TGP Chapter 43.1: Double Seventh Festival

“Time has not only changed the Crown Prince, but you and I as well.”

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When Pei Wenxuan heard what Li Rong said, he saw that Li Rong’s expression looked a bit unusual. He looked at Li Rong from head to toe and couldn’t help but ask: “What’s wrong with you? Did you get bullied in the palace?”

“What are you thinking about all of sudden?” Li Rong used her fan to knock Pei Wenxuan upside the head, then she turned around and said: “Let’s go.”

The carriage was waiting outside the palace gates. Pei Wenxuan chased after Li Rong and held the umbrella over her head, a little unhappy as he said: “If you want to say something, then just say it. What are you hitting me on the head for?”

“I wanted to.”

Li Rong cast him a sideways glance, making Pei Wenxuan feel a little frustrated: “I’ve discovered that you’re very good to others, but why do you always use your hands and fists with me? Your Highness, you ought to fix this habit at once.”

“If something is wrong, one should take a look at themselves first,” When Li Rong heard Pei Wenxuan’s complaint, for reasons unknown, she felt that her emotions just now had gradually subsided, and she was now only thinking about how to tease the other person, so she decided to preach to Pei Wenxuan on the matter as she got into the carriage: “Think about why I don’t trouble others, yet I will only find you to trouble.”

“Ahh, this is something I know too well,” Pei Wenxuan sighed. The two of them sat down in the carriage. Pei Wenxuan folded up the umbrella, and as Li Rong poured tea for herself, she heard Pei Wenxuan helplessly say, “I can only blame myself for being so dearly loved by others, Your Highness cannot help it, the heart wants what it wants.”

Li Rong almost spat out a mouthful of tea that she had just taken. She stopped in time and burst into an involuntary coughing fit as the tea went down the wrong way.

Pei Wenxuan saw her coughing so much and did not continue to joke around anymore. He hurriedly leaned over and gently patted her on the back: “Don’t drink tea the next time we’re in the middle of a conversation.”

Li Rong looked up and glared at him with a pair of beautiful eyes, tinged with a bit of watery translucence of tears from coughing so hard, causing her to suddenly lose her usual imposing aura like a vast body of water in autumn. Seeing that look of anger and annoyance, Pei Wenxuan suddenly felt a shiver of excitement spread all the way from the bottom of his heart to his fingertips. With the touch of the gentle warmth of skin beneath his hand, the sensation returned once again, traveling back and forth and numbing half the bones in his body, his state of mind left shaken.

Li Rong slowly recovered from her coughing fit and saw Pei Wenxuan staring at her in a daze for some reason. She couldn’t help but prod at Pei Wenxuan with her fan and suspiciously asked: “What are you looking at?”

Pei Wenxuan returned to his senses in an instant. He calmly straightened up and sat down a bit further away from Li Rong, then he smiled and said: “Nothing really, I just remembered something. Oh right,” Pei Wenxuan changed the subject, “What were you doing just standing there in a daze at the palace gates just now?”

Li Rong only smiled when she heard his question and said: “I asked Mother Empress a bit about the banquet in the palace today, and she said it was something Consort Rou had proposed to His Majesty. I’d venture a guess and say that Consort Rou wants to ask for a marriage decree at the palace banquet.”

“You were so worried over just that one little thing?” Pei Wenxuan didn’t seem to believe it and looked at her from head to toe, “It’s not like you at all.”

Li Rong was too lazy to take the bait and react. She brought out a Go playing set from the side and only said: “It’s getting boring on the road. Let’s play a game.”

Since Li Rong extended the invitation, Pei Wenxuan also gladly accepted, taking a seat across from her and picked up a playing piece. She took the black pieces while he simultaneously took white, and so the game began.

The black and white pieces criss-crossed on the grid. Li Rong looked at the Go board, her state of mind slowly calmed down. Whether it was happiness or sorrow, it all seemed to become very distant. It was only until then that Li Rong spoke up: “Speaking of which, there is something I still find quite strange.”

“Hm?”

“How did Chuan’er end up that way in the previous life?”

Li Rong slowly began to say: “He became Emperor and unified the northern frontier as well. He even eradicated the aristocratic families. He got everything he wanted,” Li Rong looked up at Pei Wenxuan, “Then why was he still living in such misery?”

Pei Wenxuan said nothing. Li Rong frowned: “Was it because of Qin Zhenzhen’s death? If you love someone, would you still yearn for them after all that time?”

“Does Your Highness know why His Majesty was determined to unify the northern frontier?”

Pei Wenxuan’s eyes were fixated on the Go board as he asked this one and only question. Li Rong thought about it: “Because there is unrest at the northern border every year and people are suffering?”

“Of course, this was the main reason,” Pei Wenxuan smiled. He glanced over at Li Rong and simply asked, “But what else?” 

Li Rong shook her head: “He didn’t say anything else about it to me.”

“One year, I was drinking with His Highness the Crown Prince, and he once told me that in the eighth year of Xuanzhi, the northern frontier and Great Xia could not reach a deal with one another. The aristocratic families sought peace talks for the sake of stability and chose to negotiate for peace. Therefore, Princess Yunyan went to the northern frontier for a diplomatic marriage. Great Xia gave twenty million taels of silver, five hundred beauties as well as livestock and horses and bolts of silks. A year later, Princess Yunyan died on the northern frontier. His Majesty declared to the outside world that she had died of illness, but the people in the palace all knew that Princess Yunyan died in the harem of the Rong State.”

“His Highness told me that you were too scared to go to sleep that night. You had been asking the Empress if there would be a day when you would be like Princess Yunyan, married off to the northern frontier and die there, never to return.”

Li Rong’s eyelashes slightly trembled, but her tone of voice was flat: “I don’t remember.”

“But His Highness remembers it well. From that moment onwards, His Highness told himself that one day, he will surely lead an expedition north and make those barbarians pay and bow their heads, not daring to commit such crimes again.”

“I didn’t even know about that…” Li Rong softly chuckled, “So it turns out he already had the northern expedition in mind long ago.”

“Hence, His Highness the Crown is different from you,” Pei Wenxuan’s pieces surrounded Li Rong’s on the Go board. He lifted the playing piece in his hand and slowly said, “All the things he wanted to possess and the things he wanted to do in the imperial court mostly stemmed from a few sentimental feelings in his heart. He wanted to advance the northern expedition to protect his people and loved ones. He fought against the aristocratic families to ensure that what he wants done can be done. However, in the end, he seemed to have achieved his goals in the imperial court, but he had also lost everything he originally wanted. How could he still be happy?”

“Having lost Qin Zhenzhen?” Li Rong let out a wry laugh.

“He lost you, lost his Mother Empress, lost his wife and lost sight of himself. Even if he does sit high above, overlooking the mountains and rivers, it means nothing to His Imperial Highness.”

“He can’t find a way forward, and there is no turning back either. If you still don’t understand this, you will never be able to understand His Imperial Highness.”

Li Rong didn’t say anything. She quietly looked at Pei Wenxuan: “What was that part about losing me?”

Pei Wenxuan brought his eyes up to meet Li Rong’s gaze, looking straight at Li Rong.

“Your Highness,” He smiled helplessly, “His Highness the Crown Prince is not the only one who has changed over the years.”

Li Rong was stunned. Pei Wenxuan lowered his gaze and indifferently said: “You and I have changed as well.”

Li Rong was silent, her face calm as if Pei Wenxuan’s words had no effect on her. She serenely set down a playing piece, then reached out to pick up her tea, but the moment she touched that cup of tea, she found that her hand was involuntarily shaking.

Pei Wenxuan pretended not to see it as he looked at the Go board with a leisurely expression.

He studied the game for a moment before lifting his hand, his wide sleeves brushing the table as he placed another piece onto the board.

“Those that have forsaken us cannot remain, and what happened in the past is already in the past.”

“Your Highness,” Pei Wenxuan looked up at her with a trace of amusement in his eyes: “It doesn’t matter if this round is lost, let’s play another round, shall we?”

Li Rong did not answer. After a while, she laughed and slammed a piece onto the board with a “bang.”

In an instant, Pei Wenxuan lost more than half of his territory.

Li Rong looked at the Go board and began picking up the pieces, putting them back into the box as she looked at Pei Wenxuan with a smile and said, “You’re the one who lost, not Bengong here.”

Pei Wenxuan wordlessly looked at the Go board.

Actually, he could see that Li Rong’s hand was slightly trembling. He knew all too well that when someone like her reached a certain point, she would use another means to try and suppress her emotions at all costs. That was a result of her pride, and it was also her sense of self-esteem.

He could not bear to pierce through that facade, so he pretended to react in a certain way, acting startled as he said: “You purposely tricked me into talking just now?”

Li Rong saw Pei Wenxuan’s dumbfounded expression and suddenly burst into laughter, cheerfully saying: “All is fair in war. How could I have won today if I didn’t get you talking for a bit?”

“Sure enough, only the hearts of women and wicked people are difficult to change,” Pei Wenxuan tucked his hands away into his sleeves and shook his head, “I have learned my lesson today. I won’t be talking to you the next time we play Go.”

“Don’t be like that,” Li Rong said with a big grin: “You have to talk to me some more. I’d love to hear it.”

Pei Wenxuan revealed an expression of disgust and sat off to the side, no longer paying any attention to Li Rong.

He and Li Rong began mocking one another, and there was nothing that hadn’t been said by the time they arrived at the Princess’s mansion. After getting off the carriage, Li Rong went back to their room while Pei Wenxuan went to finish up a few things before he could return home. When he reached the doors, he saw Jing Mei and Jing Lan standing there, so he waved Jing Mei over, and Jing Mei came over with a bit of an uncertain expression. Pei Wenxuan lowered his voice and said: “Did Her Highness have a fight with the Crown Prince in the palace today?”

“There was nothing like that,” Jing Mei shook her head and truthfully answered: “They just talked for a bit. It seems that His Highness the Crown Prince doesn’t want to marry any Side Consorts. Her Highness wasn’t too happy after their conversation, so please comfort her.”

Having said that, Jing Mei gave a few more meaningful looks: “Her Highness is usually much happier after talking with the Prince Consort every time.”

Pei Wenxuan smiled and didn’t say much other than adding: “Don’t tell Her Highness I asked you about this.”

“This servant understands, the Prince Consort does not want his concerns to be known.”

Pei Wenxuan was a little embarrassed when Jing Mei said it like that. He let out a slight cough and waved his hand: “Don’t make trouble, you’re dismissed.”

Jing Mei pursed her lips, hiding a small smile as she returned to her original post. When Pei Wenxuan pushed the door in, Li Rong was already asleep. After washing up in the dark, he went back over to the bed.

He laid in bed for a while until he heard Li Rong ask in a faint voice: “Are you just going to sleep now?”

Pei Wenxuan responded with a low hum of acknowledgement in the dark of night. Li Rong had been sleeping with another blanket with her back facing him. The outline of her figure looked so thin from behind, and her entire person never looked so small.

Actually, the moment Jing Mei said it, Pei Wenxuan could roughly guess what Li Rong had talked about with Li Chuan. He knew the weight of Li Chuan’s affairs in Li Rong’s heart, and he also knew Li Rong’s temper. Through their conversation today, Li Rong must be thinking back on Li Chuan’s previous life, presumably not too happy about it.

His intuition told him that he should console Li Rong, but he didn’t know what to console her about. Li Rong was the kind of person who liked to cover it up and keep it to herself if she was feeling sad or deeply hurt, not letting anyone know the slightest. If he were to just talk about it, she would be angry and humiliated, which would do more harm than good.

But if he didn’t say a word…

Then again, he also felt that in this life, Li Rong seemed no different from herself in the previous life. Whether he was there or not, Li Rong had to go through all the pain and loss by herself.

When he thought about it that way, he felt that he was a little unkind.

Although Li Rong can be a little arrogant, she was actually well-intentioned and treated him well. He accepted Li Rong’s kindness, so he should look after her a little more.

So he thought about it for a moment, and finally spoke up a little awkwardly: “Your Highness.”

“Hm?”

“Are you happy that I came to pick you up today?”

In the dark, Li Rong slowly opened her eyes.

She thought of some things to poke fun at him, then she suddenly remembered the moment he came in spite of the wind and rain and stood behind her to give her that sense of warmth. For a while, she opened her mouth, but no words came out. She could only quietly say: “It was alright.”

Pei Wenxuan laughed. He pushed himself up onto his side and cheerfully said: “Then from now on, I’ll go and pick you up every time you go out. That way, you will have someone to keep you company on your way back, so you won’t feel bored either.”

When Li Rong heard that, she turned over and looked at Pei Wenxuan seriously.

“Pei Wenxuan,” She stared intently at him, “Tell me the truth.”

“Ah?”

“Are you asking for money again?”

Pei Wenxuan saw the seriousness in Li Rong’s eyes and was at a loss for words for some time. He felt that his good intentions had not only been reduced to nothing but also misunderstood. He simply turned over on his side and pulled the blanket over himself, muttering: “And so the dog bites Lu Dongbin.”^[3]

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[3] Unable to recognize goodness and repay that kindness

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Li Rong was very happy to hear this. She laid flat on the bed, and after some time, she stretched out a leg and gave Pei Wenxuan a kick: “In the future, before you and I go our separate ways, you have to come and pick me up every day, hear that?”

“Not going.”

Pei Wenxuan closed his eyes and said: “Sleep, anything is possible in your dreams.”

Li Rong knew that he was sulking and didn’t take the bait. She just smiled to herself and went to sleep.

As she was lying in bed, she felt a lot happier for some reason. She felt that no matter how bad things had been in the previous life, it seemed that it could all change.

Even this dog bandit Pei Wenxuan could say such nice things to her. What else is there that can’t be changed?

Li Rong closed her eyes and fell asleep with a smile.

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Autumn: 《Body Swap》Don’t Be a Favored Concubine won’t be released until mid-January. This was only meant as a teaser. There is also a new release schedule!

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