Chapter 150: Staying by Her Side Was All He Could Ever Wish For

"Stop chasing! We are still some distance away from the palace gates. Given their skills, by the time you reach the outer gates, they will be long gone!" With that, he frowned, turned around, and hurried back to check if there were any casualties within the palace.

"Reporting to the Deputy Commander, we see nothing unusual in the Crown Prince's chambers," said the chief guard of the Crown Prince's palace. "Oh, that's right, I did notice the lights on in the Prince's room for a short while earlier. Since there were no unusual sounds, I didn't pay much mind."

Hearing this, the Deputy Commander's expression shifted drastically. "Quickly check on the safety of the Crown Prince and the Crown Princess!" As soon as the words fell, a cold sweat broke out on the chief guard's forehead as he rushed to the door and knocked.

"Your Highness, there are assassins in the palace! Are you alright? Your Highness?" The chief guard knocked for a long time, but there was not the slightest response from within. Growing anxious, he quickly summoned the Crown Prince's maids, telling them to go inside and take a look.

The lights inside the room flickered on, and the faint sound of a maid calling out drifted through. After a long moment, a maid ran out in a panic and reported, "Only the Crown Prince is inside; the Crown Princess is gone. Moreover, no matter how we call him, the Crown Prince simply will not wake up..."

Upon hearing this, the hearts of the chief guard and the Deputy Commander leaped into their throats. Disregarding protocol, they charged straight inside.

"It seems the Prince has been drugged! Someone come quickly, summon the imperial physician!"

***

The finest inn in the imperial city—the Bright Moon Inn—was currently cloaked in tranquility. Several lanterns hanging from the second floor cast a faint glow over the dark, deserted street outside.

Suddenly, a black-clad figure flashed from the street corner and stopped outside the inn's entrance. The person looked up at the plaque with a pensive expression.

At that very moment, a subtle sound of breaking wind echoed through the air, and another dark figure appeared behind her.

The first figure reacted with lightning speed, spinning around to enter a defensive stance, only to relax upon seeing the familiar, towering build.

"You really came!" A repressed wave of pleasant surprise laced the latter's deep voice.

"You understood after all; you didn't disappoint me." Jin'er smiled, crossed her arms, and looked at Shiyuan under the night sky with a satisfied expression.

"Let's go back to the room to talk." Shiyuan recovered his indifferent tone, stepped forward, and wrapped an arm around Jin'er's waist. With effortless ease, he vaulted up to the roof, descended to the second floor, and quietly slipped into a room.

Once inside, Shiyuan withdrew his hand and turned around to gently secure the door. Jin'er tried to ignore the lingering warmth of his palm against her waist, then raised her hand to conjure a wisp of deep blue flame at her fingertips. With a flick of her wrist, she ignited the oil lamp sitting on the table before them.

"Where is Qingyue?" Jin'er asked as she placed her bundle on the table and pulled off the black veil covering her face.

"Lying on the bed."

Hearing this, Jin'er turned her head and indeed spotted a figure vaguely outlined behind the semi-transparent bed curtains.

"He's been asleep for this long?" Jin'er walked toward the bed, frowning in confusion. Even if he hadn't unlocked his acupoints for him, by all accounts, they should have naturally released themselves after five or six hours.

"After he woke up, he insisted on coming to rescue you. No matter what I said, he wouldn't listen, so I had no choice but to leave him like that." Shiyuan said indifferently, walking over to stand beside Jin'er.

"Let's wake him up." Jin'er reached out to lift the curtain, but Shiyuan grabbed her arm.

Puzzled, Jin'er turned to look at him. Before she could process what was happening, he pulled her over to sit at the small round table in the middle of the room.

***

"I want to spend some time alone with you." With that, he flipped over a wine cup, poured himself a cup from the wine pot, and continued, "What are your plans now?" Since she brought a bundle, it seemed she wasn't just here to clear things up with them, right?

"What else can I do? Leave the Tu Kingdom, of course." Jin'er snatched the wine cup from his hand and took a small sip for herself.

A trace of astonishment flashed across Shiyuan's calm, unrippled face. "But you are now the Crown Princess of the Tu Kingdom."

Jin'er slanted her gaze toward him and said, "Have you forgotten why I left Moyan?"

"Back then, you and Moyan weren't married after all, but now..." Shiyuan trailed off, his brow knitting tightly together. The mere thought of this unchangeable fact filled him with both hatred and pain. Had he known it would end up like this, he truly wouldn't have brought her along to rescue the Crown Prince!

"Being married or not is just a ceremony. As for Heling Feng, I've already left him a letter of divorce."

"What?!" Shiyuan's rigid face nearly cracked from shock. Did he hear that right? She divorced the Crown Prince?!

"As far as I know, only powerful women in the Shui Kingdom have the right to divorce their husbands. All other nations only allow men to divorce their wives."

Jin'er let out a soft scoff. "Why should only men be allowed to divorce their spouses? Men and women are both human beings; all people are created equal!"

"Equal?" Shiyuan managed a rare smile, though it was a bitter one. If they were truly equal, how could there be distinctions of nobility and inferiority? If they were truly equal, after the princess killed his family, how could the emperor have imprisoned him in return? Had it not been for Jin'er's intervention, he would have already perished in prison!

"I don't care about what others do. In my worldview, men and women ought to be equal. Therefore, regardless of whether they acknowledge my letter of divorce, I acknowledge it myself."

"I never imagined you could live so unrestrainedly." Though he didn't understand why she held such eccentric thoughts, he deeply admired her unique, untethered spirit. Compared to sheltered young ladies of noble families, demure maidens, or royal princesses, she truly stood out like a brilliant star in a pitch-black night sky.

"Human life only spans a few decades at best, and with no way of knowing if unexpected twists will disrupt the journey or if we'll smoothly live to old age, one must naturally live more spontaneously and happily. That is the only way to make a trip to this world worthwhile. If there is something you deeply desire, you must strive to fight for it; if it's something you dislike, simply say no. There is no need to wrong yourself."

Shiyuan silently watched the calm and collected Jin'er, chewing over her words in his heart. He found undeniable truth in them. Indeed, human life lasts only a few decades, and time slips away in the blink of an eye. If one wants something, one must strive to attain it; otherwise, one might truly live with lifelong regrets.

"What do you want most?" After a prolonged silence, he suddenly asked.

At this, Jin'er tilted her head, propping her chin in one hand as an involuntary image formed in her mind: herself draped in bright imperial yellow, reclining lazily on the dragon throne, with someone fanning her from behind, someone massaging her legs in front, and yet another person holding a plate of grapes, feeding them to her one by one. Upon closer inspection, the person feeding her grapes was none of other than Qingyue—haha!

"Jin'er? Jin'er?" Seeing Jin'er lost in a foolish grin to herself, Shiyuan couldn't help frowning and calling out softly.

"Hmm?" Snap out of her wonderful daydream by Shiyuan's voice, Jin'er hurriedly reined in her silly expression.

"Tell me. I will help you." A firm resolve laced Shiyuan's deep, sexy voice.

"Why would you want to help me?" Jin'er glanced at him sideways, bewildered.

"You saved my life earlier. Consider this repaying a debt of gratitude."

"Heh, forget it. We're friends, aren't we? What's all this talk about repaying debts?" Jin'er waved a hand with a smile.

"You should know how much I hate owing others. Therefore, I must repay this favor."

***

Jin'er's eye twitched as she was thoroughly subdued by his stubborn mule of a personality. Thinking back to how Moyan had once saved him when he was gravely injured—regardless of whether he needed it or not—he had stubbornly served as Moyan's personal guard for four solid years. What a hopelessly single-minded fellow!

"Spit it out. What do you want most, or what do you hope I can do for you?" Shiyuan pressed step by step.

"What I want most is probably something you can't help with anyway." Jin'er hesitated over whether she should tell him her dream was to become a female emperor.

"I will do everything in my power." Shiyuan's reply brooked no argument.

Jin'er pondered for a moment, deciding to temporarily withhold the matter of becoming empress. Besides, she genuinely couldn't think of anything specific for him to do, so she simply pouted and said, "How about you stay by my side as a bodyguard for four years, then."

Hearing this, Shiyuan started slightly, then casually picked up his cup to take a sip of wine, using the motion to mask the faint smile curving at the corner of his lips.

To be able to remain by her side was precisely what he wished for above all else.

Setting down the wine cup, Shiyuan had already regained his detached expression, nodding calmly in agreement.

"By the way, have your injuries healed?" Jin'er suddenly remembered how severely wounded he had been before and asked urgently.

"Mostly recovered."

"That's good, heh."

Once the conversation reached this point, both of them suddenly ran out of things to say, plunging back into silence...

Jin'er lowered her head, toying with her wine cup as she imagined what kind of state Heling Feng would be in tomorrow when he discovered she had gone.

Meanwhile, Shiyuan sat beside her, silently gazing at her, his lingering gaze unable to tear itself away.

It had been so long since he had looked at her this closely and carefully. Having not seen her for nearly a month, she seemed even more beautiful. The emotions he had previously suppressed now gradually unfurled within the quiet, lovely atmosphere, filling his gaze with a tangled, profound affection.

Back in the prison, he discovered that what occupied his thoughts the most wasn't how to take revenge on the princess, but her—Jin'er. He recalled the way she looked when he quietly guarded her in the past, reminisced about their time journeying together, her smiles, her cold elegance, her mischievousness, her resilience... Everything, absolutely everything, replayed continuously in his mind, completely beyond his control.

At that moment, he realized he had fallen hopelessly in love with her. When Qingyue was also arrested, an ominous premonition gripped his heart. Every day, aside from yearning for her, he worried about her; the longer the time dragged on, the more restless he became.

Just as he was finally released, he received the news that she had become the Crown Princess. In that instant, though he outwardly lacked Qingyue's heart-rending agony, his heart felt as though it had been shredded, plunging into an utter despair as if the heavens had collapsed.

Yet, fate had bestowed upon him such a staggering surprise. He could stay by her side once more. Even if it meant merely watching her silently and guarding her quietly, it was more than enough for him.