The system forced me to blow up the female lead's fishpond.

Yin Qinian suddenly gripped the plum branch, letting the withered branch crack in his palm.

He looked up at the falling snow.

Amidst the lingering fragrance, he seemed to vaguely see the Princess leaning against the side of the corridor, her slender hand grasping the red plum blossom, turning back to smile at him.

"He'er..." He reached out his hand, but his fingertips touched an ice shard.

Twenty years of obsessive madness collapsed abruptly with that soft call, and a metallic taste suddenly welled up in his throat.

"Oh right, how could I forget..."

Yin Qinian staggered backward, his heel striking the plum tree behind him. The snow on the withered branches fell in a rustling sound, shattering his last shred of delusion.

He slowly slid down, leaning against the plum tree. His original intention was never to restore the country, but to protect He'er's reputation and to control the prince born to Chu Shi at will.

He has been deceiving himself for too long.

Eventually, he even came to believe his own story.

"I was wrong..."

Yin Qinian stared at a certain point in the void, the crimson in his eyes gradually fading. "It turns out I was wrong."

Yin Qinian suddenly chuckled softly, his withered fingers slipping into his sleeve.

The dagger pulled from the sleeve instantly reflected in Fang Yan's suddenly constricted pupils.

"Master! No...!"

Fang Yan lunged forward to snatch it, but saw Yin Qinian hold the dagger to his throat with his other hand.

The blade pierced the flesh three-tenths of an inch, and beads of blood rolled down the snowy blade, leaving dark stains on the light green collar.

A flash of cold light appeared, and a cold wind swirled up snowflakes, swallowing Fang Yan's unfinished words.

As the layers of blood crumbled away, the deep-seated obsession was revealed, exposing the already rotten heart within.

In Yin Qinian's lifeless pupils, the last light was fixed on the waning moon on the plum blossom tip.

The sound of the dagger hitting the ground shattered the deathly silence.

The red plum blossoms in the garden fell in response, fluttering down like a belated vindication.

After more than a decade of unrepentant delusion, he finally found liberation in the moment of life and death.

Shen Zhizhi was startled by Yin Qinian's sudden action and instinctively stepped back.

Chu Chouchi strode forward, embraced her slightly frail body, and gently comforted her, "It's alright now."

Fang Yan held the still-warm corpse in her arms, her forehead pressed against Yin Qinian's blood-stained collar, unable to suppress the sobs rising in her throat.

“You always say that love ruins the country…” Fang Yan’s nails dug into Yin Qinian’s stiff arm as she choked out, “But you are clearly the one who is consumed by love.”

Fang Yan's tears froze into ice crystals on Yin Qinian's clothes. After a long while, he gently laid the corpse flat in the snow.

With bloodstained fingertips, she plucked a plum blossom petal from his temple. The remaining red petals, stained with frost and snow, drifted away as Fang Yan let go.

"Chu Chouchi." Fang Yan slowly stood up, her eyes cold and icy. "The Invincible Pavilion's secret guards are all pieces that Feng Chi Kingdom has been burying for twenty years."

He paused, his thin lips trembling slightly, "Now that there is no hope of restoring the country, you may execute or pardon me, it is up to you."

……

In the 99th year of the Great Chu Dynasty, heavy snow fell.

After the death of the eldest prince Zhang Jiali, in accordance with the late emperor's will, the second prince Chu Chouchi ascended the throne.

The eldest son of the emperor, Jiali, was gentle, kind, and intelligent. Unfortunately, he died young. He was posthumously granted the title of Crown Prince Xiaochang and buried in the imperial mausoleum with the rites due to a prince.

Empress Ming committed numerous evils. Despite holding the position of Empress, she harbored jealousy, corrupted the court, and framed loyal officials.

She would then be stripped of her title as empress, demoted to a commoner, and imprisoned in the cold palace for life, never to be released except by death.

Shen Hongsheng, as the prime minister, colluded with Empress Ming to participate in politics, which should have been considered treason.

Considering his advanced age and senility, which prevented a major disaster from occurring, he was stripped of his official position, and his daughter, Shen Qinshou, was allowed to return to her hometown with her father, but was never allowed to enter the capital again.

Shen Chao, as the Grand General Protector of the Nation, had distinguished himself in battle and was reinstated as the Left Deputy Tiger Tally.

Qu Yuanye was rewarded for saving the emperor's life and for his superb medical skills, so he was appointed as a first-rank imperial physician.

Chu Tu should have been granted the title of Prince, with ten thousand households and ten thousand taels of gold, but his family was so wealthy and powerful that he didn't care for such things and thus did not accept the empty title.

As for Fang Yanxue Liaoxue and others...

In the stillness of the night, as snowflakes fell softly, Shen Zhizhi held a hot water bottle in her arms and listened quietly to Chu Chouchi recount the events of the past few days.

It turned out that the night Chu Chouchi saw the tiger tally left by Chu Shi and turned back, he encountered Qu Yuanye by the roadside.

When Chu Chouchi saw that his chest was covered in bloodstains, he assumed that Zhang Jiali had attacked him and was immediately enraged.

Qu Yuanye hurriedly waved his hand and explained, "He didn't hurt me. Instead, he devised a plan to rescue me, bypassing Yin Qinian's eyes and ears."

Upon hearing this, Chu Chouchi was stunned. "He is poisoned. Since he knows that your heart's blood can be used as a medicinal ingredient, why did he still..."

A deep look flashed across Qu Yuanye's narrow eyes, but he remained silent.

"He told me that he must come to find the Second Prince. Fang Yan has already led the elite of the Invincible Pavilion to travel day and night, intending to ambush you on the official road. He was afraid that you would be caught off guard and your life would be in danger."

Hearing Qu Yuanye's words, Chu Chou Chi's phoenix eyes narrowed slightly, as if he had also understood something.

I fear he willingly cut off his own path to survival.

Sure enough, after traveling for a while, they encountered Fang Yan.

Fang Yan saw him approaching and intended to make a move immediately.

Unexpectedly, Qu Yuanye immediately took out a letter and threw it in front of him.

"This letter was entrusted to me by Zhang Jiali, who solemnly instructed me to pass it on to you. This letter was left by your aunt before her death. After you read it, you will understand the truth and everything will be clear."

Upon hearing this, Shen Zhizhi turned her gaze to Chu Chouchi, who was reviewing memorials, and asked, "So, that's why you were able to break into the palace so easily?"

Chu Chouchi raised an eyebrow and casually tossed a stack of memorials aside. "If he hadn't secretly let them pass, how easy would it have been for those soldiers to even step into the palace?"

Shen Zhizhi nodded thoughtfully, then moved the hot water bottle to his frozen red hands. "However, I didn't expect that His Highness would be willing to return the fiefdom of Fengchi Kingdom to Fang Yan."

After all, this fiefdom was conquered by the late emperor himself, and only Chu Chouchi would dare to hand it over so easily.

Chu Chouchi felt the warmth of the back of the hand, his phoenix eyes flashed with tenderness, and the corners of his lips unconsciously turned up. "Heh, I don't care about the country that was built hand in hand with the Han Palace Kingdom. Even if I wanted it, I would take it honorably. I would never do such a shady thing."

Shen Zhizhi felt large beads of sweat dripping down her forehead. She twitched her lips and said, "Yes, yes, our Second Prince is wise, brave, and dashing. He would never do such a thing."

Chu Chouchi, flattered by the praise, unconsciously puffed out his chest.

Shen Zhizhi rested her chin on her hand and tapped his slightly warm fingers with her index finger. "However, would the Han Palace be willing to give up that fiefdom of Chi Kingdom?"

Although she had handed over the Golden Lock, which could summon the Seven Stars Society, to Fang Yan, it was far from enough compared to the military strength of the Han Palace Kingdom.

Chu Chouchi put down his brush, his dark eyes rippling slightly. "The current crown prince is not as powerful as before. Fang Yan has the Seven Stars Society and the Invincible Pavilion. If the ruler of Han Palace Kingdom is even slightly smart, he will obediently give up his fiefdom. If he doesn't..."

Shen Zhizhi's almond-shaped eyes paused as Chu Chouchi abruptly stopped speaking.

She looked up in confusion, meeting Chu Chouchi's phoenix eyes. "What if you don't give it to me?"

"Answer me one question, and I will tell you."

Chu Chouchi suddenly lowered his eyes, a smile clearly playing on his lips, yet she inexplicably saw endless loneliness in his eyes.

This feeling startled her, and she didn't know what to say.

Before she could even speak, she had already glimpsed the deep, dark pool in the eyes of the person before her, as if it could swallow up all the snow accumulated on the eaves.

Amidst the crackling of the candlelight, he suddenly brushed a stray strand of hair from her temple with his fingertips, his voice trembling like falling snowflakes.

"Shen Zhizhi, you won't leave me, right?"