Molan City was the only oasis city in the desert.

In the boundless desert, having such a prosperous city was like a brilliantly shining pearl. For thousands of years, the people of Molan had lived here generation after generation. The people of Molan were hardworking and passionate, brave and fearless. Over a decade ago, turmoil erupted within the Molan royal family. The King and Queen of Molan, along with the princess and princes, all perished in this upheaval. The King’s younger brother inherited the throne and reorganized everything, saving the entire city at a critical moment. The people were grateful and deeply loved the new King, and thus more than ten years passed.

Over a decade later, everything had been calm and peaceful. The old King was gradually forgotten. Even if someone occasionally mentioned him, it was nothing more than sighs of lament about the capriciousness of fate.

However, after more than ten years, the deceased Princess of Molan—Princess Jiuyue—suddenly reappeared in Molan with troops and horses. Not only that, she also exposed a shocking conspiracy. The turmoil in Molan years ago was not caused by wandering rebels, but by the new King who, in order to seize the throne, had harmed his own siblings. It was the new King who had murdered the King and Queen, as well as the young princes. The princess, who had been young at the time, had narrowly escaped death by sheer luck.

Over these years, the princess had been hiding from place to place, even going as far as the Yan Kingdom to escape assassination while accumulating strength, waiting for the day when she would be powerful enough to contend with her enemies. Then she would return to this land and reveal the truth to the world.

Logically speaking, as soon as Princess Jiuyue returned to Molan’s territory, she would inevitably face assassination attempts. The new King had never stopped searching for Princess Jiuyue’s whereabouts all these years. Such a return would be walking into a trap, and the new King would surely silence Princess Jiuyue before she could truly set foot in Molan City. But this time, not only did the new King fail to do so, he even allowed Princess Jiuyue to storm into the city and announce this secret to the world. The reason was simple: Princess Jiuyue had not returned alone. She indeed had gained the power to contend with her enemies, because she had obtained the support of the Emperor of Yan.

Molan and the Great Yan Kingdom had stayed out of each other’s affairs and coexisted peacefully for so many years, but in terms of national strength, Molan was far inferior to the Great Yan Kingdom. Every year during tribute ceremonies, Molan envoys would even send tributes to the Great Yan Kingdom. Princess Jiuyue had gained the support of the Yan Emperor, which meant that the Yan Kingdom had interfered in Molan’s political affairs, and the person the Yan Emperor chose was Princess Jiuyue.

The new King naturally refused to yield. After all these years, how could he allow everything to become someone else’s wedding dress? He immediately claimed that this Princess Jiuyue who had appeared was an imposter. But the Yan Emperor was not merely paying lip service. He had even lent Princess Jiuyue a military force. This army was extremely fierce and had killed countless people. It was called the Jinwu Army. The new King’s army was no match for them and became prisoners.

Princess Jiuyue also displayed extreme ruthlessness. She ordered without hesitation the execution of everyone related to the new King, including the new King’s women and young children, household servants, and ministers loyal to him. The entire Molan City was completely purged, with blood flowing like rivers throughout the city.

Although people knew that with the Yan Emperor’s authorization, Princess Jiuyue should be genuine, her actions immediately caused an uproar in Molan City. Although the common people said nothing openly, they privately understood each other’s thoughts. This Princess Jiuyue was cold-hearted and ruthless. Even if she had a blood feud, she was far too ready to kill without batting an eye. After all, the new King had been in power for so many years and had never done anything unconscionable. Moreover, he was skilled at disguising himself and was deeply loved by the people. In the hearts of the common people, those internal upheavals and killings within the royal family were very distant. Even when they heard about them, they felt unreal. For them, the new King was a decent king, while this unfamiliar princess made them worry about their own future.

They also heard that Princess Jiuyue was skilled in using poison and mistreated servants in the palace. Whenever there was anything that displeased her, she would poison and harm them. In less than a month of living in the palace, she had already killed many palace servants.

Thus the name “Poison Consort” quietly spread throughout the marketplace.

“Your Highness, what those people outside are saying is utterly unreasonable,” Haitang said.

Haitang had followed Situ Jiuyue to Molan. First, during those days at the Duke’s Manor, Haitang had learned quite a bit about poison-making from following Situ Jiuyue. Situ Jiuyue saw that she had considerable talent and was willing to teach her a few things. Haitang thought that if she learned more, it would be a skill to protect herself in the future. If others came to harm Xue Zhao and Xue Huaiyuan again, they would not be helplessly captured. Moreover, there were many poisonous substances in Molan that didn’t exist in Northern Yan, so Haitang followed Situ Jiuyue back for this trip to learn more.

Precisely because she had always stayed by Situ Jiuyue’s side, Haitang could see Situ Jiuyue’s situation clearly. She said, “Those people know nothing at all. Clearly it was those palace servants who wanted to harm you and you saw through them, but then the outside says you have a malicious heart.”

Situ Jiuyue gazed intently and said, “My dear uncle was skilled at winning people’s hearts. Over so many years, he has cultivated quite a few die-hard loyalists in the palace. Now he is dead, but those who want to avenge him are not few. There are plenty of people who want to take my life. This is just the beginning. There will be more to endure in the future.”

Hearing this, Haitang sighed silently in her heart. Indeed it was so. The palace was full of hidden dangers everywhere. Fortunately, Situ Jiuyue was clever. After traveling far and wide for so many years, she had developed some instinct for danger. Once she sensed danger, she would immediately become alert, thus avoiding many undeserved disasters.

However… she had been away from Molan for a long time. The people of Molan were full of doubt and unfamiliarity toward this suddenly appearing princess, so that bad rumors about her could quickly be believed. This was certainly the result of the new King’s remaining followers, but Situ Jiuyue herself was not without reason.

First, she hadn’t grown up in the palace and didn’t trust the people there, so she was accustomed to coming and going alone. She was also cold in temperament and liked making poisons. Even the pets she kept around her were poisonous creatures. Others felt their hearts palpitate just looking at them, so how would they dare approach? She had created a cold image of herself.

Haitang said, “In that case, you’ll have it too hard, Princess. You have many enemies. After the Jinwu Army leaves, the only one who will truly face danger will be you alone.”

Haitang was just a powerless maid. Most of the time, she couldn’t help much. There was truly no one around Situ Jiuyue whom she could trust.

“If only the young master were here,” Haitang murmured. Xue Zhao always had solutions, and Situ Jiuyue’s temperament was cold and hard. The common people didn’t trust her, and she was too lazy to deal with it, even going so far as to make her reputation worse. But Xue Zhao’s methods were gentle. Perhaps if he persuaded Situ Jiuyue a few times, the current situation could become a bit better.

Hearing Xue Zhao’s name, Situ Jiuyue’s expression paused slightly.

When she left, she hadn’t told Xue Zhao. She had only told Ji Heng of her plans, and Ji Heng had arranged the troops for her after returning to Molan. Situ Jiuyue didn’t tell Xue Zhao because she knew what she was going back to Molan to do. It wasn’t to return home in glory. To put it nicely, she was going to right wrongs. To put it bluntly, she was going back to kill people.

Although she had told Xue Zhao many times about the lives she had taken in the past, Xue Zhao had never truly witnessed her kill anyone. She understood that the ruthlessness and coldness in her bones might frighten Xue Zhao, and she didn’t want Xue Zhao to see this side of her. Therefore, she would rather go back alone.

Moreover, although preparations were thorough, it didn’t mean everything was foolproof and without danger. Those people couldn’t do much to her, but Xue Zhao’s legs were inconvenient. If they wanted to harm Xue Zhao, it would be all too easy. The incident when those people threatened Ji Heng with Jiang Li was still vivid in her memory. Situ Jiuyue did not wish to repeat the same mistake.

Most importantly, she didn’t know how she should face Xue Zhao.

Xue Zhao was a good young man. His heart was sunny, kind, and sincere. Many times, Situ Jiuyue would be attracted by the bright clarity on Xue Zhao and couldn’t help but draw near to him. But what to do after drawing near, and to what extent to draw near—she had no answer in her heart.

When she had to return to Molan as a princess to inherit the entire city and become a royal daughter, she became even more aware of this point. She and Xue Zhao were, after all, people from two different worlds. Previously when everyone was together, the boundaries were not very distinct, so they could temporarily set aside those things and not think about them. But when things happened right before her eyes, she couldn’t help but think about them.

So the decision Situ Jiuyue made was to cut the water with a blade and stop here. She would return to Molan to be her royal daughter, and Xue Zhao would remain as before, being his gentle young man. Everything in the past was just a beautiful encounter. There is no banquet in the world that doesn’t end. It was best left as a memory.

She stared at the distant sky, lost in thought.

A maid outside said, “Princess, Lord Suo Jing requests an audience.”

Situ Jiuyue withdrew her gaze. In an instant, all wistful expressions vanished. She turned around, her expression calm, and said, “Let him wait. This palace will come shortly.”

Haitang looked at Situ Jiuyue with concern. She knew the purpose of the visitor full well. The waters of Molan were scalding hot and truly not something one could easily wade through.

Could Situ… hold on?

No one knew.