After the system set its sights on the dragon throne, the princess started courting death every day.

In an instant, Xiang An considered all sorts of possible reasons, and finally, combining what had just happened, deduced the only possible reason: what the emperor had said.

I don't know if it's right or wrong, but I'll take a gamble.

Xiang An shook his head and mumbled, "...No, I want to...go back to the Princess's residence."

As soon as he finished speaking, the intense pain in his temples vanished instantly.

Bet right.

The emperor sighed softly and instructed Changfu to take her back to the princess's residence, granting her permission to leave the banquet early.

Xiang An naturally didn't want to stay any longer if he could leave early. He wanted to find the poison as soon as possible, deal with the emperor quickly, and go home sooner.

Unexpectedly, the pain in his temples, which had just subsided, started again—the original owner of this body didn't want to leave.

Xiang An respected the original owner's wishes and shook his head in refusal: "Today is special, and I am unwilling to leave early."

"My little Jiu has grown up." The emperor smiled gently, his large hand stroking the top of her head and patting it lightly, intimately and naturally.

The princes and princesses around them, seeing this scene, all showed more or less envy in their eyes.

Little did they know that what outsiders might envy with a pat on the head could be incredibly irritating to Xiang An.

Memories belonging to the original owner of the body surged in like a river, instantly pouring into her head: Tonight's banquet is to welcome the third prince of Yan Kingdom, Ogiwara Ao.

The Third Prince of Di brought 50,000 sheep and cattle, hundreds of chests of gold and silver jewelry, and several rare coral and jade carvings, traveling thousands of miles to seek a wife from the Yuan Kingdom.

With utmost sincerity and generosity, the entire city was astonished. The emperor issued a special decree: tonight's banquet is open to all court officials in the capital, regardless of rank, who have daughters of noble birth.

Subsequently, the emperor issued an imperial edict ordering the princesses to set an example for the officials, going so far as to include princesses who had not yet reached the age of marriage.

The Yan Kingdom is thousands of miles away, and communication is slow. Once a daughter is married off to another country, she may never see her family again.

Now that the two imperial decrees have been issued, the emperor's attitude has been made clear: all the princesses who haven't yet come of age have arrived, and any official in the capital who dares to use excuses to avoid coming should not blame the emperor for being ruthless and unreasonable.

Having understood the cause and effect, Xiang An guessed: "The pain in the temples is because the original owner did not want to marry into the royal family? But because of the emperor's wishes, he could not leave in advance?"

Looking around at the women around him, and seeing not a single man, Xiang An felt relieved.

The original owner of this body had never seen what the third prince of Yan Kingdom looked like, and she didn't know him at all. If she didn't want to be married off, the safest thing to do tonight was to sit quietly in her seat, eat and drink, and not talk to any strange men.

Not long after she sat down, Xiao Ru brought over a hangover soup: "Princess, the imperial kitchen is busy tonight, so I will take my time to prepare the soup."

"It doesn't matter."

Xiang An glanced down at the pale yellow medicine in the bowl, then looked away. It looked too unappetizing; she didn't like it.

Upon seeing her like this, Xiao Ru knew what her princess was thinking. She grabbed her hand with one hand and forcefully shoved the hangover soup into her hand with the other, saying, "Princess, this is how medicine is presented. Even if it doesn't look good, you still have to drink it."

From a young age, Princess Miankang loved beautiful things and would never look at anything ugly. She always needed to be forced to give in.

Xiang An took the bowl and placed it in the corner: "Drink it when you feel unwell. I'm much more sober now."

Today's occasion is not suitable for killing the emperor. She no longer needs to sober up; she'll just stay drunk. She doesn't want to sober up and face the fact that she has truly transmigrated so quickly.

Xiao Ru glanced at the soup bowl that was practically falling to the ground, which had been so disliked, and carefully pushed it back onto the table. Helplessly, she said, "I'll listen to the princess."

Royal banquets featured lavish feasts of fish and meat, each dish exquisite and delicious. Some of these dishes have been lost to modern times, making them unavailable even if one wishes to eat them.

Xiang An tried all the food on the table and was very satisfied with each dish, especially the roasted venison, which was tender, bouncy, and had a sweet aftertaste.

“Princess, eating too much roasted venison will cause internal heat.” Xiao Ru knelt to the side and served the dishes, putting the roasted venison away and replacing it with a dish that could reduce internal heat. “It’s hot in summer, you can’t eat any more.”

Roasted venison was delicious, and Xiao Ru was right. Xiang An listened to advice the most and ate more than half of the dish of cooling vegetables.

She put down her chopsticks, wiped her mouth, and since the banquet was not yet over, she was unfamiliar with her surroundings and dared not wander around, so she sat quietly in her seat and watched the dance attentively.

It's more accurate to say that Xiang An was looking at gold than watching a dance. Every dancer on stage was worth a fortune, and it would be a waste not to take a second look.

Suddenly, Xiao Ru leaned closer and whispered, "Princess, General Anwu has arrived."

Xiang An asked doubtfully, "General Anwu? Who is that? Does she know him?"

Judging from the anger implied in Xiao Ru's tone, the original owner should have recognized her.

And there might be animosity between them.

His gaze shifted slightly from the dancer to the steps opposite. From behind, he saw a young man dressed in black with black hair. A belt cinched his waist, making him appear lean and wiry. His posture was tall and straight, like a bamboo shoot, and his back was especially straight, not bending even slightly when he bowed.

Unfortunately, the distance was a bit far, the lights flickered, and in the long night, the boy's face was not clearly visible.

But after he brushed past several noble ladies, and the ladies couldn't help but look dazed and confused, she guessed that his appearance couldn't be too bad.

After a while, no thoughts related to the boy popped into his mind, and Xiang An lost interest in exploring the matter. He nodded perfunctorily to indicate that he knew about it, then looked away and focused on watching the dancers perform again.

The dancers on stage are graceful, and the songs are beautiful. Aren't they more attractive than men?

Xiao Ru had been keeping a close eye on Xiang An's movements. Seeing that her expression was calm and her anger was subsiding, she asked in confusion, "The princess isn't angry? Are we just going to let him go like this?"

"Why are you angry?" Xiang An asked with utmost sincerity.

A princess grew up in the deep palace, while a general was stationed on the frontier year-round. The two rarely met and exchanged more than a few words, so there was certainly no deep-seated hatred between them.

If the original owner of this body truly had some irreconcilable conflict with him that required her to take revenge, then once the banquet was over and they left the palace, under the very nose of the emperor in the capital, she could bully him as she pleased. Would a mere subject dare to retaliate?

"Princess, don't you remember?" Xiao Ru's eyes widened.

Xiang An asked sincerely again, "What does this have to do with whether I remember or not?"

“This… this servant… Princess… you…” Xiao Ru stammered, unable to utter a complete sentence.

Xiang An's patience ran out, and half of his attention was focused on the dancer. His eyes were greatly satisfied, but something was missing from his mouth. His gaze swept across the table and finally settled on a plate of pastries.

There are song and dance performances to watch, food and drinks to eat and drink, and gossip to listen to – a moment of ultimate enjoyment.

With her eyes and ears busy, she was finally satisfied and even began to consider whether to have an euthanasia.

The game starts anew after euthanasia, allowing you to kill the emperor. One option comes first, the other later; the two don't conflict, making it perfect.

The more she thought about it, the more feasible it seemed; it would be a good opportunity to experience life in ancient times.

"Is the matter of him rejecting the princess's affections over and done with?" Xiao Ru's voice was extremely low. Luckily, the two were close by; otherwise, if they were any further apart, Xiang An suspected that the words would have dissipated in the wind.

From her words, Xiang An understood the cause and effect of the matter: the original owner thought General Anwu was good-looking and wanted to marry him, but he rejected her, thus creating a grudge between them.

Xiao Ru: "Why should a roughneck who only knows how to brandish knives and guns refuse?!"