After the palace coup, Tang Ling took control of the Qi Country’s court and appointed the Fifth Prince, Xiao Cheng as the emperor.
At the same time, on the pretext of plotting against the crown prince, Prince Yan Xiao Jin was confined to the mansion and not allowed to leave without an imperial decree.
Tang Ling dispatched five thousand elite soldiers to pursue and kill Ye Juege, the general of the Yan Mansion who had defected with the Shenji Camp Troops’s tiger token.
However, they returned empty-handed as Ye Juege had escaped into the territory of Xinyao.
Three days later, Xiao Jin woke up. As soon as she opened her eyes, she heard a burst of uncontrollable sobbing.
“I’m not dead yet, why are you crying?” It had been a long time since Xiao Jin had spoken, and her voice had become somewhat hoarse and unpleasant.
Yin Zhu and Zi Ling immediately stopped crying and broke into smiles. “Your Highness, you’re finally awake!”
Xiao Jin lay on the bed, feeling as if every bone in her body had been broken into pieces. She was about to move her legs when she caught sight of a piece of clothing at the edge of the bed. After capturing a glimpse of pure white, she couldn’t move.
Beside the bed, the woman in white put down the silver needle in her hand and said lightly, “Your Highness, your words are quite biased. Although you are not dead yet, you are not far from death.”
After a while, Xiao Jin didn’t answer.
The woman in white frowned slightly and asked Bai Zheng, who was standing beside her, “Did I use the needle too heavily and make her dumb?”
Bai Zheng smiled and remained silent.
With Yin Zhu’s support, Xiao Jin struggled to sit up and said to the woman in white, “I mistook you for someone else.”
Staring at the woman beside the bed for a long time, Xiao Jin vaguely remembered who she was. Ye Juege had mentioned that the original owner had four trusted subordinates, and she had already met the first three. Only Ming Xun, who came and went without a trace, remained a mystery.
Leaning against the bed, every part of Xiao Jin’s body ached. She suppressed the urge to take a sharp breath and looked up at the woman in white. “Are you Ming Xun?”
Ming Xun smiled faintly, graceful and elegant like a gentle moonlit willow.
“It seems you have recovered well. Not only did you not die, but your mind is also quite clear.”
It was a compliment, but coming from Ming Xun’s mouth, even if it was intended as praise, it sounded more like criticism.
Xiao Jin didn’t pay attention to Ming Xun’s sharp tongue, but was stung by her resemblance to someone else’s smile.
A tickling sensation rose in her throat, and after covering her lips, she coughed uncontrollably.
After drinking a few cups of bitter medicine, Xiao Jin gave up on the idea of getting up and moving freely. She stayed in bed, unwilling to be restless but having no other choice.
Outside the window, the bright moon rose, and she turned her head to look.
She looked for a long time.
Since entering this world, with the heavy tasks at hand, Xiao Jin rarely has moments to stare at the moon.
Even if she wants to space out, if there are people beside her, she doesn’t dare to keep staring.
Now she looks at the moon.
The moon is round and full. But Xiao Jin always feels a sense of emptiness and a missing corner in her heart when she looks at it.
What exactly is missing, she doesn’t think about it, nor does she want to think about it.
Xiao Jin doesn’t have any other thoughts now. She just wants someone to stab her with a knife, whether it’s life or death, it would be considered going back to her hometown.
Of course, that’s only if returning to the homeland can be considered going back home.
Thinking of this, Xiao Jin couldn’t help but laugh at herself. She raised her hand, intending to find a cup of water to drink, but instead, her hand touched the cool fingertips of someone else.
Xiao Jin met Bai Zheng’s eyes and retracted her hand.
Bai Zheng smiled and poured two cups of tea, handing one to Xiao Jin. “On such a moonlit night, this humble woman came uninvited. Did I disturb Your Highness’s enjoyment of the moon?”
Xiao Jin took the tea cup and shook her head. “I am no longer Prince Yan now, there’s no need for modesty in front of me.”
“I see.” Bai Zheng held the warm tea in her hands. “Actually, I have just grown accustomed to it.”
“Accustomed to what?”
“Accustomed to maintaining a humble and proper demeanor in front of you.”
The evening breeze blew in through the window.
The two of them looked up at the moon, both silent.
After finishing a cup of tea, Xiao Jin said to Bai Zheng, “Thank you for saving me that day.”
Before falling into a coma after falling down the stairs, she saw Bai Zheng’s pale face.
But Bai Zheng seemed slightly surprised and looked at Xiao Jin with a joyful smile. “Speaking of which, this is the first time you’ve thanked me. I must remember it well and savor it in the future.”
Xiao Jin felt a bit helpless. “What’s the point of savoring it? You also know that I’m not her.”
“Ah, is that so?”
Bai Zhen smiled and lifted her chin, looking at Xiao Jin. “But for me, you two are actually not that different.”
After Bai Zheng left, Princess Zhao Hua came once.
But she couldn’t stay too long with Tang Ling’s people following behind her.
Watching Ming Xun change Xiao Jin’s medicine, removing layer after layer of bloody bandages, Princess Zhao Hua stood beside, at a loss, and silently cried for a long time behind the folding screen.
When she saw Xiao Jin, she grabbed her hand, choked with sobs, and couldn’t say a word.
Through Princess Zhao Hua’s account, Xiao Jin learned that the reason Tang Ling still kept her alive was to use her life to threaten Princess Zhao Hua, preventing her from taking the soldiers inside Princess Zhao Yang’s fiefdom without permission.
Princess Zhao Hua mentioned the past as well, saying that Tang Ling had once blocked a sword for Princess Zhao Yang, which resulted in a lingering illness, and her martial arts were not as good as before.
She also mentioned that Empress Lu had received the news of the Crown Prince’s death and, from somewhere, found a short sword and committed suicide in Changle Palace.
Tang Yu was locked up by Tang Ling in the Tang residence. It was said that on the day Tang Ling went to find Tang Yu, the two fought fiercely.
If it weren’t for Tang Ling’s guards not daring to kill Tang Yu, Tang Yu should have died by now.
By the end, Princess Zhao Hua didn’t know what else to say. She touched Xiao Jin’s hair and told her not to be afraid, that even if she died, Auntie would protect her.
Then she left with the crowd of people.
Xiao Jin stayed in the Yan residence to recuperate.
Occasionally, she saw Ming Xun sitting in the courtyard playing the zither, so she asked, “Where did you come from?”
Ming Xun’s hands on the zither didn’t stop. “I received a message from Miss Bai Zheng and rushed here from a faraway mountain in the north.”
“How is it over there?”
“It’s high and cold. In winter, thick snow falls and presses on the plum trees. The flowers and leaves fall together, adding a touch of cold fragrance to the courtyard.”
Xiao Jin smiled and said, “It sounds like a really nice place.”
Ming Xun nodded.
Xiao Jin asked again, “If it’s such a good place, why did you come to the capital?”
“Because you were about to die. I thought about it and realized I didn’t want you to die, so I came.”
Xiao Jin laughed. It turned out that the original owner didn’t fare well with Ming Xun, even considering whether or not to save her.
Thinking of the mountain that Ming Xun described, Xiao Jin said, “Where is that place you mentioned? If I have a chance in the future, I’d like to go and see it.”
Ming Xun looked up at Xiao Jin and pressed down on the strings of the zither with her hand.
Her tone was light and ethereal but hurtful, “I’m afraid you won’t have that chance anymore.”
Although she said that, she still told Xiao Jin the specific location of the mountain peak.
After hearing it, Xiao Jin nodded and said, “If I have a chance in the future, I want to die there.”
Ming Xun withdrew her gaze and also put away the zither. Before leaving the courtyard, she coldly said to Xiao Jin, “Your Highness, I saved you not to let you wait for death. If you want to die, die far away and don’t soil the peaceful place I just found.”
For some reason, although Ming Xun’s words were harsh, Xiao Jin felt comfortable talking to her.
Perhaps it was because Ming Xun was a casual person who didn’t have many rules in her speech and actions. She always wandered alone without even a position to harm herself.
There was also someone who once didn’t harm her position.
However, that person had already left.
When they meet again, the other person would likely have ascended to a high position and, following the plot of that book, become the Empress of Yao Country.
At that time, they should meet with a sword or a knife, and everything would be complete.
After all, Chu Shao hated deceit, and she had deceived her from beginning to end.
Thinking of this, Xiao Jin asked the system, “How much favorability does Chu Shao have left?”
The system unusually fell silent.
Then, it apologetically told her, “Host, I currently can’t find that information due to some uncontrollable factors.”
“Why?”
The system replied, “Because it has been blocked by some kind of force beyond our control.”
Xiao Jin had nothing to say.
If her system could be blocked by other things, could it still be considered a system?
The system then told her, “However, host, even though you’re not currently on a mission, your vital signs are still normal, indicating that the female lead, Chu Shao, still has favorability toward you.”
That’s right.
The overflowing favorability from Chu Shao could be converted into the length of her life.
This meant that as long as Chu Shao loved her for a day, she could live for a day. If Chu Shao loved her for a lifetime, she would never think of death.
Xiao Jin used to think that living by love was just the crazy talk of delusional people. But when she herself fell into this strange cycle and became the delusional person, she realized that some seemingly absurd statements might actually be ahead of their time.
Now she had become that ahead-of-time person, breathing the air and listening to the heartbeat in her chest every day.
Feeling grateful for the good signs of life, Chu Shao loved her for another day.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Translator’s note: Do you think Chu Shao will kill you and let you leave her? In your dreams! If her favorability can save you from death, then just stay by her side!
TO BE CONTINUE…Â
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