“Rong Rong, I have an ungracious request to make. I wonder if you could help me.”

“Sister Mei, please speak. As long as it’s not—” Rong Rong glanced at Yu Jingming, who was lying in the cell next to them, then quickly looked away. “As long as it’s not asking the Crown Prince to release him, I’ll do my best to help.”

Mei Ningxiang shook her head repeatedly. “I only hope that if both he and I die, you could do us one last favor and make sure our bodies are buried together. Whether it’s in a mass grave or thrown into the city moat, just as long as we’re together.”

She spoke so readily of death that Rong Rong found it hard to respond.

It was possible that Mei Ningxiang was genuinely resigned to dying, or perhaps she had sensed Rong Rong’s softness and was trying to use this request to manipulate her into helping.

If it weren’t for the fact that Yu Jingming had attempted to assassinate Yuanbao, Rong Rong might have actually felt sympathy.

Just as she was unsure of what to say, Yu Jingming, who had been lying on the ground, suddenly stirred.

He got up and leaned weakly against a pillar.

“Who said I wanted to be buried with you? Don’t flatter yourself.”

Only now did Rong Rong get a good look at Yu Jingming’s face.

Unlike Mei Ningxiang, who appeared unharmed, Yu Jingming’s face and neck were covered with numerous wounds.

The once tall and imposing figure was now hunched and drained of all spirit.

Only his eyes remained as sharp as ever, so piercing they could kill.

“So, you finally couldn’t hold back from speaking?” Mei Ningxiang glanced at Yu Jingming with a smug expression, completely unfazed by his harsh words. “Do you think I’d believe anything you say now? You even dared to assassinate the Crown Prince. Let me tell you, I won’t believe anything you say from now on.”

Yu Jingming’s face darkened, and he spat out a mouthful of blood to the side.

“You’re still bleeding?” Mei Ningxiang asked with concern.

“Miss Xue, take her away,” Yu Jingming ignored Mei Ningxiang and looked at Rong Rong instead. “The Crown Prince wants to capture and kill me. I’m the one who wounded him. She wasn’t involved and knows nothing.”

“And have you confessed to everything you know and everything you’ve done?” Rong Rong retorted.

Yu Jingming was momentarily stunned by Rong Rong’s stern words.

Ever since he had known Rong Rong, he had always seen her as a fragile beauty—soft-spoken, cautious, often lowering her eyes and head, delicate as a porcelain vase.

Yu Jingming raised his eyes to look at Rong Rong, his gaze growing sharp again.

His lips pressed tightly together, and he remained silent.

Feicui suddenly spoke, “Yu Jingming, do you know who I am?”

Rongrong turned to look at Feicui and saw that she had lost her usual composure, her fists clenched tightly, her face pale with tension.

Feicui and Yu Jingming had a past?

Not only Rongrong but also Mei Ningxiang turned to Yu Jingming.

Yu Jingming stared deeply at Feicui and, despite his injuries, let out a slight laugh. “I’ve defeated so many people; how could I remember each one?”

“You shameless scoundrel! If it weren’t for you, Jingrong wouldn’t have died! Today, I’ll avenge her!” Feicui, completely enraged by his words, suddenly pulled out a dagger from her sleeve and lunged at Yu Jingming through the bars.

Rongrong, closest to Feicui, couldn’t react in time due to the suddenness of the attack.

Mei Ningxiang realized what was happening, but being locked in her cell, all she could do was scream.

Only Liuli, standing behind them, acted in the nick of time.

She threw her long sword, which, although it didn’t directly block the dagger, managed to knock it off course slightly.

The dagger grazed Yu Jingming’s face, leaving a bloody gash before embedding itself in the wall.

Seeing that Yu Jingming was unharmed, Mei Ningxiang finally breathed a sigh of relief.

“Feicui,” Liuli’s voice was stern as she stepped forward and grabbed Feicui’s wrist.

Feicui, however, had tears in her eyes, shouting in anger, “Why didn’t you let me kill him? Why?! If it weren’t for him luring me away, Jingrong wouldn’t have died! The Lord wouldn’t be in so much pain! And Prince Yuanbao wouldn’t have grown up without his mother.”

“There is no why.” Liuli’s voice was calm yet firm. “These aren’t matters for you to worry about. You just need to do as your master instructs. If he is guilty, aren’t you also guilty for dereliction of duty? Haven’t you learned from losing a finger?”

Liuli held Feicui’s wrist, raising her hand.

Her long hand was missing a finger, a sight that was shocking.

The sudden turn of events left Rongrong at a loss.

If initially, she wondered why Feicui had suddenly attacked Yu Jingming, now her concern was entirely on Feicui’s missing finger.

Back when Feicui said she accidentally cut off her finger while cooking, Rongrong had been skeptical.

Now, Liuli’s words made her realize that Feicui’s finger was somehow related to Jingrong’s death.

“Liuli.”

Hearing Rongrong’s call, Liuli’s stern expression softened immediately, and she bowed, “What are your orders, miss?”

“You and Feicui should take Mei Jie away. I want to speak with Brother Yu alone.”

Liuli was slightly stunned, “Then I’ll stand by the stairs. If you need anything, just call.” Though the cell seemed crude, the wooden bars were made of sandalwood, which couldn’t be easily cut through with a blade.

Even without his injuries, Yu Jingming couldn’t escape.

“Alright.”

After Rongrong nodded, Liuli led Feicui towards the stairs.

Rongrong pulled a chair over and sat down between Mei Ningxiang and Yu Jingming.

“They’ve left. You can tell me the truth.”

“What truth?” Yu Jingming’s face showed coldness, “They’ve interrogated me for so long and got little out of me. A young girl like you shouldn’t try to act tough in front of me!”

Rongrong knew he was a tough nut to crack.

If the Crown Prince’s prolonged interrogation hadn’t broken him, her attempts certainly wouldn’t.

However, she had no intention of trying to overpower Yu Jingming.

“You misunderstand. I just want to know what you really want. Do you want to die together with Mei Jie, be buried together, or do you hope Mei Jie can leave here alive, or do you want both of you to leave the Eastern Palace alive?”

“What’s the difference?” Yu Jingming asked coldly, clearly unwilling to engage in further conversation with Rong Rong.

“There’s a clear difference,” Rong Rong replied. “You heard what Sister Mei just said. She doesn’t want to go out alone; she wants to die alongside you. If you’ve made up your mind not to confess, and if both of you are set on dying, I can plead with the Crown Prince to give you both a swift death. It would at least fulfill Sister Mei’s wishes and honor our acquaintance.”

“No,” Yu Jingming responded firmly, his tone resolute.

Rong Rong smiled slightly, unsurprised by his answer. “You still can’t bear to see Sister Mei die.”

“She is innocent and should live,” Yu Jingming insisted.

“But you and I both know Sister Mei well—she’s decisive and resolute. Once she’s committed to you, if anything happens to you, she won’t live on her own. If you want her to live, the only way is for both of you to live together.”

Yu Jingming let out a cold laugh. “So, in the end, it’s still death.”

“Not necessarily.”

Yu Jingming raised his eyes, taking a new measure of Rong Rong.

Her delicate willow brows, clear, expressive eyes, skin like snow, and ink-black hair made her look like a fairy.

She still appeared as fragile as before, but there was now a decisiveness in her words that hadn’t been there before.

“Are you truly willing to save us?” he asked.

“It’s not me saving you; it’s you saving yourself. The Crown Prince arrested you because you were implicated in the death of the Noble Consort.

Now, His Highness believes you aren’t the true culprit. If you can help expose the mastermind, it could be seen as redeeming yourself. His Highness might overlook your attempt to assassinate him.”

Yu Jingming’s sword-like brows knitted tightly together as he fell into deep thought.

Could he trust Rong Rong?

The Crown Prince accompanied her for a night stroll around Dong Lake and personally escorted her back to Huaihua Alley, which clearly showed how much he liked her.

Now, the Crown Prince had allowed her to visit Mei Ningxiang, a sign of how highly he valued her.

Yu Jingming had long lived a life where death was a constant companion, but Mei Ningxiang—she didn’t deserve to die like this.

After a moment, Yu Jingming spoke, “The Crown Prince is too suspicious. I’ve already told him everything I know, but he refuses to believe it.”

“Then tell me, what really happened back then?”

Yu Jingming lowered his head and began, “I was originally a thief from the Taihu Water Fortress, a chance encounter allowed me to master an unparalleled lightness skill.

But I was always a coward, never daring to provoke those I shouldn’t.

I usually stole small amounts of money, just enough to get by.

Four years ago, someone approached me, offering a thousand taels of silver to go to a certain place. I wasn’t to steal anything, just make the trip.”

“Who was it?”

“Of course, it was someone I didn’t know,” Yu Jingming continued. “The offer he made was too good to be true. I thought there couldn’t be such a great deal in the world, so I naturally didn’t agree.

I kept asking him where exactly he wanted me to go.

He only said that I would know after taking the job and that if I didn’t have the guts, I shouldn’t be in this line of work.

Maybe I had been living comfortably for too long, but his words provoked me, and I impulsively agreed.”

“And what happened then? Did he want you to go to the Eastern Palace to kill someone?”