The butler nodded, then shook his head. “Bei Mu is Ninth Master’s own name for it. Outsiders call the place Ying’an. As for why Ninth Master calls it Bei Mu, I don’t understand that either.”

As he was leaving, the butler reminded her: “If Miss Jiu’er wants to know, you could go ask Ninth Master yourself for a clear answer.”

Once the butler left, Zhen Jiu’er immediately went to the main house to find Lu Beicheng.

But Lu Beicheng wouldn’t see her.

Ji Mingyu said Ninth Master disliked noise and disturbance, and generally did not allow anyone to bother him at night.

So Zhen Jiu’er was “invited” back to her own room.

With no other choice, she went to borrow a phone from the butler. To her surprise, the butler simply gave her a brand-new one, already fitted with a SIM card.

“Jiu’er, how are you doing now? Are they giving you a hard time? Are you even still alive?”

Hearing Jiu’er’s voice, Qiaoqiao’s nose went sore — she nearly cried.

This personality was similar to Qiaomu’s in some ways, yet you could also say they were completely different people!

It actually resembled Xiao Yingtao’s more.

“If I weren’t alive, would a ghost be talking to you on the phone right now?” She nearly rolled her eyes at the call.

Qiaoqiao thought about it for a moment before it seemed to register, and the heart she’d had hanging in her throat finally settled.

“Thank goodness you’re still alive, otherwise I’d have to—”

“Not only am I alive, I’ve signed a contract to become Ninth Master’s attending physician, with a monthly salary of a hundred thousand. I’ll explain all this to you later.”

Not wanting to waste time, Zhen Jiu’er pressed on immediately: “Qiaoqiao, hurry and help me find some connections — any connections — to look into a place called Ying’an City. It’s supposedly somewhere in the Laluo Mountain Range.”

“The Laluo Mountain Range, Ying’an City?” That name sounded somewhat familiar.

Qiaoqiao furrowed her brow, thinking hard for a while, before it finally came to her: “Wasn’t this on the news just a few days ago? You didn’t seem the least bit interested at the time!”

Had that really happened?

Zhen Jiu’er thought back on it and found she had no impression of it at all.

“What did the news say?” If this was real, then at least she was one step closer to Ninth Imperial Uncle.

“The news said that in the Laluo Mountain Range, they discovered the ruins of an ancient city. It was found by chance about a year ago, when a group of hiking enthusiasts took some drone footage.”

“But the air up in the Laluo Mountains is extremely strange, and the paths deep into the mountains are especially treacherous — no vehicle can reach it at all.”

“Even the most skilled hikers could only make it a few kilometers up the mountain — beyond that, there was simply no path forward.”

“At first it was just a blurry photo, and a lot of people suspected it had been photoshopped. The ruins only showed one corner, with no clear view of the whole thing, so even archaeology experts thought it wasn’t real.”

“But somehow, after that photo was seen by the big entrepreneur Ninth Master Lu, he actually invested in an archaeological team right away to go survey the site in person.”

Hearing this, Zhen Jiu’er couldn’t help but interrupt: “He’s a businessman — what’s he doing meddling in archaeology? Doesn’t he know that even if they dig up priceless antiques, they’d have to hand them over to the state?”

“Of course he understands the law, and he knows this investment will never bring any return. But it’s not like he’s short on money — he probably just sees it as contributing to history.”

Jiu’er couldn’t help asking further: “And then what?”

“Then…” Qiaoqiao tried hard to recall what the news had said. “Then, after more than a year, the archaeological team was formed, and it seems they found a way to reach Ying’an City.”

Qiaoqiao blinked at her phone. “Jiu’er, why are you so interested in this?”

Zhen Jiu’er hesitated, then decided to tell her the truth: “Tomorrow I’m heading out with Ninth Master to the Laluo Mountain Range, to Ying’an City.”