I was reborn together with Lu Qingheng.
After being reborn, we both, without prior consultation, chose not to meet each other again.
In our previous life, we were a couple in a troubled world.
I supported him all the way, enabling him to rise from a beggar to finally ascending the throne as an emperor.
He became the emperor, and I became the empress.
He could manipulate the situation with ease, being both ruthless and extremely talented, so the imperial court was quite stable.
He was also very affectionate. The harem was left empty, and he only doted on me, remaining faithful to me until our old age.
But in this life, I didn’t want to accompany him anymore, and he didn’t want to accompany me either.
1
In our previous life, we died on the same day.
By then, our eldest son, Lu Xuzhi, had already been on the throne for many years, and we were both very old and plagued by illnesses.
In our early years, we had fought in many places, and both of us had dozens of scars on our bodies, with internal injuries that were difficult to heal.
In our middle – aged and old age, the old internal injuries frequently flared up, and we also developed new geriatric diseases.
We two had to have at least two imperial physicians by our side at all times, and we became addicted to pain – relieving medicine.
That day, I prepared two extremely poisonous pills that could kill instantly upon contact with blood. I had someone carry us together, and I gave one of the pills to him.
“Lu Qingheng, do you want to die together?”
He calmly took the pill. On his emaciated and sallow face, a relieved smile appeared.
Then he gently put the pill in his mouth, drank a glass of water, and only then looked at me and said, “Li Huiyu, let’s not make an appointment in the next life!”
I nodded and swallowed the pill too. I lay on the soft couch very relaxedly and quietly looked at him.
“Okay, no more appointments!”
We died quietly.
As a result, when I opened my eyes again, I saw a teenage beggar in ragged clothes standing blankly opposite me, looking at me with empty eyes.
I subconsciously glanced at the surrounding environment, and then looked back at the tall vermilion gate behind me.
On the vermilion gate, which was full of signs of age, the words “Li Mansion” were as bright as new.
I turned back to look at the teenage beggar again. He was still looking at me blankly.
I almost immediately realized that I had been reborn, reborn at the time when I first met Lu Qingheng.
He was a down – and – out beggar, and I was the eldest daughter of the Li family who had run away from a arranged marriage.
I remembered that on this day, I met him at the door. Feeling sorry for him, I gave him a string of copper coins.
At the moment, the beggar – version of Lu Qingheng’s eyes looking at me gradually became less dull, but gentle and deep.
Soon after, a faint smile curled up at the corner of his mouth. His tattered beggar’s clothes and messy hair couldn’t hide his extraordinary bearing.
“Miss Li, give this little one another string of money, please!”
This time, instead of giving him that one string of money, I gave him all the silver I had on me, a full one hundred taels.
Then I said to him, “From now on… we won’t meet again!”
His eyes darkened slightly. He took the money bag and left without saying a word.
I knew that he had also been reborn.
But I just quietly watched him walk away until he disappeared into the crowd.
Then, I turned around and pushed open the vermilion gate. Looking at the familiar plants and trees inside, my eyes filled with tears.
“My weak and helpless step – mother, this young lady really misses you!”
I walked back slowly. The flowers and plants in the mansion were very lush, but not a single one was the peony that my mother liked.
You know, in the past, the Li Mansion was filled with the fragrance of peonies everywhere. My father and mother had also promised to be a couple for life.
Unfortunately, people’s hearts change easily. When I was five years old, my father broke his promise to my mother and brought Su Wanyin, a fallen noblewoman, into the mansion.
Su Wanyin was extremely shrewd. With her delicate and weak appearance, she managed to make my pregnant mother so angry that she died along with the unborn child. Then she coaxed my father into making her the main wife.
Thinking of this, I felt a bit resentful. Since I had a chance to start over, why wasn’t I reborn when my mother was still alive?
2
I walked slowly towards the yard that I remembered as my own. Along the way, I met many servants, but none of them were willing to call me “Miss”.
Because those who were willing to call me “Miss” had gradually disappeared from this mansion.
I entered Xiaoxiang Garden. Weeds were overgrown, and the old doors and windows creaked under the push of the autumn wind.
I stood by the pond in the yard and looked down at the skinny girl in the water. The girl in the water, with a cold and aloof demeanor, looked back at me with gloomy eyes.
The girl had delicate features, and the clothes on her body were made by piecing together clothes from her childhood.
They were not much different from what a beggar outside would wear.
I smiled coldly, thinking: How pitiful! Li Huiyu, you’ve really fallen to a bad state.
I touched my sleeve, and inside it was the string of copper coins that I had given to Lu Qingheng in my previous life.
Adding the one hundred taels that I had just given to Lu Qingheng, these were all the silver that I had secretly saved over the years.
In my previous life, I only gave him this one string of copper coins and then ran away with the remaining one hundred taels.
But I was quickly targeted by bad people, who robbed me of my silver and sold me into a brothel.
At that time, I was really stupid!
Running away from the arranged marriage through the main gate in broad daylight. What kind of stupid brain did I have?
It wasn’t that I was targeted by bad people!
It was clearly Su Wanyin who had her eyes on me…
As for how my stupid brain became smart later?
It was inseparable from that guy Lu Qingheng.
And the reason why I was able to assist him in ascending the throne had little to do with my brain…
My thoughts returned. Looking at the Xiaoxiang Garden, which was empty and destitute, I had to think about where to get my dinner.
In fact, my stomach was already growling.
The stupid – brained Li Huiyu in the past, when facing the current predicament, indeed had no choice but to run away.
But now, I was the one who had experienced countless intrigues and schemes in my previous life, and was led by Lu Qingheng to sweep across the world, eventually becoming the Empress who was second only to the emperor.
“Tsk!”
I gently touched the string of copper coins in my sleeve, and a slight arc gradually formed at the corner of my mouth.
The most regrettable thing in my previous life was that when I had the ability to come back for revenge, the Li Mansion had already been flattened by the rebels when I was sold into the brothel.
My step – mother was raped and killed by the rebels, and my half – brother was eaten by the hungry refugees.
They had already died a very painful death in the previous life, but I was not satisfied.
The hatred in my heart had nowhere to vent, and it eroded my soul day and night.
Revenge should be done as soon as possible, and I had to do it myself, torturing them slowly like a cat playing with a mouse, so that I could gradually get rid of the obsession in my heart.
Tsk! I’m so perverted!
At night, when it was dry and windy, I set a fire.
Xiaoxiang Garden caught fire. The servants and guards immediately panicked, and almost the entire mansion was mobilized to put out the fire.
Not far from the next door was the Wenchang Garden of the young master, with a maple forest in between.
At this time, the red leaves were falling one after another, which was really beautiful. But once the fire spread there, it would be impossible to stop.
If something happened to the young master’s Wenchang Garden, these servants and guards were afraid that they would be beaten to death by the master.
But they soon discovered in horror that Wenchang Garden was also on fire.
As soon as Wenchang Garden caught fire, my step – mother naturally couldn’t sit still. Fortunately, her precious son was studying at the private school and lived and ate there, so he hadn’t come back.
She stood outside Wenchang Garden with an ugly face, watching the luxurious house being quickly devoured by the fire.
At this moment, everyone was busy putting out the fire, and she no longer had a large number of servants around her.
I quietly appeared behind her, put the pig – killing knife that I had just taken from the kitchen on her neck, which made her shiver all over and her legs tremble.
I whispered in her ear, “If you want to live, don’t make a sound. Follow me obediently.”
Su Wanyin was so frightened that her face turned pale. She wanted to scream, but the pain of the flesh being cut on her neck made her hold it back.
The servants were frantically putting out the fire, and no one noticed the strange situation here.
After all, they were just ordinary people with low vigilance.
They could never have imagined that the submissive and forbearing eldest lady would actually threaten the mistress with a kitchen knife.
And take the person away quietly right under their noses in the dark of the night.
I took the Su family back to the main courtyard of the Li Mansion. The courtyard was empty. The maids and women – servants had also gone out to help put out the fire.
After all, the two courtyards were on fire, which accounted for most of the area of the Li Mansion, and it was very likely to spread here.
I pushed her into the master bedroom, tied her to a chair, stuffed a stinky rag in her mouth, and then enjoyed her angry expression.
Huh!
Su Wanyin was really beautiful. She was already in her early thirties, but she still had a delicate and helpless appearance that made people feel pity.
This appearance was exactly what most men liked.
Looking at her was really annoying!
Extremely annoying!
I couldn’t help but pick up the kitchen knife and cut her body one knife after another.
The kitchen knife was very sharp, and I cut very lightly, just barely cutting the skin and not hurting the bones and muscles.
These injuries definitely wouldn’t kill a person, but it would be very painful.
“Woo…”
Su Wanyin’s eyes were filled with tears from the pain, and she stared at me with red eyes full of hatred.
I looked at her with a smile and comforted her, “Such a little blood won’t kill you!”
She became even angrier, which made me very happy!
Then, I noticed that there were many pastries on her table. So I found a silver hairpin that originally belonged to my mother from her dressing box and stabbed each pastry.
After making sure there was no poison, I slowly started to eat.
I ate very slowly, chewing carefully, just like Lu Qingheng.
Su Wanyin looked at me in horror, her eyes full of doubts.
After I was full, I pulled out the stinky rag from her mouth.
“You seem to have a lot of questions for me?”
“Who are you? You’re not Li Huiyu!”
Su Wanyin stared at me with cold eyes, as if she wanted to see through me.
I laughed softly. She was surely going to be disappointed.
“I am Li Huiyu!”
I looked at the small wounds on her body and felt a bit satisfied.
So I couldn’t help but cut her a few more times. Watching the drops of blood fall on the floor, an inexplicable sense of pleasure rose in my heart.
Su Wanyin really didn’t disappoint me. She was extremely painful and extremely awake at this time.
“You first burned your own yard to lure away the servants, and then burned Wenchang Garden to draw me out. You must have planned this for a long time.”
I nodded.
It really took a long time.
In my previous life, after learning of her death, my hatred had nowhere to vent, so I could only think over and over again in my mind how to make her life worse than death if she were still alive.
“What on earth do you want? You hate me so much but you don’t kill me. Instead, you tie me up here. What are you trying to achieve?”
I carefully looked at her, feeling very happy.
“I want you to live a life worse than death, just like my mother. Little by little, being drained of your energy by the slow – acting poison you gave her, watching my younger siblings die in the womb, and slowly dying in despair.”
After hearing this, the look of fear that I had been looking forward to finally appeared in Su Wanyin’s eyes.
“So you’ve known all along. You can really endure!”
I smiled, smiling very gently, just as perverted as Lu Qingheng when he tortured the enemy leader.
I was taught by him and was greatly influenced by him.
Su Wanyin stared at me with hatred and fear, trying to remain calm.
“The fire will be extinguished soon. When they come back, you won’t be able to escape. Let me go now, and I can give you half of the family property to help you run away far away!”
“Huh!”
I laughed at her stupidity. How could I believe her? And how could I let her go?
That year, I accidentally found out that she had put poison in my mother’s medicine. But my mother was already at the end of her rope and passed away the next day.
Before my mother died, she told me to be patient and not tell my father for the time being, because my stupid father wouldn’t believe me as long as Su Wanyin shed a few fake tears.
But after all, I was my father’s first daughter and had once been the apple of his eye. Although Su Wanyin didn’t like me, she didn’t dare to really do anything to me.
Everything was as she expected.
However, after Su Wanyin’s son, Li Jing, who was also my father’s only son, was born, my father rarely thought of me anymore.
I became more and more invisible in front of my father. Su Wanyin quietly reduced the expenses in my yard, but I could still endure the life.
Until I was twelve years old, my father was hijacked by bandits and died.
After Su Wanyin finished handling the funeral, she didn’t even bother to give me food, and she took away all the servants. Still, I endured it.
Lu Qingheng said that if you don’t burst out in silence, you will become abnormal in silence.
I probably belong to the latter!
When I was fifteen years old and came of age, I accidentally heard that Su Wanyin was going to marry me to a wealthy merchant suffering from a venereal disease as a concubine. That’s why I had the scene of fleeing with money.
In my previous life, not long after I escaped from the gate of the Li Mansion, I was blocked in an alley by a group of people. After they robbed me of my money, they knocked me out and sold me into a brothel.
The next day, tens of thousands of refugees from the north broke into the city. The rebels led them to rob food, burn, kill, and loot.
The madam of the brothel was used to locking up newly – bought girls in the basement, starving them for a few days before properly training them.
This operation actually saved the lives of me and several other girls.
Calculating with my fingers, tomorrow is the day when the rebels and refugees will break into the city.
That’s why I was in such a hurry.
As soon as I came back today, I wanted to take revenge.
The fire didn’t go out until after midnight. When the women – servants who served in the main courtyard returned to the yard tiredly, they found that the mistress had been kidnapped by me, the eldest lady.
“Oh! Madam……”
Su Wanyin looked extremely pitiful, covered in blood.
The women – servants were horrified when they saw me holding a kitchen knife to her neck and didn’t dare to get close.
The most anxious one was Nanny Wang, who usually served by Su Wanyin’s side.
“Miss, the madam has been good to you. What are you doing?”
I glanced at her sideways, and then opened several boxes on the eight – immortals table.
These were the money boxes I had just found in this room, as well as various land deeds and the deeds of the servants.
I took out Nanny Wang’s deed of sale.
“Here, this is your deed of sale. Go and gather all the servants in the mansion to this yard. Later, I will return your deed of sale to you.”
Hearing this, Nanny Wang immediately ignored the mistress and went out to shout at the top of her voice. She called some nearby women – servants and asked them to gather all the servants who were just about to go back to rest to the yard.
In front of all of them, I returned the deeds of sale one by one, and at the same time, I gave each of them ten taels of silver as severance pay.
3
Many people wept with joy. Some looked at me with deep apology and knelt down to kowtow to me.
“Miss, we’re sorry for you over the years!”
I smiled faintly and told them to get up.
They stared at me blankly, as if they were overwhelmed by a certain bearing on me.
Human nature is extremely complex. They were weak but strong – willed. Before, they were just afraid to get close to me because of Su Wanyin’s methods, but they had never harmed me or beaten me.
Even during the two years when Su Wanyin cut off my food, some of them would secretly throw a sweet potato or a hard – steamed bun into the yard.
Living in a troubled world, their lives were not easy either. That might have been a delicious meal for them.
I looked at them with a calm and peaceful expression.
“The refugees outside the city will attack the city tomorrow. With the defenses of Lingcheng, it’s hard to hold them off. You can get some food from the mansion and run for your lives.”
Under Su Wanyin’s murderous gaze, they took the deeds of sale, the silver, and the food they could scavenge from the mansion and left.
The huge Li Mansion soon became empty.
There wasn’t much ready money in the mansion. After distributing it to the servants as severance pay, there was only a box of banknotes and some land deeds left.
I sat in front of the eight – immortals table and burned those land deeds one by one on the candlelight, enjoying Su Wanyin’s heart – broken expression. “Are you crazy?”
I ignored her. After burning the land deeds, I started burning the banknotes.
I wouldn’t tell her that in the next ten – odd years, these things would be useless. The refugees and rebels were irresistible. Wherever they passed, it was like a locust plague.
Houses were burned down, and the grain in the fields was pulled out. All the shops, banks, and pawnshops went bankrupt.
Those bills would be of no use.
People had gone crazy. If the refugees had a hard time, they wouldn’t let others have a good time either.
When I burned all the banknotes, Su Wanyin’s face turned ashen.
My father was once a prominent merchant in Lingcheng, and Su Wanyin was from an aristocratic family. Unfortunately, her family declined, and in her generation, they could barely afford to eat.
My father admired her talent and pitied her. He originally just wanted to give her a meal, but then he got entangled with her.
It wasn’t enough for her to win my father’s love. She also had to kill my mother.
“Gone… Everything is gone… Hahaha…”
Su Wanyin looked at the pile of ashes on the table, crying and laughing.
The things she had fought for all her life, abandoning her conscience and pride, were so easily burned by me.
“It’s not over yet!”
I sat down beside her, smiling brightly, looking innocent and romantic.
But in Su Wanyin’s eyes, I was like a demon coming to claim her life.
“Li Jing is still at the private school, right? I’ll take you out later to escape the refugees and rebels, but he will stay here. At his age, his skin is fair and tender. Those starving refugees…”
Su Wanyin went crazy: “No, no… That’s not right… How do you know the refugees will break in? You’re not that stupid Li Huiyu. Who on earth are you?”
Looking at her crazy appearance, I suddenly felt very bored.
She was much weaker than the enemy generals I had tortured and killed in my previous life.
I had only done so little, and she was already on the verge of collapse.
I looked at her coldly, but I couldn’t remember what my mother looked like anymore.
Yes, for me, decades had passed in between, and I really couldn’t remember clearly.
The mansion became quieter and quieter. The refugees and rebels outside the city arrived, and their roars one after another disrupted the quiet night.
Su Wanyin became more and more afraid. She started to beg me.
“Huiyu, Huiyu, I was wrong. I was wrong. There’s a well at the door. I’ll jump into it later to atone for my sins to your mother. Please go find Jing’er and take him away. He’s your younger brother. You’re blood – related. He secretly sent you buns and snacks before. He never wanted to harm you.”
Yes, Li Jing was a good boy. My late father and Su Wanyin had educated him well.
In the last few years, besides the servants secretly throwing sweet potatoes and steamed buns to me, Li Jing also occasionally secretly gave me the snacks he had saved.
But I seemed to have forgotten what Li Jing looked like. I closed my eyes and tried hard to search in my memory.
Su Wanyin was desperate and sobbed.
Perhaps a mother’s love for her child is immeasurable.
She probably saw from my expression that I didn’t have much hatred for Li Jing.
So she used all her strength, with the chair tied to her, and knocked over the candlestick on the table.
The candlelight ignited the tablecloth and then her sleeve.
She shrieked, “I’m going to atone for my sins to your mother. Please save my Jing’er, save him.”
It was dry and windy, and the fire quickly spread all over her body. Then it ignited the Persian carpet on the ground.
“Ah! Save him… Save him…”
The fabric burned too fast, and there was no water available in the room. She was doomed.
I backed out of the yard, listening to the shrill screams inside. An endless sense of desolation welled up in my heart.
Human nature is so complex…
4
I rushed to the private school where Li Jing was staying overnight, but found that the private school was already deserted.
Many houses in Lingcheng were empty. The remaining old, weak, sick, and disabled people sat in the houses with ashen faces.
Seeing this scene, I thought of someone.
Lu Qingheng!
In just over half a day, he could quietly transfer most of the residents. Only he had this ability.
In my previous life, Lu Qingheng knew that there was always a knot in my heart.
He knew that my feelings for Li Jing were very complicated, so I could probably guess that Li Jing was taken away by him.
That’s good…
Then, I’ll cover for him.
In my previous life, we also cooperated like this. We had been tacit for decades and didn’t need to talk in detail when we met.
I walked onto the city wall and found that there were only some old soldiers left on the wall. They looked at the refugees outside the city with numb expressions, and the refugees seemed endless.
The young guards in the city must have escorted the people of Lingcheng to a safe place.
The city is empty; there are fifty-six elderly, weak, sick, and disabled people within the city who cannot be moved, and thirty-four veteran soldiers are guarding the city walls.
I gathered the old, weak, sick, and disabled people and told them that we were going to defend the city and fight for a little more time for their descendants to escape.
They readily agreed, with tears in their eyes, ready to burn their last bit of life.
This is also human nature.
At dawn, we made a lot of zongzi and cooked several pots of soybeans.
We moved them to the city gate and threw them out one by one.
Soybeans were being scattered down in scoops.
The refugees and rebels who had been working together to break the city were immediately in chaos.
The refugees were so hungry that their eyes were green. They fought over a zongzi, and some even took the opportunity to bite off a piece of someone else’s flesh.
The rebel’s war horses smelled the soybeans and crowded together to eat them. No matter how the generals on horseback beat and scolded, it was useless.
The times were tough. The victims were so hungry that they ate tree bark and wild grass, so the war horses hadn’t had enough to eat for a long time.
I asked the old soldiers to set up bows and arrows, tie cloth balls soaked in kerosene to the arrowheads, light them, and then draw the bows and shoot into the rebel army.
The fire – bearing arrows rained down on the rebel army. For a while, the rebel army was in chaos. The people who were burned ran around in a panic, and more people were burned.
This rebel army was so poor that they didn’t even have a piece of armor. Their tattered clothes caught fire easily. The smell of burning flesh filled the air, making those hungry refugees even more unable to resist their evil thoughts.
Before long, our arrows were used up, the fire went out. The rebel leader and several of his lieutenants were severely burned, and their morale was in chaos.
Some of the rebels who could use bows and arrows shot at us, but we were standing on the high city wall, having a natural advantage. Only a few people were slightly injured.
This lasted for half a day. At noon, the sun was shining brightly. The refugees were hungry and thirsty.
We threw down zongzi and soybeans again. Some people who couldn’t grab the zongzi lay on the ground looking for soybeans to eat and were trampled by horses, crying out in pain.
The refugees and rebels immediately clashed and started biting each other.
I stood on the city wall and shouted loudly, “Those who follow me will thrive, those who oppose me will perish.”
I hung down more than a dozen big pots of porridge from the city wall, along with several baskets of bowls. For a moment, the aroma of porridge filled the air.
“Those who come to get the porridge and enter the city will be regarded as surrendering and will not be killed. Those who grab the porridge will be killed. Those who kill more than ten rebels can get one mu of good farmland and a thatched cottage.”
The big promises I made gave the refugees hope.
There was a tall and dark – skinned refugee who snatched the knife from the rebel’s hand, and with a few swings, the heads of several rebels fell to the ground.
When I saw that person, I was slightly stunned. Tsk, he was an old acquaintance.
With him here, I felt relieved.
At this time, the rebels also started killing the refugees.
Some refugees went to get the porridge, but before they could take a sip, they were shot and killed by the rebel leader with an arrow.
The refugees went crazy and started counter – attacking the rebels.
The rebel leader finally realized something was wrong and shouted,
“Everyone stop. Don’t listen to this woman. As long as we break into the city, everything in the city will be ours.”
I sneered and shouted, “The rebels use the victims as pawns and then reap the benefits. People, think about it carefully. After you helped them break through other cities with your own bodies, did they burn, kill, and loot all the way, not leaving you any food or a way to survive?”
This was the rebels’ usual method…
“Yes, it was us who broke through the city gates, but in the end, they were the ones who benefited!”
Someone shouted among the refugees, and the anger of the refugees could no longer be suppressed.
They were thin and unarmed, but they were like wolves, starting to pounce on the rebels.
“If it weren’t for the need to survive, how could we have joined forces with you rebels? Now, the way to survive is right in front of us, but you dare to block our way. We’ll fight you.”
The refugees and rebels fought for another half – day.
Playing with people’s hearts is the means of those in power.
I looked at the tragic scene below with a compassionate look. All of this was caused by me. My hands were already stained with a sea of blood, just like in my previous life.
This is the cruelty of those in power…
5
At night, the rebels and refugees had suffered heavy casualties. The rebels were actually driven away by the refugees.
When the wailing filled the air, I led the old, weak, sick, and disabled people to quietly retreat and hide in the basement of a wealthy merchant’s house.
This wealthy merchant was also one of the old, weak, and sick people. He was seventy – eight years old. He had lost a leg when he was young and couldn’t walk far. He didn’t want to drag down his children, so he stayed.
His basement was very large. It was originally used for making ice and could accommodate all of us.
And it was very hidden, under the rockery in his yard. Now the entrance had been blocked by us with mud and stones.
The only exit was an underground river that was introduced for ice – making.
When we were blocking the entrance, I didn’t enter the basement, although they tried their best to keep me.
I smiled and said to them, “I still have things to do. When it’s safe, I’ll come and let you out, or you can swim out from the underground river by yourselves.”
After saying goodbye to them, I returned to the city gate again. The refugees were resting outside the city. I opened the city gate for them.
“Folks, the original residents of the city have fled. Now this city is yours. There are houses to live in, hot water to drink, and you can have enough to eat. Come in quickly.”
The numb – faced victims stood up one by one. Some people walked towards me tentatively. When they found that I was just a weak woman, they got brave and walked into the city gate.
Before long, they excitedly ran all over the city and then ran out to tell the people outside,
“There’s no one in the city. Come in quickly. This city is ours.”
I stood on the city wall again and said to them, “The rebels won’t give up. You have to defend the city.”
The victims no longer wanted to be refugees. In this city, they found their favorite houses to live in and something to eat to fill their stomachs.
Most importantly, there were large fields behind the city, with lush crops growing.
“Yes, we have to defend the city.”
“We can’t let those bastards in. They’ll only burn, kill, and loot. They won’t let us live a good life.”
“Yes! We can’t let them in!”
So they closed the city gate, heated up the oil, and when the rebels came back, what awaited them was a group of blood – thirsty tigers who just wanted to defend their homes and were not afraid of death.
The rebels attacked for two days and then were defeated.
The leaders were all killed, and the captives were taken to work in the fields.
I let the old, weak, and sick people out. Looking at the refugees occupying their homes, their expressions were very complicated.
“This is the best outcome!”
I nodded. The civil war between the refugees and the rebels had consumed most of their numbers. Now the number of refugees was only one – third of the original.
The wealthy merchant’s mansion was called Chen’s Mansion. I asked the refugees to vacate it for these old, weak, and sick people to live in. The refugees were very respectful to them, and no one disagreed.
At the same time, I also brought out the few girls who had been sold into the brothel and locked in the brothel’s basement, and let them take care of these old, weak, and sick people.
6
A few days later, the settled refugees sent their leader to negotiate with me.
This leader was named Lin Mu. He was originally a hunter. After becoming a refugee, his skills came in handy. Because he saved a lot of people, he became the leader of these people.
I met Lin Mu in a teahouse. He was a young man about eight feet tall, with a dark complexion and handsome features, probably in his twenties.
His eyes brightened when he saw me, and he seemed a bit reserved.
“Miss, you seem extraordinary despite your young age!”
I looked at him and smiled faintly.
I had met this person in my previous life. He was the leader of the rebel army in the south, and was later subdued by Lu Qingheng and became one of his fierce generals.
“Thank you for your compliment!”
I’m not a modest person. In this battle, if I hadn’t stirred up trouble, they would have broken into the city that morning.
According to the rebels’ habits, they would have burned, killed, and looted, and the outcome would have been the same as in the previous life. A good city would have become ruins.
But now, this city was still intact. It just welcomed its new owners, but everything was still in order.
Everyone cherished this hard – won peace.
“I asked to meet you today, Miss, because I want to recall half of the original residents. This city is very large. With our current number of people, we can’t even fill half of it. And in our team, basically only men survived. You know what I mean…”
He looked at me with burning eyes, and I even felt that he might have some improper thoughts about me…
I nodded. “Some of the original residents should come back. But if you want to win the favor of the original residents and marry their daughters, you have to show your sincerity. You need to show full sincerity!”
“We understand. We won’t scare them. We don’t want to be refugees anymore, and we don’t want to create new refugees either.”
I showed an appreciative expression to him. “You are all kind – hearted and responsible.”
“Naturally!”
Those in power use the method of winning people’s hearts. Instead of asking them to keep their promises, they put the shackles of dignity and belief on them.
Just like men always use chastity to bind women.
I talked with Lin Mu for a long time. He took the initiative to send me back to Chen’s Mansion. Grandpa Jiang, the old soldier guarding the gate, gave him a cold stare. Lin Mu realized that he was not welcome, touched his nose, and left.
After seeing him leave, Grandpa Jiang pulled me aside and secretly said.
“Yu girl, that guy just now looked at you with the wrong eyes. In the future, if there’s anything, let him contact us old folks.”
I smiled and nodded.
“Grandpa Jiang really dotes on me!”
“That’s right. If we old folks don’t dote on you, who will? Although you’re smart and cunning, and ordinary people can’t compete with you. But you’re a girl after all. You’re naturally weaker than men in strength, so have less contact with them.”
“Okay, okay, okay!”
The old soldiers had a way to get in touch with those original residents who left. The people who were willing to come back were all ordinary people. Rich merchants or scholars had bought yards and settled in other cities.
This turned out to be a good thing. I had also settled a past event and planned to find a place to practice martial arts.
Yes, my brain, which had been trained by Lu Qingheng, was not bad, but my real strength was in martial arts.
Now that there were uprisings everywhere and refugees were fleeing around, this troubled world would last for more than ten years. There would be tough battles ahead, so of course I had to practice martial arts first.
The old soldiers were very reluctant to see me leave, but my obsession in Lingcheng had been dispelled, and there was no reason for me to stay any longer.
But I didn’t expect that as soon as I left the city gate, Lin Mu caught up and blocked my way, very dissatisfied with my leaving alone.
“Miss Li, in this chaotic world, it’s very dangerous outside. You shouldn’t go out.”
I looked at him quietly. I thought Grandpa Jiang was right. This guy probably had a crush on me, but I wasn’t the one he was destined for.
“You’re meddling too much!”
He was choked by my words and was obviously angry, but he didn’t know how to get angry with me.
After all, we didn’t have much interaction before. The only time we communicated was in the teahouse last time.
Seeing that my decision to leave was firm, he said petulantly: “Then I’ll go with you!”
At this time, at the foot of the city wall outside the gate, a handsome young man in white as snow said coldly, “She has someone to accompany her. Go find a place to cool off!”
Hearing this, I looked at the young man in surprise.
Lu Qingheng, didn’t we say we wouldn’t meet in this life? What’s he up to now?
Lin Mu frowned and stared at Lu Qingheng with a hint of hostility in his eyes.
“Who is he?”
I said, “Heh… an old acquaintance!”
Lu Qingheng rolled his eyes unhappily and said, “Why don’t you just say he’s your ex – husband!”
Ex – husband? Husband from the previous life?
Alright, the air is sour now, with two vats of vinegar inexplicably overturned.
“Your ex – husband?” Lin Mu stared at me with wide eyes, looking at me in disbelief.
“You look like you’ve just come of age. How could you have an ex – husband?”
“I don’t!” I gave Lu Qingheng a sideways glance.
He was originally a down – and – out young master from an aristocratic family. Now, cleaned up, his white robe made his features look even more cold and handsome. His aloof and cold temperament was gradually overlapping with that of the emperor in the previous life.
At this moment, this young man, exuding a cold aura all over, was looking at me with a half – smile.
That look was as if he had caught me having an affair on the spot.
I was so angry that I laughed. In this life, I really didn’t want to have any more involvement with him.
Living with someone as scheming as a sieve was really exhausting.
So I said to Lin Mu unhappily, “Just like you, he’s just a flirtatious person!”
After saying that, I didn’t even dare to look at Lu Qingheng’s face and started running towards the outside of the city.
Mainly, I’m just feeling a bit guilty!
In the previous life, he found me in the basement of the brothel to repay the favor of the string of copper coins.
But I took advantage of the situation and asked him to marry me, or I would marry him.
In short, I was the shameless one in the previous life.
“Heh!” Lu Qingheng sneered but didn’t expose me.
Just when Lin Mu was about to follow me, he stopped him.
At this time, Lin Mu, who had just led the refugees to defeat the rebels not long ago, was a bit overconfident.
Facing Lu Qingheng’s small build, he wasn’t afraid at all. He went up and threw a punch, but unexpectedly, in an instant, he was knocked down by Lu Qingheng.
The sound of a heavy object hitting the ground came. I looked back and couldn’t help but show a look of disdain towards Lu Qingheng.
“How old are you? You’re still being jealous. Aren’t you ashamed?”
“Heh!” He was so angry that he laughed. He looked at me playfully, wanting to say something, but Lin Mu took the opportunity to counter – attack and dragged him down to the ground. The two of them started wrestling.
“Heh!” This time it was my turn to laugh.
Lu Qingheng was still young at the moment and had been down and out for many years, so his physical condition was very poor. Even if he had some foundation in martial arts, when fighting with the burly Lin Mu, he was still at a disadvantage.
Tsk! Serve him right for being arrogant!
……
Outside the city gate was originally a grassland, connecting to the mountains in the distance.
Now it was already late autumn. The yellow grass all over the ground was trampled to pieces by the refugees and rebels. And because I had the old soldiers shoot the oil – bearing arrows at that time, several large patches of charred land were burned.
Fortunately, there were so many refugees at that time. With each person stamping on the fire, it was extinguished, and no greater casualties were caused.
Tens of thousands of refugees and rebels died in this battle.
Even now, nearly half a month later, at the edge of the grassland, there were still many people dragging the rotting corpses to burn.
The ground was covered with black blood, insects and flies were swarming, and crows were cawing…
The air was filled with a disgusting smell. I seemed to see tens of thousands of resentful souls glaring at me viciously, wanting to eat my flesh and suck my blood!
“Sigh!” I let out a long sigh.
Then I knelt down devoutly and kowtowed three heavy heads to the creatures that died in this battle.
I felt guilty towards them, but if time could go back to that day, I would still do the same.
One reason was that the resources in the city were limited, and the other was that if the rebels were not eliminated, the people would have no peace.
When I knelt down, Lu Qingheng and Lin Mu also stopped fighting and followed me to kneel down, lifting their skirts.
Lu Qingheng put his hands together, and the mantra for the deceased flowed clearly and smoothly from his mouth, as if he had recited it thousands or tens of thousands of times.
The guards on the city wall were selected from the refugees.
They stood on the high city tower, looking at us with cold eyes.
They didn’t recognize Lu Qingheng, but they all recognized me.
During that battle, they didn’t know that I was the one stirring up trouble. But later, when life became peaceful and their minds became clear, they developed a sense of fear and even resentment towards me.
Because among the dead refugees were their loved ones.
After kowtowing three times, I picked up my bundle and walked towards the distant mountains without looking back. After Lu Qingheng finished reciting the Requiem, he did not follow but continued to block Lin Mu.
“What are you stopping me for? We can compete fairly!”
“You’re not worthy!”
7
I entered the deep mountains. Along the way, there were white bones everywhere.
At this time, in the Central Plains, the Yellow River burst its banks, the Yangtze River had seawater intrusion, the land in the east of the pass was barren for thousands of miles, and there was no harvest.
Moreover, the desertification of the grassland was becoming more and more serious. The cattle and sheep had no grass to eat, and the nomadic people were forced to swing their swords and go south. The imperial family of the Lü Dynasty was corrupt and useless. Instead of resisting, they moved the capital to Jinling.
Natural disasters and man – made disasters had caused too many deaths in recent years.
I sat cross – legged on the mountain rocks, breathing in and out, but my heart could never calm down.
Did heaven send us back to this time because it thought we didn’t do well enough in the previous life?
So what should we do?
Time passed without notice during my cultivation in the mountains.
Two years passed, and my internal strength and martial arts skills had reached 80% of what they were in the past.
Lu Qingheng’s master, Taoist Master Yueli, once said that in terms of intelligence, ten of me couldn’t match Lu Qingheng, but in terms of the talent for martial arts, ten Lu Qingheng couldn’t match me.
Life in the mountains was hard. I would go down the mountain to buy supplies every month or so and by the way, inquire about current affairs.
I heard that Lin Mu had gathered a ten – thousand – man army and marched north to join General Cheng Gao, the border – guarding general, to jointly resist the invasion of the grassland people.
In the previous life, Lin Mu was the leader of the rebel army in the south. In this life, he actually supported the imperial court.
If he wasn’t persuaded by Lu Qingheng, I wouldn’t believe it.
And Lu Qingheng also changed his style from the previous life. Instead of gathering the rebel army, he traveled around the world, controlling floods, providing disaster relief, and recruiting various troops.
At the moment, he was already the most prominent noble in front of the emperor of the Lü Dynasty, with many of his previous advisors around him.
The emperor of the Lü Dynasty saw that he was very capable and wanted to marry the eldest princess to him, but this made him become a monk, hiding in the temple to chant scriptures and ignore worldly affairs.
The emperor of the Lü Dynasty was very angry. However, the officials in the imperial court were corrupt and there was no one available, so he invited Lu Qingheng back after making three personal visits.
I couldn’t help but sweat for the emperor of the Lü Dynasty!
Raising a dragon that could devour him at any time by his side, and still wanting to use marriage to tie the dragon firmly to himself.
Little did he know that he was just a knife that the dragon used to stir up the world.
The emperor of the Lü Dynasty’s delicate daughter was just a little white rabbit raised in a cage in his eyes, so stupid that he couldn’t bear to look at her.
Just like me in the early days of the previous life…
Sigh!
It’s better to forget these unhappy memories.
I stayed on the mountain for three years. When winter came, I hunted six white foxes, took their skins and sewed them into clothes.
I also tamed the leader of the wild horses in the mountains. It was a proud big black horse.
Before the winter snow fell, I rode the big black horse and headed north to the military camp.
In this life, Lu Qingheng made a different choice from the previous life. He entered the imperial court to rectify the corrupt imperial government, used the power of the imperial court to quell the civil unrest, and took control of the natural disasters and man – made disasters that happened in the previous life early.
As expected of him! I finally didn’t have to raise my sword against my compatriots, but instead rushed to the real battlefield to defend our territory. When I found Lin Mu, the grassland people had already reached the Yellow River.
Because of the cold winter, the two sides stopped fighting.
They took the Yellow River as the boundary and didn’t disturb each other.
Lin Mu was already a general now. He was very surprised when he saw me, but at the same time, he was a bit embarrassed and proud.
Because he already had a beautiful woman by his side. He thought I had come to seek refuge with him.
In the bright hall of the general’s mansion, I sat on the guest seat, drinking tea.
Lin Mu held the small hand of his newly – married wife, Gu Yanxi, and looked at me proudly.
“Miss Li! I’m now the General Xuanwei, and I already have a wife. So… you can only be my concubine…”
“Pfft!” I really couldn’t hold it in and spat out a mouthful of tea.
His words really made me experience what it was like to feel as disgusted as eating shit.
His wife, Gu Yanxi, disgustedly avoided the tea, and her delicate face had an ugly expression. She looked at me coldly.
“Where did this rude woman come from? If the general didn’t think of old times, I definitely wouldn’t agree to let you into the house!”
Gu Yanxi was the cousin of Marshal Cheng Gao. She was always arrogant. She already felt wronged marrying the rough – born Lin Mu.
As a result, not long after they got married, I came.
With Lin Mu’s stupid brain, he surely couldn’t say anything to make her happy. So she looked at me very unfavorably at this time.
“Tsk!” I took out a handkerchief from my sleeve and pressed the corner of my mouth, looking at Lin Mu with a half – smile.
“With Lu Qingheng as a paragon, where do you get the confidence that I, Li Huiyu, would rush to be your concubine?”
“Uh…” Hearing the name Lu Qingheng, Lin Mu’s face darkened.
“What can Lu Qingheng do except play dirty tricks? In what other aspects is he better than me?”
I sneered and didn’t say anything.
Lin Mu was immediately so angry by my expression, which was exactly the same as Lu Qingheng’s, that he couldn’t utter a single word.
It seemed that over the years, he had been ordered around by Lu Qingheng a lot.
Gu Yanxi’s eyes moved, and she looked at me thoughtfully.
“You didn’t come to seek refuge with the general?”
I nodded.
“Tomorrow, I will cross the Yellow River to the Mongolian military camp. In the next three days, during the day, you blow the attack horn, sail to the middle of the river, and shoot rockets at their camp. Remember, don’t go ashore. Three days later at night, you bring kerosene and launch a surprise night attack.”
Then I looked at Lin Mu, whose face suddenly became serious, and smiled gently.
“This is your only chance. If you can’t seize it, the military merit won’t be yours. Understand?”
After hearing this, Gu Yanxi sneered, “You, a woman, want to cross the Yellow River? And you dare to order us to send troops? Do you think this is a children’s game?”
“Shut up!” Lin Mu suddenly interrupted her coldly. His eyes looking at me became more and more serious, as if he was recalling something through me.
“Do you have a plan?”
Is this even a question?
Looking at Lin Mu’s dark face, I missed Lu Qingheng for the first time since being reborn.
I closed my eyes, let out a long sigh.
“Forget it. Come or not, it’s up to you!”
After saying that, I got up to leave, and left gracefully under their complicated gazes.
But I knew he would definitely send troops.
One reason was that the impression I left on him three years ago was deep enough, and the other was that his biggest problem was his eagerness for success and taking risks.
8
I told Lin Mu that I would cross the river tomorrow, but at night, I put on a black dress, took a small boat, and reached the opposite bank at night, heading straight for the Mongolian military camp.
“Fire!”
“Someone is setting fire!”
I set fire to several outer tents and then quietly retreated. I found a big tree nearby and climbed up to rest for the night.
The next day, I woke up, sat on the tree, chewing dry buns while watching the Mongolian cavalry drill.
The Mongolian cavalry was truly unparalleled in the world, and there was a reason for it.
Moreover, the Mongolians were tall and strong, with a layer of fat outside their well – muscled bodies. In terms of physique, they were much stronger than the Han people.
The cavalry carried dried meat, rode handsome horses, carried bows and arrows, and brandished scimitars. Their guerrilla speed was extremely fast, and the Han army was no match for them.
But the grassland people had a weakness. Most of them couldn’t swim.
Therefore, at noon, Lin Mu summoned the navy under the scorching sun and shot rockets at the Mongolian camp from the river. The Mongolians could only retreat and move their camp back.
Lin Mu saw that he couldn’t hit them, so he had to withdraw the troops and return to the camp.
I stayed in the tree for a day. It was cold in winter. Fortunately, I had made the fox fur I brought before into a close – fitting fur coat, which was warm and comfortable to wear inside the black dress.
Night fell again. I quietly climbed down the tree, found a deserted place to stretch my body, and then sneaked into the military camp again. Like a ghost, I headed straight for one of the horse farms.
They had several horse farms, and I chose the remote one.
Horses sleep in an interesting way.
If there is only one horse, it must sleep standing up.
If there are a group of horses, then there must be several standing and sleeping, and most of them lying down.
Because horses sleep in a sentry – like way and are very vigilant!
Suddenly, several strings of things fell from the sky, followed by a “crackling” sound that resounded through the horse farm.
The horses were frightened and neighed, jumping and dodging in fear, but instead trampled on the horses lying down.
The horses went crazy, and the horse farm was in chaos. Many good horses were injured.
I sighed inwardly. What a pity!
The commotion here immediately attracted a large number of guards. The horse farm was filled with the curses of the Mongolians.
While they were calming the horses, I slipped to another horse farm and burned the hay shed of this horse farm.
Since firecrackers were rare, for the later horse farms, I only burned the hay sheds.
After running around all the horse farms, it was dawn again.
That night, the enemy – attack alarms of the Mongolians rang again and again. The soldiers vigilantly searched around the camp and consciously increased the defense of a large tent in the middle.
I glanced at that large tent, raised my eyebrows, and then quietly returned to that big tree, found a comfortable position, and closed my eyes to sleep.
During the day, I stayed in the tree, and Lin Mu continued to summon the navy to harass them. If they couldn’t hit, they would sail the fleet around the river.
In short, they didn’t go ashore but just annoyed them.
At night, when I sneaked into the Mongolian camp again, I clearly found that there were more soldiers patrolling the horse farms.
I quietly knocked out three people, stole their bows, arrows, and dry rations, and then found another tree. I aimed at the patrolling soldiers outside the Khan’s big tent.
One arrow, one person’s head.
I only had thirty arrows in total. After shooting them all, I went back to the original tree to sleep.
That night, the entire Mongolian military camp was brightly lit, and all the soldiers were searching for the assassin.
In this way, two days had passed since I came here.
On the third day, during the day, relying on my excellent light – body skill and high – level martial arts, I openly broke into the military camp and killed several people.
After triggering a wave of pursuers, I rushed into their horse farm, rode their king of horses, and ran away.
If they stopped chasing, I would sneak back to steal other horses.
At night, tens of thousands of Han soldiers emerged from the Yellow River. They held bows and arrows coated with kerosene, and after lighting them, the arrows rained down into the Mongolian camp.
When the Mongolian soldiers reacted, they had not slept well for three days and three nights, and their movements were slightly sluggish.
When they were in a hurry to find their horses, I had quietly opened the gates of all the horse farms.
More than a dozen wild horses from the mountains, led by the wild – horse leader, rushed into the horse farm, bullied all the horses, and then turned around and ran away.
Those horses couldn’t bear such provocation and chased after them crazily.
I couldn’t help but sigh that the wild – horse leader was really powerful. It was worth spending half a year taming him.
When the earth – shaking shouts of killing from both sides rose, I had already cut off the head of their Khan and held it high.
“Your Khan is dead! Those who surrender will not be killed!”
This battle was the first victory of our dynasty over the Mongols.
The Mongols were strong and robust. Even without horses, and after not sleeping well for three days and three nights, and knowing that their Khan was dead,
our soldiers still had to sacrifice two of them to kill one Mongolian.
But even though we won so tragically, it was enough to be recorded in history.
Because the Mongols retreated. Without a leader, they had to retreat.
They retreated three hundred li to the northeast, and we regained one – third of the cities.
After that, although the Mongolian soldiers were brave and good at fighting, they were no longer a threat.
Their Khan was dead, and it would take time for them to establish a new leader and have internal strife, which gave the Lü Dynasty a chance to catch its breath.
9
The end of the war was in April of the following year.
The war had started in November of the previous year and lasted for five months.
During these five months, I was stationed in the newly – recovered border city and helped fight several small battles. Whenever the Mongols established a new Khan, I would try my best to kill him.
The Mongolian royal family hated me to the core but could do nothing to me.
Later, they invited some experts to help, but I cut off their last prince at the cost of a knife wound.
Since then, the grassland tribes were scattered and became weaker, gradually retreating to the depths of the grassland.
During this period, whenever there was no war, I had the extra troops fully open up wasteland to expand the planting area.
Whoever dared to oppose it would be dealt with by me with a single stroke of the knife.
Therefore, when Lu Qingheng gradually moved the refugees who had fled south back, there was enough food in the north of the Yellow River to feed them.
During these days, Lin Mu’s wife learned about what I had done. When she saw me, she no longer had the initial arrogance and awkwardness.
But she didn’t show the same respect and fear as those soldiers either. Instead, she became a clingy little fairy.
“Sister Li, how about my set of Wuqinxi? Give me an evaluation, please!”
“Sister Li, I bought you a new dress. It’s the light – green color you like!”
“Sister Li, I made some desserts for you…”
“Sister Li…”
I looked at this woman who was clinging to me like a butterfly with a headache.
Didn’t she notice that her dear husband’s face was distorted with jealousy?
“Yanxi! You’ve never made desserts for me, nor have you shown me the Wuqinxi. I even have to rely on the housekeeper to buy my clothes…”
Oh dear…
I couldn’t help but feel sorry for him.
The border was stabilized, and there would be no war for at least five years. I didn’t plan to stay here for long.
When I was about to set off, I unexpectedly received a letter from Lu Qingheng.
This was the first letter he wrote to me in this life.
“My love: Now the north is beginning to turn green, while in the south of the Yangtze River, the flowers are blooming like brocade. If you return to the south in early May, the peaches, plums, and bayberries will be delicious. – Heng who misses you.”
“Pfft!”
The only thought that flashed through my mind at that time was that this person was probably crazy.
We had said in the previous life that we wouldn’t meet again, but in this life, he kept showing up to seek attention.
“Sigh! I still have to go to Jinling. Now that the foreign tribes have been settled, he’s probably going to overthrow the old dynasty and establish a new regime.”
When I said this to Lin Mu, he was so scared that he couldn’t even speak.
It took him a long time to ask tremblingly, “Are you going to rebel?”
But the problem was that he was a general promoted by Lu Qingheng. Everyone thought he was on the same side as Lu Qingheng.
Now that I was confessing to him about the rebellion, the former leader of the southern rebel army was actually scared.
I patted him on the shoulder, understanding his difficulties.
“Yanxi is three months pregnant. I won’t say anything to her about this. You keep your mouth shut too.”
He glared at me angrily, “She’s my wife. Do I need you to care? Get out of here quickly…”
But halfway through, he stopped me.
“You’re a woman after all. With that guy Lu Qingheng taking the lead, don’t push yourself too hard.”
I waved my hand, rode on the shiny – coated wild – horse leader, and said goodbye to him outside the general’s mansion.
“I cherish my life very much!”
10
The towns and cities in the north of the Yellow River were mostly desolate due to population loss, while the southern towns were extremely crowded and lively because of the large influx of people.
Jinling was renamed Nanjing and was naturally prosperous.
It was said: “The people in the capital are like the sea, and the lights are on all night.”
When I arrived at the city gate of Nanjing, Lu Qingheng was already waiting at a small tea stand outside the city gate.
He had grown taller and stronger. His handsome features always attracted the attention of passers – by.
I patted the big black horse, telling it to go back to the mountains. It was a bit reluctant but still walked away, looking back every ten steps.
I sat down at the tea shed and stared at Lu Qingheng with cold eyes.
“On my way south, I was chased and killed twelve times, and was poisoned five times when staying at inns. I caught a few of them, and they said that I, as your Regent Princess, was unworthy. “
This guy actually unilaterally declared me married!
He lowered his face, touched his nose, and didn’t dare to look at me.
“The powerful ones, I’ve intercepted them all! It’s all because of my charming face. The noble ladies from aristocratic families are crazy about me! This also reminds you that if you don’t watch over me, your beloved will be buried by those flirting people.”
I knew very well that those people were deliberately let through by him. They were all small – time crooks with no real martial arts skills.
His arranged secret guards were also following me from a distance, just like in the previous life. I was both perfectly protected by him and in constant danger.
Now that I had reached the realm of a martial arts master, his arrangements were just reminding me of how stupid I was in the previous life, being played by him in the palm of his hand.
This was one of his most suffocating problems, his unparalleled desire for control.
He knew I didn’t like it, but he was determined not to change.
I took a deep breath and said, “Didn’t we agree that we wouldn’t meet in this life? There are plenty of fish in the sea. After helping you complete your great cause, we can go our separate ways, okay?”
He sighed.
“Then this great cause doesn’t seem that important either.”
Then his eyes lit up, and he looked at me pleadingly.
“Let’s have Aye early. With his ability, he can take charge of the overall situation when he’s ten years old…”
“No way to discuss!”
Our negotiation broke down, and he left with a flick of his sleeve.
When I entered the city, he bought a candied – hawthorn and came back with a flattering face.
“I’m sorry, I was wrong!”
I refused his candied – hawthorn and sneered.
“No, you’re not wrong!”
In the previous life, his attitude of admitting mistakes was also this quick. I was always soft – hearted and forgave him, but his apologies were like farts.
They were useless!
I still followed him back to the Regent’s Mansion because he was injured.
In fact, when I first saw him, I smelled a strong smell of blood on him.
At that time, because I was angry and he seemed normal, I didn’t pay attention.
But when I refused his candied – hawthorn, he actually fainted and fell straight towards me. Then I found that his whole body was burning hot.
In the master bedroom of the Regent’s Mansion where Lu Qingheng lived, I looked at the several deep knife wounds on his back that were visible to the bone, and my heart ached.
After the mansion doctor examined him, he shook his head.
“Last night when he was assassinated, I told him to have a good rest. And it’s hot today. If he doesn’t rest well in the house, the wound is likely to fester. But he just wouldn’t listen. He went to wait at the city gate early in the morning! Princess, the Regent really loves you.”
Heh!
A play of suffering!
But knowing it was a ruse, I still felt heartache; after all, I have him in my heart.
He was unconscious for a day and a night, and his high fever wouldn’t subside. I stayed by his side for a day and a night.
During this day and a night, I sat by his bedside, quietly looking at him, quietly recalling the days of the previous life.
As a couple in a troubled world, we were undoubtedly lucky.
We not only stayed together until old age but also held high positions.
When did I start to have the idea that we shouldn’t meet again in the next life?
Was it when I was pregnant, he went to the battlefield, and I gave birth to our eldest son, Lu Ye, alone in the deep mountains. Right after giving birth, I had to fight with wild beasts?
Was it when he was seriously injured while protecting Ye’er, and if I had been a little later, I could only collect the corpses of their father and son?
Was it when our daughter, Lu Yan, was born and was immediately kidnapped by the enemy. When we rescued her, she was on the verge of death and was sickly for the rest of her life?
Was it when after he ascended the throne, the court officials actively recommended their daughters, hoping that he would enjoy the blessings of having multiple wives. He firmly opposed it and left the harem empty, but there were always palace maids trying to climb into his bed…
Or was it when in our old age, the old wounds on our bodies were difficult to heal, and we were in extreme pain?
There were too many things to count, explain, or express. Life was too long!
I didn’t hate him or resent him.
It’s just that in the previous life, being together was too tiring.
It seemed that we never had a peaceful day…
So, I wanted to let him go, and also let myself go.
“Actually, I also wanted to let you go at first.”
As soon as Lu Qingheng woke up, he knew what I was thinking just by looking at me.
“But when I saw other men trying to get close to you, I couldn’t bear it.”
Seeing that I didn’t speak, he swallowed, thought for a while.
“In this life, I won’t be the emperor. I’ll find a capable person and support him to the throne. Then I’ll accompany you to live in seclusion, okay?”
I shook my head, being heartless.
“I think it’s good to be alone. There’s no burden at all. Even if I die right away, I don’t have to worry about implicating my family!”
“But I will always worry about you!”
He sighed.
I nodded, “I will also worry about you.”
12
Lu Qingheng recuperated in the mansion for half a month. I stayed with him day and night.
Just like in the previous life, I didn’t need to interfere in political matters, but I had to be present to listen.
My main responsibility was to ensure his safety.
In half a month, I intercepted five waves of assassins for him, and each wave was more ruthless than the last.
No wonder he had so many secret guards, and he was still so seriously injured last time.
At the same time, I once again experienced his charm that attracted women.
In these half – month, the noble ladies from aristocratic families who came to visit the sick Regent under various pretexts were too many to count.
I, as the Regent Princess, turned them back, but this made them angry.
A few days later, I received an invitation card from the gatekeeper. It was an invitation to a flower – viewing banquet personally written by the eldest princess.
This kind of occasion where women fight privately was really unappealing.
Lu Qingheng said, “It’s just a diversionary tactic. Some people couldn’t succeed in several assassinations and couldn’t hold back anymore.”
I understood, “You always ask me to leave the assassins alive and let them go back. You’ve been waiting for this day? Then should I still go?”
13
The next day, I was dressed up by the nuns in the mansion on the dressing table for an hour. Finally, I was stuffed into a carriage in a solemn dress and went to the Peony Garden in the suburbs for the banquet.
As the name implies, the Peony Garden was a garden planted with many peonies.
There were not many peonies in the south of the Yangtze River originally. After all, there were flowers blooming all year round, and people were not overly obsessed with one kind of flower.
I took the tall maid that Lu Qingheng gave me and was invited into the garden. What greeted my eyes was a riot of colors, and I felt extremely uncomfortable.
There were many varieties of peonies in the garden, all brought by the nobles when they moved south with the imperial court.
The refugees were starving, and when they fled south, they even resorted to exchanging children to eat.
But these nobles could move a huge peony garden south.
And the Peony Garden was just one of many gardens. There were also many noble private properties beside the Peony Garden.
In the waterside pavilion in the garden, there was a group of charming girls. One of them looked over with disdain.
“Is that the Regent Princess? She doesn’t look that great. A person like her actually dares to monopolize the Regent and not allow him to take concubines. Tsk tsk!”
The waterside pavilion was some distance away from here. Ordinary people couldn’t hear what was said there.
But I could hear it clearly. This was the disadvantage of having too high internal strength.
I dug my ears and found a quiet place to sit down.
I thought to myself: In my previous life, where did I stop him from taking concubines?
I even collected a dozen beauties for him, but he didn’t want them and still spread the word outside that I was jealous.
Tsk, I’m more wronged than Dou E.
“His Highness the Eldest Princess has arrived!”
With the shout of a certain eunuch, the protagonist of today made a grand entrance.
I looked up and saw a golden carriage decorated with agates and jades slowly stop in front of the Peony Garden.
Then a jade – like hand stretched out from the golden silk curtain in front of the carriage and rested on the wrist of a palace maid.
A palace – dressed woman with skin as white as snow was helped out of the carriage slowly by the palace maid.
“Greetings to His Highness the Eldest Princess!”
So, this was Princess Lü Yang, who had once wanted to marry Lu Qingheng.
She was really a beauty who seemed to have stepped out of a painting.
But at least ten waves of people who sent assassins to kill me were her doing.
What a femme fatale!
When Lü Yang saw me, she walked towards me.
The fragrant wind blew, and her eyes were like stars.
The palace maid beside her, however, glared at me with a fierce look and shouted in a shrill voice.
“How dare you! When you see His Highness the Eldest Princess, you don’t kneel! What crime do you deserve?”
I said helplessly, “I’m new here and not very familiar with the court etiquette. Please forgive me, Your Highness.”
“Someone, drag this traitorous woman out and beat her to death!”
That palace maid shouted like a mad dog, while the eldest princess just looked at me quietly, as noble as a lotus.
But a trace of viciousness flashed in her cold eyes.
Some guards came to my side upon hearing the order and wanted to control me.
I simply dodged and appeared behind the princess. Then I pulled out a golden hairpin from her hair bun and pressed it against her slender neck.
With imperial power above, no one had expected that I would blatantly despise imperial power.
The eldest princess obviously didn’t expect it either, but she endured her fear and didn’t panic, which made me think more highly of her.
She was just a young girl, and her voice was soft and delicate.
She said, “You despise imperial power. No one can save you now. The Regent’s good days are over. From now on, he will be in a sea of troubles.”
I sneered. “Your Highness, you’ve been trying to kill me for so long. Do you really think I’m a pushover? I’m just too lazy to deal with you. But today, you’ve gone too far. You want to use this small trick to get rid of me? It’s too naive.”
As I spoke, I exerted a little force, and a drop of blood oozed from the delicate skin of her neck.
The guards around were in a commotion, but they didn’t dare to act rashly. The noble ladies in the waterside pavilion were also frightened and let out screams.
The eldest princess, Lü Yang, took a deep breath and said, “What do you want?”
I said, “It’s simple. First, call off all the people you sent to kill me. Second, publicly apologize to me in front of everyone here. Third, from now on, stay away from me and Lu Qingheng. If you don’t agree to these three conditions, I don’t mind making you disappear from this world right now.”
Lü Yang’s face turned pale. She never thought that I would be so bold. But she also knew that I was not joking. If she didn’t agree, I might really do it.
After a long while, she gritted her teeth and said, “Okay, I promise you.”
I smiled and let go of her. Then I handed the golden hairpin back to her. “Your Highness, keep your promise. Otherwise, I won’t be so polite next time.”
Lü Yang took the hairpin, her eyes filled with hatred. But she didn’t say anything more. She just ordered her guards to back off.
Then, in front of everyone, she bowed slightly to me and said, “I’m sorry, Regent Princess. I was wrong.”
The noble ladies around were all stunned. They never thought that the proud eldest princess would apologize to me.
I nodded and said, “Since Your Highness has apologized, I’ll forgive you this time. But remember, don’t mess with me again.”
After that, I left the Peony Garden with my maid. On the way back, the maid said, “Princess, you’re so brave. I’ve never seen anyone dare to be so tough on the eldest princess.”
I smiled and said, “If you don’t show your strength, others will think you’re weak and can be bullied. Sometimes, you have to be tough to protect yourself.”
When I returned to the Regent’s Mansion, Lu Qingheng was waiting for me at the door. When he saw me, he rushed over and asked, “How was it? Did you encounter any danger?”
I told him what happened at the Peony Garden. After hearing this, he couldn’t help but laugh. “You really are something. I knew you could handle it. But you still have to be careful. Lü Yang is a vengeful person. She might try to find trouble again.”
I said, “I’m not afraid of her. If she dares to come, I’ll make her regret it.”
Lu Qingheng looked at me with a gentle smile. “With you by my side, I feel much more at ease. But I still hope you won’t put yourself in danger. You’re the most important person to me.”
I blushed a little and said, “Okay, I know. But you also have to take care of yourself. Don’t always get hurt.”
From then on, the relationship between me and Lu Qingheng became a little different. Although I still said that I wanted to be alone, I couldn’t help but care about him. And he also tried his best to protect me and make me happy.
As time passed, Lu Qingheng finally found a suitable person to support to the throne. With his help, that person ascended the throne smoothly. And Lu Qingheng and I fulfilled our promise. We left the capital and went to a small town in the mountains to live in seclusion.
In this small town, we lived a simple and happy life. We planted flowers and vegetables in the yard, raised a few chickens and ducks, and lived a life away from the hustle and bustle of the world.
Although life here was plain, it was full of warmth. And I knew that this was the life I really wanted. With the person I loved by my side, I had nothing more to ask for.
This was the story of my rebirth, a story of love, hatred, and redemption. And I believed that in this life, we would be able to spend our lives together in peace and happiness.
