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

His expression betrayed his disappointment: "You won't even say something nice to comfort me?"

Yan Zhen said calmly, "You are the emperor. There will be plenty of people who will flatter you with sweet words in the future. I won't make a difference."

Xiahou Che muttered under his breath, "You're different from them..."

Yan Zhen didn't hear clearly: "What did you say?"

"nothing."

"It's getting late, Your Majesty should go back to rest," Yan Zhen reminded him.

Xiahou Che said, "I'm not sleepy."

"I'm sleepy."

Xiahou Che: "...Then you go to sleep. I'll leave after you fall asleep."

He lay expectantly on the edge of the bed, neither trying to climb up nor leaving. Yan Zhen simply lay back down on the bed, pulled the covers up, and closed his eyes to sleep.

After a while, Xiahou Che called her softly, "Xiao Lingyi, are you asleep?"

Yan Zhen: "..."

She pretended not to hear.

"Xiao Lingyi, stop pretending. I know you're not asleep; your eyes are moving."

Yan Zhen: "..."

"Xiao Lingyi? Xiao Lingyi?" Xiahou Che kept calling her name like he was calling a ghost, and even poked her cheek.

Yan Zhen opened his eyes, unable to bear it any longer: "Are you ever going to stop?"

She was stunned when she finished speaking. She realized that the thing Xiahou Che used to poke her face was the wooden bird she had released on the day of the palace coup.

Xiahou Che saw her reaction for a moment and said with a hint of smugness, "You sent this to deliver a message to me, didn't you?"

Yan Zhen remained silent.

"Although you won't admit it, I know that in your heart I am different from others. Otherwise, why would you send a letter to me instead of others, informing me of the palace coup?"

Xiahou Che played with the little bird. "You see, you still hope that I will be the one to become your husband."

Yan Zhen looked at the smugness and undisguised joy in his eyes and eyebrows and couldn't help but wonder, she didn't seem to have said anything, so how did this bastard manage to cheer himself up?

"If you say so, then so be it," Yan Zhen replied dismissively.

Speaking of palace coups, something came to mind, so she asked, "Did you kill all the princes in the palace and the princes and heirs outside the palace?"

Xiahou Che nodded: "Yes."

Yan Zhen frowned: "Where will so many people come from to risk their lives for you?"

Xiahou Che has been staying in the southwest for the past few years. Even if he has developed his own power in the southwest, it is only in that area.

People from the southwest come to the capital to kill people, or infiltrate the imperial palace and princes' residences. Even with the highest martial arts skills, it is impossible to be completely without making mistakes.

“It was Yang Pei who cultivated me over the years.” Xiahou Che made no attempt to hide anything. “After I left the palace with Liu Su, I secretly contacted my mother’s family. My maternal family was already very prestigious in the Jiangnan region. I used my position to open up a trade route for them and amassed a huge fortune in just one year.”

The money eventually reached the capital. Money makes the world go round, and Yang Pei used it to bribe officials and build connections, eventually setting up an assassin organization for me in the capital.

The assassin organization specializes in recruiting homeless children displaced by natural disasters and wars. Promising individuals are selected, trained, and then sent to the imperial palace and royal residences to fill various positions. My people are among the palace maids, eunuchs, and guards in every palace.

Yan Zhen's brow twitched as he heard this: "Even Yihua Palace has them?"

Xiahou Che hesitated for a moment, then nodded cautiously, and quickly explained, "It's different from other places. They are here to protect your safety. If you don't want them to, I will remove them tomorrow."

“Okay, withdraw.” Yan Zhen didn’t mince words. “If possible, let me know before you send anyone to my side in the future.”

Seeing that she wasn't angry, Xiahou Che secretly breathed a sigh of relief: "Okay."

Yan Zhen asked a few more questions, such as how he persuaded Liu Su to agree to his return to the capital without being summoned, and how he persuaded Liu Su to join his pirate ship after his ambitions were exposed... Xiahou Che answered everything without reservation, without hiding anything.

Yan Zhen's expression grew increasingly subtle as he listened.

She never expected that the "somewhat clever" and "unfounded" pawn she casually brought from the Yeting Palace would be even more difficult to deal with than the second, third, and fifth princes combined.

Even if Xiao Dingfang had more than twice the number of troops as Liu Su, she would only have a 50/50 chance of winning the throne against someone like that.

She needs to think of a way to increase her chances of winning.

After Xiahou Che finished speaking, seeing that Yan Zhen didn't speak and his eyes were somewhat unfocused, he asked, "Is there anything else you want to know? I'll tell you everything."

Meeting Xiahou Che's open and clear gaze, Yan Zhen made a decisive decision. She moved to the inside of the bed to make room for one person, and patted the bed—"Come on up."

Xiahou Che's eyes lit up, and as if worried that she might change her mind, he quickly rolled over and onto the bed.

Now that he was in bed, Xiahou Che remembered Yan Zhen's "tyrannical" remarks from earlier that day and dared not overstep his bounds in the slightest.

"Xiao Lingyi".

"Ok?"

“I secretly went to see you twice in the past few years.”

Yan Zhen paused: "When?"

“When you were out there providing disaster relief,” Xiahou Che said, “I went to Qingzhou to deal with the floods and Jingzhou to deal with the plague.”

Yan Zhen asked, "Since you went, why didn't you look for me?"

“At that time, everything was in the planning stage, and no real achievements had been made. I didn’t want you to see me empty-handed,” Xiahou Che said. “You once said that you wanted to do more for the people and alleviate their suffering. At first, I thought that was just an excuse.”

Later, after witnessing you enter and leave the epidemic area several times, putting your own safety aside for the sake of the people, I realized that you were not lying.

I was being narrow-minded. Back then, I thought that for a petty person like me to be worthy of you, the only way was to deliver the world to you without bloodshed.

Yan Zhen's heart stirred slightly.

"Xiao Lingyi".

"Ah."

"From now on, just tell me what you want, and I'll do whatever I can to help you." Xiahou Che's voice trailed off. "Being my wife will ensure you don't suffer any injustice."

Yan Zhen turned her head and stared at him intently.

Xiahou Che had been running around all day without stopping, and now he was lying next to her, so sleepy that he could barely keep his eyes open, muttering words of confession.

"Okay." Yan Zhen reached out and gently patted him. "Go to sleep."

-

Yan Zhen slept soundly until dawn, when he was awakened by rustling noises.

She opened her eyes and saw that the curtains had already been drawn up. Xiahou Che was getting dressed, and several palace servants were busy moving around the inner palace, some carrying water and others delivering breakfast.

Noticing her getting up, Xiahou Che turned his head and smiled, "You're awake."

He fastened the jade belt around his mourning clothes: "I have to go to Qianyang Palace. If you're still sleepy, you can sleep a little longer. It's still early."

Yan Zhen's gaze fell on him, and she beckoned to him.

Xiahou Che leaned closer to her: "What's wrong?"

Yan Zhen straightened his collar and brushed a strand of long hair that was under his mourning clothes behind him: "Go."

Yan Zhen so naturally straightened his clothes that Xiahou Che suddenly had the illusion that they had been married for many years.

The thought warmed his heart. Looking at Yan Zhen, who was so close to him, he mustered his courage and quickly kissed her forehead. Then he held his breath and waited for a beating.