Chapter 28, The Fourteenth Pattern!

Chapter 28

Upon hearing this, Ye Xiren carefully recalled each cycle, especially the seventh one.

That day, she poisoned the whole family, preventing Ye Pei from going to court to take the blame. At noon, Yan Danqing was beheaded. When they woke up in the evening, Zheng's attendant brought bad news. Then Lu Qian broke into the house, almost sealing the fate of the Great Liang Kingdom. Ye Xiren ran into Lu Qian's knife and started the eighth time.

“The seventh cycle is different from the previous ones. The peace talks, the death of General Yan, the death of Chizhan Lance, and the sending of General Yan’s head to Huai’an Canal have sealed the fate of the Great Liang Dynasty…” Ye Pei circled these differences with his wolf-hair brush and murmured, “But these are all changes within the cycle, influenced by your actions, not by the cycle itself.”

Currently, the loop itself only involves Ye Xiren, because she is no longer being killed?

“Before, it was the execution of the entire family. The seventh time, I voluntarily reopened the cycle, so the cycle changed? But after the seventh time, whether I was killed or voluntarily reopened the cycle, it always returned to the third day of the third month, without any further changes.” Ye Xiren shook her head, unable to understand.

Ye Pei also failed to grasp the key point.

If restarting the "loop body" would cause changes in the loop detection, then after the eighth iteration, there shouldn't be no change, and everything should remain the same...

But what else changes the main body of the cycle?

"There are still too few clues. I feel like a crucial link is missing. Tomorrow I'll try to ask your Uncle Bai and Uncle Zheng. They are skilled at investigating cases and might have some new conclusions."

Ye Pei highlighted the seventh time, and then said:

At this point, Ye Pei shook his head violently, his expression solemn: "It's better if there doesn't come a next time. I hope your cycle ends completely and you live a long and peaceful life until your death."

Being trapped in a cycle likely means there's some goal to achieve. If you don't die, you can live day by day. But if you're still trapped in the cycle by the time you "die peacefully," and your life starts over... that might not be a good thing.

Ye Xiren's heart sank, realizing this as well.

She alone retained all her memories; everyone around her couldn't remember what had happened, yet they lived through the same time, experienced the same events, said the same things, and showed her the same expressions...

Again and again, the people around me seemed to be puppets performing, their actions bizarre and chilling.

She becomes trapped in it and finds it hard to escape. If the cycle continues for a long time, loneliness and fear can completely overwhelm her.

And this is a despair that even death cannot escape.

Ye Pei took a deep breath and continued his analysis:

"To break free from the cycle, we must find the root cause of the cycle, what is the reason for the cycle, and then we can break the deadlock. Xixi, what do you want most in this cycle?"

His daughter had such a bizarre experience, but there was nothing he could do but try his best to analyze the situation and help her get out of trouble.

“I want to live, to live with you all,” Ye Xiren replied.

She had wanted to do these things ever since she discovered she was being reborn.

“But you saved us the seventh time. If this is the crux of the cycle, then you have already broken free, and there shouldn’t be an eighth cycle…”

Ye Pei slowly clenched his left hand and exhaled:

"Unless our family is not completely out of danger, then the goal is not considered accomplished."

At that time, the Great Liang was about to fall. As people of the Great Liang, how could they be completely out of danger? But if even that is taken into account, how far does Xixi intend to go?

Thinking of this, Ye Pei felt a wave of despair.

Liao hugged Ye Xiren tightly in an instant, her arms trembling and her eyes welling up with tears.

Ye Xiren patted Liao's hand and comforted her with a smile:

"The Great Liang will not fall for now, and we still have a 50% chance of winning on the main battlefield. As long as you all live well and live to the end, won't I be free from the cycle? Moreover, I can be with you forever. Our family is all living well now, so the cycle isn't all bad."

She spoke of the benefits, trying to reassure her worried parents.

Liao Changying's heart tightened.

She released Xiren, looked at her seriously, her eyes full of disapproval, "Xixi, your behavior in the seventh cycle was wrong. How do you know there will definitely be a next time? You must treat every cycle as if it were the last, and not waste your life starting over."

Ye Pei nodded in agreement.

"Okay." Ye Xiren lowered her eyes and agreed.

Actually, she had a secret thought at that time: if each rebirth was just her lingering ghost after death, or a nightmare, then wouldn't it be better to really die and completely escape...?

One person trapped in this cycle would have already broken down; otherwise, they wouldn't have done something as simple as poisoning their entire family.

"You haven't seen the fourth day of the third month yet?" Ye Pei asked again.

Ye Xiren nodded.

Ye Pei calculated the time, and hope ignited in his eyes. "It's almost the fourth day of the third month. This time, we'll all be with you. Let's see what happens on the fourth day of the third month."

The more you know, the more clues you can get, and the faster you can break the deadlock.

"We'll be with you, and we'll definitely find a way to break free from this cycle," Liao Changying said gently as she hugged her daughter.

“And me too,” Ye Changming’s voice followed closely behind.

He limped in, and although it was still a bit chilly in the night, he was covered in sweat. "Dad, it's all done. Uncle Bai and Uncle Zheng both said to leave it to them and not worry."

Ye Pei nodded.

Ye Xiren felt a growing warmth in her heart, her smile brightened, and she deliberately relaxed, waving her hand dismissively:

"The peace talks have been successfully stopped. Chi Zhanlan Ce and the pro-peace Jiang You are both dead. The outcome of the main battle is 50/50. As long as Daliang wins, my Ye family will live well. The cycle... may end with it. In other words, I may have already broken free from the cycle. Don't worry!"

“Yes, Xixi may have already broken free from the cycle.” Ye Changming clapped his hands, agreeing wholeheartedly.

Ye Pei and Liao Changying exchanged a few smiles, as if they were laughing along to reassure their family.

But deep in the eyes of all three, there was an unyielding worry.

Ye Pei picked up the record of the thirteen cycles in front of him and said softly, "Xixi, go and rest. You must be very tired during this time. Get some sleep first, and leave everything else to your father."

Ye Xiren hesitated for a moment, not wanting her parents to worry, but nodded anyway.

On the other side, Ye Changming squeezed in and lowered his voice: "Xixi, can I go into this damn 'loop' with you? With my intelligence, I'm sure I can protect you and find a way to break this deadlock!"

Ye Xiren: "..."

She shrugged, looking quite helpless.

"I don't even know how I got into the loop, so how can I take you with me? I'd rather you all remember, so I don't have to waste my breath, and you'll think I'm lying to you."

Ye Pei paused, his fingers moving slightly.

The words flashed through his mind, and he frowned even more. He looked down and reviewed the thirteen-times-record again and again, his eyes deep.

Beside him, Ye Changming said, "How about I tell you a secret? Next time you mention cycles, tell me this secret, and I will definitely believe you."

"What?"

Ye Changming leaned in and whispered:

“Just say, ‘You’ve already emptied out all the fine Huizhou ink hidden in Father’s study.’ This is my biggest secret, and no one else knows it except me. If you can tell me this secret, I will believe you immediately.”

Upon hearing this, Ye Xiren remembered what he said, nodded, and looked at Ye Pei: "Father, my brother has already emptied the coffers of that fine Huizhou ink that you hid in your study!"

Ye Changming: "???"

Ye Pei gave him a hard slap and gritted his teeth: "You wicked thing, that was a reward from the Holy One!" If he hadn't had something serious to do now, he would have really wanted to give this prodigal son a good beating.

Ye Changming covered his head, looking aggrieved.

Ye Pei glared at him.

He could only cover his head and shrink behind Ye Xiren, gritting his teeth as well: "I only told you this secret to gain your trust, and you actually betrayed me! Ye Xiren, how can you become more and more wicked?!"

Seeing his exasperation, Ye Xiren covered her mouth and chuckled.

Sacrificing his own pride made the atmosphere in Sui'an Hall less tense, and everyone relaxed. After all, they were all still alive and well together.

"Go to sleep first," Liao Changying said, affectionately patting her daughter's head and giving her another word of advice.

Ye Xiren nodded, "You all should go to sleep too. Mother was frightened today, so go to sleep early. Brother is tired, so he should go to sleep early as well. And Father... there's a tough battle to fight after dawn, so we need to conserve our energy to deal with it."

With war looming on the border, it's the perfect time for the pro-war faction to step up their efforts. However, the prime minister has been "mysteriously killed," leaving a power vacuum. Chaos is likely to erupt in the court, and Ye Pei needs to be on his guard to deal with it.

Ye Pei felt increasingly uncomfortable.

Even in this situation, Xixi was still concerned about them. He carefully observed the several cycles, and his eyes flickered: "The change in the main body of the cycle may not necessarily be because of Xixi..."

Ye Xiren was about to stand up when she heard this and looked at him.

Ye Pei pointed to the anomaly circled in the seventh cycle and reminded her, "Xixi, think carefully about the peace talks, Yan Danqing, and Chizhan Lance. Are there any anomalies among them?"

Ye Xiren was taken aback.

The seventh time is different from the previous ones because the peace talks were called off and Yan Danqing and Chizhan Lance died. So, the cycle may change because of these things.

Ye Xiren straightened up and was about to speak when suddenly everything went black before her eyes, and she felt dizzy.

She leaned on the table to steady herself, struggling to open her eyes. Ye Pei began to spin in front of her, and the whole room seemed to be turning upside down. The trees outside the window had their canopies drooping, and the door and the people inside had all spun around. The world before her eyes began to blur...

Ye Xiren shook her head.

Could it be that she was too tired and didn't get any rest on the third day of the third lunar month, so she couldn't hold on and was about to faint?

wrong!

Ye Xiren grabbed Ye Changming's wrist beside her and asked with her last bit of consciousness, "Brother, what time is it now?"

"It's just past midnight."

The sound faded into the distance, and Ye Xiren was enveloped in darkness.

Midnight has passed...

The third day of the third lunar month has just ended, and the fourth day of the third lunar month is about to begin. It's the dividing line between the two days!

-

Imperial City Guard, Imperial Prison.

Lu Qian held the knife in his right hand against the person imprisoned inside, his face contorted with rage, gritting his teeth: "I really hate the way you look, Yan Danqing, you will surely die today."

Yan Danqing: "???"

【six】

Today is the third day of the third lunar month!

What happened?!

Yan Danqing's eyes darkened, and his brows furrowed.

-

Ye Xiren sat up abruptly, her eyes still filled with astonishment and disbelief.

"Miss?" Xuechan rushed in, her brows furrowed. "Did you have another nightmare?"

"What's today?" Ye Xiren asked hurriedly.

"The third day of the third lunar month."

really!

Ye Xiren's breath hitched. It wasn't only death that meant the cycle would begin again. She hadn't died, but she still wouldn't live to see the fourth day of the third month!

At the moment the third day of the third lunar month ends, the world reopens, and everything returns to its origin, the third day of the third lunar month at the hour of Yin (3-5 AM).

She clutched her chest, breathing heavily, as if she had been struck on the head with a blunt object. All her guesses and plans came to an end, and everything was reduced to nothing.

"Miss?" Xuechan asked with great concern.

Ye Xiren paused. No, it wasn't about everything resetting to zero. She remembered what her father had said: if there were another cycle that changed the rules, it meant that the main body of the cycle had changed...

She didn't die, she didn't change, so why did the cycle change?

Ye Xiren kept recalling everything from the seventh and thirteenth times. What exactly changed that caused the cyclical pattern to change?

【Xixi, think carefully about the peace talks, Yan Danqing, and Chizhan Lance. Are there any discrepancies among them?】

Ye Xiren lowered her hand, a strange thought vaguely forming in her mind...

She immediately got out of bed, quickly put on her clothes, tied up her long hair, grabbed her cloak, and strode outside.

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Author's Note: There will be red envelopes dropping in the comments section of this chapter. Please leave a comment and I'll send them out when I update tomorrow!

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