The Emperor's heart is won, she sits on the Phoenix Throne! The Divine Physician's Eldest

Prince Zhen and his wife boarded the carriage and sped off towards their fiefdom.

The journey from the capital to the fiefdom would normally take a month.

The Prince of Zhen ordered the coachman to speed up; they would arrive at their fiefdom in five days.

"Your Highness, it's getting dark. There's a small town ahead. Let's go there and find an inn for the night. You can get some rest, and we'll set off again tomorrow."

After days of travel, coupled with the high speed of the carriage, Princess Zhen looked exhausted.

The Prince of Zhen was heartbroken.

Moreover, he was only five days away from his fiefdom, and he believed that he would be safe once he arrived.

They traveled safely all the way from the capital.

Upon hearing that she could rest, sleep on a soft bed, eat fragrant rice, and take a hot bath, Princess Zhen instantly perked up.

"I'll listen to Your Highness," said the Princess Consort of Zhen, beaming.

"Zhang Gui, speed up and try to get to town before dark," the town king ordered.

"Yes, Your Highness," Zhang Gui replied, spurring his horse forward and shouting, "Giddy up!"

The horse's hooves seemed to fly, pulling the carriage away at breakneck speed.

Before nightfall, the Prince and Princess of Zhen arrived in the town and found a place to stay.

For safety reasons, the town king booked an inn.

"Waiter, prepare hot water, and bring up all the signature dishes from your inn," the Prince of Zhen ordered.

"Yes, sir."

Not long after, the Princess of the Town took a hot bath.

After taking a bath, she went to the outer room and saw the food laid out on the table, which instantly whetted her appetite.

"I never expected the food in this small town to be so exquisite," the town's princess said with a smile.

The Prince of Zhen had already selected the dishes for his Princess Consort. He took her hand and helped her sit down, saying gently, "They probably saw that our Princess Consort is as beautiful as an angel, so they brought out all the dishes they had hidden away."

Princess Zhen blushed and gently patted Prince Zhen's hand. "Your Highness, we've been married for so long, why are you still making fun of me?"

"How could I dare to make fun of me being called a princess? My princess is naturally beautiful, and she is the only one in my heart. I wish I could stay by her side day and night and give her all my love."

The Prince of Zhen picked up his bowl, took out his chopsticks, and fed a bite of food to his wife.

"Your Highness, how does it taste?"

The Prince fed the fish steamed, which melted in the mouth and left a lingering fragrance. The Princess couldn't help but nod, "It tastes good."

She took the bowl and chopsticks from the Prince of Zhen and said with a smile, "Your Highness, I'll eat by myself. You should eat too. We've been traveling for so many days, and you still have to take care of me. You've worked harder than me."

"Alright, I'll eat when my princess tells me to. I'm notoriously henpecked." The Prince of Zhen said with a self-deprecating smile, his eyes practically overflowing with happiness.

He gazed at the Princess Consort with deep affection, "Princess Consort, you don't know, as long as you are by my side, I don't feel tired no matter what I do. You are my cure, my source of joy, and the motivation for me to live."

Princess Zhen's face turned even redder, a mixture of happiness and shyness. "Your Highness, you're already so old, how can you still act like a young man? Saying such cheesy love words makes people laugh."

The Prince of Zhen spoke with righteous indignation, feigning ferocity, "Anyone who dares to laugh at me, I will chop off their head!"

“It is only natural and proper for me to speak sweet words to my queen. Moreover, I will only love one person in my life, which is something they can only envy.”

"One life, one love, sharing meals and seasons together for the rest of our lives. I want the world to know how blissful it is to love only one person for a lifetime."

The Prince of Zhen held his Princess's hand, gazed into her eyes, and confessed affectionately, "Princess, you must be happy, eat well, sleep well, and play well. Be a joyful person, always stay by my side, and never leave me alone."

"What if I leave you one day?" Princess Zhen asked with a smile.

“It depends on the situation.” The Prince of Zhen said solemnly, “Normal birth, aging, sickness and death are not something we can control. If that day really comes, wait for me on the Bridge of Helplessness. Don’t leave me behind. I’m afraid I won’t be able to find you.”

Princess Zhen teased Prince Zhen, "What if it weren't for normal birth, aging, sickness, and death?"

The Prince's face instantly turned cold. "If anyone dares to harm you, I will make them pay with their blood and make them pay with their lives!"

Princess Zhen's heart skipped a beat. She sensed something was off about the Prince's words and asked, "Who does Your Highness think would harm me?"

"No one. My princess is so wonderful, who would hurt her?"

The Prince of Zhen quickly smiled and served food to his Princess Consort, saying, "Princess Consort, we're just chatting. Eat quickly, or the food will get cold and won't taste good. Eat and get some rest, as we need to continue our journey tomorrow."

“Your Highness, what you just said is not right. How could no one have hurt me? Didn’t someone poison me?” said the Princess Consort of Zhen.

The smile on the Prince's face vanished instantly. "Your Highness, I've found a clue, and I'll soon be able to find the murderer!"

"Your Highness, you can't even be sure whether I was poisoned in my fiefdom or in the capital, so why are you in such a hurry to send me back to my fiefdom?" Princess Zhen asked.

The Prince of Zhen laughed and said, “Your Highness, didn’t I tell you that you’ve been in your fiefdom for a long time? Going back will be more conducive to your recuperation.”

Seeing that the Prince of Zhen was still not telling the truth, the Princess Consort stopped talking, lowered her head and ate her food in silence.

The Prince of Zhen continued to coax his Princess Consort, hoping she would eat more.

After dinner, the Prince and Princess talked for a while, and as night fell, they slept in the same bed.

After midnight, the entire inn was shrouded in a deathly silence.

Suddenly, a man in black stealthily approached the window of the Prince and Princess's room.

He stuck out a finger and poked a hole in the window paper, then took out a small bamboo tube from his sleeve, blew on a tinderbox, lit the bamboo tube, and stretched it into the room.

The smoke from the bamboo tube quickly escaped and soon filled the entire room.

After doing this, the man in black secretly left the inn.

Not long after, a guard suddenly shouted, "Assassin!"

Immediately afterwards, the sound of clashing swords echoed through the inn.

The guards rushed upstairs and frantically knocked on the door of the Prince and Princess's room.

Seeing that they didn't react, they simply broke down the door and entered.

When the guards approached, they saw that the Prince and Princess were fast asleep and could not be woken up no matter how they called.

Just then, the assassin went up to the second floor and rushed into the room of the Prince and Princess.

The first guard to enter was immediately killed.

The leader of the black-clad assassins rushed to the bedside and raised his knife to strike at the Princess Consort.

"what!"

The first strike landed on the Princess Consort's hand, severing it instantly.

Princess Zhen was awakened by the pain and let out a heart-wrenching scream, which startled Prince Zhen.

"Your Highness!" the Prince of Zhen shouted. He wanted to protect his princess, but he was powerless to do anything about it.

He knew he had been poisoned!

The leader of the black-clad assassins seemed to be targeting only the Princess Consort of Zhen. He frantically slashed at her, inflicting a total of seventeen blows.

The previous sixteen cuts were not fatal.

The seventeenth strike was fatal.

This caused her to suffer those sixteen knife wounds while she was still alive, unable to live and unable to die!