“Crown Prince… Crown Prince!” Ju Ye hesitated to interrupt at first, but as the man’s expression grew increasingly off, she couldn’t hold back. “What’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell?”
Unwell?
No, the physical pain couldn’t compare to the agony piercing his heart.
Xiao Hanjin closed his eyes, concealing the storm within, and rasped hoarsely, “What else?”
Ju Ye blinked, caught off guard. “What… else?”
“When else did her emotions seem off?” He paused, then added, “Especially a month ago.”
“Oh!” Ju Ye nodded. “Last time, when the royal relatives went to the hunting grounds outside the capital, the princess went too. But after arriving, she suddenly decided to return. When I saw her, one of her feet was already stepping into the lake…”
Her words trailed off as she saw the man’s handsome face freeze.
Xiao Hanjin had suspected someone had sowed discord in front of her. If he found them, he’d tear them to pieces.
But…
The hunting grounds outside the capital.
Had she overheard his conversation with Mu Qingshuang?
It wasn’t someone else—it had been him all along.
Heh.
A low, hoarse laugh escaped his throat, laced with self-mockery and desolation.
“Pfft…”
Suddenly, a mouthful of blood sprayed from his lips.
Ju Ye cried out in alarm, “Crown Prince!”
…
Xiao Hanjin slipped into unconsciousness again.
The accompanying imperial physician diagnosed it as unhealed injuries compounded by a rush of grief and anger.
Mu Qingshuang gnashed her teeth in frustration, while Fan Jiang, helpless, had the physician prescribe calming tonics to keep the Crown Prince asleep longer.
Beneath the cliff, there was still no trace of Di Rong Hua.
Everyone assumed that once he awoke, even if he continued the search, he wouldn’t neglect the court. After all, he’d just seized the throne from his father, with a mountain of affairs awaiting him—his coronation hadn’t even been held.
Yet when he woke, he stubbornly stayed.
No amount of persuasion swayed him. At first, he’d listen to a few pleas before sending people away; later, he had dissenters dragged out and beaten, until fewer and fewer dared broach the subject.
The search stretched on for half a year.
All major affairs from the capital were sent to him here. With his pre-arranged proxies in place, no chaos erupted there.
But six months later, they found a body.
One corpse, two lives.
Xiao Hanjin stared at the remains, bloated from water and weathered by sun, unrecognizable save for the faintly familiar red attire—and the fact that it, too, carried two lives.
He held the body and sat by the shore for three full days.
Fan Jiang fretted endlessly, Mu Qingshuang lingered nearby watching him, and ministers tried to approach with counsel, but he ignored them all.
For those three days, everyone thought the Crown Prince might lose his mind.
Yet after three days, he stood, his expression icy and devoid of emotion.
Xiao Hanjin returned to the capital with the body, but strangely, he didn’t recall the search teams. He left them in place.
As if… Di Rong Hua hadn’t died.
“Rong Rong.”
A nine-tailed fox, curled into a tiny ball beside her, gazed at the distant search party now free of Xiao Hanjin’s presence. It let out a breath—half relief, half wistful loss. “Now that he’s gone, this city should return to normal traffic.”
