Reincarnated as the daughter of my mortal enemy, all I want is to ascend the throne.

No, that's wrong a hundred thousand times wrong.

Li Qingyan sat there obediently, which made Li Yan feel uneasy.

When has she ever been well-behaved?

If we don't let her go, I'm afraid she'll cause some trouble again. Who knows, we might run into her on the street one day, following behind us.

The thought of this made Li Yan's hair stand on end.

"You can follow along, but don't run around."

It ultimately ended with Li Yan giving in.

The luxurious carriage traveled along the wide official road, and no one noticed that Li Yan and Li Qingyan inside had been replaced.

An unassuming team is going against the grain of the royal team.

Hong Yan, the aggrieved party, was naturally present in the unassuming carriage. Li Qingyan glanced at him a few times. He was a pure scholar, and he had managed to remain calm during this long wait, which showed he had some composure.

"Li Yan, why isn't Yan Xu here?" Li Qingyan frowned and glanced at the group of people outside through the car window, but didn't see Yan Xu anywhere.

Li Yan patted her head, "Does this little brat have to take Yan Xu with her everywhere she goes?"

"He has his own things to do."

At this moment, inside the Summer Palace, "Li Yan" alighted from the carriage, exchanged a few words with the newlywed Empress, and then casually picked up "Li Qingyan" and the entourage left in a grand procession.

The Empress led the concubines in bowing and bidding farewell.

Watching her husband's departing figure, Liu Yao couldn't say she wasn't heartbroken. Everyone thought Li Yan had been in her room last night, but only she knew the truth: Li Yan had only drunk a cup of tea in her room before leaving.

She thought life would be better after leaving the Liu family, but her husband didn't like her.

The disappointment in his eyes was so obvious.

"Your Majesty should get used to it. What does it matter if you're newly married? His Majesty isn't as frequenting the inner palace as he used to be."

Consort Ling held the Second Princess Li Qingxi's hand with one hand and waved a round fan with the other. She had seen Li Yan less often in recent years, but compared to others, she was still the one who saw him the most.

She enjoyed unwavering favor in the imperial harem.

The concubines could easily figure out Liu Yao's identity and why she entered the palace with a little thought.

Moreover, the Empress does not hold real power; the Phoenix Seal is currently in the hands of Consort Liu.

The crowd was not afraid of an empress who had no real power; they bowed gracefully and took their leave.

They either had children or were pregnant, and even if they didn't, they had their own trusted confidants brought into the palace; everyone had their own hopes.

But what about her? Liu Yao glanced at her as she turned around; even the people accompanying her from the Liu family were strangers to her.

It seems she's always been alone, living a lonely life...

The carriage swayed along at a steady pace. Li Qingyan, unable to sit still, asked Hong Yan to explain the book to her.

As expected of a teacher with many years of experience, his explanations were indeed very interesting.

Hong Yan was also very curious about Li Qingyan. This three-year-old princess actually liked books. He had seen many children, and most of them didn't understand anything at the age of three. It was already good enough if they could sit quietly and practice writing.

Li Qingyan was able to chat with him even after he mentioned a few books. When there wasn't much to say, Hong Yan told Li Qingyan about things in their local area.

One of the stories involved a human sacrifice, where every winter a girl of thirteen or fourteen would be chosen and carried to the fox den on the mountain overnight on the twenty-first day of the first lunar month.

Hong Yan once had a student selected, and he wanted to rescue the person after the others left.

Upon entering the cave, all they found were white bones on the ground and the amulets he had given to his students for good luck.

Li Qingyan was so frightened that she shrank into Li Yan's arms.

"Are they... cannibals?"

Hong Yan frowned and lowered his head.

"They said it was a sacrifice to the fox spirit on the mountain. Those thirteen or fourteen-year-old girls disappeared after they went up the mountain, and their fate is unknown."

"Isn't this a bad habit? Father..." Li Qingyan tugged at Li Yan's sleeve, "So many people are left in limbo because of this so-called fox spirit... It's outrageous..."

Li Yan rubbed his temples. "This matter must be resolved."

Who doesn't have a daughter? The thought of Li Qingyan, whom he had raised, being sacrificed at the age of thirteen or fourteen made him want to slaughter the entire city.

Upon hearing Li Yan's promise, Hong Yan immediately knelt down and kowtowed, saying, "Thank you, Your Majesty, for saving those innocent girls."

Li Qingyan reached out and helped him up. "My father was just doing what he should do. All the people in the world are his subjects. If he knew and did nothing about it," she pouted, "then he would be unworthy of his position."

These words startled Hong Yan, who immediately covered Li Qingyan's mouth, saying, "Your Highness, please don't speak nonsense."

In any large family, the dignity and rules of the head of the family are more important than anything else. He had personally witnessed young masters who disobeyed their parents being beaten until their skin was torn and bleeding.

Everyone knows how this emperor seized the throne. Although he had only spent a few days with Li Qingyan, he found the little princess to be cute, upright, and not spoiled. He really didn't want to see Li Qingyan punished.

Li Yan grabbed Li Qingyan by the collar. "You little brat, you're getting bolder and bolder."

He casually picked up a pastry from the side and stuffed it into Li Qingyan's mouth, then put her aside and put a nine-linked ring into her hand.

Li Yan had an expression that said, "Finally, things have quieted down."

Seeing that he had only done these things and had no reaction, Hong Yan finally breathed a sigh of relief and treated Li Qingyan with even more special regard. Li Yan spoiled this little princess to an extreme degree.

He could sit on the dragon throne and speak to the emperor without any reservations; if he was a boy, he was the undisputed future emperor.

Li Qingyan was unaware of Hong Yan's thoughts. If she had, she probably would have grabbed him by the collar and said, "So what if I'm not a man? If he dares to let someone else sit on the dragon throne, I dare to usurp it. No one but me can sit on this throne!"

Aside from sleeping at night, we spent the rest of the time traveling.

After seven days, they finally arrived at Qinshui County, which is next to the seven southern counties, and rested in a teahouse.

Li Qingyan teased the little dog beside her. The two counties were not far apart, but Qinshui County was peaceful and unaffected by the disaster.

"Uncle, why don't we see anyone heading to the seven southern counties?" Li Qingyan asked, looking up at the shopkeeper while holding the puppy.

The shopkeeper was quite pleased to see the doll that looked like a snow ball, but upon hearing Li Qingyan's words, his expression suddenly turned horrified.

"Girls, are you going to the Seven Southern Counties? That won't do, we can't go now."

The shopkeeper immediately warned them.

Li Qingyan pulled the shopkeeper to sit at the table where Li Yan and his group were.

The shopkeeper then earnestly told them that they had to pass through a road to reach the seven southern counties and Nanling County, and that bandits had infested the area along this road. Everyone who had gone through had been robbed clean.

Those people are incredibly ruthless; none of them have ever returned.

And nobody's in charge. This road is under the jurisdiction of the seven southern counties, and Nanling County has no right to interfere. But recently, something seems to have happened in the seven southern counties; they only allow people to enter but not leave.

Sitting not far from them was a young man dressed in coarse linen clothes with his back to the crowd. He only said one sentence: "It's inconvenient to bring this baby. It's better to go back the way we came."

The shopkeeper nodded in agreement. "This young man is right. You should head back quickly. No business is more important than human lives."

They had to go to the seven southern counties, and Li Yan wanted to send Li Qingyan back. But Li Qingyan refused; who could guarantee that nothing would happen if they went back now?

The mountain path was narrow and densely wooded. Li Yan protected Li Qingyan, and everyone's expressions were tense as they passed through this path.

Suddenly a whistle blew, sharp and piercing, and several balls emitting white smoke rolled into their midst. Before they could even kick them, everyone felt their bodies go limp and they fainted.

Before losing consciousness, Li Yan hid Li Qingyan under his cloak.

"Big brother, there's a doll here."

"Take the money, and take the child with you."

The leader gave the order.

The bandits swarmed through the area like locusts, looting all the money from Li Yan and his group.

Li Qingyan was stuffed into a sack and carried away...