Lian Xin didn’t dare think more. She turned to take the clothes Ah Qing had prepared from his hands and walked deeper into the forest… Soon she returned and stuffed the clothes into Suzhen’s hands, “Change into these.”

Suzhen’s heart was filled with grief beyond continuation. She gritted her teeth and firmly gripped her hand, then also went in. Finally coming out, she didn’t dare look at her again.

When she had just learned what had happened, she had mercilessly kicked Iron Hand and Ah Qing hard. How could they not understand that if it came to the last resort with no other options, even at the cost of her and Little Lotus’s lives, she would absolutely never allow Lian Xin or Little Zhou to do such a thing! But now all she could do was make absolutely sure she didn’t give anything away…

“Lian Xin, wait for me to return.” She said quietly, then hurried away with Wuming.

After she left, the atmosphere in the forest became particularly eerie, with everyone’s silhouettes appearing blurred and unclear in the dim forest light.

“I’m sorry.”

Iron Hand and Ah Qing’s hoarse voices finally broke this silence first, but what followed was an even more stifling strange atmosphere. Lian Xin opened her mouth to respond but couldn’t make a sound, finally just shaking her head.

After an unknown time, she finally looked tremblingly toward the other two people.

Little Zhou’s brows were deeply furrowed, her eyes full of bitterness and complexity. Wuqing’s face was hidden in darkness, but there was something indistinct about it.

Her jaw trembled several times before she found her voice, “Wuqing, it was my family that wronged yours, but you led the army to break the city, and now my family is in this situation—you’ve already had half your revenge. This time I also… also helped Susu. Can you stop hating my mother? Stop seeking revenge against her, and just… just be well with Vermillion Bird… be well together?”

The leaves on the ground suddenly creaked, startling her, and suddenly the other’s figure appeared before her like a ghost.

She finally saw him clearly.

His face bore wounds, and his body was also bloodstained, as if he had fought fiercely with someone, but in those jet-black, cold eyes was a kind of almost cruel smile.

Half-smiling, half-angry, seeming like mockery, seeming like hatred.

This was something Lian Xin could never have imagined.

She had thought he would at least have a trace of gratitude toward her because, in his eyes, the arrogant and useless her had finally done something for him, fulfilling him and Little Zhou. Tonight, she had done it for her brother, for Susu, for her mother empress, but more so, for him.

She hoped to fulfill him. If he could let go of his hatred toward her mother empress, she would have repaid her mother’s years of nurturing grace. Little Zhou wouldn’t have to worry anymore about him seeking revenge against Xiao’an, and could keep her pure body. They could be together without any rift.

When making that decision, she remembered what Sixth Brother had said to her in the carriage long ago.

She was in pain, yet in this pain, there was a wish—she loved someone and could finally do something for him.

But at this moment, the look in this person’s eyes grew colder and colder.

The disdainful, mocking curve of his lips grew deeper and deeper.

“Just now when I was fighting with people outside, you found it quite amusing, didn’t you? You think I’ll be grateful to you for this, that I’ll stop detesting you and Xiao’an because of this? To hell with it—who told you to do this damn thing! Lian Xin, don’t force your favors on me!”

Finally, all emotions turned into fierce anger. His dark eyes burned with raging fire, fixed intently on her!

Lian Xin was shaken by him until she staggered back several steps before steadying herself.

The tearing pain in her lower body, along with his words, all brought her to the brink of collapse.

It was as if someone had taken a blunt long needle and hammered it into her heart! Again and again.

This feeling had only occurred that day on the journey leaving with the army, when she heard news of Lian Yu’s death.

No, it was a thousand times more intense than then.

“Lian Xin, you’re a fool.”

“You’re an absolute fool!”

She saw Little Zhou and Iron Hand and Ah Qing’s faces change color. Little Zhou angrily grabbed him, and Iron Hand’s mouth was also opening and closing anxiously beside them. But she seemed unable to hear his voice clearly, her ears filled only with this voice from her heart, like a giant with sharp fangs and a gaping mouth approaching her.

“I know I’m foolish. I know you’ll never like me in this lifetime. I know you love Vermillion Bird. After the army was defeated, I long ago stopped harboring any hopes. I just wanted you… wanted you… when you’re with her in the future…”

To occasionally remember there was once someone like me. She reddened her eyes, holding her head helplessly and smiling as she spoke to him, then turned and quickly rushed into the deep forest to the side.

“Wuqing, you’ve gone mad! She did this for Huaisu, and also… for you. How could you say such things!” Little Zhou stared fiercely at the man in front and spoke angrily.

“I think I can understand the boss’s thinking. Little Zhou, tell me, in such a situation, how can the boss still seek revenge against Xiao’an?” Iron Hand smiled bitterly as he tried to mediate, then said disapprovingly to Wuqing, “But boss, regardless, you shouldn’t have said those things to the Princess. A young woman, already ruined to this extent—how could you—”

Before he could finish, he received a palm strike directly to his chest. Caught off guard, he was knocked back a step, then made a “chi” sound and spat out a large mouthful of blood.

One could see that the other party had used sixty to seventy percent of his power in that strike. He laughed heartily and stepped forward, “Good hit! When Huaisu hit us just now, it had no strength and didn’t hurt at all. This strike of yours is truly good—satisfying! Huaisu was right, we were wrong.”

“Boss, there’s me too.” Ah Qing also stepped forward.

Wuqing threw another punch. Ah Qing grimaced with pain but smiled, then was startled to see Wuqing’s punch momentum hadn’t ended, but he turned back to strike himself fiercely, also spitting up a large mouthful of fresh blood.

Little Zhou looked at him in amazement and heard him say, “I know you did this for me, knowing I care for Little Zhou, and understanding that Little Zhou has scars on her face. Having made a decision where we couldn’t fight to the death, if we’re talking about safety, naturally other candidates would be better. But this kind of thing really cannot be done!”

Iron Hand and Ah Qing smiled bitterly, then fell silent.

Little Zhou raised her hand, wanting to give Wuqing’s shoulder a gentle pat, but finally withdrew her hand, saying, “I’ll go find the Princess. Though this forest has been cleared by the army and wild animals driven to the front hunting area, if she encounters imperial guards, it’s not safe either.”

She spoke while using her lightness skills to disappear deep into the forest.

“Boss, we’ll go too. We’ve wronged her.” Iron Hand said quietly, then left with Ah Qing.

Wuqing tried to straighten up but collapsed powerlessly again. He struck out another fierce punch, hitting a tree in front of him.

Leaves shook and fell, covering him entirely.

In the darkness, he laughed continuously, blood flowing with saliva to the ground.

Those harsh words—were they berating Lian Xin, or mocking his own powerlessness? By now, he could no longer distinguish, and perhaps it was both.

At that time, he had been only steps away, but no matter who was inside, defeated by Limitless and his two disciples, he ultimately couldn’t save anyone.

Still wind, mirror water, quiet forest lake. When Suzhen was almost back to the camp area, she raised her hand to wipe her eyes. Lian Xin’s clothes still carried the faint fragrance of Li Zhaoting’s usual incense, and she felt her whole body trembling and cold.

Lian Yu, how much farther must I walk before I can return to your side? And in this lifetime, how should I repay Lian Xin?

In this life, what she most feared was owing debts, but some things were inevitably owed, and she feared they could never be fully repaid. Thinking of that princess she loved to her very heart, her eyes and nose again felt sourly painful.

“Concubine Shu?”

“Feng Suzhen!”

Two completely different voices. She looked up in confusion, first seeing Si Lanfeng in front of over a hundred imperial guards, then her peripheral vision caught someone’s face.

The other person’s brows were tightly knitted, seeming both shocked and angry, yet also tense. He wore only an inner garment and long pants.

“Where are you going again?” He immediately strode over, grasped her hand, and spoke in a deep voice, carrying the hoarseness of just waking and the anger of searching for someone.

“I woke up and kept tossing and turning, unable to sleep. Afraid of disturbing you, I came out for a walk,” she replied.

“If you disturb me, then you disturb me. I don’t mind.” Li Zhaoting still frowned and said directly.

“Don’t worry, with such tight security here, I can’t leave.” She laughed self-mockingly.

“You know that’s not what I mean!” Li Zhaoting’s brow suddenly darkened as he scooped her up in his arms.

Having consummated their marriage tonight, her inexperienced, fearful trembling had made him go at it fiercely, but even so, he always felt as if he still hadn’t truly possessed her. The pleasure during it seemed not what he had expected either. He didn’t know if it was because he had been drinking beforehand and it was dark, so he couldn’t see her properly, and then couldn’t resist the dizziness brought by the alcohol and fell asleep?

But clearly, having her in his arms now made his blood boil slightly. Sometimes, he really couldn’t understand his own feelings toward her…

The tent guards respectfully lifted the tent flap, and he entered directly, gently placing her back on the couch.

The tent was already lit with a dim flame. Suzhen saw this person’s dark, burning eyes and her heart jumped violently. Even though tonight Lian Xin had… could she still not escape this ordeal? She gripped the bedsheets beneath her tightly.

Li Zhaoting saw her blood-red eyes and couldn’t help but smile self-mockingly. He picked up the outer robe from the ground and shook it slightly. A flute fell from it, which he caught between two fingers. This was something he had chosen from Si Zhen’s room and had kept with him.

He slowly leaned against the floor beside the bed and said calmly, “Is there any tune you’d like to hear?”

“Whatever you like. You’re proficient in music, and whatever you play is always good.”

Suzhen was startled and couldn’t understand his intention. She saw him wave his hand to extinguish the candle in front, then bring the flute to his lips…

In the darkness, Lian Xin fled in panic for an unknown length of time. The air in her heart and lungs seemed completely squeezed out before she stopped, exhausted. She sat powerlessly on the ground and dimly saw rustling movement in the dark forest ahead. Her heart grew cold—she hoped she wouldn’t encounter some fierce beast! She pressed her hands tightly over her mouth to keep from making any sound and listened carefully.

However, this listening frightened her even more.