Zanying’s face, with a hint of frost, did not stop her steps as she walked past Li Jinghuan’s side.

Without turning her head, she said, “Mind your manners; don’t make me spit on you.”

Her soft Wu dialect contrasted sharply with the vulgarity of her words, leaving Li Jinghuan stunned.

A look of unfamiliarity and confusion appeared in his eyes as he stared at her, his voice hoarse, “What are you saying?”

His A Ying had always been the most gentle and demure.

She had never spoken harshly to anyone before.

Now, just a few days after leaving the palace, she had become like this.

Zanying, however, thought these were naturally insults.

Unfortunately, Sister Ren had refused to teach her many things, leaving her still lacking in confidence.

Seeing Li Jinghuan dumbstruck and dazed, she felt a bit of satisfaction and did not waste more words with him.

As the gate of the mansion opened, she watched the servants move the gifts and bamboo slips from the carriage inside, then prepared to enter the house.

“Ah Ying,” Li Jinghuan, seeing her about to disappear, called out with a sense of urgency, “Is it really going to be like this? Our marriage cannot be ended by a single word from you. I will not marry anyone else; I only want you.”

Standing on the steps with her back to him, Zanying heard his call of “Ah Ying,” closed her eyes, and did not listen to the rest of his words.

Instead, she softly muttered, “Wolf.”

With her command, the white wolf swiftly descended like a streak of silver from the Milky Way, leaping over the mansion gate and bounding down the steps to let out a long howl at the uninvited guest at the end of the alley.

Li Jinghuan was caught off guard and took two steps back.

“Your Highness,” frightened and trembling, Li Jian hurried to support the Crown Prince.

The guards outside the mansion, seeing this, slightly relaxed their long spears, pretending not to notice the Crown Prince’s embarrassment.

The wolf crouched by the skirts of the girl with waist-length black hair, glaring angrily.

Zanying turned slightly and gave him a sidelong glance, “I’ve already said that you should no longer address me like that. As for the engagement, it’s not formalized by any document. If Hui Linghong’s empty words could turn the marriage alliance between the Wei and Tang families into yours, then my single word today should be able to nullify it.”

“If you need a formal annulment document, I can sign with the Fu family first, and then with the Li family.”

She said this, and then looked up at the clouds in the sky, adding with a gentle smile, “This is called having more lice and not worrying.”

That smile was both innocent and cruel, shattering all of Li Jinghuan’s tenderness.

No matter what Hui Linghong or the Li family had done, anyone else would have lost their life for such treasonous words.

But Li Jinghuan couldn’t bring himself to blame her.

It was he who had failed to protect the innocent and carefree Ah Ying, allowing her to be hurt and become so thorny.

He was not afraid of being hurt by her; the more it hurt, the more he couldn’t let go.

His gaze turned fiercely toward the wolf that was staining her skirt, and his voice became even softer.

“Did Wei Yu teach you these words? Ah Ying, don’t be deceived by him. Think carefully; wasn’t it too coincidental that he came back to the capital on the day you came of age? He controls an army of a hundred thousand and harbors grand ambitions, but he lacks frontier funds. He is not as kind as you think; he has his own schemes.”

“Why did you never tell me about the Grand Marshal wanting to take me away when I was five years old?”

Her cold words easily shut down all of Li Jinghuan’s arguments.

Li Jinghuan was suddenly confronted by her cold eyes, as if facing an endless snowfall, and felt as though his temples were being pierced.

In his heart, there was only sorrow.

It seemed that she would only truly look at him when asked about that person.

Yet he could not look away.

The person before him was as clear as the moon in the cold sky and as pure as a jade crystal, and he couldn’t tear his eyes away.

“That is not a pleasant memory.”

Her eyes, colored with a watery, reddish hue, gave the man a touch of despondency and allure.

He looked directly at her, seriously explaining, “That day, you were frightened by Wei Yu. I didn’t want you to carry that shadow in your heart, so I didn’t speak of it.”

But Zan Ying turned her back indifferently. “What is good or bad is not for you to decide. What you consider good is only beneficial to you and is forced upon me. What you consider bad is only useless to you and is thus removed.”

“How can you speak of others having ulterior motives when you are here for your own gain? Don’t you feel ashamed of yourself?”

These few words were harsher than stabbing Li Jinghuan multiple times.

Unable to see Zan Ying’s expression, the headache returned with a vengeance.

He wanted to move in front of her, but with enemies ahead and guards on the sides, the crown prince was left powerless, unable to advance or retreat.

Li Jinghuan pressed his long fingers against his temples, bending down and groaning, “A Ying, turn around and look at me. Don’t speak to me with your back turned. Can’t you tell how I treat you?”

He was one of those who disliked marrying for money; he had even made unseen struggles for this, and after coming to terms with it, he completely regarded her as his Crown Princess.

“I admit, I did lose focus on Fu Zhuangxue for a while, but that’s gone now. A Ying, you know very well that the East Palace has no one, not even a chief of the inner court. I’ll be twenty next year, and the inner palace is waiting for you. I’ll treat you doubly well in the future.”

“Don’t.”

Zan Ying sneered.

The ice cream pastry that Uncle Lu gave her was a kind gesture, and she didn’t want to vomit it out because of disgust. “Don’t do anything in the future.”

She knew very well how he treated her.

She had once been puzzled.

At this time in her previous life, Li Jinghuan should have been with Fu Zhuangxue in a romantic entanglement.

Why had he changed so much in this life?

But then she realized, fickle men who have a spring flower often yearn for autumn moon, marry the main wife, and still yearn for a concubine.

They distinguish clearly between what is primary and what is secondary, what is fundamental and what is embellishment.

In her previous life, she had never left the palace, so Li Jinghuan knew she was trapped there and could easily seek novelty elsewhere.

But in this life, since she had left the palace, things had gone off course.

Li Jinghuan, after weighing his choices, decided between Fu Zhuangxue and her, staging a worthless display of deep affection.

People often say merchants are of low status, but in her view, these pampered nobles were the real-born businessmen.

Still, if he had decisively abandoned her and devoted himself to Fu Zhuangxue, though it would be heartless, Zan Ying would still consider him a ruler capable of decisive action.

It wouldn’t be in vain that he had sacrificed her to save Fu Zhuangxue in the past life.

But Li Jinghuan was fickle.

All that was left was his coldness.

Zan Ying thought back to the rebellion on Suzaku Bridge in her previous life.

Li Jinghuan, dressed in fine clothes, was, after all, just a deposed ruler.

In the moment the gate of Rui Garden slammed shut, Li Jinghuan was in excruciating pain, suddenly bending his body.

He tried to stay upright in front of her door but could not stand steadily, emitting a suppressed low growl, with cold sweat soaking his clothes.

“Your Highness, quickly send His Highness back to the palace!” Li Jian was alarmed. Hadn’t His Highness’s illness already improved?

How could it flare up again upon seeing Lady Fu?

That night, Li Jinghuan fell into a fever on the jade couch in the East Palace and had the same dream.

“Ah Xue.”

In the blazing fire of the Jin Gui Book Pavilion, there were no longer just shadows, and the rolling smoke blurred two figures.

Li Jinghuan decisively said, “Save Ah Xue.”

The East Palace guards and Fu Ze’an carried Fu Zhuangxue out together.

Li Jinghuan and Fu Ze’an exchanged a stunned glance, their eyes reflecting the same panic.

When they finally rescued Fu Zanying from the fire, the guards pulled her out, but the young girl was already on the brink of death.

Her delicate arms had been severely burned, with large patches of charred skin emitting a horrific stench.

“Ah Ying, I’m sorry,” Fu Ze’an’s voice trembled, “I thought that in an emergency, I should first take care of my sister who has been with me for years. I was worried about Ah Xue being alone, so it’s not that I didn’t care about you.”

Fu Zanying’s small face, as pale as paper from the pain, looked up at him with wide eyes, but no tears fell.

Lying on the pillow, she heard the physician say that either amputation was necessary to save her life or the necrotic tissue needed to be removed.

Her thin white garment seemed to be pierced by frost and snow.

Her voice was as light as drifting fluff, “Brother Jinghuan, if I lose my arm, will you still want Ah Ying?”

Li Jinghuan hesitated for two breaths.

Fu Zanying quickly added, as if afraid to hear his answer, “I won’t amputate. Physician, remove the necrotic flesh and treat the wounds; I can endure it.”

Thus, basins of blood-stained water were carried out by the maids.

Li Jinghuan stood outside the curtain of the inner chamber, wanting to enter but unable to bear watching her suffer.

He was also afraid she would call for him in pain.

But she did not cry or scream, and the entire inner chamber was as silent as a grave.

Unable to endure such torment, Li Jinghuan gradually dared not step into the Jade Candle Hall.

His mother came to find him, “Jinghuan, the funds for the North Garden palace cannot be delayed any longer. The manager of Tang’s store refuses to acknowledge the white jade key and insists on seeing Ah Ying in person. You know that Ah Ying needs to rest now and shouldn’t meet outsiders. Go to Ah Ying, have her write a letter to confirm her well-being in the palace, and deliver it outside to ensure the palace construction proceeds smoothly.”

Li Jinghuan was incredulous, “Mother, Ah Ying’s right arm is already—”

“She still has her left hand, doesn’t she?”

Li Jinghuan didn’t know how he managed to get to the Jade Candle Hall.

After days of absence, Fu Zanying’s complexion was even more pallid, and her figure more emaciated.

Seeing him, the girl’s pure eyes showed no resentment toward him for not visiting her.

Instead, they brightened up, and she softly said, “Brother Jinghuan, I dreamed of you last night.”

Li Jinghuan struggled to explain his intentions.

Fu Zanying was silent for a long time, then raised her arm wrapped in bandages, her gaze clear, “But I can no longer write with my hand.”

“It’s alright. Use your left hand,” Li Jinghuan got on the bed and held her in his arms.

The girl who used to smile like a little sun now had only a bony figure left.

He held her left hand, teaching her how to write with it as he had when she was a child, his voice choked, “Ah Ying, don’t be afraid. Your injuries will heal soon, and when you’re better, we will get married.”

“Brother Jinghuan, after the letter is finished, can I meet with Manager Du?”

“Yes.”

“Brother Jinghuan, I’m in pain.”

“Be good.”

However, when the letter was sent out, Empress Yu received the money from the Tang family but said, “Ah Ying needs to rest. There’s no need for a meeting.”

Li Jinghuan recalled Ah Ying’s yearning eyes and felt his heart wrenched and the world spinning.

No, it was wrong.

The copper lamp in the Eastern Palace burned through the night, and Li Jinghuan’s dreams were tormented by a throbbing headache.

Suddenly, he woke up, sitting up straight and muttering in distress, “No, it’s not real. It’s a dream.”

“Your Highness, you’re awake.” The palace attendants and physicians crowded the room.

Li Jian hurriedly brought the medicine, his eyes meeting the Crown Prince’s bloodshot gaze, causing him to drop the medicine cup in shock.

The person on the bed hoarsely ordered, “Go check if my Ah’ Ying in the Jade Candle Hall is sleeping well.”

“It was just a dream, just a dream.”

“Your Highness,” Li Jian, trembling with fear, replied, “The Jade Candle Hall is empty. Lady Fu has already left the palace.”

With his long hair disheveled, Li Jinghuan slowly turned his head.

Under the candlelight, his eyes seemed to hold a demonic quality.

Li Jian collapsed to the ground in fright.

Li Jinghuan’s expression was vacant, with the echo of “Brother Jinghuan, I’m in pain” ringing in his ears, repeating endlessly.

“Brother Jinghuan, I’m in pain.”

“Brother Jinghuan, I’m in pain.”