She Holds the World After Being Reborn
Chapter 288 - 287: His Good Girl, Always Used to Walking With Her Head Down

Chapter 288: Chapter 287: His Good Girl, Always Used to Walking With Her Head Down

"Talk."

"Let’s have an open and honest conversation." Yan Wanqing poured the leftover tea from last night’s teapot into her cup and drank it all in one gulp.

She hadn’t said much before she felt her throat becoming dry and parched.

After finishing her tea, she caressed the edge of the cup, feeling as if an invisible hand had clenched her heart tightly in its fist.

"... Speak, will you?" The atmosphere turned oppressive, and she urged him with her head bowed.

The corners of her eyes grew warm, and tears threatened to fall.

Xiao Pingfeng sighed softly and moved his chair over. He reached out his large hand to encircle her shoulders, holding her tightly in his embrace.

"I’m so sorry I couldn’t be by your side during the most painful years of your life." His voice was like moonlight cascading down a waterfall, gentle and clear.

At his words, Yan Wanqing could no longer hold back and began to sob softly against his waist.

No one knew how she had endured it all.

People admired her seemingly unbreakable willpower, her divine strategizing, but no one cared about the price she had paid behind the scenes.

"From now on, no matter what decisions you make, I will be by your side, even if... even if you drive me away or hate me, I will never leave you alone." Xiao Pingfeng tightened his arms, hugging her even closer.

"So... Wanwan, please don’t give up on us so easily because of someone else’s mistakes, okay?" His voice was hoarse, hiding a fragility no one knew.

Even though he was the esteemed Crown Prince, the commander-in-chief of a hundred thousand soldiers,

he was still vulnerable in front of Yan Wanqing.

Just one word of rejection from her was enough to cost him half his life.

Yan Wanqing cried hoarsely. After her rebirth, her tense nerves finally relaxed at this moment. Countless images flashed through her mind: the bloodstained pond, a body with a white knife entering and a red knife leaving, all sorts of hateful faces. At this moment, they all exploded and spun in her mind, making her dizzy.

Xiao Pingfeng gently patted her back, helping her to regain her breath.

He knew that at this moment, she needed to vent.

But there were some things he felt he had to say at this critical moment, not letting irrelevant people force them to spend the rest of their lives in misery.

"... When I was young, I nearly died in the Tonghua Pond of the Imperial Palace." He spoke softly, and the person in his arms stopped crying at his words, raising her tear-filled red eyes to look at him. Her little face was covered in tears, and she wanted to ask something but couldn’t breathe through her stuffed nose, so she could only part her lips to inhale.

Xiao Pingfeng was amused by her reaction and pulled her back into his embrace.

"It was the Emperor’s doing." His voice tensed as he said this, "Throughout my life, I’ve experienced numerous assassination attempts, and most of them came from him. At first, I also wanted to know why, but gradually, as I grew up, the desire to find the answer faded into nothingness... The members of the Imperial Family are heartless. I knew from the beginning that if my life or death was of no concern to them, by the same logic, their lives or deaths had nothing to do with me either."

"Wanwan... You are different. I’ve coveted you for a whole fifteen years, and we’ve finally come together. If you don’t want me—" The usually commanding Crown Prince suddenly showed vulnerability, pressing his chin upon Yan Wanqing’s head and gently caressing her, his voice rolling in his throat and extending slowly, "... No, you can’t not want me."

He dared not contemplate that outcome.

"You can’t reject me because of that man, Wanwan." He exerted some force, "I won’t allow it."

"So, any talk of father-son affection, any Imperial Family duty, to me, it’s all empty. The only person I’ve ever missed in the entire Imperial Palace was my mother, but she’s already dead."

Yan Wanqing remained still, lost in thought within his embrace.

At this moment, she felt immense heartache for his plight.

How desperate must life be for someone who has lived with assassination attempts from his own father since childhood?

Yet he still grew to be the envy and model for all, the final reliance of the entire Dawei.

Yan Wanqing couldn’t help her tears again, she struggled to free herself from his embrace and revealed her head.

"How could he treat you this way?" she asked, her tone carrying a hint of anger she didn’t even notice.

Xiao Pingfeng saw her concern for him and stopped obsessing, extending his hand to tap her nose: "It’s all in the past, I don’t care, you just need to know, from now on, I only care about you."

Yan Wanqing’s eyes welled up with pink tears: "...Xiao Pingfeng, are you serious?"

"Of course, I am serious," he said passionately.

She pondered for a moment, her peach blossom eyes earnest, and her voice still carried the softness of just having cried: "...You’d better be telling the truth, liars have to swallow ten thousand needles!"

"Alright, alright." Xiao Pingfeng had never heard such a phrase before; he took it as a need to swear an oath, so he raised three fingers, seriousness like never before in his dark eyes: "I, Xiao Pingfeng, swear, from now on, never to lie to Yan Wanqing. If I utter even half a lie, may I swallow ten thousand needles!"

Yan Wanqing’s cheeks flushed pink, having heard this phrase from Xiaoliu. Seeing him swear an oath again, her heart was at that moment at ease.

Even tigers do not eat their offspring, yet the Emperor could bring himself to attempt to kill Xiao Pingfeng, such a distinguished Prince—it truly was inexcusable.

Furthermore he had set up a courtyard for the sole purpose of collecting dirt on his ministers. If the Emperor were to bring Wang Quan and his wife to the great hall, he would surely lose the people’s heart. Then, like a collapsing mountain, they wouldn’t even need to exert any effort— the Emperor himself would end up condemned by the public’s overwhelming opinion, with no good end in sight!

The two called for dishes and wine from the kitchen; drinking and eating, they spoke of all their concerns, crying and laughing, unwittingly until the moon rose over the willows.

Looking at each other, they shared a smile, lifted their cups, and drank together. Under the bright moon and gentle breeze, they affirmed their feelings for each other.

"When will you break off your engagement with the Young Marquis of the Northern Border?" the Crown Prince, half-drunk and half-awake, remembered the engagement still binding his beloved.

Yan Wanqing, her gaze hazy from drinking, replied, "After we deal with this matter, how about we go to the Northern Border ourselves?"

Seeing her finally considering him as part of her inner circle and willing to include him in her affairs, Xiao Pingfeng’s heart melted into tenderness.

He pulled her onto his lap and nuzzled her neck, "Today, I am very happy."

"So am I," Yan Wanqing picked up her cup again, ready to drink, but the Crown Prince took it away and downed it himself. Then he leaned forward and pressed his lips, the object of his deepest yearning, against hers. The wine spilled through their lips and teeth in an intimate overflow, turning even the shamefaced moon red with their passionate indulgence.

When we first met, it felt like the return of an old friend, as the distant moon renewed at each dawn and dusk, the longing intensified.

She felt fortunate that Xiao Pingfeng’s determination kept them from missing each other once more.

There had been a time when she thought the purpose of living was only for revenge, until Yin Changyang’s mistakes entangled her with him. With a heart fluttering wildly, she had never known longing until she longed, and then it became an affliction.

He said he was the green top of the cardamom plant from her youth, yet wasn’t he also the ray of light in her years of despair?

In a drowsy haze, the bath was filled with water and mist obscured the view. Strong arms held her waist tightly, and his dark eyes held more than just indifference. Now he was like an insatiable young man, unable to get enough. The autumn breezes and spring moon, the mountains and rivers, none captivated him more than she did right in front of his eyes.

That night atop the Southern Mountain.

She hid behind a rock as the Princess of Qin State asked what kind of woman could make him pause. He felt the urge to drag her out at that moment.

His dear girl, always accustomed to looking down as she walked, hence never saw how steadfast his gaze was whenever he looked at her...

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