5
Suddenly a Little Flustered
The news of the Eastern Palace being sealed off reached Lin Qingran an hour later. She couldn’t help but feel grateful for her quick decision to flee. There must be something wrong with Xiao Heng’s coffin—otherwise, why would they need to seal it off?
Moreover, at that time, she had been inexplicably alone, surrounded by an eerie atmosphere. The more she thought about it, the more frightened she became.
Perhaps her cheap fiancé had died with a grievance, leaving his corpse preserved and un-decayed. It wasn’t impossible for him to turn into a jiangshi. After all, she had already experienced transmigrating into a book—encountering ghosts or jiangshi wouldn’t be strange at all.
Perhaps due to the mental exhaustion and fright she had endured that day, Lin Qingran returned to her residence and refused any assistance, shutting herself in her room without stepping out.
The servants of the Lin residence all assumed that Lin Qingran was overwhelmed with grief over Xiao Heng’s death. Especially since she had returned pale-faced and absent-minded, without even ordering a meal, it seemed she was deeply devastated and unable to recover. The maids dared not disturb her.
This suited Lin Qingran perfectly. Once back in her residence, she felt a sense of security and began to believe she could handle things again. A comfortable life seemed to be drawing closer.
The original host had deeply loved Xiao Heng, but she had no such feelings. Eating well, sleeping well, and never making things difficult for herself were her priorities.
It was true she hadn’t ordered a meal, but she had stuffed herself with pastries until she was full.
Although something had happened at the Eastern Palace, she still needed to figure out how to act in tomorrow’s performance. After all, she was now a love-brain, with everything revolving around Xiao Heng.
Lost in thought, Lin Qingran washed up after eating and drinking her fill, then lay down on the bed, yawned, closed her eyes, and quickly fell asleep.
The next day, Lin Qingran woke up contentedly and stretched lazily.
“Miss, why don’t you rest a little longer?”
The door opened, and a maid entered carrying a small basin of water, her brow furrowed with worry.
Lin Qingran forced a bitter smile. “Shaoyao, don’t worry. I’m fine. There’s no need to rest. I want to go to the palace to accompany Brother Crown Prince. This is the last time I can be with him. I just don’t know if I’ll be allowed into the palace.”
The visitor was the original host’s personal maid, Shaoyao, who was the same age as the original host. She was loyal but a bit naive.
Shaoyao was the first person Lin Qingran had met after transmigrating, and she had managed to deceive her without revealing any clues.
Transmigrating into a book was something best kept to herself—it was impossible to announce it openly, or people would surely think she had lost her mind.
To maintain her persona as someone infatuated with Xiao Heng, she still had to keep up the act.
“Miss, the Grand Tutor didn’t specify the situation in the palace. He only instructed me to inform you that if you wish to accompany His Highness the Crown Prince, you may go as you please,” Shaoyao replied.
Lin Qingran froze instantly, suddenly feeling a bit panicked.
Hadn’t the Eastern Palace been sealed off? Why did she still have to go?!
Seeing Lin Qingran momentarily dazed, Shaoyao couldn’t help but ask, “What’s wrong, Miss? Are you overjoyed that you can accompany His Highness the Crown Prince again?”
“Yes, you’re right. I’ll go to the palace after I’ve tidied up,” Lin Qingran replied, feeling like crying but having no tears left.
After washing up, Lin Qingran applied makeup to make herself look haggard. Since the person she loved had died, she absolutely could not appear well-fed and well-rested. She had to show that she had been unable to sleep all night.
Before long, Lin Qingran left the courtyard and boarded a carriage alone to head to the palace.
The servants of the Lin residence were whispering among themselves. By now, everyone knew of Lin Qingran’s deep affection for Xiao Heng. It turned out there really were people who could lose their souls over someone’s departure, and their young mistress was exactly such a case.
In her current state, even her family dared not say much, fearing she might collapse entirely.
Since she wished to enter the palace to accompany the Crown Prince on his final journey, they let her have her way.
The deeply devoted Lin Qingran had already arrived at the Eastern Palace. Gazing at the main hall, which looked completely different from the previous night, she seemed unable to detect even a trace of its former eerie chill.
Yet the memory of the coffin’s movements from last night still echoed in her ears. Lin Qingran’s legs felt as if rooted to the ground, utterly refusing to carry her inside.
Noticing Lin Qingran’s arrival, the palace servants couldn’t help but glance her way.
Aware of their gazes, Lin Qingran had no choice but to steel herself and walk in, biting her lower lip tightly in suppressed agony.
The ancestral hall remained unchanged, showing no signs of alteration. To Lin Qingran, every moment spent there was pure torment. Had it not been for the two disturbances she witnessed last night, she would have put on quite a performance, acting out a mourning scene for everyone to see.
But now, she genuinely felt a creeping dread.
Fortunately, it was daytime and there were plenty of people around, which lessened her fear considerably.
The incense and candles in the ancestral hall burned as usual. Lin Qingran, looking utterly desolate, mechanically tossed paper money into the brazier. After all, outsiders couldn’t possibly discern her true thoughts.
She wondered where the plot had gone wrong for her cheap fiancé to die so early.
The flickering flames cast shifting shadows across Lin Qingran’s face as she maintained the motion of tossing paper money, resembling a walking corpse.
After a noble’s death, no one would casually inspect their coffin. Thus, almost no one in the Eastern Palace knew that the person inside the coffin had long since disappeared.
Meanwhile, in the inner chamber of the rear bedchamber behind the main hall, a pale-faced man sat propped up on the bed. His eyes were closed, his chest wrapped in bandages with faint traces of blood seeping through.
Xiao Heng’s breathing was shallow. When he coughed, his brows furrowed slightly, his right hand moving to his chest as veins bulged on his forehead and the back of his hand.
“Xuan Ying.”
At the soft call, Xuan Ying materialized in the room, kneeling before the bed.
“Your Highness.”
Xiao Heng covered his mouth with a handkerchief and coughed lightly. “Any unusual movements?”
Xuan Ying immediately replied, “None whatsoever. The border guards are being extremely tight-lipped about the assassination attempt on Your Highness. Our people are investigating covertly. However, according to intelligence gathered by your subordinate, the attempt is unrelated to the capital. All clues end at the border.”
“Mm.” Xiao Heng waved him away.
After Xuan Ying left, Lin Qingran emerged from the main hall. She was accustomed to drinking warm water in the morning, which inevitably led to certain inconveniences, so she decided to take care of personal matters first.
Having done so, she found herself seemingly lost, as if every path looked identical.
Just as Xiao Heng closed his eyes to rest, a familiar voice reached his ears.
[I don’t want to stay in this wretched place for another moment! I can’t find my way out at all. Which way did I even come from? Who builds an Eastern Palace this complicated for no reason?]
The Eastern Palace, a wretched place?
Before Xiao Heng could process this, another voice tinged with self-assurance followed.
[There’s no way I’m actually lost. I keep going in circles and ending up back where I started. Could this be the legendary ghost wall?]
After what felt like an eternity, Lin Qingran found herself back at the starting point again. She had complained so much she’d run out of frustration.
Lin Qingran had no other shortcomings, but she was terribly bad with directions. Yet she firmly believed she wasn’t directionally challenged at all. So when she got lost in the Eastern Palace, it never occurred to her to ask the palace servants for help. Instead, she justified it to herself as a precaution—she couldn’t let anyone notice anything unusual, especially since the original owner of this body had visited the Eastern Palace many times.
Indeed, if someone who had been here so many times could still get lost in the Eastern Palace, it would be strange if it didn’t raise suspicions.