I died tragically in my previous life, and I want to be an empress in my next life

The moonlight was like water, gently sprinkling on the bluestone path of the Plum Garden. Xuanyuan Che walked lightly, and every step seemed to be weighing the expectations and anxieties in his heart. He was wearing a black robe, and his sleeves fluttered in the wind, like a gentleman walking out of an ink painting.

He knocked on the door. Although the sound was light, it was particularly clear in this quiet night. Pei Zhiyan was lying on the bed, her heart was already surging. She got up and gently opened the door. The moonlight poured in from outside, reflecting in her watery eyes.

Xuanyuan Che moved sideways and slipped in, bringing up a breeze mixed with the faint scent of plum blossoms.

He walked up to Pei Zhiyan and stared at her. Her face looked even more beautiful and refined in the moonlight, and her eyes were like the brightest stars in the night sky, flashing with a firm light.

Xuanyuan Che stared at her, his eyes full of tenderness, and smiled slightly, "Yan'er, you know how worried I am about you."

Pei Zhiyan raised her head, looked at him, smiled silently, walked to the table, picked up the teapot, and poured him a cup of hot tea.

Xuanyuan Che took the teacup, took a sip, and felt the fragrance of tea spreading on his tongue. He put down the teacup and asked softly, "I heard that you just came back from the White Horse Temple. Are you okay?"

Pei Zhiyan nodded slightly, a faint smile on her lips, "I'm fine."

She knew that Xuanyuan Che returned to Beijing overnight and went into the mountains to look for her, although he was a step late and only found Princess Yongtai.

But she knew that he went into the mountains for her.

"I'm glad you're okay." He said softly.

Xuanyuan Che turned around and faced Pei Zhiyan, with a complex emotion flashing in his eyes. He hesitated for a moment, and finally spoke, with a barely perceptible tremor in his voice, "Do you know what happened to Yongtai?"

Pei Zhiyan frowned in a puzzled manner, with a trace of confusion in her eyes, "Princess Yongtai? Isn't she in the palace?"

Xuanyuan Che was silent for a while, as if he was weighing how to speak. Finally, he took a deep breath and said, "She was found in a dilapidated house in the deep mountains behind the White Horse Temple."

Pei Zhiyan pretended to be surprised, "How is this possible? How could Princess Yongtai appear there?"

Xuanyuan Che stared at Pei Zhiyan, trying to read something from her expression. He knew that she was not really ignorant, but she chose to play dumb. He felt helpless, but he could do nothing about it.

"How did you get out of that mountain?" Xuanyuan Che suddenly asked, with a hint of urgency in his tone. The doubts in his mind were like a tangled mess, and he was eager to find the answer.

"Me? I just lost my way." Pei Zhiyan picked up the teacup, took a sip, and said lightly, "After dawn, I found the way to the White Horse Temple."

Xuanyuan Che frowned. He didn't believe Pei Zhiyan's simple answer. He knew her intelligence, so how could she get lost in the mountains so easily? Moreover, what happened to Yongtai's appearance? Was all this just a coincidence?

"Why did Yongtai appear there? Is it just a coincidence?" Xuanyuan Che asked again, his eyes sharp as torches, going straight into Pei Zhiyan's heart.

Pei Zhiyan put down the teacup and played with it calmly. Her eyes revealed a calmness and composure, as if all the turmoil had nothing to do with her. "You have to ask her about this."

"Do you know what happened to her in the mountains?" Xuanyuan Che's eyes flashed with pain, "Why? Why did you do this to her?"

Xuanyuan Che stared at Pei Zhiyan's eyes, trying to read more information from her expression. His heart was full of doubts and pain. He didn't understand why Pei Zhiyan treated Yongtai like this.

Before coming here, Xuanyuan Che had imagined thousands of possibilities in his mind. He hoped that this matter had nothing to do with Pei Zhiyan. However, now he has realized that Yongtai’s incident and Pei Zhiyan’s disappearance are definitely not a coincidence.

Pei Zhiyan raised her head and met his gaze, with a barely perceptible hint of sarcasm in her tone, "Are you questioning me?"

Xuanyuan Che did not answer, his eyes were fixed on her face.

Pei Zhiyan looked at Xuanyuan Che. She knew the doubts and pain in his heart, but wasn’t all this Princess Yongtai’s own fault?

She said calmly, "You see her current state and come to question me. Do you know that if I don't resist, perhaps I will be worse off than her."

Xuanyuan Che felt a pain in his heart. Of course he didn't want anything to happen to Pei Zhiyan, but Yongtai was also his sister, and he didn't want anything to happen to her either.

"She is my sister." Xuanyuan Che whispered, his voice revealing deep helplessness and struggle, "Why do you have to be so decisive?!"

"I am so decisive? If I hadn't been lucky, I would be the one ending up in this situation today! Just because she is your sister, you can do whatever you want?" Pei Zhiyan's voice trembled with anger and disappointment.

"Last time, she tried to have someone slander me, but I escaped." Pei Zhiyan continued, "I didn't argue with her for your sake, but what was the result?"

"She has not changed her bad habits and is trying to use the same trick on me. I am just giving her a taste of her own medicine."

There was helplessness and disappointment in her voice. She once thought that Xuanyuan Che would stand by her side, support her, and understand her. However, now she found that he was also troubled by Princess Yongtai and could not make a fair judgment.

"If she was just an ordinary woman who had nothing to do with you, would you still come to question me?" Pei Zhiyan said coldly.

Xuanyuan Che lowered his head, frowned, and complex emotions surged in his heart.

"I've said before, I won't offend anyone unless they offend me. If someone offends me, I will kill them." Pei Zhiyan said calmly, "I gave her a chance, but she tried to kill me again! Don't blame me for being cruel!"

"No matter who you are, you must pay the price for your actions!"

"Why don't you leave this matter to me?" Xuanyuan Che's voice revealed a deep sense of powerlessness.

On one side is the person he loves, and on the other side is his own sister whom he has loved since childhood. He hopes to resolve the misunderstandings and conflicts between them.

Last time in the palace, Yongtai clearly promised herself that she would let go of her hatred and live a good life. Why did she do such a thing?

"Leave it to you to handle? The last time the matter was left to you to handle, how did you handle it?" Pei Zhiyan asked.

Xuanyuan Che was speechless. He thought he had handled the situation well last time, but in fact he was just trying to smooth things over. If he had truly resolved the conflict between the two of them last time, perhaps this tragedy would not have happened.