“How is this past different from what Su Rongqing told me?”

Li Rong smiled with difficulty. “Just because they suffered doesn’t mean I can understand them. If we’re talking about suffering, who had it good?”

“Your Highness is correct.” Pei Wenxuan nodded lightly. “Then tomorrow, I’ll accompany Your Highness to see His Highness the Crown Prince, and then I’ll escort Your Highness to find Su Rongqing.”

“You’re willing for me to cooperate with him?” Li Rong stared at Pei Wenxuan. Pei Wenxuan smiled composedly. “Whatever Your Highness does, Wenxuan is willing to follow.”

As he spoke, he leaned forward and embraced Li Rong. “As long as Your Highness understands what you want and has no regrets.”

“Is this dream real or false?”

“I’ve verified it,” Su Rongqing lowered his eyes. “It’s real.”

“So this is your reason for allying with Consort Rou—to prevent the Crown Prince from ascending the throne?”

Su Ronghua raised his eyes to look at Su Rongqing. Su Rongqing responded, “Yes.”

“Because you’re killing His Highness the Crown Prince, you’re destined to oppose Princess Pingle, so you abandoned her.”

Su Ronghua stated this with certainty. Su Rongqing clenched his fists. After a long time, he still responded, “Yes.”

“Don’t you find it regrettable? You already know the future—why not try to change it?”

“How would I change it?” Hearing this, Su Rongqing couldn’t help but laugh. “Elder Brother, how would I change it? Did our Su clan wrong Li Chuan? Or does our Su clan have too much power? It’s because Li Chuan, as ruler, is full of ambition but reckless and ignorant, acting recklessly!”

“He’s fond of grandiose achievements. He wanted to launch a northern expedition as soon as he ascended. All the ministers advocated peace. He thought his subjects feared death, not knowing we deeply understood the court’s internal corruption. Without clearing out these abuses, rashly going to war—how could there be any possibility of victory? But he insisted on war. In the end, the treasury was depleted. Halfway through the war, there was no military pay. Then came the usual southern floods. With no funds left for disaster relief, corpses littered the ground and people resorted to cannibalism.”

“He didn’t reflect or repent. He only blamed the accumulated abuses of noble families and blindly pushed reforms, causing continuous warfare for years. He favored treacherous officials from humble families and acted recklessly. When he ascended, Great Xia had a registered population of one hundred thirty million. Eight years later, the registered number was less than eighty million. Fifty million people,” Su Rongqing looked at Su Ronghua, “where should we begin changing things?”

“Back then, he had this same temperament, appearing virtuous and benevolent. Elder Brother, I do love Princess Pingle.” When Su Rongqing spoke these words, he stared fixedly at Su Ronghua. “But I also have my principles.”

Su Ronghua said nothing. He picked up his tea and took a light sip.

“Rongqing, have you been to the north?”

Su Rongqing didn’t know why Su Ronghua suddenly asked this. He froze. Su Ronghua set down his tea bowl, his voice very soft. “You’ve grown up in Hua Jing from childhood, never been anywhere else. To you, human lives are merely numbers—one million, ten million. I’ve been to the north. At that time when I went, I saw the battlefield with my own eyes, saw common people slaughtered like pigs and dogs. In my heart, I actually had the same thoughts as His Highness the Crown Prince—Great Xia must stand up, must launch the northern expedition.”

“But it can’t be this hasty.”

“When is it not urgent?” Su Ronghua looked at Su Rongqing, his expression calm. “You say His Highness the Crown Prince disregards reality—then tell me, what is reality?”

Su Rongqing remained silent. Su Ronghua smiled with understanding. “Reality is that noble families stand in great numbers. Everyone, to protect their own interests, is unwilling to send troops, unwilling to contribute funds. Family relationships are deeply entangled, leading to nepotism and untreatable corruption. The northern expedition failed—I’d guess the biggest reason was that money sent north never reached the soldiers’ hands. But whose fault is that? His Highness the Crown Prince’s?”

“Rongqing, actually we don’t need to make our reasons sound so noble and righteous,” Su Ronghua’s eyes held some desolation as he looked at Su Rongqing. “Admit it—noble families are Great Xia’s malignant tumor. Sooner or later, we’ll be submerged in the river of history. Our so-called noble bloodlines are original sin from birth.”

Su Rongqing looked at Su Ronghua. The two brothers gazed at each other for a long time before Su Rongqing finally spoke. “Then Elder Brother’s meaning is you’ll still assist Li Chuan in taking the throne, correct?”

“I won’t assist anyone,” Su Ronghua set down his teacup. “I simply don’t want you too deeply involved in these matters. If you have time, leave Hua Jing and walk around. Go to the north to see the battlefield, go to the south to see the floods. Rongqing, seeing with your own eyes and hearing from others are two different things. Reading ten thousand books is not as good as traveling ten thousand miles.”

“Rest first,” Su Ronghua stood up and turned to leave. “I’ll go find Father.”

Su Rongqing kept his head lowered without speaking. When Su Ronghua reached the door, he asked softly, “Can you delay a few days?”

Su Ronghua said nothing. Su Rongqing coughed lightly. “I’m still injured. Elder Brother, I fear Father’s rage will be too great. I may not survive it.”

Su Ronghua knew Su Minzhi’s temperament. He stood at the doorway, hesitating for a long time before finally speaking softly, “Recuperate first.”

Having said this, Su Ronghua stepped out.

Su Rongqing sat in the room. After a long time, he picked up the cold tea on the table and drank it all in one gulp.

Li Rong and Pei Wenxuan slept well. By the next morning, before she even opened her eyes, she heard Jing Lan knocking on the door.

“Your Highness,” Jing Lan called to Li Rong, “Your Highness, are you awake?”

“What is it?”

Pei Wenxuan woke first. Li Rong opened her eyes upon hearing his voice, then heard Jing Lan say quietly, “Your Highness, news came from the palace—Prince Su is out of danger now. He’s recovered.”

Hearing this, Li Rong slowly opened her eyes.

Pei Wenxuan turned back to glance at her and said softly, “At most by tonight, His Majesty will take action.”

“Mm.”

Li Rong responded. Pei Wenxuan held her and said quietly, “Shall we go see His Highness the Crown Prince now?”

Li Rong remained silent. After a long while, Pei Wenxuan reminded her, “If we don’t see him now, perhaps in the future, there will never be another chance.”

“Since you’ve already said this,” Li Rong smiled bitterly, “do I still have a choice?”

As she spoke, Li Rong was about to get up. Pei Wenxuan raised his hand to stop her. “I’ll get clothes. Don’t catch cold.”

After Pei Wenxuan finished speaking, he went to the wardrobe to get clothes and instructed those outside to come in and attend to Li Rong’s washing.

Today he was quite leisurely. He personally dressed Li Rong, arranged her hair, and when preparing to apply makeup, his movements paused. Li Rong raised her eyes. “What is it?”

“Nothing. I just think Your Highness is naturally beautiful, like a lotus emerging from clear water. No need for excessive adornment.”

As he spoke, Pei Wenxuan set down the eyebrow pencil. “This is fine as it is.”

Li Rong simply assumed he was eager to see Li Chuan and didn’t think much of it. She left the room with him.

The two went together to the Eastern Palace. After announcement, Pei Wenxuan escorted Li Rong to the entrance.

The weather had turned cold. It had snowed last night. In the courtyard, people were still sweeping accumulated snow. Li Rong stood at the entrance, hearing Li Chuan’s light cough from inside. For a moment, she felt somewhat dazed.

Pei Wenxuan raised his hand to hold hers, his voice very soft. “His Highness the Crown Prince was slightly injured the other day saving you. When you go in shortly, just treat it as casual conversation. No need to be nervous.”

Hearing this, Li Rong turned to look at him. “Saving me?”

As soon as the words fell, Li Chuan’s voice came from inside. “Has Elder Sister come? Quickly, let Elder Sister in.”

This voice was different from what she remembered. Li Rong somehow suddenly became afraid to enter.

She grasped Pei Wenxuan’s hand. Knowing she was nervous, Pei Wenxuan instructed the attendants, “His Highness the Crown Prince should not see guests in his current state. With the distinction between men and women, set up a screen.”

The servants obeyed and placed a screen in the room. Pei Wenxuan helped Li Rong inside. Upon entering and seeing the screen, sensing the person behind it, Li Rong couldn’t help but tremble slightly.

Pei Wenxuan helped Li Rong sit in a chair. Li Rong sat down across from Li Chuan with the screen between them. In that instant, Li Rong seemed to return to the previous life, to the night before Li Chuan announced she would serve as regent while he pursued immortality.

She placed both hands on the armrests, head lowered.

Pei Wenxuan covered her with a blanket, crouched before her, and looked up. “Your Highness, some roads must be walked alone. This humble official will wait outside.”

Li Rong gripped the armrests tightly. She looked at Pei Wenxuan. He raised his hand to place it on hers and spoke softly. “Don’t be afraid.”

After saying this, Pei Wenxuan stood up, took his leave, and closed the door.

Suddenly only Li Rong and Li Chuan remained in the room. Both were very quiet. Li Rong slowly raised her head, looking at the silhouette on the screen. Li Chuan seemed to sit up. He was like a departed spirit crossing two lifetimes, pausing on the screen.

Li Rong didn’t know why, but tears suddenly gathered in her eyes.

The two remained silent. After a long time, Li Chuan coughed lightly and spoke. “Is Elder Sister well? Were you injured?”

“I’m fine.” Li Rong restrained her tone, sounding as if nothing was wrong. After Li Chuan coughed and caught his breath, he said softly, “Elder Sister needn’t worry. I’m fine too—just a minor injury. I’ll recover quickly.”

“How… were you injured?”

“When I saw Elder Sister in trouble, I panicked and entered the forest.” Li Chuan spoke, then felt somewhat uneasy and quickly explained, “I wasn’t being rash. I knew what I was doing.”

Li Rong said nothing. Facing the seventeen-year-old Li Chuan, she didn’t know what to say.

After a long silence, Li Chuan hesitated. “Elder Sister came to find me—is there something?”

“Nothing really,” Li Rong spoke softly. “I just had a nightmare and wanted to see you, exchange a few words. Knowing you’re well is enough.”

“What did Elder Sister dream about?”

“Just…” Li Rong hesitated, then slowly said, “I dreamed you killed me.”

“How is that possible?” Li Chuan laughed. He spoke decisively, “Elder Sister, rest assured. No matter what, I will never harm you. Anyone who wants to harm you will have to walk over Li Chuan’s corpse first.”

Hearing this, Li Rong couldn’t help but smile too. “I know.”

Her eyes felt sore, carrying some tears. “From childhood, you always said you’d protect me. I remember that year when they said a princess would be sent north for a political marriage. I was terrified in my heart, fearing I’d have to marry away when I grew up. You told me that in the future,” Li Rong spoke, her tone choking. She paused. After a long time, she continued, “In the future, you would pacify the north, drive those barbarians all the way into the desert. You wouldn’t let something like political marriage befall any princess of our Great Xia, and especially not me.”

“Why is Elder Sister bringing up childhood matters?”

Li Chuan sat cross-legged, seeming quite pleased. “Could it be that I’m not treating you well now, so you’ve started reminiscing about the sweet times?”

“No. It’s just that hearing you were injured for me, I remembered how good you were to me as a child.”

“Was Elder Sister not good to me?” The shadow of Li Chuan on the screen carried a young person’s exuberance. As he spoke, he gestured. “I remember when I was young, Yuan Bao and I shared a peach. Mother Empress discovered us. She confined me and said as Crown Prince, I must know I am superior and others inferior. How could I share a peach with a servant? You know what the confinement room is like—pitch black without any light. Only you stayed outside the door, talking to me the whole time. I was confined for three days. You talked to me for three days.”

As Li Chuan spoke, somehow his voice grew hoarse. “Also, remember that big tabby cat I raised in the palace? That cat was especially intelligent. It wasn’t close to anyone else but was close to me. I kept sneaking away to feed it. Later it was discovered too. They wanted me to bury the cat alive. Mother Empress said it was a lesson for me—how could the Crown Prince favor anything, especially some ownerless stray cat.”

“I refused to bury it. Mother Empress had people snatch the cat, saying they’d beat it to death with clubs. I protected the cat in my arms. I thought they might as well beat me to death instead. You said what’s the point of being Crown Prince—wasn’t it you who shielded me with your body and blocked those clubs?”

“But in the end, didn’t you still bury that cat alive?”

Li Rong asked. Li Chuan said nothing. He remained silent for a long time. On the screen, sitting cross-legged, he seemed to tilt his head back slightly, looking at something.

“Because I didn’t want Elder Sister to be beaten for me again.”

Li Chuan finally spoke. “It was just a cat. If I had to bury it, so be it. Better than letting Elder Sister be buried with me for a cat’s sake, right?”

Li Rong couldn’t speak. She felt tears streaming down her face.

She suddenly realized that for all those years, she had never truly understood Li Chuan, never truly comprehended how this younger brother grew up.

When he was young, she was young too. She couldn’t understand the various aspects of young Li Chuan, and forgot about them after growing up.

Like this cat—she thought Li Chuan couldn’t endure the beating. But actually, what young Li Chuan couldn’t endure wasn’t the palace’s caning, but his sister’s suffering.

What he buried with his own hands wasn’t the cat—it was himself.

He didn’t want to be Crown Prince, but for Li Rong, for Shangguan Yue, for those he cherished, he did it.

His heart was soft and his nature pure and kind, but for Li Rong, for Shangguan Yue, he learned to be tough, learned to be cold.

He restrained his gentleness and innocence, suppressed all his affections and desires, buried himself deeply in this imperial palace, hoping to become like soil that could nourish Li Rong and Shangguan Yue above him, watching them grow, blossom, and live stable lives.

This was her younger brother.

No matter how cruel or terrifying her brother might become in the future, at seventeen years old, behind that screen, he remained that young man willing to transform himself into mountains and rivers to give those he loved beautiful scenery.

Across the screen, that figure overlapped repeatedly with the previous life.

They seemed like the same person yet not the same person. She couldn’t distinguish clearly and felt bewildered.

“Elder Sister,” Li Chuan lowered his head. He seemed to know Li Rong was crying. His voice was hoarse. “What do you really want to ask by coming here?”

“Chuan’er, have you thought about the future?”

Li Rong leaned back in her chair, looking at the withered branches trembling in the wind outside the window. “Have you thought about what kind of ruler you’ll become?”

“I don’t know,” Li Chuan’s voice carried some confusion. “Since childhood, people always asked me about the future, but I can’t see the future. Elder Sister, actually, I’m not suited to be a monarch, and I don’t want to be one. It’s just that I’m in this position. All I can say is I’ll do my best.”

“I want to be a good son, a good younger brother, protect Elder Sister and Mother Empress well. Then I want to be a good person, do my best to ensure every commoner in Great Xia can eat their fill and not be disturbed by warfare.”

“Oh, if there’s something I want to do,” Li Chuan seemed to remember something, “I want to launch a northern expedition.”

“Elder Sister, you don’t know—last year when I went north, I saw warfare with my own eyes for the first time. It’s completely different from reading battle reports in Hua Jing. Every time I close my eyes, I can recall those commoners’ screams, their pleas. Every time they see me and hear I’m the Crown Prince, they kneel down and beg me, beg me to send troops, pacify the north.”

“A fine aspiration.”

Li Rong listened, her throat painfully constricted.

She was like watching a carriage racing madly toward a cliff, unable to stop it.

He was still destined to launch the northern expedition. He was no different from the previous life.

Yet she vaguely felt he was different, not the same as the Li Chuan she had imagined.

“Chuan’er,” Li Rong took a deep breath and asked one final question. “If heaven ordained that one day you would become a ruler like Father Emperor—no, more excellent than him, but equally cold and suspicious.”

“You would kill many people, throw the realm into turmoil, but you would also succeed in the northern expedition and break the shackles of the noble families. You would imprison Mother, kill Uncle, execute half the clan, and finally poison your elder sister. You would lose your beloved but also become the supreme sovereign. Tell me, what should I do?”

“You mean,” Li Chuan seemed to understand everything, “I would kill you?”

“I suppose.” Li Rong smiled. “Though this is just a dream. You needn’t…”

“Elder Sister,” Li Chuan’s voice was very low. “Is it truly just a dream?”

Li Rong fell silent.

Actually, her younger brother was far more intelligent than she imagined.

She once thought Li Chuan had become deranged and temperamental because of Qin Zhenzhen, but actually he deliberately feigned madness to drain the noble families.

She once thought Li Chuan pursued immortality and ignored worldly affairs, but actually this was his true means of maintaining balance.

Now when Li Chuan asked such a question, she didn’t dare treat it as casual inquiry. Perhaps he had long detected clues but never mentioned them.

She remained silent for a long time before speaking softly. “No. It’s the future.”

“I had a dream, and everything in it came true.”

Li Rong turned her head, staring at Li Chuan on the screen. “You killed me. Should I make you pay with your life?”

Li Chuan said nothing. He remained silent. After a moment, he laughed softly. He seemed to take a deep breath, and then Li Rong heard the sound of a sword being drawn from inside. Immediately after, she saw Li Chuan emerge from behind the screen carrying his sword, standing quietly before her.

He held the sword, his face bearing undried tear tracks.

Li Chuan gazed at Li Rong. Reversing his grip, he presented the scabbard to her while pointing the blade toward himself. He knelt on one knee, tears brimming in his eyes as he looked up at Li Rong. His lashes, dense as butterfly wings, were dampened by teardrops and trembled slightly. “If this is the future, then please, Elder Sister—kill me right now.”