The water in both water pouches had been completely used up before the wounds on Wei Yan’s face were finally cleaned as best as possible.
Wei Ning’s face and body were still smeared with half-dried blood.
Sticky and foul-smelling, the thing Wei Ning wanted most at that moment was to wash her face, but she couldn’t.
Outside, everything was pitch-black. The howling northern wind mixed with rain as it battered the broken wooden windows, making a steady pat-pat-pat sound.
Cold wind occasionally blew in through the doorway, making Wei Ning instinctively pull her thin prison clothes tighter around herself.
Wei Ning turned her head and looked at the members of the original owner’s family lying around them like corpses.
“What happened to them?”
Wei Yan followed her gaze.
His eyes darkened as he answered hoarsely,
“They ate the wild-vegetable pancakes the escort officers handed out for dinner. There was medicine mixed into the pancakes. It should only be a sleeping drug. They’ll be fine after sleeping it off.”
“I was in a bad mood, so I didn’t eat. You were sick and had no appetite.”
That was something the escort officer had accidentally let slip earlier.
Wei Ning nodded.
Wei Yan looked at his younger sister.
She was only a little over thirteen, yet her facial features were already exceptionally striking. Even her thin, sickly body and pale complexion couldn’t conceal her beauty.
No wonder those three beasts had developed wicked intentions toward her.
As her elder brother, he couldn’t afford to be distracted any longer.
He had to protect his younger sister.
Seeing Wei Yan staring blankly, Wei Ning asked another question.
“Do you know those officials? Why did they help us?”
Wei Yan glanced toward the Imperial Guards.
They were all sitting quietly with their eyes closed, completely motionless.
After withdrawing his gaze, he answered,
“I don’t know them. Judging from their clothing, they’re Imperial Guards. The leader has a bear insignia on his uniform, so he should be a Qianhu.”
Imperial Guards?
Was this the Ming Dynasty?
Had she somehow been transported to the Ming Dynasty?
A throbbing pain pulled at the nerves in Wei Ning’s head.
She remembered that a major case had occurred at the police station. The higher-ups and the media had been putting tremendous pressure on them.
She had worked alongside Old Forensic Doctor Wei in the autopsy room for thirty-six hours straight.
She had finally been unable to keep going and had leaned over her computer desk to take a short nap.
But how had she ended up here after waking up?
Could she have died suddenly at such a young age?
“Who is the current emperor? Zhu Yuanzhang, Zhu Yunwen, or Zhu Di?”
Her knowledge of history wasn’t very good.
She only knew these three names from watching television dramas!
“What?”
Wei Yan looked at Wei Ning in confusion.
“Isn’t the emperor’s surname Xiao? The new emperor is Xiao Qi.”
Xiao?
The Ming Dynasty emperors were surnamed Xiao?
That wasn’t right.
“Our country… We’re not in the Great Ming Dynasty?”
Wei Yan looked even more astonished.
“Our country is Great Qi!”
Great Qi?
The State of Qi?
The one that Emperor Qin Shi Huang had conquered?
But the clothing didn’t match either!
Seeing Wei Ning staring blankly, Wei Yan couldn’t help raising his hand and placing it against her forehead, which was wrapped in cloth.
She wasn’t running a fever.
Why was she suddenly confused?
Could she have damaged her brain when she hit her head?
“Ning’er, does your head hurt?”
Wei Ning snapped back to reality.
Seeing Wei Yan’s actions, she knew she had aroused his suspicion.
“It hurts. It hurts so much that I’m completely confused!”
Wei Ning went along with it, pressing her fingers against her temples and furrowing her brows tightly.
“I need to get some sleep. You… you should rest early too.”
Wei Yan nodded.
“Yes, we should rest.”
Wei Ning imitated the other members of the Wei family.
She turned her back toward Wei Yan, curled up on the ground, and pretended to sleep.
Wei Yan suspiciously glanced at Wei Ning, then looked toward the Imperial Guards across from them.
Thinking that the two remaining escort officers probably wouldn’t dare make another move tonight, he finally lay back down.
Wei Ning kept her eyes closed.
She listened to Wei Yan’s movements.
Only after he had lain down did she finally relax her tense body.
Now she finally had time to slowly digest the original owner’s memories.
After a long while, Wei Ning opened her eyes in the darkness.
The original owner was also named Wei Ning.
She shared the same name as Wei Ning.
She was the legitimate eldest granddaughter of Wei Zhang, the Minister of Rites and Grand Tutor.
Grand Tutor Wei Zhang had three sons: his eldest son, Wei Qian; his second son, Wei Chong; and his youngest son, Wei Zheng.
The eldest son, Wei Qian, was the original owner’s father.
Above the original owner were her elder brother Wei Yan and second brother Wei Xiao.
Fortunately, the original owner had lived on the family estate since childhood and wasn’t particularly familiar with her family.
That conveniently concealed the differences between her personality and behavior and those of the original owner.
This time, the former emperor had suddenly died.
The third prince, Xiao Qi, ascended the throne.
Wei Zhang, who had been the Crown Prince’s Grand Tutor, was framed by the new emperor.
Wei Zhang had served as the chief examiner for the Spring Examination in his capacity as Minister of Rites.
He was accused of accepting bribes, altering the examination rankings, committing fraud, and leaking examination questions.
Wei Zhang knew that this was deliberately orchestrated by the new emperor to eliminate his political opponents.
After thinking it over for a long time, when he was accused in the imperial court and realized that there was no way to change the situation, Wei Zhang loudly proclaimed his innocence.
Then he slammed his head against a pillar and died, using his death to prove his innocence.
Wei Zhang had originally been born into a poor family.
After placing first in the imperial examination and becoming a zhuangyuan, he earned the former emperor’s favor and gradually rose to the position of Minister of Rites, where he had served for many years.
He had numerous students and followers throughout the empire.
His death sparked protests among scholars across the realm.
One after another, they stepped forward to speak out in Wei Zhang’s defense.
The new emperor had originally intended to wipe out the entire Wei family.
But under the pressure of public opinion, he could only sentence the entire Wei family to exile in the bitterly cold region of Liaodong.
All male members of the family aged seven and above would be conscripted into the military, while the women would accompany them.
Wei Zhang had exchanged his own life for the survival of his entire family.
It was a tragic yet heroic sacrifice.
But there was one thing Wei Ning couldn’t help wondering about.
Why hadn’t the Crown Prince ascended the throne?
There had been severe flooding in the south, and the Crown Prince had been ordered to make a tour of the southern regions.
Not long afterward, news arrived that the Crown Prince had been swept away by a mudslide and drowned.
The former emperor had fallen seriously ill after hearing the terrible news.
Within a few days, he had also passed away.
That was how the third prince, who had always been at odds with the Grand Tutor, ended up ascending the throne.
The more Wei Ning thought about it, the more suspicious the whole thing seemed.
But what use was there in thinking about it?
Everything had already been decided.
Only now did Wei Ning finally understand.
This wasn’t the Ming Dynasty.
Nor was it the historical State of Qi.
It was a fictional dynasty known as Great Qi.
Many aspects of it, however, were quite similar to the Ming Dynasty.
Wei Ning’s thoughts were still chaotic when she heard faint footsteps and rustling sounds coming from the temple entrance.
Before long, everything became quiet again.
She guessed that the two escort officers had returned after dealing with the corpse.
Thinking about how she had killed the old escort officer without hesitation, Wei Ning felt no regret whatsoever.
Throughout the journey into exile, the three escort officers had caused countless problems for the Wei family.
They had bullied and humiliated them, beaten them, withheld their food, and committed countless other abuses.
And this time, they had even tried to assault the original owner, who was barely thirteen years old, ultimately causing her death.
They deserved to die.
Wei Ning’s thoughts wandered from one thing to another.
She was already weak and sickly, had suffered an injury, and had kept herself under tremendous mental strain.
Lying on the cold, hard floor, her eyelids gradually grew heavier.
Eventually, she fell into a deep sleep.
Inside the temple, the two fires gradually burned out.
Only a few sparks remained, their faint glow unable to illuminate even a small corner.
The Mountain God Temple sank into darkness.
The leader of the Imperial Guards, Lu Feng, Qianhu of the Imperial Guards, opened his narrow eyes.
He stared deeply toward the direction of the Wei family.
Then he closed his eyes again.