Lin Qingzhi took a deep breath, mustering her do-or-die determination, and said in a low voice.

"Then I’ll have to trouble Mr. Liang to pass on a message. Just say that I have a sachet the Fourth Prince carelessly lost. If I were to take that sachet out and tell people the Fourth Prince gave it to me, I wonder what they would think?"

At these words, the smile on Liang Yong’s face vanished instantly.

He stared grimly at the woman before him and sneered.

"Are you threatening the Fourth Prince, Concubine?"

Lin Qingzhi’s fingertips were trembling with nervousness, but she forced her expression to remain calm.

"I have no other choice. If I had any other option, I wouldn’t have resorted to this."

Liang Yong took a step forward, demanding, "When did you steal the Fourth Prince’s sachet?"

Lin Qingzhi instinctively took a step back and said defensively.

"What are you talking about, Mr. Liang? I just happened to pick up a sachet the Fourth Prince dropped. How can you call that stealing?"

Liang Yong had no more patience for her nonsense. He lunged, grabbing her by the neck with lightning speed, and demanded coldly.

"Where did you hide the sachet? Hand it over if you don’t want to die!"

Lin Qingzhi struggled to breathe, her face turning redder by the second.

But she remained stubborn.

"I don’t have the sachet with me. It’s useless even if you kill me now. When I’m dead, someone will come to collect my belongings and they’ll definitely find it. Then it will be even harder for your Fourth Prince to explain himself."

Liang Yong’s eyes narrowed.

He hadn’t expected this woman to be so cunning. For a moment, he genuinely considered killing her.

Lin Qingzhi knew her life hung in the balance.

She fought through the pain of suffocation and said with difficulty.

"I’m not asking for much. I just need the Fourth Prince to help me out of my current predicament. Just don’t let me be sent to the nunnery."

Liang Yong stared at her for a moment before finally releasing his grip.

Lin Qingzhi slumped weakly to the ground, gasping for air, her heart pounding wildly.

She knew she had escaped death—for now.

Liang Yong looked down on her and said coldly.

"I will report this to the Fourth Prince. The final decision will be up to him."

Clutching her throat, Lin Qingzhi said in a hoarse voice, "Thank you, Mr. Liang."

She paused, then continued.

"Although I don’t know why Princess Anshun didn’t miscarry, I do know a few other things.

For example, the Xiliang Delegation. They’ve come to the capital this time to propose a marriage alliance with Great Zhou. They want Xiliang’s Princess Longzhu to marry the Saint."

Seeing how detailed and convincing she sounded, as if it were fact, Liang Yong silently committed this to memory.

After returning to the Imperial Palace, Liang Yong relayed every word Lin Qingzhi had said to the Fourth Prince.

Li Ying was also a little surprised. He hadn’t expected that woman, Lin Qingzhi, to have another trick up her sleeve.

He was indeed missing a sachet. He originally thought he had accidentally dropped it while being bullied by the Second Prince and Fifth Prince.

Now, it seemed that wasn’t the case.

Li Ying thought back for a moment and quickly remembered.

Back at the Yu Yang Restaurant, Lin Qingzhi had feigned a pitiful and helpless look, kneeling on the ground and pressing her face against his leg.

She must have stolen the sachet then, when he wasn’t paying attention.

Li Ying sneered, "It seems I underestimated her."

Liang Yong asked in a low voice, "Shall this servant send someone to dispose of her quietly?"

Although the sachet was a bit tricky, it could probably still be found with a little more effort.

Li Ying said, "Don’t kill her yet. Find a way to stage an accident, lock her up in secret, and tell the world she’s dead."

Didn’t Lin Qingzhi want to escape her current predicament?

He would grant her wish.

As long as the person named Lin Qingzhi no longer existed in this world, she would naturally be free of all her current troubles.

As for what identity she would live under in the future?

’That will depend on how much use she is to me.’

...

Two days later, the concubines of the Crown Prince Mansion were packed up and sent to a nunnery outside the city.

Who would have known that along the way, the horse of one of the carriages suddenly went mad, bolting forward recklessly.

The people around couldn’t stop it and could only watch helplessly as the carriage galloped further and further away.

By the time they frantically caught up, they found the carriage had plunged off a cliff. They only found some fragments of the carriage at the cliff’s edge.

The guards rushed over when they heard the news. After taking a long detour, they finally reached the bottom of the cliff.

They found the wreckage of the carriage and the body of a woman, smashed to smithereens and completely unrecognizable.

From the body’s build and clothing, they concluded that this person was Lin Liangyuan.

Lin Liangyuan’s remains were taken back by the guards, cremated, and her ashes were sent to the nunnery.

The Crown Princess Consort sent a message to Lin Liangyuan’s family, telling them to come and collect her ashes.

From that day on, the woman named Lin Qingzhi no longer existed in this world.

But in the basement of a certain courtyard, there was a new addition—a terrified woman.

Lin Qingzhi still hadn’t recovered from the terror of the out-of-control carriage.

She looked at Liang Yong, who had appeared before her, and asked in a trembling voice.

"Wh-why did you bring me here?"

Liang Yong smiled. "Weren’t you the one who asked for our help? Now your wish has been granted. You no longer have to suffer at the nunnery. You should be satisfied."

Lin Qingzhi knew she had just gone out of the frying pan and into the fire. Her heart was filled with dread.

’What should I do?’

...

During this period, Hua Manman was often out and about.

One day she would go to Anshun King’s Blessing, the next she would return to the Zhong’an Bo Mansion. When she had free time, she would even take Feihua Zhenren to her country estate for a couple of days.

Even with Prince Zhao away from home, she still managed to live a lively and bustling life.

It wasn’t until a month later that Prince Zhao returned to Shangjing.

Returning with him was the delegation from Xiliang.

Their arrival in the capital drew a large crowd of onlookers from among the common people.

For many, it was their first time seeing people from Xiliang. Everyone craned their necks, eager to see what the Xiliang people looked like.

The physical differences between the Xiliang people and the Great Zhou people were quite significant.

Compared to the people of Great Zhou, the Xiliang people had more deep-set and defined features. Their eyes were mostly emerald green, with a few being light brown, and their hair was wavy and curly.

The common folk of Great Zhou had never seen people with green eyes before and found it quite novel.

The one who attracted the most attention, naturally, was Princess Longzhu, who was seated in a carriage.

Someone whispered in the crowd.

"I heard Princess Longzhu is the number one beauty of Xiliang, known as the Desert Pearl."

"She must be gorgeous then!"

"I really want to see what she looks like!"

...

As if sensing the eager anticipation of Shangjing’s people, Princess Longzhu extended a slender, delicate hand and lifted a corner of the carriage curtain.

Although her face was covered by a veil, revealing only her eyes.

But the crowd was still captivated by her beautiful gaze.

’She really is a great beauty!’

Princess Longzhu paid no heed to the crowd’s ardent gazes. Her eyes remained fixed on the man at the very front.

That was Prince Zhao of the Great Zhou Dynasty, the man who was the War God in everyone’s hearts.