Yan Yuning frowned. [My elder sister is from Qilan Kingdom, and Xuan Yanyu is from Xuanzhao Kingdom. If the Xuan King has already designated my sister as the Crown Princess of Xuanzhao, why did Qiuci say that the Prime Minister’s wife arranged a marriage for her?]

[And with Qi Qingchen, no less? Qi Qingchen is a prince of Qilan. How bold would she have to be to introduce the Crown Princess of Xuanzhao to Qi Qingchen? This doesn’t make sense.]

Fafa: [Master, you’re right. The book didn’t explain this part clearly. How could we possibly guess the answer?]

In just those few moments of conversation, Yan Yuning looked up and realized Qi Qingchen and Luo Xuan were no longer where they had been standing.  

…

Secret Chamber

Luo Xuan pressed a switch, and with a muffled thud, a black wooden box slowly rose from the ground.  

“A’Chen, will you remember me?” She smiled faintly.  

Qi Qingchen’s expression remained indifferent, his tone flat. “Perhaps.”  

Luo Xuan couldn’t help but let out a mocking laugh. “A’Chen, now you won’t even humor me?”  

“A’Xuan, you’re overthinking it.” Qi Qingchen’s brows furrowed slightly.  

Luo Xuan lifted her face, a faint smile curling at her lips as she murmured to herself, “Is it worth it?”  

She picked up a dagger she had prepared earlier and, without hesitation, slashed it across her arm. Blood dripped down her fair skin.  

Gritting her teeth against the pain, Luo Xuan opened the black wooden box.  

Inside the box, a white pill was entwined with a pitch-black gu worm.  

The gu worm, sensing the scent of blood in the air, began to writhe slowly, its appearance eerie and unsettling.  

Luo Xuan raised her arm and brought it closer to the gu worm. The child gu, sensing the mother gu within her body, swiftly burrowed into her arm.  

Luo Xuan picked up the intact pill and walked over to Qi Qingchen with a smile. “A’Chen, look.”  

Qi Qingchen gazed at her with a complicated expression.  

Luo Xuan took his hand and placed the pill in his palm.  

As the mother gu and child gu reunited, a wave of excruciating pain surged through her. Luo Xuan bit her lip hard, but in the end, she couldn’t hold back—she coughed up a mouthful of blood.  

“A’Chen.” She clutched his sleeve. “I know you’re just using me.”  

The leaders of Taoyuan Village had guarded this pill for generations. Each leader would implant the mother gu into the next, enduring the torment of the gu worm month after month, all to ensure the pill never fell into the wrong hands.  

The child gu coiled around the pill, and the only way to remove it was by luring it out with the mother gu. If the child gu was killed, the pill would be tainted by its blood and rendered useless. That was why no one could steal it.  

Now, she had betrayed her duty as the leader of Taoyuan Village, lured out the child gu, and given the pill to A’Chen.  

Would the past leaders blame her?  

Qi Qingchen reached out to steady her, his voice hoarse. “You knew? Then why did you still help me?”  

Luo Xuan laughed through her tears, mustering the last of her strength to lift a trembling hand to his cheek. Softly, she said, “Just now, I asked myself if it was worth it. But then I thought—it is. Because it’s you, A’Chen. I’m willing.”  

Qi Qingchen wiped the blood from the corner of her lips, his voice thick. “Thank you.”  

Luo Xuan’s fingertips brushed his lips, filled with longing and reluctance. With great difficulty, she whispered, “A’Chen, could you… could you…”  

Before she could finish, a mouthful of black blood spilled from her lips. Her hand fell limply, her breathing growing weaker and weaker. “A’Chen, I’m so cold… and it hurts so much…”  

Qi Qingchen tightened his arms around her.  

“A’Chen, I’m tired… I want to sleep for a while…” Luo Xuan’s eyelids fluttered shut, and her breathing ceased.  

Qi Qingchen’s Adam’s apple bobbed painfully as he lifted Luo Xuan in his arms and walked out of the secret chamber.  

Nuonuo, who had been waiting outside, trembled at the sight of Luo Xuan, her lips quivering as she gasped for breath.  

Luo Xuan lay with her eyes closed, a faint smile on her lips, her face serene.  

The sudden death of the clan leader spread quickly, plunging all of Taoyuan Village into mourning. The sound of weeping filled the air.

After paying his respects to Luo Xuan, Qi Qingchen didn’t linger for a moment. He immediately set off at full speed, riding hard toward the capital.  

Yan Shiyao was still injured, her steps unsteady. Yan Yuning gently persuaded her, “Elder Sister, your wounds haven’t healed yet. You should return to the estate first. I’ll take A’Ci home myself.”  

Xuan Yanyu leaned lazily to the side, squinting against the sunlight. He lifted his eyelids indifferently but said nothing.  

“Miss Yan, I’ve arrived. May I ask where A’Ci is?” Ye Chen jogged over, slightly out of breath.  

Yan Shiyao turned, her brows lightly furrowed. “And you are…?”  

Ye Chen smiled brightly and cupped his hands in greeting. “This one is Ye Chen. I was hired by Miss Yan to accompany her and A’Ci back to the estate.”  

Yan Yuning blinked in confusion. When did I hire him?

She glanced at Xuan Yanyu, who met her gaze and smirked.  

Her heart skipped a beat.  

“Eldest Miss, Second Miss!” A servant hurried over, calling out loudly.  

“A’Fu, why have you come?” Yan Shiyao’s eyes flashed with surprise.  

“Replying to the Eldest Miss, Madam sent me to fetch the Second Miss back to the estate,” A’Fu replied with a deep bow, his tone respectful but cold.  

Yan Yuning lightly licked her lips. “Did she say why?”  

“Second Miss, Madam only said it was urgent. As for the specifics, this servant does not know,” A’Fu answered dismissively.  

“I can’t return right now,” Yan Yuning said, eyeing him.  

“Second Miss, Madam said that if you refuse, she will invite the Old Madam to the estate instead,” A’Fu’s frown deepened, his voice turning stern.  

Yan Yuning’s lips twitched. 

The “Old Madam” referred to her maternal grandmother-though not Chu Wantang’s birth mother. Chu Wantang was the daughter of her grandfather’s concubine and had been adopted under her grandmother’s name. The two had never gotten along, and the Old Madam was now too old to endure unnecessary travel. 

Threatening to bring her grandmother to the estate was clearly a way to force her compliance.  

“Ah—!” A shrill scream pierced the air. A’Fu looked down at the dagger embedded in his shoe, his legs giving out as he collapsed to the ground.  

Excruciating pain shot from his foot straight to his skull. His pupils dilated, and cold sweat poured down his forehead.  

“A’Fu!” Yan Shiyao’s expression changed.  

Yan Yuning stared blankly at Xuan Yanyu, her heart fluttering with panic.  

Is he… standing up for me?

The man stood casually, lazily lifting an eyelid as if he hadn’t been the one to throw the dagger.  

Ye Chen’s eyes flickered, and he tentatively suggested, “Miss Yan, why don’t I take A’Ci back, and you return to the Prime Minister’s estate?”  

Yan Yuning pressed her lips together. “Thank you. A’Ci is still in the side chamber.”  

If Chu Wantang wanted her back, delaying would only risk her sending someone to fetch her grandmother.  

Ye Chen smiled casually. “No need for thanks.”  

After all, I’m just following His Highness’s orders.

“Eldest… Eldest Miss…” A’Fu’s face was deathly pale, his voice trembling.  

Xuan Yanyu idly brushed off his sleeves, his voice icy. “Well? Weren’t you supposed to escort the Second Miss back? Why are you sitting on the ground?”  

“Lord Xuan, how have I offended you?” A’Fu gasped through the pain, sweat pouring down his face.  

Just because he’s handsome and has the Eldest Miss’s favor, does that make him better than the rest of us?  

Xuan Yanyu’s lips curved as he slowly pulled the dagger from A’Fu’s foot. He tapped the bloodied blade against the servant’s cheek. “Hmm? I don’t like what you’re saying. What should I do?”  

“Ah—!” The dagger’s removal made A’Fu shriek, his body convulsing uncontrollably as he nearly passed out from the pain.  

Yan Yuning wrinkled her nose at the sight of blood on A’Fu’s face, feeling slightly nauseous.  

Yan Shiyao, witnessing Xuan Yanyu’s ruthlessness, instinctively took a large step back.