Chapter 55

Chapter 55

"Why?"

Yu Qizhi was taken aback.

"I don't want to go back."

Pei Jing paused for a moment. "Let's talk inside."

It should have been nearing spring, yet the town had become very cold again. Pei Jing naturally took her hand, intending to lead her towards the nearby barracks.

Yu Qizhi slightly frowned and pulled her hand away. "Let's talk here."

The cold weather made their breath visible as white vapor, making Pei Jing's features and expressions appear hazy.

"You saved me, but I have nothing to repay you with."

Yu Qizhi paused before saying this aloud.

These words were blunt and seemed almost shameless.

But that was the truth.

"In the past, I mistook you for someone else, allowing you to humiliate and deceive me. Consider it my own fault. But now, I only want a simple life."

"I don't want to go back to Chang'an with you."

Pei Jing's grip on her wrist tightened, but she let out a soft breath.

Yu Qizhi felt as if all the warmth around her was fading.

Even Pei Jing's hand became icy.

Before Pei Jing came to Xichuan again, she had been separated from this man for nearly two years.

During these two years, Pei Jing had quelled the palace coup in the capital and helped the new emperor ascend the throne, gaining an even more composed and inscrutable demeanor.

This made Yu Qizhi find him increasingly difficult to understand.

"When you faked your death and left, the Fourth Prince bribed someone at the clinic to plant a poison in you," the man said in a low voice.

Yu Qizhi's breathing briefly halted as she looked up in disbelief.

"You don't need to repay me anything."

Pei Jing's dark eyes were deep as he looked at her, his tone calm:

"Right now, you need me."

...

The distance between Xichuan and Chang'an was not too far, yet Pei Jing's group traveled slowly.

The closer they got to Chang'an, the more unbearable the cold became for Yu Qizhi.

She was settled in a temple on the outskirts of Chang'an.

The place was surrounded by lush green mountains, with beautiful scenery. However, Yu Qizhi had no heart to appreciate it.

Xue Qi informed her that the poison was difficult to remove and would come to treat her every few days.

Seeing Xue Qi's hesitant gaze, Yu Qizhi believed that what Xue Qi said must be true.

One day, Yu Qizhi accidentally knocked over a lamp, and everything suddenly went dark.

The continuous stinging pain from insect bites and the bone-chilling cold.

The flickering lamp cast shadows as Yu Qizhi's body was drenched in cold sweat. In her shivering and confusion, a pair of hands gently stroked her back.

Yu Qizhi instinctively knew it was Pei Jing.

"After I die, I want to return to Luo County."

The hands paused for a moment.

"You won't die."

"You will recover soon." Pei Jing lowered his eyes and repeated softly.

Yu Qizhi didn't hear the full extent of Pei Jing's words, nor did she notice the pity in his tone.

"The poison in her body is difficult to remove; it can only be transferred."

Xue Qi entered the room, confirming that Yu Qizhi had fallen into a deep sleep and wouldn't hear their conversation.

Not just Xue Qi, but all the physicians in Chang'an were helpless against the poison in Yu Qizhi's body. Perhaps only the Miaojiang poison masters knew how to cure it.

In recent days, Xue Qi had been extensively researching ancient medical texts.

The Marquis Mansion of Changning once had a debt of gratitude to Xue Qi's master, so she was willing to do her best.

"Every time you use your inner strength from now on, it will accelerate the poison's effect. You might not survive long enough to find a cure..."

Xue Qi couldn't continue.

Apart from this, there was no other way to save Yu Qizhi's life.

But if it meant using another person's life as a bet...

Xue Qi still asked with some difficulty:

"Are you sure?"

Pei Jing's gaze swept over the pale face on the bed.

He faintly responded with a "Hmm."

If he hadn't confined her then, there wouldn't have been an opportunity for the Fourth Prince to bribe someone to plant the poison in the clinic.

If time could flow backward, would things be different between him and Yu Qizhi now?

...

Later, during those days at the Taoist temple, Yu Qizhi spent most of her time in a deep sleep.

Her former obsession with Brother Ling, those self-deceiving actions, and her almost compensatory attachment to Pei Jing when facing him.

Those past moments swirled by like a carousel.

Perhaps, as Feng Qingling had said, she was the one trapped in the past.

Days passed, and she thought it might be better to be liberated this way.

Yet Yu Qizhi's energy was noticeably improving.

In the blink of an eye, spring was about to end, and Xue Qi told her that the poison in her body had been completely removed.

Everything from the past seemed like a long dream.

"A servant greets the princess and welcomes her back to the palace for the ancestral rites."

A woman dressed as a palace maid lifted the curtain and said this to Yu Qizhi.

...

With Concubine Li's letter and the testimony of witnesses from back then, Yu Qizhi's identity was beyond doubt.

But Yu Qizhi felt lost. She didn't want to return to the palace as Xi Niang suggested.

However, the elderly palace maid knelt before her, begging her to reconsider after reading Concubine Li's handwritten letter and seeing the token.

Yu Qizhi's departure from the Taoist temple went smoothly, undoubtedly due to Pei Jing's tacit approval.

At the Chang'an residence, Yu Qizhi finished reading the personal letter Concubine Li had left for her according to Xi Niang's words.

To be honest, she felt no particular emotion.

She wasn't a princess, nor was she the daughter of a concubine.

For the past twenty years, she had her own mother.

Yu Qizhi only wanted to leave, but Xi Niang insisted on giving her a pair of jade bracelets and a longevity lock, saying that Concubine Li had prepared them for her child even before birth.

Yu Qizhi didn't want to accept them and tried to refuse. It was then that she met Xiang Le.

Princess Xiang Le stepped down from the carriage and, upon seeing Yu Qizhi, clearly froze.

Then, Xiang Le's gaze shifted from Yu Qizhi to the jade bracelets in the maid's hand.

"These are the Empress Consort's jade bracelets. Why are you giving them to her?"

Xiang Le scolded the maid.

Seeing the maid not responding, Xiang Le reached out to snatch the bracelets.

Yu Qizhi had already experienced Xiang Le's temper.

"She is just following orders; don't make things difficult for her," Yu Qizhi said.

Xiang Le glanced at Yu Qizhi and didn't speak further, but her expression showed clear resentment and anger.

In the next moment, Xiang Le suddenly drew a whip from her waist and raised it to strike the maid's hand.

The sound of hooves approached from behind. Hearing this, Xiang Le frowned and changed the direction of her whip. The barbed tip of the whip was about to graze Yu Qizhi's cheek.

Just before the whip fell, a clear and firm hand intercepted it.

In the chaos, a tinkling sound rang out as the box containing the jade bracelets hit the ground.

The maid was frightened into kneeling.

"Zhao Jiming!"

Xiang Le abandoned the whip and her gaze darted between him and Yu Qizhi:

"Is this why you want to break off our engagement? Because the Li family has fallen? Because I'm not the Empress Consort's biological daughter?"

"You broke your promise; you are simply..."

Xiang Le, named Zhao Jiming, was berated and questioned. He took a deep breath:

"This marriage was never what either of us truly wanted."

Today, the Zhao family proposed canceling the engagement, but unexpectedly, Xiang Le was greatly upset and left the estate.

Xiang Le had lost both parents since childhood, and her grandparents, unable to bear the thought of her doing something foolish, earnestly asked Zhao Jiming to find her, hoping they could talk things through.

Indeed, Xiang Le was at fault here. In the past, she had been dissatisfied with Zhao Jiming and had even arranged for him to be severely tormented.

"Exactly, remember that it was I who first proposed the annulment of our engagement!"

Perhaps Xiangle wasn't upset about Zhao Jiming's refusal, but rather because everything had changed too quickly since the fall of the Li family.

Without the indulgence and pampering of Concubine Li and the Fourth Prince, everything was different, making it difficult for her to adapt.

After uttering those words, Xiangle turned and left.

Confirming that the carriage was heading towards the Xiangle County Princess's residence, Zhao Jiming looked back at Yu Qizhi.

"Xiangle has always been childish. Don't take what she said just now to heart." Zhao Jiming spoke gently as he picked up the jade bracelet and handed it to Yu Qizhi.

"Is your hand alright?"

Having witnessed the earlier commotion, Yu Qizhi felt exhausted, but out of courtesy, she lowered her eyelashes and asked.

"Oh," Zhao Jiming seemed slightly surprised upon hearing this, as if only then realizing the injury on his hand.

When he looked up again, there was a faint smile in his eyes. "I'm fine."

"When I was young, I had the privilege of meeting Concubine Li a few times. She was a very gentle person."

Zhao Jiming did not hide the fact that he knew about Yu Qizhi's identity. His voice was calm and consoling:

"The Empress must be concerned about you and hopes for your well-being."

...

The palace announced that Princess Yuan was born with a weak constitution and had been sent to a Taoist temple since childhood. Now, she has returned to the palace to pray for the nation's prosperity.

From the moment she reunited with Xi Niang until she was recognized by the royal family, Yu Qizhi did not see Pei Jing once.

But she knew that Pei Jing and his people were involved in orchestrating these events.

On the day Yu Qizhi officially returned to the palace, it rained gently, and reports came in of wheat growing two ears, a sign of auspiciousness.

The new emperor had been on the throne for a year, and members of the imperial family along with ministers of the fourth rank and above went to Mount Song for a ceremony to honor their ancestors.

Mount Song was not far from Luoyang, and foreign envoys accompanied them.

Yu Qizhi settled into a temporary palace halfway up the mountain.

A palace attendant came to inform her that the Empress Dowager wished to speak with Princess Yuan.

Back when the Empress Dowager was still Empress Meng, Yu Qizhi had spoken with her once before.

At that time, Helan Mingyue had felt sorry for Yu Qizhi, and Empress Meng summoned her to persuade her to accept her role as Pei Jing's wife.

Now, she wanted Yu Qizhi to keep her distance from Pei Jing.

"Now that the new emperor is on the throne, the court needs capable individuals. You are of the Li family's bloodline, and bringing you back to the palace serves as reassurance to former officials."

"This was also Qingyan's idea," the Empress Dowager said.

Bringing Yu Qizhi back to the palace as Princess Yuan was merely to stabilize the court after the fall of the Li family.

"Because of this, your relationship with Qingyan cannot remain ambiguous."

The Empress Dowager appeared dignified and well-preserved, exuding more authority than before.

"In a few days, I will arrange a marriage for you."

As she stepped out of the hall, the misty spring rain fell on her face, and Yu Qizhi felt a sense of irony.

That day, the imperial family performed rituals at the ancestral temple, and no one showed much surprise at Yu Qizhi's identity.

After the ceremony, in a secluded spot, Yu Qizhi was suddenly stopped by Weichuan.

"Your Highness, the Prince requests that you wait a moment."

Weichuan spoke in a formal tone.

"Your Highness, given what the Guard Commander said, shouldn't you... wait?"

The rain fell softly in the mountains, but Yu Qizhi did not wait where she was; instead, she got into her carriage directly.

Seeing this, the lady-in-waiting beside her tried to stop her.

This lady-in-waiting was clearly one of Pei Jing's people.

The situation became momentarily tense.

"Your Highness." A male voice suddenly sounded.

Zhao Jiming, followed by an attendant, kept a proper distance from Yu Qizhi.

"My carriage broke down. May I borrow your carriage to go down the mountain together?"

Zhao Jiming asked politely.

The lady-in-waiting frowned.

Just as she was about to refuse on behalf of Yu Qizhi—

"Sir, my master's leg condition has flared up, which is why we have to make this request."

Zhao Jiming's attendant bowed deeply to the lady-in-waiting: "Once we reach the halfway point, I guarantee with my life that no one will spread news of this."

The Zhao family is prestigious, and Zhao Jiming is the most doted-upon descendant in the household.

Seeing such a humble plea, the female official hesitated for a moment.

The sky was already dark, and everyone else had dispersed. With Weichuan's delay, Yu Qizhi's carriage became the only one left in the area.

Yu Qizhi sat in the carriage, lowering her gaze to look down.

Zhao Jiming was also looking at her.

His tall, slender figure stood out, his elegant features dampened by the rain, carrying a hint of pleading and hope. Despite his exceptionally handsome appearance, he seemed almost like a mountain spirit, bewitching the heart.