"A Cui Clan daughter!" Right now, Westlyn’s Prince Titus desperately needs outside support, and in Serena’s eyes, the Cui Clan is the best choice.
"The Cui Clan? That’s actually a pretty good option." Prince Nolan nodded, including it in his considerations.
Unlike the Wang Clan, which only wants to remain kingmakers, the Cui Clan hungers for the throne itself. The Cui Clan is eager to plant roots in every realm. If Westlyn’s Prince Titus marries a Cui daughter, the Cui Clan will surely help him—and they’ll stop at nothing to push him toward the crown.
"But..." Prince Nolan hesitated slightly.
Serena understood exactly what Nolan was worried about and picked up the thread: "The Cui Clan’s ambition is too great—you’re afraid it’s like bargaining with a tiger, aren’t you?"
"Exactly. Others might not know the Cui Clan’s true aim, but you and I do. The Cui Clan isn’t some harmless rabbit—it’s a man-eating tiger."
"But in the short term, the Cui Clan can’t possibly move against Titus or you. We know their goal, so we can prepare defenses in advance. Whether the Cui Clan can actually profit from Titus is still uncertain." Serena’s meaning was clear: use the Cui Clan’s ambition to help Titus ascend—what happens after, they’d deal with then.
If Titus, knowing full well what the Cui Clan wants, still can’t keep them under control, then he’s simply not cut out to be emperor.
"Everyone gets what they need, everyone uses everyone. Even if the Cui Clan sees through Titus’s intentions, they’ll gladly let him use them too." Prince Nolan began seriously considering brokering a marriage between Titus and a Cui daughter.
Serena said nothing more. She knew Prince Nolan would make his own decision.
Still, her heart felt heavy...
In this world, women are nothing but chess pieces—marriage alliances seem to be the greatest use for noblewomen. Even though Serena found it sad, she had no intention of changing this reality.
There’s nothing wrong with a marriage between equals. As for so-called love... those pampered noble girls, even if they fall for a commoner, could never endure that kind of hardship.
Besides, that’s just how this world works. The moment you’re born, you enjoy the honor and wealth your family brings—so naturally, you’re expected to sacrifice for your clan in return.
In the end, whatever decision Prince Nolan made, Serena didn’t know, nor did she ask afterwards. She just kept doing what she’d done these past few days: wandering the village with Doudou, treating the East family’s little girl, the West family’s old master, delivering medicine—leaving a clear trail in the village.
Later, when others came to investigate, they’d find that after Serena and Prince Nolan fell from the mountain, they stayed here to recover—and once healed, Serena even treated the villagers.
The evidence would be ironclad; even if anyone suspected their disappearance was suspicious, no one could produce any proof.
Serena and Prince Nolan stayed in the mountain village for five days. In that time, Nolan cleared his backlog of paperwork, and Serena saw every patient in the village.
She earned over thirty Medical Ethics Points, and was very satisfied. When Prince Nolan said it was time to leave, Serena didn’t hesitate at all.
Those five days of peaceful living were stolen—they both knew it was time to return to the Capital.
Prince Nolan kept a low profile the whole way, never revealing his identity. Serena couldn’t help but secretly laugh.
Prince Nolan didn’t stay in the mountain village just to finish paperwork—he mostly wanted Adrian Dongling to reach the Capital first and enjoy a few days of false freedom.
Serena knew exactly what Nolan was planning: he wanted to catch the entire Capital off guard, giving them no time to prepare.
Prince Nolan knew Adrian’s schedule perfectly. The morning Adrian led his triumphant army into the city, Nolan arrived at the gate that very afternoon with Serena and Doudou.
Serena lifted the carriage curtain, gazing at the familiar city gate, a faintly ethereal smile on her face.
With Westlyn’s Prince Terrence Valen dead, the humiliation he brought her at this gate could finally be forgotten.
Still, she remembered how Prince Adrian (Prince of Luo) forced her to kneel here, letting the crowd pelt her with eggs and vegetable leaves.
For Prince Nolan’s sake, she wouldn’t take Adrian’s life—but the debt still had to be settled.
Serena exhaled, let the curtain fall, and turned to see Prince Nolan’s worried gaze. She answered him with a gentle smile, signaling she was fine.
Prince Nolan quietly squeezed Serena’s hand, pressing it firmly: "Everything is on me."
The carriage moved forward in stops and starts, finally arriving at the city gate checkpoint. A gate guard performed the routine inspection: "Get out of the carriage!"
Prince Nolan’s carriage was completely ordinary, with no markings at all—no wonder the gate guards didn’t recognize him.
After all, as someone who’d supposedly fallen off a cliff and been rescued, Prince Nolan carried nothing to identify him as the Ninth Prince. But it didn’t matter—he himself was proof enough.
Prince Nolan stepped down from the carriage without a word and simply looked at the young guard.
"Wh-who are you?" The guard stammered. Not every soldier gets to see a prince or the emperor up close, so it was normal he didn’t recognize Prince Nolan.
Prince Nolan didn’t answer. Instead, he said, "Tell Dominic Zhai to come down here."
"General Zhai, he... he..." The guard stammered, but even if he didn’t recognize Prince Nolan, he could sense the noble aura.
Besides, anyone who dared call General Dominic by name at the city gate had to outrank him.
"Go call him."
"Yes, yes—right away, sir. Please wait here." The gate guard jumped in fright, said a few words to his companion, and ran inside at once.
Even then, the guard remembered to hand off his duties to someone else. You had to admit—Dominic Zhai really knew how to train his men. Leaving Dominic posted at the city gate was a waste of his talent.
Prince Nolan felt a pang of regret, but he knew that as long as Prince Samuel Zhai lived, the Emperor would never let Dominic command troops or fight outside the city.
And if Prince Samuel died, Dominic still wouldn’t get command.
Dominic cared deeply for his soldiers. When he saw one of his men frightened by someone, he rushed over, shouting from afar: "Which bastard dares make trouble at my gate? Don’t you know this is my turf? Everyone follows my rules here!"
Bastard?
Dominic, you’re dead meat. You actually just called His Highness a bastard.
Prince Nolan snorted, expressionless: "It’s me."
"Prince? Which prince?" Dominic didn’t realize at first, but as he got closer, he froze in shock.
"N-N-Ninth Royal Uncle... How—how can it be you? Weren’t you—weren’t you..." Dominic pointed at Prince Nolan, his hand shaking, utterly terrified.
He must be cursed—wasn’t Prince Nolan supposed to be dead? How could he show up here? And worst of all, Dominic had just cursed him out, right to his face.
"Aren’t you happy to see me, General Zhai?" Prince Nolan’s voice was icy—so cold that even Doudou, sitting in the carriage, could hear it.
Doudou was secretly delighted: Finally, someone luckier than me—someone even more doomed.
Calling Prince Nolan a bastard—ha! General Zhai is so screwed.
"H-h-happy... Of course I’m happy, Your Highness." Dominic Zhai forced a smile, face twisted in misery.
How could he not be glad Nolan was alive? He’d been worried sick all this time. But...
Wuwuwu—why did it have to be today? He’d finally had a bad day and needed to curse someone out, and it just happened to be Prince Nolan. Now he was totally screwed!