Soon, Gan Qiongying seemed to regain consciousness. The distant sound of the evening bell echoed in her ears, and her soul seemed to return to her body in an instant. When she opened her eyes, a monk in front of her flicked cold water onto her brow with his fingertips.
"Princess, you're bewitched."
"This divination slip is like viewing the moon in a well, or burning a fire in the water—a mirage, a reflection in a mirror, all in vain." The monk rolled up his sleeves, poured out the tea, and said without looking up, "The cycle of cause and effect, the retribution, the well was dug by the princess and then led by the princess—there is no solution."
Upon hearing this, Gan Qiongying grabbed the monk opposite her and said, "Help me! The country is about to fall. If the country changes hands, even if you are in the mountains, can you really transcend worldly affairs and not care about the human world?"
“Princess,” the monk twisted his wrist to break free, the prayer beads on his wrist clattering together with a soft sound.
“There is no solution.” He repeated it again.
"Then... what about the soul-summoning technique I heard about from Liao Chen!" Gan Qiongying stood up and grabbed the monk, saying, "You clearly succeeded in it; the Liao Liao beside you is one of them!"
"Help me! If I can lure the evil spirit into possessing me, I don't care if I die and my soul dissipates! As long as I can stop everything, as long as I can... break this unsolvable situation and save my life, Gan Lin!"
"Princess, please stop. This world is full of lonely, helpless souls with no one to guide them. Where would any fierce demons come from? Princess, please leave!"
"No, please help me! I really have no other choice, I've tried everything!"
"As long as you help me, I'll donate a temple to you and make you the abbot—anything is fine with me!"
Gan Qiongying grabbed the monk's robe, and the dignified princess actually knelt on the ground.
"Dingzhen, please help me!"
Gan Qiongying heard her own voice, which was extremely shrill and sounded like she was crying blood, before the image blurred again.
Before everything went completely dark, a sigh-like voice said, "There are no evil spirits or demons in this world, but there are destined people who can be reborn by combining their body and soul with that of another."
"But...the destined one is hard to find, like finding a needle in a haystack, and how can one body contain two souls?"
Gan Qiongying heard her own voice drifting back, growing fainter and fainter: "If I can break this deadlock, I am willing to give up my body and become a lonely soul wandering the mortal world..."
After that, Gan Qiongying could not hear anything anymore; she was plunged into boundless darkness.
She didn't know how much time had passed when she opened her eyes again, only to be met with another life, another nightmare of running endlessly until her tragic death.
Again and again, time and time again.
Each time he was driven out by the monks, he was plunged into darkness and returned to the nightmare.
Unbeknownst to Gan Qiongying, she was trapped in a recurring nightmare, and Li Hua had been taking care of her tirelessly for three days straight.
Bu Li went down the mountain and searched for doctors everywhere, even the imperial physician.
But Gan Qiongying didn't wake up. She kept talking nonsense and begging someone not to kill Gan Lin.
Having no other choice, Li Hua sent someone to the palace to inform Gan Lin. Gan Lin used the excuse of the regent's illness to leave the palace and also came to the princess's residence.
But even the rain couldn't wake Gan Qiongying.
Gan Lin could not stay away for long. Before leaving, he spoke alone with Li Hua. Even as an emperor, he lost all his imperial dignity when it came to Gan Qiongying's matter.
"Your Highness must take good care of the princess. If anything happens, remember to send someone to the palace to find me."
"Your Majesty, please rest assured." Li Hua had become extremely haggard in the past few days. After learning that it was the Regent who had bumped into the princess, which led to this situation, the Regent had been so exhausted that he was on the verge of a mental breakdown and was barely clinging to life.
Gan Qiongying's attempts to scare people failed to fool the Regent, but after only three days in Li Hua's hands, he even contemplated suicide.
After seeing Gan Lin off at the mansion, Li Hua hurriedly returned to her room.
These past few days, she's been kept alive only by ginseng soup, and Li Hua has been feeding her mouth-to-mouth to keep her from eating or drinking anything else.
She had recurring high fevers and was constantly sweating profusely, requiring her to wipe herself down and then re-soak her skin with water every few minutes.
Li Hua had barely slept these past few nights, and his biggest regret was that he shouldn't have let Gan Qiongying deal with the Regent on her own.
He was so cunning that even though Gan Qiongying had made thorough preparations, he still managed to cause her such a serious accident.
Li Hua wished he could skin Sima Rui alive.
He was extremely anxious and walked very fast. When he entered the room, he saw Gan Qiongying's face, which had become so thin, and his heart ached so much that he almost burst into tears.
Just as he was about to feed Gan Qiongying some water and leaned in to give her a sip, Gan Qiongying, who had been unconscious, suddenly opened her eyes.
Li Hua choked on a mouthful of water and coughed it out, spilling it all over his front.
Gan Qiongying's eyes were unfocused at first, but gradually, because of Li Hua's coughing, they regained some focus.
"Quickly! Summon the royal physician! And bring Bu Li here!"
After shouting outside, Li Hua went to call Gan Qiongying: "Madam, how are you?"
Seeing her hands flailing about, Li Hua helped her up, placed two soft pillows behind her, and then stared intently into her eyes.
Gan Qiongying felt as if this endless nightmare had drained her soul.
She could hardly tell how many lifetimes she had lived, who she was, or where she was at this moment.
Her gaze slowly shifted from the blurry yet clear furnishings to the person who had been speaking.
Then her pupils suddenly contracted for a moment, and instinctive terror poured out of her body like a gushing torrent.
Li Hua's face overlapped with the face that had dragged her to her death countless times in her dreams, and Gan Qiongying knew that it wasn't even a dream.
That was... the life of Princess Duanrong.
The person in front of her was the prince consort from Princess Duanrong's memories, the one who replaced Zhongli Zhengzhen, controlled everything, and manipulated everyone... the Crown Prince of Jinchuan.
The future emperors of the two countries.
He is Li Hua, yet he is not Li Hua.
From the first time Gan Qiongying met Zhongli Zhengzhen, she felt that the male protagonist of this world was too childish. How could someone with such a brainless personality be the male protagonist who occupied the largest part of this book?
It's purely supported by the female lead's love-struck mind.
But now all of that has been overturned. Gan Qiongying, through all of Princess Duanrong's memories, has pieced together a truth she could never have imagined.
That was her gentle and kind husband, who always spoke softly and was so good to Gan Qiongying that he broke her heart. He was not a pitiful and tragic supporting character like her at all.
He is the male protagonist of this book.
He is also the only male protagonist in this book; all the other characters are just toys in his power struggle for the world.
Gan Qiongying personally experienced all of that countless times, and uncontrollably developed a stress response.
When Li Hua raised his hand to touch her to see if she had a fever again, she instinctively wanted to cover her head.
But she stood there motionless, letting Li Hua's cool hand touch her burning forehead.
Tears blurred my vision and slid down my cheeks.
She was terrified, her very soul trembling, but she stubbornly refused to look away, determined to see Li Hua clearly.
She didn't believe it.
She didn't believe it!
Even if all of that is true, it's not her Li Hua, absolutely not!
"What's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?" Li Hua's pale, handsome face was filled with panic as he touched Gan Qiongying's forehead and pressed his hand against her neck.
Finally, he leaned closer, his breath trembling as he pressed it against her forehead, and whispered, "Don't scare me, you scared me to death..."
Gan Qiongying suddenly cried out and raised her arms to hug Li Hua's neck tightly.
She didn't believe it.
Even if it were true, I wouldn't believe it.
This is her Li Hua, the gentle, kind, and loving Li Hua. How could he be the terrifying male protagonist who dragged her down, replaced Zhong Li Zhengzhen, and then turned the tables on her?
impossible.
Gan Qiongying hugged Li Hua tightly, and soon Li Hua also pulled her into his arms tightly.
The two were clearly in a coma for three days, with one taking care of the other, yet they acted as if they had just experienced a life-or-death separation, wishing they could merge into each other's bodies and never be apart again.
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