Next Time, Not Necessarily!

[The tall man forcibly twisted your head away from the beauty you had been staring at and toward them.]

[You said solemnly.]

["You two handsome fellows, you dragged me here for..."]

[The tall man snorted.]

["Didn't you hear everything? We need your help. Once it's done, you have to pretend nothing happened today!"]

[You asked tentatively.]

["She's a princess?"]

["Genuine, no fake!"]

["Will I still be alive after it's done?"]

[The short man sneered.]

["If you don't draw your blade to help, you won't even live through tonight!"]

[You were speechless.]

[Tonight, you had planned to draw your blade to help some courtesan girls.]

[Who would have thought you would still have to draw your blade, only for the target to become a princess of a nation!]

[Was this even right?]

["There's no other way?"]

[The tall man said.]

["Love Flower Poison can only be cured through indulgence. If there were any other way, would we give the princess to you so cheaply?"]

[The short man urged.]

["Enough nonsense! Saving her comes first! I'm telling you, you're not allowed to have any filthy thoughts! Treat yourself as a doctor—this is to save someone! My Spiritual Sense is locked onto you. The moment you show any filthy thoughts, I'll blow you apart!"]

[You were speechless again.]

[This was way too difficult.]

[How could you have no filthy thoughts while doing that kind of thing?]

[It was far too contradictory!]

["Enough idle chatter. You have one incense stick's worth of time. Old Ai, let's go!"]

[One incense stick? Who were they looking down on!]

[You sat upright and proper, looking at the woman suffering before you as you spoke with utmost seriousness.]

["Miss, I don't know whether you're truly a princess, but I don't think that's particularly important under the current circumstances.

What matters is that I was forced into this.

Tonight, I only wanted to come out for a stroll. I never expected your two guards to drag me here by force and assign me this task.

But I don't like forcing others. If you're unwilling, then at worst, I'll let your guards blow me to death.

Why should I fear death? My bottom line must never be crossed!"]

[At that moment, the scent of a supreme treasure you caught grew rich to the extreme.]

[Could the treasure be on this princess?]

[The princess answered you with her actions.]

["Mmm, mmm, mmm..."]

[Amid the bustle, you used "The Only True Prophet on the Scene" to inspect this princess's identity.]

[It was over. She was a bad person!]

[You reckoned that after her poison was cured, she would not let you off either.]

[That was the normal plot. She would definitely kill you to silence you!]

[Since death awaited you either way, you simply threw yourself into it completely.]

["Dragon Plays with Phoenix" began to exert its power.]

[The decisive battle lasted until dawn!]

[The first rays of morning light shone into the cave. You and the princess sat embracing each other atop the stone bed.]

[You now had two questions.]

[After the battle ended, you used "The Only True Prophet on the Scene" on the princess again, only to find that she was now a good person.]

[What did this change signify? It was so hard to guess.]

[The other question was that the two of you had already bared yourselves to each other, and you had even felt around her clothes, but there was nothing inside.]

[Where was the treasure?]

[Could it be inside her body?]

[After the princess woke, she talked with you about many things.]

[You learned that her name was Li Lingyue, and that the current emperor had bestowed upon her the title of Princess Baihua.]

[She had appeared here because she was passing through on her way to the Southern Border to marry into Dashiguo.]

[But she did not want to marry the Dashiguo King, that old, fat, ugly fellow.]

[So, halfway through the journey, she used a small trick to escape from the wedding procession.]

[Unfortunately, the two personal guards the Dagan Emperor had assigned her were both Spirit Condensation Realm experts, and she was still caught up with.]

[Princess Baihua refused to submit. Seeing a poisonous herb nearby, Heartbreak Grass, she pulled it up and ate it, intending to end her life.]

[Unexpectedly, she had mistaken the herb. It was not Heartbreak Grass, but Love Flower, which looked very similar to Heartbreak Grass.]

[What happened afterward was what had happened yesterday.]

"A princess sent to the Southern Border for a political marriage?"

Chen Yi remembered this.

During the second simulation, after Sun Cheng'en's border army was wiped out, the Dashiguo army swept straight in and occupied Suzhou by force.

The Dagan Emperor offered a political marriage and ceded territory, attempting to buy back peace.

So the princess sent away in marriage was the one before him.

"Truly the greatest beauty of the Five Domains. Even I can barely restrain myself, tsk tsk tsk..."

[Princess Baihua blinked her limpid, sparkling eyes at you.]

[She wanted to say something, but after thinking it over, she still did not speak.]

[You were a clever person too and guessed what she wanted to say.]

["Do you want me to take you away?"]

["But you're no match for Uncle Gao and Uncle Ai..."]

["Next time, not necessarily."]

[Your words left Princess Baihua completely baffled.]

[The voices of the two guards sounded from outside.]

["Princess, may we come in now?"]

[You and Princess Baihua put on your clothes and stood on opposite sides of the cave.]

["Come in."]

[The short guard entered and took a look at Baihua. Once he confirmed she was safe and sound, he threw a punch at you.]

["Stop!!"]

[All of Princess Baihua's former softness vanished, and her tone turned sharp.]

["Princess! You must not be softhearted like a woman! This concerns the royal family's honor. This boy absolutely cannot be spared!"]

[Princess Baihua sat on the crude stone bed, yet the majesty of one in high position faintly emanated from her.]

["The royal family's honor? Hmph! What honor does a royal family that trades women for peace have left? Hasn't it long since become the laughingstock of the world?"]

[The tall guard lowered his head and cupped his fists.]

["Princess, now is not the time to discuss politics. If this boy is not eliminated and today's disgrace spreads, your life will be in danger even in the Southern Border!"]

["Disgrace? What disgrace? Chen and I are in love with each other. How is that 'disgraceful'?"]

[You felt that Princess Baihua's presence was now fully unleashed. She was like a completely different person from the soft, delicate little woman she had been moments ago.]

[In the end, you picked up your life.]

[Princess Baihua forcibly protected you.]

[But you felt that you could not stay in this place.]

[Those two might agree to Princess Baihua's demands on the surface, but whether they would strike in secret was another matter.]

[Princess Baihua still had to continue on to her political marriage. When you parted, her eyes brimmed with tears, as though she had truly fallen in love with you.]

["After this parting, who knows when we will meet again..."]

["It won't be too long."]

[That was true for you. Wouldn't you see her again in the next simulation?]

[But for Princess Baihua, it would be a long lifetime after lifetime.]

[Year Seventeen, age thirty-four.]

[You replaced "Dragon Plays with Phoenix" with "Has Demonic Aura."]

[You replaced "The Only True Prophet on the Scene" with "Spider Senses."]

[You had finally reached the crucial turning point of this life.]

[From Dongchi Town, you traveled by winding routes to Hongtong County, Old Liu's hometown.]

["Myriad Souls Banner, here I come!"]

[Following the route from your memories, you arrived near the graves of Old Liu's family.]

[From afar, you saw Old Liu kneeling before a gravestone, weeping in mourning.]

["Father! Mother! Little sister!! You suffered so terribly!! This damned world!!"]

[As he wept, the grave suddenly exploded!]