Early next morning.
Black hair scattered across the wedding pillow, the crimson bed curtains setting off her snow-white jade-like skin, one delicate shoulder half-exposed…
Yun Li lay sleeping on her side in the bridal bed.
Rong Zhou embraced her tightly from behind, his burning chest pressed against her jade-like back, his cool lips landing on the nape of her neck. “Mine.”
He closed his eyes and inhaled the pear blossom fragrance from her neck.
His lips wandered lingeringly over her skin, his hoarse voice concealing intense possessiveness. “In this lifetime, A’Li can only be mine.”
Savoring the delicate sensations from last night.
Rong Zhou’s low voice rippled with a satisfied laugh. His long lashes lowered as he gazed at the person in his arms, then he tenderly kissed the small mole on her earlobe…
His tongue gently pressed.
Followed by a “click” sound.
An exquisite golden bracelet carved with pear blossoms was fastened around Yun Li’s fair wrist. Another click, and the extremely small bracelet was locked by him.
A faint glimmer flashed in Rong Zhou’s deep eyes.
He curved his lips in satisfaction. “Having accepted this token of love… my A’Li can never escape again.”
Rong Zhou reached out to adjust the bright red wedding quilt.
After wrapping his sleeping little Princess Consort securely, he quietly slipped out of bed.
Without summoning attendants, he dressed himself, putting on the matching men’s bracelet that paired with Yun Li’s pear blossom golden bracelet. After hiding the key, he stepped out of the bridal chamber.
…
At the end of March in the capital, pear blossoms were just beginning to bloom.
Cloud-like clusters of pear blossoms resembling piled snow surrounded the red tiles of the estate, their fragrance sweet and fresh, like jade maidens dancing gracefully.
Ning Xin’er stood waiting in the courtyard.
Her personal maid Yu Yao chattered incessantly beside her. “This eldest daughter of the General’s household is truly as rumored – worthy of being called the capital’s number one savage simpleton! Even after marrying into the Prince’s estate, she doesn’t understand propriety. Sleeping this late, how is she any different from a pig?”
“Yu Yao.” Ning Xin’er’s voice remained gentle.
She maintained her dignified posture, her palace-made plain snow long dress blooming like a white lotus. “Cease your nonsense.”
Yu Yao peered inside with considerable dissatisfaction.
She showed slight impatience. “Your Highness, this servant wasn’t wrong! The Princess Consort defying the decree by not entering the palace to thank the Empress Dowager is bad enough, but now she has troubled you to come personally from the palace! Who knows what the Prince sees in her!”
“If only the Empress Dowager had arranged your marriage with the Prince instead. You’re the Empress Dowager’s adopted daughter, a Commandery Princess personally enfeoffed by Her Majesty! In this servant’s opinion, she’s utterly unworthy! Only you are fit to marry the Prince…”
“Audacious!”
However, the moment Yu Yao’s words fell, a cold, deep voice suddenly rang out.
Ning Xin’er’s willow-like figure trembled slightly.
The palace doors were suddenly pushed open, revealing a tall figure in dark robes stepping out gracefully. “Disrespecting superiors, ignoring hierarchy, and slandering the Princess Consort – punishment by tongue removal, to be carried out immediately!”
Yu Yao looked up at Rong Zhou in terror.
She hadn’t imagined while speaking recklessly that the Prince would still be in the bedchamber at this hour. She immediately knelt and kowtowed in panic. “Y-Your Highness, have mercy!”
“Wen Nan.” Rong Zhou’s voice was icy.
His personal guard Wen Nan immediately appeared, bowing with clasped hands. “Your Highness.”
“Cut out her tongue.”
“Yes.” Wen Nan’s waist sword suddenly unsheathed, the glint of steel ready to remove Yu Yao’s tongue amid the flash of blades.
Ning Xin’er hurriedly shielded her.
“Your Highness.” She bowed in greeting. “It’s Xin’er’s fault for inadequate discipline that allowed my maid to err. I beg Your Highness to be lenient in consideration of our past relationship.”
Wen Nan temporarily sheathed his sword and turned to look at the man.Rong Zhou lowered his gaze, offering no response. His profound and inscrutable eyes rested solely on the golden bracelet on his wrist, as he leisurely traced the pear blossom pattern with his fingertips…
“Past affections?” He curled his lips in a cold sneer.
Then, lifting his eyelids slightly with an arrogant tone, he said, “This prince is not familiar with you. What past affections could there be? Even if there were… I’m afraid it was merely the wishful thinking of the Changning County Princess.”
Rong Zhou was extremely sensitive to such ambiguous remarks.
After all, he had just married his delicate and soft little Princess Consort yesterday. If she were to hear such words, she would surely be displeased.
Ning Xin’er clenched her handkerchief tightly, her face turning pale.
She truly hadn’t expected the Regent Prince to be so heartless after marrying… Yet the willful Princess Consort he had married had never loved him at all! How could she be worthy?
“Your Highness,” Ning Xin’er bit her lip, “even if Yu Yao deserves punishment, she should be taken back to the palace to be dealt with by Her Majesty. After all, we came on the Empress Dowager’s orders. Her Majesty has been waiting for you and the Princess Consort to enter the palace to express gratitude, but you have yet to appear. She specifically sent Xin’er to the mansion to check.”
As she spoke, she observed Rong Zhou’s expression.
Then, boldly voicing her suspicions, she added, “To see if the Princess Consort is truly as rumored—at odds with Your Highness, demanding a divorce and even attempting to flee on the wedding day, dissatisfied with the marriage and thus unwilling to enter the palace to express gratitude!”
Upon hearing this, Rong Zhou’s fingers tracing the bracelet paused.
His narrow peach blossom eyes narrowed sharply, and his gaze toward Ning Xin’er grew several shades colder…
“At odds?” His voice was icy.
She had stepped on a line he allowed no one to cross.
Rong Zhou’s deep, abyss-like eyes trembled, as if stirred by raging waves. A cold, obsessive emotion gradually spread within them…
“I’m afraid the Empress Dowager is overthinking.”
He obsessively traced the pear blossom on the golden bracelet, his voice hoarse and indifferent. “My Ah Li is so wonderful… how could she bear to betray me?”
Even if he still felt it somewhat unreal.
Since Ah Li had promised, he would abandon everything and trust only her. If she said she wouldn’t leave… then she wouldn’t!
However, Ning Xin’er did not share this sentiment.
She had long known that Yun Li held no affection for Rong Zhou and even resented being forcibly taken as his consort, likely wishing to escape the Regent’s Mansion at any cost.
It was precisely because she understood this that she had come to the Regent’s Mansion on the day after their wedding to investigate the situation, hoping perhaps to coax Yun Li into helping her escape…
After all, only if Yun Li fled and was divorced would Ning Xin’er have another chance to beg the Empress Dowager for a marriage decree—not as a concubine, but as the rightful Princess Consort of the Regent Prince!
Ning Xin’er gently advised, “Your Highness, Xin’er knows you are devoted, and it pains me to see your feelings trampled by the Princess Consort. It’s just a pity that it isn’t Xin’er by your side. If I had been the one to marry you yesterday, Xin’er would certainly…”
But before Ning Xin’er could finish her words, a soft, delicate voice suddenly came from within the bedchamber, tinged with a hint of coquettishness, “Ah Zhou~”
Ning Xin’er’s words were abruptly cut off.
She looked up and saw a graceful figure in pear-white, dressed in a misty gauze robe embroidered with a hundred flowers, fresh and charming. Even before seeing her face clearly, her beauty was already unmatched.
Upon waking in the morning, Yun Li was startled to realize that last night was not a dream.
She had truly been reborn!
After her tragic death in her previous life and rebirth into the modern world, she had crossed back again—returning to her wedding night with the Regent Prince!
But when she opened her eyes, she was alone on the wedding bed.Yun Li feared the surroundings were real but the person was just a drunken delusion, so she tried to rush out of the hall in her current clothes to search for him. Only when her personal maid stopped her did she learn that Rong Zhou was right outside the hall.
Her Ah Zhou was just outside…
It wasn’t a dream—Ah Zhou had truly returned to her side!
Yun Li immediately sat before the dressing mirror to meticulously adorn herself. Only after ensuring her makeup was exquisite enough to capture Rong Zhou’s heart did she eagerly hurry out.
Then, disregarding the setting, she wrapped her arms around his waist!