Quick Transmigration: Why did you provoke him? He's love-struck!

The act of taking off his clothes aggravated the wound on his back, and even though Yan Zhen was extremely tolerant of pain, he couldn't help but frown.

Zi Ying quickly stepped forward to lend a hand.

After taking off his wet undergarments, Yan Zhen's back wounds were white from being soaked in water.

Zi Ying felt extremely distressed seeing this and quickly applied medicine to her.

Halfway through the treatment, Hongyu came in from outside. She made an excuse to send Ziying away and whispered, "Princess, the Eleventh Prince has arrived."

Yan Zhen wasn't surprised; she had a premonition that Xiahou Che would come looking for her.

"Invite him in."

When Xiahou Che came in, Yan Zhen had already changed his clothes and was sitting at the table having a meal.

Upon seeing Xiahou Che, Yan Zhen sized him up.

Half a year had passed since they last met, and Xiahou Che had grown quite a bit taller, with smooth, undulating muscle lines visible beneath his black night clothes.

The twelve-year-old boy was almost as tall as her.

"Have you eaten?" Yan Zhen asked.

Xiahou Che nodded: "Mm."

"Then wait for me for half a moment."

She quickened her pace of eating, and Xiahou Che, seeing this, said, "No rush, I'll wait for you."

Yan Zhen ignored him and quickly finished her meal. She turned and went into the inner room. Seeing Xiahou Che standing there without moving, she frowned and said, "What are you standing there for? Come in."

Xiahou Che hesitated for a moment.

The inner room is the woman's boudoir...

But the thought only lasted for a moment. Considering her swift and decisive manner in killing people during the day, she couldn't be regarded as an ordinary woman.

Xiahou Che entered the inner room and found a desk piled high with documents awaiting processing.

She lit a lamp, picked up the document, and asked, "What do you want with me?"

Xiahou Che was somewhat dissatisfied with her attitude of barely glancing at him throughout the entire conversation. He sat down opposite her, looking at her across the table, and said, "I'm going to fight in the southwest with Liu Su."

"Ok, I know."

"you know?"

"I saw you following Liu Su during the day," Yan Zhen said without looking up. "You came all this way in the rain just to say this nonsense to me, didn't you?"

Just a moment ago, Xiahou Che was overjoyed that she had seen him during the day, but the next moment, her next words brought him back to reality.

He glared at her as she rapidly reviewed documents, and couldn't help but say, "Aren't you going to ask me what I've been doing in the capital for the past six months?"

"There's nothing to ask," Yan Zhen said.

Provoked by her coldness, Xiahou Che felt annoyed and couldn't help but kick the table leg.

The desk shook, and Yan Zhen stopped reviewing the documents. She looked up, her eyes sharp as knives, staring at Xiahou Che.

Xiahou Che was stared at like that, and belatedly realized that he had displeased her. He was silent for a moment, and then guiltily wiped the table with his sleeve: "This table... is dusty."

Yan Zhen put down his pen and leaned back in his chair: "I don't ask because I believe you can do it well and don't need me to worry about you, not because I don't care about you, understand?"

Xiahou Che was taken aback, and his dissatisfaction instantly dissipated by more than half: "Really?"

"If I didn't care about you, why would I bother to place people around you to protect your safety?"

Xiahou Che knew about this; the person Yan Zhen had planted in Linzhi Palace had helped him several times, both openly and secretly.

The last bit of resentment in his heart disappeared, and his tone became lighter: "I have heard a lot of rumors about you in the capital. They all say that you have done a good job in disaster relief. But the situation is still uncertain. If you become too prominent, it may arouse His Majesty's suspicion."

“His suspicion of the Xiao family has never stopped.” Yan Zhen sneered coldly. “Those who came to Shu for disaster relief, from the strategist to my maid Ziying, were all people he arranged. Don’t worry, I know what I’m doing.”

Xiahou Che knew she was a woman of her own mind, so he said no more.

Both of them were silent for a while, and Xiahou Che keenly smelled a faint scent of blood in the air.

He frowned: "Where is that smell of blood coming from?"

Upon hearing this, Yan Zhen reached back and touched his back, finding his palm covered in bright red blood.

Xiahou Che was startled and immediately stood up: "You're injured?"

"What's all the fuss about?" Yan Zhen said dismissively. Xiahou Che had arrived so suddenly that she had only treated half of her wound, and the bleeding hadn't stopped, now soaking the back of her clothes.

She was not sensitive to pain and did not notice it immediately.

"Let me see." Xiahou Che walked around the table to her back and saw a large red stain on her back. His heart skipped a beat, and an inexplicable feeling of unease welled up inside him.

"Go and call Hongyu in," Yan Zhen said in a deep voice.

A short while later, Hongyu came in to treat Yanzhen's wounds.

The curtain in the inner room was drawn, and Yan Zhen was applying medicine inside. Xiahou Che moved a stool, turned his back to the inner room, and sat outside the curtain with a sullen expression.

Only when a voice from inside said, "It's ready, come in," did he lift the curtain and go in.

Yan Zhen changed his clothes. On the tray next to him were several wads of blood-stained gauze. Xiahou Che stared intently at the gauze, and that indescribable displeasure intensified once again.

Yan Zhen noticed his unpleasant expression and asked, "What's wrong?"

Hongyu carried away the tray, but the stench of blood in the air did not dissipate. Xiahou Che clenched his fists: "Was it necessary to fight so desperately?"

"Ok?"

"Didn't we agree that this was just an act for them? The empire belongs to the Xiahou clan. No matter how much you do, it's the Xiahou clan who will benefit. Why ruin yourself for the sake of an act?" Xiahou Che suppressed his anger. "If you get hurt, you're the one who will feel the pain!"

Yan Zhen then realized that the boy was worried about her.

She immediately raised her eyebrows: "Being able to do more for the people and alleviate their suffering is nothing compared to this little injury."

Xiahou Che stared intently into her eyes, his fists clenched so tightly that his knuckles turned white.

For the people?

Does this scheming, treacherous, and ruthless woman really care about the people?

"Xiao Lingyi," Xiahou Che addressed her by her full name, "What exactly do you want?"

Yan Zhen looked directly into his eyes, making no attempt to hide the ambition and desire in them.

"I want the Xiao family to no longer be controlled by others, I want to be able to control our own destiny, and I also want that supreme position."

Xiahou Che was taken aback.

He originally thought she wanted to escape from the gilded cage of the palace, get rid of her status as the Crown Princess, and no longer be subject to imperial power.

Now it seems that her ambitions go far beyond that—she wants to become empress, give birth to a prince, and let half of the Xiao family's bloodline share the Xiahou family's empire.

"okay, I get it."

Xiahou Che turned and walked out.

"Wait a minute," Yan Zhen called out to him.

She got up, walked to the corner, opened the trunk, rummaged through it, and took out a thick cloak.

"Winter is cold in the southwestern border region, keep this cloak to keep warm."

Yan Zhen handed the cloak to him. Seeing him hesitate to take it, he raised his hand to straighten the hair ornament that was bent by the bamboo hat and instructed him, "War is not like military training. Swords have no eyes. Remember, live well. I will wait for you to come back safely in the capital."

Her radiant face was so close, Xiahou Che's heart suddenly raced, and he lowered his head in a fluster, averting his gaze.

"it is good."