Chapter 55: Old Affairs Part 3

Wei Lingci pressed her lips together in silence. She was in the wrong here. Xun Changqing could resent or rage, and she deserved it, but she still explained: “I won’t harm you. You should know that.”

Seizing the moral high ground for once, Xun Changqing wouldn’t let go: “Of course I know. I also know you’re saying one thing but meaning another—your headaches are self-inflicted. If you’d face your heart, you wouldn’t have them.”

The words pierced Wei Lingci’s heart. Whenever Xun Changqing was involved, her headaches flared, and now this little rogue clung so tightly—she didn’t know what to do.

Seeing her silent, Xun Changqing pressed on confidently: “If you don’t want more headaches, stop saying things against your heart. You tricked me with those schemes, and I know it, but from now on, no more lies. You can’t keep breaking your word.”

Round and round, they circled the same impasse. Wei Lingci’s gaze shifted; now she clutched the half-draped blanket, unable to hold back: “Changqing, you’re still young…”

“I know what you mean. Zi Jin says I’m young too—you all think I’m joking. But Wei Lingci, don’t you know why I held you hostage and jumped into the river?”

Holding Wei Lingci hostage was to show the Imperial Guards she wasn’t involved in the prison break.

Jumping into the river was to avoid troubling her or becoming a burden.

At least one of them should live well.

Such a simple truth—how could Wei Lingci not understand? Because of past lives, she constantly suppressed her feelings. Yet in this life, they sank deeper, beyond escape. Having been with Xun Changqing for over a decade, she knew her temperament and felt her inner pain acutely. She no longer indulged the emotion’s growth but overlooked Xun Changqing’s feelings.

Little did she know, “for your own good” was the greatest lie.

Wei Lingci’s worst headache came from seeing her cry—so softly, without wrenching sobs or wails, yet it tugged at her heart. She compromised: “I’m a few years older. If you regret it someday, just say so. I…”

The flowers and grasses outside were far better than her. A princess’s heart wouldn’t stay on her forever.

Xun Changqing wiped her tears, her expression gaining a fierce edge like a milk cat pretending to be fierce. “You should be the one not to go attracting flowers and grasses. Your peach blossom luck is countless times others’. I won’t regret it—you will.”

Her words sounded like a shrew’s lament. For some reason, Wei Lingci wanted to laugh. In her presence, this person was always so bristly, but away from her wings, she matured swiftly, needing no worry.

Wei Lingci suppressed her smile, pondered briefly, then questioned with doubting eyes: “If you regret it, what then?”

Xun Changqing stared at her, seeing it wasn’t a joke. She straightened, eyes shining, and said solemnly: “I won’t. You never believe me. I’m younger, but I liked you first—it won’t change.”

So arrogant, befitting her princess status. Wei Lingci nodded without speaking. She stroked the blanket, hesitated, then let her fingers leave it to embrace Xun Changqing. Her arms tightened gradually, pressing Xun Changqing’s small body against hers, skin touching skin, enveloping her entirely.

Unwittingly, her face flushed blood-red. She murmured lowly: “It’s not that I don’t believe you. It’s just that the path you choose, no matter how hard, you must walk alone. If you regret it later, I’m afraid I won’t even have the will to live.”

Reborn once, everything she did was a desperate gamble. Xun Changqing was growing up, while she aged day by day… Time and years weren’t hers to linger in; she was no longer in her prime.

Her rare initiative delighted Xun Changqing. She stopped thinking of scolding her awake and nestled in her embrace like the crybaby flower cat she had raised for so long. She knew Wei Lingci’s disbelief stemmed from her own weakness, unable to reassure her.

Xun Changqing obediently wrapped her arms around Wei Lingci’s waist, her head against her chest, murmuring lowly: “I’m the cure for your headaches. Don’t hide things from me anymore when you act. I want to help you.”

“Alright,” Wei Lingci smiled faintly. The intimacy of skin against skin slowly spread through her heart, its uniqueness making her forget herself, unconsciously sinking into this rare sweetness.

………………………………………………

The winds of the Imperial Capital remained treacherously turbulent, but with the Empress confined, Rear Palace authority fell to the Wise Noble Consort. Under Yuan Qingming’s ironclad guard, Changle Palace was cut off from the outside. After waiting days, Xun Yiran grew impatient and roamed about, hoping courtiers would speak for the Empress. But outsiders knew not her crimes and dared not utter a word.

After the tribute horse incident, the Shao Family no longer commanded universal obedience in court. With the Empress inexplicably confined, their “one foot in the tripod” dominance shattered, plummeting a hundredfold.

After Ji Province’s governor change, the people cheered. The former governor Yao Kun had been a tyrannical local bully, flesh-eating the populace. Upon Yuan Man’s assumption, though inexperienced, with Yuan Qingming dispatching several court confidants, she stabilized the province’s chaos.

Yet days passed without letters from Xun Yisu, heightening her unease. Excessive calm wasn’t good. After preparations, she arranged Ji Province affairs properly and slipped alone into the borderlands once more to investigate.