Chapter 62: In This Life, I Will Always Stay By Your Highness’s Side And Never Let You Suffer Even The Slightest Grievance

Upon hearing the news, Li Rong was startled, then coldly demanded, “Where is Minister Xun?”

“At the Chang Pavilion in the outskirts of the city.”  

“Head there immediately.”  

After giving the order, Li Rong instructed the carriage to change direction and then sat back inside.  

She seemed to be extremely angry, clutching her fan tightly, her expression grim. Pei Wenxuan poured her a cup of tea and comforted her, “It’s not surprising that Luo Juan has been missing for so long. Please calm down, Your Highness.”  

“They are utterly insolent!”  

Li Rong shouted in rage, “Knowing full well that I am investigating this matter, they still dared to kill him directly. Do they think I’m a pushover?”  

“Precisely because they know you are investigating this matter,” Pei Wenxuan said calmly, “that’s why they had to kill him.”  

Li Rong fell silent. She looked up at Pei Wenxuan, whose expression was frighteningly composed. “If your Supervision Office is successfully established, it would pose too great a threat to the aristocratic families. They will stop at nothing to force you to retreat at this moment. If you win this battle, the position of the Supervision Office will be secured. If you lose, it will be difficult for either His Highness the Crown Prince or His Majesty to assemble another force to counter the aristocratic families in the future.”  

“Of course,” Pei Wenxuan added softly, “our futures, Your Highness and mine, will also be ruined.”  

Pei Wenxuan spoke with such calmness, as if discussing something trivial. Li Rong gradually calmed down as she listened to him. Such confrontations were not new to her; she had experienced them countless times in her past life. However, it had been many years since she and Pei Wenxuan had been so closely bound together, sharing life and death.

She couldn’t help but look at Pei Wenxuan, studying the young man in his early twenties. Pei Wenxuan leaned against the table, gazing out the window at the bustling crowd, seemingly deep in thought. Sensing Li Rong’s gaze, he turned to her and, noticing her eyes fixed on him, smiled faintly. “Why are you looking at me, Your Highness?”

“I just remembered,” Li Rong said with a smile, “it seems like this is the first time we’ve worked together like this.”

“In the first year of our marriage, our relationship was actually quite good,” Li Rong tapped her fan against her palm and turned to look out the window, a hint of nostalgia in her voice. “But we were still young back then, inexperienced in court affairs, and we hadn’t encountered such major events.”

“Later, when things did happen, we were already in a phase of frequent arguments. The only time I was truly moved by you was when you visited me in prison. At that time, I thought you would abandon me and Chuan’er to side with Consort Rou.”

As she spoke, Li Rong couldn’t help but glance at him again, smiling. “Why didn’t you run away back then?”

Pei Wenxuan remained silent. Li Rong didn’t seem to mind and continued, “After that, our relationship was never great—constantly wary of each other, yet still helping one another. We were never as harmonious as we are now.”

“What if I told you that I never once thought of abandoning you?” Pei Wenxuan suddenly spoke up.

Li Rong looked up in surprise, only to see Pei Wenxuan gazing at her calmly. “In our past life, I never broke the alliance between us.”

That year, when Li Chuan was deposed as Crown Prince and Li Rong was imprisoned, despite holding a high position, his first instinct was never to seek refuge with others. Even after years of conflict with Li Rong, he had, without hesitation, chosen to go to the prison, make her a promise, and ask her to wait for his return.

Li Rong was at a loss for words, her eyelashes trembling slightly. Pei Wenxuan smiled and said, “We’ve been through so many trials. Isn’t it only natural that you trust me in this lifetime?”  

“After all,” Pei Wenxuan continued earnestly, “no one but me can guarantee that, no matter the circumstances, I will never betray you, Your Highness.”  

Hearing these words, Li Rong chuckled softly and replied gently, “I don’t believe in promises.”  

“I know,” Pei Wenxuan also smiled. “I was just saying it casually.”  

“Then it’s better not to say such things in the future,” Li Rong sighed. “When you say them, I start to take them seriously, but deep down, I know these words can’t be trusted. It hurts to think about it, so it’s better if I never hear them at all.”  

“It’s my fault for speaking carelessly,” Pei Wenxuan apologized quickly. “I’ve troubled you, Your Highness.”  

As they chatted casually, they arrived at the outskirts of the city. The carriage had barely come to a stop when Li Rong immediately jumped out. A few people were standing by the Chang Pavilion. Li Rong hurried over with Pei Wenxuan and asked anxiously, “Where is he?”  

“Your Highness, please follow us.”  

One of the men responded and led them into the nearby woods. Li Rong followed them for a short while before seeing a group of people gathered around a spot. Xun Chuan, wearing a mask, stood at the edge, clenching his fists.  

Li Rong stepped forward and asked coldly, “What happened?”  

As she approached, a foul stench hit her. Before she could turn around, Pei Wenxuan stepped in front of her, blocking her view. “Your Highness, there’s no need to look.”  

“Move aside!”

Li Rong pushed Pei Wenxuan aside and saw more than a dozen exhumed corpses.  

She glanced at the bodies scattered on the ground, then turned to Xun Chuan beside her and asked, “Have the autopsies been done?”  

“Yes,” Xun Chuan replied hoarsely, “and their identities have been confirmed. They are all the witnesses involved in the case.”  

“All of them are dead?” Li Rong asked in disbelief.  

Xun Chuan nodded, “All of them, not a single one left. Over the past few days, I’ve been investigating and found that they all left the capital on the same day. Before leaving, they left large sums of money for their families, claiming they were returning to the northwest. I followed their trail and discovered they never stayed at any post stations or roadside teahouses. I narrowed down the search based on the last places they were seen and eventually found this location.”  

Li Rong fell silent for a moment, then said, “Clean up the bodies and take them to the mortuary. How did you find this place?”  

“Not far from here, at the Chang Pavilion, there was a scholar who happened to be seeing off a friend that day. He witnessed a group of people herding another group into the woods, acting suspiciously. I traced the movements of the guests from the teahouse owner and eventually found this scholar.”  

“Where is he now?”  

“He’s already under our supervision.”  

Hearing this, Li Rong felt somewhat reassured. After a moment of thought, she said, “Have someone continue the investigation based on the scholar’s testimony. Also, go to His Highness the Crown Prince,” she pursed her lips, “and ask him to find a way for me to meet Minister Qin in the Ministry of Justice.”  

At these words, Xun Chuan stiffened. She looked up at Li Rong, and though she said nothing, Li Rong understood her unspoken concern.

“You’ll come with me, but…”  

Li Rong began, but before she could finish, Xun Chuan interrupted, “I understand, Your Highness. There’s no need to worry.”  

Qin Zhenzhen had already died by crashing into the gates of the princess’s residence. The crime of deceiving the emperor and breaking the law was a burden no one could bear.  

Li Rong acknowledged this with a nod, and Xun Chuan immediately arranged for the necessary steps to be taken.  

Li Rong stood by the side for a while, quietly observing the bodies. After some time, she turned and said, “Let’s go.”  

Pei Wenxuan accompanied her, following closely as they boarded the carriage.  

Once inside the carriage, Li Rong closed her eyes. Moments later, she noticed a faint fragrance wafting through the air. She opened her eyes to see Pei Wenxuan retrieving an incense burner from a drawer and lighting some incense.  

Li Rong chuckled, “You still have the leisure for such refined pastimes?”  

“You’ve always been uncomfortable with such scenes,” Pei Wenxuan replied calmly. “This incense helps calm the mind.”  

After saying this, he closed the lid of the incense burner and sat down beside Li Rong. Before she could react, he had already rolled up his sleeve, reached behind her neck, and placed his hand on her shoulder. With his other hand, he gently pressed her head to rest on his shoulder.  

This position seemed to completely isolate her from the outside world. The scent of the incense mingled with the faint fragrance of his body, and his warmth created a barrier, constructing a warm and peaceful world around her.  

“Close your eyes,” Pei Wenxuan said softly. “Don’t think about anything. I’m here with you.”  

“Pei Wenxuan,” Li Rong complied by closing her eyes but still spoke, “this isn’t the first time I’ve seen a dead body. You don’t need to take such care of me.”  

“I remember in the tenth year of Kangping, when you and I went to the Ministry of Justice together,” Li Rong leaned against Pei Wenxuan as he recounted the past, “you watched the execution of a criminal. I noticed your hands trembling. To hide it, you tucked your hands into your sleeves and rested them on the armrest. You maintained that position for the entire afternoon.”  

“I don’t remember that.”

“Then, after you came out, you vomited. Su Rongqing stood by your side, comforting you, bringing you tea and water.”  

Li Rong fell silent, listening quietly. Then, she heard Pei Wenxuan continue, “That day, on the way back, I kept thinking that I should have held your hand, lit some incense, and talked to you. Maybe you would have felt much better.”  

“There were many things I didn’t do well or didn’t accomplish in our past life,” Pei Wenxuan said, looking down at Li Rong. “In this life, if there’s anything I don’t do well, Your Highness, please remember to tell me.”  

Li Rong leaned quietly against him, listening to his heartbeat. Pei Wenxuan asked curiously, “Your Highness?”  

“It’s already very good,” she replied simply.  

As she reflected on Pei Wenxuan’s words, she began to recall those distant memories from their past life, piecing together the moments he had mentioned.  

However, as she recalled those memories, she couldn’t help but think of Su Rongqing from those days.  

Suddenly, she realized the difference between Su Rongqing and Pei Wenxuan. Su Rongqing had always been devoted and respectful toward her, but in his eyes, she seemed inherently strong and unshakable. He had never considered that she might feel fear or that she might occasionally need someone to lean on.  

Su Rongqing had always stood behind her, like a shadow—always there when she turned around, yet always distant.  

Her feelings for Su Rongqing had been different from those she had for Pei Wenxuan back then. She had always thought it was because she had met Su Rongqing too late, making it difficult to recapture the youthful flutter of the heart.  

But now she understood: it was because Pei Wenxuan’s kindness toward her had been unreserved and genuine.

It was the stolen kiss under the night sky, the intertwined fingers on the bed as they laughed and talked about the future, the way he could understand her deepest desires from the slightest gesture.  

But Su Rongqing’s kindness to her had always been distant.  

For over a decade, he had accompanied her, yet never crossed the line. Even the occasional kiss felt cold and filled with despair.  

Li Rong closed her eyes, not daring to dwell on it further. Pei Wenxuan held her in his arms and spoke softly, “I didn’t want you to see these things, but you had to. So I’ll prepare some calming incense for you to carry with you. When such moments arise, bring me along.”  

“What’s done in the past is done, but in this life, I’ll always be by your side, Your Highness. I won’t let you suffer even the slightest grievance.”  

As Pei Wenxuan spoke, he noticed Li Rong didn’t respond. He looked down and saw that she seemed to have fallen asleep.  

Seeing her resting peacefully against him, he couldn’t help but smile.  

He watched her for a while, wanting to kiss her forehead but fearing she might wake. After a moment of hesitation, he finally leaned down and gently kissed her hair.  

Li Rong slept against him all the way into the city. After entering the city, they headed straight to the Ministry of Justice. By the time they arrived, it was already night. They had their meal in the carriage, and not long after, a messenger from Li Chuan arrived with the news that everything had been arranged.  

Li Chuan, after all, had been entrenched in the court for many years and had far more resources at his disposal than Li Rong. Once Li Chuan had made the arrangements, Li Rong immediately stepped out of the carriage. She led her people to the entrance of the Ministry of Justice, where a figure in a black robe was already waiting.

Li Rong was somewhat surprised. Her heart raced with speculation as she hurried forward. The figure turned around, revealing a youthful face in the dim light of the night.  

“Sister,” Li Chuan looked at Li Rong earnestly, “I’ll accompany you inside.”  

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