With her deceased husband as her dowry, would Your Highness dare to marry her?

As dusk fell, Pei Jinxuan went to Liufang Garden. He had just entered through the crescent-shaped gate when he saw Suwen carrying a red lacquered food tray out. He glanced at the food on the tray; it was untouched.

Seeing that his gaze was fixed on the cold rice porridge, Suwen said in a low voice, "My wife doesn't have a good appetite today."

"understood."

Pei Jinxuan nodded and walked straight into the room. He lifted the curtain and looked around. There was only one lamp lit in the main room. The small flame flickered on the wick, making the surrounding shadows sway. It was lifeless.

Pei Jinxuan sighed, picked up the tinderbox and lit the lamps in the main room one by one. When he lit the last lamp, a figure suddenly appeared beside him, silently, as if it had seeped out of the ground.

Pei Jinxuan's heart skipped a beat. He lit a lamp and shone it on Lin Ci, who quickly covered her face with her sleeve and turned her head away.

Pei Jinxuan blew out the candle in his hand with a "whoosh".

Lin Ci slowly lowered her wide sleeves, revealing a beautiful face that seemed to evoke pity.

She had just cried; her eyes were red at the corners, and there were still damp marks on her eyelashes. But her expression was stubborn, as if she did not welcome Pei Jinxuan's arrival.

"What's wrong?" Pei Jinxuan put the lamp back on the table. "Who upset you?"

Lin Ci kept her eyes down, never looking at him. She turned and sat down in the chair, leaving only her slender back view.

"Nobody messed with me," she said.

Pei Jinxuan watched her retreating figure, his heart sinking inexplicably. He walked around to stand in front of her, lowered his head slightly to look at her face, and softly asked, "Is it because of what happened this morning?"

Lin Ci was slightly taken aback. She raised her head, her gaze falling on his face, and in a daze, she saw another person, with the same slightly furrowed brows, looking at her with the same worry.

"That's alright." For some reason, Lin Ci made a hand gesture.

Pei Jinxuan assumed she didn't have the energy to speak, so he slowly responded with a gesture: "Then why are you crying?"

His hands have distinct knuckles, and his gestures are extremely gentle.

This action is more like Song Xuan's.

Lin Ci felt as if her heart was being torn apart. She almost couldn't control herself and rushed to embrace him, but as soon as she raised her hand, the person in the lamplight changed, and a voice echoed in her heart: "Song Xuan is gone. He is not him."

Lin Ci's eyes reddened again. She raised her hand and then placed it on her chest, pressing it against the throbbing spot. She choked back a sob and said, "I was wrong. I shouldn't have started that fire."

Seeing her so remorseful, Pei Jinxuan felt terrible. He was about to speak, but suddenly didn't know how to comfort her, so he handed her his handkerchief to wipe away her tears.

Lin Ci didn't take it. She shifted her gaze, staring blankly at the tiny candle flame, and murmured, "Life in Shengzhou was poor, but there was hope for the future. We agreed to save enough money to open a clinic, and once we gained a good reputation, we wouldn't lack customers. If I hadn't set that fire, would the clinic already be open? Perhaps... we would even have a child."

At this point, Lin Ci suddenly smiled, but then she lowered her head and fell silent again.

Pei Jinxuan looked at her, his heart was clenched, and he felt so angry that he wanted to explode.

Is it because his Jing'an Prince's Mansion isn't good enough, or because he's not considerate and attentive enough to her, that she misses the past and thinks about the man who is already dead?

He was very curious about what kind of person Lin Ci's deceased husband was, that she could remember him so fondly.

"What's past is past, don't think about it too much." Pei Jinxuan suppressed the bitterness in his voice and softened his tone. "Zhao Fugui won't appear again, don't worry."

Lin Ci sensed the underlying meaning and suddenly looked up, "What did you do to him?"

"Bury it." Pei Jinxuan said casually, as if burying a chicken. "No matter what, things have to be done cleanly. I've never liked living people."

As he said this, a hint of ruthlessness appeared in Pei Jinxuan's eyes, which was the biggest difference between him and Song Xuan.

Song Xuan was always refined and gentle, like a celestial being who had accidentally fallen into the mortal world.

Lin Ci looked at the face in front of her that was just like Song Xuan's, and her mind was in turmoil.

Pei Jinxuan was stung by her tearful eyes.

He felt a tightness in his chest, unsure whether it was because of the dead person or because of her gaze.

No sleep for one night.

Pei Jinxuan tossed and turned, and finally got up, put on his clothes, took a glass lamp, and went to the cellar.

The cellar was built according to his wishes, and he knew every brick and every wall like the back of his hand. But tonight, for some reason, as soon as he stepped onto that narrow stone staircase, his heart started beating rapidly, like a novice thief trembling as he made his first deal in the dark.

Pei Jinxuan found the secret room where the coffin was placed. As soon as he entered, a cold air hit him, and he could faintly smell a delicate sandalwood fragrance.

He walked to the coffin and saw three unburnt incense sticks stuck in the incense burner and three plates of fresh fruit on the offering table, presumably Lin Ci had just been there.

Pei Jinxuan circled the coffin again and again, the glass lamp swaying in his hand, its halo spreading out and then gathering again.

It's ridiculous that he doesn't even know the name of the person lying in the coffin, yet he insists on coming to see what he looks like.

This is nothing like the behavior of the Prince of Jing'an!

But... if he doesn't even know what his opponent looks like, what makes him think he can compete?

Struggle?

Pei Jinxuan was actually frightened by these words. Why would he fight with a dead man for a woman?

If he wanted, he could choose any noblewoman in the entire capital, not to mention widows.

Pei Jinxuan cursed himself in his heart for being spineless, turned around and walked away, but as soon as he stepped over the threshold, he hesitated.

Pei Jinxuan stepped back and gently closed the door.

The closer he got to the coffin, the slower he moved. He could still walk now, but his body wouldn't obey him, as if he were being pulled and guided by an invisible rope.

Before opening the coffin, Pei Jinxuan deliberately covered his face with a veil, fearing that he would end up like Princess Yongle, in which case Lin Ci would definitely be angry.

Pei Jinxuan rubbed his hands together, pressed down on the coffin lid, and pushed it open forcefully. A chill wafted out, like smoke and mist.

He placed the glass lamp on the coffin lid, and the flame of the glass lamp flickered suddenly, casting his shadow on the coffin wall, which appeared to be sometimes long and sometimes short.

As before, the person in the coffin was wrapped in layers of hemp cloth soaked in medicinal juice, and the outline of the head and body was clearly discernible.

Pei Jinxuan carefully examined the figure of the person in the coffin. The person was tall and had long legs. If he were alive, such a figure would be considered one in a million.

Pei Jinxuan's heart tightened even more. He reached into the coffin, picked up a corner of the burlap with his fingertips, and gently lifted it open.

Lin Ci's late husband's sideburns were exposed, combed very neatly, with traces of wood shaving oil still remaining in his hair, showing how much Lin Ci cared for him, even taking meticulous care of his hair.

Pei Jinxuan felt even more uncomfortable. He took a deep breath, mustered his courage, and lifted the burlap covering his face. Just then, his elbow bumped into the glass lamp, which swayed twice before silently falling to the ground. The flame flickered violently the moment it fell, and then, snap, the entire cellar was plunged into darkness.

The burlap was still clutched in his fingertips, and the face in the coffin was hidden in the deepest, darkest place; he ultimately couldn't see it clearly.

For some reason, Pei Jinxuan broke out in a cold sweat, and his fingertips trembled. He closed his eyes for a moment to calm himself down, then carefully covered the coffin with the burlap again, smoothing out the edges little by little until there was no trace of it being moved, before finally closing the coffin lid.

Everything was unknown to the gods and ghosts.

It was late at night when he returned to his bedroom. Pei Jinxuan tossed and turned on the bed for a long time, his mind replaying the face in the coffin that he hadn't clearly seen. He didn't know when he fell asleep. When dawn broke, his body inexplicably burned with a fever, even higher than before.

Pei Jinxuan fell ill, and he didn't even have the strength to send Lin Ci to the palace to have the Emperor of Yan take his pulse. He lay listlessly on his bed for half a day.

Around noon, someone from the palace came and said that Emperor Yan had invited Lin Ci to have lunch and that he probably wouldn't be back until evening.

"What? You want to wait until tonight?" Pei Jinxuan stretched out his weak hand and said feebly, "Quick...quickly help me up. I need to change my clothes to go to the palace, cough cough cough cough..."