What Bad Intentions can the Yandere Crown Prince have?

Chapter 455 - 449: A Dream of Past Dust—Jiaojiao Side Story (Part 2)

Her eyes blazed with fire, glaring fiercely at those beggars, but her lips were pressed so tight they turned white, and she said nothing.Li Xingyuan looked at the beggars, then at Yao He.

Yao He was about to explain the whole story—

"Can I borrow this knife?" the woman beside him suddenly asked.

Tang Jiaojiao looked at her.

She had never seen this woman before, yet inexplicably felt a sense of familiarity.

The woman released the maid’s supporting hand and took a step closer to Tang Jiaojiao, trembling like a withered branch in a cold wind, yet ultimately stood firm.

"Could I borrow the honorable’s knife?"

...

That day returning home, Tang Jiaojiao had a dream.

In the dream, there were flashes of swords and knives, plots and schemes.

Soon, she saw the woman named Qi Qiao standing face to face with her.

It was as if a mirror stood between them, and they were in two different worlds at either end.

She looked at Qi Qiao as if looking at herself in the mirror.

A short knife suddenly appeared in her hand, and then she passed the knife from her side of the mirror to the other side.

She watched as the other self gripped the knife and step by step approached the one intending to harm her.

When the short knife pierced into the beggar’s body, and blood splattered on Qi Qiao’s face, she felt as if something also splattered on her own face.

She saw Qi Qiao raising her hand to wipe the blood from her face and subconsciously raised her own hand to wipe her face.

Was it blood?

As she looked down, the dream ended.

Cold sweat soaked through her nightclothes.

"Sister?" came a soft voice beside her.

Tang Jiaojiao gave an "Mm."

To send her off into marriage, her younger sister, who was already an Empress, had specially taken leave to accompany her through her last night before leaving home.

Though it was unconventional, who had ever managed to control her younger sister from childhood to adulthood?

"Had a nightmare?" The young girl gently wrapped her arms around her.

"No." Tang Jiaojiao stubbornly replied.

Empress Tang gave an "Oh" but patted her soothingly nonetheless.

Tang Jiaojiao got annoyed and embarrassed: "I’m not a child!"

Empress Tang chuckled: "It’s not only children who have nightmares!"

"I didn’t have a nightmare!" Tang Jiaojiao insisted.

It was just the impact of what happened during the day, that’s all.

"I see, I see," Empress Tang responded perfunctorily, "Are you going back to sleep?"

Tang Jiaojiao looked through the curtains outside; the sky was already light.

Soon the maids would come to wake her, prepare a fragrance bath, help her dress ceremonially, draw her eyebrows, apply makeup, and set her hair.

Today is her wedding day...

"Xiao Bai..." Tang Jiaojiao called softly.

Empress Tang’s hand, which was about to be withdrawn, stopped halfway: "Hm?"

For some reason, her voice sounded a bit tense in the dim light.

Tang Jiaojiao hesitated for a moment but couldn’t help but speak, "I don’t want to get married!"

As soon as she said it, she felt guilty herself.

She always believed herself to be decisive, and since deciding on Li Xingyuan, she had never wavered.

But as the wedding day approached, she began to feel unreal.

After what happened yesterday, coupled with waking from this dream, the sense of unreality intensified.

As if things were not supposed to be this way.

She was not supposed to have this grand wedding, envied by the entire city.

She knew the thought was absurd and anticipated her little sister’s shock and confusion, so hurriedly added, "In the past, I didn’t have time to think it through. Thinking back now, Li Xingyuan was merely drawn by my looks. If he had met Ye—" She stopped abruptly.

She didn’t even know why she said that, but the moment the word "Ye" slipped out, a chill came crawling from deep in her heart, swallowing her whole.

"But Sister, there’s no ’if’!" The girl’s warm, soft voice flowed over bit by bit.

"Who he met first or last is already set; if he was attracted to someone’s looks, it would only be to yours."

Tang Jiaojiao fell silent.

In that bizarre dream, there was clearly another person whom Li Xingyuan led an army of 120,000 to rescue.

"Last year, Your Majesty summoned Brother-in-law, wanting him to return to Zhenzhou and lead the 120,000 veteran troops of Zhenzhou—"

In the past, Li Xingyuan gave up his military power to lower the former emperor’s suspicions.

But even in giving it up, it was merely secretly transferred to Li Mu.

And also at the time, Qin Xiao, still identifying as a woman.

Tang Jiaojiao couldn’t help but snort.

"But he refused," Empress Tang continued gently, as if soothing something, "He said since Brother was already stationed in the Northwest, if he took command of a large army again, it would unbalance power, and even if Your Majesty didn’t mind, it wouldn’t be in the best interest of the state; he was willing to give up the Zhenzhou Army for the sake of being a steadfast husband as Duke Yan’s son-in-law."

"He might have used that 120,000 strong army to rescue someone else, but in the end, he gave it up for you."

Tang Jiaojiao’s heart skipped a beat, and she suddenly turned inward.

In the faint light, her sister’s eyes shone like sparkling stars, clear and flawless.

Tang Jiaojiao couldn’t help but let out a self-deprecating laugh.

She had spoken lightly, but she couldn’t possibly know about her dream, could she?

Empress Tang stared at her for a moment, eyes slightly crinkling, "Let’s not dwell on things that aren’t. Shall we get up?"

Lamps were lit, curtains drawn.

Voices rose indoors and out, filling the house with a festive air.

She was led, step by step, away, yet also step by step, forward.

The man standing in the courtyard was nothing like his usual dignified self, grinning foolishly.

Tang Jiaojiao couldn’t help but give him a glare, and only then did he restrain himself slightly.

But just as he took her hand, his mouth stretched into a wide grin again.

Just as Tang Jiaojiao was about to glare at him again, he suddenly called out to her.

"Jiaojiao..." His voice was completely off-key.

Tang Jiaojiao glanced over, only to find his eyes slightly red.

Carefully savoring that off-key call, it seemed to carry a hint of emotion.

Tang Jiaojiao couldn’t help but be stunned.

He started to laugh again.

"That year, when my own father wanted to kill me, I was filled with despair, but then I thought, I haven’t married Jiaojiao yet..."

...

In the first year of Zhengyuan, on the twentieth day of the first month, the Duke Yan’s eldest daughter was married, with a ten-mile procession, the splendor of which filled the sky like clouds of brocade.

Yao He had personally volunteered to escort Miss Tang out for her marriage.

But as the ceremonial carriage passed by him, he was so dazed.

The wedding procession had all moved on, leaving only him behind, unaware.

"General Yao?"

Yao He came to, turning his head in surprise, "Miss Qi?"

Unexpectedly, the woman who had just encountered danger yesterday was now calmly out to watch the festivities.

"Miss Tang extended kindness to me; today on her joyful wedding, I also wanted to be here to show my blessings," Miss Qi’s face still bore scars, inevitably drawing curious stares, but her expression was composed, as if she didn’t care.

Yao He regarded her for a moment, then suddenly asked, "How is Miss Qi related to the Tanzhou Governor?"

Miss Qi’s eyes, previously hinting at aloofness, flashed momentarily, and then she knelt: "Qi Qiao boldly requests that General Yao present my father’s grievance!"

(End of Jiaojiao’s extra Chapter, next to write Hua Jian)