"Long time no see."

Pei Wenxuan laughed: "It should be more than three years now, right?"

As they talked, Li Rong glanced at Li Chuan, then led Li Chuan to the edge of the cell, farthest from Pei Wenxuan, and whispered, "Why is she here?"

"Sister, do you know her?"

Li Chuan glanced at the two people who were talking, and whispered to Li Rong, "I met him at the gate of Jiulu Mountain. He beat me up as soon as he saw me. It was very violent."

Li Rong: “…”

This was the first time she heard someone describe Qin Zhenzhen like this.

"And then?"

Li Rong ignored Li Chuan's description and jumped to the point: "She said she was Qin Lin's sister, I don't know whether it's true or not. Anyway, after someone came from the palace, she immediately said she would help me invite Qin Lin as soon as she heard who I was, but the condition was," Li Chuan raised his chin, "Come and see Pei Wenxuan."

As he spoke, Li Chuan frowned: "Sister, are they in trouble?"

Li Rong: “…”

Li Chuan was smart for once.

Li Chuan's political career was relatively stable, but when it came to love, Li Rong felt that his mindset was basically the same as when he was six years old.

Qin Zhenzhen talked to Pei Wenxuan. She asked him about his condition and he answered her questions. After Qin Zhenzhen confirmed that he was fine, she breathed a sigh of relief and said, "I know that Brother Zhixiao is fine. I am relieved. By the way," Qin Zhenzhen remembered, "did you receive the jade pendant before?"

"They even gave me a jade pendant," Li Chuan whispered in Li Rong's ear, "There really is something wrong with them."

Li Rong tapped her shoulder with her fan, curled her lips and smiled, revealing an expression of watching a good show. She folded the fan, covered her face with it, and approached Li Chuan, muttering to herself, "It's time to watch the show."

"Got it." Pei Wenxuan's voice rang out, and he said slowly, "I know this is not your intention. I don't blame you. You don't have to worry."

"Brother Pei, you misunderstood. This is what I meant." Qin Zhenzhen said openly and sincerely, "I wanted to return this jade pendant to Brother Pei a long time ago, but Brother Pei was in mourning before and didn't have time. Now that I'm back, I should have delivered it to you in person, but Brother said that I'm grown up now and it's inconvenient for him to see you, so he sent it to you on my behalf."

Li Chuan was bewildered when he heard this, but Li Rong was shielding herself with a fan, her shoulders shaking as she laughed silently.

She looked at Qin Zhenzhen, who had a righteous face at the moment, and recalled that Pei Wenxuan had sworn to her before that Qin Zhenzhen was forced into it. She heard the invisible sound of a slap in the face, "pa pa pa".

Pei Wenxuan was silent for a moment, and then he said stiffly: "Brother Qin is thoughtful."

"Yes," Qin Zhenzhen laughed, "Although you and my elder brother don't see each other often, he cares about you very much. He told me that when the two families got engaged, they never thought that the Pei family would have such a strong position today. Now, Brother Pei is the legitimate son of the Pei family and has a bright future. He told me not to delay you and not to delay your good marriage because of the joke between the two families back then."

Pei Wenxuan: “…”

Li Rong leaned against the wall and laughed so hard that she turned over, while Li Chuan looked confused.

After a long time, Li Rong heard Pei Wenxuan's emotionless voice: "Did Qin Lin tell you all this?"

This emotionless voice revealed Pei Wenxuan's extremely restrained emotional state. Just by listening to the voice, Li Rong could feel Pei Wenxuan's impulse to tear Qin Lin apart with his bare hands.

The Pei family's eldest son has a promising future. This is all lies. If he wants to have a promising future, how can he only be an eighth-rank official?

It was obvious that Qin Lin looked down on him and was trying to deceive Qin Zhenzhen.

However, Qin Zhenzhen, a lady of noble birth, never cared much about these complicated relationships in the outside world. The Pei family had done a good job in maintaining their reputation, and it was normal for children of noble families to start from low-level official positions with real power. As for which positions at the bottom had real power and which did not, this was not something Qin Zhenzhen could understand.

So Qin Zhenzhen didn't suspect anything when Qin Lin lied to her. She gave the jade pendant and asked her brother to cancel the engagement. Now, seeing that Pei Wenxuan didn't look happy at all, she realized something was wrong and asked hesitantly, "What my brother said... is there anything wrong?"

Pei Wenxuan: “…”

No, none of them are right.

But now Pei Wenxuan didn't want to explain to Qin Zhenzhen. After all, the decision had been made and there was no need to explain. So he replied expressionlessly: "Nothing, just grateful for my concern."

Hearing this, Li Rong couldn't hold back and finally laughed out loud.

Qin Zhenzhen couldn't help it anymore and turned around to look over. She couldn't understand why Princess Pingle had been laughing non-stop from the beginning?

She couldn't help but wonder, "What are you laughing at, Your Highness?"

"Nothing," Li Rong calmed down, wiped the tears from her eyes, and said quickly, "I just thought of something funny."

Pei Wenxuan felt helpless when he heard Li Rong teasing him. He knew that Li Rong was teasing him because of the quarrel they had just had. He felt embarrassed for a moment and coughed lightly, saying, "I'm fine, don't worry. Go back and give your brother some words of advice, Your Highness the Crown Prince..."

"My brother knows about this matter." Qin Zhenzhen heard Pei Wenxuan talk about this matter and said, "Brother Pei, don't worry, my brother will go, but we have to wait one more day."

"Oh, your brother will go, and you told me that you helped me persuade him and asked me to help you?" Li Chuan, who was listening nearby, raised his eyebrows and said, "Are you lying to me?"

Qin Zhenzhen lost her previous calmness when she heard Li Chuan speak, and said indifferently: "I only went because I persuaded him, how could he be lying?"

"you……"

"Chuan'er," Li Rong reminded Li Chuan, "don't be rude."

After hearing this, Li Chuan turned to look at Li Rong and was quite shocked: "Sister, you said I was rude before I even said anything?"

"I already know what you want to say."

Li Rong raised her eyebrows and said, "Alright, don't talk about these nonsense. Go back now and find out what happened in the court, and make preparations tomorrow morning. The fact that my father allowed me to come here proves that the Yang family must have put pressure on him. If nothing goes as expected, my father will send you to the northwest to supervise the war tomorrow morning. You can't agree directly, you must keep refusing."

"I understand." Li Chuan pursed his lips, "I have already prepared for these things, don't worry."

"Second Miss Qin," Li Rong raised her eyes and looked at Qin Zhenzhen beside her, "If the prince is forced to be sent to the front tomorrow, are you sure your brother can go?"

She stared at Qin Zhenzhen. After hearing this, Qin Zhenzhen bowed respectfully and said, "Don't worry, Princess. I am making things difficult for you just to test your character. I have no intention of refusing you."

Li Rong nodded, and after thinking for a moment, she looked at Li Chuan and said, "If Qin Lin goes to the front with you, don't let anyone know. Put him quietly in the barracks, and don't let anyone know that he is your man."

Li Chuan was stunned for a moment, then he reacted and said, "I understand."

They went to so much trouble to bring down the Yang family, not just to help Li Ming.

The fundamental purpose was to allow Li Chuan to plant his own people in the northwest. Li Ming would definitely replace the main general in the later stages of the war and take all the credit. If Qin Lin followed Li Chuan directly, he would be afraid that he would be killed by Li Ming later.

The most reliable plan now is for Qin Lin to take his good friend Cui Qinghe to the front line and start over with an identity that has nothing to do with Li Chuan. Then, with their wisdom, they can make plans for Li Chuan to solve the hidden dangers of the Yang family in the northwest border, and then attack the Rong State.

After the northwestern border is pacified, Li Ming will replace the main general. It is impossible to replace all the generals below. Qin Lin will stay in the northwest, and they will cooperate with Qin Lin's military pay arrangements and transfers in Huajing. In time, the military power in the northwest will fall into Qin Lin's hands sooner or later.

Except for Qin Zhenzhen, everyone present knew all these plans. Li Chuan said respectfully, "Don't worry, sister. I will arrange it."

Li Rong responded and looked at the sky: "It's getting late now, you should go back first."

Li Chuan nodded in response, then turned to look at Qin Zhenzhen: "Can you leave now?"

Qin Zhenzhen glanced at Pei Wenxuan, hesitated for a moment, and then said, "I'm relieved to see that Brother Pei is fine. It's inconvenient for us to meet now, so I hope Brother Pei will take care of himself. If you need my help in the future, please send someone to Jiulu Mountain to find my brother and tell him to pass on the message. Zhenzhen will not refuse."

Listening to Qin Zhenzhen's words, Pei Wenxuan nodded calmly and said, "Don't worry, I'm doing well."

Qin Zhenzhen nodded, put on her hat again, and returned to Li Chuan. Li Chuan glanced at Li Rong and said, "Sister, I'm leaving now."

Li Rong nodded, and Li Chuan led Qin Zhenzhen out. Li Chuan complained about Qin Zhenzhen's short stature, but Qin Zhenzhen ignored him coldly. Li Rong looked at the two people walking away, and suddenly called Li Chuan: "Chuan'er."

Li Chuan turned around with some confusion, and saw Li Rong standing in the prison at the end of the corridor, looking at him quietly. She saw that his expression showed that he would continue to struggle, which Li Chuan did not understand. After a long time, he heard Li Rong speak: "You can ask others to send Miss Qin Er away later. There are things waiting for you in the palace. You should go back early."

Hearing this, Li Chuan laughed: "I see, you also want to give orders for such things, do you think I'm a child?"

Having said that, Li Chuan waved his hand and left with Qin Zhenzhen.

Li Rong saw Li Chuan's back and stood there in a daze. Although Pei Wenxuan didn't see Li Rong's expression, he guessed what she was thinking: "Don't you want the prince and Miss Qin to meet again?"

This time he paid attention to his choice of words and did not call her "Zhenzhen" again.

Li Rong listened to his words and said calmly: "You want it again?"

"It's a little early this time." Pei Wenxuan was a little worried, "I don't know what will happen."

Li Rong didn't say anything. She understood Pei Wenxuan's worries. Just like she had only been in half a Spring Banquet, everything had been completely different from her previous life. But now Li Chuan and Qin Zhenzhen had met for so long, who knew what changes would happen.

In the previous life, Li Chuan and Qin Zhenzhen only met each other a year later.

Qin Zhenzhen entered the palace as a concubine and became Li Chuan's concubine. When she first entered the East Palace, Qin Zhenzhen and Li Chuan were not on good terms, and Li Chuan rarely met her. She was often bullied in the East Palace. Later, Pei Wenxuan helped and brought them together several times, and Qin Zhenzhen finally caught Li Chuan's eye.

I don’t know what’s wrong with Li Chuan. He didn’t understand love before, but after being with Qin Zhenzhen, he suddenly went crazy and only thought about this person.

But with all the favor comes not only love, but also a sharp blade.

So, one year after Li Chuan ascended the throne, Qin Zhenzhen gave birth to Li Ping, and then died in the harem.

On the day she died, Li Chuan held her body tightly in his arms and refused to let go. It was only when Li Rong came over that she dragged the body out of Li Chuan's arms.

After Qin Zhenzhen died, Li Chuan insisted on burying her with the ceremony of an empress and placed her in his own imperial mausoleum in advance. At that time, everyone just thought that Li Chuan was depressed and thought that Li Chuan would get better in a few years.

Who knew that he didn't, his temper became worse and worse, and he became more and more violent. The prince, who had always been known for his benevolence in his youth, eventually embarked on a similar old path as Li Ming.

He was a militarist who suppressed the noble families and used iron-blooded tactics to suppress the court. Only Li Rong could control him a little.

But the Su family case eventually created a rift between the siblings.

After the Su family case, she was bedridden due to injuries, and Li Chuan came to see her.

He was already very thin at that time. They were separated by a curtain, and Li Rong looked at his figure and felt that he was just a silhouette.

He spoke in a daze, and somehow he started talking about Qin Zhenzhen.

He spoke a lot that day, just like when he was young, and at the end, he suddenly opened his mouth.

He said, "Sister, there is a beast in my heart. I can't keep it in. I am afraid of it and myself. I am sorry for hurting you."

"Fortunately," Li Chuan chuckled, "I have done what I should do. From now on, I will leave everything to you, sister."

After he finished speaking, he stood up and left her room like a Taoist priest from the other world.

Soon after the Su family was buried, Li Chuan announced that he would become a monk. Pei Wenxuan and his ministers knelt in the palace for a day and finally reached a compromise: Li Chuan would not become a monk, but he would no longer be in charge of the affairs.

For the next 25 years, Li Chuan never attended the morning court again. He was obsessed with the magic described by the alchemists every day, trying to find a way to bring the dead back to life.

She thought about it countless times in the second half of her life. If she had not let Li Chuan experience the dethronement of the crown prince, and had not let him meet Qin Zhenzhen, would her brother have lived his life like he did in his youth, always full of hope, like a fire in the cold sun, illuminating the world.

But at that time, there was no way back, so she didn't think about the things that couldn't be changed, and just kept going on in a daze.

But now it's different, she really has a choice.

The two of them leaned against the same wall, standing on either side. Li Rong said nothing, and Pei Wenxuan looked up at the afternoon sky. After a long while, Li Rong spoke slowly, "This time, you won't let her enter the palace again, will you?"

Pei Wenxuan didn't say anything. Li Rong was a little confused: "Why don't you respond?"

"Look at you."

Pei Wenxuan spoke calmly, and Li Rong was quite surprised: "Why are you looking at me?"

"If you agree, I will go and tell Qin Lin that if they still want her to enter the palace, that's her business. As for whether or not to intervene directly to prevent her from entering the palace, that's your business."

These words confused Li Rong, she didn't understand.

She paused for a moment, thought about it, and said carefully: "I'm sorry, can you... explain it more clearly? I don't quite understand."

Pei Wenxuan lowered his eyes after hearing this and said, "I shouldn't have intervened back then."

Li Rong was even more confused. She seemed to understand the literal meaning of this sentence. Pei Wenxuan seemed to be saying that he was not going to care about Qin Zhenzhen anymore.

But how is this possible?

Li Rong was at a loss.

Not to mention the weight that Qin Zhenzhen holds in Pei Wenxuan's heart, even if Qin Zhenzhen holds no weight in Pei Wenxuan's heart and is just a friend, according to Pei Wenxuan's personality, it is impossible for him to watch Qin Zhenzhen die when he knows that she will die after entering the palace.

And what does it mean if she agrees?

What does she need to agree to?

When did Pei Wenxuan need her consent for his affairs? Was it her business?

Li Rong was completely confused. She didn't even know how to divide the question into several parts or from which angle to ask the question.

Pei Wenxuan leaned against the wall, lowered his head and said nothing. He knew that Li Rong wanted to ask him something. His heart was beating fast and he felt a little nervous. He was expecting Li Rong to ask the question. After all, this was something he had not found the right opportunity to say in all these years.

But he didn't know whether he should answer. After all, so many years had passed, and saying these things seemed to only add to people's hurt and regrets, and there was no other unnecessary use.

The two of them were silent for a while, and Li Rong finally spoke: "Well, what you mean is that you will only care if I let you do it, and if I don't let you do it, you won't care?"

Pei Wenxuan lowered his head, and after a moment, he responded softly: "Yeah."

"Why...why?"

Li Rong stuttered a little while speaking. Pei Wenxuan lowered his eyes and spoke slowly: "There are boundaries between people. Everyone has a spider web on their body, and a web is pulling at other people. Everyone needs to move within this boundary. If you exceed it, no matter which side you go, it will cause pain to the other side."

Pei Wenxuan said this in a subtle way, but Li Rong understood it. She leaned against the wall and listened to Pei Wenxuan's rare serious and calm words.

"She has her brother, her husband, and she herself should be responsible for her own life. Every choice she makes will bring its consequences. It is not a good thing for anyone to interfere."

"I have my responsibilities, no matter where they come from. Now that I have agreed to marry you, I will bind myself to the requirements of a husband."

"Until our contract ends?" Li Rong chuckled.

Pei Wenxuan was silent for a moment, then he said calmly, "Maybe."

Li Rong listened to Pei Wenxuan's words, pulled a cushion to the corner, sat down with legs crossed, straightened her clothes, and said with emotion: "Pei Wenxuan, these fifty years of your life have really not been lived in vain. If you had realized this earlier, maybe we could have really lived together until old age."

Pei Wenxuan's eyelashes trembled slightly when he heard this.

He didn't know why, but he felt that Li Rong's words were like a sharp knife that pierced through him instantly. He couldn't tell where this feeling came from, maybe it was because of regret, maybe it was dissatisfaction with the previous life, or maybe it was the unspoken feelings in the previous life, which had been dormant for many years and then rebounded in an instant, biting him hard and making him bleed.

The pain calmed Pei Wenxuan down subconsciously. He was used to being extremely calm when he was in extreme emotions.

Li Rong was tidying up her clothes, unaware of Pei Wenxuan's feelings, and continued to smile, "I knew you were smart and would figure things out sooner or later. Sure enough, now that you are like this and have this kind of thinking, how many girls will like you when you go out?"

"Did you know I would figure it out?" Pei Wenxuan asked coldly. Li Rong waved her fan and replied, "I am very good at judging people."

"So what do you think of me?"

"Now or before?"

“Back then.”

Hearing this, Li Rong thought about it seriously, and tried to recall Pei Wenxuan thirty years ago, and slowly said: "You were a good person back then, but you were stubborn and couldn't let go."

"What do you mean?"

"Back then you promised to take care of Qin Zhenzhen, and you thought that a gentleman's word is as good as his bond, and you went to help her regardless of your own situation." Li Rong said as she poured herself some tea, analyzing, "And you always thought in your heart that you liked Qin Zhenzhen, but when you met me and suddenly fell for me, you were devastated and conflicted. You couldn't accept it, and wondered how you could be such a fickle man? So, there's nothing wrong with your motives, you just can't get over it."

Pei Wenxuan listened to Li Rong's calm and relaxed description of the past. He lowered his eyes and felt that everything Li Rong said about him was extremely harsh. But he knew clearly that the fundamental reason for this harshness was that everything Li Rong said was true.

"At that time," he said in a calm voice without any emotion, "you knew that I liked you."

"I'm not stupid."

Li Rong blew the green leaves on the tea. "If you didn't like me, would you be so nice to me? It's just that I was shy back then. I felt in my heart that you liked me, but I was a little unsure."

"Then you..." Pei Wenxuan's voice was dry, "Why didn't you wait for me?"

If she had been willing to wait a little longer, he might have been able to see his own heart clearly, learn to grow, and their previous life would not have ended like this.

Li Rong couldn't help but laugh when she heard this: "You're funny. I'm not a rag collector. Why should I wait for you?"

"Pei Wenxuan," Li Rong looked at herself in the cup and said calmly, "In fact, you couldn't see clearly."

"It's not that you treated me badly in my last life, I left sadly, then gave up on myself and spent the rest of my life with a banished man. It's that I could have you, but I chose not to. I found a new love and grew old with the one I love."

"A woman hates her rival in love because she feels that in the competition for love, facing a good woman, she has no chance of winning with her current self."

"So she always hopes that the other person is disgusting and that her lover is blind. One day her lover will suddenly wake up and find out how good and beautiful he is. But I don't need such comfort."

Li Rong smiled lightly.

"I know it's easy for me to win over Qin Zhenzhen. If I want you, I don't even have to do anything. I just have to wait. But I don't want to."

Li Rong looked up and saw the sky full of rosy clouds and the chirping of evening swallows: "I, Li Rong, am a descendant of a noble family, a relative of the emperor. My appearance may not be the most stunning in the world, but I am also well-known in the capital. My wealth and power are just embellishments. I am well-educated, well-mannered, and intelligent. For a woman like me, you ask me why I don't wait for you. What you should be asking is--"

Li Rong drank the tea in the cup in one gulp: "Why do you want me to wait for you? Even if Master Pei is good-looking," Li Rong said in a long voice with a hint of playfulness in her tone, "I would not be so lustful that I would lose my mind."

Pei Wenxuan listened to Li Rong's words. She spoke calmly and openly. Even when she was slandering him and talking about unpleasant past events, it made people feel open-minded and happy.

Pei Wenxuan hugged his chest and listened to Li Rong talking. He looked down at his feet, thought for a long time, and couldn't help but chuckled.

He suddenly felt as if he was meeting Li Rong for the first time.

Today's Li Rong is quite different from when she was young. She has the persistence and principles of the 20-year-old Li Rong, but she also has the open-mindedness and calmness that the 20-year-old Li Rong did not have.

They used to argue and quarrel all the time, but as soon as he saw Su Rongqing beside her, he found it difficult to control himself.

Now that he had put aside his prejudice and looked at it, he actually felt an indescribable admiration and love for it.

This kind of liking has nothing to do with love, it's just that women like Li Rong in this world are really hard to look away.

Seeing that Pei Wenxuan didn't answer for a long time, Li Rong couldn't help but think that she might have stabbed Pei Wenxuan's heart. He was usually stingy, and now that his heart was stabbed, he was afraid that he would not speak for a long time.

She felt helpless and cursed the man for being so stingy. She stood up and said, "Do you want to chat today? If not, I'm leaving."

Pei Wenxuan didn't say anything, so Li Rong stood up, flipped through a book, sat at the table, and started reading the story while cracking melon seeds.

After a while, she looked up and found a roll of paper suddenly appeared in the corner of the cell.

The paper was rolled up with a red ribbon and looked very formal, as if it were a gift for someone. It was very beautiful.

Li Rong was somewhat puzzled. She walked forward, bent down and picked up the rolled-up words. She saw Pei Wenxuan's handwriting on them, which read:

Her Royal Highness the Princess personally opens the door.

Pei Wenxuan's calligraphy is used to transform the ordinary into something magical. Even the most ordinary things can appear elegant with his calligraphy added to them.

Li Rong pursed her lips and found it a little funny. She untied the ribbon and opened the paper.

The paper was slowly unfolded, and one could see the eighteen-year-old Li Rong wearing palace dress, with a peony hairpin in her hair, turning sideways and smiling.

That look was that of an eighteen-year-old, but that smile was not that of eighteen-year-old Li Rong.

She was bright and vigorous, yet full of charm. Li Rong couldn't tell when she looked like this.

Pei Wenxuan's words are mentioned below the painting.

Only the peony is the true beauty of the country; the capital city is moved when the flowers bloom.

Li Rong couldn't help but laugh when she heard this.

Pei Wenxuan stood in front of the desk, carefully outlining the lines of Li Rong in the painting.

In fact, one thing he had never dared to face up to in his previous life was that he had never thought that there was any woman more beautiful than Li Rong.

Only the peony is the true beauty of the country, and the only girl who has the beauty of the peony in his heart is Li Rong.

Qin Zhenzhen might be beautiful, but that kind of beauty had never made his heart beat fast, nor had it ever made him astonished.

Only Li Rong.

But she bloomed early and withered quickly, and finally became a dead branch in his memory. He almost forgot those beautiful looks until he looked back suddenly and saw them.

The peony was still blooming, but she just didn't want him to see it anymore.

The author has something to say: [Small Theater]

Question: "What is the meaning of Pei Wenxuan giving Li Rong the painting?"

Li Rong: "It's a reconciliation gift. He wants to use this small favor to make me stop quarreling with him, stand on the same front, and not give him a headache."

Pei Wenxuan: “…”

Q: "Pei Wenxuan should not remain silent. Stand up and speak."

Pei Wenxuan: "It's a love letter..."

Everyone: “…”

Pei Wenxuan: "Of course, the positioning of this love letter will have to wait until later. When you look back, you will find out my true intention..."

Everyone: "Intention?"

Pei Wenxuan: "It's not that I don't want to quarrel with her, I just want to marry her, even if we quarrel for the rest of our lives."