She was buried alive at the start, but she's determined to smash her ex-husband's head in

"So you mean the Empress's target isn't either of us? Then what is she trying to do?" Zhao Yiyang was truly baffled.

Helian Chen shrugged, spread his hands, and said, "I don't know either. The door can't be opened now. We can only wait for my people to arrive."

"Will they arrive quickly?"

"I just sent my little snake to look for someone. It should take at least the time it takes for an incense stick to burn. Don't worry, there's still some time before the farewell banquet starts, so everything will be fine."

Helian Chen comforted Zhao Yiyang, then said very seriously, "Why don't you really come with me? Although there is internal strife in the Southern Frontier, I have a plan. If you come with me there, at least no one will stab you in the back."

Zhao Yiyang thought so too. She could completely convince herself to hand over the tiger tally to His Majesty and then not investigate the truth behind Prince Yong's death, nor care about Shen Yushu's life or death, because none of these things concerned her.

But she couldn't. Whenever she thought of Prince Yong's kind face and Shen Yushu's former carefree manner, she felt that she couldn't ignore it.

In her previous life, she fell into such a state of despair, hoping every day that someone would lend her a hand. Even the smallest act of kindness would be enough. Heaven took pity on her and gave her a second chance, so she couldn't just stand by and watch her die.

She wanted to help them, and also help herself from her past life.

He shook his head and said, "Maybe everyone has their own path to walk. I came to this position to seek revenge, but I never expected the royal family to be so heartless. They treat me even worse than the people from the Lin family. Every word they say is malicious."

But the truth is, I belong here. This is what I was meant to experience. There's no point in running away. Only by facing it can I achieve true freedom.

I can go with you, but what will you sacrifice for it? I don't want to drag you down. You've worked so hard to get to where you are; others may not understand your hardships, but how could I not?

Helian Chen's nose tingled and her eyes almost reddened. Just like in her previous life, she would rather suffer herself than implicate others.

"Xuxu, since we've been given a second chance at life, we should be a little selfish and not worry about anyone else's feelings. We should just live for ourselves."

Helian Chen opened her arms wide, tears welling up in her eyes: "It's so good to have a sister like you."

The two nestled together, drawing powerful energy from each other. Heaven must be looking out for them; their suffering would not be in vain, and their fears would never come true.

The next second, the door was kicked open from the outside. Helian Chen and Zhao Yiyang immediately separated, initially thinking it was the Empress's people, but when they looked into the doorway, they only saw Pei Zhaoan.

Helian Chen immediately waved his hand and explained, "There's nothing between me and the princess!"

"Your Highness understands. You may leave now."

Zhao Yiyang shook her head at her, but Helian Chen pretended not to see and ran off in a flash. She didn't want to disturb Ayun and this cold-faced little devil! They were a perfect match! Besides, she could tell that Ayun definitely liked him!

After Helian Chen left, an awkward atmosphere filled the air. Zhao Yiyang didn't know what to say, but leaving directly wouldn't be appropriate...

"I heard it all."

Pei Zhaoan suddenly said something, and Zhao Yiyang's heart pounded in fright. He pretended to be stupid and asked, "What did you hear?"

"Is this why you suddenly saw Xu Hanzhang's true colors and knew your real identity? Because you lived a second life?" His eyes were filled with tears of heartache.

Seeing the tears in his eyes terrified Zhao Yiyang more than knowing that he was a reborn person.

She thought no one would believe such nonsense; the word "rebirth" sounded so ridiculous.

"In your previous life, how did you die?"

Now that she had been discovered, she had nothing to hide and said calmly, "Zhao Huarong chopped off my legs and hands and threw me to that black dog to be killed."

Pei Zhaoan reached out his hand with heartache, his hand trembling, but he dared not touch her: "It must hurt a lot."

This was the first person since her rebirth to ask her if she was in pain. She had clearly let go of the past and felt indifferent after taking revenge, but his question made her feel pain again.

She turned her head away, suppressing her still trembling voice, and stubbornly said, "I forgot."

"It's good to forget, it's good to forget. It's best to forget all those unhappy memories." Pei Zhaoan wiped away her tears and said with a forced smile, "Everything will be alright from now on. Qi Yanzhi is a very good person and will give you everything you want."

At this moment, Pei Zhao'an no longer wanted to fight for anything for herself. She just felt that she was fine sitting there like this. It didn't matter who she wanted to marry or who she wanted to spend the rest of her life with.

As long as she's alright.

After a long silence between them, Zhao Yiyang finally said, "You must never tell anyone about Helian Chen's identity."

Pei Zhaoan said, "I understand."

Thinking back to how jealous I was of Helian Chen before, I find it a bit funny. Turns out she's a woman, that's amazing.

"Ah Yun! It's over! I know what the Empress is planning!!!" Helian Chen rushed in anxiously after returning, but stopped when he saw that both of them had red eyes. He wondered if he had come at the wrong time.

Zhao Yiyang immediately asked, "What happened?"

Helian Chen couldn't explain it clearly for a moment: "Why don't you come with me and take a look? It's not far."

Not far? What does that mean?

Seeing Helian Chen's complicated expression, Zhao Yiyang didn't ask any more questions and immediately got up and followed her. Pei Zhaoan stayed behind to clean up all the traces in the room before following them.

Upon arrival, everyone made way for Zhao Yiyang, whose expression was quite strange. The people standing at the front were the Empress and the Crown Prince.

"Mother, Crown Prince, what happened?"

The Empress was frantic, grabbing Zhao Yiyang's wrist, unsure how to begin. It was the Crown Prince who sighed deeply, saying with heartache, "The banquet is about to begin, but the young prince has disappeared. We went to look for him, but who knew that when we got here..."

He couldn't continue speaking, so he just pointed inside the door and sighed again.

Zhao Yiyang had a very bad feeling. The Empress continued the Crown Prince's words, her voice trembling with tears, "It's Yanzhi and Yushu! Them! Them! Alas!"

"Impossible!" Zhao Yiyang retorted without even thinking. "They are just friends, there's absolutely no romantic relationship between them!"

The Crown Prince put his arm around Zhao Yiyang's shoulder and said, "I know you don't want to believe it, but it's true. The Empress Dowager saw it with her own eyes. The two of them were lying inside with their clothes disheveled. To save them some face, we didn't leave the door open. We've already sent someone to tell the Emperor, and we're just waiting for him to come."

"Why trouble Father with matters of the harem!"

A conspiracy, absolutely a conspiracy! So, locking myself up with Helian Chen was all for this?