Even women who travel through time can become prime ministers and nobles.

Chapter 365 The Arrival of the Crown Princess

Lin Chuying's fingers, gripping the jade dragon-patterned armor, turned slightly white. Even through the silk curtains of the carriage, she could hear the pattering rain mixed with the suppressed cries of the people outside.

"Your Majesty, watch your step."

The maid Qingwu knelt in the mud, using her moon-white skirt to spread out half a foot of dry ground.

Lin Chuying landed on her soft satin embroidered shoes, and the mud instantly soaked up the tops of her shoes, covering the hem of her soaked ruqun skirt with scorched mud.

She looked up and saw that the once bustling street was now a scene of devastation—broken wine flags fluttered among the ruins, smoke still rose from the charred wood, and the puddles reflected the crooked beams and pillars, like a vivid ink painting of hell.

Under the eaves, ragged refugees huddled together. A woman held a crying baby in her arms, an old man leaned against the corner of the wall coughing up blood, and a young man held his companion with a broken leg, sobbing softly.

Lin Chuying felt a tightness in her throat and almost lost her composure from the horrific scene before her.

"Your Highness, the supplies have been inventoried."

Li Pinghai, the commander of the personal guards, was still wearing his black armor, and rainwater trickled down his breastplate.

"Three hundred bushels of dry rations, two hundred sets of clothing, and five medicine chests."

Behind him, palace guards were carrying bags of millet to a makeshift shed, the rustling of cloth mingling with the sounds of disaster victims expressing their gratitude.

Lin Chuying gripped the jade pendant with the love knot at her waist, a gift from Crown Prince Shen Yanzhou during her investiture ceremony.

She tiptoed and peered into the smoke-filled ruins, where messy footprints on the broken bricks led towards the ruined tower: "Where is His Highness the Crown Prince?"

Before the words were finished, a loud crash came from afar, and another piece of blue stone fell from the half-collapsed pagoda, startling several crows.

Li Pinghai followed her gaze, his brows furrowing deeply.

The prince insisted on leading his personal guards deep into the besieged city. At that moment, unusual activity was heard from the direction of the pagoda, indicating that they had likely encountered the remaining rebel forces again.

He carefully chose his words: "Your Majesty, His Highness is accompanied by twelve Shadow Guards..."

"The Twelve Shadow Guards?"

Lin Chuying turned around abruptly, the pearl hairpin in her hair shimmering with tiny silver light.

"Your Highness is the Crown Prince. Even with shadow guards, how can you risk your life so casually?"

She suddenly remembered that she had glimpsed the blood-soaked bandage around the prince's waist that morning, when he had laughed and said it was just a minor scrape from riding a horse.

Li Pinghai's throat bobbed, and he was about to reply when he suddenly heard the sound of metal clashing from deep within the ruins.

Lin Chuying's expression changed drastically. She lifted her skirt and was about to rush forward, but Qingwu held her back tightly: "Your Majesty! You mustn't!"

"Step aside!"

Lin Chuying shook off the maid's hand and pointed her fingertips at the soft sword at Qingwu's waist.

Having grown up in a scholarly family, all she could see at that moment was the smoke rising from the direction of the ruined tower.

Seeing this, Li Pinghai quickly drew his sword and held it horizontally in front of him: "If Your Highness insists on taking this risk, this humble general has no choice but to offend you!"

Just as the stalemate was at hand, a figure in black suddenly emerged from behind the broken wall.

Shen Yanzhou's brocade robe with dragon patterns was stained with blood, his black cloak was torn to shreds, but the long sword in his hand still gleamed coldly.

Behind him followed blood-soaked shadow guards, escorting three disheveled thieves who were tasked with robbing others in the chaos.

"Your Highness!"

Lin Chuying staggered over, but stopped abruptly when she saw the deep, bone-revealing wound on his shoulder.

Shen Yanzhou wiped the blood from his face, revealing his usual gentle smile: "Yingniang, don't come any closer. It's dangerous here..."

Before he could finish speaking, Lin Chuying grabbed his sleeve tightly.

"Your Highness, with your noble body, are you aware of what you are doing?"

Lin Chuying's voice trembled as her fingertips traced his damaged armor.

Shen Yanzhou was slightly taken aback, then took her muddy hand and pressed it to his heart: "Only by seeing this hell on earth can one know how precious this country is."

He looked at the line of people distributing porridge in the distance, his eyes shining brightly. "Yingniang, look at those people—they are not waiting for the high and mighty Crown Prince, but for someone who can save them from their suffering."

The rain stopped sometime ago, and a ray of setting sun pierced through the clouds, casting its light on the devastated city of Kyoto.

Looking at her husband's blood-stained profile, Lin Chuying suddenly recalled the day they first met. He had stood in the center of the training ground, saying he would be a crown prince who would "live up to the people".

The sound of a child crying came from deep within the ruins. Shen Yanzhou and Lin Chuying exchanged a glance, then turned and walked toward the disaster victims.

Qingwu hurriedly chased after him and draped the cloak back over the prince's shoulders, while Li Pinghai swung his sword and cleaved the charred wood blocking their path.

As dusk fell, the four figures gradually blended into the busy crowd, like four bright lamps igniting new hope on this scorched land.

"Your Highness, please let me stay!"

She reined in her horse, her almond-shaped eyes red.

"Miss Shi is here alone to save people, how can I hide in the East Palace?"

Shen Yanzhou stared at her face, which was reddened by the firelight, and felt a tightness in his throat.

At this moment, the Imperial Guards were on high alert around the fire, while countless other eyes were watching the chaos from the shadows.

"Return to the palace!"

His face darkened, his black brocade robe fluttering in the wind. "The Eastern Palace needs you to oversee things. If anything unexpected happens..."

"misfortune?"

Lin Chuying suddenly sneered, completely unaware that her embroidered shoes had stepped into a mud puddle.

"Is something more terrifying than watching your people perish in flames? Shen Yanzhou, you always talk about being a wise ruler, but you can't even protect your own wife. How can you talk about protecting the world?"

Before she finished speaking, she had already rushed into the makeshift medical tent, her skirt covered in mud.

Shen Yanzhou stared at her stubborn back, his hand on the hilt of his sword bulging with veins.

The streets of the western part of the city were littered with charred corpses, and the air was thick with the nauseating smell of burning flesh. From afar came Shi Wanxia's cold voice: "Save this old man first, quickly get some hemostatic powder!"

Lin Chuying stumbled and ran to Shi Wanxia's side, but suddenly stopped when she saw the scene on the ground.

It was an old man whose face was burned beyond recognition. Half of his charred arm was exposed from under his tattered clothes. His gray hair was curled up like charcoal, and the blood that overflowed from the corner of his mouth stained the muddy ground in a strange pattern.

"Don't touch it."

Shi Wanxia pressed down on her hand as she tried to take her pulse, her plain white sleeves stained with blood.

“Three ribs broken, lung lobe…” She suddenly choked up, turned her head, and threw the blood-stained strip of cloth in her hand to the ground. “Go get the door panel! Next!”

"Grab him! The arsonist is there!"

The chaotic shouts interrupted my thoughts. Two constables dragged a middle-aged man with a blood-stained face as they rushed over, the shackles on his ankles scraping against the stone pavement.

Lin Chuying suddenly looked up and met the prisoner's sinister gaze.

"Good job burning it!" The prisoner suddenly burst into maniacal laughter, blood splattering from the corner of his mouth onto the hem of her skirt.

"Doesn't the Crown Prince want to investigate embezzlement? Go ask the Minister of Revenue! Ask him who bought the moldy rice from the granary in the west of the city..."

Before the words were finished, a cold light pierced through the air.

Shen Yanzhou's soft sword barely deflected the flying dagger, while black blood seeped from the prisoner's throat, and he convulsed and collapsed to the ground.

The crowd erupted in chaos. Several masked men tried to escape amidst the confusion, but were subdued one by one by the guards who rushed out from the shadows.

"Your Highness, be careful!" Shi Wanxia suddenly rushed over.

Lin Chuying felt a blur before her eyes, and Shen Yanzhou had already shielded her behind him. In the cold light of the unsheathed soft sword, three crossbow bolts were embedded in the wooden pillar behind them.

"Bring the Crown Princess back to the palace!"

Shen Yanzhou's voice was as cold as ice, "Take everyone present back to the Ministry of Justice, and don't let a single one escape!"

As Lin Chuying was being escorted out by the guards, she heard Shen Yanzhou instructing Shi Wanxia behind her: "Check the list of the dead and find out the identity of the culprit. Also..."

He paused, his voice low but firm, "Send men to protect Miss Shi. She's seen too much tonight."

The carriage slowly drove away from the fire, and Lin Chuying watched the flames recede into the distance through the carriage window.

Shen Yanzhou's words still echoed in her ears, but those charred bodies, the prisoners' dying grins, and Shi Wanxia's red eyes were already deeply etched into her heart.

This fire likely burned through more than just the roof of the granary; it also revealed the undercurrents surging beneath the calm surface of the capital.