No one dared to stop Gan Qiongying. She was already soaked, and even after changing into dry clothes, her hair was still wet, and the carriage was wet. On the way back, she was almost frozen to the bone.

The reason for coming to find Li Hua was not only to prevent him from hiding from her, but also because the prince consort's residence was not originally a gift from the emperor, nor was it specified as the prince consort's residence. Moreover, this villa was located in the city, which was much closer than the princess's residence that had been converted from the imperial palace.

Gan Qiongying was helped into the main courtyard by her maids, and then went straight into the house.

Outside the Lihua Gate stood Tianjiao and Sanjiu. Upon seeing Gan Qiongying, their expressions were quite varied. However, they remained loyal to their master and were willing to risk offending Princess Duanrong to block the entrance.

Unfortunately, the entire Prince Consort's mansion was sparsely populated. Not to mention the extravagant scale of the Princess's mansion with its more than four thousand servants and guards, it was even quite shabby compared to the wealthy households in the city.

Along the way, several secluded courtyards were in disrepair. Although the overall layout was quite elegant, there wasn't even a lantern lit under the eaves for overnight use, which was excessively frugal.

Gan Qiongying sighed inwardly, realizing that the God of Wealth's frugal habits were something she needed to learn.

Yinyue and several other maids followed her forward, not only opening the door for her as if they were guests, but also pushing the young and naive Tianjiao a few steps away.

"The eldest young master has already rested, Princess, you..." Sweetie's words trailed off as the shadow guards, who had appeared out of nowhere, placed knives against the necks of Sanjiu and a servant who were blocking her way.

The gleaming blade not only symbolizes Princess Duanrong's inviolable status, but also the imperial power, wealth, and the inviolable authority of the imperial family.

Seeing that things were not going well, Sweet Corner immediately tried to alert the eldest son inside.

But Silver Moon, with her clever and quick-witted nature, covered Sweetie's little mouth and handed her over to the others to be dragged away.

So Gan Qiongying, like a bandit entering a village, entered Li Hua's bedroom with almost no effort.

She was in a hurry to wash up and warm herself up, and she wasn't there to openly attack or kill anyone. Although she was helpless about her subordinates' murderous and arsonist tendencies, she didn't care and said to Yinyue, "Quickly prepare water for a bath."

He then stepped into the house.

Gan Qiongying was really cold, so she quickly went into the inner room, went around the screen and planned to pull the quilt to warm herself up, but she found that the bed curtains were tightly closed and there was not a sound inside.

Gan Qiongying was very happy tonight and did not intend to hold a grudge against her good husband for being disobedient and refusing to move out of the mansion.

She ingratiatingly lifted the curtain, already prepared to appease and coax the God of Wealth no matter what his expression was.

As soon as the bed curtains were lifted a crack, she didn't meet Li Hua's surprised and angry gaze, as she had expected, but instead saw a person sleeping peacefully.

He slept in a very proper posture, with his arms neatly pressed under the blanket, his face up, and his long hair messily spread across the pillow above his head.

Gan Qiongying's gentle smile remained, but she froze completely after seeing the sleeping face.

Immediately afterwards, Gan Qiongying's fingers, which were lifting the bed curtains, trembled violently, and the bed curtains fell off her fingers. She stood dumbfounded outside the curtains, swallowing her saliva with great difficulty, slowly and bit by bit, like rain nourishing parched land.

Her phoenix eyes widened into circles, still holding the bed curtains in her hand. She held her breath for several breaths before suddenly realizing that she wasn't breathing at all!

Then, holding her breath, she did something she herself found unbelievable: she turned and ran towards the door, tiptoeing as if she were entering some scoundrel's house instead of her husband's bedroom.

Just as she reached the door, the sweet-talking girl outside, having had a moment's respite, shouted at the top of her lungs, "This servant greets the princess!"

At that moment, Yinyue also filed out with a group of maids, carrying hot water and utensils for washing and bathing.

As soon as the door opened, I almost bumped into Gan Qiongying, who was lifting her skirt and hunching her shoulders.

Gan Qiongying's first reaction was to cover Yin Yue's open mouth, and then she scolded in a very soft voice, "Don't make a sound, the prince consort is resting!"

The maids immediately became more subdued, holding their things and standing at the door awaiting instructions.

Gan Qiongying's mind raced. Thinking of the face on the bed, her heart pounded, as if several national-level athletes were performing a series of ten-meter synchronized dives.

She was thinking of instructing someone to prepare another room so as not to disturb Li Hua anymore, but just as she was about to give the order, a voice came from inside the bed curtains.

"who!"

Li Hua's tongue was injured, so his rebuke was stuck in his throat; it was unpleasant to hear, but very fierce.

Gan Qiongying's thoughts raced through her mind in the blink of an eye, then she turned around and said, "Awake? Why didn't you come home tonight? How can you go back on your promise to me?"

Gan Qiongying deliberately made her footsteps loud, but her tone was coquettish as she walked towards the bed, saying, "Husband, I've come to take you home."

Li Hua, hidden behind the bed curtains, was stunned for a moment upon hearing Gan Qiongying's voice.

But he quickly reached up and touched his face, then frantically rummaged through the bedside table and pulled out a soft, skin-colored, human-skin-like object, but it was too late to touch his face.

Hearing Gan Qiongying's approaching footsteps, he shouted in a panic, "Don't come any closer!"

The tongue, which was recovering from its wounds caused by its owner's anxiety, was torn apart by the urgent, broken cry, and a trace of blood with a metallic taste welled up from its lips.

But he didn't care, fearing that Gan Qiongying would walk past and lift the bed curtains without a second thought.

In such a short time, he couldn't put the mask back on, so he had to pull the blanket over his head.

Even through the blankets, he could feel that Princess Duanrong was already standing by his bedside.

Li Hua was so frightened that he was trembling all over.

He was afraid, a fear that seeped into his very bones, and he dared not let anyone see his face.

The last time he was so afraid was when his father discovered that he was still alive.

Li Hua broke out in a cold sweat in a very short time, regretting that he shouldn't have stayed home tonight, and that he shouldn't have had the sudden idea to take off the human skin mask.

He was afraid of his own face, and even more afraid of the utter disaster it would bring him.

"No..." His mouth began to secrete large amounts of blood, choking him so much that he could barely speak.

With his tongue injured, he slurred and couldn't speak a single sentence clearly, only repeatedly saying, "No..."

I don't know who he wants to refrain from doing something.

Li Hua hid under the covers, and this dignified man couldn't help but shed tears under the covers.

He couldn't even say the last "goodbye" because it was pointless.

Whether it was his plea to his mother not to hurt him back then, or his plea to his father not to kill him later, or his statement that he did not want to get involved in the conflict between Nanzhao and Jinchuan and only wanted to be a recluse in the mountains, a commoner or laborer.

None of it worked.

It's no use!

No one cares about his thoughts, no one cares whether he wants to or not.

Li Hua hugged the blanket, almost sobbing.

He just wanted to live, to get away from all of this and live a good life, even if he could never show his true face to anyone for the rest of his life, but... but why is it so difficult?

He heard Gan Qiongying lift the bed curtains.

The sound was so faint, yet he heard it so clearly, as if it were the pity his mother had cast at him, yet also the resolute look in her eyes, as if it were the sharp blades of his father's guards wielding against him.

At that moment, Li Hua suddenly stopped shaking and stopped moving.

He was like a lifeless object, as if all feeling had been stripped away in the blink of an eye.

He knew that he was about to face his own irreversible doom once again.

What can he do besides endure and wait?

Gan Qiongying was also very anxious. After lifting the bed curtains, she hoped that Li Hua could recover to normal in a short time.

Although she was shocked to death and couldn't recall any such fact from the plot, she wasn't curious at all.

She had absolutely no curiosity, not even a sliver of curiosity, about what the prince consort, who was killed by Princess Duanrong early in the story, actually looked like.

Even though she had long noticed that there was something wrong with his face, that his expressions were not conveying themselves well, that his ears were bright red but his cheeks remained completely still.

She never thought of investigating, especially since it was a secret that Li Hua was trying so hard to cover up.

She already has a lot of secrets of her own, which is troublesome enough, and she doesn't want to know anything about other people's!

It was purely by chance that I discovered Li Hua's true colors today!

But Gan Qiongying truly hadn't expected this...

Princess Duanrong's husband had the exact same face as Zhongli Zhengzhen, the hostage prince of Jinchuan.