Shen Yichen had no idea that in the Northern Wilderness, an old custom required a wife to be buried with her husband.
When he brought his army to escort me back to court, I had already taken the poison the new king had given me: a deadly dose that would kill me in a day.
He thought of how, three years ago, he had personally sent me away to marry for the sake of peace, betraying the vows we had made.
This time, he had come to bring me home himself. There would be a chance to make it up to me from now on.
I gazed ahead at a road with no visible end, fighting through the agonizing pain in my belly, and called out to Shen Yichen beyond the carriage:
"Lord Shen, how much longer until we reach the borders of Great Zhou?"
