the truth.

But her body could not withstand excessive grief and anxiety. Wiping away tears, the wet nurse urged her, “Your Highness, please wait until the young heir is safely born before investigating General Fu’s case. Otherwise, I fear—”

That you may lose both.

Zhao Lingchen placed a hand over her belly, torn between heaven and humanity.

At that moment, the baby suddenly kicked, as if reminding her of its presence.

In the end, Zhao Lingchen decided to give birth to the child first—then seek the truth.