Li Rong slept for a while in a daze. She raised her hand and touched her face inadvertently. Then, in her half-awake and half-asleep state, she suddenly thought of something and woke up abruptly and sat up!

No, she hasn't taken off her makeup yet. If she continues to sleep like this, she will definitely get acne.

This fright made her wake up instantly. The short nap just now gave her strength. When she was about to get out of bed, she noticed that there was someone sleeping next to her. Pei Wenxuan was lying in the quilt, sleeping soundly.

Li Rong was stunned, she never thought that Pei Wenxuan actually got into her bed, it showed that this man was really tired, otherwise with his temper, he would never do such a rude thing.

Pei Wenxuan slept too comfortably. His slow breathing made Li Rong feel a little sleepy. She quickly slapped Pei Wenxuan and called him up: "Pei Wenxuan!"

Pei Wenxuan sat up suddenly and asked in surprise: "What's the matter?!"

Li Rong raised her hands and held his face, turning it towards her, staring at Pei Wenxuan and said, "We haven't washed yet. There's still water in the bathroom. Go take a shower."

Pei Wenxuan was stunned for a moment, then he breathed a sigh of relief and said helplessly, "Your Highness, it's so late, why don't you stop bothering?"

Li Rong has been eating well and sleeping soundly recently. She was able to recover her fighting strength immediately after just a short nap. However, Pei Wenxuan had hardly slept well since he parted with Li Rong in the waterside pavilion a few days ago. Today, he finally put his worries aside and had a good sleep. Being woken up after such a short while was more uncomfortable than not sleeping at all.

But how could Li Rong care about him?

All she could think about was that they had both been wearing dresses for a day, and Pei Wenxuan had also put on makeup today. If she didn't wash it off, she would not only be covered in sweat, but also get acne. How could her beauty be ruined by such a thing? And Pei Wenxuan was someone she had to look at every day. It would be a pity if that fairy face was ruined by a few acne.

So she squeezed Pei Wenxuan's face and stared at him: "Pei Wenxuan, are you still a man?"

When Pei Wenxuan heard her ask this, he knew she was going to be in trouble. He immediately covered his face with his hands in pain and fell to the side wailing, "I'm not, Your Highness, please send me to the palace to be imprisoned tomorrow. I want to sleep..."

Before he could finish his words, Li Rong suddenly threw him out and he rolled down.

Pei Wenxuan was lying on the ground hugging the quilt. Li Rong stepped down from the bed, looked down at him and said, "Hurry up and go to the bathroom to clean yourself up. If you don't clean yourself up before I come back, don't blame me for punishing you."

After hearing this, Pei Wenxuan curled up on the ground hugging the quilt, feeling quite aggrieved.

"Your Highness, the water is cold."

"You are hot." Li Rong put on her coat and looked at him with disdain, as if he were a fool. "Why don't you just warm up the water?"

As she spoke, Li Rong lightly kicked him and said, "Hurry up."

After Li Rong finished speaking, she pushed her hair back and opened the door to go out.

The maid guarding the door came up with a lamp and said respectfully, "Your Highness."

"Have someone prepare it. I'm going to take a bath in the Yuquan Hot Spring."

Hearing this, the maids looked at each other, as if they understood something, and smiled, "Yes."

As for the fact that Li Rong and Pei Wenxuan had to get up in the middle of the night to take a bath, the princess's mansion seemed to have been prepared. There was a natural hot spring in the mansion and a bathroom was specially built. When Li Rong entered, everyone was already prepared. After changing Li Rong's clothes, they served Li Rong into the hot spring.

Li Rong lay in the hot spring with her eyes closed and took a nap. One of the maids helped her remove her makeup, while another cleaned her hair with soap and massaged her scalp carefully.

Li Rong enjoyed lying inside, listening to Jingmei removing her makeup and smiling, "How do you feel today, Your Highness?"

"What does it feel like?"

Li Rong didn't react for a moment, and the maids beside her laughed secretly. Li Rong reacted immediately and felt helpless. Although these maids around her were not married, they knew a lot.

But she couldn't tell them the truth, so she could only perfunctorily say, "Very good."

"The prince consort should be very gentle, right?"

Jinglan was massaging Li Rong's scalp when she suddenly said this. Li Rong was a little surprised: "Why do you care about this?"

When she asked this, everyone laughed again.

"Your Highness," Jingmei said with a smile, "We have been waiting just now. We thought that it was the prince consort who would come to the Yuquan Hot Spring, but we didn't expect that it was you who came over and left the prince consort in the clean room."

Li Rong: “…”

Li Rong was a little embarrassed for a moment. She didn't know whether to say that Pei Wenxuan was in poor health or that she was in good health.

Fortunately, all the girls here are unmarried. She coughed lightly and said casually, "It's not as exaggerated as you think. The water here is warm. Don't ask so many questions. Just give me the bath beans."

Li Rong's attempt to cover up her mistake made everyone laugh, but no one said anything. After helping Li Rong finish her bath, they stood up to dry her hair and sent her back to her room.

When Li Rong returned to the room, Pei Wenxuan had already washed himself. He asked someone to change the water in the room, but because his bathing time was shorter, when Li Rong came back, he was sitting cross-legged on the bed and drying his hair.

When Li Rong walked in, he looked up, said nothing, and lowered his head to continue wiping his hair.

The maid closed the door at the back. Li Rong walked to the bedside. Pei Wenxuan's movements became a little stiff. Li Rong sat down on the bedside. Pei Wenxuan hurriedly stood up and wanted to leave. Li Rong raised her hand and pressed on the bed rail, blocking Pei Wenxuan's way out. She said calmly: "Sit down. I have something to talk to you about."

"It's late now..."

Pei Wenxuan saw that Li Rong didn't look very good, so he forced a smile and said, "How about going to bed first?"

"Your hair isn't dry yet." Li Rong moved her legs onto the bed and laid down beside it, leaning against the bedpost to block Pei Wenxuan's path. Pei Wenxuan knelt down, took a deep breath and said, "I can get off the bed and talk later."

"I want to talk to you in bed."

"No..." Pei Wenxuan stuttered, "Not good, right?"

"You've been sitting here for a long time, what else is there? Why are you so nervous?" Li Rong looked him up and down, leaned over, "Do you feel that you have done something wrong?"

When Li Rong leaned forward, a fresh fragrance rushed over with her. Pei Wenxuan was so scared that he leaned back quickly, and his breathing became a little rapid.

Li Rong was very close to him. She stared at him. He pretended to be calm and looked at Li Rong. After a while, Li Rong smiled gently. In the dim light, the smile reflected the bright red color around her, showing a bit of beauty. She raised her hand gently and brushed the hair stuck to his face behind his ears: "Don't be afraid," she said in a long voice. Her voice was usually soft and a bit cold. At this moment, it sounded like a hook to Pei Wenxuan. Then her hand stopped on his face. Before Pei Wenxuan could get confused, she suddenly patted his face lightly, "Confess and I will be lenient. This palace is very generous."

This pat made him sober up a little. He quickly regained his composure, sat up straight, and said calmly, "What does Your Highness want me to confess?"

"What's wrong with Su Rongqing?" Li Rong stared at him. "I'm getting married, and you asked him to pick me up. Are you mocking me?"

"Your Highness," Pei Wenxuan looked straight ahead, "Can you please talk to me from a distance?"

"Will you answer me if I stay away?"

Pei Wenxuan remained silent. Li Rong took it as his agreement, then stood up, changed to a more elegant posture, and knelt down opposite Pei Wenxuan.

The couple knelt on either side of the bed, one with his head across his body. Li Rong stared at Pei Wenxuan, who lowered his eyes. After hesitating for a moment, he organized his words and said, "I just hope that you can be happier."

"It's my wedding," Li Rong said angrily, knocking on the bed with her fan. "You asked Su Rongqing to pick me up. Who are you humiliating?! You still want to make me happy?!"

"You and him are just not meant to be together," Pei Wenxuan raised his head and looked at Li Rong seriously. "You didn't have the right opportunity in your last life, but you can have it in this life, right?"

Li Rong was a little surprised when she heard Pei Wenxuan's words. She paused for a long time and felt that she seemed to understand every word Pei Wenxuan said, but she still didn't understand what he meant.

"Can you," Li Rong frowned, "tell me what you are thinking in a language I can understand?"

"What I mean is that you can start over with Su Rongqing in this life."

"Why should I start over?" Li Rong asked subconsciously.

"Because you love him." Pei Wenxuan answered seriously.

"I...I love him?" Li Rong was frightened by Pei Wenxuan and stuttered. She grabbed the fan and said blankly, "I...how come I don't know?"

"You have been with him for twenty-five years," Pei Wenxuan lowered his eyes, "I have seen it all. He was very good to you and protected you very well. You were very happy when you were with him. Even in this life, when you saw him, it was different."

Li Rong listened to Pei Wenxuan's words and felt confused for a moment.

Pei Wenxuan looked up at her and said softly, "Li Rong, in fact, you are best at deceiving yourself. Every time, you not only deceive others, but also deceive yourself. When you were young, you lied to yourself that you didn't like me. Now, you also lie to yourself that you don't like Su Rongqing. But in fact, you don't dislike her, you are just afraid."

"What am I afraid of?"

Li Rong felt a little nervous when she heard what Pei Wenxuan said.

She vaguely felt that Pei Wenxuan was right, but also felt that something was not quite right. She just felt that this conversation made her embarrassed and awkward, so embarrassed that she even regretted why she asked this question.

But she wanted to listen.

She wanted to know who she was in Pei Wenxuan's eyes and what she thought.

"You are afraid that he will be the same as before, afraid that the love he gives you in this life will be the same as in the last life, that family is more important than you, and that power is more important than you. Li Rong, you always say that you understand Su Rongqing, that you understand Su Rongqing's choice, and that you don't resent him. But if you don't resent him, why did you give up on him from the beginning?"

Li Rong was stunned, Pei Wenxuan laughed: "You still resent him. Because he killed you, you saw clearly that he and you are similar people, but you knew in your heart that you would rather not have a relationship that would give up on you without hesitation in front of the family. So you knew that this life has been restarted, and you knew that the fate of the Su family would change. You had countless opportunities to be with him and have a better life, but at the beginning, you chose to give up."

"So you said so much," Li Rong smiled bitterly, "what do you want to say?"

"But Su Rongqing is not like that." Pei Wenxuan's words were full of sincerity. "You think that he would definitely choose his wife over his family. You think that he would not truly love anyone, but do you know the 20-year-old Su Rongqing? If he didn't have you in his heart, if he was really as calm as you said, and love didn't occupy such an important position in his life, then he would not have come on the day of the waterside pavilion."

"Before we got married, I asked him," Pei Wenxuan smiled, "I asked him who to choose if there was a conflict between his wife and his family. He told me that his wife is also a family member, and he chooses reason. He is not what you think he is. He can give you the love you want."

"He can give it to me," Li Rong said helplessly, "Why should I ask for it?"

"Because you want to live a good life." Pei Wenxuan looked into her eyes. "You don't want to live the same life as your last one. You want the Crown Prince to have a good future. You want a wonderful family. You also want someone to love you and be loved by you. You want children to be around you. You want someone to rely on you in your old age and to die together with you, right?"

Li Rong was speechless. Pei Wenxuan took a deep breath and said, "You want all this. He is the person you are most likely to fall in love with. You and him could have been fine. In this life, why don't you try to fight for it and make an effort once?"

"Don't always think about being old. You are only 18 years old now. You are in your prime years. Why do you want to block all possibilities? When Su Rongqing came to pick you up today, didn't you think at that moment that if one day you could get married, wouldn't you be very happy?"

"I... I haven't thought about it..." Li Rong felt a little guilty for a moment when she saw Pei Wenxuan speaking passionately. She felt that she had no thoughts in her mind and seemed to be letting Pei Wenxuan down.

Moreover, she felt that what Pei Wenxuan said made some sense, but it made sense, but for some reason, she had no desire to put it into practice immediately.

Pei Wenxuan saw that Li Rong was still resisting, and felt a little disappointed that they were not getting along, so he immediately said, "Then think about it now, imagine now, if you get married, will your life be better?"

"I...I'm a little sleepy."

Li Rong felt that this topic could not be discussed any further, so she quickly said, "We have things to do tomorrow, let's go to bed first."

"No," Pei Wenxuan stretched out his hand to stop Li Rong who was about to fall asleep, and straightened her up, "I finally had a serious talk with you, we have to make this issue clear."

"What's the problem?" Li Rong looked confused. Pei Wenxuan said seriously, "How are you going to marry Su Rongqing?"

"Let's go to sleep."

Li Rong immediately fell down again. Pei Wenxuan stopped her halfway and straightened her up: "Don't make a fuss. Listen to me. Facing your feelings for Su Rongqing is the first step to open your heart. Only when you start to learn to face yourself can you live a good life."

Li Rong was overwhelmed by these words. She took a deep breath, sat cross-legged, and rolled up her sleeves. "Okay, you talk, I'll listen, I want to see who can survive tonight. What's the big truth? Come over here! Just tell me first, what benefits will I get from marrying Su Rongqing?"

"First, you and Su Rongqing are of similar status and have similar ideas. When you are together, you can be like bosom friends and good friends. You can live in harmony with each other for the rest of your life and become a couple like gods."

"Secondly, Su Rongqing is of noble status and is originally from a noble family. If you are with him, it can be said that you are like a tiger with wings. In the future, no matter what His Royal Highness wants to do, it will be much more convenient with Su Rongqing around."

"Third, you and him already have a mutual affection and a foundation..."

Pei Wenxuan gave full play to his instincts in the court, telling Li Rong about Su Rongqing's good points one by one and describing their bright future after their marriage.

Li Rong widened her eyes and kept staring at Pei Wenxuan.

She couldn't believe that Pei Wenxuan was so sleepy just now, but now he is not sleepy anymore.

However, Pei Wenxuan was fully aware of Li Rong's intention. He was a man who always became stronger when facing a strong opponent. If Li Rong wanted to outlast him, he would never let Li Rong succeed.

So he gathered his energy, looked Li Rong in the eye, racked his brains, talked slowly, and fully proved the necessity of Li Rong marrying Su Rongqing.

Pei Wenxuan was too talkative. He was alone on the stage, and slowly talked about the crowing of roosters. Li Rong propped her head up with her hands, dozed off, and listened to Pei Wenxuan's magical voice.

Pei Wenxuan became more and more energetic as he spoke. Seeing that Li Rong was about to fall down, he immediately woke her up and asked seriously, "Your Highness, have you thought it over?"

Then Li Rong was startled, and immediately came to her senses. She asked again in a serious tone, "Let alone the fact that what you said is questionable, even if it is true, how can I marry him now that I have married you?"

"I have thought of this for Your Highness," Pei Wenxuan said, and immediately got off the bed. Li Rong breathed a sigh of relief when she saw him run away. Just as she was about to fall to the side, Pei Wenxuan returned to the bed and respectfully presented a memorial, "This is the plan I have drawn up for Your Highness. I have thought about it. In order for Your Highness and Su Rongqing to continue their past relationship, we need to divide it into steps. The first step is to know each other. Your Highness needs to correctly understand his own mentality, let go of his guard against his past life, and correctly understand Su Rongqing."

Li Rong took the memorial and listened to Pei Wenxuan's words in the dark. She was shocked and opened the memorial which detailed the solution to the problem of how to marry Su Rongqing. The memorial was as long as Li Rong's hand. With the moonlight, Li Rong could see the dense words on it. She listened to Pei Wenxuan continue: "The second step is to know the enemy. We need to determine what Su Rongqing's attitude is towards Your Highness and towards love now. Leave this to me." Pei Wenxuan put his hand on his chest, looking serious, which made people feel very relieved. "I will go and build a good relationship with Su Rongqing first to determine Su Rongqing's feelings towards Your Highness."

"After confirming Su Rongqing's intentions, we started the third step, which was to keep the enemy at bay. I will also complete this step, mainly to let Su Rongqing know that His Highness and I are allies, and that he still has a chance."

"The fourth step is to capture the enemy. When Su Rongqing has a chance, we will create some opportunities for His Highness to have some interactions with Su Rongqing. With Your Highness's ability, Su Rongqing will be easily captured and will surely fall at your feet. Then Your Highness can make a promise with him."

"You..." Li Rong was stunned. "Are you too confident in me?"

"No," Pei Wenxuan said seriously, "This is my comprehensive assessment of Your Highness. With Your Highness's appearance, means, and temperament, if there is a suitable opportunity, who in the world would not be envious of You? Your Highness, please do not underestimate yourself."

"You put it so nicely..." Li Rong murmured, "I almost believe it."

"Your Highness, do you not believe me?"

Pei Wenxuan looked like a civil official who was ready to die, which made Li Rong gasp. She listened to the roosters crowing outside, holding the memorial in her hand, and suddenly realized that Pei Wenxuan came prepared. She was afraid that she would not win this eagle-watching competition.

She took a deep breath and decided to use the enemy's tactics to attack his own defenses, so that Pei Wenxuan could understand her feelings. She nodded and said, "Master Pei is right. I suddenly realized that I had a sudden enlightenment. I want to make up for my regrets in my new life. Master Pei is so considerate of me. I am very grateful. To repay Master Pei's sincere heart, I have decided to arrange your marriage."

Pei Wenxuan stood there in a daze, and repeated: "My marriage?"

"Yes," Li Rong nodded seriously, "Lord Pei and Miss Qin were not blessed by fate in the past. Now that they have been reborn, Miss Qin has not yet entered the palace. Lord Pei should muster up his courage and catch up with her!"

"No... no need." Pei Wenxuan became a little restless when he heard Li Rong mention Qin Zhenzhen, "Let's just talk about His Highness..."

"No," Li Rong pressed Pei Wenxuan's shoulder and said sincerely, "Master Pei cares so much about me, how can I not care about Master Pei? Master Pei doesn't have to refuse. If Master Pei refuses, then I don't understand why you insist on making me marry Su Rongqing."

Pei Wenxuan froze when he heard this. After a moment, he gritted his teeth and said, "Your Highness is right, but the most urgent matter is still Lord Su. Miss Qin Er is not in a hurry."

"Actually, Lord Su is not in a hurry."

At this point, both of them fell silent. Pei Wenxuan took a deep breath and said, "Don't worry, Your Highness. I will take care of Lord Su's affairs. I will definitely be able to handle it for Your Highness."

"Don't worry, Master Pei," Li Rong said immediately, "Leave Miss Qin's matter to me. I will definitely help Master Pei."

Pei Wenxuan: “…”

Li Rong: “…”

The rooster crowed again, and Pei Wenxuan hesitated and said, "Since His Highness has already agreed to this matter, why don't we... go to sleep?"

Li Rong nodded, and the two of them quickly got into bed and took the opportunity to close their eyes.

After closing her eyes, Li Rong couldn't help but ask again: "Pei Wenxuan."

"Um?"

"What do you want to achieve by doing this?"

Pei Wenxuan didn't say anything. Li Rong thought about it. In fact, she could guess that Pei Wenxuan was doing it for her own good without him saying anything. Maybe his method was a little wrong, but in his heart, Pei Wenxuan really wanted her to live a good life.

She couldn't help but laugh silently in the night: "You said that our relationship is not husband and wife, nor is it a pure alliance. We have been through ups and downs for 30 years. On the one hand, we slander each other, and on the other hand, we want to be good to each other. After getting married, we still have to help each other plan marriages with other people. What kind of relationship is this?"

Pei Wenxuan was silent. He felt an inexplicable sense of depression when he heard what Li Rong said. He turned his back to Li Rong and whispered, "If you want to respect me, you can treat me as a brother."

"Forget it," Li Rong immediately denied, "I don't have the hobby of looking for a brother."

"It's up to you."

Pei Wenxuan was too lazy to pay attention to her. Li Rong thought for a moment, then suddenly turned around and walked up to Pei Wenxuan, happily saying, "Can you be considered my best friend?"

"Stay away from me." Pei Wenxuan shrank back, "Don't come over and scare me."

Li Rong laughed, turned over and moved away from him. She didn't know why, but she seemed to have suddenly found a new word to define the relationship between her and Pei Wenxuan.

"Pei Wenxuan," she poked Pei Wenxuan's back with her hand, "I think this word is particularly suitable for you. From now on, you are my best friend."

"Then what are you to me? A brother?"

Pei Wenxuan counterattacked, and Li Rong burst into laughter. She was no longer sleepy and continued to mutter, "You are in my room now, you..."

"Oh my aunt," Pei Wenxuan couldn't help but turned over, raised his hand to cover her mouth, and said seriously, "Go to sleep, okay?"

Li Rong blinked, and Pei Wenxuan took a deep breath: "Okay, I'm your best friend, are you asleep?"

Li Rong smiled and closed her eyes, feeling very satisfied.

Seeing Li Rong close her eyes, Pei Wenxuan sighed, and even forgot to turn around, and fell asleep face to face with her.

Before falling asleep, he vaguely thought -

I'll need a few more quilts tomorrow so that they'll be softer when I sleep on the floor.

If he continues to endure this, he is afraid he will die young.