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Ji Yunkai was Ji Yunkai after all, and so, even if she was greedy for the warmth of Xiao Jiu'an's hand, she did not lose herself in it.

It was best to maintain a distance between them. Xiao Jiu'an's charm was too great, and she could not afford to bet on it.

Ji Yunkai stopped by the side of the carriage and hesitated on whether or not she should get in until she heard Xiao Jiu'an say, "What are you standing there in a daze for? Hurry and help the Princess Consort get in the carriage."

A maidservant came to help her get in the carriage and Ji Yunkai could only sigh. After working hard for what felt like dozens of years, she had finally returned to the days from before.

No matter how impressive she was outside, she would always return to her original form once she was in front of Xiao Jiu'an. She was still that Ji Yunkai who did not have any autonomy over herself.

Xiao Jiu'an occupied more than half of the seats, and so, after she got in the carriage, she quietly found a corner to sit. She lowered her eyes to cover the defensiveness and irritation swimming in them.

"What happened in the Grand Princess Mansion?" When the carriage started to move, Xiao Jiu'an's voice broke the silence. Ji Yunkai was stunned for a while before reacting; Xiao Jiu'an was talking to her.

Ji Yunkai did not have any intention to help the Emperor hide anything, and she straightforwardly said, "The Emperor wanted to have my innocence snatched away by others."

"Seize your innocence? To make you work for him in the future?" Xiao Jiu'an sized Ji Yunkai up and immediately understood what the Emperor had planned.

What could be more important to a woman than losing her innocence?

If the Emperor had caught hold of Ji Yunkai's weakness, Ji Yunkai would obediently serve him.

"Yes." Ji Yunkai did not tell Xiao Jiu'an that the Emperor not only wanted to catch hold of her weakness but also her heart as well to make her wholeheartedly work for the Emperor.

"The Emperor is naive. How could a woman like you be controlled by others just because of lust?" Ji Yunkai was different from all the women he knew. She was not as naive and stupid as his mother, nor was she as capable and astute as the

Old Prince Yanbei's Wife, nor was she as scheming and ambitious as Shiqing. Ji Yunkai had brains, capabilities, and methods, but she was more rational.

She knew what she was doing and what was best for her. Such a woman was very interesting.

"Your Highness is right." How could a woman like her lose her heart because of lust? The Emperor was indeed naive.

Xiao Jiu'an stared at the top of Ji Yunkai's head. After a while, he said with a heavy tone, "Ji Yunkai, don't play tricks behind This King's back. Once This King knows that you have betrayed This King, This King will make you feel worse than death."

A woman like Ji Yunkai, who could see through things too clearly, was too calm, and was too selfish… He could not wholeheartedly trust Ji Yunkai, but at the current stage, he still had to use her.

"I and Your Highness share life and death. So, how could I betray Your Highness?" Ji Yunkai did not know what Xiao Jiu'an meant by this, but she raised her head and looked directly into his eyes.

Some people said that the eyes were the windows to the soul and that the eyes never lie, but she did not think so. Sometimes, they were able to deceive.

However, she was not lying at the moment, and everything she said was true. As long as she and Xiao Jiu'an were husband and wife, she would not betray Xiao Jiu'an.

Xiao Jiu'an's downfall did her no good.

She was a woman who always protected herself first. No matter how much Xiao Jiu'an displeased her, for the sake of her life, she will lower her head.

"Together in life and death? You truly are afraid of death." Xiao Jiu'an mocked.

He had never seen anyone who was more afraid of death than Ji Yunkai, and of course, he had never seen anyone who was more truly willing to face it like Ji Yunkai. She had always avoided the matter of her being afraid of death, but unlike most people, her legs would go limp from her fear of death.

She was a person, who held such a fear of death, yet was more fearless than anyone when it came to life and death situations. This was truly a contradiction!

However, he was not in the mood to investigate, as women were troublesome for him.

"Prince, what you said is not right. I am not afraid of death; I am just cherishing my life." I'm not afraid of death; I just don't want to make meaningless sacrifices." She was selfish. She would not give her life to others.

As long as there was a sliver of hope, she would be able to live; otherwise... She would not be able to survive.

This was her pride. When she should be proud, she would not be proud. When she should not be proud, she would be prouder than anyone else.

"I don't care..."

*Bam!*

The carriage was suddenly hit, and it released a loud sound that interrupted Xiao Jiu'an's words.

"Ahh...!" As a result of her inertia, Ji Yunkai fell forward. Just as she was about to roll out of the carriage, she was held by a familiar big hand at a critical moment.

"Prince?" Half of Ji Yunkai's body came out of the carriage, and she turned to see Xiao Jiu'an holding onto her. She was stunned for a good while and was unable to recover from her shock.

No one was around, so Xiao Jiu'an did not need to put on an act.

"Stupid woman." Xiao Jiu'an's wrist moved, pulling Ji Yunkai back into the carriage. Without even looking at her, he walked past her and got off the carriage and said, "What happened?"

"Your Highness, it was... it was the people behind us who ran into our carriage."

*Putong!* The coachman was so scared that his face turned pale and he kneeled on the ground, trembling.

The coachman behind them did not seem to notice that he had hit another carriage. Not only did he not come down to check, he even shouted, "The carriage in front … What are you doing there? Get out of the way! Did you hear that? I told you to get out of the way! If you don't get out of the way, I'll directly crash into you! I won't be responsible for anyone's death!"

"Get out of the way? You want This King to give way for you? " Xiao Jiu'an originally thought that he was an assassin, but who would have thought that an idiot would crash into his carriage and try to make him give way?

They were quite bold.

"A prince? You... you are... which palace's prince?" When the coachman from behind heard this, he was so frightened that he immediately scrambled down from the carriage. However, when he looked left and right, he could not recognize the insignia on the carriage to tell which prince's house it was.

"Have you heard of Prince Yanbei's Mansion?" Prince Yanbei's Guards knew that their Prince was unhappy, and they quickly went to deal with the matter.

No one can blame the guards for being so slow.

Never in their wildest dreams did they ever think that this was just a matter of a mere carriage being hit. They thought someone was trying to kill their Prince.

Therefore, their first reaction was not to settle the dispute but to protect the Prince.

"P-Prince Yanbei's Mansion?" This time, not only the coachman but even the maidservants' faces turned pale with fright and they all kneeled.

Out of all the princes' carriages, why did they bump into his? How could they crash into Prince Yanbei's Mansion's carriage?