Li Shimin stared at her for a long moment, then suddenly asked, “When we were under the cliff, why didn’t you kill me? Instead, you saved me when the wolf pack was attacking?”

Faced with his words, Yunyi remained silent. If she could have been ruthless enough, she would have killed him long ago. After a long while, she said quietly, “Consider it repaying your previous kindness. Now, we owe each other nothing!”

Both clearly had feelings for each other, yet couldn’t speak them aloud, simply because there were too many things blocking their path – so many that it was impossible to overcome them. They could only bury these feelings deep in their hearts!

Li Shimin suppressed the hidden pain in his heart and said coldly, “Come back with me!”

Yunyi said nothing, only reached out to grasp Li Shimin’s hand holding the knife and pressed it forcefully toward her own throat. Li Shimin never expected Yunyi would attempt such a suicidal act. Although he stopped her in time, he still left a striking crimson mark on her snow-white jade-like neck.

Li Shimin released her, his face iron-blue as he shouted sternly, “What are you doing? Have you gone mad?”

Yunyi laughed sadly, “I told you, I won’t go back to the Governor’s Mansion with you.” She knew very clearly that once she stepped into the Governor’s Mansion, Li Yuan, who hated her for killing his beloved son, would certainly use every kind of torture to force her to reveal her identity. Once Li Yuan learned she was a Sui Dynasty princess, and even learned of that prophecy, he would definitely accelerate his rebellion, raising troops before her father emperor could execute him. Then the world would surely fall into great chaos. So she would rather die than reveal this secret.

Li Shimin stared at the crimson mark on her jade neck and gritted his teeth, “Don’t force me!”

“My decision won’t change.” This matter had been decided even before Wu Laosan came to rescue her.

Li Shimin gripped the dagger tightly. In the next moment, he grabbed Yunyi’s throat with one hand and pressed her against the tree, while holding the dagger to that face with the other hand. If he thrust hard, the woman before him would perish. But… the dagger in his hand felt as heavy as a thousand jun, and he couldn’t thrust it down no matter what!

Facing the approaching death, Yunyi didn’t feel much fear. During her time in Honghua Prefecture, she had witnessed too much death, and she herself… had also caused many deaths. Now dying at Li Shimin’s hands could be considered a kind of ending.

The only thing she couldn’t let go of was her mother empress far away in Luoyang. If mother empress learned of her death, she didn’t know how heartbroken she would be…

“Ah!” Li Shimin roared low, gripping the dagger tightly as he thrust it toward Yunyi, who had closed her eyes!

“Poof!” The dagger buried itself completely in the tree trunk beside Yunyi’s ear. Li Shimin withdrew his hand and gritted his teeth, “Go! Leave immediately before I change my mind!” In the end, he still couldn’t bring himself to personally kill Yunyi. Even when he had shot arrows at her earlier, each arrow had deliberately avoided vital spots!

“You’re not killing me?” Yunyi opened her eyes and looked at Li Shimin in surprise, never expecting that he would spare her. Clearly… he hated her so much, so why… would he still let her go?

Li Shimin clenched his hands tightly and said coldly, “Consider it repaying you for saving me under the cliff that time. Next time we meet, I will certainly kill you!”

Yunyi looked at Li Shimin with complex emotions. She understood how difficult it was for him to spare her!

So… did he care about her that much?

At the moment she understood Li Shimin’s feelings, tears flowed down her face. Wu Laosan was right – Li Shimin really was a very good person. Unfortunately, they had met at the wrong time, in the wrong place. Too many wrongs destined them to only miss each other…

“I’m sorry!” Yunyi hoarsely spoke these three words. After one last look at Li Shimin, she turned and left, disappearing into the vast mountain forest.

Li Shimin silently watched that gradually distant, slender figure. After a long while, he turned and walked in the opposite direction. Shen Yunyi, I don’t want to kill you, so… never let me see you again in this lifetime!

After walking only a few steps, Li Shimin unexpectedly saw Duan Zhihong standing not far away. From his expression, he had clearly witnessed everything that had just happened.

After a brief moment of eye contact, the latter suddenly ran quickly in the direction Yunyi had left. Li Shimin’s expression changed as he moved to block him, “What are you doing?”

Duan Zhihong gripped his sword hilt tightly and said coldly, “Since the Second Young Master can’t bring yourself to do it, let this subordinate kill the assassin for you!”

“No!” Faced with Li Shimin’s rebuke, Duan Zhihong said with a firm and cold expression, “If the Governor learns that you privately released the assassin who killed the Third Young Master, he certainly won’t easily forgive you. Therefore, she must die!”

“I said no means no.” Seeing Duan Zhihong still wanted to move forward, he said sternly, “If you dare take another step forward, don’t ever come to see me again!”

Duan Zhihong helplessly stopped, saying urgently, “Second Young Master, what you’re doing is releasing a tiger back to the mountain. What if she…”

Li Shimin coldly interrupted, “I said this time is to repay her for saving me under the cliff. If she ever steps foot in Honghua Prefecture again, I will personally kill her!” As he spoke, he channeled force into his hands and forcibly broke the longbow made of fine yew wood, “If I break this oath, let it be like this bow.” After pausing, he added, “If you want to tell father about this matter, I won’t blame you.”

Meeting his gaze, Duan Zhihong slowly released his sword hilt and sighed deeply, “Since this subordinate follows the Second Young Master, I will certainly be loyal to you. I hope you remember the oath you made today!”

Just as Li Jiancheng had worried, Li Shimin’s greatest strength was his benevolence and loyalty to relationships, but at the same time, this was also his greatest weakness.

This search was destined to be fruitless. After noon, leaving part of the soldiers to continue searching the mountain, Li Shimin returned to the mansion first. When he reached the mansion gate, a six or seven-year-old girl with delicate features was sitting on the steps, eating a steamed bun in small bites.

A guard came forward and said, “Second Young Master, this little girl came early this morning, saying she wanted to see you.”

The little girl had sharp ears and heard the guard’s words. She immediately got up and ran to Li Shimin, blinking her big eyes, “Are you the Second Young Master?”

Li Shimin nodded, “That’s right. Little sister, what do you need from me?”

“Wonderful!” The little girl clapped her hands and grabbed his sleeve to pull him outside. Li Shimin asked in surprise, “Where are you taking me?”

“You’ll know when we get there.” Before the little girl finished speaking, Duan Zhihong had already pushed her away and drawn his steel sword, saying solemnly, “Second Young Master, be careful. She might be an accomplice of the assassin!”

The little girl was pushed to the ground by him, and being frightened by the gleaming steel sword, she immediately pursed her lips and began to cry. Li Shimin helped her up and said gently, “Don’t cry. He didn’t push you on purpose. But you, what’s your name, and where do you want me to go with you?”