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

For a moment, the sound of swords clashing filled the hunting grounds.

Xiahou Che rushed to Liu Su and forced him back with a sword, then turned to look at Yan Zhen's injury.

His gaze fell on the wound on her shoulder, and his heart ached so much that his breath trembled. His eyes grew even more hostile towards Liu Su, and he gritted his teeth and said, "Liu Su, you deserve to die!"

After he finished speaking, he rushed towards Liu Su, and the two became entangled in a fight.

Xiahou Che's martial arts were taught by Liu Su. To some extent, the master and disciple were very familiar with each other's fighting styles.

After dozens of exchanges, Liu Su's advanced age gradually became apparent, and Xiahou Che gradually gained the upper hand.

Neither of the two, locked in a life-or-death struggle, noticed that dozens of "guards" had silently appeared in the hunting grounds.

Xiahou Che took a sword to the arm from Liu Su. Under the intense pain, his killing moves became even more ferocious. After dozens of moves, he risked having his throat cut and stabbed Liu Su through the heart with his sword.

Liu Su stared wide-eyed, his face filled with resentment as he fell to the ground, dying with his eyes wide open.

Xiahou Che withdrew his sword, ignoring the bloodied wound on his neck, and quickly turned to help Yan Zhen up: "How are you?"

Yan Zhen leaned against him and said weakly, "I feel dizzy..."

"Hold on a little longer, I'll take you back right away." Xiahou Che turned his head, intending to check the terrain for retreat, but upon looking around, he discovered many unfamiliar "guards" in the hunting grounds.

These men dressed as guards were indiscriminately slaughtering Liu Su and his men.

Xiahou Che's alertness immediately kicked in. He instinctively hugged Yan Zhen tightly, holding her protectively in his arms, and whispered, "Another group has infiltrated the hunting grounds. Don't be afraid, I'll be right there..."

Before he could finish speaking, he felt a sudden pain in his chest.

Xiahou Che lowered his head, looking at the knife that had been precisely plunged into his heart. The blade was black, clearly coated with a deadly poison.

He glanced at Yan Zhen, who was still gripping the hilt of the knife, and a moment of bewilderment crossed his eyes.

Yan Zhen broke free from his embrace and retreated several meters away, her eyes cold.

Xiahou Che's face turned pale rapidly. He was in so much pain that he could barely stand. He staggered and used his sword to support himself on the ground: "...Why?"

"Liu Su is right. The Xiao family is full of wolves and wolves, and your existence is an obstacle."

The poison took effect, and blood trickled from the corner of Xiahou Che's mouth. He suddenly knelt down: "No... I didn't..."

Yan Zhen looked down at him and said, "Your words are very eloquent, but I only believe myself."

She planned to stay in this world until she was sixty, using the remaining thirty-odd years to gamble that a man would not change his mind, would not develop a desire for power, would not listen to slander, and would not stand on the opposite side and become her enemy—this was too risky.

In contrast, she prefers to solve problems in this simple and direct way.

Xiahou Che collapsed to the ground, his chest heaving violently, and the intense feeling of suffocation filled his eyes with tears.

He stared intently at Yan Zhen, his eyes filled with resentment.

Yan Zhen turned away from him and strode out of the forest.

“Xiao Lingyi…”

Yan Zhen paused, but did not turn around.

"Don't go...don't go!"

Yan Zhen paused for a moment, then quickened his pace to leave.

Running out of the dense forest, Yan Zhen found a horse left behind by a guard.

She mounted her horse and hurried towards the hunting party's encampment as fast as she could.

Seeing the hunting party in the distance, Yan Zhen sensed something was wrong. A patrol of guards came to meet them. Yan Zhen judged the distance well and fell off his horse.

The guards quickly caught her: "Your Majesty!"

"Quickly! Go save His Majesty!" Yan Zhen cried out weakly. "An enemy disguised as guards is lying in ambush in the dense forest. His Majesty has been attacked, and Liu Su was killed while trying to save him... Go quickly to his rescue!"

The guards dared not delay and immediately brought the news back to their encampment.

Upon hearing that Xiahou Che had been attacked, noble families and military officers immediately led their soldiers to his rescue.

Yan Zhen ran back with his injuries, completely exhausted.

She was taken back to the encampment by the guards, and her bloodied appearance shocked the ladies of the noble families.

The timid ones screamed and hid, too afraid to look closely; some calmed down and quickly went to fetch the accompanying imperial physician; while the bolder ones stepped forward to examine her injuries.

As Yan Zhen listened to the chaotic noise around him, his consciousness gradually blurred, and finally he fell into boundless darkness.

-

Yan Zhen had a dream.

In her dream, it was late at night, and she was sitting in the pavilion in the middle of the Hibiscus Pond, with the oil lamp on the stone table being the only source of light around her.

She held a storybook in her hands, but couldn't make out the contents of the book.

After some time, I heard footsteps behind me.

She turned around and saw Xiahou Che, looking disheveled, walking towards her from the other side of the lake.

He held a bloodstained sword in his hand, its tip dragging on the ground with a crisp clanging sound. A dagger was still stuck in his chest, and his neck was covered in blood. He looked at her with anger and resentment.

"Why do you do this to me?"

"I told you I would never betray you."

"You're the one with paranoia, so why am I the one paying the price?"

Yan Zhen didn't explain. She looked at him calmly and indifferently—she knew very well that she was dreaming and that everything in front of her was an illusion.

Xiahou Che held his longsword to her neck: "Speak up, why are you doing this to me!"

Yan Zhen remained motionless, even giving off an absurd feeling of watching an NPC in a game go crazy.

Xiahou Che seemed to be enraged by her indifference, his hand holding the sword trembling incessantly, and Yan Zhen had the illusion that he would kill her at any moment.

But Xiahou Che didn't. After a long standoff, he threw down his sword, knelt on the ground, and broke down in tears.

"You have no heart!"

"I hate you!"

Yan Zhen remained silent for a while, then walked up to him, squatted down, placed his hand on his head, and gently rubbed his head as he had done before.

But the next moment, Xiahou Che suddenly raised his head and grabbed her arm.

The face was still Xiahou Che's face, but her eyes were filled with the familiar mockery and sarcasm that seemed to come from countless lifetimes ago.

"Yan Zhen, someone like you deserves to wander in another world forever."

……

Yan Zhen was awakened by a burst of crying.

When she opened her eyes, she was in the Zhaoyang Palace. Green Pearl was kneeling in front of the bed, sobbing softly, unaware that she had woken up.

With a dry and sore throat, Yan Zhen raised her hand and tapped the edge of the bed.

Green Pearl suddenly raised her head and, seeing that she was awake, immediately rushed to the edge of the bed: "Your Majesty, you're finally awake!"

Yan Zhen gestured for her to help her sit up, but the movement aggravated the injury on her shoulder, causing her to frown.

Leaning against the bed, Yan Zhen took a couple of sips of water to moisten his throat and instructed Green Pearl, "Go and call Red Jade in."

Hongyu quickly entered and sent Lüzhu away, leaving only the two of them, mistress and servant, in the inner hall.

Yan Zhen got up, enduring the pain as she dressed, and asked in a very fast voice, "How long was I unconscious?"

"Two days and one night."

Has my father come back?

"They've returned. The Duke brought back 400,000 troops and took over the defense of the capital and Liu Su's troops. Now, the capital's guards are all our men."

"How is the situation with the Sun family?"

"The Xiao family sent people over. Old Master Sun's idea is that if the master can guarantee the Sun family's smooth rise to power, they are willing to provide assistance to the Xiao family."

Yan Zhen paused, then asked one last question: "Where is Xiahou Che?"