After being reborn, I went on a killing spree in the imperial court.

Soon the news of the emperor's death spread throughout the capital.

The night the body was laid to rest.

Cao Ji entered alone to pay his respects. He knelt before the mourning hall and performed the kowtow, saying, "Father! Soon you will be able to be buried with the late Empress."

“You’ve looked down on me since I was little, but I never expected that even Heaven would help me in the end! Don’t you think this is fate?”

Cao Ji slowly extended his slightly pale hand, picked up the thick stack of paper money beside him, and carefully threw it into the blazing brazier. His gaze was fixed on the paper money in his hand, watching it burn as if he held the emperor's life in his hands.

Just then, a cold wind suddenly howled into the house from outside.

The gust of wind came so suddenly that the burning paper money was instantly thrown into the air, forming a cloud of flying ashes. These ashes, like black butterflies, danced in the air before scattering in all directions with the wind.

"Father, is that you?" Cao Ji looked outside, and Cao Yuan, dressed in plain clothes, came in from outside.

"How dare you come here?"

Cao Ji paused, breathed a slight sigh of relief, and saw that Cao Yuan showed no surprise or any other action, but instead focused intently on the paper money in the basin.

"Cao Ji! Are you satisfied now that you've murdered your father and usurped the throne? Now you can rightfully ascend the throne!"

"Should I now congratulate you on finally getting the dragon throne you've always wanted?"

"What's next? Are they going to kill all of us who know the truth?"

Cao Yuan became even angrier when he remained silent, and kicked over the iron basin. "Stop burning it! Father is dead, who are you trying to impress with this? Nobody's here, so what are you pretending to be, this filial son and fatherly love!"

Cao Ji calmly stood up. "I know it's no use saying anything now, but I never intended to kill my father."

Cao Yuan sneered, "If you're a man, you should be more ruthless and stop saying such disgusting things."

"Actually, it's not entirely your fault. If I had been able to rush back as soon as I received the news, Father wouldn't have died."

Cao Yuan wiped away her tears of resentment with her sleeve, "It's because I've been angry with Father Emperor all along! I'm so unfilial!"

Cao Yuan ran out of the palace crying.

Not long after she left, Xiao Jinghan finally appeared in front of Cao Ji.

“Now, you’ve achieved your goal.” Cao Ji glanced at him sideways.

"Hahaha... Congratulations to the Second Prince on his imminent ascension to the throne!"

"Things are getting increasingly out of control."

"So what? The result is the same as we expected," Xiao Jinghan said.

"You know so much, aren't you afraid that on the first day of my coronation, I'll silence you?"

Xiao Jinghan was completely unafraid and laughed heartily, "Second Prince, I know you wouldn't!"

"It's getting late! Your Majesty should take care of your health and get some rest so you can attend the enthronement ceremony." Xiao Jinghan bowed respectfully.

-

Unbeknownst to her, Cao Yuan had arrived at the Hall of Mental Cultivation.

This was her last meeting with the emperor; father and daughter barely exchanged a few words before...

Cao Yuan rubbed her red eyes; everything had happened too fast.

She pushed open the door and went inside; it was empty.

She still vaguely remembered the two words the emperor wrote in her hand.

Cao Yuan lit the candles, brightening the room. She sat alone beside the emperor's deceased bed, her body pressed against the bed, feeling the emperor's lingering warmth.

Back then, before her elder brother passed away, the two siblings often nestled at the emperor's knees, playing and frolicking together.

Fate is always so cruel.

First, her mother passed away from illness, then she was sent to the border, and her elder brother also left her. This series of heavy blows was too much for young Cao Yuan to bear; she felt as if she had lost her entire world overnight.

Since then, her relationship with the emperor has gradually changed. The deep father-daughter bond that once existed seems to have faded with the departure of her loved one, and now all that remains seems to be the formality and distance between ruler and subject.

Thinking of this, tears welled up like a burst dam, and I couldn't stop them.

At this moment, Cao Yuan could no longer suppress the longing and guilt she felt for her father. She murmured to herself, "Father... it's all Yuan'er's fault! Yuan'er shouldn't have harbored resentment towards you!"

"If Yuan'er hadn't thought she was the same as in her previous life, why would you have left so early! Why would you leave so soon..."

Even though Cao Ji had already used Xue Xinian to kill her in her previous life, she still repeated the same mistake and trusted Cao Ji.

Cao Yuan, you're so stupid.

The next moment, Cao Yuan's eyes seemed to see something. She wiped away the tears on her face and blinked hard, afraid that she had seen wrong.

She stood up, took a few steps, squatted down, and touched the red mark on the ground.

She touched her hand and smelled it. "The smell of blood! It's blood? I remember when I came in, Father was lying in bed! Even if it was splattered blood, it shouldn't be this far away!"

"Could something else have happened in between?"

Cao Yuan searched the palace thoroughly, looking for anything unusual about the emperor before his death.

Cao Yuan wrapped some white powder on the carpet, hid it in her sleeve, and hurriedly left the Hall of Mental Cultivation.

She didn't dare stop for a moment and ran out of the palace. She wanted to ask Cao Chun what had happened when she went in.

Just as she dismounted in front of the princess's mansion and was about to step into the gate, a figure suddenly appeared from behind her like a gust of wind and tightly grabbed her slender wrist.

"Ah Yuan! It really is you, you're back!"

Cao Yuan saw Xue Xinian's face, flushed with excitement.

Cao Yuan was slightly taken aback. "Xue Xinian, what are you doing here?"

Before she could finish speaking, Xue Xinian, as if losing his mind, suddenly opened his arms and hugged Cao Yuan tightly without saying a word.

"What are you doing? Let go!"

Xue Xinian held her tightly, "Don't move, let me hug you, okay?"

Cao Yuan stomped on it.

Xue Xinian released his grip in pain.

Cao Yuan distanced herself from him, saying, "Xue Xinian, we're divorced! Go and spend time with your wife!"

Just as Cao Yuan was about to leave, Xue Xinian grabbed her hand. "Yuan, I came to see you because I have something important to tell you."

"I've heard you and Cao Ji are quite close! I don't think I have anything to say to you."

"Ah Yuan, things have come to this point, are you still going to oppose the Second Prince?"

Cao Yuan glared at him fiercely.

"Now that His Majesty has passed away, the Second Prince will be a good emperor."

"A good emperor?"

Upon hearing these words, Cao Yuan found it laughable.

"Which emperor throughout history has been innocent! Why should A-Yuan fight against overwhelming odds? Now that the Second Prince is the popular choice, we should follow the will of Heaven!"

"Cao Ji actually sent you as an envoy! He deserves to die!"