In the warm orange glow, Mei Jiu’s smile bloomed like a flower. Her bright eyes held the same gentle warmth as always, clear and transparent.

An Jiu, however, knew she was no longer the innocent rabbit she once was. “It’s been a while since we’ve met. You’ve changed dramatically,” she remarked, her tone neither praising nor criticizing, merely observing.

Mei Jiu’s smile remained serene. “Am I the only one? An Jiu, I’m happy to see how you’ve grown as well.”

An Jiu paused briefly. Though they once shared a body, Mei Jiu had never been able to sense her emotions. Now, she seemed increasingly human-like.

“I heard you received orders to assassinate Hua Rongtian,” An Jiu said, explaining her sudden nighttime visit.

Mei Jiu’s expression darkened. “I suppose this is fate.”

“So you’re just waiting to die?” An Jiu frowned, studying her intently. She felt conflicted, both wanting and not wanting Mei Jiu to harm Hua Rongtian. The old Mei Jiu would never have hurt him, but now, An Jiu wasn’t so sure.

“How could I?” Mei Jiu met her gaze and suddenly smiled. Her composure and determination were dazzling. “Even an ant clings to life. How dare I waste the gift of existence?”

An Jiu admired how quickly Mei Jiu had grasped the situation. She still felt lost, merely following in others’ footsteps.

“I will never kill my husband,” Mei Jiu stated. Her expression seemed calm, but her tightly clenched hands betrayed her inner turmoil. “It may seem dark now, but I believe if we keep moving forward, we’ll eventually see the light.”

An Jiu relaxed, relieved that Mei Jiu remained largely as kind-hearted as before. “Have you fallen for Hua Rongtian? Have you slept with him?”

Mei Jiu blushed furiously. “When will you learn to be more tactful?” she sputtered.

“Don’t try to change the subject,” An Jiu said seriously.

Mei Jiu shook her head helplessly, her cheeks still flushed. “We haven’t… consummated our marriage yet.”

“Oh? Does Hua Rongtian have some problem?” An Jiu asked, puzzled. “A girl like you could easily arouse a man’s desire to ravish you.”

Mei Jiu’s face turned purple with embarrassment. She wished she could find a hole to crawl into.

An Jiu, oblivious to how strange her words sounded, continued, “See, your reaction right now is especially…”

“Stop!” Mei Jiu quickly interrupted. “Aren’t you here to help me?”

An Jiu shook her head, calmly replying, “You’re mistaken. I just came to check on you.”

Mei Jiu, having just regained her composure, was left speechless.

After a while, An Jiu spoke again, still observing Mei Jiu as if she had truly come just to “see” her. “Is my mother doing well?”

“Without you as a burden? She’s doing great,” An Jiu replied.

Mei Jiu had many questions, but An Jiu’s response pushed them back down her throat. She could only mutter, “That’s good.”

“I think you’ve misunderstood,” An Jiu continued. “First, Mei Yanran is now my mother. Although we don’t get along and she doesn’t want to deal with me, it’s an unchangeable fact. Second, I’ve proven something very important to myself.”

An Jiu’s serious tone intrigued Mei Jiu. “What’s that?”

“A pig is still a pig, even if it becomes a bit smarter. It’s just a slightly more intelligent pig,” An Jiu concluded.

“You didn’t come to help me in my time of need. You came to kick me while I’m down!” Despite her words, Mei Jiu felt certain that An Jiu wouldn’t stand idly by.

An Jiu had always been like this with Mei Jiu. If Mei Jiu were dying of poison, An Jiu would probably say, “Your face is blue now, it’s especially ugly,” or “Do you have any last words?” But despite her words, she would still do everything in her power to save her.

Some people manage to be annoying even when they’re helping others.

“Actually, before coming here, I went back to Meihua Village,” An Jiu said, leaning on the armrest with her chin in her hand. “Sheng Changying has a way to contact Mo Sigui. He’s in Daming Prefecture, not far from here. At his speed, he could be back in ten days at the latest. Add to that the complexity of removing the gu poison, and I wonder if you’ll be able to hold out until then.”

Thankfully, Mei Jiu was good-natured. If it had been Hua Rongjian, she would have started a fight with An Jiu by now.

“I’m leaving,” An Jiu stood up. “Next time you get the antidote, try to keep a bit. It’ll help Mo Sigui analyze the gu poison.”

“Alright,” Mei Jiu rose as well, about to ask An Jiu to stay when she heard footsteps outside. Her heart tightened as she turned towards the door.

A faint silhouette appeared on the lantern-lit door. The figure paused, and Mei Jiu recognized Hua Rongtian. She quickly turned back to tell An Jiu to leave through the back window, only to find the room already empty.

The door creaked open.

Hua Rongtian saw Mei Jiu staring blankly at the center of the room. His eyes quickly scanned the room but found nothing amiss.

Mei Jiu struggled to compose herself before turning to greet him. “Husband, what brings you here?”

Hua Rongtian had never visited at night before, so she couldn’t help feeling uneasy.

“Has your visitor left?” Hua Rongtian asked calmly.

Knowing that Hua Rongtian was aware of the frequent visits from Konghe Army members, Mei Jiu didn’t try to hide it. “Yes.”

He didn’t press further.

A silence fell over the room.

“They ordered me to assassinate you,” Mei Jiu finally said.

Hua Rongtian’s gaze darkened. “Why are you telling me this?”

“Because you’re my husband,” Mei Jiu replied, slowly sitting on the edge of the bed. She used to feel guilty facing Hua Rongtian, but now that everything was out in the open, she suddenly felt at ease. A faint smile appeared on her face. “I had heard about you when I was in Meihua Village. You came to propose then… I never imagined I would marry you. It must be fate, albeit a fate without a future for us.”

Her clear eyes gradually filled with tears, which rolled down her cheeks to her slightly upturned mouth, transforming her faint smile into one of sorrow and determination.

Hua Rongtian felt a dull ache in his heart. The suppressed grief and anger tightened his entire body. He had tasted this feeling once before when he didn’t know his wife was an assassin. He had poured all his emotions into loving her. This time, he thought he had guarded his heart carefully, not allowing even a hint of feeling. Yet somehow, this woman had crept into his heart, occupying a space that surprised him with its significance.

Only now did he realize why he had made so many excuses to come here today. He simply wanted to see her. He wanted to see her shy smile, her excitement barely contained like a little rabbit, her eyes shining as she discussed poetry and literature, her furrowed brow as she pondered her next move in chess…

He had already come to miss her so much.

“Shi Niang…” Hua Rongtian’s voice was hoarse.

Mei Jiu wanted to tell Hua Rongtian that she wasn’t Mei Ruhan, nor was she the assassin from the Konghe Army who had replaced Mei Ruyan. She was Mei Jiu. However, after a moment of silence, she simply responded, “Husband.”

Mei Jiu hadn’t forgotten that besides being her husband, Hua Rongtian was also an excellent politician.

Hua Rongtian paused, regaining his usual calm and wisdom. Recalling what Mei Jiu had said earlier, a vague idea flashed through his mind.

“Mei Shisi…” Hua Rongtian suddenly remembered the year he went to Meihua Village to propose.

Mei Jiu’s face changed slightly. Although her previous words had almost revealed her identity, how many people in this world would think of resurrection in another’s body? Had she underestimated Hua Rongtian?

Hua Rongtian had merely been testing the waters, but seeing her reaction, he was surprised. “You’re Mei Shisi?”

There were many reasons for seeking to marry Mei Shisi back then, but the two most important were: that the Mei family desperately needed her mother, and having grown up outside the family, she wouldn’t have a strong sense of belonging to the Mei clan.

Of course, these were just afterthoughts. Their main purpose was to test whether this Mei family was the one within the Konghe Army and to gauge the Emperor’s attitude.

The Emperor and the Hua clan were now openly at odds, which was closely related to this matter.

Hua Rongtian couldn’t make sense of many things. Mei Shisi should only be seventeen or eighteen years old, but the woman before him appeared to be in her twenties. Yet her every move didn’t resemble that of an assassin who had trained for many years in the Konghe Army. Moreover, why would the Emperor think of using Mei Shisi as a replacement?

Seeing Hua Rongtian deep in thought, Mei Jiu realized he hadn’t considered the possibility of resurrection. His bold guess was simply because he had never seen the female assassins around the Emperor, nor had he met her before.

Their eyes met, and Mei Jiu looked away.

A cold wind carrying snow gusted in from outside, rustling the pages of the book on the bed.

Not long after An Jiu left the city, she spotted a tall, dark figure in the snowy night, standing out starkly against the white landscape.

“Chu Dingjiang,” An Jiu called out as she ran towards him.

Her speed was like the wind, and Chu Dingjiang thought she might crash into him. Unfortunately…

“Try not to stop suddenly when running at high speed,” Chu Dingjiang offered a dignified reason. “It can damage your internal organs.”

An Jiu found this logical and agreed promptly. “Alright.”

“In situations like today, you can just crash into me. You won’t hurt me,” Chu Dingjiang added.

An Jiu glanced at him sideways, noting his solemn expression, and nodded. Then she asked, “Were you waiting for me here? Did something happen?”

“I guessed you’d go see Madam Hua, and I was worried about your safety,” Chu Dingjiang provided another unquestionable reason. “The Liao Kingdom definitely won’t give up on obtaining a drug person’s heart blood.”

“Mm,” An Jiu agreed. If Wei Yuzhi came looking for her again, she might not be as lucky as last time.

“You need to focus on your training and stop running around,” Chu Dingjiang advised with a fatherly air. “Instead of spending time releasing lanterns with others, you’d be better off practicing more martial arts.”

An Jiu pondered for a while. “After careful analysis and logical deduction, are you… jealous?”

“Haha!” Chu Dingjiang rubbed her head. “You don’t understand a man’s magnanimity. I wouldn’t take such small matters to heart.”

“Really?” An Jiu was skeptical, but remembering his usual grand manner, she thought perhaps she was overthinking.

Chu Dingjiang had previously taken a hands-off approach with An Jiu, not rushing even if she was slow to understand. But after some consideration, he decided he couldn’t continue like this.

He had many things to do in the future and couldn’t always be by An Jiu’s side. If talented and handsome young men kept pursuing her, he couldn’t guarantee An Jiu wouldn’t develop feelings for one of them. So it was better to secure her heart for himself first.

This was Chu Dingjiang’s first time doing something like this, but he figured if conquering a city was no problem for him, capturing a woman’s heart should be easy. The key was to proceed step by step.

He hadn’t used his inner force to protect himself, and by the time they returned to the island, the fine snow had frozen into patches of ice on his outer robe.

“Come in and warm up by the fire,” An Jiu said.

Chu Dingjiang followed her into the room without hesitation.

An Jiu had borrowed a brazier from Sui Yunzhu. When she returned to the room, she saw that Chu Dingjiang had stripped down to his thin undergarments, revealing the contours of his muscular physique.

“Why didn’t you use your inner force to protect yourself?” An Jiu asked curiously as she placed the brazier in front of him.

“It would consume too much inner energy,” Chu Dingjiang replied with a straight face.

In truth, for someone of his cultivation level, that small amount of inner force was negligible. Otherwise, why would he use it so casually? But An Jiu had no inner energy herself and didn’t understand these things.

However, An Jiu wasn’t so easily fooled. “Then why do you often use it to block snow and rain?”

Chu Dingjiang pondered for a moment. “Don’t you think it looks impressive?”

An Jiu stared at him speechlessly, feeling as if she was meeting him for the first time.

“You should take off your clothes and warm up too,” Chu Dingjiang suggested.

An Jiu quickly stripped down to her undershirt, her bare arms swaying near the brazier.

Chu Dingjiang had practiced abstinence for many years. Initially, he had no feelings for An Jiu, but just seeing her body had left an indelible impression in his mind, nearly causing a nosebleed. Now, this scene was truly hard to resist.

She had let her long hair down, the damp strands clinging to her arms, accentuating their jade-like whiteness. Her top was tucked into her pants, emphasizing her slender waist that seemed as if it could be encircled by one hand. The thick pants made her buttocks appear even more pert…

Chu Dingjiang felt a certain part of himself suddenly rise to attention.

An Jiu, unaware of his reaction, deftly untied her pants as well, revealing her underwear underneath. Her long, straight legs, white as snow, were exposed. Her body, twice reforged, was like smooth ivory, her fine white skin emitting a warm glow.

Feeling painfully swollen, Chu Dingjiang lowered his head to avoid looking.

“Oh, the charcoal is almost burnt out,” An Jiu walked over, using the fire tongs to stir the coals in the brazier.

A pair of small, delicate feet entered Chu Dingjiang’s field of vision. Due to the cold, her ten plump, round toes were tinged with a faint pink. There were some newly healed wounds on the side of her feet, a light red color, adding a uniquely cruel and bewitching beauty to their cuteness.

He hurriedly raised his head, only to see An Jiu walking barefoot to the wall, bending over to search for something. Her loose underwear allowed a view of her round buttocks from this angle.

Chu Dingjiang could feel his pulsing, something about to erupt.

Based on his previous life experience, he knew what was about to happen.

He grabbed his outer robe hanging nearby, but it was a step too late.

It was over!

He looked down at his wet crotch, hearing the sound of his male dignity shattering into pieces.

“There are a few more pieces,” An Jiu pulled out a bag of charcoal from a pile of miscellaneous items. When she turned back, Chu Dingjiang was nowhere to be seen.