“Miss, wake up…”
Consciousness slowly gathered as her eyes fluttered open.
Carved bed, sheer curtains, pear blossom screen.
Lin Tangtang found herself lying on a bed in the Xijing Imperial Palace, her head wrapped in gauze and her stomach empty.
“You’ve been asleep for three days and nights, miss. When His Highness sent you here, your face was covered in blood – you gave this old woman quite a fright.”
A familiar Mama approached, handing her a handkerchief and placing a clay pot of porridge on the table.
Granny Li? What was she doing here?
Lin Tangtang pinched herself hard.
The sharp pain made her realize with shock that she had been reborn eight months into the past.
To the time when she was taking Lin Jiaojiao to the capital to seek reinforcements.
While passing through Xijing, Lin Tangtang had accidentally fallen into a valley and was rescued by Crown Prince Qin Mo’an who happened to be passing by.
In her previous life, anxious to save her father and trusting Yang Chen completely, she had immediately taken Lin Jiaojiao to the capital upon waking in the Xijing Imperial Palace.
She had never met the Crown Prince face to face, nor had she thanked him.
Little did she know that journey would mark the beginning of the tragedy for herself, her father, and her brother.
Returning to this moment, she refused to let the tragedy repeat itself.
She wanted the soldiers fighting bloody battles to live! She wanted herself, her father, and her brother to live! And her future children would live too!
Lin Tangtang’s eyes shifted thoughtfully.
The Crown Prince came from military background with illustrious achievements in battle. Everyone feared his stern demeanor, earning him the nickname “Yan-faced” Crown Prince. If he could speak up for the northern border troops—
“Mama, thank you for your care these past few days. Please accept this small token of my gratitude.” With this thought, Lin Tangtang took out a pearl hairpin and placed it in Granny Li’s hand.
“You’re too kind, miss.” After several polite refusals, Granny Li eventually accepted.
This young lady seemed quite adept at handling matters despite her youth.
“Might I ask who saved me? Could Mama take me to thank my benefactor?” Lin Tangtang’s eyes filled with gratitude.
“To be honest with you, miss, the one who saved you was none other than His Highness the Crown Prince.”
Granny Li smiled slightly, “However, His Highness is currently holding discussions in the main hall, and it’s uncertain when he’ll be free…”
Lin Tangtang lowered her gaze.
Then she knelt on the ground, speaking earnestly, “Mama, I am Lin Tangtang, legitimate daughter of General Beiwei Lin Yulang. Since childhood, my father taught me that one must repay kindness received. How can I not repay such great mercy from His Highness?
No matter when His Highness is available, I’m willing to wait. I only beg for the chance to kneel and thank His Highness personally for saving my life. Please help arrange this meeting, Mama – I will always remember your kindness!”
With an anxious expression, she bowed to the Mama and kowtowed heavily.
“Miss, if you keep this up, your wound will need redressing.”
Seeing fresh blood seeping through the gauze on her forehead, Granny Li couldn’t help but sigh, “Very well, I’ll take you to the main hall to request an audience. But whether His Highness agrees to see you is beyond this old woman’s control.”
After all, the other Miss Lin had requested an audience multiple times without success.
“Thank you, Mama!” Lin Tangtang looked up, her eyes bright with hope.
The two walked from Qianyue Pavilion to the entrance of Qinzheng Hall. Just as Granny Li was about to enter the main hall, Lin Tangtang stopped her.
“Mama, this is my father’s token. Please deliver it along with my request.” She took out a sealed letter from her person and placed it in Granny Li’s hand.
Moments later, guards escorted Lin Tangtang into the main hall and closed the doors behind her.
Only one man stood inside the hall.
He had a face like polished jade, seated at the head of the table, clad in a Black Mang Robe. With furrowed brows deep in thought, he exuded an aura of noble elegance and sharp authority.
“Your subject’s daughter, Lin Tangtang, pays respects to Your Highness the Crown Prince. Thank you for saving my life.” She bowed toward the man.
“Hah, you claim gratitude, but in truth, you come seeking rescue?” Qin Mo’an’s cold voice echoed. “This subject asks you, is what is written here true?”
The letter detailed urgent military intelligence: Eighty thousand Beiwei Army troops were holding He Mountain City at all costs. The battle situation was critical, and reinforcements from the imperial court were desperately needed!
“Every word is true. My father’s seal is at the end of the letter for Your Highness to verify.” Lin Tangtang pressed her forehead to the floor. “Your Highness, the Beiwei Army truly cannot hold on much longer!”
“Yet this subject has received no military reports. Great Feng Country’s military reporting system is comprehensive—how could it be that a woman like you comes to deliver the message?” The Crown Prince’s tone carried natural authority, laced with skepticism.
“Your Highness, He Mountain City is surrounded, all official courier stations destroyed, so naturally no messages could get out. I have trained in martial arts since childhood and am small in stature. With the help of my father and brothers, I barely escaped with my life through He Mountain Gorge. I beg Your Highness to see the truth.” Lin Tangtang’s words were earnest.
Having spoken, she pushed up her sleeves.
On two arms that should have been fair-skinned were scattered over a dozen wounds of varying sizes—scratches from thorns, arrow injuries… Some wounds had already scabbed over, but several remained red and swollen, with flesh torn open, a shocking sight to behold.
“You do possess some solitary courage.”
Qin Mo’an’s gaze was profound, yet carried a hint of refusal. “But military affairs beyond the capital have always been reported by the Ministry of War. Why did you not seek them out?”
Qin Mo’an had galloped across battlefields for over a decade. Though he had once achieved immortal military merits, his accomplishments overshadowed the emperor, who stripped him of all military authority.
In recent years, with the borders at peace, the emperor assigned him to oversee the Ministries of Revenue and Rites, residing often in temporary palaces—all to sheathe this battlefield-tempered blade.
“Your Highness, it is only because… I trust you! I trust no one else!”
Lin Tangtang remembered her previous life—this lifetime she absolutely must not repeat the same mistakes!
Her heart urgent, her voice tinged with pleading, “Your Highness, I beg you to help me! So long as you can save the Beiwei Army, whatever you ask of me—be it to serve as your ox or horse, to go through fire and water—anything, I will do…”
She lifted her gaze to the Crown Prince, her eyes blazing with hope and sincerity.
The sky darkened, the dim candlelight casting shadows on her delicate features.
A layer of gauze on her forehead added a touch of fragility.
“Anything?”
Qin Mo’an stared at Lin Tangtang, scrutinizing her carefully, his deep, pool-like eyes seemingly unrippled by emotion.
After a long silence, he spoke softly.
“Only by becoming this subject’s person will this subject help.”
Lin Tangtang froze.
She never thought that even in this reborn life, she still could not escape the fate of losing her purity.
But, thinking of her father and brothers still fighting in the northern border, she replied without hesitation, “Very well, so long as Your Highness is willing to lend aid.”
With that, she stood up and undid her sash in one motion.
Instantly, her dress slipped from her fragrant shoulders, leaving only a thin pink gauze clinging to her chest, rising and falling with her breath.
Suppressing the tears and shame in her eyes, she walked barefoot toward Qin Mo’an.
Compared to the lives of her father and brothers, what did her purity matter?
So long as her father and brothers could be saved, even if it meant her own head rolling, she would accept it gladly.
Random Recommendations: Black Lotus Transmigrates to the 1970s as a Pampered Girl, Forced Marriage, System Plus Cheats, Adorable Baby One-on-One: The CEO Daddy Dotes Endlessly, Little Koi Flower, Halt, Gods! This is China, Graceful Actress, CEO’s Perfect Match, I Just Want to Pass the Ball, My Behind-the-Scenes Divine Kingdom