Li Rong felt calm as he held her in his arms.

Everyone around them was waiting for them with a smile. Li Rong paused for a moment, and seeing that Pei Wenxuan still didn't let go, she coughed lightly and reminded him in a low voice, "It's time to go back."

Pei Wenxuan heard this and hugged her tightly, then slowly let go and said to Li Rong, "I just offended Your Highness, I hope Your Highness will forgive me."

"Why should we be polite?" Li Rong said, looking him up and down, then smiled and said, "Go back quickly, it stinks."

Pei Wenxuan's ears suddenly felt hot when he heard this. He didn't think much of it when Li Rong insulted him before, but now that Li Rong insulted him, he couldn't help but feel a little restrained. He wished he could quickly rub himself clean, roll himself in the incense, and appear in front of Li Rong in a decent manner without any flaws.

Pei Wenxuan involuntarily moved a little further away from Li Rong, pretending to be calm and said, "Well, let's go back first."

Li Ming had someone pass on the message in advance, so Li Rong and Pei Wenxuan were able to leave the palace smoothly.

Li Rong asked Pei Wenxuan about the situation on the way. Pei Wenxuan answered one by one. Li Rong nodded, and her face showed no joy or anger. At the end, she finally asked, "Are you not injured?"

Pei Wenxuan laughed when he heard this, and his tone softened involuntarily: "No, don't worry. I had a smooth journey."

"That's true," Li Rong thought about what to do next and said slowly, "You've always been smart."

As they talked, Pei Wenxuan escorted Li Rong to the carriage. When Li Rong got on the carriage, she saw that Pei Wenxuan had no intention of coming in, so she rolled up the curtain and looked at the young man outside the carriage: "Why don't you get up?"

"My humble servant has lost his manners. I will just take the carriage at the back."

Pei Wenxuan smiled and said, "So as not to disturb His Highness."

Li Rong raised her eyebrows when she heard this: "I thought you wanted to suffocate me to death."

"Your Highness, you are joking." Pei Wenxuan was a little embarrassed, thinking that Li Rong was too harsh. Li Rong smiled and said, "Come up, I don't mind, what do you mind? I still have many things to ask."

After hearing what Li Rong said, Pei Wenxuan could no longer hold back and could only get on the carriage, and deliberately kept a distance from Li Rong.

Li Rong saw that he was sitting far away, feeling somewhat helpless, and ordered, "Come over here."

“Your Highness…”

"Otherwise I'll sit over there."

Pei Wenxuan was speechless and hesitated for a moment before finally sitting next to Li Rong.

He pretended to be calm. Li Rong could see that he was nervous and couldn't help asking, "You went out. Were you scared to death by someone? Are you so scared to see me?"

"I'm not scared," Pei Wenxuan said subconsciously, "I just think..."

"It stinks."

Li Rong interrupted him. She kept bringing this up, and Pei Wenxuan was a little angry. He couldn't help but said, "You don't stink. Go out and travel for 20 days, and try it."

Li Rong laughed and poked him with her fan, saying, "No, I won't do that. You should handle this matter."

Pei Wenxuan felt a little softer when he saw Li Rong smile. Then he heard Li Rong say slowly, "We've seen all kinds of bad things happen to each other before. Why are you pretending to be the same?"

"I always hope," Pei Wenxuan lowered his eyes, "Your Highness can see more of the best of me."

Li Rong paused her movements, she looked up at Pei Wenxuan, and saw that Pei Wenxuan had his eyes lowered, looking at the teacup in his hand, his upright face showed no emotion, and the words he just said were spoken nonchalantly, without any hint of romance.

Li Rong felt that Pei Wenxuan was a capable person. He could always say touching words in a fair and impartial manner. She couldn't tell whether he was outspoken or had other intentions.

If she was a girl of seventeen or eighteen, and listened to his vague hints every day, she would have probably thought of something wrong.

Fortunately, Li Rong considers herself to be a very self-aware person and never thinks positively about such things.

After all, one of life's greatest illusions is that someone likes you.

Pei Wenxuan had never been very tactful in such matters, so Li Rong didn't take it to heart and just said, "Now that you've returned with evidence, the people in the aristocratic family must be anxious."

"Yes." Pei Wenxuan followed Li Rong's words and said, "This is an opportunity to divide the family. I'm afraid that Lord Shangguan will come to see Your Highness in a while."

"I've asked my mother to tell him my attitude. Actually, I think my uncle is already aware of my attitude. Now we just need to investigate the military pay case and don't worry about anything else. The Shangguan family's idea," Li Rong tapped her palm with a small fan, "depends on Aya's ability."

Pei Wenxuan responded, and the two of them remained silent, each with their own thoughts. After finishing the main business, they actually had a lot of other things to talk about, but when the words came to their lips, it seemed that because they wanted to say too much, they didn't know how to start. In the end, Li Rong simply gave up and said, "You are tired too, take a rest, go back to the house, I will take care of some other things, you take a nap first."

Pei Wenxuan listened to Li Rong's words, and for some reason, he felt a little disappointed.

He didn't show any expression, just responded, took a blanket from the side, leaned against the small table, and fell asleep.

It took him twenty days to travel from Huajing to the northwest and back, and he had to check accounts and record statements along the way, with almost no time to rest.

He leaned back on the table, and even though he was thinking a lot, he couldn't help falling asleep.

When her ears could hear his steady breathing in the carriage, Li Rong finally glanced over. Once she saw him, she couldn't take her eyes off him.

This man had lost a lot of weight and had stubble on his face, which was completely different from the noble young man he had appeared in Huajing.

She watched quietly for a while, time passed quickly, and when she reacted, she had already arrived at the princess's mansion.

Li Rong pushed Pei Wenxuan, and Pei Wenxuan woke up in a daze. Li Rong reminded him, "Go back and rest first. I have to go see the Qin family."

"I'll go with you..." Pei Wenxuan just said this, then he remembered something and felt that something was wrong, so he just said, "Then I'll go back and rest first."

Li Rong knew what Pei Wenxuan was worried about, and she thought it was a little funny, but she also felt that Pei Wenxuan needed a rest, so she said, "Go ahead."

Pei Wenxuan got off the carriage with her, and Li Rong went straight to find the Qin family. Pei Wenxuan followed the servants to the backyard. After walking a few steps, he finally couldn't help but turned back and called Li Rong: "Your Highness."

Li Rong turned around and saw Pei Wenxuan standing at the end of the corridor. He pursed his lips and said, "Your Highness, won't you ask a few more questions?"

Li Rong was stunned. Pei Wenxuan saw that she couldn't react, so he waved his hand and said, "Your Highness, please get busy first. I'll go and rest."

After saying that, he left without Li Rong's reply. Li Rong was somewhat confused by Pei Wenxuan's reaction. She stood there for a moment and heard Jinglan remind her, "Your Highness, the Qin family has been settled."

She finally reacted, nodded, and walked into the yard with her mind focused.

She arrived at the courtyard where the Qin family was accommodated. All the Qin family members gathered in the lobby. As she reached the door, she heard the sound of a woman crying and voices of comfort intertwined.

Li Rong walked into the courtyard, and Xun Chuan came forward and bowed to Li Rong, saying, "Your Highness."

"Are you okay?"

Li Rong looked at her for a moment, and seeing that she looked normal, she smiled and said, "I heard that you robbed the execution ground today."

"The executioner beheaded me early today," Xun Chuan pursed his lips, "I just..."

"Well done." Li Rong raised her hand and patted her shoulder, interrupting her self-blame, and said with a smile, "What we need is someone like you who dares to go against the aristocratic families and has the courage to do it."

"Your Highness..." Xun Chuan was a little uneasy. Li Rong withdrew her hand and soothed him, "I'm serious. Don't worry. I won't say anything sarcastic to you."

She knew she didn't understand.

Xun Chuan felt relieved. Li Rong went in with her and whispered, "How are the people at home?"

"Everything is fine." Xun Chuan said softly, "I heard that the prince consort cleared Qin's grievances in the palace today. Everyone in the Qin family is very grateful to the princess and the prince consort."

As they talked, they walked into the hall. Seeing Li Rong, Qin Lang excitedly stepped forward and was about to kneel down: "Your Highness..."

"Master Qin," Li Rong quickly reached out to support him, "You are injured, take a good rest first."

"Your Highness, the entire Qin family was saved by your Highness. Your Highness has been very kind to the Qin family. I, old man..." Qin Lang said, his voice choking. Li Rong glanced at Xun Chuan, who came forward and helped Qin Lang sit down. He said in a deliberately hoarse voice, "Master Qin, please sit down and talk."

Qin Lang nodded and sat down. Li Rong also sat next to him and chatted with him for a while.

The Qin family members who survived the disaster were very excited and came forward to kneel down to pay homage to Li Rong. Only Qin Lin stood quietly aside. At the end, he saw that Li Rong was a little tired, so he stepped forward and said, "Your Highness, the Qin family is now safe. If Your Highness is tired, you can make other arrangements first. I will take care of the family members another day. Thank you very much."

Li Rong had only come to check on the Qin family. After confirming that everything was fine, she followed Qin Lin's instructions and walked down the stairs. She stood up and said, "Then you guys should have a good rest. I will leave first."

Qin Lin responded and personally saw Li Rong off.

Qin Lin said nothing on the way. Li Rong was quite surprised and couldn't help laughing: "I thought that for such a big thing, Lord Qin would at least thank me."

"Thank you, it never means anything." Qin Lin stopped walking. Li Rong turned to look at him and couldn't help but raise her eyebrows. Qin Lin looked calm. "All I can give back to Your Highness is the power of the northwest."

Li Rong didn't say anything. She just stared at Qin Lin quietly. Qin Lin raised his eyes and looked at Li Rong: "This is what Your Highness wants most, isn't it?"

"General Qin is very confident in his abilities."

"It's not that I have confidence in myself, it's that Your Highness has confidence in me. Otherwise, you wouldn't have forced the Crown Prince to come to Jiuyou Mountain to invite me."

Qin Lin said, looked at the sky, raised his hand and said: "Your Highness, please come in. There should be many things to do later. Your Highness, please don't delay."

After saying that, Qin Lin bowed, turned around and left.

Li Rong stood there for a moment, chuckled, turned around and walked out.

After taking care of the Qin family, Li Rong went straight to Shangguan Ya in the afternoon. Shangguan Ya and Xun Chuan handed her all their confessions in recent days, and told her everything they had done recently. After Li Rong got all the information, she discussed the next things with Shangguan Ya: "Your father should think of coming to me soon, but I will definitely investigate the military pay case to the end. You have to find a way to convince him and let him take this opportunity to rectify the Shangguan family. It will definitely be inconvenient for him to come forward to rectify it. At that time, you can take the initiative to ask for permission and let the Shangguan family conduct a self-investigation."

"In this way, I will be the one who speaks in the Shangguan family." Shangguan Ya smiled, "I can even discuss with my father and let me be the spokesperson of the Shangguan family to negotiate with His Highness."

"Yes." Li Rong responded and discussed the details with Shangguan Ya. After the discussion, Li Rong looked at the sky and said, "I'll go back first."

"So early?" Shangguan Ya was a little surprised, "How about we have dinner together?"

"No need," Li Rong waved her hand, "Pei Wenxuan just came back today, I'll go back early, I still have something to discuss."

"Is that so?" Shangguan Ya nodded and said, "Okay, let's make an appointment another day."

Li Rong nodded and walked out. Xun Chuan still had some details to confirm with Shangguan Ya. After Li Rong left, Shangguan Ya looked at the direction Li Rong was walking in, as if thinking about something. Xun Chuan couldn't help but ask, "What are you thinking about?"

"No, I was just thinking," Shangguan Ya turned around, "Do you think His Highness likes Lord Su more or the Prince Consort more?"

Xun Chuan frowned: "Is this what you should think?"

"Thinking about serious matters all day long is a headache," Shangguan Ya sighed, "Look at how lively His Highness is."

Xun Chuan was speechless for a moment, and only said: "Just take care of yourself."

As she spoke, she reminded him, "Hurry up and finish your work, so as not to accidentally run into Su Ronghua again."

Shangguan Ya took a deep breath when she heard this person. She didn't know why she always ran into Su Ronghua everywhere. She was scared just thinking about it and couldn't help but asked, "Xun Chuan, can you do me a favor?"

"No help." Xun Chuan refused decisively, but Shangguan Ya still said, "Why don't you beat him up?"

"If you don't do your job, I'll beat you up." Xun Chuan flipped through the papers on the table and said seriously. Shangguan Ya sighed and raised her hand to slap her head, "Ah, what do you mean by friends being loyal to each other? The ancients really lied to me."

Li Rong said goodbye to Shangguan Ya and went back. Pei Wenxuan also got up.

He had slept for a whole day and felt much better. Just after he changed his clothes, he heard the sound of Li Rong returning home.

He was a little surprised that Li Rong came back so early, but he still got up and went to the door to pick her up.

Li Rong saw Pei Wenxuan standing at the door and laughed, "Didn't you sleep a little longer?"

"I've been sleeping all day."

Pei Wenxuan smiled and went to the restaurant with Li Rong.

Li Rong noticed that his smile was not visible in his eyes, and couldn't help but ask, "You look pale, maybe you haven't slept enough?"

"I've slept enough, but I haven't recovered yet."

Pei Wenxuan said as he sat down with Li Rong. Li Rong nodded and watched the servants serve the dishes. While picking up her chopsticks, she told Pei Wenxuan about today's schedule, repeated the information she had exchanged with Shangguan Ya, and repeated her plans for tomorrow.

Pei Wenxuan listened quietly, his expression showing no emotion, he just responded steadily according to what Li Rong said.

This kind of atmosphere made Li Rong feel a little awkward. After the two of them finished their meal, Pei Wenxuan did not stay. After saying goodbye to Li Rong, he left first and went to the study.

Pei Wen declared sick leave for more than 20 days. Official documents piled up like a mountain. He dived into the study and never came out. Li Rong waited in the room for a while, and when she saw that he didn't come back, she got up and moved the memorial to her for approval.

Neither of them spoke, each of them was reviewing documents in a room.

By midnight, Jinglan and Jingmei couldn't help but get anxious. Jingmei lowered her voice and said to Jinglan, "You said these two people are strange. They finally came back to see each other, why did they end up like this?"

Jinglan said nothing. After a while, she sighed and said, "I'll go and ask the prince consort to come."

As she spoke, Jinglan arrived at the door of Pei Wenxuan's study. Tong Ye was standing guard at the door. He was dozing off and almost falling asleep. Jinglan went forward, woke Tong Ye up, and whispered, "Isn't the prince consort going to bed yet?"

Tong Ye shook his head and yawned, "I'm afraid the prince consort won't sleep tonight. Sister Jinglan, what are you doing here? Does His Highness have any instructions?"

Jinglan didn't say anything. She thought for a moment and whispered, "Go and tell the prince consort that his highness has not been feeling well lately and hasn't slept yet. Ask him to give him some advice."

Tong Ye cried out in surprise, then came to his senses and said hurriedly, "Wait a minute, I'll go talk to the Prince Consort. The Prince Consort cares about Your Highness the most."

Tong Ye hurried to the room, knelt on the ground and said, "Master, this is not good. Please go and try to persuade them."

Pei Wenxuan raised his eyes and frowned: "What do you want to persuade me for?"

"The princess is not sleeping," Tong Ye sighed, "I heard that His Highness has been in poor health recently and is busy with government affairs today. You should go and see her."

Hearing this, Pei Wenxuan immediately stood up. He had been holding back his anger for a whole day and finally found a way to vent it. He threw the pen in his hand and said angrily, "Nonsense!"

Having said that, Pei Wenxuan hurried back to the room.

Li Rong was concentrating on reviewing the performance review documents that came to the Inspection Department today. Just after she finished reviewing one, she heard the door being pushed open abruptly. The cold wind rushed in from outside. Li Rong looked up in surprise and saw Pei Wenxuan striding in. Without saying a word, he took away the memorial from her and threw her pen aside.

Li Rong looked up at him blankly. Pei Wenxuan put his hands in his sleeves and looked down at Li Rong with a cold face: "Go to sleep."

Jinglan quickly closed the door. Li Rong glanced at the servants running away, then at Pei Wenxuan who was in a domineering mood. After hesitating for a moment, she slowly said, "Then... let's go to sleep?"

Pei Wenxuan said nothing, turned around and began to take off his coat. Li Rong stood aside and watched him get angry. After watching for a while, she couldn't help laughing out loud.

Pei Wenxuan froze, turned his back to Li Rong, and said coldly, "What are you laughing at?"

"I've been holding it in for a whole day, and I finally found a reason for you to quarrel." Li Rong smiled and leaned against the pillar next to her, looking at Pei Wenxuan who was frozen in place, "Pei Yushi must be upset, right?"

Pei Wenxuan didn't say anything. He hung up his clothes and turned to make the bed.

Li Rong walked behind him, and seeing how angry he was, she felt that it was easier to talk to him, so she softened her tone and said, "I listened to what you said today. Are you angry that I don't care about you enough? I trust you. I know you are very capable, and it's not easy for you to get into trouble, so I didn't ask too much. It's not that I don't worry about you. You don't know, I was also worried when I heard that you were in trouble."

Pei Wenxuan made the bed sheets and spread out the quilt, then stood up to wash his face.

Li Rong followed him and continued, "You got angry first, you looked cold first, and then it was hard for me to say anything soft. Sigh, Pei Wenxuan, think it over carefully. I am a princess. Didn't the palace send someone to teach you the rules before you got married? Why do you have such a bad temper?"

Pei Wenxuan said nothing, opened the door to splash the water out, and then closed it with a "bang".

Everyone was shocked. Li Rong swallowed her saliva. Considering Pei Wenxuan's contribution, she decided not to argue with him. She coughed and said, "Forget it, forget it. I'll give in today. What are you angry about? Why don't you take the initiative to tell me?"

Pei Wenxuan stopped talking. He turned his back to Li Rong. After a while, he asked, "Is there anything else you haven't told me?"

"There are so many things I haven't told you, I don't even know which one to start with."

Li Rong said frankly: "But if there is anything you want to know, I can tell you."

Pei Wenxuan listened to Li Rong's words, and he didn't know why, but he suddenly lost all his strength.

He suddenly felt that he had lost his temper and was being unreasonable.

In fact, Li Rong did nothing wrong. He was the one who was uneasy and cared about what Su Rongqing said.

He had a knot in his heart, so any detail about Li Rong would be magnified infinitely.

But he couldn't say these words. He didn't want Li Rong to see how cruel he was towards Su Rongqing.

He took a deep breath, shook his head and said, "It's my own fault. Go to sleep."

As he spoke, he said to Li Rong, "Your Highness, please go to bed first. I will turn off the lights."

Li Rong responded, took off her coat, and went to bed.

Pei Wenxuan turned off the lights and came back to sleep outside.

The two of them stayed awake at night. After a while, Li Rong spoke slowly, "When you were gone, everyone thought you were dead."

Pei Wenxuan didn't say anything, so Li Rong continued, "But I know you didn't."

"Your Highness has always been very confident in me."

Pei Wenxuan said calmly: "Thank you for your trust, Your Highness."

“It’s not just about being relieved.”

The darkness breeds courage in people. Li Rong turned sideways and looked at the young man lying flat opposite her.

He had already washed and freshened up, and had regained his usual appearance as a noble young man in the capital.

Li Rong looked at him quietly and said softly, "Because I am still afraid."

Pei Wenxuan turned his head in surprise when he heard this, and saw the girl put her hands under her head, leaning sideways to look at him, and said with a smile: "If you really die, I don't know what to do, so whether I believe you or not, I have to treat you as alive."

Li Rong said these words, looking at Pei Wenxuan's stunned eyes, she smiled a little embarrassedly: "Look, it's so embarrassing to say these things, so I don't like to say them."

Pei Wenxuan didn't say anything. He stared at Li Rong. His gaze was so direct that it burned Li Rong like fire.

Li Rong didn't know why, but she felt her face getting hot. She looked away, turned over, and said with her back to Pei Wenxuan, "Don't look at me like that. It's embarrassing."

Hearing this, Pei Wenxuan chuckled. The chuckle was a little hoarse, and mixed with Pei Wenxuan's voice that was like the sound of clear spring water hitting jade, it made Li Rong's ears feel hot.

Pei Wenxuan reached out and pulled her, saying softly, "Let me see."

Li Rong pushed him and didn't want to turn around, so Pei Wenxuan increased his strength, moved closer, and said softly, "Your Highness, let me see."

Li Rong knew that she was blushing. Even though it was at night, she didn't know why, but she felt a little guilty. She and Pei Wenxuan started to push and shove. Pei Wenxuan turned her over, and Li Rong raised her hands to cover her face and kicked him lightly.

Pei Wenxuan held her down and raised his hand to tickle her cheeks. Li Rong couldn't help laughing, so Pei Wenxuan took the opportunity to press her to her sides to expose her face.

Pei Wenxuan was afraid of hurting her, so he had to control his strength all the way. So when he completely subdued Li Rong, he also expended a lot of effort.

Both of them were breathing heavily. Pei Wenxuan pressed on her, his hair scattered on both sides, gently caressing her face, making it a little itchy.

Li Rong looked at the handsome young man, who was staring at her motionlessly. His eyes seemed to have substance, silently reminding her of the entanglements of her previous life.

Some things, if they have never happened, are nothing.

But if it has happened, it will always come to mind instantly at some point.

Li Rong couldn't help but breathe faster, and Pei Wenxuan obviously noticed his change. His eyes darkened, and he raised his bony hand, gently placed it on her face, and then gently slid the back of his hand across her cheek.

His hands were a little cold, and when the skin touched, an indescribable numbness flowed up and exploded in Li Rong's mind.

"Your Highness," he called her name softly, his voice slightly hoarse, "I am very happy that you have me in your heart."

Li Rong didn't say anything, her heart beat a little faster, and then she saw Pei Wenxuan leaning over gently.

"I wish to bring joy to the world," he placed his lips on Li Rong's, his ten fingers pierced into hers, and then with a sweet and burning feeling, he replied vaguely, "To repay your kindness."