Then the Chu soldiers started to desert their camps and escape on their own. Initially Xiang Yu tried with force to stop his troops from leaving the ranks. But when the soldiers and his wife begged of him to let the soldiers go home, Xiang Yu sadly complied. On the same night, Xiang Yu's wife, at age 16, committed suicide, because she considered herself the primary cause of the fall of the Western Chu. This event broke even Xiang Yu's spirit.