Qi Wang stepped forward again, pressing up against the sleeve crossbow in Qi Yuan’s hand. He pursed his lips, eyes bloodshot, red-rimmed and strained. His face twitched as he stared at Qi Yuan, and suddenly, he let out a laugh: “Qi Yuan, what are you so proud of? You’ve fought so hard for them, taken us down—what do you get out of it?”
Qi Yuan was thinking about how to make it look like a perfect suicide scene if she killed Qi Wang now. She didn’t have the patience to listen to his mad ramblings.
It had come to this, and he still wasn’t planning on how to safely drag his broken body back to his fiefdom to live out the rest of his days as a crippled prince. No—he was still obsessing over that pitiful so-called love from their past life.
The fact that he ever got close to the throne at all was purely because, in that previous life, he hadn’t lost his mind too early and imprisoned Princess Baorong.
Otherwise, how could the imperial throne have ever fallen to him?
Her finger twitched—just about to strike—when she heard footsteps approaching from behind. At once, she stopped and calmly slid the sleeve crossbow back into her sleeve. She looked at Qi Wang and let out a deep sigh.
She said, “Your Highness, I really don’t understand what you’re saying.”
“You’re pretending again?!” Qi Wang suddenly lunged forward several steps, speaking with a childish kind of grievance: “You think following him will get you anything? Why did you come to me in the last life—don’t you know the answer yourself?!”
What a d*mn fool.
Even in this life, he was still saying things like that.
Qi Yuan’s expression didn’t change in the slightest. She called out in alarm: “Something’s wrong! Help! His Highness has lost his mind! Someone come quickly!”
This woman! This woman!
Why—why—even now, after everything, could she still remain so calm, so composed, as if he were beneath her notice?
Was he really that insignificant to her?
Several people burst into the room.
Qi Yuan spotted Lai Chenglong immediately. With his superior martial arts and sharp hearing as a Embroidered Uniform Guard officer, he had almost certainly heard what Qi Wang had just said. Qi Yuan quickly adopted a flustered tone and said: “Lord Lai, thank goodness you came in time. Qi Wang’s gone mad! He just said—he said he loved me in his past life!”
……
Lai Chenglong had a hard time digesting the sight of Qi Yuan acting so delicate and helpless.
This was completely at odds with the version of her who just earlier had retracted her weapon the moment she sensed someone nearby.
But Qi Yuan looked perfectly justified and even helpfully added, “Lord Lai, maybe he was just raving in his grief. You’d better knock him out now, or what if he starts saying even worse things—like that he made you a duke or prime minister in the last life?”
Lai Chenglong: …… Sometimes, he really did want to smack Miss Qi with a club.
Qi Wang looked at the woman in front of him.
She was beautiful—but the first thing anyone noticed about her wasn’t her looks, it was her eyes. Her gaze was always firm, always bright, like she carried a sky full of stars inside her.
That was what had attracted him in the last life—her complete indifference to everything.
But now—
The more he liked her, the more pathetic he felt.
He should’ve known he’d never win her. In the last life, she killed him herself. In this one, she never stopped dismantling everything he built.
Why hadn’t he just killed her during that polo match?
He’d had the chance!
But chances were fleeting. Lai Chenglong calmly struck the back of Qi Wang’s neck with a palm, knocking him unconscious.
Pu Wuyong entered just in time to see the scene, his expression dark.
Qi Yuan, looking flustered, said to Lai Chenglong: “Thank goodness you knocked him out. Who knows how much more treasonous nonsense he might’ve spouted otherwise!”
What could Lai Chenglong say to that?
He didn’t believe for a second that Qi Yuan was clueless. She was definitely doing it on purpose—to get back at him for his earlier hesitation.
Putting on this act now, just in front of Pu Wuyong.
Sure enough, Pu Wuyong’s face was cold as he asked, “What treasonous things did Qi Wang say?”
Lai Chenglong quickly replied, “Nothing serious, Pu Gong. His Highness is simply overcome with grief.”
Pu Wuyong’s sharp eyes flicked between them, clearly unconvinced, but he only raised his chin and said, “Escort His Highness properly to the carriage and send him back to his residence.”
It was time to return to the palace.
Since they couldn’t bring back Liu Wangfei, they would at least make it back in time to celebrate the new year.
The palace was where the royal family belonged.
On New Year’s Eve, there would be a banquet in the palace, with all the royal clansmen, noble families, and high-ranking civil and military officials in attendance. On the first day of the New Year, there would be a formal court ceremony—these were all rites dictated by protocol.
Even the death of Noble Consort Xiao Liu couldn’t stop any of this.
Emperor Yongchang, bearing a trace of sorrow, brought Princess Mingcheng and the young Prince Yongrong onto the imperial carriage.
Qi Yuan was preparing to return home with Old Marquis Qi and Qi Zhen.
They had originally been assigned temporary patrol duty, but since Emperor Yongchang was leaving, that responsibility naturally ended.
Just before boarding the carriage, Qi Yuan was stopped by Xiao Yunting.
She was a bit surprised. “Your Highness didn’t go back with His Majesty?”
Xiao Yunting gave a small smile and handed her a beautifully crafted, brand-new silk pouch. “Qi Yuan, happy New Year.”
Hadn’t she heard that line once already?
It sounded familiar, and Qi Yuan instinctively pulled her hand back. “Thank you for Your Highness’s gift, but didn’t you already give me one earlier?”
She hadn’t really ignored what Qi Wang said earlier.
Of course, she remembered the past life clearly.
A canyon that offers no echo isn’t worth leaping into.
She wasn’t going to stumble over the same person twice. Ending up like Qi Wang, who lost everything, was exactly what he deserved.
Xiao Yunting’s bright expression slowly faded.
He was, undeniably, extremely handsome. Under the moonlight, his profile looked as though it had been chiseled with blade and axe.
And he carried a powerful presence— Lofty like a mountain, deep like a still pool, resonant like jade and thunderous as storm clouds, but light as a crane gliding over icy water.
When he turned solemn like this, he was truly intimidating.
But he knew Qi Yuan wasn’t afraid of him.
Qi Yuan knew it too.
Only Qi Zhen, on the side, was stressed out beyond belief.
Daughter, the Imperial Grandson obviously treats you differently! You’re not interested in Qi Wang—fine! But how could you not even consider the Imperial Grandson?! Are you really planning to become a Female Emperor?!
He was terribly worried.
Even if Qi Yuan wanted to become a Wu Zetian-type ruler, didn’t she at least need a Li Zhi to start with?
Xiao Yunting frowned, lowering his head to look at her. All he could see were her long, curled lashes. After a moment, he exhaled and asked, “What is it that you’re still holding against me?”
“Did I do something… that disappointed you?”
It wasn’t about disappointment.
It was that her heart would never belong to him.
So why bother entangling things further?
She stepped back two paces without even saying goodbye. In one swift motion, she got into the carriage and turned to Qi Zhen, saying, “Father, let’s go. Time to go home for the New Year.”
The human world isn’t worth so much worry and heartache. We live only once—why not live freely?
Xiao Yunting remained standing where he was, clutching the pouch in his hand so tightly that he didn’t move for a long while.
Earlier, when he visited the Daoist abbot of Baiyun Temple to request this safety charm, the abbot had asked him: “What do you wish for the one you are praying for?”
He had answered: “May she be born in a time that suits her. May her path be smooth and without obstacles. May she live in peace and joy.”
But now, watching Qi Yuan turn her back and leave without hesitation—his heart gave an abnormal, violent thud.
He should have added one more line:
May the one I love… love me in return.
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