The rain grew heavier. Li Ming’s vague scolding could be heard incessantly. Pei Wenxuan withdrew his gaze from Su Rongqing. He turned to look at the eunuch guarding the door, stepped forward to hand the memorial from his sleeve to that eunuch, requesting he pass it to Li Ming. Then he turned back and said to Li Rong, “Your Highness, let’s go.”

Li Rong hesitated somewhat as she glanced at the interior of the imperial study. Finally, she still nodded, turned to instruct the nearby eunuch that she was taking her leave early, then left together with Pei Wenxuan.

The two walked through wind and rain. After leaving the palace, Pei Wenxuan raised his hand and placed it on Li Rong’s shoulder, using his wide sleeve to shield her from the rain threads flying in.

“Why did you come?”

Li Rong spoke in a low voice. “Coming so boldly into the palace to pick me up, aren’t you afraid Father Emperor will be suspicious?”

“I submitted a memorial to him requesting to serve as chief examiner for the imperial examinations,” Pei Wenxuan patiently explained. “The various position transfers will be confirmed tomorrow. My coming tonight to show loyalty is also normal. Moreover,” Pei Wenxuan looked back at the palace, “he doesn’t have the mood to pay attention to us right now.”

“Su Ronghua entered the palace.” Li Rong reminded him. Pei Wenxuan’s expression didn’t change. He only said, “I know.”

“In Father Emperor’s eyes now, what he can investigate is nothing more than that someone sent Hongde into the palace, Hongde’s child was taken by people from the Su family, and now the confession has gone missing, the Memorial Office caught fire, and Hongde was killed. These three matters originally corroborated with the first two matters. Though not ironclad evidence, they could establish Su Rongqing’s guilt in Father Emperor’s heart. Now that Su Ronghua has come forward to take responsibility for the first two matters, it conflicts with the latter three matters. These three matters seem too abrupt…”

Li Rong frowned. “Then Father Emperor will probably think we deliberately framed him.”

“How would he think?” Pei Wenxuan spoke flatly. Li Rong carefully contemplated. “From Father Emperor’s perspective, these three matters—you could say Su Rongqing did them to cover up what he’d done before, but they could also be things we did to frame Su Rongqing. Why wouldn’t Father Emperor think we deliberately framed Su Rongqing?”

“First, we have no reason to frame Su Rongqing. If we wanted to frame someone, we should frame Su Ronghua, who is Prince Su’s teacher.”

“Second, Su Ronghua’s arrival was too coincidental and deliberate to be trustworthy.”

“Third,” Pei Wenxuan turned his head and said softly, “Su Ronghua brought Hongde’s child into the palace.”

Hearing this, Li Rong froze.

Pei Wenxuan tilted the umbrella toward Li Rong and said softly, “Their best plan would actually have been to kill this child. As long as this child wasn’t found in their Su mansion and they refused to admit it, His Majesty would have no ironclad evidence to convict them. But Su Ronghua not only didn’t kill him, he brought this child into the palace to return the hostage and admit fault.”

“Hongde’s death was suicide. Unless there was leverage threatening him, he couldn’t possibly commit suicide. Now that Su Ronghua has brought the child into the palace, Hongde’s death cannot be separated from their Su family. So regarding Hongde’s death, His Majesty is eighty percent certain it wasn’t our doing. The remaining twenty percent is just due to his habitually suspicious nature.”

Li Rong slowly calmed down amidst Pei Wenxuan’s words. Pei Wenxuan helped Li Rong into the carriage, then closed the umbrella. He left the umbrella outside the carriage and stepped into it.

Li Rong’s outer garment was somewhat wet, so he helped Li Rong remove it and took out spare clothing from the carriage for Li Rong to change into.

Li Rong sat in the carriage, watching the person who was half-kneeling before her busying himself, listening as Pei Wenxuan continued, “Now that Su Ronghua has taken the blame, Su Rongqing should be fine.”

“What about Su Ronghua?”

Li Rong spoke softly. After a moment of silence, Pei Wenxuan slowly said, “Leaving the court may not be a bad thing for him.”

“Then after you went to such great lengths in this roundabout way,” Li Rong smiled bitterly, “wasn’t it all wasted effort?”

“Who says I wasted my effort?” Pei Wenxuan looked up with a smile. “Do you think I went to such great trouble just to make Su Rongqing bear a charge?”

This was indeed beyond Li Rong’s expectations.

Though Pei Wenxuan hadn’t said it, Li Rong had guessed about seventy or eighty percent of what he’d done. She’d originally thought Pei Wenxuan’s goal this time was to seize Su Rongqing’s position as Minister of Justice. She hadn’t expected it wasn’t?

“So your real purpose was…”

“Your Highness,” Pei Wenxuan raised his hand to remove the hairpin from Li Rong’s head. Her dark hair cascaded down. He gazed at the beautiful treasure before him and said softly, “Su Rongqing troubles us, never for our sake alone. And I trouble Su Rongqing, also not for Su Rongqing’s sake alone.”

“His purpose,” Li Rong smiled bitterly, “is Chuan’er?”

Pei Wenxuan didn’t speak. He remained silent for a while before finally saying, “When the Crown Prince was deposed that year, the Su and Shangguan families along with the hundred clans joined forces to send troops to help the Crown Prince regain the throne. But after the Crown Prince ascended, he frequently suppressed the noble families for the sake of governance… Even if the Su family weren’t destroyed, starting over again, not a single noble family scion would allow such a Crown Prince who intended to suppress the noble families to ascend, knowing his intentions.”

Li Rong was speechless. Seeing she seemed upset, Pei Wenxuan couldn’t help but feel stifled.

For a moment, he didn’t want to talk either. He dried Li Rong’s hair, then got up to sit to one side, taking out a memorial to read with his head lowered.

After a moment, he heard Li Rong come back to her senses and return to the main topic, saying softly, “So your target was Consort Rou?”

“Mm.” Pei Wenxuan responded perfunctorily.

Li Rong continued contemplating and analyzing. “Right now, the most troublesome thing is actually Su Rongqing and Consort Rou joining forces. I established the Constabulary Bureau with the purpose of using Father Emperor’s hand to control the noble families. According to our plan, over these three years you and I will arrange personnel and make preparations in the court. After three years, if the Crown Prince deposition incident occurs again, we won’t need the noble families to act. We can directly support Chuan’er’s succession.”

“Chuan’er is benevolent by nature. If we resolve the conflicts with the noble families in advance while Father Emperor is alive, he can then directly implement his policies. The situation from our previous life might not occur. But now that Su Rongqing has returned, with him and Consort Rou joining forces, Consort Rou is like a tiger with wings. With Su Rongqing helping her manage court power and her already higher trust from Father Emperor than ours, whether or not Su Rongqing becomes Minister isn’t most important. What’s most important is that he cannot join forces with Consort Rou.”

“Consort Rou suffered a loss this time and will inevitably doubt his ability. Moreover, for Su Ronghua to take the blame, he must confirm his relationship with Consort Rou. With Consort Rou implicated because of the Su brothers, given her temperament, she’ll probably have doubts about future cooperation. If we take this opportunity to exploit some opening and drive a wedge between them, then defeat them one by one, it’ll be much easier.”

As Li Rong spoke, she grew excited. She turned to look at Pei Wenxuan. “So have you figured out how to exploit this opening?”

Pei Wenxuan didn’t speak. He kept his head lowered reading. Li Rong’s smile froze. After hesitating for a moment, she said uncertainly, “Why… are you angry again?”

“You can still tell I’m angry?” Pei Wenxuan scoffed. “Should I praise you for having eyes?”

“That’s not necessary,” Li Rong smiled and waved her hand. “Tomorrow I’ll give you a pair of embroidered shoes. Don’t thank me.”

“Why would you give me that?” Pei Wenxuan frowned.

“Miss Pei,” Li Rong used her fan to lift Pei Wenxuan’s chin. “How many inches are your golden lotus feet?”

Pei Wenxuan laughed coldly and raised his hand to swat her fan. But as soon as he raised his hand, Li Rong grabbed it. Then she slipped onto him like a nimble loach, straddling him. One hand intertwined fingers with his, the other pressed his head down as she kissed him.

Pei Wenxuan wanted to struggle a bit to show some backbone. Just as he moved, he heard Li Rong call out coquettishly, “Brother Pei.”

He suddenly felt that not only did he have no backbone, he also had no bones.

After Li Rong finished kissing him, she hooked his neck and looked at his face, which carried some alluring color in the lamplight, smiling as she said, “What were you angry about just now?”

Pei Wenxuan didn’t speak.

Li Rong leaned against his chest and rubbed her face against him. “Tell me. If you tell me, I can change.”

Pei Wenxuan still didn’t speak. So Li Rong teased him again. “Tell me. Are you not talking because you’re still angry with me?”

“I forgot.”

Pei Wenxuan spoke hoarsely. Li Rong looked up and saw his completely reddened ears.

So she confirmed that Pei Wenxuan had truly forgotten.

Forgetting how he was angry before because of this sort of thing was indeed somewhat embarrassing for Pei Wenxuan.

Too lacking in backbone.

While the two were playing around and returning to the Princess’s mansion together, Su Ronghua was still kneeling on the ground, listening to Li Ming’s interrogation.

“Since it was you, why didn’t you say so earlier?”

“This humble subject is guilty.”

“You come forward now,” Li Ming pointed at him. “Was it really you or was it Su Rongqing!”

“It was this humble subject.” Su Ronghua said decisively. “This humble subject didn’t dare admit to this matter, but couldn’t bear to see my younger brother suffer wrongful accusations, so I had no choice but to come confess. Please forgive this transgression, Your Majesty.”

“Since it was you, why did Hongde confess to your younger brother?”

“When I went to find Hongde, this humble subject didn’t reveal myself,” Su Ronghua lowered his head to recount. “Hongde perhaps guessed I was from the Su family based on something. In Hua Jing, my younger brother’s reputation is more prominent than mine. Hongde perhaps mistook the person.”

“Mistook the person.” Li Ming nodded, clearly not believing this explanation. “Since he mistook the person, then why did you set fire to the Memorial Office and kill him? What was the point?”

“Regarding the Memorial Office fire, this humble subject is unclear. As for Hongde, it was also a misunderstanding. This humble subject did tell Hongde that if something happened, he needed to protect me, but this humble subject doesn’t understand why he committed suicide on the road.”

These words were half true and half false. Li Ming quietly discerned the truth and falsehood in his words. He stared at Su Ronghua. Su Ronghua kept expressing remorse. “Your Majesty, this humble subject was confused for a moment. This humble subject is Prince Su’s tutor, naturally wholeheartedly devoted to Prince Su and Consort Rou. Princess Pingle is the Director of the Constabulary Bureau, holding high position and great power. She and the Crown Prince are already siblings. How could they be separated? Consort Rou was concerned about this, so this humble subject devised such a scheme…”

“You scoundrel!” Li Ming was so angry hearing this that even though he knew Su Ronghua did it for Consort Rou and Prince Su, he couldn’t help but scold. “You and Consort Rou are simply two fools! What did I appoint Pingle for? Without Pingle, would your Su family be willing to fight against a behemoth like the Shangguan family! The Shangguan family can mobilize the entire clan’s strength for the Crown Prince. Can you!”

“Now Pingle is fighting internally with the noble families for power, provoked by Pei Wenxuan. Whether it’s real or fake, the Shangguan family has now vacated positions in the court. The noble families have vacated positions allowing my people to rise up. This is the result! What is she anxious about? She’s anxious, fine, but why are you anxious too? This is how you help her?!”

“This humble subject knows his error. This humble subject was shortsighted and could not comprehend Your Majesty’s deep intentions. Please forgive this transgression, Your Majesty.”

Su Ronghua kowtowed desperately, appearing extremely panicked.

Li Ming looked at Su Ronghua, feeling somewhat weary for a moment. He remained silent for a while. After a long time, he waved his hand. “Forget it. Go. You’re not suitable for staying in the court anymore. Leave.”

“This humble subject thanks Your Majesty for your great benevolence.”

Receiving Li Ming’s words, Su Ronghua stood up and turned to leave.

After he left, he saw Su Rongqing waiting outside the imperial study. The guards outside the study were all far from him. He quietly watched the rain curtain, as if waiting for him.

Su Ronghua walked to Su Rongqing’s side. The brothers stood shoulder to shoulder watching the rain. After a long while, Su Rongqing said calmly, “You shouldn’t have come today.”

“If I didn’t come,” Su Ronghua smiled bitterly, “what would you do?”

“Rongqing,” Su Ronghua looked up at the sky. “Though I don’t know what you’re doing, don’t forget—I’m your older brother. You’re not walking alone.”

“But some paths,” Su Rongqing’s expression was calm, “are destined to be walked alone. When I reach the end, if I die there, if brother is willing, come collect my corpse.”

“Rongqing!” Su Ronghua emphasized his voice, frowning. “What nonsense are you talking!”

“Don’t concern yourself with me from now on.”

Su Rongqing turned his head and stared at him coldly. “What happened today must not happen again. I’ll walk my own path. I’ll bear my own sins. If you want to be good to me,” Su Rongqing looked at the shocked young man before him. In his mind, he kept seeing the image from their previous life of Su Ronghua using a roof tile to slit his own throat. He couldn’t help but tremble in his voice. “Please, just take care of yourself.”

“Go back.” Su Rongqing turned away and walked toward the imperial study, his voice hoarse. “Go have a drink with Shangguan Ya. Find an appropriate time and propose marriage.”

Su Ronghua stood dazed in place, watching Su Rongqing walk into the imperial study. His back was swallowed by the darkness. Su Ronghua watched for a long while. Someone gave him an umbrella and reminded him before he realized he should leave.

He descended the steps and walked through the rain water out of the palace. When the palace gates closed behind him with a creaking sound, he couldn’t help but look back.

The towering palace gates were like a giant beast’s open maw. He stood dazedly before them, feeling somewhat lost for a moment.

He didn’t know where he should go. He didn’t want to return to the Su mansion, yet didn’t know what place he should go to.

He watched as power and influence corrupted the person he loved most. All of Hua Jing seemed like a pot of warm water over flames, unknowingly boiling people beyond recognition.

Though he couldn’t understand Su Rongqing’s words, he vaguely knew one thing.

His younger brother walked a path completely different from his own. And in this life ahead, their paths would never intersect.

Su Ronghua couldn’t help but raise his head, trying to see that pitch-black sky. Just at this moment, he heard a charming female voice call out, “Oh my, you didn’t get beaten?”

Hearing this, Su Ronghua slowly turned around.

He saw the woman dressed in blue, wearing a bamboo hat on her head, holding an extra paper umbrella in her hand, with a wine gourd hanging at her waist.

“What kind of outfit is this?”

Su Ronghua couldn’t help but laugh. “In the middle of the night, you, a young lady from a noble family—are you planning to wander the jianghu?”

“Minister Su guessed correctly.”

Shangguan Ya looked up at him, smiling. “Originally planned to spend the night on the mountain tonight and wait for tomorrow’s sunrise, but hearing that Minister Su selflessly entered the palace to save his younger brother, I passed by to take a look. I didn’t expect Minister Su to be in such a good mood, standing in the rain like this. Aren’t you afraid of catching cold?”

“Well, I was thinking Miss Shangguan would come to pick me up,” Su Ronghua walked to Shangguan Ya with a smile and raised his hand to hold the umbrella she was holding, smiling as he looked down at her. “Wanted Miss Shangguan to feel a bit more distressed, didn’t I?”

“Then you thought wrong. I’m not someone who feels distressed for others.”

“No matter,” Su Ronghua tilted his head. “I’m quite good at this.”

“I brought wine. Does Minister Su have time to watch the sunrise together?”

Shangguan Ya raised her hand to pat the wine gourd. Su Ronghua laughed aloud. “Naturally. If Miss Shangguan goes up the mountain alone without a flower protector, how could anyone feel at ease?”

“Then I must thank Minister Su.” Shangguan Ya turned around, swinging the jade pendant at her waist, waving her hand as if summoning a waiter. “Let’s go.”

Su Ronghua raised a smile. He held the umbrella and followed behind Shangguan Ya.

He suddenly felt as if he’d found a guide. He didn’t need to think about anything. Following in the young lady’s footsteps, walking forward step by step was enough.

At this time, Su Rongqing knelt before Li Ming. “This humble subject knows Your Majesty doesn’t trust anyone now. But since you don’t trust anyone, why not test?”

Li Ming stared at Su Rongqing. “Test what?”

Su Rongqing raised his head, his eyes full of determination. “Test everything Your Majesty doubts in your heart.”

Pei Wenxuan thought he’d won. But how could things be so easy?

He crawled out from a purgatory burned by karma for twenty-five years, not to let everything repeat itself.

He wanted to drag everyone who destroyed all his faith and glory, family and hope in his previous life to hell together.

At this moment, Li Rong and Pei Wenxuan also arrived at the Princess’s mansion together. The two walked in shoulder to shoulder. Pei Wenxuan’s mood improved, and he finally remembered what bothered him in the carriage earlier. “What were you thinking in the carriage? I saw you lost in thought for a long time. Do you feel sorry?”

“Sorry about what?”

Li Rong smiled. After speaking, she immediately understood Pei Wenxuan’s meaning. She sighed. “What do I have to feel sorry about? I was just thinking—everyone is fine now, so how did they become like they were in our previous life?”

“Su Ronghua was willing to place himself in danger to save Hongde’s child now, but later he could poison Qin Zhenzhen for Shangguan Ya’s sake.”

“Aya can distinguish right from wrong now, but later she manipulated so many things in the palace.”

“Chuan’er is benevolent by nature, but in the end, he implicated the entire Su clan for Qin Zhenzhen’s death alone.”

“And Su Rongqing… a noble young master like a clear breeze and bright moon eventually became a hell’s asura wielding a blade.”

Li Rong smiled bitterly. “Tell me, who was really wrong? Was it Father Emperor?”

“Your Highness,” Pei Wenxuan’s voice was gentle. “Emerging from mud unstained—that’s a sage. But most people, like you and me, are ordinary people.”

“And what we’re doing now is digging away the mud.” As Pei Wenxuan spoke, he raised his hand to hold Li Rong’s hand. “The people from our previous life are from that previous life. But this life has actually just begun.”

“What about you?”

Li Rong suddenly asked. Pei Wenxuan looked at her. “What?”

“You say emerging from mud unstained is being a sage. Did you do evil in our previous life?”

Li Rong turned to look at him, somewhat curious. Pei Wenxuan didn’t speak. The two walked along the corridor. Li Rong felt strange. “Pei Wenxuan?”

“I’m also just an ordinary person.”

Pei Wenxuan’s voice was very flat, revealing neither sorrow nor joy. “It’s just that in our previous life, every time I wanted to do evil, I would think of you.”

Li Rong froze. Pei Wenxuan smiled bitterly. “I don’t know why, but even when I hated you most, I still didn’t want you to look down on me.”