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

Squatting on the threshold, sleeves rolled up to block the wind, Xiang An silently watched the trees swaying in the wind, calculating the time since the storm arrived, and thought to himself, "It's been a quarter of an hour, and the rain still hasn't started."

“Princess.” Ding Yinan returned and squatted down beside Xiang An. “The general said that once the carriages and dowry for our wedding procession are settled, he will immediately go to count the number of people.”

"He was just injured. He could have easily assigned his subordinates to take stock of the dowry. Why did he have to do it himself?"

"The general's wound has been treated. Although it looks like there's a lot of bleeding, it's nothing compared to the wounds he sustained on the battlefield. The general is taking care of himself, so please rest assured, Princess."

Xiang An nodded, secretly praising, "It's fortunate that Fu Qingbai is such a detail-oriented person; I had completely forgotten about the dowry and carriages."

Having just experienced a thrilling life-or-death chase, she was now weak in the knees and her mind was blank; she couldn't remember anything else.

If she hadn't been afraid of holding others back and being laughed at, and hadn't been holding her breath and forcing herself to stay calm, she would have collapsed long ago.

"The general also said..."

Ding Yinan paused, glanced at Xiang An's expressionless face, her ears turning red, and continued, "The general also said that he wanted me to inform the Third Prince why the gate had not been closed for so long."

Xiang An nodded: "Do as the general says. He's right. They're working in the dark, and they're waiting for us to light the fire before closing the door. It wouldn't be right not to say something." Although the door was open, they didn't come out to help fight the enemy.

Ding Yinan responded softly, stood up, and then suddenly said to An, "Also, ask the Third Prince if it's normal for the strong wind outside to have been blowing for almost a quarter of an hour."

Ding Yinan was taken aback upon hearing this, then squatted down again and said, "The general said that the weather in this area is like this. Soon, strong winds, heavy rain, and lightning will follow. Princess, you don't need to worry."

Xiang An raised an eyebrow: "Did Fu Qingbai say that?"

Ding Yinan: "Yes."

Xiang An: "Why didn't he tell me just now?"

Ding Yinan's cheeks flushed slightly. He turned his head away, not daring to look at An, and stammered, "General, you said, if you ask, I will answer."

Xiang An exclaimed in surprise: "You won't tell me unless I ask?"

Ding Yinan nodded: "Yes. The general said that the princess's questions are important matters, and we should answer them without reservation; the princess's questions are minor matters, and we should handle them ourselves if we can handle them, and seek the general's help if we can't handle them ourselves. If I were to tell the princess everything, it would make me look stupid."

Xiang An asked incredulously, "Your general can say so many nice things?"

Since meeting Fu Qingbai, he has always treated people with a cold and indifferent attitude. The only time he showed any mercy was on that rainy night, but it was brief and swift.

"...I'd better go tell the Third Prince to close the shop later." Ding Yinan fled in panic.

"Hahahaha!" Xiang An laughed so hard she clutched her stomach. "I knew it!"

Another hour later, the rain finally poured down, with large raindrops pattering on the ground, and the wind howled through the broken house, making a whooshing sound.

The door closed, the fire was lit, dispelling the darkness and bringing warmth.

Ding Yinan carefully carried a box folded from a lotus leaf and walked slowly over, then put it down.

Seeing the puzzled look on Shang Xiang'an's face, he explained, "Princess, please forgive me. It was too chaotic just now. We don't know where we lost the pots and pans we brought. Now we can only use lotus leaves as substitutes, but they can't heat the water. The water is cold, so we'll have to wait until the next town to buy some."

Xiang An looked at him with surprise and sincerely said, "Thank you."

It was very light, so light that it was almost inaudible.

Ding Yinan was taken aback: "It's what I should do."

Xiang An: "No one in this world is obligated to do anything." Everything that is obligated comes with a corresponding price.

Find a clean handkerchief, soak it, wring it out, and wipe An's face and hands. After wiping away the dirt, the palms of his hands, which had braced themselves when he fell off the carriage, were revealed to be red. The skin was broken in several places, which looked serious, but it was a minor injury that would heal in a few days.

Ignoring the stinging pain of her wound, Xiang An carefully wiped away the mud with water and picked up the lotus leaf basin to go out and pour out the water, but Ding Yinan stopped her, took out a porcelain bottle, and forcefully stuffed it into her hand, blushing: "Please apply the medicine first, I'll go pour out the water."

Xiang An took the porcelain bottle blankly, opened the cork, and the fragrance of medicine wafted out. It was pleasant and unique, a scent that one would never forget once smelled.

This is a medicine with a name in the original owner's memories—Lingnan Ointment.

This miraculous medicine, specially presented as tribute by a small northern country, is made from rare medicinal herbs. It can promote tissue regeneration, quickly stop bleeding and remove blood stasis, and greatly shorten the recovery time of wounds.

There were less than a hundred bottles in total, a limited quantity. The emperor bestowed a few bottles upon the inner palace, a few upon important officials in the court, and the rest went into the storeroom of her princess residence. However, this marriage was so rushed that she didn't bring any with her.

The only person in the marriage alliance who had this medicine was...

Xiang An ran his index finger along the delicate surface of the bottle, then looked thoughtfully toward the fire where Fu Qingbai, dressed in black, was silently tending the flames.

The warm yellow light of the fire illuminated him, and the light and shadow danced across his face, yet it did not bring him any warmth.

Suddenly, a strong wind blew open the broken door of the house, bringing rainwater into the room. The fire lasted for a few breaths before being extinguished in the wind and rain. Outside, the sky remained dark and gloomy, with dark clouds pressing in and rolling, creating a scene of impending doom.

Someone stood up in the darkness and hurried to close the door. Two voices suddenly shouted from different directions, "Everyone, stand by!"

One voice was weak and short-breathed, coming from an unknown source in the Yan Kingdom; the other voice belonged to Fu Qingbai, clear and deep.

The two people said the same thing at the same time, and the restless crowd in the darkness immediately quieted down.

In the crowd, Xiang An held a porcelain bottle in one hand and grabbed someone's sleeve haphazardly with the other, his mind racing with uncontrollable thoughts—

A dark and stormy night, a murder scene, an ominous dilapidated house—it's terrifying no matter how you look at it. It would be a shame if something didn't happen, given the atmosphere created by fate.

Thinking this to herself, as she was being dragged out of the dark with one hand covering her mouth and nose and the other choking her neck, she inexplicably felt that this was the right thing to do.

When Xiang An woke up again, he was lying in a cave, looking at the dark mountaintop, and muttered, "This dilapidated house is indeed unlucky. The TV series was right."

With his hands and feet bound, twisting his wrists and ankles several times only made his skin and flesh more bloody and exhausted, serving no other purpose.

Lying quietly on the ground, slowly regaining her strength, listening to the sound of raindrops hitting the leaves from all directions, she felt an unexpected calm.

Xiang An laboriously shifted his body and turned around. Using the sliver of light filtering through the cave entrance, he carefully observed his surroundings. The cave was large, but there was nothing inside.

The cave entrance is narrow and overgrown with weeds, allowing only one person to pass at a time. The lighting is poor, and it is difficult to find the entrance without stopping and searching carefully.

wrong!

Through the narrow opening and overgrown weeds, Xiang An saw a small red butterfly kite in the dark, rainy sky, its tiny form seemingly framed within the small world of the opening.

This butterfly kite looked so familiar that for a moment she thought it was the same butterfly kite she had flown before.