Help! The cunning and treacherous minister and I were reborn together!

evening.

Su Zhi lay reclining on the couch, clutching a stack of silver notes in her hand, counting them one by one.

Wei Yan Lou's business is getting better and better. Luo Mei is so busy that she can't even keep her feet on the ground, but she still manages to send people over to deliver her share of the profits. She really goes to great lengths.

Xiao Zong peeled a grape, fed it to her lips, and chuckled, "Twice now, still no luck?"

Su Zhi bit into a grape, the sweet and sour juice bursting in her mouth, and she squinted her eyes in satisfaction.

"How could I possibly miscount? I just love the feeling of counting money!"

"You like it that much?" Xiao Zong peeled another one for her. "Then I'll cash out all the gold, silver, and jade tomorrow, and withdraw the silver from the bank so you can have your fill!"

"No way! I only like counting the money I earn myself."

Su Zhi had a grape in her mouth, her cheeks puffed out, she was incredibly cute.

Xiao Zong pinched her cheek, "We're married now, why are you being so clear about things? Are you trying to separate from me? Let me tell you, don't get any funny ideas. The money and the person are yours, whether you want them or not!"

The woman giggled and punched his chest with her small fist, "How can you be so shameless?"

"Dare you say my husband is a scoundrel?"

The man reached down to her waist and tickled her soft flesh, eliciting laughter from the woman.

"I was wrong, I was wrong! My husband is handsome and dashing, and I love you the most!"

Xiao Zong suddenly straightened his face, stared into her eyes, and asked solemnly, "Really?"

Su Zhi nodded, "Of course it's true!"

"Would marrying me be happier than being an imperial concubine?"

"I wasn't always an Imperial Noble Consort."

His words, seemingly a sigh yet also a reproach, were filled with deep sorrow.

Su Zhi withdrew her hand from his chest and moved to the side. "Lie down with me for a while, and we can chat, okay?"

Xiao Zong lay down on his side as instructed, and the two snuggled together on the narrow couch, chatting casually like an old married couple.

Su Zhi opened her heart, revealing everything about her past life when she entered the palace in place of her sister, and the oppression and humiliation she suffered there. Xiao Zong also stopped hiding things, talking to her about his father, describing the biting winds of Liangzhou that could freeze fingers off, and Zheng Xiangxiang, who had been kind to him.

He appears aloof, but he values ​​relationships more than anyone else, which is why he lives a life of immense suffering.

Su Zhi hugged him, "Zheng Xiangxiang's death wasn't your fault, don't blame yourself too much."

Xiao Zong stroked her shoulder, "Do you still feel that I love Zheng Xiangxiang but can't have her?"

"We grew up together, innocent and carefree, so it's only natural that we have feelings for each other. I'm not jealous, I'm just afraid you'll get stuck on it and won't be able to forget. We already have a child, and no matter what happened in the past, from now on, there can be no one else in your eyes and heart."

"What a stupid thing to say."

Xiao Zong's voice was gentle, "No one else, all along, the one I've loved is you."

Su Zhi looked up in surprise, "What did you say?"

"Don't believe me?" Xiao Zong hugged him tighter. "Do you remember what happened in the palace in your past life?"

Without a second thought, Su Zhi replied, “How could I forget? When His Majesty toured Leyang, I accompanied him and stayed at the Leyang Palace. My father… Yuanpu, seeing that I had no children, feared that I would fall out of favor, so he arranged for a man to serve me, hoping that I could give birth to a son or daughter.”

Unfortunately, he didn't know that my body had long been ruined by Consort Dun, rendering me unable to bear children. I told the man about the situation, but instead of leaving, he became lustful. In self-defense, I accidentally killed him, and later…”

Xiao Zong picked up the thread, "Then I came."

At that time, Zheng Xiangxiang, heavily pregnant, tearfully told him that the Imperial Concubine Yuan wanted to kill her and take her child. He was furious and, sword in hand, stormed into the Imperial Concubine's palace, wanting to question her about her intentions.

To everyone's surprise, when the layers of gauze were lifted, the usually aloof Imperial Concubine Yuan was found covered in blood, standing there alone like a plum blossom braving the snow.

Despite her trembling hands and slightly flustered expression, she looked directly at him and said in a relatively calm tone:

"Unauthorized trespassing in the inner palace is a crime punishable by death!"

At that moment, he suddenly felt his blood surge. He should have left, but instead, he defiantly replied, "I am the commander of the Leopard Guard, ordered by His Majesty to protect the safety of the palace. I saw this person sneaking in suspiciously just now, so I came to arrest him. I never expected him to be someone from the Empress's palace!"

"To die in my palace means one is my person. Isn't that a bit too arbitrary, sir?"

Seeing that she had taken the bait, Xiao Zong relentlessly pursued her.

"Speaking of which, Your Majesty, I would like to ask, how did this person die?"

"I killed him."

"This man was burly and imposing; even the eunuchs needed considerable strength to deal with him. How did Your Majesty manage to kill him?"

"What do you mean?"

Xiao Zong glanced at the bed. "Unless, it happened in bed, when no one was looking."

The woman was furious. If word got out that the imperial concubine was having an affair with a man, she would surely die.

Her cheeks flushed, and she retorted, "How dare you! How dare you insult my reputation! How many heads do you have! Commander, listen to me clearly: this man came to my palace to steal and was killed on the spot by me. If you dare to utter any more slanderous words, I will request His Majesty to dismiss you from your post!"

Seeing her angry and embarrassed, Xiao Zong found it amusing, but after thinking about it, he also felt sorry for her.

For an imperial concubine to live so cautiously, perhaps there's more to Xiangxiang's story than meets the eye?

Sadly, that fleeting moment of compassion and the faint stirring of the heart vanished on the night Zheng Xiangxiang died. What followed was an endless struggle and a determination to kill each other!

"So, you liked me in your past life?"

Su Zhi looked at him smugly.

Xiao Zong cleared his throat and stubbornly said, "Only a little bit."

"Then why were you pretending to be a saint when I seduced you into consummating our marriage?"

“I’m afraid that Xiangxiang’s death is really related to you, and I dare not cross the line. After all, once people have tasted the sweetness, they become greedy. Xiangxiang was kind to me, and I cannot let her enemy go just because I like you.”

"That sounds nice, but when you and I consummated our marriage, Zheng Xiangxiang hadn't gotten into trouble yet!"

Xiao Zong rubbed her forehead. "That's because on the day I went to the palace to sweep snow, I discovered that Xiangxiang was having an affair with a man. This made me think that Xiangxiang's child in my past life might also have been born out of wedlock."

Your attitude towards other men makes me firmly believe that you wouldn't use such dirty tricks on other women. I suddenly realized that I had been hating the wrong person all along. Therefore, I no longer want to dwell on the past, nor wait any longer; I only want to let go of the past and spend the rest of my life with you.

Su Zhi's eyes were filled with tears. "You should have told me. That way, we could have cleared up the misunderstanding sooner, and I wouldn't have tried so hard to escape from you."

"Perhaps, everything is for the best. Do you know how happy I was when I learned you had memories of your past life!"

"Weren't you angry? I remember you wanted to kill me back then!"

Xiao Zong kissed her gently, "Yes! I love you and hate you at the same time. I want to scold you, but I also want to announce to the world that we are a match made in heaven!"