Yun Ruoyan had to admit that Li Qianyuan was unusually adept at conversation. Even when faced with such a tough opponent as Yun Ruoyan, he had been able to meander from dresses to flowers and grasses, then from flowers and grasses to all sorts of snacks in the capital.

As Li Qianyuan talked on and on, Yun Ruoyan found it harder and harder to find an excuse to sneak away from the conversation.

“What’s making you so animated, Ruoyan? Come, tell me more.” Suddenly, Li Mo appeared from behind a corner.

His hands were clasped behind his back, and his face was unreadable in the dark. However, from his voice alone, Yun Ruoyan could tell that the man was displeased. 

“Uncle.” Li Qianyuan bowed toward Li Mo, and he waved his hand.

Yun Ruoyan leaned against the railing as she smiled at Li Mo, having no intention of bowing at all. However, Li Qianyuan wasn’t shocked by Yun Ruoyan’s lack of respect at all; he clearly noticed that Yun Ruoyan and Li Mo shared a rather… intimate relationship.

“I have something to discuss with Miss Yun, so leave us,” Li Mo commanded.

Li Qianyuan glanced at Yun Ruoyan once more before bowing and turning away. Only when Li Qianyuan’s shadow had vanished into the night did Li Mo step up to Yun Ruoyan and look toward her. “Have you already forgotten what I told you?”

“Slaughtering King, I wouldn’t dare.” Yun Ruoyan turned to the moon’s reflection.

As Li Mo looked at Yun Ruoyan’s silhouette against the moonlight, she sighed and walked to her side. “This second prince’s particularly tricky to deal with, so don’t get close to him.”

“I didn’t get close to him.” Yun Ruoyan turned to Li Mo. “After all, it’s not as if I can just leave if he comes up to talk, can I? Be more reasonable!”

“What do you mean, right as he comes up to talk? I’ve been watching the two of you here for quite some time now!”

“You… you were spying on us?!” Yun Ruoyan glanced at Li Mo in shock. It seemed as if Li Qianhan wasn’t the only one interested in eavesdropping!

“What do you mean, 

spying

? I was just standing in a corner, and happened to see the two of you!” Li Mo immediately refuted.

The two of them were so close together that Yun Ruoyan could see the face hidden under Li Mo’s inky hair, his pale skin appearing even whiter due to his angriness.

Yun Ruoyan suddenly realized that the seemingly mysterious, all-powerful man in front of her was only in his twenties—but the legend surrounding him, the icy aura that seemed to elevate him above a mortal self, and his dark, drab outfit made it easy to forget his actual age.

But when Yun Ruoyan got close to him, ignoring his status, achievements, and position, Li Mo was nothing but a young man in his twenties who had yet to be betrothed. In comparison, Yun Ruoyan was an old hag with over thirty years’ worth of memories.

“Li Mo, in a few more days, I’ll be entering Kongming Academy. I plan on cultivating hard these next two days, and I might not be able to see you again for a while. Can’t we avoid fighting today?” As the older of the pair, Yun Ruoyan tried to strike a compromise.

“Alright, we won’t,” Li Mo agreed. “I’ll write down a list of people for you that you have to avoid.”

“My goodness!” Yun Ruoyan sighed exasperatedly, right before Li Mo grabbed her waist.

“Yan’er, there are people in the capital far more frightening than the beasts roaming in the imperial territory,” he whispered, “and they’re wholly incomparable to those women from the Yun family. You 

have 

to be careful.”

Li Mo’s concern seeped through his words, and Yun Ruoyan’s somewhat rigid body began to relax a little. She patted Li Mo’s back and replied, “I know, I know.”

“Kongming Academy’s trials are only ever revealed on the day of admissions, and although I’ve cooked up a few plans, I haven’t managed to get anything useful out of those old codgers. When the time comes, you’ll have to count on yourself.”

The old codgers that Li Mo was referring to were undoubtedly esteemed personages of Kongming Academy.

“Yes, I know.” Yun Ruoyan lay against Li Mo’s chest, listening to his heart beat.

Li Mo took Yun Ruoyan’s hand and plucked the storage ring off her hands. “Hand this to me for now, and I’ll send it back to you tomorrow night.”

Yun Ruoyan guessed that Li Mo had prepared some items for her. “I can refine my own spiritual pills, and I’ve prepared quite a number of items for myself…” Yun Ruoyan instinctively refused; after all, she already owed Li Mo far too much. Any more, and she really would have no chance of ever paying off her debt.

“Can your preparations compare to mine?” Li Mo responded severely. “The most important thing is for you to survive your following trials unscathed.

Li Mo’s words and unusually serious tone left Yun Ruoyan, who had been rather relaxed about the entire affair, somewhat anxious.

“Is this trial really as frightening as you’ve claimed?” Yun Ruoyan asked. “Haven’t you passed through it before?”

“What’s frightening isn’t the trial, but rather your fellow competitors.”

There was no restriction to the number of students who could pass the trial in the imperial territory, but the enrollment for Kongming Academy was limited. As a result, some of the more vicious competitors even resorted to killing each other to secure their spot.

In the past, Li Mo had hidden his identity and entered the trial with the objective of tempering himself. As a result, he had seen with his own eyes how the scions of all manners of families and from all four kingdoms schemed, fought, and clawed at each other for the precious spots at Kongming Academy.

“As soon as you enter the trial, try to form a group, but always remember that you’re the only one you can fully trust.”

Unlike Li Mo, however, Yun Ruoyan believed in her group. She believed in Lin Qingchen, Lin Qingxue, and Zhuo Yifeng. Their friendship had been sculpted by the precipice of peril, and Yun Ruoyan firmly trusted that they would once again be able to survive this encounter by working together.

Naturally, she didn’t reveal this to Li Mo. Instead, all she repeated to him was, “I know, I know.”

Within the crown prince’s nuptial chambers, Yi Qianying sat on a bed draped extravagantly in red, waiting with an ashen heart for Li Qianxiao’s inevitable arrival. He had almost been drowned in wine by the other princes and court officials, and was just barely awake.

He blinked drowsily at Yi Qianying, who sat modestly and properly in front of him, but images of Yun Ruoyan kept flashing through his mind instead.

When Li Qianxiao saw her at the wedding banquet today, he found that she had changed compared to when he had last seen her at the Yun matriarch’s birthday celebration. She had grown older and taller. Her body was beginning to fill out, revealing the first traces of a womanly charm.

And although Yun Ruoyan still wore a gauze patch on her face, the fair skin that she revealed appeared whiter and more translucent than ever. Despite hiding amidst a crowd of people, she had immediately caught Li Qianxiao’s eye. 

He couldn’t help but think back to when he had first noticed her in front of the Yun manor. She was kneeling in a modest pink dress, the phoenix-orchid gauze patch on her face making her already-petite features appear even more eye-catching.

Afterwards, as he was sending Yun Ruoyan back to her quarters, he had acquainted himself with Yun Ruoyan’s birthmark, not only scaring him half to death but also making him feel cheated by her outwardly appearance. From then on, he had begun to despise Yun Ruoyan, memories of her birthmark flashing through his mind whenever he saw her.

But at the Yun matriarch’s birthday celebration, when Li Qianxiao once again saw Yun Ruoyan with her birthmark revealed, what shocked him to his core was how much smaller the birthmark had seemed. In fact, Yun Ruoyan hadn’t lied to him; he was simply too timid, too scared, to believe her!

Li Qianxiao instantly began to regret his actions. If he hadn’t been scared out of his wits, but had instead chosen to believe in Yun Ruoyan, she would undoubtedly be the woman sitting right in front of him today. Lost in his thoughts and overcome by a drunken haze, Li Qianxiao became less and less sure of the identity of the woman in front of him.

“I’m sorry, I should have believed you. In this lifetime, only a peerless woman like yourself would be fit to be my princess consort.”

Li Qianxiao sat lopsidedly by Yi Qianying’s side, muttering almost incoherently, “And when I become the emperor in the future, you’ll be the only woman suited to be my empress. Our children will be the princes and princesses of the Li kingdom, the future emperors, for generations and generations…”

He parted Yi Qianying’s veil as he spoke. To him, Yi Qianying’s petite face had been replaced by Yun Ruoyan—the unveiled Yun Ruoyan, her birthmark gone and her face unblemished. His gaze turned ardent as he pushed Yi Qianying down, still muttering sweet nothings all the while.

Faced with this abnormal behavior, Yi Qianying slowly began to blush. In the morning, she had been humiliated by Yun Ruoyan and Pei Ziao in turn, and she had dreaded the idea of facing the crown prince at night. What she hadn’t expected was how much the crown prince seemed to adore her, and how gentle he was being.

And given how matters had progressed, even if she was unwilling to do so, Yi Qianying had no choice but to give up Pei Ziao. Was it so unbelievable that she could have a good life even in the crown prince’s manor?

But just as Yi Qianying felt as if she could accept this new reality, Li Qianxiao began to murmur a name repeatedly. His words were slurred from his drunken haze, and were almost indiscernible even to Yi Qianying.

“Crown Prince, who are you calling for?”

“Yun… Yun…”

“Yun… 

What?

”

“Yun… Yun Ruoyan!” Li Qianxiao finally called out. “Ruoyan, I love you, with all my heart and soul! Once I marry you, you’ll be the princess consort. Who cares about that Yi Qianying, or whoever she is?”

As if struck by lightning, Yi Qianying’s body trembled with shock. The tender emotions that she was developing for the crown prince vanished in an instant, replaced with ice and darkness.

Why?! Why?!!! Yun Ruoyan, why must you take everything from me?! You’ve already taken Pei Ziao, and now you’re going to take the crown prince too?!

Yi Qianying clawed at her bedsheets, as if she were trying to wring them dry.

When Li Qianxiao continued calling out brokenly for Yun Ruoyan, Yi Qianying had had enough. She grabbed a handkerchief that she’d hidden underneath the pillows, then held it over Li Qianxiao’s nose and mouth.

In order to prevent Li Qianxiao from raping her, Yi Qianying had prepared this handkerchief in advance. A strange, intoxicating sweetness rushed into Li Qianxiao’s mouth. His gaze turned black, his hands lost their strength, and he fell into Yi Qianying’s lap.

She pushed him away in disgust, sheltering herself by the foot of the bed. In fury, exasperation, and anger, her heart throbbed as if it were about to explode. “Yun Ruoyan, I, Yi Qianying, swear that only one of us shall survive to the end!”

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