Hearing Pei Wenxuan’s name, Li Rong instinctively looked back, only to see Pei Wenxuan fall straight backward. The official behind him caught him, crying out in panic, “Minister Pei?”

The court hall descended into momentary chaos. Seeing this, Li Rong steadied herself and quickly walked to Pei Wenxuan’s side, simultaneously summoning the imperial physicians.

She knelt down and carefully examined him for a moment. After confirming the situation, she stood up and addressed Li Ming, “Your Majesty Father, the Prince Consort has fainted. Your daughter requests permission to take the Prince Consort to a side hall to rest.”

“Quickly see what’s wrong,” Li Ming frowned. “Don’t let anything serious happen.”

Li Rong respectfully bowed, then had people carry Pei Wenxuan out of the great hall. After settling him in the side hall, the imperial physicians arrived. After performing acupuncture and examination while Li Rong watched from the side, once they had results, Li Rong quickly looked up. “How is he?”

“Reporting to Your Highness,” the imperial physician answered properly. “The Prince Consort has been overworked for days and worried excessively, resulting in damage to his spirit and vitality. With a few days of rest and recuperation, he will recover.”

Li Rong nodded. She’d more or less guessed as much. With Pei Wenxuan’s nature of working like a beast of burden by day and being overly sentimental by night, it wasn’t easy that he’d lasted until now before collapsing.

She acknowledged this, only asking, “Is there anything else to note?”

The imperial physician hesitated for a moment. Seeing no one else around, he said with difficulty, “Matters of yin and yang should not be too avoided. Like water…”

“That’s enough.”

Li Rong knew what he was about to say and raised her hand to directly interrupt him. “Anything else?”

“More sleep, more food,” the imperial physician knew Li Rong now wanted to dismiss him and could only steel himself to say concisely, “If time permits, going outdoors more often to relax and ease the mind would also be beneficial.”

Li Rong nodded, understanding roughly. She waved her hand, letting the imperial physician leave first. She had someone prepare medicine and instructed Jing Lan to find the palace informants to inquire clearly about Consort Rou’s movements last night. Only after the room was empty did she sit down beside Pei Wenxuan and carefully examine him.

In this life, at this age, he seemed thinner than in the previous life. But this was hardly surprising. In their previous life at this age, after marrying her, he hadn’t thought much about anything. He’d honestly been his Prince Consort, only working somewhat hard for the sake of a bit of self-respect.

But now, both of them had a sword hanging over their heads, not knowing when it would fall. In less than a year since opening their eyes to be reborn, he’d already secured his position in the Censorate. Though his official rank wasn’t high, he was the Censor Pei whom everyone in court knew and respected.

Now, skipping eight ranks was simply shocking and unprecedented.

The position of Vice Minister of Personnel was clearly not something Pei Wenxuan’s current qualifications could support.

Su Rongqing could become Minister of Justice because he’d participated in court politics from age twelve, was already a Fifth Rank Remonstrance Official at fourteen, and had served as Vice Minister of Justice since age seventeen. He was backed by the centuries-old prestigious Su family. For him to become Minister of Justice now, no one dared say he was “unworthy.”

But what about Pei Wenxuan?

At fourteen, he graduated as top student from White Heron Academy and was recommended for the spring imperial examinations the following year. He placed first in both the written and palace examinations, parading through Hua Jing on horseback as the new top scholar. At fifteen, he first entered court, originally designated for the Fifth Rank position of Secretariat Drafter. But before he could take office, Pei Lizhi died. He could only return to Luzhou to observe mourning for three years. After three years, when he returned, his second uncle arranged for him to become a lowly Ninth Rank official in the Ministry of Justice. Only after a year did her father remember him, pulling him out of the Ministry of Justice to become her Prince Consort.

The Yang family scheme gave him the opportunity to become Supervising Censor. From the Qin family case to the establishment of the Constabulary Bureau until now, on one hand, he’d stayed at the Censorate to cooperate with her—if he wasn’t at the Censorate, she’d lose a blade. On the other hand, Li Ming was also deliberately suppressing his promotion speed. While saying he wanted to wait for a suitable position to promote him by skipping ranks, Li Ming’s true intentions…

Who could know?

Li Rong pondered over how Pei Wenxuan got onto the Vice Minister of Personnel list. Somehow, as she thought about it, her heart began to ache.

She suddenly remembered what Pei Wenxuan had told her before.

He’d said to her: Your Highness, we are different kinds of people.

She’d never felt this way in the past, but thinking carefully about it today, she suddenly realized that compared to Pei Wenxuan, Su Rongqing’s path had been far too smooth.

Su Rongqing had his father and brothers to protect him. Even if his father and brothers were gone, with his family’s century-long tradition and family principles, his uncles would help him.

But what about Pei Wenxuan?

When his father died, he had nothing left. No so-called family legacy, no so-called family principles—only his second uncle scheming how to take advantage of the orphan and widow, forcing the fifteen-year-old him to return home for mourning, then swindling the property from his mother’s hands and dismissing the family retainers.

It was too difficult.

Li Rong reached out and grasped Pei Wenxuan’s hand. Pei Wenxuan’s eyelashes trembled lightly. He opened his eyes to see Li Rong looking down at their clasped hands.

“Your Highness…”

Pei Wenxuan’s voice was hoarse as he spoke. Li Rong looked up and, seeing Pei Wenxuan had awakened, smiled. “You’re awake? Do you want water?”

Having asked, Li Rong reached to the side for water and brought it to Pei Wenxuan’s lips. Pei Wenxuan drank from her hand. After recovering for a moment, he asked urgently, “Your Highness, did you hear the rest of the list?”

“It’s fine. I’ll just go directly to the Ministry of Personnel to get it later.”

“Your Highness,” Pei Wenxuan frowned. “I know you mean well, but skipping eight ranks…”

“I set you up for Merit Assessment Director.”

Li Rong interrupted him, directly explaining, “Vice Minister of Personnel wasn’t my doing.”

Hearing this, Pei Wenxuan was stunned. After a moment, his voice turned cold. “How did Your Highness handle this matter?”

“As you know, I found Liu Hangchun. He manages promotions for officials Fifth Rank and below. I gave him valuable gifts and also threatened him—if he didn’t arrange you for the Merit Assessment Director position, I’d invite him to the Constabulary Bureau. His hands aren’t clean, so he agreed.”

Pei Wenxuan nodded, only saying, “And then?”

“In this transfer, the Ministry of Personnel lost one Vice Minister and one Section Chief in the military funds case. They must fill these positions in this round of transfers. So I found other connections and moved the original Merit Assessment Director into the Section Chief position, leaving the Merit Assessment Director spot open for you. Your qualifications were already excellent among those on the transfer list. As long as they didn’t deliberately make things difficult, your entry into the Ministry of Personnel was reasonable. With the Merit Assessment Director position vacant and having smoothed things over with Liu Hangchun and the relevant decision-makers, logically, for a Sixth Rank position, there shouldn’t be major problems.”

Li Rong analyzed while Pei Wenxuan thought silently.

After thinking for a moment, Pei Wenxuan confirmed again, “You had no contact with anyone who could decide on Fifth Rank and above appointments?”

“None.” Li Rong confirmed. “Your qualifications have risen too high too fast. I was also afraid His Majesty would become suspicious.”

Pei Wenxuan remained silent. Li Rong poured tea for him. “Now we can confirm someone wants to harm you. I just don’t understand—if they wanted to harm you, they could simply prevent you from entering the Ministry of Personnel. Why go to such great lengths to push you into the Vice Minister of Personnel position?”

Pei Wenxuan kept his eyes lowered. Li Rong slowly continued, “Aren’t they afraid of being too clever by half and actually letting you become Vice Minister of Personnel?”

“The bigger the bet, the greater the reward after winning.” Pei Wenxuan pondered, speaking in a low voice. “It seems the person behind this wants more than just preventing my promotion.”

“Then what do they want?”

Li Rong turned to look at Pei Wenxuan. Pei Wenxuan laughed softly, raising his eyes to meet Li Rong’s gaze with a fox-like ambiguous smile. “That depends on who made the move.”

“Who do you think made the move?”

Li Rong frowned. She already had a general idea of the candidate in mind, but still needed verification. However, from Pei Wenxuan’s tone, his list of suspects seemed to include more than one person.

Pei Wenxuan smiled without answering. He leaned lightly back against the headboard, closed his eyes, and rested, saying, “Once tonight’s intelligence from various sources comes back, we’ll know who it was.”

Li Rong said nothing. She watched Pei Wenxuan. Even under such adverse circumstances, Pei Wenxuan showed no anger whatsoever. Instead, he had a composed feeling of meeting a worthy opponent, his entire being relaxed against the headboard as if leisurely listening to wind and rain.

Last night he’d tossed and turned unable to sleep. Now that something had happened, he’d calmed down instead.

What he feared wasn’t trouble—it was not knowing what trouble had occurred.

Now that the opponent had made their move, Pei Wenxuan had clarity in his heart and was no longer panicked.

Seeing his calm composure, Li Rong knew he had a plan in mind. She relaxed for a moment, then hesitantly said, “I didn’t handle this matter well.”

Hearing her words, Pei Wenxuan was quite surprised. He opened his eyes to see Li Rong with her head lowered, eyes cast down, earnestly promising, “I’ll take responsibility. You needn’t worry.”

Hearing this, Pei Wenxuan laughed aloud. Li Rong frowned and looked up. “What are you laughing at?”

“Your Highness, the opponent struck covertly against us openly. Even if I had handled this matter myself today, I couldn’t have done better than Your Highness. Why should Your Highness blame yourself?”

“If I could have been more careful…”

“Careful about what?” Pei Wenxuan looked at her with a smile. “We’ve already done what we could. After all, we’re not the heavens—we can’t foresee everything. If they want to make a move, we can’t stop them.”

Li Rong didn’t speak. Her mind kept reviewing where she could have intervened earlier if this matter could be done over again.

Seeing her self-reproach, Pei Wenxuan sighed and shook his head. He reached out and pulled her into his embrace, comforting her, “My dear Highness, please don’t be unhappy. You already owe me, and now if you’re still unhappy and want me to comfort you, wouldn’t that be even more unfair to me?”

Li Rong’s body stiffened. Pei Wenxuan released her, used his hand to lift her chin, and said with a smile, “Smile for me.”

Li Rong forced a smile. Seeing she still wasn’t happy, Pei Wenxuan thought for a moment. “Still feel you owe me?”

Li Rong didn’t answer. She collected her emotions and stood up. “If you’re alright, go back first. Find out the information from all sources clearly, then…”

Before she finished speaking, Pei Wenxuan grabbed her hand and pulled her entire body backward. She fell into his embrace, and then he pinched her chin and lowered his head to kiss her.

Li Rong struggled slightly, then felt this person drive straight in. Her heartbeat quickened. This was a side hall in the court used to accommodate ministers in special situations, not the Princess Manor. What if someone saw them…

Actually, it wouldn’t matter much.

Though she said this, Li Rong still involuntarily felt nervous. This nervousness made her almost forget her previous emotions, but soon she forgot even the nervousness.

Feeling her entire body relax, Pei Wenxuan finally stopped. He held her, neither of them saying anything. Pei Wenxuan rested his chin on her shoulder. After a long time, he finally recovered and spoke in a low, hoarse voice, slowly saying, “I know you’re someone who keeps accounts clear, but Rongrong.”

“Settling accounts one by one—that’s for allies. I’m your husband.”

Li Rong said nothing, but Pei Wenxuan seemed to live in her heart. He seemed to know everything. “If you feel you’ve wronged me,” he said, using his finger to lift her chin, “give me a few more kisses?”

Li Rong looked at him. Pei Wenxuan’s face bore a smile, as if he truly didn’t care about this matter at all. Li Rong remained silent and motionless, looking at him for a long time. Pei Wenxuan thought she wouldn’t say anything more and was about to stand up when suddenly Li Rong reached out, cupped his face, and like a child, fiercely kissed him several times—from forehead to cheeks to nose to mouth.

This kissing method made Pei Wenxuan laugh. After Li Rong finished the last kiss, she stood up and looked down at Pei Wenxuan imperiously. “These kisses are my reward because I find you good-looking. Since they’ve sent you to the Vice Minister of Personnel position today, I wouldn’t want to refuse their kind intentions.”

“Stop lying around,” Li Rong raised her hand and tapped Pei Wenxuan’s leg with her fan. “Get up, go home, figure out what’s going on, and watch how I deal with them.”

Pei Wenxuan pretended to be hurt, crying out “Aiyou,” then stood up covering his bottom, saying resentfully, “Your Highness, you hurt me.”

Li Rong looked at him coldly. “I hit your leg.”

Li Rong raised her hand. Pei Wenxuan looked down. “Your Highness?”

“Didn’t you say it hurts?” Li Rong’s face was expressionless. “If you can’t walk, hold on.”

“Thank you for Your Highness’s consideration.” Without any hesitation, Pei Wenxuan reached out to take Li Rong’s hand and walked out supported by her.

The two walked out of the side hall just as court was being dismissed. Ministers were coming out of the great hall one after another. Many people, seeing Pei Wenxuan, came forward to congratulate him. How could Pei Wenxuan accept these congratulations at such a time?

Right now, the list was only preliminarily set. They had to wait until March—if no one raised objections, only then would it be confirmed, and then they’d begin handling various transfer procedures.

But clearly someone had set a trap. It would be miraculous if no one raised objections during these three months.

So Pei Wenxuan only exchanged pleasantries and modestly said, “This is just a list for now. This humble official has shallow qualifications and fears he cannot bear such great responsibility.”

After greeting familiar officials, Li Rong supported Pei Wenxuan as they walked out of the square. Just as they reached the palace gate, they saw Su Rongqing also preparing to leave.

Su Rongqing noticed the two approaching while supporting each other and looked over. As soon as Pei Wenxuan saw Su Rongqing look over, he quickly leaned his entire body onto Li Rong. Li Rong frowned and looked up. “What’s wrong with you? Are you crippled?”

“Ah,” Pei Wenxuan raised his hand to cover his forehead. “I’m dizzy.”

“Dizzy again?” Li Rong was somewhat nervous. Pei Wenxuan kept his head down. “Let’s go, let’s go, hurry home.”

Standing on his carriage in the distance, Su Rongqing watched the two people leaning on each other. After a long time, he lifted the curtain and sat inside the carriage.

Li Rong and Pei Wenxuan returned to the Princess Manor. Li Rong had sent someone ahead to fetch Liu Hangchun. The two had just returned when they saw Liu Hangchun already waiting in the main hall. Seeing Li Rong enter, he directly knelt down, saying anxiously, “Your Highness.”

“Kneeling already?”

Li Rong smiled. “So you know what you’ve done?”

Liu Hangchun didn’t dare answer. Li Rong and Pei Wenxuan sat down together, looking at Liu Hangchun kneeling on the ground. Li Rong picked up her cup and said leisurely, “What have you done? Speak.”

The Vice Minister of Personnel position was much higher than Liu Hangchun’s position. Logically, this matter shouldn’t have anything to do with Liu Hangchun. But since he knelt as soon as they called him over, Li Rong knew he must have done something.

Liu Hangchun knelt trembling before Li Rong, cold sweat appearing on his forehead, saying anxiously, “Your Highness, last night someone brought me the Ministry of Personnel transfer list for Fifth Rank and above officials, requiring this humble official to remove Minister Pei’s name from Merit Assessment Director. This humble minister originally didn’t dare violate Your Highness’s orders, but the other party said this was for the Prince Consort’s benefit. This humble minister thought that if the Prince Consort could serve as Vice Minister of Personnel, it would certainly be better than Merit Assessment Director. Plus, the list for Fifth Rank and above would be presented to His Majesty first. If His Majesty saw the Prince Consort was a candidate for Vice Minister of Personnel, then saw the list this humble official drafted, he might think this humble official did things poorly. Therefore…”

“So you deleted the Prince Consort’s name from Merit Assessment Director.”

Li Rong smiled lightly. “This is a good thing. The Prince Consort has become Vice Minister of Personnel. Why are you so afraid?”

Liu Hangchun didn’t dare answer. Li Rong lowered her head and played with her teacup, speaking leisurely, “Who was the person who found you, and what did they say?”

“The person who found… found me was Princess Huale.”

Hearing this name, Li Rong stopped her movements. Liu Hangchun gathered his courage and spoke with difficulty, “Princess Huale said that Consort Rou wanted someone to fill the Merit Assessment Director position and told me to arrange it. This humble official didn’t dare agree and informed Princess Huale that Merit Assessment Director had already been decided. She asked me who it was, and this humble official told Princess Huale. Princess Huale then informed this humble minister that the Prince Consort had already been designated as Vice Minister of Personnel.”

“This humble official actually knew something was suspicious,” Liu Hangchun’s entire body was trembling. “But since the Prince Consort was already designated as Vice Minister of Personnel, it would be useless for this humble official to insist on keeping him. Having the Prince Consort appear on both lists simultaneously would be the strange thing. So this humble official followed Princess Huale’s arrangement…”

“And arranged her person.”

Pei Wenxuan’s voice sounded. Liu Hangchun said urgently, “No, no, the Prince Consort wrongs this humble official. Although this humble official deleted the Prince Consort’s name, I only filled in the original name. This humble official is clear about the relationship between Princess Huale and Your Highness. Your Highness controls the Constabulary Bureau. Even with ten times the courage, this humble official wouldn’t dare help Princess Huale oppose Your Highness.”

“So you just deleted the Prince Consort’s name.”

“Yes,” Liu Hangchun said urgently. “This humble official only did this one thing. Today I heard the Prince Consort fainted in court. All the ministers are spreading rumors that the Prince Consort was too overjoyed. But this humble official knows in his heart that perhaps this humble official did something wrong. Please, Your Highness, have mercy! Prince Consort, have mercy!”

Liu Hangchun kowtowed urgently. Li Rong sighed and waved her hand somewhat helplessly. “Get up. You may withdraw first.”

Hearing this, Liu Hangchun breathed a sigh of relief. After bowing respectfully, he was about to leave when he heard Li Rong say quietly, “Since the matter wasn’t completed, send the money back. There will be upheaval soon. Minister Liu won’t be able to escape. If something unexpected happens, what should and shouldn’t be said—Minister Liu should think clearly.”

“Your Highness, rest assured.” Liu Hangchun understood Li Rong’s meaning. He said respectfully, “This humble official is clear in his heart.”

“Go.”

After Li Rong finished speaking, Liu Hangchun withdrew.

After Liu Hangchun left, Li Rong looked up at Pei Wenxuan, who sat across from her deep in thought. “Do you have it figured out?”

Hearing this, Pei Wenxuan looked up with a light smile. “Who does Your Highness think it is?”

“From what we can see now, Consort Rou must be involved. But what does she want to do?”

Li Rong pondered. “I can understand if she fears my growing power with you and wants to prevent you from helping Chuan’er in the future. So I can also understand if she obstructs your entry into the Ministry of Personnel. But now she’s making you Vice Minister of Personnel—what for?”

“If I become Vice Minister of Personnel, what does Your Highness think will happen?”

Pei Wenxuan picked up a game piece and gently placed it on the board. Li Rong understood—Pei Wenxuan wanted her to deduce what would happen next.

“The ministers won’t agree. They’ll jointly petition, and you won’t be able to take the position.”

Li Rong placed her game piece. “What’s the point?”

“How will His Majesty think about this matter?”

Pei Wenxuan continued placing pieces, his expression composed. Li Rong said quietly, “He’ll think your ambition is excessive, that you want to reach the sky in one step.”

“I was originally His Majesty’s blade, completely dependent on His Majesty. Now I can be directly arranged to become Vice Minister of Personnel—how was this done?”

“It was me,” Li Rong pressed down her game piece, her expression turning cold. “I helped you.”

“If Your Highness could so easily arrange for her husband to skip six ranks to become Vice Minister of Personnel, where does this ability come from?”

“Either relying on His Highness the Crown Prince,” Li Rong held her game piece and looked up at Pei Wenxuan, “or the power of the Constabulary Bureau can already intimidate court officials.”

“Does Your Highness remember why His Majesty allowed Your Highness to establish the Constabulary Bureau?”

“He wanted to use my status and abilities to check and balance the aristocratic families. I and the aristocratic political power would fight while he reaped the benefits.”

“In the previous life, the Constabulary Bureau was controlled by Consort Rou. Consort Rou used it to ultimately send His Highness the Crown Prince to prison. Does His Majesty have no such thoughts now?”

Pei Wenxuan smiled lightly. “He merely gave the Constabulary Bureau to Your Highness, wanting to use Your Highness as a mother hen to hatch eggs. Once the eggs are hatched, the chicks must be handed over to others. A Constabulary Bureau that can threaten the officials and secure a Sixth Rank position for one’s husband—when His Majesty sees this, what do you think? Isn’t this a hatched chick?”

Li Rong said nothing. After a moment of silence, she threw her game piece into the box and stood up.

“I need to enter the palace.”

Pei Wenxuan didn’t look up, staring at the game board, saying flatly, “Your Highness, take care.”

Li Rong left directly. Pei Wenxuan rubbed the game piece in his hand.

Actually, there was one point he hadn’t mentioned earlier.

All their considerations, all their perspectives, all their decisions were based on having already foreseen the future, so they could work backward to deduce what people in the present were thinking.

They knew the emperor was now wholeheartedly trying to balance aristocratic families and imperial power, willing to go so far as to depose the Crown Prince. But in fact, back then, everyone thought Li Ming was just too fond of Consort Rou. No one imagined Li Ming had long intended to move against the aristocratic families’ foundations.

Because the aristocratic families were inextricably linked with Li Ming. No one in the Shangguan family believed Li Ming would actually want to cut down his own uncle, cousins, wife, and even son.

They knew the future imperial examinations were crucial, so they were determined to become the Merit Assessment Director overseeing this year’s examinations.

But people now didn’t know this.

Whether Consort Rou, the Empress, the aristocratic families, or court officials—none of them knew Li Ming’s true intentions.

Yet now Consort Rou was making moves to arrange her own person as Merit Assessment Director, then pushing him toward Vice Minister of Personnel to provoke Li Ming, trying to force Li Ming to suspect Li Rong and hand the Constabulary Bureau over to Consort Rou.

Pei Wenxuan looked at the black and white interlaced chess game before him. He couldn’t help but laugh.

“Interesting.”

Behind all this, just how many chess players were there?