Gritting her teeth, Sun Liuxiang took a deep breath and still stepped up to sit down.

The journey nearly rattled her bones apart. The Marquis of Gongyu ambushed them from both sides unexpectedly, and Yuwen Xi led everyone dodging here and there, successfully reaching Wu Mountain.

Once inside the mountains, it wasn’t so easy for the Marquis of Gongyu to attack them anymore, so Yuwen Xi finally breathed a sigh of relief and began contacting generals and princes from various regions, building camps in the easily-defended, hard-to-attack areas of Wu Mountain.

He Chang’an sent a persuader over, saying that as long as Yuwen Xi surrendered, his life would be spared, and he could return to the capital to see the Emperor and Empress Dowager.

Yuwen Xi snorted coldly and had the persuader executed, stubbornly continuing to seek help.

Yet, under the current circumstances, aside from Prince He, no one was willing to help anymore.

Yuwen Xi was like a trapped beast, irritably wandering through Wu Mountain. The sky began to rain, and Zhanshui hurriedly took people to find him. Sun Liuxiang also volunteered to go up the mountain, twisting her large body, struggling to hold up an umbrella as she searched everywhere.

Half an hour later, she saw Yuwen Xi in a cave.

The dignified Prince Xi was now in a sorry state, soaked through, his hair bun undone, looking no different from a vagrant. Sun Liuxiang felt a bit of heartache and hurried over to give him the cloak off her own back, but who knew the Prince would grab the firewood beside him without a second thought and throw it at her.

“Get lost! This prince knows how to get back himself!”

To be seen like this by a woman—what dignity did he have left?

Struck by the firewood several times, Sun Liuxiang retreated again and again, saying aggrievedly, “Everyone’s worried about you, that’s why we came looking.”

“This prince doesn’t need anyone worrying about him!” Yuwen Xi snorted coldly. “It’s not like I’m trying to end my life, I’m just clearing my head.”

“But…” Sun Liuxiang looked outside. “It’s raining.”

“This prince isn’t getting rained on in here!” He waved impatiently. “Get lost quickly, if you stay here any longer, this prince will go find another place instead!”

Sun Liuxiang startled and hurried out.

Watching her large figure disappear from the entrance, Yuwen Xi finally let out a breath of relief. He leaned against the stone wall, quietly thinking things over.

He might indeed be doomed to lose, but to admit defeat just like this—he couldn’t accept it. No matter what, he had to hold out to the end. As long as the Empress Dowager was around, he wouldn’t die anyway.

After being in a daze for a while, seeing the rain outside was about to stop, and hearing Zhanshui calling for him, he simply got up and walked out.

“What is that thing!” Stepping out of the cave, he sensed a large mass of flesh beside him and was startled. He backed up two steps to look carefully, and his face immediately darkened. “This prince told you to leave, didn’t he? What are you squatting here for?”

The oiled paper umbrella couldn’t possibly shield her enormous body. Having squatted here for so long, she was soaked through, her flesh all exposed, looking quite disgusting.

Sun Liuxiang smiled sheepishly, standing up and wiping at her skirt. “This concubine was afraid you’d get lost later…”

Who would get lost in these mountains? Rolling his eyes, Yuwen Xi looked at Zhanshui approaching from a distance and said to her irritably, “Go back yourself, don’t follow this prince.”

This appearance was simply too embarrassing.

Sun Liuxiang was stunned, looked down at herself, then obediently nodded.

When Zhanshui heard his master’s words, he glanced at Sun Liuxiang a couple times, said nothing, but after walking some distance away, he still couldn’t help saying quietly, “Your Highness, she still has Prince He behind her. Is it really alright for you to treat her this way?”

“Hmph, you don’t understand her at all,” Yuwen Xi said flatly. “That fat girl—be good to her, she just smiles foolishly; be bad to her, she still smiles foolishly. This prince has tested it. No matter how excessive I get, she doesn’t get the least bit angry, sticking to this prince shamelessly. So there’s absolutely no need to treat her carefully like a proper mistress.”

Zhanshui was stunned, and instinctively looked back.

At the cave entrance, Sun Liuxiang was still standing there, unmoving.

Though she was dark-skinned and a bit fat, Zhanshui suddenly felt that this Commandery Princess actually had a very good temper, and truly seemed to genuinely like his master.

There is an ugly side to human nature—when someone treats you exceptionally well unconditionally, holding you in the palm of their hand, you become arrogant, unwilling to return the same feelings, and instead look down on them. This is a subconscious human tendency, to keep consuming someone’s goodwill until they finally see you clearly.

Such subconscious behavior applies not only to romantic love but also to friendship, so no one should be too humble—after all, people are equal in matters of feeling; at the start, no one owes anyone anything.

Sun Liuxiang’s one-sided kindness toward Yuwen Xi resulted in Yuwen Xi being fine with everyone else, but especially harsh toward her.

For instance, when he returned soaked from the rain, many of his concubines sent ginger soup and tonics. Sun Liuxiang naturally sent some too, but Prince Xi gently thanked the other concubines while not saying a single word to Sun Liuxiang.

Another example: during the subsequent march, when they had to abandon the carriages and there weren’t enough horses, Yuwen Xi gave horses to the other concubines but had Sun Liuxiang walk on foot behind them, calling it “helping her lose weight.”

The dark, plump girl began to grow quiet. Though she still smiled whenever she saw Prince Xi, she spoke less and less.

The dull-witted Yuwen Xi never noticed this change. He only knew Sun Liuxiang was an amusing fat girl who would do stilt-walking tricks and fall down to make him laugh when he was unhappy. The rest of the time, he had no desire to see her at all.

“How pathetic.” Hua Chun shook her head, tugging on Yuwen Jie’s arm beside her. “This concubine can’t bear to listen anymore. Your Majesty, hurry and capture Yuwen Xi and bring him back, and send Commandery Princess Liuxiang to the palace. This concubine wants to give her some ideological guidance.”

Since she’d said so, the Emperor naturally had no objections, ordering Huo Zichong and He Chang’an to work together to bring Prince Xi back within three days.

So Yuwen Xi, with his last few thousand personal guards, was pursued to the edge of a cliff.

“Your Highness.” Sun Liuxiang said anxiously. “Surrender. At least you’ll keep your life if you go back.”

“Do I need you to tell me that?!” Yuwen Xi flew into a rage from shame, shouting at her, then threw the letter of surrender in front of the three armies.

After struggling for an entire month, Prince Xi was ultimately brought back to the capital by Huo Zichong.

Great Liang, not yet recovered from the aftermath of the great war, had cold and deserted streets in Yanjing, with only occasional pedestrians.

Sun Liuxiang accompanied Yuwen Xi in the prisoner’s cart on the way back, unable to help sighing, “It would have been so much better if there hadn’t been a war.”

Yuwen Xi in front turned back and glared at her fiercely. “What’s the point of your hindsight now?”

Shrinking her neck, Sun Liuxiang said nothing more.

The two were brought into the palace. The palace was also in a state of reconstruction, with only Purple Dawn Hall left undamaged.

The Emperor and Hua Chun sat in the main seats, watching them enter, then being pressed down to kneel.

“Your Highness caused quite a stir with this incident.” Hua Chun smiled sweetly, taking out an abacus and clicking away. “Rough estimates put Great Liang’s military and civilian casualties at thirty thousand, with the economic impact incalculable. One battle set Yanjing back five years. Have you calculated any of this?”

Yuwen Xi knelt in silence.

Sun Liuxiang said quietly, “His Highness didn’t want this either…”

“He didn’t want it? Did the Emperor hold a knife to his neck and force him to rebel?” Hua Chun raised an eyebrow.

Sun Liuxiang shook her head. “Everyone has something they want. His Highness merely made an effort to pursue it. Because he was born into the imperial family, the price he pays is naturally greater than that of ordinary families.”

“You shut up.” Yuwen Xi spoke in a deep voice, raising his head to look at the Emperor. “This time I’ve lost. Kill me or torture me, it’s up to you.”

Yuwen Jie looked at him flatly. “Didn’t you harbor some hope that Mother would save you?”

Slightly stunned, Yuwen Xi pressed his lips together. He had indeed harbored such hope—after all, given the Empress Dowager’s temperament, she would absolutely never watch him die without doing something.

“This Emperor gave you a chance,” the Emperor said. “You didn’t cherish it. Now that you’re kneeling here, this Emperor feels there’s no longer any need to show you mercy.”

His heart skipped, and Yuwen Xi looked up in disbelief, glancing around.

The Empress Dowager wasn’t there! Did Yuwen Jie truly intend to kill him?

“Grant them a cup of poisoned wine,” the Emperor waved his hand, and a palace attendant nearby came forward with a tray, on which sat a cup of wine.

“One cup?” Yuwen Xi frowned. “What does that mean?”

Hua Chun smiled and said, “The two of you—this one cup will be enough.”

Sun Liuxiang was stunned, tilting her head, not yet reacting, when she saw Prince Xi reach out and take the wine cup down.

“Don’t!” She hurriedly snatched it away. “If it’s just one cup, then I can drink it alone, right?”

His heart jolted, and Yuwen Xi raised an eyebrow, looking at her.

He had intended for her to drink it alone, but hadn’t expected this dark, plump girl to be so proactively willing.

Hua Chun stopped smiling and looked at her seriously. “Commandery Princess Liuxiang, do you think it’s worth losing your own life for a man?”

Sun Liuxiang pressed her lips together, thought for a moment, and said, “This concubine wants His Highness to live.”

“The way to let His Highness live is to drink this cup. So this concubine chooses to drink it—what’s wrong with that?”

It was extremely simple logic, and everyone present was stunned to hear it, secretly cursing this fool in their hearts. She was so willing to sacrifice herself for others—yet looking at Prince Xi beside her, his expression was clearly one of relief, without the slightest intention of stopping her.

“This prince will definitely remember the Commandery Princess’s great kindness,” was all Yuwen Xi said.

Sun Liuxiang was stunned, dazedly turning to look at him.

Couldn’t he at least offer a word to keep her, even just for show? She would have drunk it anyway…

“Fool.” Hua Chun muttered, waving for the wine cup to be taken away, then said, “It seems the feelings between His Highness and the Commandery Princess… aren’t mutual.”

Sun Liuxiang stiffly turned her head to look at her.

Long ago, Consort Dowager De had told her that marriage needed to be built on mutual love to have good days ahead. She hadn’t listened.

Thinking carefully now, she indeed hadn’t had good days. This person beside her seemed different from the person she’d first seen—it was just that she’d always refused to admit it.

Lowering her eyes, Sun Liuxiang fell silent.

Yuwen Xi glanced at her with disdain, then looked at Hua Chun. “So is it the poisoned wine, or something else?”

“No need to drink it,” the Emperor said. “Your fief will be transferred to this Emperor’s name. All your troops will be handed over to Huo Zichong for reorganization. You’ll keep your title as Prince, but be imprisoned at White Horse Temple for life.”