As soon as Li Rong left the palace, Concubine Rou knelt down in a hurry and said anxiously: "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, please forgive me, I really don't know that Hongde..."

"That's enough," Li Ming said tiredly, "You have already received the punishment you deserved. Go back and have a good rest. Don't worry too much."

"Your Majesty..." Concubine Rou's voice was apprehensive, as if she was hesitating whether to speak or not. Li Ming looked up at her and said calmly, "Anything else?"

"Your Majesty, I know I shouldn't say too much at this moment, but I am worried about Your Majesty and I can't help but want to say a few more words."

Concubine Rou raised her eyes, looked at Li Ming, and said slowly: "Your Majesty, do you know what the talisman that Master Hongde took out today is?"

"This is a talisman for a three-life marriage." Pei Wenxuan and Li Rong were sitting in the carriage. The palace gate was not a place to talk, so Pei Wenxuan quickly took Li Rong and got on the carriage.

Li Rong felt a little depressed when she heard Pei Wenxuan's words. She could only confirm once more: "It wasn't written by you?"

"No." Pei Wenxuan touched the handwriting on the paper and said slowly, "These words look like mine, but they are definitely not written by me. The other party just asked someone to copy my handwriting, and then put Your Highness in a negotiation situation, so that Your Highness can focus on Master Hongde's affairs and lose judgment on other things."

"So they had already given up Master Hongde tonight. Even Concubine Rou had already prepared to be suppressed by me, in order to make me admit that this talisman is indeed ours."

Li Rong understood immediately. She took a deep breath and asked, "What is this talisman used for?"

"This is a talisman specially made by a senior monk from the Yue Lao Temple in the east of the city. To obtain this talisman, one must bathe, fast, and chant sutras for forty-nine days before making a wish. This talisman means the two people on it," Pei Wenxuan raised his eyes and looked at Li Rong, "to form a marriage for three lifetimes, and to be together through life and death."

"A marriage of three lives, life and death will not fail."

Concubine Rou knelt on the ground and explained the meaning of the talisman to Li Ming: "This talisman was written by the Prince Consort himself, which means that the Prince Consort asked for it. How many men in this world can have such feelings for their wives? One life is not enough, life and death are not enough, and three lives of marriage are needed to meet each other in all the lives. I remember that your majesty once said that Pei Wenxuan was born in a poor family and was a knife used by your majesty to balance the aristocratic family. Although he and your highness seem to be very affectionate, in fact, it is just a means for him to control your highness Pingle."

"But your majesty," Concubine Rou raised her eyes and looked at Li Ming, "Now tell me, is it Pingle who is controlling Pei Wenxuan, or is it Pei Wenxuan who is controlling Pingle?"

"What if Pei Wenxuan loves Pingle?" Li Ming asked calmly, but Concubine Rou knew that Li Ming actually had the answer in his heart, but just wanted her to say it. She smiled and said gently: "Then, the prince consort and the princess will be husband and wife. When the prince consort is promoted to the Minister of Personnel and the princess is the head of the Inspection Department, one will be responsible for arresting people and the other will be in charge of promotions. In the court, they will have the final say."

"If such a great power is fully used by Your Majesty, then that's all. But what if the princess is on the side of the crown prince?"

"So what do you think we should do?"

"Your Majesty," Concubine Rou bowed her head, "Raising a tiger will only bring harm to you. Since the consort has already chosen His Majesty Pingle, then he should just be a good consort. If His Majesty Pingle is really a tiger in the future," Concubine Rou raised her eyes and said calmly, "Your Majesty will also be able to kill him."

Concubine Rou's voice was very cold, and her usually soft voice had a rare sonority, like the night breeze in early spring, which made people feel cold on their backs.

Li Rong listened to Pei Wenxuan's explanation and felt the night wind blowing in from the window. They looked at each other quietly, and she immediately understood Concubine Rou's intentions, and even the intentions of the people behind Concubine Rou.

She clenched her fists involuntarily, restraining all her thoughts and trying to calm herself down: "I was careless."

Pei Wenxuan said nothing, he just stroked the words on the talisman paper.

He was not surprised that Li Rong failed. After all, no one could guard against the deliberate plotting in the dark by the person who had once been the closest to him.

He felt an indescribable anger surging up in him. Of all the schemes he had ever encountered, there had never been one that made him feel so disgusted, so vicious, and so angry.

But the more he did this, the less he showed any emotion on his face. He even hoped that Li Rong was not so smart and that she could blame everything on Concubine Rou and not discover anything.

This way, Li Rong at least won't be sad.

Pei Wenxuan was thinking about the whole thing. Li Rong waited for a while. Seeing that he didn't say anything, she said slowly: "You... don't be angry. I will be more careful next time."

"Hmm?" Pei Wenxuan laughed, raised his head, and said gently, "Your Highness is joking, why would I be angry?"

Pei Wenxuan said this, looking at Li Rong's suspicious expression. He hesitated for a moment, and finally reached out his hand and pulled Li Rong into his arms.

The moment Li Rong's warmth touched him, Pei Wenxuan felt that the depression in his heart was slowly washed away by a spring. He hugged this person without saying anything. Li Rong felt his emotions and didn't know what to say for a moment. After a while, she said, "Now that it has come to this, I'm afraid that the emperor will no longer believe what you said before when he sees the talisman you asked for. If you don't do something, it will be the end before Chuan'er ascends the throne."

Li Rong closed her eyes and leaned against Pei Wenxuan: "Have you made a plan?"

Pei Wenxuan did not respond.

Su Rongqing's move was too drastic. It cut off the source of his support and completely shook his foundation.

This step needs to be solved simply.

After all, Li Ming doesn't have many people available now. He has been making this move for so long, it would be a pity to just give up. As long as he shows enough loyalty to Li Ming, it's fine.

If Su Rongqing had taken this step earlier, he would have been able to act recklessly.

Li Ming was afraid that he would be controlled by Li Rong, so he divorced her directly and showed Li Ming his determination.

He and Li Rong are just allies, in what form it doesn't matter.

But now it’s different.

He couldn't use emotions to pave his official career.

His wife, his love, his Li Rong, those were all things in his heart that should not be tainted by the slightest dust.

He lowered his head and was speechless.

Li Rong waited quietly for a long time, and finally said: "You are the most effective weapon for Father. All the evidence now can only make Father suspicious. Given his temper, he will probably test you again."

Li Rong lowered her head and touched his forehead with hers, as if to coax him: "When the time comes, you will just follow his wishes and show your loyalty in the way that he wants you to, ok?"

Li Rong did not say those two words directly, but Pei Wenxuan understood them completely.

He lowered his head, feeling an indescribable feeling of powerlessness rising up in his heart.

"Your Highness," Pei Wenxuan said hoarsely, "Please don't hold me and say such things to me."

Li Rong paused, she slowed down for a moment and stood up.

They put some distance between them, and Pei Wenxuan looked up at her. He seemed to be trying his best to control his emotions, and said calmly: "Your Highness means that if it comes to the last resort, I can divorce you, right?"

"Yes." Li Rong said decisively, "But this divorce is fake. We will get married when things are done in the future."

"Your Highness, have you ever thought about this?" Pei Wenxuan said calmly, "After we divorce, if I have feelings for someone else, what will Your Highness think?"

Li Rong was stunned for a moment, then she forced a smile: "If...if you have someone else in your heart, just tell me."

Li Rong held the fan in her hand and tried to control her emotions: "I am not unreasonable. No one should be tied to another person for life. If you have someone else in your heart... then... then just don't come back."

Pei Wenxuan didn't say anything. He looked at Li Rong quietly. Li Rong thought for a moment and said slowly, "I know this may be hard for you to accept, but it's the simplest way at this moment. If you have anything to say, you might as well say it and we can discuss it carefully."

"There's nothing to discuss."

Pei Wenxuan spoke decisively. He stared at Li Rong and said firmly, "Your Highness, I will not divorce you."

"So what do you say we should do?"

Li Rong looked at Pei Wenxuan: "Do you have any other ideas? You don't want the position of the Minister of Personnel, right?"

"yes!"

Pei Wenxuan was angered by Li Rong, and he shouted coldly: "I don't want it."

"Not only the Minister of Personnel," Li Rong said quickly in a cold voice, "you may never be able to sit in a position of real power again, and you may not even be able to sit in this position of Supervisory Secretary."

"So what?" Pei Wenxuan clenched his fists, "Can't I just stop being an official?!"

"And then?" Li Rong raised her eyes and stared at him coldly, "You are not an official, you have no real power, and you still want me to support you?"

"Are you going to live your whole life in this way? Go back to your Luzhou to row a boat and pick lotus seeds? Pei Wenxuan, you need to understand this clearly," Li Rong controlled her tone, but still couldn't help slapping her fan on the table. "Talking about love requires qualifications. Who do you think you are now? An eighth-rank inspector, do you still have a choice?!"

"You come from a poor family, and you entered the court so late. If you had Su Rongqing's background, you could be so unbridled today, but do you have it? What grounds do you have to tell me that you don't want a divorce?"

Pei Wenxuan didn't say anything. He felt that Li Rong's words were like a knife cutting through his heart.

She was telling the truth, and every word she said accused him of his incompetence, his lowliness, and his unbearableness.

"The biggest problem between you and Chuan'er," Li Rong looked at his expression, feeling sorry for him, but still had to speak, "is that you always desire things you shouldn't desire when you don't have the ability to do so."

"So," Pei Wenxuan laughed, "I hope our relationship can stay away from the court. I hope my feelings won't give way to power. I hope my wife will be like me and not give up our marriage so easily. This is something we shouldn't desire, right?"

Li Rong froze for a moment. Pei Wenxuan seemed to find this ridiculous. He turned his head and looked at the bluestone street outside the carriage with a bit of a sly look: "Li Rong, if you hesitate for a moment today, I will feel that you have me in your heart."

Li Rong's eyelashes trembled slightly. Pei Wenxuan didn't look at her. He lowered his eyes and said, "But at this moment, I only have one thing in my mind."

"If you want to divorce," Pei Wenxuan's voice trembled, but he still gritted his teeth and said, "I don't care."

"I don't want a wife who can use her emotions as a weapon at any time."

Pei Wenxuan's eyes were red. He didn't look at Li Rong. His teeth chattered lightly and he clenched his fists. "You can laugh at my naivety, my immaturity, and my incompetence."

"But you shouldn't laugh at my sincerity."

"I don't want to divorce because I care about this relationship. Even if I have to give up a little power for it, I won't bear it. But you didn't hesitate at all, and you didn't even think of other ways. You told me before that if there is sincerity, it should be respected. But when it comes to this moment of choice, Li Rong, you have never hesitated so much and chose power."

When Li Rong heard these words, she felt as if she was pushed into water by Pei Wenxuan.

Everything around her gradually quieted down. She was completely immersed in the water, struggling hard, unable to breathe.

She listened to Pei Wenxuan's words, just like the last ten years of her previous life, when he scolded her again and again: "Li Rong, you are simply black-hearted and rotten-hearted, with a heart of snakes and scorpions."

And Li Chuan would occasionally ask her a question while holding his glass after drinking: "Princess, if I were not His Majesty, would I still be your brother?"

She didn't care before. She could curse him at will, and even tell him directly, yes, I am such a vicious woman with a heart of a snake and a rotten heart. So what?

She could just smile at Li Chuan, change the subject as if she didn't understand, and just say, "Your Highness is joking."

She thought she was used to it.

But after she started over again in this life, when she got along with Pei Wenxuan as a brand new Li Rong, when she received Li Chuan's sincere "Sister", when she received Pei Wenxuan's solemn "I'll wait for you", she felt that there was finally light in her life. The light washed away the mud on her body, made her look up, and began to yearn for those thoughts that had long been drowned by this palace, those thoughts that she should not have.

Because she had seen the sunlight when she looked up, when someone pushed her into the water again, she felt a pain she had never experienced before.

She listened quietly to Pei Wenxuan's words.

He said: "The Li Rong I want, the Li Rong who is worth my waiting, should not be like this."

Li Rong laughed when she heard this, but she didn't respond or answer.

She picked up a chess piece, as if nothing had happened, and said: "I am just making a suggestion. If you are willing to accept it, accept it. If you don't want to be an official anymore, if you want to die, I don't care if Su Rongqing presses you to the ground and tramples on you."

"How much do you think I care about you?" Li Rong put the chess piece on the chessboard and said in a low voice, "If you are useless, I don't care if you die."

When Pei Wenxuan heard these words, he knew that they were Li Rong's angry words.

If Li Rong gets angry, she can say anything cruel. He knew it clearly, but he still felt the pain.

Perhaps it was because he had been living in peace with Li Rong for too long that he had forgotten how painful it could be if this person dug into someone's heart.

Fortunately, the carriage arrived at the princess's mansion. As soon as the carriage stopped, Pei Wenxuan could not bear it for a moment, so he jumped off the carriage and went straight into the princess's mansion.

"I'm not going back tonight." Li Rong was playing chess and said calmly, "Think about it carefully, Master Pei, I advise you--"

"Love is useless, future is important. Anyway, I don't care," Li Rong said calmly, "You decide for yourself."

After saying that, Li Rong directly told the driver: "Let's go."

Pei Wenxuan listened to Li Rong's sarcasm. He turned his back to Li Rong and closed his eyes.

He told himself not to argue with Li Rong, but every word Li Rong said kept scratching his heart. When he heard Li Rong's carriage leave, Pei Wenxuan couldn't help it.

He thought she had driven him crazy. He turned around and shouted in the direction of the carriage, "Li Rong, if you have the guts, don't come back! If you don't come back today, I will write you a divorce letter immediately."

"Write it!" Li Rong was so angry that her hands were shaking when she heard the word "divorce". She rolled up the curtain and, ignoring the driver's dissuasion, stuck her head out and looked at Pei Wenxuan standing at the door of the princess's mansion, looking angrily. She sneered and said, "I'm going to go drink on the flower boat and find ten or eight handsome men. If you don't divorce me tomorrow, you're a coward!"

After Li Rong finished speaking, she lowered the curtain with a swish, then raised her hand, covered her forehead, and leaned against the table.

"Your Highness," the driver asked anxiously, "where are you going?"

Li Rong paused for a moment and said in a low voice: "Go to the lake, find a boat, and go to Nanfeng Pavilion to find a few good young men. It would be best if they can play some musical instruments or sing."

Li Rong sniffed and raised her head: "I just don't believe that there is anyone who can't live without anyone else."

After hearing what Li Rong said, the driver didn't dare to say much and could only follow Li Rong's instructions.

Li Rong closed her eyes and hurried towards the lake.

Pei Wenxuan returned to the princess's mansion by himself. He first took the memorial and lowered his head, trying to calm down while reading it.

He can't quarrel with Li Rong.

There is a way. There is always a way.

His mind was in a mess. After a while, Tong Ye rushed in and said anxiously, "Master, it's bad. The prince went to the lake, rented a boat, and asked many young masters from Nanfeng Pavilion to come over."

"It's okay." Pei Wenxuan held the brush tightly and pretended to be calm. "With more people, nothing will happen."

"No," Tong Ye knelt down and said in shock, "Sir, what's wrong with you? Even if nothing happens, you can't just watch the princess do whatever she wants, right? If there's a problem, there will be another one. What if there are more people today and fewer people tomorrow?"

"go out."

Pei Wenxuan spoke in a cold voice, and Tong Ye said anxiously: "Young Master!"

"Get out!" Pei Wenxuan shouted. Tong Ye looked at Pei Wenxuan in shock. After a long time, he finally bowed and kowtowed and retreated.

When there was no one else in the room, Pei Wenxuan clenched his pen. After a long time, he could not help but overturn the table.

He could no longer control his emotions, so he turned around, drew the sword hanging on the pillar next to him, and swung it randomly towards the house.

Every word Li Rong said was in his mind.

What does he rely on?

He is humble, useless, and incompetent. Why does he want a relationship?

She didn't care about him. If Pei Wenxuan didn't have some talent, would she still marry him?

Why was he trapped here, why was he guarding someone who repeatedly hurt him?

Why didn't he resign and return to Luzhou? Why did he still have to struggle with her in the mud of Huajing?

She was sure that he couldn't bear to part with her, but what made her so irresistible? !

The sword slashed across the bookshelf, cutting the box on the bookshelf in half. A pile of papers scattered from the locked box and slowly fell to the ground.

The words on the paper fell into Pei Wenxuan's eyes.

"Pei Wenxuan, are you okay? I'm waiting for you to come back in the palace. If you don't come back, I don't care, but I'll still be scared. Forget it, I can't send this letter. I'll tell you the truth. How can I be indifferent if you don't come back?"

"Pei Wenxuan, I actually regret letting you leave Huajing. It doesn't matter if the Inspection Department doesn't want you. If you don't come back, where can I find you?"

"Pei Wenxuan, they all said you were dead, but I don't believe it. They don't know how powerful and smart you are. How can those people who come from the clouds know how amazing the vitality of the young grass that breaks through the stone is? Besides, I'm still in Huajing."

"Pei Wenxuan, I miss you, why don't you come back?"

…

Although there was no signature or date on those pages, Pei Wenxuan could recognize them at a glance. They must have been written by Li Rong when she was imprisoned in Beiyan Tower.

He stared blankly at the paper, looking at Li Rong's beautiful handwriting on it.

I don't know when Li Rong's handwriting started to resemble his.

She seemed to really like his calligraphy. She found a piece of paper in the dark and copied his handwriting stroke by stroke.

Why do you still stay here? Why do you still like this person?

Because this person, in addition to saying such cold words and hurting him in that way, will also be hurt by him, will secretly like him, will secretly write to him, and will copy his handwriting.

He cared too much about their feelings and her gains and losses, and he forgot that the person he liked was a little girl who kept all her feelings in her heart and would only use a sharp knife to stab herself in the wounds to protect herself.

Pei Wenxuan stared blankly at the letters scattered on the ground. After a long time, he suddenly reacted and rushed out with his sword in hand.

When Jinglan went back to the room to look for Pei Wenxuan, before she even reached the door, she saw Jinglan rushing forward and said in panic, "Sister, this is not good."

"Where is the prince consort?" Jinglan saw Jingmei's expression and knew something was wrong, so she asked, "Where is he?"

"My dear Prince Consort, my dear Prince Consort," Jingmei panted, "just now he rushed out with a sword in hand!"