In Chapter 141: Retreat to Advance, the Fourth Prince sighed, gently wiping away the blood from her lips, murmuring, “You should know, that day I retreated to advance. I wanted him to kill you to save your life.” Qingqing responded with a cold laugh, waiting for him to continue. “Now that things have settled, I dared to come see you.” Qingqing ignored him, only gazing at the sky, its grayness as mysterious as the Fourth Prince’s bottomless eyes. After all she had been through, she was tired. This was not the life she wanted; she missed the timid Lin Qingqing of the past, but there was no going back. Once someone had faced life and death, there was no returning to the past, nor was there any right to do so. The law of the jungle was eternal. The tiger doesn’t want to eat the rabbit, but if it doesn’t, it will starve. Qingqing hid her identity merely to avoid being eaten. This was the instinct for human survival; to be pitied was the behavior of the weak. Everyone has a desire to compete, but now, Qingqing felt exhausted. She only lamented the shallowness of men, like her own father. If she had been born this beautiful, her mother wouldn’t have been neglected, nor would Yafu have grown so arrogant as to poison her in the end.
The Fourth Prince sighed, placing the now cold food at her feet, “I’ll come to see you again. If you change your mind, come find me. But remember, if you die like this, you’ll only earn others’ pity, sympathy, and even scorn.” He watched her trembling shoulders as he left, thinking if she continued to waste away like this, he would have to abandon her. His words truly made Qingqing tremble. Had she endured so much pain, changed her ugly face and kind, weak heart, just for this despair? No, she did not want such a life! She suddenly grabbed the cold rice beside her and began to eat it slowly, chewing each bite carefully as if it were the most delicious food in the world.
