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

Xiang Xin asked excitedly, "Did you kill him?"

Master Xuanqing: "I don't know, but since the day we met, this is only the second time I've seen her."

Xiang Xin pointed at Master Xuanqing, then at Xiang An, whom he couldn't see: "Ask her now, did she kill him?"

Master Xuanqing: "His Majesty is asking you a question."

Xiang An stared at him: "...Is this important?"

Master Xuanqing relayed his exact words to Xiang Xin, who chuckled softly upon hearing them: "It really is Xiao Jiu; these are indeed the words she would say."

Xiang An was speechless, cursing him a hundred times in her heart: "What do you mean, 'This is something Xiao Jiu would say'? Your sister was poisoned to death, and her body has been replaced by another person. They are two different souls. How can you say that I am your sister?"

Oh! That makes sense!

After she traveled to the Yuan Kingdom, she never met this brother again.

Xiang Xin chuckled to herself for a while before calming down: "Important. How could you forget to invite your brother to play with you when killing is such a fun activity?"

"Madwoman! Pervert!" Xiang An cursed, but then suddenly froze. She had killed the emperor so many times, how was she any different from the madwoman and pervert she was talking about?

Master Xuanqing didn't dare tell the truth, which was so treasonous, so he lied and said, "Your Majesty, she didn't say anything."

"Coward! Are you scared?"

Master Xuanqing pretended not to see Xiang An's provocation.

He knows what can and cannot be spread. He's not stupid. Right now, he's the only one who can see her, so the credibility is already very low. If someone overhears and uses this as an excuse to attack him, he won't even be able to find any evidence.

Xiang Xin didn't ask any further questions, casually nodded, no longer interested, and looked at Fu Qingbai: "Marquis Anwu, where is the military tally?"

Fu Qingbai: "In my study."

"Changfu—" Xiang Xin called out, and Changfu, who was guarding the door, immediately came in. "Go to Marquis Anwu's study and bring me the military tally."

Changfu's body trembled, and he subconsciously looked up at Fu Qingbai. Xiang Xin clicked his tongue lightly: "It seems that what the court officials said is right. Marquis Anwu really wants to change the emperor of Yuan Kingdom."

Changfu knelt down with a thud, while Fu Qingbai rose: "Your Majesty, the border is not peaceful..."

Xiang Xin: "To hand it over or not?"

"I will not hand it over." Fu Qingbai knelt down deeply, his clear voice as sharp as ice and jade, without the slightest fluctuation.

Xiang Xin looked down at Fu Qingbai quietly for a long time before calmly speaking: "Guards, Marquis Anwu is abusing his power and plotting rebellion. He is to be imprisoned in the Imperial Prison from this day forward. No one is to see him without my decree."

Inside the prison, it was dark and damp, with a foul, unidentified smell of decay filling the air. The torches stuck in the walls emitted a faint light, illuminating only a small area. The darkness here seemed too thick and heavy, making it hard to breathe.

Fu Qingbai sat upright in the straw on the ground, his eyes half-closed, his delicate jaw clenched tightly, as if he were sulking about someone.

Xiang An sat cross-legged on the table, lost in thought. Occasionally, pitiful screams could be heard from outside the cell, which added a touch of amusement to the otherwise silent prison life.

Wait, fun?

When did those torturous sounds stop sounding terrifying to her?

Xiang An realized that things were going in the wrong direction. He pulled his attention away from the screams outside. He couldn't continue like this; he was going crazy.

She lowered her head and counted on her fingers how many days she had been in prison: "Ten days? No, it seems like fifteen days, or maybe sixteen?"

Countless times, they stayed in the prison without seeing the light of day, unable to distinguish between day and night.

He stopped the pointless counting, sighed deeply at the only torch on the wall, and said, "Boring, so boring."

How about counting the ants on the ground? But counting the mice in the corner seems like a good alternative; at least you can count how many there are.

As Xiang An was racking her brains trying to find something to do, Fu Qingbai, who was only three steps away, suddenly said, "Princess, why aren't you leaving?"

She blankly asked "Huh?" for a moment, and then... that was it. People who have been locked up for too long have become dull-witted.

Fortunately, Fu Qingbai couldn't hear what the spirit was saying, otherwise she would have been so embarrassed that she would have dug a hole in the ground.

Fu Qingbai began talking to himself, staring into the air: "Didn't I tell you to leave? Why didn't you leave? Why are you following me?"

Xiang An rolled her eyes at him fiercely: "You talk as if I don't want to leave. Is it fun to rub salt into someone's wound? Let me tell you, if it weren't for you, this princess would never have come to the Heavenly Prison in her life. And you, Xiang Xin wants that thing, why don't you just give it to him?"

"He's so perverted that he draws pictures of dead people, and you're not even scared? You insist on arguing with him. Keep arguing, and you'll end up sending yourself to jail."

"You didn't even think it through. He's the emperor. It would be so easy for him to kill you. But you were so oblivious to the situation. Now look what happened, we're all going to be locked up until we die."

As she spoke, she clapped her hands as if she had suddenly realized something, her eyes filled with surprise: "That's right, if you die, will I be free? Hehe! It's not impossible! The more I think about it, the more likely it seems! Fu Qingbai, why don't you die for a bit? Anyway, after ten years, once my days as a spirit are over, we can start over! You can live again!"

Fu Qingbai waved his hand wildly in the air, as if trying to grab something or touch something: "Why aren't you saying anything? Don't you want me to hear you?"

The sudden increase in volume was like a taut string stretched to its limit, ready to snap at any moment.

Xiang An floated lightly to his side and roared, "I said, when are you going to die? I don't want to stay in this godforsaken place for another day."

"Have you left? Are you still there? Why can he see you, but I can't? Why!?"

Fu Qingbai's hands, which were waving incessantly, were trembling uncontrollably. His increasingly agitated words seemed to contain an uncontrollable and indescribable sorrow. In the dim light, in the blink of an eye, Xiang An saw a crystal-clear drop of light slide down his fair and jade-like cheek.

—Tears.

Xiang An's mind went blank for a moment, leaving only one sentence: "Why is he crying?"

She approached him shakily, leaned down gently, and looked at his sweat-drenched forehead and the few strands of hair sticking haphazardly to his cheeks. She asked cautiously, "Have you gone crazy from being locked up? Or have you got Parkinson's? Your hands are shaking so much you could play an electric guitar. Let me tell you, people can scare each other to death. You've done this to me. I'd be scared of even a ghost, let alone a human."

Unfortunately, Fu Qingbai couldn't hear him. He waved his hands in the air for an unknown amount of time and cried for an unknown amount of time. Finally, he collapsed to the ground, exhausted. His still trembling shoulders told Xiang An that he hadn't fainted from crying.

Xiang An breathed a sigh of relief: "It's good that he's not crazy." She reached out to help him up, and unsurprisingly, her hand easily passed through his arm without leaving a mark.

Xiang An: "It's not that I'm heartless for not helping you, it's just that this princess doesn't have the means to help people."

A cold wind howled, and all was silent.

Two loud "bangs" echoed as Cambridge slammed against the wooden cell door, like pebbles thrown into a lake, creating ripples.

Fu Qingbai straightened up, smoothed out the wrinkles in his clothes, sat cross-legged, his back as straight as ever, and his white prison uniform now had a touch of noble elegance.

The guard at the prison gate said rudely, "Someone's come to see you!" Then he left with a fawning expression.