The Princess Royal

Li Rоng hеаrd Li Сhuаn's lоud shout and turnеd hеr hеаd in hаste, faintly sееing Li Chuan сhasing aftеr hеr likе аn аrrоw shot from а bowstring.

Also chasing aftеr hеr werе Pеi Wеnхuаn, startlеd bу Li Сhuаn's rоar, аnd Su Rongqing, who was аmоng the сrowd.

She onlу caught а glimpse оf а shаdоw bеfоrе the guard bеhind hеr warnеd, "Yоur Нighness, hоld on tight!"

Аs sоon as hе finishеd spеaking, the horsе suddenly reаrеd uр and lеaped fоrwаrd, fоllowеd bу аnоthеr vоlleу оf arrоws, though shе couldn't tеll wherе thеу landеd.

"Sistеr!" Li Сhuаn watched аs Li Rong entered the fоrest. He whiрped his hоrse frаntiсallу, his eyes wide with fury. The people behind him followed closely, urgently advising, "Your Highness, we will enter the forest to rescue the princess. Please do not risk yourself!"

Li Chuan paid no heed to the others' words and charged straight into the forest.

Pei Wenxuan watched from a distance as both siblings rushed into the dense woods. He couldn't help but curse Li Chuan's recklessness in his mind. His horsemanship far surpassed Li Chuan's, and although Li Chuan had charged ahead first, Pei Wenxuan soon caught up with him after entering the forest.

Riding alongside Li Chuan, Pei Wenxuan urged, "Your Highness, the dense forest is dangerous. You—"

"Do you think I don't know it's dangerous?!" Li Chuan turned and snapped angrily. "Why are you following me? Go save her!"

Hearing this, Pei Wenxuan suddenly realized that Li Chuan had deliberately entered the forest!

Those who had forced Li Rong into the dense woods were actually targeting Li Chuan. As long as Li Chuan entered, the majority of their forces would be diverted to surround him, buying more time for Li Rong.

"Pei Wenxuan, I entrust my sister to you," Li Chuan tightened his grip on the reins, turning to look at Pei Wenxuan with gritted teeth. "If you dare betray her, I will haunt you even as a ghost!"

With that, Li Chuan abruptly changed direction and charged toward another part of the forest. Pei Wenxuan watched as Li Chuan cursed and disappeared deeper into the woods. Without hesitation, he led his men and raced toward Li Rong's direction.

Li Rong had no idea where she was running or where she was headed.

She only felt pursuers closing in from behind. The guard protecting her was finally shot off his horse by an arrow. Blood splattered all over her. Li Rong pulled a dagger from her robes and stabbed it into the horse's flank. The startled horse bolted forward wildly. She clung tightly to its back, not daring to look back.

Pei Wenxuan watched Li Rong fleeing ahead of him, separated by countless assassins. Li Rong couldn't stop; if she did, he wouldn't have time to save her.

But if Li Rong didn't stop, given her speed, he couldn't save her now either.

So he could only chase closely behind Li Rong, fending off the assassins blocking their way with his guards while shooting arrows at anyone who got too close to her.

After a tense standoff, a guard beside him finally warned, "Sir, we must make Her Highness stop immediately. There's a cliff ahead!"

Pei Wenxuan pressed his lips together without a word, leaning forward slightly as he focused on Li Rong ahead.

He calculated the distance between them. Li Rong's horse could no longer be stopped. If it did, given the number of assassins around her, there wouldn't be enough time to rescue her.

Someone had to reach Li Rong ahead of time to protect her, giving them a chance to get to her!

At that very moment, he heard a loud shout from afar: "Pei Wenxuan!"

Pei Wenxuan looked up and saw Su Rongqing in the distance, galloping toward Li Rong from the side.Pei Wenxuan instantly understood—Su Rongqing was the one who would shield Li Rong for a moment, buying her a sliver of hope!

He saw it, and so did the hidden assassins. Before Su Rongqing could reach Li Rong, the final wave of arrows descended like a torrential downpour!

Li Rong clung desperately to the horse’s mane as it charged forward. Suddenly, the horse let out a panicked shriek, and Li Rong felt the world spin. Maddened by pain, the horse thrashed wildly, and she could hold on no longer, flung violently from its back.

Ahead of her lay the cliff’s edge. As she realized she was falling, her will to survive drove her to clutch at anything she could grasp.

Just as despair set in, a cold hand shot out and seized her firmly.

Half of the man’s body was already leaning over the cliff’s edge, leaving him with almost no leverage to support himself.

Li Rong had only enough time to look up and glimpse his face before he plummeted with her.

In the moment the man fell with her, Pei Wenxuan finally arrived, but he only managed to grasp the hem of Su Rongqing’s sleeve before watching helplessly as the two plummeted straight down.

Before he could react, Zhao Chongjiu grabbed him and urgently shouted, “Jumping after them is useless!”

Pei Wenxuan seemed dazed. Zhao Chongjiu slashed at an oncoming assassin and gripped Pei Wenxuan’s arm tightly. “My lord, the most important thing now is to protect the Crown Prince.”

Pei Wenxuan turned to look at him. The arm Zhao Chongjiu held was rigidly tense, as if he were struggling to control his emotions. Zhao Chongjiu softened his voice. “My lord, you are now His Highness’s greatest hope. The sooner we find His Highness, the greater his chance of survival.”

“I know.”

Pei Wenxuan lowered his head, restraining his tone. “Send people down the cliff immediately to search the bottom and find the Princess.”

“The rest of the men, search for the Crown Prince.”

His voice trembled slightly as he spoke the first sentence, but by the second, he had regained complete composure.

He steadied himself and stood up, brushing off Zhao Chongjiu’s supporting hand as if nothing had happened, even reassuring the others. “I’m fine. I’m perfectly fine.”

With that, he turned to survey the ongoing battle behind him.

Li Chuan had drawn most of the assassins into the dense forest. With Li Rong having fallen from the cliff, Pei Wenxuan no longer had anything to hold back. Looking at the assassins surrounded by his men in the forest, he quietly ordered, “Keep two alive for interrogation. Kill the rest.”

After giving the command, he allowed other guards to escort him out of the forest. As he walked, he arranged everything methodically, as if the earlier events had not affected him in the slightest. Yet when Zhao Chongjiu glanced over, he saw the hand gripping the sword trembling uncontrollably.

By the time Pei Wenxuan led his men out of the dense forest, Shangguan Ya and Su Ronghua had already brought the Imperial Guards under control.

Li Ming had returned to the palace earlier, and Li Chuan had just been rescued from the forest.

His body was covered in wounds. Pei Wenxuan hurried over, and Li Chuan struggled to open his eyes, panting as he looked at Pei Wenxuan. “Where’s my sister?”

“The Princess is fine, Your Highness. Rest now and take care of yourself.”

Pei Wenxuan replied calmly. Li Chuan let out a sigh of relief. An arrow was still embedded in his shoulder, and he breathed shallowly as he instructed Pei Wenxuan, “I… I need to sleep. Wait for me. When I wake up, I want to see my sister.”As he spoke, Li Chuan looked up at Pei Wenxuan, his eyes carrying a hint of pleading: "I'm afraid... afraid you might deceive me. I... I can't rest easy."

"Your Highness, please be at ease," Pei Wenxuan stood up, instructing others to carry Li Chuan into the tent. He then turned to look at Li Chuan, his expression calm. "If anything happens to the princess, I will offer my head in return."

Hearing this, Li Chuan finally relaxed, breathing heavily as he closed his eyes and allowed himself to be carried into the tent to recuperate.

Once Li Chuan was inside, Pei Wenxuan turned to Shangguan Ya and entrusted her with all the matters to be handled that night: "If Li Cheng is not dead, keep an eye on the palace. There may be some unexpected developments in the northwest—have Lin Feibai's troops ready to cross the border ahead of schedule. Monitor the Crown Prince's injuries closely; whether he lives or dies, no word of it must leak out. There likely won't be any major incidents tonight. Tomorrow, wait for my return."

"Wait for your return?"

Shangguan Ya frowned. "At a time like this, where are you going?"

"The princess has fallen off a cliff. I'm going to find her."

Shangguan Ya was stunned. Pei Wenxuan was too composed, making it impossible for her to imagine that Li Rong had actually met with an accident.

"The remaining matters are entrusted to you, Miss."

Pei Wenxuan bowed slightly and, without waiting for Shangguan Ya's response, turned and left.

Shangguan Ya finally snapped out of her daze and hurriedly called out, "Pei Wenxuan, you..."

"I'm fine, I'm unharmed," Pei Wenxuan said without turning back, giving a slight nod. "There's no need for you to worry, Miss."

With that, Pei Wenxuan strode forward.

Night had already fallen. He walked alone in the darkness, each step steady and controlled. Yet, for some reason, Shangguan Ya could sense from his tightly restrained gait a desperate, almost uncontrollable resolve.

It was as if this man had already exhausted all his strength, with no way to turn back.

In that moment, Shangguan Ya clearly realized that while Li Rong had fallen off a cliff, it was Pei Wenxuan who had fallen into hell.

"Aya." Su Ronghua walked up behind her, but Shangguan Ya did not turn to look at him.

She gazed at Pei Wenxuan's receding figure, her voice soft. "Do you see it, Su Ronghua?" As she spoke, she turned to face the young man standing behind her and smiled. "Su Rongqing has long lost control. He allied with Consort Rou long ago, supported Prince Su, used Hongde to frame Pei Wenxuan, and was involved in the military funds case, the imperial examination case, and even the current tax reforms and the Winter Hunt assassination. Your brother had a hand in all of it."

"He cannot tolerate the Crown Prince ascending the throne, and the Crown Prince cannot tolerate him either."

"I once thought," Shangguan Ya turned her gaze to the distance. Even in the outskirts, the winter stars were barely visible. She smiled faintly, "that aside from His Majesty, there weren't too many obstacles between us. As long as we waited for the Crown Prince to ascend the throne, we could be together. You calculated it all correctly, and so did I."

"But later, I slowly realized that Su Rongqing cannot tolerate the Crown Prince, and you cannot abandon Su Rongqing either. I once asked you if you were willing to become the head of the Su family. Now, I ask you again."

Shangguan Ya raised her eyes to meet his. "If the price of the Crown Prince ascending the throne is Su Rongqing's certain death, are you willing?"

Su Ronghua remained silent.

Shangguan Ya's eyes were clear and bright. She smiled. "You are not willing. And the Crown Prince is the foundation of my Shangguan Clan. I cannot abandon him, nor can I betray my family. So you see," her eyes glistened with unshed tears, "we are at an impasse."

"I am very grateful to you."Shangguan Ya walked up to Su Ronghua. She reached out her hand and took out a deck of leaf cards that Su Ronghua had given her.

"Thank you for showing me that even as a child of a noble family, one can live with sincerity. But I'm sorry," Shangguan Ya smiled, her voice hoarse, "I will never touch leaf cards again in this lifetime."

Shangguan Ya placed the leaf cards into Su Ronghua's hand. She raised her eyes and gazed at the person before her. They stood so close that she could feel their breath, their warmth—it was as if two wisps of incense smoke were rising and intertwining as they ascended.

"Su Ronghua," Shangguan Ya finally spoke, "leave Huajing. Travel the mountains and rivers, and never come back."

Amid the chaos on the Drill Ground, Li Rong was tightly held by Su Rongqing as they plunged directly into the water pool beneath the cliff.

The waves crashed fiercely, and Li Rong lost consciousness instantly. When she awoke again, she found herself lying on a pile of dry grass, with a fire burning nearby.

Li Rong abruptly sat up, immediately feeling a sharp pain in her leg. She gasped and quickly looked down, seeing a long wound on her calf that had already been bandaged, though it still hurt when she moved.

She then surveyed her surroundings and realized she was in a cave. The interior was not particularly large, with a fire burning in the center and a small bed made of dry grass beside it, where Li Rong had been sleeping soundly.

In a corner not far away, Su Rongqing was hidden in the shadows. Beside him lay the dagger Li Rong had carried when she fell off the cliff. He wore only a thin white inner robe, and it seemed he was covered in wounds—the white fabric stained red with seeping blood, a sight that was deeply unsettling.

He appeared to have fainted, his hair disheveled, his face bearing a sickly pallor. He leaned sideways against a protruding boulder, eyes closed and brows tightly furrowed. Even the commotion of Li Rong rising did not wake him.

Li Rong dragged her injured leg over to Su Rongqing, bent down, and reached for the dagger. As soon as she touched it, Su Rongqing suddenly raised his hand and pressed down on hers. Li Rong coldly looked up to see Su Rongqing panting as he gazed at her, a hint of pleading in his eyes.

"Don't worry," Li Rong understood his meaning, pulled away his weakened hand, and took the dagger, speaking calmly, "I still have questions for you. I won't kill you for now."

With that, she turned around with the dagger and sat back by the fire.

The weapon gave her a sense of security. She hugged herself, clutching the dagger, and sat there in a daze for a while.

It was impossible to tell how much time had passed when light rain began to fall outside. The soft patter of raindrops filled the air, and Su Rongqing finally spoke. He seemed to have caught a chill, his voice somewhat hoarse: "What does Your Highness wish to ask me?"

Li Rong did not speak. She stared at the flickering flames for a long time before finally saying, "I don't know where to begin."

"Your Highness need not ask."

Su Rongqing's voice was very soft.

But in truth, they both knew that when Li Rong decided to question him, everything was already in her heart.

Everything she did was merely confirmation."In my previous life, before I died, Pei Wenxuan came to see me. I caught a scent on him—he was skilled in blending fragrances, preferring subtle and deep aromas, so that scent shouldn't have belonged to him. I paid a bit more attention to it. Later, when we argued, he threatened to kill me. After he left, you brought me a bowl of medicine. I drank it and the poison took effect. You told me it was Fragrant Beauty, so I assumed Pei Wenxuan had poisoned me to support the Second Prince. The sachet carried the fragrance of Fragrant Beauty, and that bowl of medicine was the catalyst for the poison."

"Later, when Pei Wenxuan and I were reborn together, we compared the events of that time. Only then did I learn that the scent on Pei Wenxuan came from a sachet you gave him. You said I was unwell and that outsiders entering the room needed to carry herbal sachets to avoid triggering my cough. So, I concluded it was you who killed me."

"At first, you hadn't been reborn, so the truth of the matter wasn't important, and I didn't investigate further. Later, when I found out you had been reborn, I asked you about it. You told me you were the one who killed me, so I considered the matter settled."

"Then," Su Rongqing's voice was weak, "what else does Your Highness wish to ask today?"

"But today, I feel this matter isn't so simple."

Hearing this, Su Rongqing slowly lifted his gaze to meet Li Rong's eyes.

"Today, Pei Wenxuan used Fragrant Beauty to poison Xie Chunhe. But after Xie Chunhe was poisoned, he didn't immediately succumb, suggesting something was delaying the poison's effect. When I arrived, I noticed an unusual fragrance on Xie Chunhe—exactly the same scent I smelled on Pei Wenxuan in my previous life."

"At first, I thought it was Fragrant Beauty," Li Rong recalled the details of the day. "But later, a servant took the sachet away. Once it was removed from his person, Xie Chunhe immediately vomited blood. The servant soaked the sachet in water, saying an expert had advised that it was the antidote, and then had Xie Chunhe drink the sachet's contents mixed with water. So, I have reason to suspect," Li Rong paused, raising her head to look at the young man in the shadows, "that what you gave Pei Wenxuan back then wasn't poison but an antidote to delay the effects of Fragrant Beauty."

"Your Highness is not skilled in the art of fragrance blending, so you must have mistaken the scent."

Su Rongqing replied calmly.

"You don't even know what scent I smelled," Li Rong couldn't help but laugh. "How can you be so sure I was mistaken?"

Su Rongqing remained silent. Li Rong looked at him and said, "Tell me, who killed me back then?"

"It was me." Su Rongqing admitted without hesitation.

Seeing his stubborn refusal to yield, Li Rong smiled. "Su Rongqing, I saved you."

Su Rongqing's eyelashes trembled slightly. Li Rong stood up, limping over to him. She bent down, lowering her head to look at him. "I am your master. I raised you for twenty years. I've never asked anything of you in my life, but today, I beg you—tell me."

Her eyes glistened with moisture. "Who killed me?"

"Your Highness..." Su Rongqing looked up at her. "It doesn't matter."

"If it doesn't matter," Li Rong smiled, "then return with me and help Chuan'er ascend the throne together."

Su Rongqing's gaze sharpened abruptly. Li Rong observed every subtle change in his expression as she knelt down, looking up at him. "Didn't you say back then that upon entering the Princess's Manor, you would repay me with your life, even in death? Su Rongqing, are you breaking your promise?"

"No...""Then what if you assist me in helping Chuan'er ascend the throne?"

"Your Highness, Li Chuan, he slaughtered my entire clan."

"But now he hasn't done anything," Li Rong pressed on relentlessly. "Why can't you let him go?"

"We both have been reborn, many things we can avoid. Let's work together to help Chuan'er ascend the throne. You can be the head of the Su family, live well in this life. I can arrange a match for you, let you marry a girl you like. With me here, Chuan'er won't do anything to the noble families. You don't need to worry too much," Li Rong's voice was gentle. "Together, we can make Chuan'er emperor, and then we can live well..."

"It won't be well!"

Su Rongqing finally couldn't hold back. He raised his hand and placed it on Li Rong's shoulder: "Your Highness, you don't need to concern yourself with this. Just go back, take Pei Wenxuan and leave Huajing. In a year, I'll bring you back."

"To come back and see Chuan'er ascend the throne?" Li Rong asked, full of anticipation.

Su Rongqing could no longer control himself, roaring out: "He cannot ascend the throne!"

After shouting these words, neither spoke again.

Su Rongqing realized what he had said. He didn't dare look up, his hands resting on Li Rong's shoulders, head bowed, breathing slightly ragged.

Li Rong looked at Su Rongqing, her expression filled with pity.

"What does it matter if you say it?" Li Rong's voice was very calm. "That was a past life. Do you think I care so much? In the palace, whoever betrays me doesn't matter. I won't be heartbroken."

"Even if you don't say it, I actually know. Back then, I must have been poisoned by Fragrant Beauty, otherwise you wouldn't have used the antidote for Fragrant Beauty. And after Su Ronghua died, only three people knew the formula for Fragrant Beauty: you, Pei Wenxuan, and..." Li Rong found those two words particularly difficult. It seemed to take all her strength to utter them: "Li Chuan."

"If it wasn't you, and not Pei Wenxuan, then who else could it be?"

"Rongqing, I'm not a golden canary raised indoors. I can withstand storms, and I've seen the vastness of sky and sea. If you still regard me as your princess, look up at me, tell me," Li Rong looked at him, her voice gentle, "who killed me?"

Su Rongqing didn't speak.

Outside, the rain pattered softly. Li Rong waited patiently.

After a long time, Su Rongqing finally spoke.

"Everyone."

Li Rong was stunned. Su Rongqing's hands on her shoulders trembled slightly. He lifted his eyes to look at Li Rong: "It was me, it was Li Chuan, it was all of us, together we killed you."

Outside the cave, thunder suddenly crashed. Su Rongqing's face was covered in tears, but he seemed to have finally let go of something, laughing with extraordinary joy.

"So, Your Highness, do you understand now why, even if we start over, I could never let Li Chuan ascend the throne?"

"Do you understand why, even though I've been reborn, I've returned, I'm fine, I'm still a man, I have to watch you marry someone else?!"

"Don't I want to fight? Don't I dare to fight? Can't I win against him?! None of that!"

"It's only because," Su Rongqing lowered his voice, smiling as he looked at Li Rong, "I'm not worthy."

"People like me and Li Chuan only deserve to live in hell."

"I deserve to die, and Li Chuan," Su Rongqing's eyes were like graveyards overgrown with weeds, "should not live either."