Having received Li Ming’s reward, Li Rong left the palace in high spirits. Not long after leaving the palace, she exchanged clothes with Jing Mei and instructed her, “Go back and find my body double. Tomorrow the Constabulary Bureau’s people will come to seal the residence. Have the double stay at the residence these days and keep things well concealed.”
Jing Lan and Jing Mei nodded. Jing Mei couldn’t help asking, “Then what are Your Highness’s arrangements?”
“I’m going to stay at the new residence.”
Li Rong thought of Pei Wenxuan, casually twirling her folding fan in her hand. Jing Mei didn’t understand. “Why is Your Highness going to the new residence? Do you miss the Prince Consort?”
Li Rong’s hand paused. Jing Lan coughed lightly. “Your Highness, rest assured and go. Jing Mei and I will arrange everything here properly.”
With Jing Lan interrupting like this, Li Rong’s embarrassment eased somewhat. She replied with a sound of acknowledgment. Seeing the route was suitable, she had the carriage stop, disguised herself as a maid, and got off the carriage, leading several guards into the shadows.
After reaching the shadows, the hidden guards who had gone to clear the path returned and said quietly, “Your Highness, no one is following.”
After confirming it was safe, Li Rong turned back and hurried to the new residence.
As Li Rong rushed toward her newly purchased residence, Pei Wenxuan was still in his room examining several backup examination questions for this year’s imperial examinations.
Now the imperial examinations were all arranged and ready. They were just waiting for Consort Rou to handle the case of examination fraud, settle the examinees properly, and then prepare to begin testing.
Pei Wenxuan was deliberating over the examination questions when Tong Ye’s voice came from outside, speaking softly, “Young Master, someone sent by Her Highness has arrived, saying there’s an urgent matter to see you.”
Hearing that Li Rong’s person had come, Pei Wenxuan knew she had finished her palace business. He kept his head lowered, circled characters on the questions, wrote revision notes, and while writing, said slowly, “Come in.”
A moment later, a black-clothed woman walked in. She wore a cloak covering her face. Pei Wenxuan didn’t look up. He kept his head lowered, reviewing the memorial, and said calmly, “How is Her Highness?”
“She has already returned.”
A hoarse female voice rang out. Pei Wenxuan’s hand holding the brush paused. He frowned and looked up at the woman standing in the room.
The woman wore a veil shrouded in a black cloak, making it completely impossible to discern her figure or features. Pei Wenxuan watched quietly for a moment, then turned his head away and said flatly, “Oh, that’s good then. Does Her Highness have anything else to say?”
Li Rong stood in place. Seeing that Pei Wenxuan ignored her and seemed not to recognize her at all, she felt somewhat angry for a moment. She suppressed her voice and said quietly, “Her Highness said nothing else, just that the Princess’s residence will be sealed tomorrow. Not having seen you for a long time, she feared you would be lonely, so she sent this servant especially to serve you.”
“You’re an ill-mannered servant.” Pei Wenxuan frowned at her and said coldly, “Get out!”
Seeing Pei Wenxuan with such a chaste appearance, Li Rong couldn’t help but laugh.
She reached into her cloak and began removing her garments one by one. Pei Wenxuan averted his eyes and lowered his head to look at the official documents in his hands, saying coldly, “What are you doing?”
“My Lord, this servant was sent into the residence by Her Highness. My Lord need not be nervous.” As Li Rong spoke, she removed her last garment and walked barefoot toward Pei Wenxuan.
The black cloak vaguely revealed a pair of fair, rounded feet and slender ankles, appearing and disappearing beneath the clothing. When they touched the ground, they seemed like blooming lotus flowers.
As she spoke, she passed by the candlestand and swept her wide sleeve. The entire room immediately darkened.
The woman fell into Pei Wenxuan’s embrace in the darkness. Smooth, delicate hands emerged from beneath the cloak, hooking around Pei Wenxuan’s neck as she said quietly, “Her Highness won’t blame you.”
“Really?”
Pei Wenxuan finally couldn’t keep up the act. His tone carried a hint of amusement in the night.
Li Rong instantly realized Pei Wenxuan had been fooling her and immediately tried to get up. But just as she straightened halfway, she was pulled back by someone and completely fell into his embrace.
Pei Wenxuan held her with one hand and lifted her chin with the other to look at him, smiling as he examined the jade beauty in the moonlight. “Coming here tonight, Your Highness, are you planning to throw yourself into my arms, a lady eloping at night?”
Hearing these words, Li Rong rolled her eyes, hooked his neck, and sat up straight in his lap, saying lazily, “I have nowhere else to turn, so I’ve come to seek refuge with you, my Lord. I plan to eat your food, drink your wine, and use your money.”
Li Rong raised an eyebrow at him. “Can my Lord bear it?”
Hearing this, Pei Wenxuan laughed, rubbed his nose against her face, and said tenderly, “When have I ever been stingy about giving you money?” Pei Wenxuan dishonestly kissed her. “Everything of this subject’s is Your Highness’s.”
“Pei Wenxuan,” Li Rong said somewhat proudly, “would you say this counts as… a transaction of power for sex between us?”
Pei Wenxuan showed a look of surprise. “So Your Highness’s beauty can actually be traded?”
Li Rong considered this and felt the words didn’t sound quite right. Pei Wenxuan pushed aside the things on the desk behind her, clearing the table, then placed her on it. Supporting himself with both hands above her, he smiled and said, “You should have said so earlier. In the previous life, this subject still had some meager power. Whatever Your Highness wants, this subject will give.”
“The palace nannies said men’s words can’t be trusted,” Li Rong raised her body and whispered in his ear, “especially those spoken in bed.”
“For instance, a certain someone once said to me,” Li Rong traced her finger across Pei Wenxuan’s chest, “that dying on top of me would be worth it.”
“Those words weren’t a lie.”
Pei Wenxuan smiled, then heard Li Rong let out a muffled groan and grip his hand tightly.
“How did the talk with His Majesty go tonight?”
Pei Wenxuan’s voice was very steady. Li Rong clutched the edge of the desk, her tone maintaining its previous coolness. “About as expected. I hinted at the conscription order method and reminded him of the military power issue. When he thinks about Qin Lin’s matter later, he’ll secretly give Qin Lin a conscription order.”
“After all, the border can’t be lost. He can’t mobilize the influential families’ troops. He’s unwilling to send his own direct forces to fight. He can only let Qin Lin exhaust himself on the front lines.”
Pei Wenxuan made a sound of acknowledgment, his hands supporting him on the edge of the desk. Li Rong bit down without speaking, but Pei Wenxuan liked to talk with her at times like these, as if he just wanted to see how long this person could hold out.
After a long while, Li Rong’s consciousness had become somewhat scattered. She lost her composure when speaking with Pei Wenxuan and rarely complained, murmuring, “He’s also using every means possible to have King Su ascend the throne. He placed Xiao Su in the Northwest to give King Su military power. He had Consort Rou handle this case about humble-born candidates to accumulate King Su’s own people. He arranged for Su Ronghua to be his teacher so the Jiangnan influential families would establish relations with him. He’s just waiting to endure another ten or twenty years. After he’s trained Li Cheng into an adult, he’ll have the realm perfectly arranged to hand over to Li Cheng. I just don’t understand—they’re all his children, so what’s the difference? If he had even a shred of compassion for Chuan’er and me, he would think of ways to…”
“Your Highness,” Pei Wenxuan knew her thoughts were wandering to the past. He didn’t want her thinking about these things, so he interlaced his ten fingers with hers and asked softly, “Did you come to my residence because you missed me?”
Li Rong found it difficult to think and mumbled an acknowledgment. Pei Wenxuan lowered his head to kiss her. “Are you going to stay here?”
“Mm.” Li Rong closed her eyes and said quietly, “I’ll hide here with you for now. Every day I’ll wait in your room for you to come back…”
Before Li Rong could finish speaking, she didn’t know what Pei Wenxuan was thinking—everything just stopped.
Li Rong opened her eyes in confusion. Pei Wenxuan was also somewhat embarrassed. After the two remained silent for a moment, Li Rong laughed and simply said, “Have someone bring water.”
Pei Wenxuan got up and carried Li Rong back to the bed, then had someone fetch water.
After both of them washed up, they lay in bed together. Pei Wenxuan asked again about the arrangements at the Princess’s residence. After confirming there were no problems, he pulled her into his embrace.
His movements were somewhat forceful, as if he was very happy. Li Rong thought about what had just happened and couldn’t help finding it strange. She raised her hand to pillow it under her ear, lying on her side to look at Pei Wenxuan. “What were you thinking just now to get so excited?”
Hearing her question, even though it was nighttime, Li Rong felt as if he seemed to be blushing.
Li Rong couldn’t help reaching out to touch his face, wanting to confirm if it had gotten hot. Pei Wenxuan quickly pushed her hand away and said quietly, “Stop fooling around.”
“Are you blushing?” Li Rong immediately pressed him. Pei Wenxuan pressed Li Rong into his embrace. “Your Highness, let’s sleep.”
The more Pei Wenxuan tried to conceal it, the more curious Li Rong became. She poked her head out from his embrace and hugged him, saying, “Tell me. If you don’t tell me, how can I sleep?”
As she spoke, she raised her hand to touch his earlobe and confirmed it was indeed very hot.
She shook Pei Wenxuan, pressing him with questions. “If you don’t tell me, neither of us will sleep. I can catch up on sleep during the day, but you still have to attend morning court…”
“Alright.”
Pei Wenxuan was somewhat helpless and opened his eyes. “After I tell you, you can’t laugh at me.”
“I promise not to laugh.” Li Rong blinked. “Hurry and tell me.”
“Actually, I’ve always had a wish in my heart.”
Pei Wenxuan’s voice was very soft. He held Li Rong, his voice gentle. “I hope that one day, Your Highness could be my Your Highness alone. This period doesn’t need to be too long—a few months would be fine, even a few days would work. Even just a few hours would make me very happy.”
This was an answer beyond Li Rong’s expectations. After all, having experienced intimacy, she had initially thought Pei Wenxuan would give her a more carnal reason. But she discovered that every time she thought Pei Wenxuan was indulging in physical pleasures, this person would give her an even more tender response beyond those pleasures.
She gently leaned against Pei Wenxuan. After recovering for a moment, she asked, “What would count as being your Your Highness alone?”
Hearing Li Rong’s question, Pei Wenxuan showed some surprise. After a moment, he lowered his head to kiss her forehead. “Just like this—this is already very good.”
“You in my embrace, me in your heart.”
“That’s enough.”
Li Rong said nothing. She looked up at him.
“Your Highness,” Pei Wenxuan smiled. He took her hand, his voice warm. “With me here, you can walk out from the past.”
No matter whether Li Ming cared about her, no matter whether Shangguan Yue loved her or loved Li Chuan, no matter whether anyone liked her in the past, no matter how many fragmented relationships she had witnessed, how much darkness in human nature—with him, Pei Wenxuan, here, he wouldn’t let her drown in the past.
He would pull her out and walk together toward a better future.