"Go see him!" Xue Zining said.
Li Fanghui was silent for a moment, then bowed and said, "Yes, Your Majesty, this subject obeys."
Li Fanghui left.
News came in the evening that Li Chenxuan wanted to see her.
Xue Zining started, then nodded, "Alright."
Inside the prison
She saw Li Chenxuan. He looked weathered, no longer resembling the handsome youth he once was.
He knelt on the ground and kowtowed, "This guilty minister pays respects to Your Majesty."
"You wish to see Us?"
Li Chenxuan nodded, "Yes."
"Rise," she said.
Li Chenxuan stood up, looking at the young girl before him, and smiled with relief, "Your Majesty, you have finally returned."
"Chenxuan…" Xue Zining only managed to utter these two words.
"This guilty minister is guilty, but he still wished to see Your Majesty one last time. Now that I have, this guilty minister is content." Li Chenxuan smiled, a look of satisfaction on his face.
"Am I looking a bit disheveled?" he asked, seeing the young girl before him remain silent. He subconsciously touched his hair.
She shook her head, "No."
"Before you came, this guilty minister thought a lot about the past. It's a pity we can't go back."
"Chenxuan, I will…"
"Your Majesty…" he interrupted her, "Do not do anything for this guilty minister alone. What this guilty minister has done is enough to warrant execution. I beg Your Majesty to forgive my elder sister. She knows nothing, she was used by Xue Chang'an to pass on false messages."
"I have stripped her of her title as County Princess."
Li Chenxuan nodded, "That is good."
"However, I have appointed her as a Palace Lady, to manage the harem for Me."
Li Chenxuan blinked in surprise, "Your Majesty…"
"Chenxuan, this is perhaps the only thing I can do."
"Your Majesty, this is enough."
"Chenxuan…"
"Your Majesty, if only everything could go back to how it was."
She looked at Li Chenxuan and after a long while said, "It will."
Li Chenxuan smiled at her, his eyes gentle, just like the impulsive and reckless youth of the past, but his sincere heart was all for her.
Suddenly, he crouched down. She started and quickly stepped forward, but he refused, "No… don't come any closer…"
"Chenxuan, what is wrong? I'll call for the imperial physician."
"Your Majesty, it's too late…" he raised his head, blood flowing from the corners of his mouth.
"Chenxuan, what is this…"
"Your Majesty, I know I can't go back to how it was, but I also don't want to appear before you in this state. I had my desires, I wished that in the future you would only remember the youth of the past…"
"Chenxuan, why are you so foolish?" She stepped forward to help him up.
He smiled, "This is fine. Your Majesty, I… I hope… to have… just a little bit of a place in your heart. That would be enough, just a little bit…"
"It will, it will…"
His eyes grew hazy, "Although I… I know I don't deserve it, but… but I still yearn…"
"Chenxuan…"
She hugged him tightly, tears rolling down her face.
"So… so warm… Your Majesty, I… I wish I could go back to the past…"
She felt the person in her arms lose all life. This time, she cried…
"Your Majesty, Lord Li has passed…" Feng Jiu approached her and said in a low voice.
She finally saw him off, draping her cloak over him, and said in a low voice, "Bury him well."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
She stood up, her vision swimming. She seemed to see the youth smiling at her.
"Chenxuan, I will remember you. I will remember you as you were, that youth."
She walked towards the outside. The night shrouded the earth. There was no moon tonight.
Outside, Wen Yuxi stood there.
She looked at him with tears in her eyes and said, "He's dead."
Wen Yuxi nodded, "A'Ning, death is the best release for him."
"Is it? If you're not afraid of death, are you afraid of living?"
Wen Yuxi shook his head, "Sometimes living is more terrifying than dying."
He walked forward and said, "I'll escort you back."
She nodded and asked, "He came?"
After a long pause, he nodded, "He came."
"When?" she asked.
"After you went in."
"Why didn't he show himself?"
Wen Yuxi shook his head, "I don't know."
She fell silent.
It seemed a distance had grown between her and him.
An invisible distance pulled her and him apart.
"A'Ning, Yan Zhao simply hasn't figured out how to face you." Da Feng Novel Network
She nodded, "I know, he hasn't figured it out yet."
Abandoning her family and country, she ran towards him.
She also hadn't figured it out. In this life, there was only him.
"Did you find any clues about what I asked you to investigate?" she asked.
Wen Yuxi said, "Not yet, but soon."
Three more days passed. Xue Chang'an in the prison wanted to see her.
Xue Zining went to the prison again. Xue Chang'an had lost his former brilliance and looked somewhat decadent.
Seeing her arrive, he chuckled softly, "I thought you wouldn't dare to come."
"There is nothing I dare not come for."
Xue Chang'an smiled and asked, "Li Chenxuan is dead?"
She blinked slightly but did not answer.
Xue Chang'an laughed mockingly, "Li Chenxuan had too many attachments, otherwise he wouldn't have been manipulated by me. But I'm not at a loss."
"Xue Chang'an, if you're going to discuss someone already dead, I'm not in the mood to listen." With that, she got up to leave.
"Then let's talk about Yan Zhao?"
Xue Zining started, then looked up at Xue Chang'an. Xue Chang'an chuckled softly, "What? Did you and he have a problem?"
"It's none of your business," she said coldly.
Xue Chang'an sighed, "He truly is infatuated. No matter what I did, he remained unmoved. That day, I undressed in front of him, but he didn't even look. Xue Zining, how did you find someone like this?"
"Why are you telling me this? Even if you tell me, I won't spare you…"
"I know, but I suddenly wanted to say it. Xue Zining, I envy you. No matter what happened to you, whether you changed your appearance or your identity, there's always someone who waits for you where they are…"
"Xue Zining, in this life, I lost to Yan Zhao, not you…"
"Xue Zining, I envy you, I am jealous…"
She stood up and walked out of the prison gate. Suddenly, she said, "Xue Chang'an, thank you…"
"A'Ning, for the sake of our past affection, give me a quick end, alright?"
She turned back to look at Xue Chang'an. Xue Chang'an's eyes pleaded.
Without a word, she turned and left.
Xue Chang'an collapsed on the ground, leaning against the wall in despair.
Shortly after, a jailer brought a cup of wine inside, "Your Majesty has bestowed this upon you."
Xue Chang'an looked at the wine flask and chuckled softly, "A'Ning, you're still so soft-hearted, but thank you."
She picked up the wine cup and drank it in one gulp. In this life, she had tried with all her might to get what she wanted, but in the end, it was all in vain.
What about the next life? In the next life, she didn't want this. She would find that person.
It hurt, a piercing pain. Drops of blood flowed from the corner of her mouth.
She smiled. Next life, here I come…