Yu Qijian straightened her neck stubbornly. “Then what do you want?”
Fang Jinxian placed both hands on the desk and leaned slightly forward, bringing his gaze level with hers.
“Tell me. Where are you from?”
“I come from the Eastlands of Great Tang, traveling west to seek scriptures.”
Fang Jinxian did not move at all.
Yu Qijian shrank back under his stare. “A very far place.”
“How far?”
“Far enough that you cannot imagine.”
“How did you arrive?”
“I came on a rocket.”
“……”
Even Fang Jinxian paused at this unfamiliar term.
“A moment of silence passed.
“A rocket? A fire-shooting arrow?”
“Yes.” Yu Qijian blinked without hesitation. “Whoosh—it flew me over.”
“And your rocket?”
“It crashed into the Eastern Sea and sank.”
Fang Jinxian nodded slightly. “And before that, what did you do?”
Yu Qijian grinned and switched into a rustic accent. “I farmed.”
“What did you grow?”
“Potatoes.”
“What are potatoes?”
“Things that grow in the ground.”
Fang Jinxian clearly did not believe a word of it. He smiled faintly. “So you are an earth spirit.”
Yu Qijian tried to turn the tables. “And you? What are you? The chief of eunuchs?”
He shifted lazily, leaning against the desk with folded arms. “The tail end of eunuchs.”
Yu Qijian laughed. “You can joke.”
Her face, no longer pale, slowly regained color. Her eyes curved into crescent moons.
Fang Jinxian watched her quietly for a moment.
He noticed the tear mole at the corner of her left eye—something so small it should have been insignificant, yet it softened her face into something faintly fragile and luminous.
He spoke softly. “Take off your clothes.”
“?!” Yu Qijian nearly jumped up. She clutched her collar in alarm.
Fang Jinxian remained expressionless. “To check for a birthmark.”
“I don’t have one.”
“Let me see.”
“You pervert!”
Fang Jinxian clicked his tongue lightly, a trace of threat in it.
Under the eaves, one must bow.
Yu Qijian, being a modern woman, comforted herself—showing a shoulder blade was nothing.
So the next second, Fang Jinxian saw her reluctantly tug down her collar, revealing a pale left shoulder blade.
It lasted only an instant before she pulled it back up.
“See it?”
“No.”
“Go die.”
Fang Jinxian looked away, turning his head slightly, momentarily silent.
When Yu Qijian finished fixing her clothes and looked up again, she saw that his ears were faintly red.
Before she could speak, he regained composure.
“How many people know about this?”
“Only me…” Yu Qijian paused. “And you.”
“Your maid?”
“She thinks I lost my memory.”
Fang Jinxian said calmly, “Everyone who knew she died that day went with her. Your maid happened to be out of the palace visiting the Yu Clan and survived.”
Yu Qijian understood. “So she doesn’t know anything happened to Yu Qijian.”
Fang Jinxian still had many questions.
How she had entered the heavily guarded palace unnoticed. Why she bore the same face. What her purpose was.
But no matter how he thought about it, the Palace of Eternal Peace had been sealed tightly during those days.
And yet this person had appeared out of nowhere.
Absurd.
Still, as he said—whether human or ghost did not matter.
“What is your name?”
Yu Qijian was still distracted. “I didn’t call anyone.”
“…Your name.”
“I am Yu Qijian.” She added quickly, “I’m an orphan. I grew up in a welfare home… it’s a place that takes in orphaned children. The director’s surname was Yu. She gave me my name.”
“Your parents?”
“I don’t know. I was abandoned. Maybe because I was a girl.”
Fang Jinxian watched her without blinking.
Her expression was open and calm, but her lashes lowered slightly, casting a faint shadow over her eyes.
He looked away and stopped asking.
“Understood.”
Yu Qijian let out a breath of relief, about to bring up the matter of the imperial seal, when Fang Jinxian opened the door and ordered outside, “Bring it in.”
Confused, she followed his gaze.
Outside, rain had begun to fall—light, steady. The kind of weather made for sleeping.
Two eunuchs carried in a long, white-cloth-wrapped object and placed it in the center of the room.
A human-shaped outline.
“What is this?” Yu Qijian asked, voice slightly unsteady.
Fang Jinxian bent down and hooked a finger under the white cloth.
“A meeting gift.”
With a flick of his wrist, the cloth slid away.
A woman in ornate palace robes lay beneath it—face pale, eyes wide open in death.
Yu Qijian stumbled back, nearly gagging. This was the first time she had faced a corpse so directly.
In this world, life seemed frighteningly insignificant.
She covered her mouth, voice trembling. “What do you mean by this?”
“Don’t recognize her?” Fang Jinxian raised a brow. “Imperial Noble Consort Lady Lin.”
He stood straight again, expression cold. “She died. Sudden heart failure. Nothing could be done.”
Yu Qijian had just begun to relax around him, but now that relief turned into dread. “Why would you—”
If it were truly heart failure, it would not have been delivered here like this.
Fang Jinxian looked at her steadily.
“Does Your Highness think that sitting in this position with that face, doing nothing, and staying out of conflict would grant you peace?”
“When the Late Emperor was alive, the harem was already hollow. Lady Lin enjoyed exclusive favor and was on the path to becoming Empress. Then Lady Yu intervened.”
“She poisoned Lady Yu. Then she saw the dead woman walking again.”
“She watched you more closely than I did. I can suppress her for two or three days, but not forever. She would have gone mad eventually. Now she is dead—and so is suspicion.”
Fang Jinxian’s gaze locked onto hers.
“So, Your Highness. This was killed for you. And this trouble—you must bear it.”
Yu Qijian gritted her teeth. “Even if she suspected, she had no proof—”
Fang Jinxian calmly rotated his jade ring, sounding almost tired. “Will you accept this gift or not?”
Imperial Noble Consort Lady Lin had killed the original Yu Qijian. Now Fang Jinxian had killed her in return, forcing Yu Qijian onto his side, using the Yu Clan to counter the Lin Family.
It was both protection and threat.
If she refused, she too could become another “sudden heart failure” corpse in the palace.
Yu Qijian glared at him, feeling as though she had been dragged into a muddy pit.
“Do I even have a choice?”
Fang Jinxian accepted her silence.
He lifted a hand and gently wiped a tear from her face. His fingers were cold, just like his tone.
“The Lin family is already waiting at the palace gates.”