In the silent, dim room, only a single faint candle was lit.
Afraid of being detected by the search party outside, Xie Mingyi instinctively kept her voice low.
But Nan Rao heard her clearly.
"What you said… is it true?"
After a long silence, Nan Rao spoke again, her voice carrying a faint tremor she herself hadn't noticed.
Nan Rao had considered the possibility that the root of all this might be connected to her amnesia.
After all, she had been found on the outskirts of Luoyang.
And on the day she struck the petition drum, the moment Yan Zhan laid eyes on her, he seemed utterly shocked, as if he had seen someone who shouldn't exist here.
Then later—
Pei Ling, as Chancellor, second to none in the realm, came to see her personally.
He had shown her kindness on multiple occasions, and Di Yue had been exceptionally good to her as well.
No one in this world treats another person well without reason. Even if Pei Ling used the excuse of "two lost souls adrift in the same boat," she wasn't dull enough to fully believe it. That was precisely why, once the Duan family case was concluded, Nan Rao chose to flee the Chancellor's residence in such a discourteous manner.
Subconsciously, she was terrified she wouldn't be able to leave.
But how could she be a princess?
She had been married to Pei Ling?
The deceased wife Pei Ling had mourned for five years… was her?
Nan Rao's face, already devoid of color, turned deathly pale as paper. She couldn't help curling her body tighter, her voice trembling as she refused to accept this truth.
"B-But I… I am Nan Rao. I'm not some princess. I have a husband…"
If she were Princess Huayang, then it would make sense why Pei Ling would launch such an extensive manhunt for her.
But what was she supposed to do?
She didn't want to be someone else. She only wanted to be Nan Rao.
She only wanted to return to her home in Qingzhou. Even if Duan Xun was gone, she didn't want to stay here.
Xie Mingyi hadn't expected this reaction from her, and her brow furrowed slightly. "You… don't cry…" She fumbled a bit, hastily setting down the porridge in her hands, leaning forward to carefully wipe Nan Rao's tears with her sleeve.
Seeing her so frightened, Xie Mingyi felt a throbbing ache at her temples, frustration and anger simmering within her.
She gritted her teeth fiercely. "What exactly did they do to you to make you like this? Did Pei Ling do something to you?"
She addressed the current Chancellor by his full name without the slightest courtesy.
From her tone, it seemed she had long harbored resentment toward Pei Ling.
But Nan Rao only shook her head.
They hadn't mistreated her.
In fact, they had been kind to her, tried to cheer her up, helped her seek justice.
It was she herself who was afraid.
Nan Rao wrapped her arms around her knees, curling herself into a tight ball, burying her head in her arms, her voice as faint as a mosquito's buzz. "If that's the case, why didn't Chancellor Pei simply tell me the truth? How can you prove you're not deceiving me?"
The moment she mentioned Pei Ling, Xie Mingyi felt anger surge within her, and she gnashed her teeth. "That man is deeply scheming—who knows what he's plotting? He's not a good person at all. If not for him, Your Highness would never have fallen to this state!"
"Your Highness was deceived by him!"
These words struck like a heavy hammer against her heart.
Nan Rao couldn't help lifting her head, her brows slightly furrowed, staring fixedly at her.
Seeing the confusion and bewilderment in Nan Rao's eyes, as if she still didn't understand why Xie Mingyi was slandering Pei Ling so harshly, Xie Mingyi leaned forward, staring intently into those tear-reddened eyes, and whispered, "In this world, anyone might deceive Your Highness, but never I—because I… was Your Highness's personal maidservant in the past."
With that, Xie Mingyi took a deep breath and said calmly, "I was assigned to your side by the Empress when I was young, and I grew up alongside Your Highness. When Your Highness met with misfortune back then, I wasn't there to protect you. Over these years, I've been investigating the clues from that time, trying to discover who it was that struck against you."
Nan Rao felt dazed.
What Xie Mingyi was saying was far too distant and unfamiliar for her—she couldn't even begin to imagine it.
There were many rumors about Princess Huayang outside.
Born of the Empress, the late Emperor's daughter in his old age, she had been exceptionally granted the title of Grand Princess[1] at a young age, establishing her own household with attendants, her ceremonial privileges equal to those of a feudal prince.
Later, after all the other princes and princesses had perished in the struggle for succession, and the late Emperor's health declined, the newly come-of-age Princess Huayang gained the late Emperor's trust, attending to him daily in his illness, closer to him than any official at court.
Coupled with the immense power of the Empress's kinsmen, the Deng clan, Princess Huayang wielded astonishing authority for a time, acting with reckless abandon, and none at court or in the countryside dared cross her path.
Even the current Emperor, when he was still a member of the imperial clan, never clashed with her face to face.
Was such a person truly her?
Nan Rao tightened her arms around her knees, burying her face in the crook of her arms. She didn't want to accept any of this—didn't want to accept this unfamiliar identity, or that past full of scheming and deceit.
"I don't want to be a princess," she said softly.
Xie Mingyi was stunned.
"I escaped from the Prime Minister's residence, not because they mistreated me, but because I wanted to go home." Nan Rao broke out in cold sweat, perhaps due to her head injury. She fought through the dizziness and looked up at Xie Mingyi. "I don't remember my past anymore. I already have a new identity and a new life."
Xie Mingyi's lips moved slightly. For a moment, she felt as if her heart had been violently squeezed, suffocatingly tight.
Years had passed, and Xie Mingyi still couldn't let go of the Princess's death. Now that she finally saw her alive, she heard her say with her own mouth that she didn't want to be Xiao Lingzhang again.
She remained silent for a long time.
"These years… has the Princess been well?"
Nan Rao nodded slowly, forcing a faint smile. "I've been very happy."
Nan Rao didn't fully trust Xie Mingyi's words, but the other's grief and disappointment at this moment didn't seem feigned, so she could only offer a reluctant reassurance.
Just then, footsteps suddenly sounded from outside.
The sound was extremely faint.
Only discernible upon careful listening.
Both people in the room froze simultaneously. Xie Mingyi gritted her teeth, drew the soft sword from her waist, and said coldly, "It seems they've searched their way here. I'll fight our way out with Your Highness."
They were currently in an inn.
When Xie Mingyi had discovered Nan Rao, she'd initially wanted to inform Princess Rongchang and see if she could hide Nan Rao in the palace. But on second thought, if Pei Ling was searching for the Princess, even the palace gate guards would be difficult to get past.
Moreover, times had changed—the Emperor was no longer a father who doted on his daughter, and the palace was a mixed bag of people; it might not be safe either.
So she'd temporarily found an inn to settle Nan Rao in.
It was now dusk, and the streets were empty. It was only expected that they would search here.
Nan Rao's lips turned pale, her eyes wide open, as she looked out the window in panic.
There was no escape.
No matter how skilled Xie Mingyi was in martial arts, how could she possibly defeat those soldiers?
She suddenly made up her mind. "The Prime Minister won't make things difficult for me. Leave me and escape on your own."
"Just… tie me up, pretend I was taken by someone else. Then cover your face, slip out through the window quietly, and wait for Pei Ling to find me."
If she truly was the Princess, and someone happened to rescue her at this critical moment, it would definitely arouse Pei Ling's suspicion.
Whether he would suspect Xie Mingyi, Nan Rao didn't know, and she didn't dare gamble on it.
Xie Mingyi shook her head firmly. "This servant worked so hard to find Your Highness—how could I just abandon you like this?"
Nan Rao stared into her eyes and said calmly, "If I truly am the Princess, then this is an order."
Xie Mingyi was stunned.
She looked at Nan Rao with a complicated expression, her lips moving as if she wanted to say something.
In the end, she knelt on one knee and paid her a respectful salute.
"I obey the Princess's command!"
The night was dark, with scattered snow drifting from the sky. On the main avenue of Luoyang City, hoofbeats rang out in succession, iron armor reflecting silver light like a dark current lurking beneath still water.
If one wanted to search for someone, night was easier than day.
There weren't many places to hide in the city.
But someone had taken her away.
The thought that someone had struck her on the head and knocked her unconscious filled Pei Ling with fury, cold murderous intent brewing deep in his eyes.
During the day, the incident with Princess Rongchang's carriage being startled was also highly suspicious. Pei Ling remembered that Huayang, a former maidservant, now followed Princess Rongchang, so the palace gates were strictly searched by the guards.
Not even a fly could escape.
Beyond that, they searched the inns.
Di Yue led the soldiers knocking door to door, until one room remained unopened for a long time. He kicked with force—with a loud crash, the door burst open.
The room was pitch dark, with only the window left open.
Di Yue raised his lantern and stepped forward, finally spotting a figure curled up in the corner of the bed. "Report to the Prime Minister at once! She's here!"
When Pei Ling arrived upon hearing the news, he happened to witness a sight that filled him with shock and rage.
Before him, Nan Rao lay limp on the bed, her wrists bound with rope, her disheveled black hair scattered across her body, her half-exposed face utterly bloodless.
Her eyes were tightly shut, unconscious.
Pei Ling stood frozen in place, unmoving for a long time, until his gaze slowly swept over the woman's frail form and saw her chest still rising and falling with breath.
He suddenly strode forward.
Di Yue drew his sword from its sheath. Pei Ling took the long blade and gently cut the ropes around her wrists, then raised his palm and softly smoothed her tangled hair.
His fingertips were still trembling.
He had nearly lost her again.
Pei Ling wrapped his arm around Nan Rao's waist, pulling her tightly into his embrace, then spread his crane-feather cloak over her. Only then did he lift her horizontally and turn to give a cold order: "Summon the female physician. Return to the residence immediately."
He carried Nan Rao onto the carriage.
Nan Rao, eyes tightly shut and feigning unconsciousness, caught the unfamiliar, cold scent of aloeswood from Pei Ling and couldn't help but secretly open her eyes.
From her angle, she could just see the man's taut jawline.
He held her very tightly.
Yet she felt her heart still sinking.
He truly did harbor other intentions toward her.