◎Accept all her conditions, even though she never made any◎

At these words, both fell silent.

After a moment, Qin Jue reacted and stared at Luo Wanqing: “You said you only met her a few times.”

If it were only a few times, how could she know so much information?

Luo Wanqing pressed her lips together. After hesitating for a long time, she finally said, “Actually, three months ago… I saw her too.”

“Where?”

Qin Jue was much calmer now. As soon as he asked, he remembered that the woman before him was a death row prisoner who had come from Yangzhou with him. He realized, “In Yangzhou prison?”

Luo Wanqing hesitantly nodded. Qin Jue thought for a moment and laughed, “To kill me?”

Luo Wanqing didn’t dare speak. Qin Jue thought further and then realized, “The assassin who escaped was her?”

“You…” Luo Wanqing pressed her lips, “How do you know her?”

Hearing this, Qin Jue’s expression grew somber. After a while, he said quietly, “Three years ago, I was ambushed. She happened to pass by and saved me, then sent me home. She took great care of me along the way, and I…”

“You fell in love with her?” Luo Wanqing asked.

Qin Jue said nothing. With his family’s lives at stake, how could he dare speak such shameful words?

He composed himself for a moment, then said, “She left then. Before leaving, she told me that perhaps she would return one day to ask for a cup of wine. I believed her. I learned to brew wine and learned many things. I waited every day, waited for two years, and finally she came. She said she came to ask for that cup of wine, then she stayed. We were together, she lived in my home, I introduced her to my family, and we prepared for marriage.”

Qin Jue spoke briefly and hoarsely, “Then, just before the wedding, someone reported my family for treason. They searched our home and found weapons and armor, and they found documents of my father’s secret plans for rebellion. The documents bore my father’s private seal – the evidence was conclusive.”

“And then?”

Luo Wanqing was puzzled. Qin Jue said quietly, “When my home was raided, I was still feeling fortunate, thinking it was good she hadn’t married me yet and wasn’t implicated by me. I didn’t see her that day. Later, my father was escorted to the Eastern Capital, and my family and I remained in prison. During the trial, the presiding judge said it was my fiancée, Zhang Jiuran, who personally reported and identified my family.”

With that, Qin Jue laughed as tears fell like rain, “Later, I heard news of my family’s deaths. My father, my mother, my sister… I thought I should die. Just on the night I planned to kill myself, she came.”

That day, he had been tortured and was in a sorry state. She stood in the prison, quietly looking at him.

“She apologized to me, said she was sorry. She said she was an assassin from Fengyu Pavilion. Getting close to me, marrying me – these were all just means for her to complete her mission. Originally, she planned to leave after finishing the job, but now she hoped I would live well.”

Qin Jue said, raising his head, “She told me to cherish my life, wait for her to get her great revenge, wait for her to kill Xie Heng, then she would come find me and let me kill her. But what use would killing her be? My family is all dead, only I remain. Even if I killed her, what would it matter?”

“She came to say these things, said she loved me – it was just humiliating me. Where did she ever have feelings for me? She just treated me like a fool, playing with me again and again. Even now, she’s just mocking my incompetence, my inability to kill her!”

Listening to all this, Luo Wanqing was somewhat unable to process it.

Kill Xie Heng?

Was Liu Xiniang’s enemy Xie Heng?

Then why did Liu Xiniang want to exchange identities with her?

According to Qin Jue’s account, Liu Xiniang was such a cold person. Even after harming her beloved’s entire family, she still spoke of “after getting her great revenge” before finding him. How could she be so easily swayed by her single phrase about “leaving Fengyu Pavilion” to abandon her plan to kill Xie Heng?

She had a parasitic worm in her body. She couldn’t possibly exchange identities with her so easily. If she left Fengyu Pavilion, she would have only death ahead. When she exchanged identities with her, she wasn’t exchanging identities – she was exchanging lives. Moreover, before leaving, she had given half her internal energy…

No.

Luo Wanqing remembered what the fake Qin Jue had said on the road to the Eastern Capital: “If someone tells you internal energy can be given in halves, they’re lying.”

At the time, she thought the other party didn’t know how many methods existed in the world. Now thinking back, that wasn’t it.

If leaving Fengyu Pavilion meant death, then perhaps Liu Xiniang… had already embraced death. What she gave wasn’t half her internal energy – it was everything.

Why?

Why did she want to die?

She had sacrificed so much in her life. According to her account, she entered Fengyu Pavilion to take revenge on that top figure. She killed many people and even personally caused the death of her lover’s family. Now, at the very end, she gave up. Why?

Luo Wanqing’s thoughts were chaotic. In a flash of insight, she suddenly realized something was wrong.

How did Liu Xiniang determine who the killer was?

She had pulled a broken blade from her father’s belly. The Fengyu Pavilion master Xiang Sizi, who adopted her, told her that the person who killed her father was a powerful, high-ranking figure. Now, hearing Qin Jue say that person was Xie Heng.

How did Xiang Sizi know? From that broken blade? But how could a broken blade determine this?

Unless this broken blade was extremely special.

Luo Wanqing couldn’t help thinking of Liu Xiniang’s expression when she first saw the dagger Jiang Shaoyan had given her.

She was shocked and paid special attention. She said this dagger was specially made by an influential family and asked where it came from…

“Have you seen that broken blade?”

Luo Wanqing suddenly spoke. Qin Jue was confused. Luo Wanqing turned to look at him, “The one she pulled from her father’s belly.”

“I’ve seen it.” Qin Jue nodded, “She carried it with her at all times.”

“What did it look like?”

“Very rare.” Qin Jue frowned, “It had tiny barbs at the tip. When pulled from a human body, these barbs would tear flesh and blood, extremely vicious. The craftsmanship was very sophisticated, not something common people could make. It should be specially made by an influential family. But each family’s specially made weapons are extremely secretive, known only to their own family’s death warriors. I had people investigate, but found no clues.”

No clues.

Xiang Sizi told her the killer was Xie Heng.

For her entire life, to kill Xie Heng, she had killed many people. She became a top assassin, even causing the death of her lover’s entire family.

She committed countless evils, was covered in sins.

But…

“This dagger belonged to Li Guiyu’s master.”

Luo Wanqing murmured.

Qin Jue didn’t understand. In Luo Wanqing’s mind were the words Liu Xiniang had analyzed for her when she first held this dagger: “You said he was the Third Prince lost among the people, so his mother would be the current Empress, born of the Wang family, one of the four great clans. This should be a dagger specially made by his maternal family.”

“Who is directing Fengyu Pavilion to kill you?” Luo Wanqing turned back to look at Qin Jue.

Qin Jue frowned, “I don’t know.”

“Is it the Empress’s maternal Wang family?”

When Luo Wanqing asked this, Qin Jue was stunned, then said hesitantly, “Very possible. Back then we were at odds with the Wang family, so we retreated to Jiangnan.”

If it was the Wang family, if Fengyu Pavilion’s real backer was the Wang family, if that broken blade belonged to the Wang family, then what was everything Liu Xiniang did?!

She destroyed her entire life for revenge, harmed so many people, only to end up serving her enemy. What did all her actions amount to?!

Luo Wanqing connected everything and suddenly understood.

Why in her previous life Liu Xiniang went to the Northwest after being captured by Xie Heng while attempting to assassinate Qin Jue, and why this time she still wanted to go to the Northwest.

Because she was wrong from the beginning!

From the moment Xiang Sizi adopted her, her life was wrong.

Sooner or later, she would learn the truth. Once she knew the truth, how could she face everything she had done?

She suddenly understood why Liu Xiniang had said, “Hatred will fade with time. Don’t do things against your conscience for revenge, or you’ll regret it someday.”

Because she regretted it.

Perhaps at the moment of killing, perhaps when she saw Qin Jue brewing wine for her, perhaps when she saw the Qin family’s destruction, perhaps when she saw Qin Jue planning to kill himself…

She had long reached a dead end, just missing the final straw.

And that straw…

“If I help you arrange for your family and don’t require you to do anything, would you still want to exchange identities with me?”

“Yes.”

It was her.

Luo Wanqing began trembling.

She kept recalling every detail of her interactions with Liu Xiniang – every raised eyebrow, every smile, every word.

She had regretted it, that was right. She had embraced death; that was right. But what truly made Liu Xiniang determined to die was her, Luo Wanqing.

It was her single word: “Yes.”

It was her saying, “If I don’t kill Jiang Shaoyan, I’ll never have peace.”

Liu Xiniang had never thought of exchanging identities with her. Liu Xiniang hoped she wouldn’t follow her old path. But she, Luo Wanqing, insisted on it, so Liu Xiniang used her life to fulfill her wish.

To fulfill a stranger!

To fulfill someone she had met by chance!

Saying she would transfer half her internal energy was a lie.

Saying that from now on, the sky was vast for birds to fly in was a lie.

Saying it was mutually beneficial and they would meet again was also a lie!

There was no future meeting at all. In this life and the previous life, she chose to go to the Northwest alone.

Perhaps in her previous life, she learned the truth when she met Xie Heng. So she escorted Qin Jue into the Supervision Department, completely betrayed Fengyu Pavilion, and when Qin Jue became a Supervision Department Inspector, she fled to the Northwest.

Fate never changed, only reincarnated in other forms.

The only difference was that in this life she would lose all five senses. She might not be able to reach the Northwest. She might die alone in darkness halfway there.

In the end, she wasn’t even willing to let her, Luo Wanqing, know about this kindness.

What was she afraid of? That she would feel guilty?

Luo Wanqing clenched her fists tightly, struggling to control her emotions. She feared Qin Jue beside her would notice her abnormality, and also feared this overwhelming emotion would disturb her rationality.

She suppressed all emotions and analyzed Liu Xiniang’s current situation.

Liu Xiniang had given her all her internal energy, but she had promised to save her family and deliver the dagger to a designated location.

She trusted that she wouldn’t break her word.

So now, Liu Xiniang’s last trace would be under that century-old tree at Huguo Temple where they had agreed to meet.

Three months – her time was running short. Every day could be Liu Xiniang’s last.

She had to find her. She must get out immediately to find her.

She had to confirm Liu Xiniang’s safety and figure out where exactly her family was.

Without internal energy, how could Liu Xiniang escape and save her family?

And Zhao Yuyan… that is, Jiushuang – what was her relationship with Liu Xiniang?

On the road to take the Supervision Department exam, she had told her not to get close to Qin Jue. Perhaps she feared she would learn the truth from Qin Jue too early – that Liu Xiniang had died for Luo Wanqing’s sake – and feel guilty.

So why get close to Jiushuang?

Jiushuang wanted to kill Qin Jue, so she must be a Fengyu Pavilion assassin. Didn’t Liu Xiniang know? Or did she know and then make some exchange?

Luo Wanqing closed her eyes and said hoarsely, “How much longer?”

Hearing this, Qin Jue turned to look outside. “Soon, I think.”

With that, Qin Jue said calmly, “Their target is me. I’ll just stay here. You go by yourself in a while.”

“Do you think they still have keys?”

Hearing this, Qin Jue was stunned. He looked up at Luo Wanqing. Luo Wanqing analyzed, “The two people I killed just now had keys on them. If they entered the underground palace and then closed the palace gates, they wouldn’t have had time to go back and hand over the keys. The others should have keys on them.”

“So?”

“I’ll give you these keys.” Luo Wanqing handed the keys she had seized to Qin Jue, saying calmly, “There should be thirty here. With these keys, you can become a Shadow Envoy and live at least another five years.”

“What about you?” Qin Jue frowned, “You don’t have keys. Even if you win the final test, you’ll only be a Shadow Envoy. We’re strangers who met by chance… are you willing to accept this?”

“Your life is important.”

Luo Wanqing looked up at him.

Qin Jue was stunned. Luo Wanqing gazed at the young man before her and said solemnly, “I know you don’t believe it, but she didn’t lie. She loves you, she wants you to live, so I’ll keep you alive.”

“To become Liu Xiniang, one must pay the price of becoming Liu Xiniang.”

Luo Wanqing stood up, gripping her blade handle tightly, and spoke calmly, “I accept.”

Accept all her conditions.

Even though she never made any conditions.

But her revenge – she would carry it out.

Her path – she would walk it.

Everything Liu Xiniang bore, she would bear for her.

She was Liu Xiniang.