Chapter 9: Farewell

“This humble Pei is leaving for good this time, so take care, Princess.”

At the moment when Pei Wenxuan thought of swearing, a wave surged across his heart.

In fact, until he died, he never thought that Li Rong would actually do something to him over the matter of the next successor. He had never thought of it as a possibility, so he didn’t defend against anything on the way back from the Princess’s mansion. When he died, he was extremely unwilling and furious. In any case, he had to drag that woman to the grave with him.

In their previous lives, they chose to be allies, but the truth is that there are no allies in this world that will share common interests for a lifetime.

They used one another for a lifetime and then died under each other’s hands. Pei Wenxuan looked at Li Rong in front of him. After a while, he spoke in a slow and calm manner: “Should not marry then.”1

As he said that, he knelt down in front of Li Rong, kowtowed and respectfully said: “These are the only things that this humble official can give Your Highness, but certainly these are not the only things that Your Highness wants in life.”

Li Rong was not surprised when she heard this. She let out a small laugh and calmly said: “I also know that you can’t give me what I want. It’s just that I’m in a bit of a tricky situation now. If I don’t marry Pei gongzi, who should I marry?”

[1] Before Pei Wenxuan’s long flashback in the last chapter, Li Rong asks him: “Does Pei gongzi feel I should live a life like that after marrying you?”

Pei Wenxuan’s eyelashes slightly trembled. He thought to himself that this would be the last time he helped her plan.

After thinking for a moment, he responded with a name: “Lu Yu.”

This matched up with Li Rong’s thoughts. Li Rong couldn’t help but be interested: “Continue.”

“The Princess’s current situation is a result of the Holy One’s2 wariness. Actually, as long as the Crown Prince ascends the throne, the Princess will have no worries in the future, so the most important thing right now is to protect the Crown Prince. The Marquis of Ning, Yang family, and Cui Yulang… Among these three choices, Cui Yulang came from a humble background with nothing to take advantage of. It’s useless to marry him. With his carefree, romantic personality and penchant for writing poetry, it will be easy for people to grasp his flaws wherever he goes. If the Princess marries him, he may end up causing trouble for the Crown Prince.”

[2] the Holy One — referring to the Emperor, who is also known as the Son of Heaven.

Li Rong turned her folding fan around and responded: “Mm.”

“The Yang family has too much power, and Yang Quan is too short-tempered. When His Majesty asked the Princess to marry into the Yang family, His Majesty actually wanted to stir up the Yang family’s ambitions. Perhaps His Majesty will act shortly after Yang Quan marries the Your Highness the Princess. Your Highness will be implicated, and the Crown Prince will be involved as well. This person, Yang Quan, is someone that Your Highness must not marry.”

“Indeed,” Li Rong’s eyes were slightly cold, “He is too ambitious.”

“And as for the Heir of Ning, while the Marquis of Ning Manor is not considered a prominent family, the Marquis of Ning was once His Majesty’s study companion and used to block swords for His Majesty. His Majesty is a man who puts great importance on camaraderie. While he does not often think of the Marquis of Ning nowadays, there is still some brotherhood between them. This may be a good thing for Your Highness Princess. The Marquis of Ning has a steady position, and the Heir of Ning has a mental disability and rarely goes out. It may not be a good thing in marriage, but it will never adversely affect the Crown Prince. The important thing is,” Pei Wenxuan raised his head to look at her and reminded her, “The Heir of Ning is not in good health.”

In his previous life, Lu Yu died of illness in winter three years later.

Li Rong understood what Pei Wenxuan meant. She tapped the small table with the folding fan: “You mean, he is not well, and he is a fool. If I marry him and wait for him to pass away in the future, my little brother will take the throne, and I can simply marry again?”

“Yes.”

Pei Wenxuan calmly said: “This way, you can make the Holy One lower his guard and let Your Highness avoid the sharp edge. In the future, with Your Highness’s status, it will not be difficult to remarry if Your Highness wishes.”

Li Rong nodded. She actually thought of it the same way, but Pei Wenxuan confirmed them, she was much more reassured. However, she didn’t expect that Pei Wenxuan would say these things. She couldn’t help but laugh. She brought her eyes up to Pei Wenxuan and curiously asked: “If I don’t marry you, I still have a way out, but what about you?”

Pei Wenxuan picked up a cup of tea by his side and took a sip: “Of course, it’s best if Your Highness can help, but if Your Highness does not wish to, this humble Pei has his own methods.”

He bowed slightly: “Your Imperial Highness does not need to be too concerned for this humble official.”

Looking at his bowed head, as if he wished he could write a line that read “don’t worry about others’ business” on his face, Li Rong was so angry she laughed aloud. She felt that Pei Wenxuan was indeed capable. Even to this moment, all he needed was a split second to make her angry.

She raised her head to look at the sky and coldly said: “It’s getting late, Pei gongzi should head back. Otherwise, the carriage that you borrowed will get muddy, and you will be scolded by the housekeeper again when you return.”

If you want to hit someone, you must hit them in the face. If you want to provoke them, you must stab them in the heart.

Hearing her say this, Pei Wenxuan felt like his efforts to help her strategic maneuver earlier might as well have been fed to a dog.

To be able to have such dedication when facing the woman who had him killed under a blade, he felt that he must be the reincarnation of a living Buddha.

He sneered and respectfully said, “Yes, this humble Pei will retire now. This humble official has been wanting to leave for a while now. Thank Your Highness for your grace.”

“Get out, I’m not seeing you off.”

“Getting out now.”

After Pei Wenxuan had spoken, he immediately stood up and walked out without any lingering emotions.

The servant waiting outside gave him an umbrella. Pei Wenxuan thanked him in a quiet voice, then left with the servant.

Li Rong looked at Pei Wenxuan’s retreating back, feeling as if she was watching a memory drift away. She quietly looked on for a while, then said to Jing Lan behind her, “You prepare some silver and ginger soup, and send it to him.”

Consider this the final reward for him.

Although Jing Lan could not figure out what Li Rong was thinking, she never questioned her master’s arrangements. After respectfully saluting her, Jing Lan prepared some money and ginger soup according to Li Rong’s orders.

Pei Wenxuan stifled the anger in his heart and left the courtyard. The majority of the guests had already left by this time. Pei Wenxuan climbed into his carriage with a grimace on his face. Just as he was about to leave, he heard Jing Lan calling from afar: “Pei gongzi!”

Pei Wenxuan heard Jing Lan’s voice, frowned and lifted the curtain to go out. He saw Jing Lan hurrying over with another maid holding an umbrella.

Li Rong’s palace attendants were all well-disciplined. Even if they walked in the rain, their steps are steady and do not splash any rain or mud onto their clothes.

She was carrying a box. When she stopped in front of Pei Wenxuan, she ceremonially saluted him, then presented the box to him and said: “Gongzi, the weather is cold today. The Princess asked this servant to prepare some ginger soup to drink on the road.”

Pei Wenxuan was stunned. After some time, he looked at the box and softly said: “Thank the Princess for the reward.”

Jing Lan smiled and handed the box over: “Gongzi, take care.”

After thanking Jing Lan and accepting the box, he got onto the carriage.

It was a two-tiered box. He pulled open the first tier and saw the bowl of ginger soup. The ginger soup was still steaming. Pei Wenxuan remembered in their first year of marriage, whenever he went out, Jing Lan would give him a bowl of soup according to the weather that day. Pear and snow fungus soup on most days, mung bean soup on hot days, ginger soup on cold days…

This was one of Li Rong’s habit.

He didn’t say a word. He quietly looked at it and felt the carriage move. He realized that once the carriage was moving, he and Li Rong would never meet again in this life.

From now on, each would return to their own lives, and the grievances of their previous life have been wiped clean.

He couldn’t help but lift the curtain and suddenly call out to Jing Lan, who was returning to the rear courtyard: “Miss Jing Lan!”

Jing Lan turned her head and saw Pei Wenxuan sitting in the carriage. He looked at Jing Lan and then opened his mouth. He somewhat regretted not saying a few more words to Li Rong earlier.

When the carriage driver heard him speak up, he stopped the carriage. Jing Lan looked at Pei Wenxuan and walked back over. She doubtfully asked: “Pei gongzi?”

“You help me tell the Princess,” Pei Wenxuan tightened his grip on the carriage curtain. He looked at Jing Lan and solemnly said, “Say that, this humble Pei is leaving this time, so take care, Princess, handle everything cautiously and don’t be so reckless!”

Jing Lan was somewhat at a loss when she heard this. Before she could ask anything, Pei Wenxuan quickly put the curtain down and disappeared behind the carriage curtain.

The carriage drove away again. Pei Wenxuan leaned back in the carriage. He didn’t know why he was suddenly drained of his strength. He sat back and rested, feeling a little melancholic.

He idly leaned back for a while, then he opened the box lid and took out the bowl of still steaming ginger soup from inside.

He took a sip. The warmth brought a strong taste of ginger and a hint of sweetness down into his stomach.

He smiled with a bit of nostalgia.

This was probably the last time in his life that he will drink Princess Ping Le’s ginger soup.

After Pei Wenxuan left, Jing Lan walked back. Li Rong looked at the Go board on the table, turning the playing pieces in her hand.

She had to admit that Pei Wenxuan’s Go skills were quite high. For so many years, of all the people she knew, it was always evenly matched when they played against each other and made for interesting battles.

Other people were nowhere as good at Go, and Su Rongqing liked to let her win. Only Pei Wenxuan, this dog, had the nerve to play so viciously.

She heard Jing Lan come in and leisurely asked: “Is he gone?”

“Yes.” Jing Lan respectfully replied, then added, “He had some words for Princess before he left.”

“What?”

“Pei gongzi said, this time he leaves, he still hopes Princess will take care and will be careful with everything from now on, don’t be so reckless.”

Hearing these words, Li Rong was dumbfounded. A few moments later, she let out a bitter laugh and said: “This person likes to worry too much.”

She stood up as she said that and casually tossed the playing pieces back into the box. She indifferently said: “But is Bengong someone he needs to worry about?”

She turned her head and looked at the lotus leaves outside the courtyard trembling in the falling rain.

Not too far away, there was a group of people on the road preparing an ambush and began to set up roadblocks.

“Gongzi,” A young man carrying a sword asked somewhat nervously: “This person is still a princess after all. If we act, what if we…”

“What if what?” The young man beside him was wiping off the sword in his hand. He brought his eyes up to look at the youth beside him with a jeering smile, “You think His Majesty will let us go even if we don’t abduct the Princess? Stop dreaming.”

The young man turned his head and looked at the mansion in the distance and coldly said: “Only by marrying the princess and standing with the Crown Prince will we have a path to survival.”

The other young man was silent for a moment after hearing this. He finally nodded and said: “Gongzi is right.”

The sky was getting dark and thunder rolled overhead.

Pei Wenxuan took sips of the ginger soup and rolled up the curtain. He looked out at the mountains and rivers under the downpour, feeling that the heavy rain was washing his new life clean.

Before long, he heard the hooves of horses galloping by, and then a group of people rushed past him on horseback.

Those people wore relatively simple clothes, so it was hard to figure out which family they were from. However, the moment he saw them, Pei Wenxuan recognized that these horses were not ordinary Shengjing breeds but war horses exclusively provided at the border.

These war horses look no different from ordinary horses. Ordinary people would not be able to easily tell them apart, but Pei Wenxuan used to be in charge of frontline logistics in the past, so he recognized them with a glance.

Now that it was heavily raining, these people were leaving the city in such a hurry and headed in the direction of the Imperial mansions. If they wanted to go to the border for official affairs, they should go from the other city gates. So what do they want to do?

Pei Wenxuan thought about it and knew it wasn’t good.

They were headed towards Li Rong!

The author has something to say:

【Mini Theater】

Li Rong: “If I don’t marry you, I still have a way out, but what about you?”

Pei Wenxuan (in his heart): “MMP3 I don’t know what to do either. You’ve put me in an awkward position by asking me this, but a man can handle himself. Should I beg you for help? I don’t need it, this old man will never do something so shameful!”

Pei Wenxuan (on the outside, with a proud face): “I have a way, Princess. Don’t worry about others’ business.”

Li Rong: “Haha, get out.”

PS: Anyone can try to guess the plot, but if what I write is different from what you expected, don’t scold me *holding head in hands and crying*.