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

A series of jingling bells rang out outside, the irregular noise giving me a headache. The intermittent sound made me anxious, as if countless mosquitoes were buzzing around my ears, I could hear them but not see them, and I was frustrated that I couldn't swat them.

Fu Qingbai's expression changed drastically, and he said urgently, "Cover your ears!"

"It's too noisy, we really need to cover it up."

Just as Xiang An covered her ears, she saw Fu Qingbai slamming the door with her shoulder, trying to escape. She was taken aback, then tentatively lowered her hands to make sure the volume of the sound outside was within an acceptable range.

Then why was his reaction so intense? Could it be that today's ritual wasn't to exorcise her, but to exorcise Fu's innocence?

Do yellow talismans and magic arrays have any effect on living people?

Be puzzled.

Standing aside, Xiang An watched as he rammed the door for a long time without being able to open it, eventually collapsing from exhaustion and unable to get up for a long time.

The bell outside suddenly stopped, the door opened, and Xiang Xin and Daoist Xuanqing stood outside. Two guards came in and forcefully grabbed Fu Qingbai's arms and dragged him out.

As soon as he stepped out the door, Master Xuanqing's smiling face suddenly turned serious.

Xiang Xin turned her head and looked around curiously: "Master Xuanqing, did you succeed? Is Xiao Jiu by my side?"

Hearing this, Xiang An raised an eyebrow and realized that it made sense. No wonder the room was decorated in such a strange and eerie way; it turned out that Xiang Xin wanted to kidnap her to his side.

Indeed, people in ancient times were superstitious. With such a strange phenomenon occurring, how could the emperor, as the son of heaven, demonstrate his difference from ordinary people to the world if he didn't keep such a phenomenon around himself?

How could an emperor tolerate his subjects having more unusual things about them than he himself?

In real history, Zhu Yuanzhang, who came from humble origins, even gave himself a prophetic legend of a "white snake" in order to prove to the world that he was the emperor appointed by Heaven and that his throne was legitimate.

Especially since Xiang Xin's throne was handed to him by Fu Qingbai, he is now eager to gain the world's approval and submission, and is eager to suppress Fu Qingbai.

Xiang An chuckled and said, "What? You want to help me pass on to the afterlife?"

This is the second time she has said the exact same thing.

Master Xuanqing said awkwardly, "It's not that I, a monk, don't perform rituals for the deceased. Everything I've done is for the sake of the Yuan Kingdom."

"Using supernatural powers and ghosts for the sake of the country? Don't you know the saying 'Confucius did not speak of strange phenomena, physical prowess, disorder, or spirits'?" Xiang An retorted sarcastically. "Do you even believe what you're saying to yourself?"

"you……"

Master Xuanqing wanted to explain, but when he glanced at Xiang Xin staring at him from the side, all his words turned into one sentence: "This old Taoist has his own way of doing things."

"Master Xuanqing! I'm asking you a question." Xiang Xin, who hadn't received an answer yet, was now getting impatient.

"Your Majesty, we have failed."

Master Xuanqing suppressed his words, looking utterly defeated. "However, this old Taoist has another method that will surely succeed!"

Hearing the first half of the sentence, Xiang Xin was furious, but after hearing the second half, he calmed down. With a wave of his hand, several eunuchs behind him immediately appeared carrying several red lacquered wooden boxes. When they were opened, they were full of gold and silver jewelry.

He said gently, "I trust you."

"Fine, fine, so you're using coercion and bribery, relying on the promise of 'a large sum of money will surely attract brave men,' right?" Xiang An sneered. "But then again, you have no other choice but to do it this way."

Apart from Master Xuanqing, she didn't encounter anyone else in the entire capital who could see her.

A unique monopoly naturally leads to higher prices.

Sometimes, Xiang An even felt that Master Xuanqing was deliberately revealing to the emperor that he could see her.

With such a large sum of money laid out before him, Master Xuanqing naturally accepted it with a smile.

The first attempt failed, and the emperor imprisoned Fu Qingbai back in the imperial prison. Just as Xiang An sat down at the table to catch his breath, Fu Qingbai suddenly asked, "Are you alright?"

Xiang An looked around and saw that there was no other living person in the cell besides him, so the question must be directed at her.

Based on his action of tearing up the yellow talisman just now, Xiang An had less of an impression of the idiot in front of him who had been locked up in a madhouse.

"No."

Not only that, but if the bell rang rhythmically, she could treat it as music.

She answered earnestly, but Fu Qingbai heard nothing but silence.

A moment later, he murmured, "It should be alright, otherwise Daoist Xuanqing wouldn't have been so surprised. It's good that it's alright... That's good..."

Xiang An was too lazy to listen to his self-talk anymore. Firstly, he wasn't interested, and secondly, the current Fu Qingbai was too different from the previous him, making it hard to tell whether what he said was true or false.

As Xiang An was squatting by the wall counting ants, Master Xuanqing appeared. He had replaced his tattered Taoist robes with a white silk robe, his messy hair was neatly combed, and he held a white whisk in his hand. His appearance suddenly became more ethereal and otherworldly.

"My lord, this old Taoist priest has something to say to the princess."

Fu Qingbai ignored him, and Master Xuanqing, with a calm expression, said again, "Why must you do this, Lord Marquis? It has been almost half a year since the princess passed away, and her soul has yet to enter the cycle of reincarnation. Can you really bear to see her suffer like this?"

"How do you know I haven't been reincarnated? I'm just suffering?" Xiang An floated away gently. "I'm right in front of you. Speak your mind. You don't need him to speak for you."

People are always strange. Even when you're right in front of them, they always seem to want to find out about you through other people's words.

"It is only natural for people to enter the cycle of reincarnation after death! Otherwise, they will suffer!" Master Xuanqing answered firmly. "After our encounter that day, I thought the princess would soon enter the cycle of reincarnation, but who knew..."

"Who knew that not only did I not go, but I also swaggered into the palace without fear of dragon energy or yang energy?" Xiang An replied with surprising ease.

"Yes, I don't understand."

"What does your ignorance have to do with me?" Xiang An scoffed. "You say I'm suffering, but compared to the original self in the portrait, am I thinner? More haggard? Or injured?"

She's perfectly fine right in front of us, yet they insist on labeling her as someone who's suffering; it's truly astonishing.

"To be immortal, indestructible, and eternal is itself a form of suffering."

All was silent; the quiet prison cell felt like a vacuum in the universe.

That short sentence was like a thunderbolt, leaving her mind blank and unsure how to react.

Master Xuanqing's cloudy eyes were burning with intensity, as if he could see right through people's hearts.

After a moment of reflection, Xiang An stared intently at him: "Can you finish this?"

"Old Taoist..."

After a pause, Master Xuanqing glanced at Fu Qingbai, who had remained unresponsive despite his long conversation with Xiang An, and then boldly asked, "Princess, how did you feel about today's ritual?"

She didn't want to answer, but she had to. She wanted to start over and didn't want innocent people to freeze to death this winter.

"Noisy." Xiang An crossed his arms. "Next time, shake it in a nicer way."

Master Xuanqing's eyes showed doubt: "Is that all?"

Xiang An affirmed: "That's all."

"How could this be... How could this be... This is impossible..."

Master Xuanqing seemed lost in thought, muttering to himself incessantly, not caring whether the ground was clean or not, or whether his clothes were new or old, before he plopped down on the ground.

Now Xiang An understood why he was dressed in rags when they first met.

"What? Is Xiang Xin urging you?" Xiang An raised an eyebrow, amused by his rambling manner.