Three lives are not enough
"Hey, who are you looking down on, fake? If you look at me like that again, I'll beat you to death."
Another jailer stepped forward and held him back, saying, "Forget it. Someone wants to keep her for now. Don't make trouble for yourself and get yourself into trouble."
The angry jailer didn't say anything else. He turned around and spat at Lin Lian'er fiercely. This action completely angered Lin Lian'er. Lin Lian'er was furious, her arms struggling, staring at the jailer with gritted teeth. If her magic power was not restrained now, she would tear him apart.
"Hey? You're still excited!" The jailer pretended to rush forward to slap her, but another jailer pulled him back. As they were pushing, the door opened with a "crash", and a man wrapped tightly in a black robe walked in. Accompanying him was the Dali Temple warden who was smiling and fawning.
After sending the jailer out of the room, the warden said, "Please interrogate him quickly. He Zheng will be back in about half an hour. I'll close the door for you and wait for you outside."
The man in black robe turned his head slightly and nodded, and the prison warden quickly walked out of the door. When the door closed with a "creak", the man in black robe took off the outer cloak that covered his head, and he was holding an urn tightly in his arms.
It was indeed him, the Third Prince.
He took out an embroidered handkerchief from his arms with one hand and spread it on the table. There was a magnolia flower embroidered on the lower right corner of the handkerchief. After pulling several corners to make them smooth, he placed the urn in his arms on the handkerchief.
"Why kill Lian'er?"
The Painted Skin Demon closed her eyes and said nothing, her head hanging in disdain. The Third Prince grew even more furious and grabbed her neck, saying, "If it weren't for this face, I would have taken you back to the border to feed the wolves."
The hand that was pinching her neck tightened its grip, leaving red marks on her fair neck. The Painted Skin Demon was breathing with difficulty, but looking at that face, the Third Prince trembled and let go.
"You don't have to wear this face anymore."
As he spoke, he took out a gold-inlaid jade dagger and peeled off her face, carefully placing it into the urn he had brought. His expression did not change at all during the whole process, but the Painted Skin Demon looked a little terrified.
It seems that after living for hundreds and thousands of years, he was skinned by a perverted mortal. It was like a butcher who slaughtered pigs every day watching the pigs kill him.
After packing up his things swiftly, the Third Prince put on his outer cloak again and covered himself tightly. He held the urn in his arms and hid it under his outer cloak. He took a reluctant look at the embroidered handkerchief that was used as a table mat and threw it into the stove beside him.
The magnolia flower was gradually consumed by flames, and the Painted Skin Demon's vision was blurred by blood. The Third Prince's back disappeared from her sight as the door closed. Unable to use her magic to repair her body, a heart-wrenching pain invaded her brain.
While enduring the pain, the Painted Skin Demon recited a long Buddhist incantation. Her voice was as thin as a mosquito, and because of the pain from being skinned, her mouth moved small and her words were intermittent, so Yuanli couldn't understand.
"Dharma Wheel Purification Mantra."
"So, she is really related to the remnants of Xie Yuan?"
"Well, let's go back home first to avoid alerting the enemy."
Yuanli was young, only about ten thousand years old now. When Xie Yuan brought chaos to the six realms, she hadn't even been born yet, or perhaps she didn't have any spiritual roots yet. But the name Xie Yuan was known to everyone in the six realms.
Legend has it that Xie Yuan's demonic power is extremely strong and can easily defeat the enemy without moving a single soldier. If you look at him, he can see the fear in your heart.
The Dharma Wheel Purification Mantra was also created by Xie Yuan. It is said that it can calm your inner demons, improve your cultivation, and cultivate an immortal body... It has various effects and attracts many demons and ghosts to work for it.
Since Xieyuan was suppressed, its remnants have either died or fled. Unexpectedly, they would make a comeback in just 30,000 years.
When he returned to the mansion, Wen Yici had finished bathing and was lying on the chaise longue, holding a book of military strategy with his slender fingers. His loose nightgown hung casually, revealing his fair skin.
Yuanli was attracted by this scene. She stood there and watched for a few seconds before returning to the couch. As soon as she lay down and closed her eyes, Yuanli felt extremely comfortable, as if her whole body was relaxed.
Covering herself with the freshly dried quilt, she felt extremely sleepy. She only vaguely remembered that Wen Yici had crawled into the quilt with a chill before she fell asleep, and she moved when she felt the chill.
The next day, she was awakened by the sparrows outside the carved window. Yuanli's eyelids were still closed, and she was dozing off. She subconsciously stretched out her right hand and patted her side, but it was empty.
Yuanli opened her eyes, and it was still dawn when Wen Yici disappeared. After the experience at the Imperial Examination Hall, Yuanli was worried he might be gone for days at a time. She flung back the covers, jumped out of bed, and ran out of the room, looking around.
Unexpectedly, Wen Yici, still in his nightgown, sat alone at a stone table beneath a peach tree, a cup of tea and a peach cake on the table. A gentle spring breeze blew, carrying peach blossoms that fell on his head.
Yuanli walked in and put her hand on his shoulder. A hint of coldness came from his nightgown. "It's not warm yet. Wearing such thin clothes will easily catch a cold."
Wen Yici slowly turned his head and looked up into her eyes. Some petals fell from his hair as it swayed. He looked a little unhappy, worried, and full of fear.
Sensing something was wrong, Yuanli moved closer and rested his head against her chest. Her warm arms held his head and stroked it gently. Wen Yici held her waist tightly without saying a word.
"What's wrong, husband?"
Wen Yici shook his head, buried his face in her waist and whispered, "Don't leave me, you are all I have."
"No, the fortune stick at Yue Lao Temple told me that you and I are a match made in heaven, destined to be together for three lifetimes. Don't let your imagination run wild in the future."
"Three lifetimes... aren't enough."
His voice was hoarse and whimpering. Yuanli was stunned for a moment, not knowing why he was like that. However, Yuanli's heart was filled with greed. She also felt that seven years was not enough.
She seemed to have fallen in love with the mortal emperor.
The two of them didn't speak to each other, just standing under the peach tree, with the ground covered with peach petals and their thoughts. It was not until he leaned against her waist and fell asleep that she pulled him back into bed to sleep.
Wen Yici, who usually took the initiative to embrace her, was lying obediently today. Maybe he moved away last night, so he went along with her. Yuanli pulled his arm over her head and snuggled into his arms. Wen Yici looked even happier.
"I sleep with my husband on my pillow every night. Does he get annoyed?"
"Who would be tired of hugging the eternal marriage."
It was almost noon and Wen Yici was still napping. He held her tightly and she didn't want to get up for fear of waking him up. She had no choice but to entangle a strand of his hair in her fingertips and play with it. It was not until an hour after lunch that he woke up.
Yuanli's stomach was rumbling with hunger, and her appetite increased a lot during the meal. Wen Yici sat beside her and kept picking up food for her, and every dish he took with his chopsticks was just to her liking.
In the afternoon, Wen Yici was summoned to the palace with the news that an urgent report had been sent from the border that the third prince had been assassinated, his head had been chopped off but his body was in the room. When the head was found, it was hanging in the tripod bell on the city wall, with many blooming magnolia flowers stuffed in his mouth.
The Third Prince's death was tragic, and the people at the border were in panic and the army was unstable. It was necessary to discuss a suitable candidate to guard the border. However, everyone was afraid to shirk responsibility, so they had to ask Wen to resign.
While his father is recuperating, Wen Yici assists the crown prince in temporarily managing the government. The political parties in the court are each fighting for their own camp, hoping that the crown prince will make a mistake and be deposed. It is a very difficult time.
Yuanli was a bit worried and had been feeling down all afternoon. Fortunately, Xiao Taoniang delivered a batch of newly made hairpins, all in unexpected styles, which made her feel better. The shop's decoration barely needed any changes, and the hairpins for sale were already made and would be officially available for sale in a few days.
"Ali, the Painted Skin Demon has escaped from prison."
Yuanli wasn't surprised. The Painted Skin Demon's escape today only made the three of them even more certain that it was connected to Xie Yuan. Dali Temple Prison was off-limits to ordinary people, let alone quietly escorting a living, breathing felon out of the prison. Anyone capable of such a felony must be a demon, not a human.
"Xingjun, has the Heaven Realm come up with a solution?"
"I have informed the Heavenly Emperor of all this, but he believes this matter warrants further discussion. He currently does not know the purpose of the remaining members of the Evil Abyss, so he has asked me to remain concealed in the palace and observe."
Yuanli no longer has any hope for the heaven. Apart from observing, she can't take any practical action. She also doesn't know what the purpose of a bunch of gods gathering in the heaven is.
It was almost evening when Wen Yici left the palace and returned home, looking exhausted. Fortunately, he had already had dinner in the Prince's Eastern Palace.
"Has the border defense issue been resolved? Why are you so busy today? Did you encounter any difficult issues?"
"Well, Yun Qi'an, the eldest son of the Yun family, volunteered to go to the border to guard it. He could have returned earlier, but the Dali Temple reported that Lin Lian'er had disappeared quietly in prison. No one in the Dali Temple could find her whereabouts, so he was delayed a bit."
Yuanli didn't ask any more questions. The Dali Lin Lian'er prison escape case and the third prince's assassination case would probably become unsolved cases in the future and there was no need to pay too much attention to them.
For several days, Yuanli had been exceptionally free, devoting all her energy to the pearl and hairpin shop. Recently, her father had recovered considerably, and an invitation had arrived for the Prime Minister's wife's birthday banquet. Yuanli had an idea: now was the perfect time to make the shop famous.
Yuanli went to the backyard immediately. As soon as she entered the yard, the fragrance of flowers and the chirping of birds filled her nose. The yard was kept in perfect order by Xiao Tao Niang. Even the table for making pearl hairpins was neat and tidy.
"Xiao Tao Niang, the Prime Minister's wife will have her birthday in half a month. I'm thinking of giving her a set of jewelry. Please make a set of bait pots and pearl hairpins for me. They need to be matching. I'll pay for them, and you can keep your share as usual."
"That won't do. If it's for the shop, how can we let the princess pay for it alone? Does the Prime Minister's wife have any preferences?"
Yuanli was not familiar with the Prime Minister's wife, having only met her once at the flower viewing banquet that day. But Zhaowan had said that the Prime Minister's wife had many varieties of peonies in her courtyard, and while a gift of peonies would be a good idea, the peony symbolized the Mother of the Nation, and giving her one would be an offense to her mother, and Yuanli felt a bit apprehensive.
After Xiao Taoniang learned about it, she took out a pattern from the brocade box and handed it to her, saying, "Princess, take a look. Would you like to make it according to this pattern?"
Yuanli was extremely satisfied, as it satisfied the Prime Minister's wife's preferences without offending the Queen Mother.
"Princess, Miss Yun is here and is waiting for you in the side hall." Ziyun said.
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