“Most common people don’t know anything — there’s no point in blaming them.” Jiu’er smiled and continued eating.

Ninth Imperial Uncle would absolutely never harbor any resentment toward the common people either. Their trust and reverence for him was a kind of burden, yet for Ninth Imperial Uncle, whether or not the people revered him, whatever needed to be done, he would do it without fail.

Whoever needed protecting, he would protect without question.

“As for Emperor Qiwen’s side — I’m afraid they’ve made up their minds this time, joining forces with Nanmeng Rong to go after the Ninth Prince. What if they suddenly deploy troops…”

Xiao Yingtao was genuinely worried. If troops were also sent from that side, wouldn’t that truly force the Ninth Prince’s single army to fight against so many enemies at once?

Although the Ninth Prince had troops stationed in other cities, those cities also needed the protection of those armies — moving a large force was not something that could be done at a moment’s notice.

“At a time like this, they won’t send troops against Phoenix City. Emperor Qiwen is an emperor — he also needs to take responsibility for his own people.” Jiu’er shook her head.

In truth, whether Emperor Qiwen truly cared about responsibility was debatable — he probably didn’t. But he needed to preserve his own good reputation.

Consider: what kind of emperor, when his own city was being invaded by foreign enemies, would still send troops against that very city? Surely he would earn nothing but eternal condemnation.

“But Jiu’er, haven’t you been worried all along that Emperor Qiwen and the Nanmeng clan’s army would send troops, leaving the Ninth Prince vulnerable to attack from both front and rear?”

Xiao Yingtao was a little confused — why was Jiu’er now saying they wouldn’t send troops?

“Sending troops outright — that they wouldn’t do. But sending reinforcements, now that’s another matter entirely.”

Qiao Mu pondered Jiu’er’s words for a moment before understanding immediately. Xiao Yingtao, however, still couldn’t make sense of it: “What do you mean? Would that wretched emperor actually help the Ninth Prince? I don’t believe it.”

“They wouldn’t be helping Ninth Imperial Uncle — rather, they would use the pretext of sending relief forces to directly seize Phoenix City!”

“That wretched emperor! How utterly despicable!” The moment Jiu’er put it that way, Xiao Yingtao understood at once!

First, they were cutting off the supply of weapons and provisions. When the Ninth Prince’s side could no longer hold on, they would use the guise of sending reinforcements to occupy Phoenix City.

And at that point, if they could secretly eliminate the Ninth Prince, they could even claim he had died in battle at the hands of the enemy!

Despicable! Absolutely despicable to the extreme! How could there be such a shameless, wretched emperor!

“This is not something Emperor Qiwen could pull off on his own.” Qiao Mu was comparatively calm — but Jiu’er’s meticulous mind was truly something one had to admire.

Many things seemed as though Jiu’er could see through them at a single glance, while she herself still needed a little prompting.

“Jiu’er, are we pressing on tonight?” Walking from the north side of the city to the south side also took nearly half a day — if they traveled by night, they could cover a bit more ground.

“We won’t press on tonight.” Feng Jiu’er shook her head. “Once everyone’s done eating, go back and rest. Tomorrow… we set out in the early hours before dawn. I’ll wake you.”

“Alright.” The city gates wouldn’t open at night anyway — only at daybreak — so setting out in the early hours before dawn meant arriving at the south side of the city right around dawn.

The only trouble was that the early hours before dawn were precisely when a person was at their most exhausted — it would be a bit trying.

“Tonight, Mu Mu’s people will likely come looking for me.”

With that single remark, Feng Jiu’er put everyone on alert. Qiao Mu nodded and instinctively began tidying up the leftover food.

Xiao Yingtao helped clean up as well. The two of them were in the room right next door, and before long, only Feng Jiu’er and Xue Gu remained in the room.

“I’ll go fetch some bathwater for you.” Xue Gu turned and stepped out the door, returning shortly with two buckets of hot water.

After bathing and changing into fresh clothes, Xue Gu sat outside waiting. Once Feng Jiu’er had finished washing, she used the same water to wash herself — and thought nothing of it at all.

Attending to Jiu’er came as naturally as a long-practiced habit. Jiu’er didn’t know when Xue Gu had developed such a habit, but it was certainly not something formed over just the past few days.

This kind of habit felt as though it had been ingrained over many years — or perhaps it had taken root many years ago.

Perhaps Xue Gu simply saw in her the shadow of someone else. Jiu’er just didn’t know: a person as formidable as Xue Gu — who else could there have been that she had served like this?

Xue Gu soon changed into her own clean clothes and came out. Noticing that Jiu’er had been staring at her the whole while, she asked flatly, “Something the matter?”

“Xue Gu, why must you always wear a human-skin mask? Doesn’t it feel uncomfortable when you wash your face? Is there truly still someone out there you’re afraid might recognize you?”

If she wasn’t mistaken, Xue Gu had been living on Snow Lotus Mountain for many years. Surely she hadn’t been wearing a human-skin mask the entire time?

At those words, Xue Gu slowly raised a hand and touched her own face.

If no one mentioned it, she seemed to have already forgotten about the human-skin mask herself — even when washing her face, she washed it directly, with no fear of it slipping off.

“It’s simply habit.” After so many years, who would still remember this old bag of bones?

Then, without warning, Xue Gu’s long fingers flicked, and she pulled the human-skin mask clean off.

A pale face beneath — whether from years of wearing the human skin, Jiu’er couldn’t say — but Feng Jiu’er stared at that face for a long moment, unable to look away.

“What is it? Do you actually have some impression of this face?” Such a young child back then — what impression could she possibly have?

Jiu’er blinked, and after quite a while, she said softly, “I’ve seen you before. I’m absolutely certain of it.”

“Mm.” Xue Gu didn’t deny it — she simply tossed the human-skin mask aside and walked to the edge of the bed to tidy up the sheets.

She was neither any great beauty nor any hideous creature. Her face had no remarkable features; if one were to describe it in words, it could only be called “ordinary.”

Wearing the human-skin mask truly had simply become habit. In the beginning, it had indeed been to conceal her identity, but after she went up to Snow Lotus Mountain, she had barely seen another soul in all those years.

Yet once the mask became habit, whether to remove it or not became equally inconsequential.

Jiu’er watched her back and at last understood — it really was just habit, with no particular wariness behind it.

Now that she wasn’t wearing it, that was equally inconsequential.

Xue Gu was truly a most peculiar person.

“You had a master once, didn’t you?” Jiu’er suddenly asked.

Xue Gu’s fingertips paused ever so slightly, but no change crossed her face. She continued making the bed, and gave a single nod. “Mm.”

“And yet even Hu Xiaodié is only your disciple.” Jiu’er genuinely couldn’t figure it out — someone this formidable: what kind of person could possibly have been her master?

Xue Gu understood what Jiu’er meant. Her gaze fell upon the shadow cast by the candlelight on the floor, and something unreadable crept into the depths of her eyes — as though she were lost in memory, as though she were helpless against it.

After a long while, she said quietly, “My master — how could that wretch Hu Xiaodié compare?”

Jiu’er didn’t press further. If Xue Gu wished to speak, she would surely take the initiative and tell her who her master was. If she said nothing, then she had no wish to say.

But Xue Gu unexpectedly added, “My former master… was just like you — wise, courageous, meticulous in thought, and great in both benevolence and righteousness!”