Chapter 26 (Part 1)

The room fell silent.

Yu Zhengzheng stood frozen in place, her body stiff and her face an awkward shade of green. Should she leave or stay? Either choice seemed equally mortifying.

The conversation she had overheard—phrases like “time is running out” and “danger”—made her feel as though she had unintentionally stumbled upon a major secret.

Could Xiao Yuqing have some unspeakable secret?

And now that she had accidentally overheard their covert discussion, would he decide to silence her for good?

Her legs weakened at the thought, and she instinctively stepped back.

Just then, Xiao Yuqing emerged from behind the screen, a communication bracelet glowing faintly on his slender wrist.

A man holding a venomous snake by its weak point appeared in the projection. He looked visibly uneasy, muttering nervously, “Senior brother, is this really the snake’s weak spot? What if it bites me?”

Xiao Yuqing replied helplessly, “If you’re that afraid of snakes, don’t use them for alchemy. This one is ferocious and highly venomous; if it bites you, not even an immortal could save you.”

The man’s expression hardened with determination. “No! Master said I lack talent and can’t craft good pills. No matter the risk, I have to prove him wrong!”

With that, the man abruptly ended the transmission.

Xiao Yuqing opened the door and stepped out, a gentle smile on his face. “I was just communicating with my junior brother. Is there something you need, Miss Yu?”

This scene was nothing like what Yu Zhengzheng had imagined. It turned out he had been advising his junior brother, and the talk of “danger” and “weak spots” had been about a snake.

Looking up, she stole a glance at him. Her trembling knees steadied, and a flush of embarrassment replaced the pallor on her face.

Xiao Yuqing had just finished bathing and was clad only in a white undergarment. The loose robe hung lazily open, exposing his well-defined chest. His ink-black hair hung wet and disheveled over his shoulders, with water droplets sliding off the strands. His pale skin resembled fine jade, exuding an air of restrained allure.

Noticing her flushed face and silence, Xiao Yuqing followed her gaze to his exposed chest.

Raising a hand with well-defined fingers, he calmly pulled his robe closed, offering an apologetic smile. “I didn’t expect Miss Yu to visit this courtyard. My apologies for the impropriety.”

Yu Zhengzheng quickly waved her hand. “It’s my fault for intruding. I just remembered that An Ning’s accident with the soup dirtied your robes, so I came to check on you.”

Xiao Yuqing smiled gently. “It’s nothing. I just need to change.”

An awkward silence fell between them, with neither knowing what to say next.

Perhaps sensing the tension, Xiao Yuqing glanced at the bowl in her hands and smiled warmly. “Is this the broth Miss Yu prepared?”

Yu Zhengzheng nodded stiffly. “It’s my first attempt, so it might not taste very good.”

That was a lie. She had been cooking for seven years since arriving in this world.

She knew her cooking was terrible. Once, she had mustered the courage to deliver a meal to her senior brother, and he had emptied the plate every time, leading her to believe she had improved.

Only later, after regaining her memories, did she discover a black dog in her senior brother’s quarters—and the familiar food container beside it.

It turned out she had been feeding a dog for seven years.

But no matter what, she refused to admit her poor cooking skills to Xiao Yuqing.

With an unchanged smile, Xiao Yuqing asked, “May I try it?”

Her face turned pale, and her back stiffened. Her eyes filled with refusal. “If Brother Xiao wants to try my cooking, I’ll make something fresh tonight.”

Xiao Yuqing paused, then reached out. “There’s no need to trouble yourself. This will do…”

Before he could finish, a figure rushed into the courtyard. The person’s cobalt-blue silk robe gave him away as the Seventh Prince.

He strode over hastily, eyeing the bowl in her hands. His hoarse voice rang out, “Is that even drinkable?”

Yu Zhengzheng’s temper flared at his tone. Rolling her eyes, she retorted, “Of course it is!”

Without another word, the Seventh Prince grabbed the bowl and, tilting his head back, gulped down the bull pizzle soup in one go.

He realized something was wrong halfway through drinking and quickly spat out the bull penis soup he hadn’t swallowed: “Ugh—”

The Seventh Prince vomited while cursing, “Who made this soup? Did they mix shit in it?”

Xiao Yuqing extended his finger as if to act, but then retracted it.

Yu Zhengzheng: “……”

The Seventh Prince had just returned from the South Sea. After talking to her last night, he left the Heavenly Court, but as soon as he returned to the South Sea, his mother, the Empress, punished him.

The Empress scolded him for being reckless and accused him of humiliating himself by seeking revenge on the Ghost King—she said he was rushing to hand over his head to others. She locked him up in the dungeon and sent thousands of shrimp soldiers and crab generals to guard him, saying he needed to reflect on his actions for ten years. Once he realized his mistake, she would release him from the dungeon.

Though the matter of Lord Lei and Lady Dian privately calling down thunder had not been discovered by the Heavenly Emperor, from now on, if he wanted to seek their help, they could never agree to it again.

He had to exert tremendous effort to escape, and now, seeing Yu Zhengzheng, he hated her to the core.

The Seventh Prince dragged Yu Zhengzheng out of the courtyard, gritting his teeth as he said, “I remember what you did last night!”

Yu Zhengzheng was confused: “I was drunk last night and didn’t do anything.”

Seeing her innocent expression, the Seventh Prince’s anger flared up, his eyes burning with fury: “I asked you to drug him, but you went off to drink? I finally convinced Lord Lei and Lady Dian to bring down the thunder, and you ruined everything!”

He couldn’t be bothered to argue further. Rising on a cloud, he threw a harsh parting shot: “If I don’t kill you, if that old thief doesn’t die within a hundred days, then you can just wait to die!”

With that, the Seventh Prince waved his sleeve and flew off.

He needed to lay low for a while to avoid being caught again by his mother.

Yu Zhengzheng looked at his retreating figure, her face filled with melancholy.

She had such poor alcohol tolerance—just three or five cups, and she was already unconscious.

She couldn’t remember exactly what happened after drinking, only vague flashes of a couple of blurred moments.

Luckily, she had thought ahead and kept some antidote on hand. Even if the Seventh Prince abandoned her, she could still find a healer to try and brew the antidote.

There were still over ninety days left, so there was no need to panic just yet.

When Yu Zhengzheng returned to the women’s quarters, she found Shanshui with a joyful expression. Curiously, she asked, “Miss Shanshui, what’s the happy occasion?”

Shanshui beamed, “Just now, Lord Yan sent the family heirloom, so we can head back to Xushan today.”

Yu Zhengzheng was startled. “The family heirloom?”

Shanshui nodded. “Last night, at the third watch, Nanguo Tianba was drinking and admiring the moon by the boat, and he accidentally fell into the river. Fortunately, the Princess was out for a stroll and rescued him.”

Yu Zhengzheng was speechless: “That’s it?”

That seemed too easy for him to be captured—it didn’t fit his domineering image.

Shanshui grinned. “Of course not. The Princess took him back to her room to bathe and change, and they… well, you know. This morning, the Princess left a divorce letter and ran off, and now Nanguo Tianba is posting notices everywhere trying to find her.”

Yu Zhengzheng’s lips twitched. She could already predict what would happen next.

If nothing unexpected happened, the Princess would get pregnant. Years later, Nanguo Tianba would accidentally encounter her again and find that she had twins with an exceptional intellect, just like him.

It was a typical plot from early romance novels, and she already had the title in mind: The Playboy Prince: The World’s Most Beautiful Princess Runs Off With His Child.

Yu Zhengzheng hesitated for a moment before asking, “When are we leaving?”

She had already given up on resisting.

Not to mention the broken chain around her ankle, wherever she went, she was in deep trouble. She was still poisoned, and even if she hid in the human world, she would just be waiting for death.

After all, it was death no matter where she went. Going back to Xushan seemed safer.

Shanshui thought for a moment. “Master is waiting for the King. Once he hands over the family heirloom, we can leave.”

When Shanshui mentioned the Ghost King, Yu Zhengzheng became a bit puzzled.

He was always appearing and disappearing mysteriously, and no one really knew what he was up to.

Xiang Feng was still in the An Ning room. When Yu Zhengzheng and Shanshui entered, he was tending to An Ning’s wounds.

Shanshui stepped forward. “Master said he needed to discuss something with Young Master Xiao about sending Miss An Ning to Qingcheng Mountain. I’ll go fetch him now…”

Before she could finish speaking, Xiang Feng interrupted: “No need. She’ll come with us.”

Shanshui was taken aback, biting her lip. “Why?”

Xiang Feng didn’t speak. He lowered his gaze, staring at the small mole behind An Ning’s ear.

It was a small, crimson mole, identical to the one on Xue Xi’s ear.

Although many had tried to impersonate Xue Xi, they were too careless with the details. Even if he tried to pretend not to notice, it was difficult to ignore.

They couldn’t pretend to be Xue Xi because they had never seen her and didn’t know where her scars or birthmarks were.

An Ning looked the most like Xue Xi, every expression and gesture reminiscent of her.

The reason he had been able to stay rational about An Ning was because he knew Xue Xi was dead.

But when he had applied medicine to An Ning earlier, as she lowered her head, he saw that red mole—the one that belonged to Xue Xi.

He had asked An Ning about her background, but she claimed she had fallen seriously ill years ago and had no memory of it.

If—if she truly was Xue Xi…

Xiang Feng raised his eyes, his voice firm: “There’s no why.”

Shanshui fell silent.

She felt a little aggrieved and thought her master had been unusually harsh today.

He had never been this stern with her before.