After The Mission Failed, The Scumbag Alpha Ran Away - Chapter 7

7: Your Highness, What a Coincidence

Jiang Youbai knew why Chi Ruo was so angry.

At present, the emperor was tyrannical and authoritarian, leaving everyone in the imperial capital on edge. The times were indeed difficult—so difficult that even the prime minister’s household couldn’t afford to keep two potted flowers, let alone the other noble families in the capital.

Jiang Youbai, who was under the emperor’s close surveillance, had an especially hard time.

The older the emperor grew, the closer he was to death, and the more unwilling he was to loosen his grip on power. Even with only a few years left to live, he refused to let go.

Faced with mortality, his greed for life and thirst for power made the old emperor resemble a gaunt, trapped beast. Jiang Youbai was the one he feared and resented the most.

If Jiang Youbai made even the slightest move, the emperor would fly into a rage and lunge to tear out her throat.

Jiang Youbai sighed deeply and turned off the faucet. “Chi Ruo, I really do have my reasons.”

The faucet retracted automatically into the wall. Chi Ruo stood at the bathroom door, staring at Jiang Youbai.

She was wearing a red dress, black high heels, and bright red lipstick. Her entire demeanor exuded arrogance and domineering energy. At this moment, her cold gaze only amplified her imposing aura.

Compared to the always gentle and courteous Jiang Youbai, she seemed more like the high-ranking noble.

Chi Ruo watched Jiang Youbai silently for a moment. “Fine, I won’t ask why. Since you’ve said so, I’ll trust that you have your reasons.”

Lou Huaiche sat on a chair in the lounge, quietly listening to their conversation.

The bond between these two ran deep—far deeper than that of an ordinary prince and her follower, or even simple friends.

In the previous six lifetimes, Jiang Youbai hadn’t existed, and Chi Ruo had never appeared in Lou Huaiche’s line of sight. In fact, she had never even been part of the imperial capital’s power circles.

But Lou Huaiche vaguely remembered that such a person had existed.

After Jiang Youbai and Chi Ruo returned to the banquet, Lou Huaiche went to Ning Yunze’s room to ask him about the origins of these two.

Perhaps she could find the key to breaking her cycle of inevitable death.

Ning Yunze’s room was spacious. He sat on the bed with the lights on, a solitary figure bathed in lamplight.

When Lou Huaiche entered, he lowered his head in a daze for a moment, his eyes brimming with tears, before rushing over to hug her tightly.

Lou Huaiche caught him and patted his shoulder gently, offering a few words of comfort about the night’s unexpected events.

Ning Yunze buried his face in her shoulder, his voice trembling. “Xiao Lou, I was so scared.”

Lou Huaiche reassured him. “It’s alright, it’s been resolved.”

After a while, once Ning Yunze had calmed down, Lou Huaiche asked, “What’s the relationship between the prince and Chi Ruo? They seem very close.”

Ning Yunze lowered his eyes. As he held Lou Huaiche, he could smell the scent of an unfamiliar Alpha—Lou Huaiche had already been marked by someone, and that someone was likely Jiang Youbai.

Suppressing the emotions in his heart, he said, “Chi Ruo is a Beta. Jiang Youbai wouldn’t marry her.”

Lou Huaiche: “Ah… I didn’t mean it like that. I meant, why are they so close?”

Ning Yunze let go of her and thought for a moment. “I don’t know much either, but because of my parents, I do know some inside information.”

From Ning Yunze’s account, Lou Huaiche learned about Jiang Youbai’s background.

The previous Crown Princess and Chi Ruo’s mother had been childhood friends who grew up together and shared a deep bond. The Crown Princess had once risked her life to save Chi Ruo’s mother.

To repay this debt of gratitude, after the Crown Princess marked a caretaker who became pregnant, Chi Ruo’s mother went to great lengths to protect Jiang Youbai. Yet Jiang Youbai’s upbringing remained fraught with danger—she faced numerous assassination attempts, poisonings, and covert attacks.

When Jiang Youbai was five, Chi Ruo’s mother died protecting her.

Chi Ruo herself had been adopted by her mother from an orphaned branch of the Chi family, specifically to ensure Jiang Youbai would have a loyal and deeply bonded ally.

Chi Ruo inherited her mother’s title at the age of five or six. Too young to understand death, she and Jiang Youbai—both orphans—relied on each other to survive.

Two orphans whom everyone in the imperial capital could bully: one managed to secure a place in the line of succession under the old emperor’s nose, while the other became one of the brightest rising stars among the imperial capital’s younger generation.

Ning Yunze recounted this slowly, then suddenly added, “Jiang Youbai’s mother was in her seventies at the time, muddle-headed, and still managed to mark an Omega. Everyone suspects that Chi Ruo’s mother, unwilling to accept the Crown Princess’s death, arranged for an Omega to be sent to her.”

Lou Huaiche nodded.

From Ning Yunze’s fragmented account, she could easily imagine the perilous circumstances of Jiang Youbai’s birth and upbringing. A single misstep by her or those around her would have meant certain death.

In all likelihood, in the previous six lifetimes, Jiang Youbai had died young—perhaps at four or five years old—because Chi Ruo’s mother had miscalculated.

In Lou Huaiche’s seventh rebirth, she had finally met Jiang Youbai. In the six lifetimes before, Jiang Youbai might have been another destined casualty.

Could this prince, who had survived seven layers of chance and misfortune, possess something extraordinary enough to rewrite Lou Huaiche’s fate as well?

Lou Huaiche was lost in thought for a long time, her heart surging with restless excitement.

This slim chance at survival—no matter what, she couldn’t let it slip away.

The embodiment of that chance, Jiang Youbai, had to be firmly grasped in her hands.

When the banquet ended that night, Jiang Youbai sought out Lou Huaiche privately. “Miss Lou, there might be many unexpected developments in the next few days, so don’t contact me. If anyone questions you, insist that we met at school and spent my rut together in the prime minister’s back garden when the incident occurred.”

Lou Huaiche: “Listen to yourself. ‘Spent my rut together in the back garden.’”

Jiang Youbai smiled faintly. “It’s also the truth. Spending a rut in the back garden is better than dumping a body there, right?”

Lou Huaiche: “Fair point.”

Jiang Youbai had seized a moment after the banquet to speak with her. After exchanging a few hurried words and sharing their private contact information, they left the prime minister’s residence separately.

Lou Huaiche had barely arrived home when the entire upper district was locked down.

The Grand Imperial Grandson had vanished without a trace. His personal terminal had been maliciously destroyed, and the last satellite positioning placed him at his own home.

The emperor, projecting his own paranoia, became convinced that someone in the capital was plotting against him. In a fit of rage, he demanded a thorough investigation and severe punishment for the culprit.

Blinded by fury, he placed all the successors under house arrest. The Grand Prince, who had just lost his son and hadn’t yet recovered from the shock, was berated mercilessly by his father and confined to his quarters.

The old emperor lashed out, “What are you plotting?”

The Grand Prince felt deeply wronged. What could he, a grieving father, possibly be plotting? Would killing his own son make him emperor?

Swallowing his anger, the Grand Prince meekly admitted his faults and withdrew, only to go home and smash seven or eight vases in frustration.

Jiang Youbai was also placed under house arrest. She, however, was perfectly at ease, sleeping ten hours a day at home.

System: “Host, please complete the mission as soon as possible.”

Jiang Youbai mused, “Hey, I’m under lockdown. How am I supposed to complete the mission? Haste makes waste.”

After two days of investigating the upper district, the old emperor still hadn’t found the Grand Prince’s body. Only then did he remember the lower district of the capital—a place rife with poverty and disease—and sent people to investigate there.

His men scoured every inch of the lower district but found no trace of a hidden corpse. On the fourth day, during a routine inspection of the sewage system, the sanitation department discovered the Grand Imperial Grandson’s waterlogged remains.

The body had been soaking in waste for four days, erasing any possible evidence. The emperor refused to believe the Grand Imperial Grandson would have gone to the lower district and redirected his suspicions back to the upper district.

But four days had passed. The prime minister’s residence had long since cleaned up the crime scene and disposed of some of the evidence and witnesses.

After five days of fruitless efforts, the old emperor had no choice but to lift the house arrest on the successors. Seething with suppressed fury, he wished he could execute everyone in the upper district he suspected.

It was at this critical juncture that Jiang Qingxian returned to the capital.

Rumors had long circulated that the emperor, still vigorous in his old age, had used in vitro fertilization to father an Alpha child. However, the child was frail, and the emperor, fearing schemes against her, had sent her to be raised on Pandora’s artificial satellite.

Most in the capital dismissed it as baseless gossip. Yet the emperor had indeed produced a 22-year-old adult Alpha—fully formed and seemingly far more capable than his other mediocre children.

Her arrival shifted the battle for succession from a contest among mediocre contenders (with Jiang Youbai as the sole exception) to a direct rivalry between Jiang Youbai and Jiang Qingxian.

The other contenders were no longer in the running.

For a time, the imperial capital was shrouded in intrigue.

What the capital’s nobility thought, Jiang Youbai didn’t know. But she had been exploited as the emperor’s errand girl for half a month and had many complaints.

The moment Jiang Qingxian returned to the capital, Jiang Youbai was ordered to host a grand welcome banquet in her honor.

Everyone in the capital speculated that within two days, the emperor would announce Jiang Qingxian as the new Crown Princess.

Yet the emperor seemed to have a personal vendetta against the title. He showed no signs of bestowing it, and instead of meeting Jiang Qingxian himself, he tasked Jiang Youbai with showing her around the capital every day. It left Jiang Youbai wondering who exactly was the Little Princess’s father.

Jiang Youbai’s legs were about to give out from all the walking.

There were few places in the capital that were both novel and suitable for their status, where Jiang Qingxian could enjoy herself while remaining safe. Every day, as soon as Jiang Youbai woke up, she had to figure out where to take Jiang Qingxian.

Whether Jiang Qingxian was happy or not didn’t matter—what mattered was that her father believed they were having a grand time.

With no other options left, Jiang Youbai took Jiang Qingxian to the mall.

Two Alphas shopping together was a bit odd, but when it came to cutting corners at work, there was no shame in it.

As soon as they entered, Jiang Youbai heard a familiar voice: “Your Highness, what a coincidence.”