Holding the script, I want to give up.

"Hmm...where are we?"

"I seem to have had a very long dream, but I can't remember what it was about."

Shangguan Zitong got up and groped around inside the carriage. Liu Yunwan wasn't there, and she wanted to escape to find Shangguan Jin. But as soon as she got out of the carriage, she was trapped by the chains connecting her to the inside. She fell to the ground in a sorry state, and although she tried to get up, she had no strength and could only helplessly sit down on the ground.

"Zitong, don't wander off, we'll be there soon."

Liu Yunwan was showing the pass documents to the guards at the city gate when she saw Shangguan Zitong struggling to get out of the carriage, so she quickly ran over to help her up.

"Hehe! Where to? Beiji?"

Are you trying to use me as a bargaining chip?

"What...do you want?"

"Will the four nations unite to help Mu Rongke unify the world, or will he return home?"

"I no longer know which one is your true purpose!"

Shangguan Zitong stubbornly stood up, indicating that she did not need her help.

"I...you don't understand!"

After watching her get into the carriage, Liu Yunwan followed suit.

"Then give me back my Ahri, okay?"

"I don't need it to be a system, I just need it to be a fox."

"I only have this one small request!"

Shangguan Zitong sat quietly in the carriage, waiting to set off again. It was better that she couldn't see them; at least she didn't have to see their expressions.

"I'm sorry, I can't either..."

"It has already been merged and cannot be separated... Please make a different, more suitable request!"

Even though Liu Yunwan's system is now very powerful, she still can't find the fox. It seems to have disappeared from this world, which is strange, but it doesn't affect her plans.

"Then...would you let me go?"

Shangguan Zitong felt that asking the question was pointless.

"Impossible, don't even think about it."

Liu Yunwan was also helpless, as she was unable to fulfill any of Shangguan Zitong's requests.

"So what should I ask for to get it done?"

Shangguan Zitong was starting to get annoyed, and the corners of her mouth unconsciously turned down.

"Sorry... I don't know either."

"Why don't you get some sleep?"

Liu Yunwan sounded somewhat guilty.

"Ha! I slept all the way from Dongchuan to Beiji and I'm not even hungry. You made this, didn't you!"

"I don't blame you, but you knew I hated Huangfu Hongxi, so why did you still give me to him?"

Am I an object, used to exchange for benefits?

Shangguan Zitong scoffed at herself. She felt like she was about to shatter. The person she trusted was going to hand her over to someone she hated. How ironic! She nervously clenched her hands.

"Only in this way can we keep to our own level!"

"I also have my own difficulties!"

"Don't do this, it hurts my heart!"

Liu Yunwan reached out to stop her from harming herself.

"Get out of here!"

I don't want to see you!

Shangguan Zitong yelled at Liu Yunwan, then pushed her away and curled up in a corner, sobbing helplessly. Her eyelids, already soaked with tears, had returned to normal, but she was too immersed in her grief to notice.

"One day, you'll figure it out!"

After saying that, Liu Yunwan left without looking back. She instructed the system to continue drugging Shangguan Zitong, so as not to disrupt her plans.

......

Inside the Beiji Imperial Palace, Liu Yunwan and Mu Rongyi pulled the carriage into the hall.

"You really came. Where is she?"

Huangfu Hongxi laughed loudly.

"You can see for yourself inside the car!"

Liu Yunwan bowed to him and said softly.

"Good good!"

"I knew she wouldn't die so easily!"

"That day, I clearly saw her!"

Huangfu Hongxi lifted the carriage curtain and looked at Shangguan Zitong, who was fast asleep inside, and whispered, "But why is her hair so white and she's blind? Those familiar chains are wrapped around her neck, hands, and feet! It's only been a few months since I last saw her, how could this be?"

What's wrong with her?

He lowered the carriage curtain and asked Liu Yunwan.

"She...sacrificed half her life to save me, and that's how she ended up like this."

"He can only live for at most half a month!"

Liu Yunwan sighed.

"I don't want to hear why she saved you. Tell me how to prolong her life."

"I wish her to live to be a hundred! Since you've come, you must have a way!"

Huangfu Hongxi waved his hand, dismissing the palace servants, leaving only the few of them.

"This is the Tong Sheng Wan (Soul-Giving Pill), this one is the main ingredient. She has already taken it, now it's just you who needs to take it!"

"If you live, she lives; if you die, she dies."

Mu Rongyi opened the square box and handed it to him.

"You gave it to me so easily?"

Just as Huangfu Hongxi was about to reach out and take the box, Mu Rongyi took it back.

"How could that be? We have conditions!"

"Ten cities bordering Dongchuan in exchange for her life, and the medicine and the woman are yours! How about it?"

"I'll give you half an hour to consider. Since we came here, we can also leave unscathed!"

"You have to think clearly."

Mu Rongyi said politely, as if she was really giving him time to consider.

"No need to consider it anymore, I'll change it."

"Give me the medicine, and I will write up the agreement and send it to you."

"Someone, bring the carriage into the Cining Palace!"

As Huangfu Hongxi spoke, he took the square box from Mu Rongyi's hand, opened it, and ate it without hesitation.

"Could you let me talk to her again?"

"Just for a little while!"

Liu Yunwan whispered, and before Huangfu Hongxi could agree, she ran off in the direction the carriage had left! Mu Rongyi blocked Huangfu Hongxi's view and talked to him about more topics.

"Seriously, I didn't realize you were so devoted!"

"They took the medicine without saying a word, and didn't doubt our intentions at all. Ten cities!"

"I'll give it to you right away!"

Mu Rongyi Ke stood next to Huangfu Hongxi, watching him write the agreement, and complained as she read.

"Since she is willing to come back, I will do my best to make up for the regrets between us!"

"This world can be shared with her, or it can be handed over to others for her!"

A glint flashed in Huangfu Hongxi's eyes.

I don't know where his inexplicable confidence came from. Didn't he even open his eyes to see if Shangguan Zitong had come back voluntarily? Didn't he see that she was chained up? To prevent her from escaping, he even drugged her. By the time she woke up, she would already be in Beiji.

"Then why does she hate you so much?"

"Unlike me, Wanwan never dislikes me~"

"I remember your empress was Song Yao, right?"

Mu Rongyi asked in a cheeky tone.

"It's all my fault for using the wrong methods, imprisoning her in this palace. She couldn't stand it and escaped..."

"I will treat her well from now on!"

"Our relationship isn't good enough for me to tell you everything!"

"Do you think I would tell you about my relationship with Song Yao?"

"It's written. Let's go. Before I change my mind, you take your empress back to Dongchuan."

Huangfu Hongxi threw the scroll at him unkindly and said fiercely to him.

"Let them catch up a bit more, since they won't see each other again."

Mu Rongyi said softly.

Inside the Cining Palace, Liu Yunwan asked A Long to wake Shangguan Zitong.

"Zitong, I'm leaving. Can you hug me? Just as a farewell hug?"

Liu Yunwan sat next to her and spoke cautiously.

"If you could spare me from being locked up in this deep palace, perhaps I would consider it."

"But you have broken my heart."

"Go away! I never want to see you again."

Shangguan Zitong sat on the bed and shook her hand. The chains were still there, only the place where they were fastened had been changed.

"Since you're going to die anyway, can't you help me reach the top?"

Liu Yunwan stood up and yelled at her.

"Liu Yunwan, you've finally told the truth. How much of your sincerity towards me is truly genuine?"

Shangguan Zitong couldn't see her expression, so he could only imagine it and smiled helplessly.

"I approached you with an ulterior motive from the very beginning. What sincerity did I have?"

"I almost forgot, you only came to my side because of a mission!"

"Yeah, what I told you was half true and half false, but who told you to never think of being wary of me?"

"So, it's fine that I've become like this. After all, when a person is about to die, their words are kind. Liu Yunwan, I don't hate you."

"Why? I've treated you like this!"

Liu Yunwan expressed her incomprehension and shed a few sad tears.

"I don't know! Maybe I'm just kind-hearted!"

"I'm so sorry, Ahri!"

Shangguan Zitong regretted her actions when she recalled the scene of begging Ah Li to save Liu Yunwan. It was she who harmed that fox!

"Perhaps... your hatred for me will make me feel better, at least you still have a place for me in your heart!"

Liu Yunwan said in a trembling voice.

"Do I hate that you've been using me all this time?"

"But I also took advantage of you! I even merged your system with mine!"

"Let's call it even between us."

"You can leave now. I don't want to say anything more!"

Shangguan Zitong got up and groped in her direction. After bowing to her, he took off his shoes and sat cross-legged on the bed.

"sorry!"

Liu Yunwan had so much to say to her, but all her words boiled down to just three. She turned and left.

......