It was deep winter.
A fall of white snow enveloped the entire Que Mountain Imperial Palace.
Jin Ning stood before a bottomless snow cliff.
The biting wind sweeping across the snow cliff and the heat surging within her body converged upon her, as if to tear her apart.
The heat in her heart grew more and more intense, almost drowning her consciousness.
In her hand, she tightly clutched a golden hairpin, which had already wounded her palm.
The pain allowed her to maintain her last shred of lucidity.
From the snow forest behind her, the sound of men's conversation could be faintly heard.
"This medicine is potent; she won't get far."
"Once we find her, even if she's a noble daughter from a noble family, she'll have to personally remove her fine clothes and beg us on the ground!"
Jin Ning never expected that she would be reborn.
Reborn at the moment she jumped off the cliff to protect her purity!
In her previous life.
She was the only legitimate daughter of the Yong'an Marquis Manor.
The Imperial Observatory had long predicted that the Yong'an Marquis Manor would produce an empress with a phoenix destiny. As she was the same age as the Crown Prince, everyone speculated that she would be the future Crown Princess.
Her grandfather had also long obtained an imperial decree of marriage.
Three years ago, her grandfather passed away. She personally escorted his remains back to their ancestral home in Huaiyang and observed mourning for three years on behalf of her father.
Her mourning period ended a few days ago. She returned from her ancestral home in Huaiyang and, passing by the Que Mountain Imperial Palace, heard that His Majesty was hunting there with the officials. Her father, mother, brother, and the person she longed for were all there.
So, she did not go directly to the capital but went to the Que Mountain Imperial Palace to meet her family.
Today, the Crown Prince had invited her to the snow forest near the Que Mountain Imperial Palace to admire the snow.
She had been self-disciplined and proper since childhood, so it was impossible for her to meet a man casually. However, the Crown Prince was her fiancé, and their marriage was imminent.
Thus, she came.
She just never expected that the Crown Prince would not show up for the appointment.
Here, she ran into two mountain bandits.
And before meeting him, she had drunk a cup of ginger wine, given by the Empress and laced with an aphrodisiac potion.
To protect her purity, she resisted with all her might and did not hesitate to jump off the cliff. When she was found, her legs were broken, her body was buried in snow, and she was almost frozen to death in the blizzard.
She exchanged her life for her purity, yet no one believed her. Even her family, who knew her resolute character best, forced her to die for honor.
"You were trapped by mountain bandits all night; who would believe you still have your purity?"
"Ning Ning, you cannot be too selfish; you must not tarnish the Marquis Manor's reputation."
"Mingyue has not yet been betrothed; do not implicate her..."
"I like you, but you are like this... it truly brings shame to the Royal Family."
Accusations echoed in her ears.
In the end, she used the phoenix hairpin, a gift from the Empress representing her future identity as Crown Princess, to commit suicide.
She attached herself to that golden hairpin and was a ghost for three years.
She saw the Crown Prince marry her younger sister, Pei Mingyue, a month after her death. Red silk stretched from the Marquis Manor to the Crown Prince's Manor, and Pei Mingyue, wearing the phoenix hairpin she used to kill herself, became the Crown Princess.
She saw her father and mother acting affectionately with Pei Mingyue, and her brother treating Pei Mingyue like a beloved sibling.
It was as if she had never existed.
If anyone mentioned her, they would sigh, saying she had occupied Pei Mingyue's phoenix destiny for eighteen years, and now that the true phoenix destiny legitimate daughter had returned, she was suffering retribution.
It was her fault for having a cheap fate, unable to suppress the Crown Princess's noble aura; everything was her just deserts.
She never expected that heaven would give her a chance to start over.
If only this time had been earlier! It had to be after she drank that cup of ginger wine that changed her fate.
The surging heat within her body pulled her out of her memories.
"You can't escape!"
"I advise you to obediently take off your clothes and serve us!"
"There's no one around here; don't dream of someone coming to save you!"
The mountain wind carried the shouts of the mountain bandits, who were deliberately trying to lure her out.
No one around?
Is there really no one?
This sentence suddenly enlightened Jin Ning!
No, no! There are people!
In her previous life, after her legs were broken, she couldn't leave this place. It was the patrol camp that discovered her, and she narrowly escaped death!
The patrol camp was rushing to the abandoned Weaving Snow Palace on the mountaintop to protect someone.
There were people on this mountaintop, and someone who would warrant the active protection of the patrol camp must be an extremely noble existence.
If she could seek this person's shelter on the mountain now, she would surely not repeat the mistakes of her previous life.
She also knew that in her current state, even if she found that person, she might not be able to preserve her purity.
But she no longer cared!
What was the point of preserving her purity with half her life in her previous life? Wasn't she still... still forced to die for honor by her own kin?
It would be better to use this purity to rely on a powerful figure, so that those people would not dare to force her to her death with such absurd reasons!
With her thoughts racing, Jin Ning made a decision.
She tucked the golden hairpin into her bun, abruptly turned, and ran up the mountain.
The Weaving Snow Palace of the Que Mountain Imperial Palace was built for admiring the snow, but it had long been abandoned due to disrepair.
As she stumbled and pushed open the somewhat dilapidated door of the Weaving Snow Palace, her consciousness was already difficult to maintain. In her panicked flight, she ran directly into someone's arms.
The clean and crisp pine wood fragrance instantly enveloped her.
The person inside seemed to have not expected someone to burst in from outside, and their first reaction was to push the person in their arms away.
But the panicked Jin Ning, tormented by the potent medicine, had almost lost all reason. Yet, she knew that the person before her was her only way out, so she clung to him tightly.
When the man's push failed, he was amused and angered. "Let go!"
But at this moment, Jin Ning not only did not let go but also wrapped her arms around the man's neck, pressing her soft and alluring body against him.
Jin Ning was exceptionally beautiful, with bright eyes and pearly teeth. At this moment, her eyes were hazy, and her delicate features carried a hint of allure.
"Please... please save... save me," Jin Ning murmured softly.
The warm breath, carrying the scent of a young girl, made the man's body tense.
The moment desire stirred, he became somewhat angry and ashamed.
"Presumptuous!" A stern and grim voice sounded beside Jin Ning's ear.
But Jin Ning could no longer care about anything else. She was tormented by the potent medicine, her whole body feeling like it was being gnawed by ants, making it unbearable.
The coolness emanating from the man provided her with some relief.
She held on tighter, gripped harder, and even tugged forcefully at the man's collar.
"Do you know who I am?" The man grabbed her flailing hand, and at the same time, a voice filled with suppressed anger came.
Jin Ning looked up blankly.
She felt as if she had instantly fallen into a pair of eyes as deep and silent as an abyss, as if they contained mountains and rivers.
This person appeared to be in his early thirties, dressed in a black robe, with handsome features. He exuded a stern yet majestic aura, and his bearing was unlike that of an ordinary person.
This person is... is...
"Your Majesty?" Jin Ning's heart skipped a beat.
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