Chapter 8: They Ultimately Still Broke Their Own Oath

Realizing this, both of them were astonished. Pei Wenxuan remained expressionless, looking down at the chessboard, pretending to contemplate while holding a chess piece. Li Rong, on the other hand, raised her eyes, sipping tea and discreetly observing him.

Pei Wenxuan reviewed Li Rong’s actions. Although she appeared spoiled, she acted methodically. She wouldn’t cause trouble for no reason and seemed to only pick fights as a way to discipline others. However, this was their first meeting, and Pei Wenxuan couldn’t figure out why Li Rong would tease him like this.

But if all of this was set up, and Li Rong, like him, was also reborn, it would make much more sense.

Li Rong’s rebirth must be a result of his subordinates’ success. With Li Rong’s intelligence, she likely guessed it was his doing before her death. Facing someone who had killed her, if she could endure and not take revenge, it was already a generous act. Teasing him might just be a way to vent her anger. As for whether she would marry him again, that remained unknown.

After all, in the previous life…

Pei Wenxuan’s heart sank. Li Rong and Su Rongqing must have also had feelings for each other. Various thoughts swirled in Pei Wenxuan’s mind, but his expression remained unchanged. He placed the chess piece down, pretending to ponder.

Li Rong secretly observed Pei Wenxuan’s expression. Seeing his calm demeanor, she couldn’t help but feel doubtful.

She remembered the twenty-year-old Pei Wenxuan as having a bit of youthful innocence and clear awareness of his situation. His temper was also much better. The first time they met, although he seemed composed on the surface, his eyes betrayed a hint of panic.

After all, meeting one’s future wife or a princess from the future would naturally evoke some emotions. However, the current Pei Wenxuan not only lacked emotions, but he treated her like an old acquaintance! This gave him the audacity to confront her, manipulate things under her nose, and outsmart the other three.

This version of Pei Wenxuan was too peculiar. However, if he, like herself, was also reborn, then everything made perfect sense.

In an instant, suspicion arose in both their minds, and this suspicion was close to being almost certain. However, both of them were cautious individuals. While there was suspicion, they needed verification. Moreover, if the other person was also reborn, deciding whether to let them know about their own rebirth became a significant consideration.

So, both of them remained silent, feigning composure, maintaining a casual demeanor.

Both harbored their thoughts for a moment. An eerie silence enveloped them, and onlookers Jingmei and Jinglan stood at a distance. Jingmei whispered, “You said the princess doesn’t like young master Pei, but I see them getting along quite well.”

“The princess’s thoughts…” Jinglan sighed, “are becoming increasingly difficult to fathom.”

After playing half a game of chess, the two gradually eased the shock within their hearts. Once their emotions settled, they had to consider what to do next if the other was indeed reborn.

Outside the courtyard, it rained, and the rainwater fell into the pond, creating ripples.

The sounds of raindrops and the falling rain intertwined. Li Rong was the first to speak, slowly saying, “Master Pei, have you ever thought about what life will be like after marrying me?”

“I…” Pei Wenxuan hesitated for a moment but finally said, “I will treat the princess well.”

He would treat her well because that’s what he did in his previous life. He would try to understand this person, get close to her, and make her happy.

Back then, Li Rong liked him in white clothes, so after marriage, he wore white clothes for many years, aside from official robes. It continued until one day he heard that Li Rong had once said, “Rong loves white clothes, and there is no immortal in the world.”

He learned all the dishes she liked to eat, making her taste them repeatedly until he became her personal chef. No one understood her taste better than him. Until one day, Su Rongqing started learning how to cook.

Li Rong’s legs would ache in the cold, so he learned massage and acupuncture. Every cold rainy day, he would massage her legs until she felt comfortable enough to fall asleep. Until one day, they had a fierce argument, and Li Rong told him, “I don’t want you. I have someone else.”

Thinking of these things, Pei Wenxuan felt a bit uncomfortable, but when Li Rong asked about it, he could only say that he would do it all over again.

However, in that moment of answering, he hesitated a bit.

Knowing the ending already, did he really need to try it all over again?

Their relationship did not have a good ending; half a lifetime of being together, life and death struggles. It seemed like a wasteful existence for most of their lives.

Li Rong sensed the hesitation in his words and knew he was reluctant. She lowered her head to look at the chessboard, slowly saying, “I trust master will treat me well, but will you truly like me?”

Upon hearing this, Pei Wenxuan lowered his gaze.

Li Rong looked up at him, earnestly staring at him and asked, “Will master regard me as a wife or an ally?”

Pei Wenxuan remained silent. Outside, the rain continued to patter. Li Rong looked at the chessboard, seemingly losing interest. She tossed the chess pieces into the box, leaned back on her chair, turned her head to gaze at the swaying lotus leaves in the courtyard soaked by rain, and slowly said, “I’ve thought about it. If I’m with master, in this lifetime, I probably won’t have a husband. I’ll only have an ally.”

“In the inner court, husbands and relatives are not really important. What matters is the power held in one’s hands. But when a person reaches the pinnacle, walking alone in this world, they will envy the bustling life of mortals,” Li Rong said, turning to look at him with a gentle laugh. “You said, what’s the difference between a solitary sovereign and a wandering ghost?”

Pei Wenxuan remained silent. He understood the meaning behind Li Rong’s words. He silently observed Li Rong, an eighteen-year-old girl, probably at the peak of her beauty, but in her lazy posture, every movement conveyed a sense of desolation and loneliness beyond her age. She seemed like a glamorous ghost wandering in the world, beautiful yet resolute. Just by looking at her, it tugged at the heart.

Seeing Pei Wenxuan’s silence, Li Rong chuckled. If Pei Wenxuan was also reborn, he should understand what she was talking about.

Pei Wenxuan did understand, but he didn’t know how to respond. Just then, Jinglan, holding an umbrella, walked in from a distance and whispered to Li Rong, “Princess, it’s pouring outside. The palace attendants say it’s about time for everyone to disperse.”

“Okay.” Li Rong nodded and then said, “Tell them I’m not feeling well, and you can go see the guests off.”

Jinglan nodded and left. With Jinglan gone, Li Rong turned to look at Pei Wenxuan kneeling on the opposite side, speaking gently, “Master Pei, do you think I should marry you and live such a life?”

She was sincerely seeking Pei Wenxuan’s advice. Despite years of arguing and even him eventually killing her in their previous life, Pei Wenxuan had one good quality.

He never lied to her.

Whether it was good or bad, whether this life should be lived, she felt that Pei Wenxuan’s answer would undoubtedly be genuine. After she asked this question, Pei Wenxuan only raised his eyes and silently stared at her.

Her smile couldn’t penetrate his gaze.

Just like the several decades of their previous life, when he saw her like this. This kind of smile was completely different from the real eighteen-year-old Li Rong in his memory.

The eighteen-year-old Li Rong was a good person.

Even if he was unwilling to admit it, Pei Wenxuan remembered. In the early days of their marriage, he lifted the veil covering Li Rong’s face. He saw the girl lifting her head, looking at him with a mix of shyness and curiosity. Then, while drinking the ceremonial cup of wine, she crisply said, “Wenxuan, regardless of how we got together, since we are husband and wife, I still want to spend my life with you.” At that time, he had sincerely thought about living a good life with Li Rong, having children, and being lifelong companions.

Until Li Rong found out about his feelings for Qin Zhenzhen.

Actually, he himself didn’t know whether his feelings for Qin Zhenzhen were love or a sense of responsibility. They grew up together, and he always had a place for her in his heart. He hoped to spend his life with Qin Zhenzhen, but it didn’t work out.

Later, Qin Zhenzhen married Li Rong’s younger brother, crown prince Li Chuan.

Li Chuan, as the crown prince, was a good crown prince but not a good husband. Due to political marriages, even when he was still the crown prince, he had a total of five wives and concubines. Qin Zhenzhen, with her upright nature and lack of knowledge about palace schemes, married into the Eastern Palace due to family alliances. Without Li Chuan’s help, she would have long perished in the intrigues of the Eastern Palace.

Pei Wenxuan intervened to help, and Li Rong naturally knew about it. Initially, she didn’t say anything. However, during a palace banquet, when he once again discreetly helped Qin Zhenzhen, almost exposing himself, Li Rong had to step in to smooth things over.

On the way home that day, sitting in the carriage, Li Rong didn’t say anything. Pei Wenxuan felt a bit anxious, wanting to explain but not knowing what to say. He felt that no matter what Li Rong said, it would be justified.

After Li Rong returned home and entered the bedroom, she walked to the table, poured herself a cup of tea, and asked him with her back turned, “Do you like her?”

Pei Wenxuan stood at the doorway. Although he actually wanted to say no, he felt that he couldn’t lie. So, he could only speak the truth, “I can’t let her go.”

“What’s your relationship with her?” Li Rong held a teacup, looking exceptionally calm. Pei Wenxuan continued to be truthful, they had a childhood engagement, but his family fell, the Qin family broke off the engagement, and Qin Zhenzhen was forced to marry into the Eastern Palace…

“I just want to help her,” he said in a low voice, “Without any ulterior motives. She is the crown prince’s consort, and I won’t do anything.”

After he finished speaking, Li Rong remained silent for a long time. Silence became Pei Wenxuan’s most profound memory of that night.

He saw Li Rong drinking water continuously, one cup after another. After a long time, Li Rong seemed to recover. She turned her head, looked at him, and asked, “Will you betray me?”

“No,” he immediately replied, staring at her. “You are my wife.”

“I am not your wife.”

Li Rong looked at him, her expression serious. “I am only your ally.”

This statement left Pei Wenxuan stunned. Li Rong turned away, gazing out of the window, and calmly said, “This political marriage was not our choice. We both pursued power. In fact, there is no romantic involvement between us. You have someone in your heart, and I have someone in mine. It’s just that we didn’t make it clear before, leading to some misunderstandings. Now that it’s clear, there’s nothing to it.”

“It’s not a big deal,” Li Rong smiled, her eyes seeming like they could shed tears at any moment. “Why didn’t you say it earlier?”

Pei Wenxuan stared at her in a daze. He wanted to deny it, but Li Rong’s words seemed to make sense. He didn’t have romantic feelings for Li Rong because he had Qin Zhenzhen in his heart. How could he accommodate Li Rong?

Seeing him silent, Li Rong lowered her head and said gently, “Just clarify it, and it will be fine. We can continue to live the same way, but I hope lord Pei understands in his heart.”

“I am not your wife, and you are not my husband. I don’t care who you have in your heart, and you don’t need to worry about who I am with. We each have our own lives and pursuits.”

“I just want lord Pei to promise me,” Li Rong stared at him, her gaze as sharp as an eagle’s, “since we are allies, there will be no betrayal.”

It rained that night too.

Just like the current moment, a heavy rain poured down.

Li Rong walked up to him, stared at him, and said, “Pei Wenxuan, speak.”

He couldn’t find the words.

Seeing his hesitation, Li Rong smiled, “Pei Wenxuan, if you don’t speak, I’ll assume you have feelings for me. But if we have a romantic relationship, everything you do becomes repulsive. We shouldn’t be together. I’ll go to father emperor, no matter what,” she remained calm, “we must divorce.”

Thunder roared, and Pei Wenxuan looked at Li Rong, who was looking up at him. At that moment, he finally understood how demanding this woman was when it came to emotions. Even if everything went up in flames, she wanted a clean break.

So he smiled.

“Why bother?” he said with difficulty, “You’re right. We are allies. I have someone else in my heart, and I shouldn’t bother with you. Divorce is not good for both of us, so let’s just stay like this?”

“Pretend to be a married couple, live our separate lives, and remain allies. No betrayal.”

“If we break this oath,” Pei Wenxuan hoarsely spoke, and Li Rong smiled, “may we have no peace in death.”

However, they ultimately broke their own oath, fulfilling the prophecy of the oath.

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