The Deposed Crown Prince had Three Lifelong Regrets - Chapter 1

Chapter 1

The beginning of the spring season was warm, but then the capital was struck by a heavy rain that brought back the cold that had just subsided. The chill extended to the mountains a hundred kilometers away, and Li Qinghuai, who was thinly dressed, felt the cold acutely.

She had traveled all day and sought refuge in a cave late at night.

The entrance to the cave was narrow, barely allowing a person to slip sideways, but the inside was unexpectedly spacious. There was a dying bonfire that looked like it had burned for some time, with a full ring of ashes around it.

A pile of luggage, large and small, along with seven or eight hiking poles, lay scattered near the fire.

Li Qinghuai was wearing old homespun cloth covered by a black cloak. The large hood draped down the sides of her face, shrouding the upper half in darkness, leaving only her pale jaw visible.

Even so, she carried a veiled hat on her back, as if her face absolutely must not be seen by anyone.

“Awoo—”

A wolf howl pierced Li Qinghuai’s ears. She remained cross-legged on the spot, reacting like a stone statue. It wasn’t until a lone, red-eyed, hungry wolf stretched its head into the cave that she deliberately stood up.

As a practitioner of martial arts, her senses were much sharper than ordinary people’s. The shouts and calls echoing through the valley all fell into her ears.

Realizing that there was more than just the wolf nearby, and that other people were approaching, the indifference that had seeped into Li Qinghuai’s bones receded like an ebbing tide. This faint human sound seemed to bring life to her, acting like a balm that could revive the dead and heal the bones.

The sudden surge of emotions was like an opera performer removing their heavy makeup, revealing the face behind the mask.

Li Qinghuai clumsily moved her feet. When the hungry wolf lunged, she quickly ducked down and rolled to the side.

The wolf missed, slamming hard against the stone wall, which instantly turned red. However, she fared no better; not only was the veiled hat on her back torn to shreds, but three savage scratches were left on her back.

Her gaze shifted to the wolf, noticing a wet patch of fur on its abdomen, with blood constantly seeping out.

She hadn’t winced when she was scratched earlier, but this sight made her involuntarily solemn.

She turned and began to retreat toward the cave entrance. In her panic, she tripped over her own feet and fell backward in a spread-eagle posture. In a flash, the vicious wolf arched its back and lunged. Fortunately, Li Qinghuai’s wrist landed right on a bamboo pole, which she immediately picked up and held horizontally across her chest.

The wolf’s massive paws pressed down on the pole, continuously pushing her supporting arms downwards. The struggle ended when her elbows violently struck the ground.

Seeing the hungry wolf lower its head and expose its fangs, a sudden, unknown dart whistled in from the cave entrance. Li Qinghuai felt her hands lighten, and her body instantly went limp.

She rested her head against the ground, gasped a few times, and when she looked up again, the entire wolf was pinned to the stone wall.

“Is something wrong?” a question drifted into her ear.

A sweet-looking young woman had appeared at the cave entrance at some point. Her skin was a yellowish-brown. As she walked in, bringing the cold wind from outside with her, she seemed steeped in the chill of the entire winter. Li Qinghuai deeply felt her cold, sharp demeanor.

After the struggle, Li Qinghuai was covered in dirt and disheveled, her hair a mess. Her entire face was now exposed from beneath the hood—it was a truly frightening face, with a large, red birthmark covering the left half.

Even after being rescued, she remained sprawled on the ground. She glanced at her rescuer and immediately lowered her head again, scraping back and forth on the ground, seemingly too terrified and weak to get up.

Blood mixed with sweat smeared her back. The wounds were both painful and itchy, and her expression was one of considerable agony.

The commotion in the distance had not ceased, and there was even a faint sound of silver bells. Moments later, another woman dressed in Daoist robes entered. She wore a mask depicting a round-faced, smiling monk, obscuring her features, though her figure was tall and slender, and a string of bells hung from her waist.

The shock in Li Qinghuai’s eyes had not faded. Her chest rose and fell violently, taking in less air than she let out.

In the end, it was the sweet-looking woman who helped her up.

“You sit down first, let me look at your wounds,” the sweet-looking woman helped her and shouted to the newcomer, “Lu Fengmian, go through those packages and see where the herbs are.”

“Benefactress, may I know your name?” Li Qinghuai caught her wound while crouching down to sit. Her body suddenly stiffened. After sucking in a few breaths of cold air, she weakly asked.

The person looked at her meaningfully after hearing her, and introduced herself, “Mo Xianghao, from Qilu.”

Li Qinghuai secretly raised an eyebrow, then found a corner to sit in. Following her, seven or eight armed escorts poured into the cave. Although they were all slightly surprised by the mess, someone quickly noticed her wounded state.

“Daoist Priest, I have herbs in my bag, and I know a little medicine myself…” A large man suggested, looking at the frail Li Qinghuai leaning in the corner.

However, neither of the two women replied. Mo Xianghao, who had just attended to Li Qinghuai, even shot him a sharp glare, making him quickly close his mouth.

The atmosphere instantly became awkward. The surrounding escorts were puzzled, and the sound of them whispering to each other was continuous.

After a long while, Lu Fengmian adjusted her mask, crouched in front of Li Qinghuai, leaned forward, and asked quietly, “You don’t recognize me?”

Li Qinghuai was already annoyed by the noisy environment. This sudden action completely irritated her. She raised her hand and snatched the mask off the woman’s face. What met her eyes was a face that was pitifully beautiful, carrying the tender affection of pear blossoms reflected in spring water.

“No, I don’t,” Li Qinghuai stared for a moment, then parted her thin lips to say.

Lu Fengmian abruptly reached out and grabbed Li Qinghuai’s outstretched wrist. Seeing her remain calm, her fingers traced up the arm to her neck.

Lu Fengmian had been traveling all day, and her fingers were icy cold. When they settled on the delicate back of Li Qinghuai’s neck, the other shivered, yet cooperatively tilted her head, fully exposing the back of her neck, which was mostly covered by her collar.

“What is it, Daoist Priest? Am I going to die soon?” Li Qinghuai’s gaze didn’t move an inch from Lu Fengmian’s face. Her voice was slightly trembling, sounding utterly pitiful.

“My name is Zhao Pan’er. I live in a small village below Yuanbao Mountain. I have many younger siblings, and life is difficult. But I tried hard and thought we could manage. But a few months ago, my sixteen-year-old sister was sold as a concubine to an old widower…” Li Qinghuai choked up, dropped her eyes, and only continued after a long pause, “How could I not be sad… I thought I could still endure and live on like that.”

“Who knew they would try to sell me too, to buy a wife for my younger brother. I truly couldn’t bear it, so I ran away on the spot.”

“I still have some money on me. If I don’t survive, could you please take these things to them?”

The more she rushed to prove her identity, the more dishonest she appeared to others.

For instance, this Miss Lu in front of her clearly didn’t empathize with Li Qinghuai’s tragic life story. Two slender fingers were drawing lines on the back of the other’s neck.

But as the fingers probed deeper, Li Qinghuai, though slightly uncomfortable, stayed put and let her knead, only her tear-stained eyelids occasionally fluttering.

In contrast, Lu Fengmian’s expression became increasingly displeased. She finally retracted her hand and surprisingly asked if Li Qinghuai wanted water.

Li Qinghuai knew exactly what she meant. One of the first skills a Daoist learned was “ghost identification.” Her presence in this location and her clumsy attempt at disguise now seemed extremely suspicious.

Aside from those charlatan tricksters, no genuine Daoist would blindly believe that a young woman caught in a wolf attack in a mountain cave late at night was truly a helpless, weak woman.

Furthermore, that wolf was definitely not simple; it reeked of ghostly energy.

They themselves were attacked and tracked the wolf to this spot.

She recognized the silver bells on Daoist Lu’s waist. They were the Four Directions Silver Bells from Emei, personally consecrated and given to her by Elder Qingxu, and they possessed the power to ward off evil and subdue ghosts.

When the water bottle was handed to Li Qinghuai, she seized the chance to lightly touch the red agate bracelet on Lu Fengmian’s wrist, her fingertip even gently hooking the silkworm thread stringing the beads.

The red agate was lightly pulled up and then gently dropped back down.

While the two were talking, Mo Xianghao had added more firewood to the bonfire, but the flames were on the verge of dying out. A slight breeze blew in from the cave entrance, causing the fire to flicker and dim.

Li Qinghuai’s face, turned towards Lu Fengmian, was also illuminated by the firelight, alternately bright and dark. The red birthmark on her face was terrifying, but upon closer inspection of her features, one could see that she was inherently beautiful with delicate skin.

Noticing the Daoist priest fiddling with the bonfire, several escorts wisely went over to add firewood and block the wind. With a moment of free time, Mo Xianghao looked over at the two leaning in the corner of the cave again.

From her angle, she could clearly see the other’s head lazily resting against the stone wall, and the small, curled pinky finger that had accidentally hooked her friend Lu’s bracelet.

She couldn’t see Lu Fengmian’s expression at the moment, but Mo Xianghao’s face instantly dropped. Not only was the person uncooperative when facing death, but she was also so… shameless.

Lu Fengmian was clearly not very pleased either. She immediately opened the water bladder, pinched Li Qinghuai’s jaw, and poured water into her mouth. The other resisted such a forceful act, spitting out most of the water, which soaked a large patch of her clothes. She only semi-willingly swallowed a few sips.

Seeing her lack of cooperation, Lu Fengmian tossed the water bottle aside, covered Li Qinghuai’s mouth with one hand to force her to swallow the last mouthful of water, and mercilessly clamped her other hand around the back of Li Qinghuai’s neck.

The escorts around them all cried out in alarm, but then they understood what was happening.

They had been hired by the second young master of the Song family in the capital. Song Xuanxuan, the second young master, was a notorious rake, spending his days idly and causing trouble.

If this good-for-nothing had any merits, it was perhaps that he didn’t gamble or frequent brothels, and he was generous to his servants.

The Song family’s second young master hadn’t hired them for anything crucial; he had just fallen out with his family and wanted to hide out at his ancestral home in Jiangnan.

However, he didn’t want a simple journey back. He insisted on taking the most perilous routes, demanding that they escort him home while also accommodating sightseeing along the way.

The consequence was that they encountered a mountain Shanxiao (a type of demon) while crossing Tuoliang Mountain. The terrified group split into three and scattered. One group was lucky enough to meet Lu and Mo, who were here to eliminate the demon, and followed them in search of the missing young master.

“This, this couldn’t be a Painted Skin Ghost, could it?” One of the escorts went pale, his finger trembling as he pointed at Li Qinghuai.

The Painted Skin Ghost was originally called the Green Ghost. Its original form, with a green face and fangs, made people avoid it. It would skin humans to disguise itself as a beautiful woman to commit murder for profit. After cultivating to a certain level, this monster could blend into bustling towns without detection.

Due to an incident during the Four Great Dingli Auctions in the previous dynasty, a person working as an auctioneer, who had gained a small reputation, was found to have an unusual aura. Before the area could be fully evacuated, the discovery caused great terror and unrest among the local people.

Later, the government sent officials to appease the public. When that failed, scholars were commissioned to write stories claiming that this type of ghost lacked the ability to skin living people, and that they had to find skins in mass graves or paint them themselves.

At the time, the public didn’t believe it. However, many years and a change of dynasties later, people lived more peacefully with fewer demonic disturbances, and these folk tales became prevalent in the market. Now, many people believed these popular stories.

The flames were fanned by the mountain mist twice, and the person’s face was again hidden in the dark.

Mo Xianghao couldn’t see her expression, only vaguely seeing her head leaning further and further back against the stone wall, seemingly enduring the pain of being gnawed by ten thousand ants.

Finally, a few tears squeezed out from the corners of her eyes, but without any sign of distress. She blinked weakly at Lu Fengmian and squeezed out seven apologetic words from her throat, “I’m sorry, I choked.”