Li Rong had formed a plan in her mind. She turned to look at Huale, crossed her arms and leaned against a pillar, quite provocatively saying, “In my residence, what are you to tell me not to leave?”

“Li Rong!” Huale’s shout carried some authority. “You currently have a case against you. You know in your heart whether or not you killed Chen Houzhao!”

“What do I know in my heart?” Li Rong sneered out loud. “With your ability—someone who since childhood needed others to copy Buddhist scriptures for you—if it weren’t for Consort Rou managing the Constabulary Bureau, what do you think you could accomplish? Don’t think that just because you brought people from the Constabulary Bureau, you’re now on the same level as me. The difference between you and me isn’t just birth,” Li Rong said, raising her hand to tap her own head, “but also brains.”

“Hurry home and wash up and sleep. Don’t make a fool of yourself here. But I do sympathize with you,” Li Rong said as she walked up to Huale’s side. With a smile on her face, she lowered her voice, speaking in a tone only the two of them could hear, gently saying, “For a concubine-born child, this is as good as it gets.”

The word “concubine” suddenly struck Huale like a blow. It seemed like a nightmare she could never escape in her entire life. Almost unconsciously, she raised her hand and swung a slap toward Li Rong!

Li Rong cried out in alarm, hastily dodging backward from the slap. She stumbled and fell straight backward. The surroundings erupted into chaos. Jing Lan rushed to help Li Rong, calling out urgently, “Your Highness, how are you, Your Highness!”

Huale stood frozen in place, watching as everyone rushed to help Li Rong, who had fallen to the ground and seemed to have fainted on the spot. Jing Lan called for people to come over, frantically having them lift Li Rong. Huale looked at Li Rong lying unconscious on the ground. Her hand trembled slightly. She felt panicked in her heart, but in that instant, there was also an indescribable, hidden pleasure rising within her.

She suddenly understood why her mother always said she needed to climb upward.

To climb upward, to possess supreme power—only then could she trample underfoot the person who spoke of her concubine birth in that instant.

She lowered her head to look down at Li Rong, watching as everyone frantically helped Li Rong into the house. She shouted loudly, “Wait! Princess Pingle is a wanted person by the Constabulary Bureau. Arrest her immediately!”

“You…”

Jing Lan was about to speak when the pretending-to-be-unconscious Li Rong grabbed her wrist beneath her sleeve. Jing Lan stopped her movement.

With Jing Lan’s pause, the surroundings became chaotic. The Constabulary Bureau’s people didn’t dare advance, but Huale had also brought her own people this time. After her people moved forward, the Constabulary Bureau didn’t dare openly disobey Huale’s orders and could only follow behind.

Li Rong’s mansion guards refused to retreat. Both sides pressed against each other, shoving back and forth.

Jing Lan, having received Li Rong’s message, understood Li Rong’s intention in her heart. She raised her head and called out loudly, “Everyone stop! These are government soldiers. What are you all doing? Have you rebelled?”

As the chief steward of the Princess’s residence, when Jing Lan spoke out, the Princess’s mansion guards stopped. Jing Lan raised her head to look at Huale, saying coldly, “Princess Huale, are you determined to take the Princess away today?”

“Yes.”

Huale sneered, “What, does even a steward like you dare to stop me?”

“This servant wouldn’t dare.”

Jing Lan bowed and said, “This servant only wants to confirm—my Princess is currently only implicated in a case. Princess Huale is merely taking my Princess in for some questioning and won’t use torture, correct?”

Huale hesitated for a moment. She didn’t dare publicly say she would torture Li Rong, though she desperately wanted to. She cleared her throat and replied, “Naturally not.”

Having received this assurance, Jing Lan respectfully said, “Then this servant will first have someone confirm my Princess’s safety. After ensuring she’s unharmed, I will escort my Princess to the Constabulary Bureau. Does Princess Huale agree to this?”

Li Rong was still unconscious. Having received Jing Lan’s promise to send Li Rong, Huale didn’t make things more difficult and only said, “Then call a physician first. After confirming there are no issues, don’t delay any further!”

Jing Lan bowed and had people help Li Rong inside, then called for a physician to examine her.

The physician looked at Li Rong’s condition and knew there was some mystery in all this, so he said nothing. He went through the motions of examining her while Jing Lan stayed by her side.

Huale sat nearby drinking tea, watching the physician examine Li Rong. Jing Lan pretended to be worried, holding Li Rong’s hand. Beneath the sleeve, Li Rong wrote word by word for Jing Lan.

“Zhao Chongjiu, Pei Wenxuan, conscription order, enter palace”

Jing Lan committed these words to memory. Though she didn’t understand their meaning, she clearly understood that she needed to find Pei Wenxuan.

After the physician examined Li Rong, Li Rong continued to feign unconsciousness. Seeing that Li Rong still hadn’t awakened, Huale had someone bring a stretcher and directly carried Li Rong into the Constabulary Bureau.

As soon as Li Rong left, Jing Lan immediately changed clothes and went out through the back door to find Pei Wenxuan.

Pei Wenxuan had just returned from the government office and had just entered his residence when he heard Tong Ye say Jing Lan had arrived. He frowned and went directly to the main gate, asking straightforwardly, “Has something happened to Her Highness?”

“Today Princess Huale brought people from the Constabulary Bureau to the Princess’s residence and took Her Highness away.”

Jing Lan was brief and to the point. Hearing this, Pei Wenxuan actually felt much more relieved.

How could Li Rong possibly let Huale take her away so easily? This must be Li Rong plotting something.

But thinking of Consort Rou and Huale’s temperaments, he was still worried about Li Rong’s situation. However, since he didn’t yet know Li Rong’s intentions, he couldn’t make a decision and could only ask first, “Did Her Highness leave any message?”

“Her Highness left four words: Zhao Chongjiu, Pei Wenxuan, conscription order, enter palace. This servant doesn’t understand their meaning, but knew I should come find the Prince Consort, so I hurried over.”

When Pei Wenxuan heard the term “Prince Consort,” a trace of a smile unconsciously flashed in his eyes. His expression remained unchanged as he nodded and instructed Tong Ye to bring Zhao Chongjiu over.

Zhao Chongjiu arrived quickly. Pei Wenxuan looked up at him and simply asked, “Her Highness mentioned a conscription order. What’s this about?”

Zhao Chongjiu was stunned, then reacted and immediately explained the entire situation regarding Xun Chuan’s letter.

While Pei Wenxuan listened to Zhao Chongjiu speak, he rubbed the surface of the teacup in his hand. After Zhao Chongjiu finished, he seemed to still be thinking about something. Everyone waited for him. After a moment of silence, Pei Wenxuan looked up at Tong Ye beside him and instructed, “Go immediately to the Censorate and find one of our people. In a moment I’ll write a memorial. Have him copy it and submit it. Also smooth things over in the Cabinet to ensure the memorial must reach His Majesty’s hands tonight.”

The Cabinet had just been established and was stuffed with quite a few people.

The Cabinet was created by Li Ming to cultivate King Su’s power and prevent his own information from being blocked. When selecting people, he deliberately tried to avoid children of influential families as much as possible.

But not choosing children from influential families also made it convenient for Pei Wenxuan to insert people. Now each family had their own connections in the Cabinet. The new Cabinet wasn’t too different from the old Memorial Office. However, since they had selected all new people, compared to the past when influential families completely controlled the transmission of memorials, it was much better.

After Pei Wenxuan gave these instructions, he put down his teacup and finally said, “After the memorial is submitted, immediately notify the Empress and have her collect the person. For now, go notify Shangguan Ya and have her protect Her Highness so nothing happens. “

After saying this, he still felt uneasy and stood up. “Jing Lan, you go mobilize the Princess’s residence guards and have them wait at the Constabulary Bureau entrance, ready at any moment. I’m going over there now.”

While Pei Wenxuan was arranging everything, Li Rong, with iron chains on her hands, was lying in a carriage pretending to be unconscious.

Huale sat in another carriage, leading her toward the Constabulary Bureau.

She couldn’t be taken away by Huale while conscious. If she were taken away while awake, where would she put her face? It could only be that Huale snatched her away while she was unconscious—only then would everything make sense. After all, she was used to being arrogant in Hua Jing. Being barged in on, beaten, and taken away by Huale from her own residence would simply be a joke.

Huale didn’t want to ride with her and placed her alone in the carriage. Li Rong found it quite comfortable. She reclined in the carriage, holding the iron chains, leisurely thinking about what came next.

Something like a conscription order—if not handled carefully, it could be connected to treason. Naturally, it couldn’t be requested directly; it had to be given by Li Ming.

So what she needed to do was give Li Ming a hint about the conscription order as a solution, then have him solve the Northwest problem. She would block all his other solutions, leaving only the conscription order for him to choose.

Li Rong closed her eyes in the carriage, slowly considering. For Li Ming to solve Qin Lin’s problem, there were only a few channels.

The first was to force Xiao Su or other influential families to send more troops to Qin Lin. The second was for the state to increase military provisions and disaster relief funds.

Li Ming couldn’t command the influential families, and there wasn’t much money to increase military provisions, so in the end what remained was having Xiao Su send more troops to Qin Lin.

But Xiao Su was the trump card Li Ming had reserved for Li Cheng, and also the army Li Ming himself used to counter the influential families. Once Li Ming realized the military power of the influential families threatened him, he couldn’t possibly have Xiao Su send more troops.

Li Rong tapped her palm lightly with her small fan, contemplating what she would say when she saw Li Ming tonight.

Given Pei Wenxuan’s speed, she wasn’t worried at all that she wouldn’t be able to enter the palace tonight. Her only worry was…

In just this one afternoon, would Huale and Consort Rou go too crazy?

Just as she was thinking this, she heard the driver outside call out “Whoa.” Li Rong was stunned, and she couldn’t help feeling a bit panicked. She generally didn’t panic about other things, only about whether this fellow Pei Wenxuan’s brain was acting abnormal again, failing to understand her intentions and running to rescue her.

But thinking it over, she felt she should have more faith in Pei Wenxuan, so she tried hard to calm herself down. Just as she was building herself up mentally, a young man’s voice came from outside—gentle in tone but completely impolite in manner: “Princess Huale, the Ministry of Justice needs to bring Princess Pingle to the Ministry of Justice for questioning regarding the case of missing commoners in the suburbs. Please be accommodating, Princess Huale.”

Hearing this voice, Li Rong couldn’t help being stunned. She had never imagined that Su Rongqing would appear at this moment.

Huale was clearly even more surprised than she was.

“Minister Su?”

Huale seemed somewhat at a loss, hesitating as she said, “Imperial Sister is currently also involved in the case the Constabulary Bureau is investigating. After the Constabulary Bureau finishes investigating, how about Minister Su comes to interrogate her then?”

“This case has now reached a critical juncture. I hope Princess Huale won’t make things difficult for me.”

As Su Rongqing spoke, his voice drew nearer. Li Rong guessed that he must have said something to Huale. She couldn’t hear clearly what was said outside. After a moment, she heard footsteps approaching. She quickly closed her eyes and lay down, then felt someone lift the curtain and enter. The person sat beside her and instructed outside, “Return to the Princess’s residence.”

After saying this, the person lowered the curtain. The sounds from outside immediately became quieter. Li Rong heard the “clip-clop” of the carriage moving.

It wasn’t appropriate for her to suddenly wake up, and if she did wake up, with just the two of them sitting face to face, it would be awkward. So she lay in the carriage, desperately pondering Su Rongqing’s intentions.

Su Rongqing seemed to watch her for a while, then rose and knelt before her. His breath enveloped her, and Li Rong caught his scent—it was the same as in the previous life.

It was the unique incense of the Princess’s residence from the later part of the previous life. Now he no longer concealed it, even wearing this incense on himself.

In Li Rong’s momentary daze, Su Rongqing had already gently lifted her hand. He removed the shackles for her, then gently placed her hand back down. Then he removed his outer robe, draped it over her, and sat to the side.

Actually, according to propriety, even though they were in the same carriage, he should have sat in the position farthest from her. But he hadn’t done so.

He sat not far from her side—not particularly close, but certainly not far either. This was exactly the position he usually sat in during the previous life.

Li Rong didn’t know if he knew she was awake, but at this moment she didn’t want to wake up. Waking up now to confront him would be far too awkward.

She wasn’t afraid of people confronting her directly—people like Huale and Consort Rou, she could slap them one by one, or slap them in pairs.

But she was afraid of Su Rongqing.

She had a vague feeling that when interacting with Su Rongqing, whatever she asked, Su Rongqing wouldn’t conceal. But precisely because he wouldn’t conceal things, she didn’t dare ask.

This feeling made her extremely uncomfortable, and even his appearance today made her feel somewhat irritated. So she simply closed her eyes and pretended to be unconscious. All the questions could wait until she returned to the Princess’s residence to investigate herself.

Shortly after Su Rongqing intercepted Li Rong, the news reached Pei Wenxuan. Hearing that Su Rongqing had taken her away, Pei Wenxuan immediately led people back to the Princess’s residence.

Tong Ye found it strange and couldn’t help saying, “Minister Su intercepted the Princess. Shouldn’t you go to the Ministry of Justice to look for her?”

“He won’t bring Her Highness back to the Ministry of Justice,” Pei Wenxuan’s voice was somewhat cold. “He will take good care of Her Highness.”

Li Rong endured the journey with her eyes closed, feeling time pass exceptionally slowly.

Halfway through the journey, she felt somewhat drowsy, but she didn’t dare sleep.

She vaguely heard Su Rongqing instruct the carriage outside, his voice very soft, as if from far away: “Go slower. Don’t jostle Her Highness.”

She really couldn’t hold out any longer. The clothes draped over her felt as if they would bite, so she simply turned over and pushed the clothes off.

Su Rongqing quietly watched as Li Rong deliberately pushed the clothes to the ground. He stared at the clothes on the ground for a long time before finally speaking: “Your Highness, sleeping like this will make you catch cold. If you don’t want to be covered by this subject’s clothes, then get up. This subject brought a storybook and can read it to you. Time will pass faster.”

Hearing this, Li Rong knew Su Rongqing was aware she wasn’t asleep, and even knew she was avoiding him.

After all, he had worked on cases in the Ministry of Justice for many years. He had this much perception.

Having been exposed, Li Rong no longer pretended. She simply sat up and laughed openly: “Alright then, I’ll get up now.”

Su Rongqing said nothing. He took a storybook from his sleeve and said peacefully, “Today this subject brought ‘Records of the Inner Chambers’…”

“I don’t want to hear these things.” Li Rong directly interrupted him. Su Rongqing’s movement paused, then he nodded and tucked the storybook back into his sleeve.

Li Rong stared at him. She somewhat wanted to ask him about the past, but also didn’t want to discuss these things with him.

The past between them seemed like a forbidden zone that she was unwilling to touch. After a moment of silence between them, Li Rong finally spoke: “What is Minister Su’s purpose in finding me today?”

“I heard Princess Huale went to the Princess’s residence to cause trouble for you,” Su Rongqing answered steadily. “This subject thought that if Princess Huale truly brought Your Highness into the Constabulary Bureau, Your Highness would likely suffer, so I intercepted Your Highness halfway and brought you back.”

“I’m afraid it’s not to prevent me from suffering, but to prevent me from scheming against Huale.”

Li Rong smiled mockingly. Su Rongqing was silent for a moment, then didn’t conceal it and said directly, “Indeed, there is also this reason.”

“You’re quite honest with me.”

“Rongqing wouldn’t dare deceive Your Highness.”

Su Rongqing looked up at Li Rong, his expression calm. Li Rong met his eyes. She stared at them for a long time.

These eyes seemed no different from the previous life. Li Rong couldn’t help laughing out loud: “When have you ever not deceived me?”

Su Rongqing paused. The moment these words came out, it was as if the two of them stood before a thin veil. They could see each other’s shadowy forms but could never see each other’s faces clearly.

If either of them took one more step forward, they could tear the veil apart and see each other’s appearance.

Only, neither knew whether that appearance would be hideous and terrifying, or beautiful as they imagined.

Su Rongqing reached out to grasp his cup and took a sip of the already cold tea.

The icy sensation let him gradually calm down. After composing himself somewhat, he slowly said, “Does Your Highness resent me?”

Li Rong thought for a moment, then laughed self-mockingly: “What is there to resent? I wasn’t as good as you. I’m willing to accept defeat.”

“I just want to know,” Li Rong crossed her arms in front of her chest and said quietly, “Can’t you stop?”

They had already started over in this life. The revenge that should be taken had been taken. The resentment that should exist had dissipated. What was there left to be obsessed about?

Su Rongqing looked at Li Rong and asked in return, “Will His Majesty stop?”

This “His Majesty” referred not only to Li Ming, nor solely to Li Chuan.

What he meant was every ambitious ruler who sat in that position.

The influential families had developed to this point. Any ambitious monarch couldn’t allow them to remain. And while the Shangguan family, as the Emperor’s maternal family, could still escape calamity, the Su family—as the head of all the influential families of Jiangnan, first on the clan registry—had almost no possibility of escaping unscathed.

Su Rongqing understood this clearly, and Li Rong also saw it clearly. Li Chuan’s brutality toward the Su clan wasn’t solely because of Qin Zhenzhen’s death. What Qin Zhenzhen had demonstrated was the terrifying power of the influential families. And the fall of the Su clan represented the final glory of the influential families in Great Xia. From that point onward, the existence of all influential families was nothing more than lingering echoes.

Li Rong couldn’t hold back Li Chuan, and in fact, she couldn’t hold back the steps of any slightly ambitious monarch.

Su Rongqing smiled: “Your Highness, I have no path to choose.”

Li Rong couldn’t speak.

For a moment, she suddenly felt this person was both detestable and pitiable.

She poured tea for herself and held the cup without speaking.

The most important question had already been asked. Even though she had known the answer before asking, she still wanted to ask again. Having now received a definite reply, she had no other thoughts.

The two remained silent for a long time. Just past dusk, the carriage arrived at the Princess’s residence entrance.

Pei Wenxuan waited at the Princess’s residence entrance. Before coming, he had already had the area cleared. With the Princess’s residence surrounded today, it was normal to block off the street under special circumstances.

After clearing the area, there was no one before the Princess’s residence. He kept his hands tucked in his sleeves, standing guard at the entrance, watching the carriage approach clip-clopping. He tensed slightly, clenching his fists.

The driver saw Pei Wenxuan and stopped. Before he could call out “Minister Pei,” Pei Wenxuan strode directly forward and pulled open the curtain.

Li Rong hadn’t expected Pei Wenxuan to arrive so quickly. Still holding her tea, she was somewhat startled. Then she saw Pei Wenxuan’s cold eyes sweep over Su Rongqing’s clothes on the ground, then look up at her.

In that instant, Li Rong felt an inexplicable psychological pressure. She coughed lightly and explained, “Wenxuan, that…”

“Your Highness should come down first to talk.”

Pei Wenxuan spoke flatly, extending his hand toward Li Rong.

The more flat Pei Wenxuan’s tone, the more panicked Li Rong became. She quickly placed her hand in Pei Wenxuan’s and let him help her down from the carriage.

Su Rongqing turned his head away and lowered his head to pour himself tea.

As soon as she descended from the carriage, Pei Wenxuan removed his outer robe and draped it over Li Rong, saying warmly, “Your Highness must be cold?”

“I’m not…” Li Rong instinctively wanted to refuse. After all, it was almost April. But before she could finish, Pei Wenxuan gripped her shoulder and stated with certainty, “You are cold.”

Li Rong: “…”

Besides being cold, she had no choice.

She didn’t dare speak and simply wore Pei Wenxuan’s clothes. Pei Wenxuan called Jing Lan, who was guarding at the entrance, over to help Li Rong inside.

Seeing that Pei Wenxuan didn’t intend to go in with her, Li Rong couldn’t help feeling worried, afraid he would do something rash. After all, the punch to Cui Yulang had been talked about in court for several days.

If Cui Yulang was punched and few people cared, but if Su Rongqing was punched, it wouldn’t be a small matter.

But she was also afraid that saying too much would make Pei Wenxuan misunderstand that she was protecting Su Rongqing. She held back and held back, and could only say, “Let’s go in together, alright?”

Pei Wenxuan knew what she was worried about. He smiled warmly and said gently, “Your Highness should go back first. I’ll just say one thing and return right away, alright?”

With Pei Wenxuan putting it this way, Li Rong couldn’t say much more. She could only look back with every three steps as Jing Lan reluctantly helped her inside.

Seeing Li Rong return to the residence, Pei Wenxuan’s face went cold as he turned back and once again lifted the carriage curtain.

Su Rongqing knew he had returned alone and looked up coldly: “What advice does Minister Pei have?”

Pei Wenxuan smiled warmly and spoke in a voice only the two of them could hear: “Minister Su, I must remind you of something. The incense you’re wearing is used by palace eunuchs. I hope Minister Su remembers this.”

Su Rongqing’s gaze suddenly went cold. Pei Wenxuan smiled and bowed his head in salute, then raised his hand to drop the curtain, blocking the view of the person inside. He turned and left happily.

By the time he caught up with Li Rong, his face already bore a triumphant spring breeze expression. Seeing his smile, Li Rong couldn’t help finding it strange: “What did you say to him?”

“Ah? Nothing.” Pei Wenxuan smiled. “I just complimented him on his incense smelling quite nice.”

Li Rong was speechless. She knew Pei Wenxuan had a dog’s nose. Su Rongqing was wearing the incense from the previous life—even she had smelled it. He couldn’t possibly have missed it.

She remained silent for safety. After a moment, she deliberately changed the subject: “Aren’t you afraid of being seen, staying so openly at the Princess’s residence?”

“Today was a special situation. I had the area cleared in advance. Right now, only the inner courtyard and my people are still active outside.”

Pei Wenxuan quickly answered Li Rong’s question. Before Li Rong could ask again, he continued, “The memorial has already been submitted to the Cabinet and should be transmitted to His Majesty tonight. As for the Ministry of Finance, don’t worry either. Money is never enough. It won’t be easy for His Majesty to requisition money, and he won’t be able to send money to Qin Lin. Your Highness can rest assured.”

As they spoke, they walked together to the inner courtyard room. Just as they entered, Pei Wenxuan turned sideways and blocked Li Rong’s path.

“Now there’s only one problem left.”

Hearing his serious tone, Li Rong felt somewhat afraid.

She didn’t know what she was afraid of. She just instinctively felt as if she had done something wrong. She stood in place with feigned composure, then saw Pei Wenxuan reach out his hand and place it on her face, his tone carrying both tenderness and interrogation: “Did she hurt you when she hit you?”