Arrogant and domineering because of his good looks: His Majesty always pretends to be righteous

Xia Rongliu finally managed to flip over, but her feet dangled in the air and she fell to the ground with a cry of pain. Luckily, the thick layer of leaves underneath cushioned her fall; otherwise, she estimated that she would have had serious problems getting up if she had landed directly on the concrete.

Yuan Qinghe, standing outside the door, sounded worried. "Are you alright? Should I come over...?"

"It's okay! Don't come any closer." Before she could finish speaking, Xia Rongliu interrupted her, her resolute voice making Yuan Qing and Xiao Xiao a little sad.

Xia Rongliu got up and touched something hard. She swept away the leaves and saw that it was her little silver bracelet. It was really obedient and found it so quickly.

Yuan Qinghe couldn't hear anything from the other side and felt uneasy. "Have you found it yet? If you have, come out quickly. Don't stay inside for too long."

Xia Rongliu verbally agreed, "Oh, there are too many leaves here, I'll look for a while longer," but her steps gradually led her deeper into the woods.

Behind the door was a wasteland that hadn't been cleaned for years. There were several large trees around, all of which had lost their leaves, and a few small, thin trees scattered about.

In addition, autumn is inherently a melancholic season. With each gust of wind, a few more leaves fall. Looking at those leaves, Xia Rongliu seemed to see herself in her past life, as if she were just like those leaves.

Pitiful and powerless...

In this desolate place, a pavilion had been built in the corner. Xia Rongliu walked over and stood in front of the pavilion. Her usual liveliness and cheerfulness were gone. She seemed to have lost her vitality and her soul had been taken away.

The pavilion was not large, only slightly taller than half the height of Xia Rongliu.

Xia Rongliu knew that inside was her tomb. Master Yuanming had specially built a pavilion outside to protect it from wind and rain, and even added a curtain. After she died, she couldn't see what was engraved on the tombstone through the curtain, nor could she lift the curtain to find out.

Xia Rongliu's hands trembled slightly. What kind of words would a stranger carve? Perhaps he had inquired about her name and carved something like 'Xia Miaoqing, daughter of the former prime minister'.

This incident caused quite a stir at the time, with discussions everywhere. Or perhaps he never intended to inquire about a stranger, but simply chose a place to bury him without inscribing anything...

The curtain was lifted, and even though Xia Rongliu had prepared herself mentally, she was still greatly shocked. The large characters on the tombstone struck her heart with a heavy weight.

—The tomb of Xia Miaoqing, daughter of my beloved.

"Daughter of a lover?" Xia Rongliu had never thought of this title. Her mother was in poor health when she was pregnant with her, and as a result of her father's philandering, she was forced to have a premature birth and died after giving birth to her. Xia Rongliu herself was also born with congenital deficiencies due to premature birth.

Xia Rongliu stared blankly at the grave. She realized that eighteen years had passed since her death. She wondered how those people were doing all these years, and whether they had suffered any retribution.

Eighteen years later, Xia Rongliu thought she could let go of some things, but she overestimated herself. Her hatred surged, and in an instant, those events played out in her mind as if she had experienced them all over again.

Xia Rongliu was slightly unsteady on her feet, her vision went black, and she fell to the ground.

Yuan Qinghe was frantic, wondering why it had taken so long to find the bracelet. He had called out several times but received no response. Without thinking, Yuan Qinghe climbed over the door and went inside. Finding no one there, Yuan Qinghe had a bad feeling.

Finally, they found Xia Rongliu in front of the pavilion. Yuan Qinghe rushed over, and Xia Rongliu was still holding a silver bracelet in her hand.

Yuan Qinghe grabbed Xia Rongliu's shoulders and shook her, "Xia Rongliu?! Xia Rongliu! Wake up!" After shaking her a few times and seeing that Xia Rongliu did not respond, Yuan Qinghe picked her up.

Reaching the door presented another problem; after several attempts, they still couldn't get out together. Yuan Qing climbed over the wall, found a rock, and smashed the lock.

The door opened...

Yuan Qinghe hurriedly picked up Xia Rongliu, and on the way they met Daoist Yuanming. Daoist Yuanming looked at Yuan Qinghe carrying Xia Rongliu in surprise, "What happened?"

"I don't know either. We were playing hide-and-seek. She dropped her bracelet and went to pick it up. When I got there, she was already unconscious." Yuan Qinghe deliberately didn't say where she was.

Master Yuanming touched Xia Rongliu's forehead, his brows furrowed. "Her forehead is so hot, she must have a fever. Take her to her room to apply ice to her forehead, and I'll go find a doctor."

Yuan Qinghe nodded and ran off hurriedly, not daring to waste a moment.

When Xia Rongliu woke up, it was two days later. The sky outside the window was pitch black. When she moved her hand, she touched something soft—Yuan Qinghe's face.

Xia Rongliu tried to get up, but found herself weak all over, even turning over was difficult. She was extremely dehydrated and thirsty, so she had to push Yuan Qinghe with her hand.

Yuan Qing had been staying by Xia Rongliu's side for the past two days, his heart pounding with fear. He would immediately get up to check on her at the slightest sound. At this moment, he suddenly opened his eyes, and his bloodshot eyes startled Xia Rongliu.

Yuan Qinghe opened his eyes and saw that it was Xia Rongliu pushing him. He immediately woke up and hurriedly stood up to ask, "How are you? Are you feeling unwell? Are you hungry?"

"I'm a little thirsty, I want to drink some water." Her voice was hoarse as soon as she spoke. These past two days, she had only given Xia Rongliu water to moisten her lips, so it was normal for her to want to drink water when she woke up.

Yuan Qinghe hurriedly poured another bowl of water and handed it to Xia Rongliu. Xia Rongliu drank it all in one go and then drank several more bowls before stopping. Just as she finished quenching her thirst, her stomach started growling again.

Xia Rongliu looked at Yuan Qinghe awkwardly, but Yuan Qinghe didn't seem to mind. "I knew you'd be hungry when you woke up. There's food in the kitchen. I'll go get it."

Xia Rongliu felt comfortable after eating and drinking her fill. Looking at Yuan Qing and his heavy dark circles, she felt a little apologetic, remembering Yuan Qing's bloodshot eyes earlier.

Yuan Qinghe breathed a sigh of relief after watching her finish eating. "Do you know how worried I was about you these past two days? I was so afraid that you might have damaged your brain. What would we do if something happened to you?"

Xia Rongliu was somewhat surprised that she had slept for two days. Yuan Qing nodded emphatically, "You fainted there that day. I had to break the lock to get out. Then you developed a high fever. The fever eventually subsided, but you never woke up."

Xia Rongliu remembered and smiled awkwardly, "I'm sorry to have troubled you."

Yuan Qinghe sighed, "Sigh, it would be a real problem if you didn't wake up. I told you to come out right after you picked up the bracelet! If you don't want it, I'll just buy you a few more."

Yuan Qinghe then lowered his voice and said, "I didn't say you fainted there. I said you lost your bracelet in the yard and went to look for it before you fainted. Don't let that slip."

Xia Rongliu was slightly taken aback, then smiled and said to Yuan Qinghe, "Thank you."

Yuan Qinghe touched his nose, a little embarrassed. Indeed, dealing with the lock afterwards took quite a while; luckily, they weren't discovered.

Xia Rongliu felt like she had missed something. After thinking for a while, she exclaimed in surprise, "Oh no, where's my mother?"

She said she felt uneasy, that she should have left yesterday, but she was still at the Taoist temple. Her mother must be worried sick, and she was probably going to get a scolding again.