The two arrived at the Fangjin Bureau.

“We’re here. You go in.” Sang Lan said.

Ji Wanxin expressed her gratitude. “Thank you.”

“No need!”

Sang Lan prepared to leave.

Suddenly—

“Wait.”

“Is there something else?”

“You… were someone by Consort Xiao’s side?”

“How do you know that?”

“I’ve heard your name. The girls at the Fangjin Bureau mentioned it. So the reason you went to the Laundry Bureau is because…”

Sang Lan interrupted her. “Don’t ask. Just knowing it in your heart is enough!”

She fell silent.

Sang Lan suddenly became serious and walked before her. “Miss Ji, this is the imperial palace. Some words are best not spoken aloud. When Her Ladyship was alive, she constantly taught us servants one thing, and I’ll tell you as well—if you want to stay peacefully in the palace, don’t ask about everything, don’t meddle in everything. It’s best to be someone both deaf and mute! We servants only have the fate of enduring. Whatever the masters want us to do, we must do it. If you don’t want to do it, then either you must die, or…”

Or what?

Ji Yunshu met her gaze—eyes that carried warning yet seemed to see through all worldly matters.

Sang Lan continued word by word, “Or, you become a master yourself!”

Become a master yourself!

Ah!

Ji Wanxin’s eyes trembled.

Her body leaned back slightly.

Sang Lan softened her serious gaze somewhat. “I hope you can remember what I said.”

After dropping these words, she strode away!

Ji Wanxin stood frozen in place, her hands clenched together beneath her collar.

Become a master yourself!

These words deeply branded themselves in her mind and heart.

As if the sense of humiliation from Wei Yi’s insult had vanished in an instant.

She gritted her teeth!

She would become a master!

…

Prince Rong’s Manor.

Ji Yunshu stood in the pavilion by the pond, moonlight spilling onto her delicate, fair face, making her appear even more beautiful.

She gazed at the luminous water surface, the sorrow in her eyes completely evident.

When Jingrong approached, he saw her standing there motionless, her slender, delicate figure looking extremely pitiful.

He knew she had gone to the palace!

Perhaps sensing someone behind her, Ji Yunshu turned to look and saw Jingrong standing outside the pavilion, his eyes filled with tender concern as he looked at her.

Their four eyes met. Even without speaking, they both understood each other’s thoughts.

Jingrong walked to her side.

Two shadows, one tall and one short, reflected on the water surface, slowly rippling away with the waves, creating ripples.

Quite pleasant!

After a long time—

Ji Yunshu said, “I thought I would be very sad, but actually I wasn’t.”

Jingrong listened quietly.

“When I saw Wei Yi in that moment, I actually felt very unfamiliar, as if the person standing before me wasn’t him at all. From his eyes, I couldn’t even see a trace of what I wanted to see. I really thought I would be very sad, that I would even demand to know why he had become like this. But…”

At this point, she gave a bitter smile. “But none of that happened. My heart wasn’t sad—only disappointed. Disappointed that what I saw wasn’t the Wei Yi from before. Disappointed that the person standing before me had become a familiar stranger.”

At this moment, her tone held only disappointment!

And what Jingrong could do was stand beside her, silently listening.

Silently accompanying her!

She said, “How I wish this were just a dream, and when I wake up, everything would be back to our best times.”

“Yunshu…”

“Do you know what the most regretful thing I’ve done in my life is?” She took a deep breath, her gaze slowly moving from the water surface to the distance. “It’s not that I brought him to the capital, nor that I begged Muruo to heal him, but rather… back then at the Ji manor, teaching him how to write the character ‘yi.'”

That year, that day, Wei Yi had written his own name on the ground. She walked before him and told him the character was wrong, then taught him how to write it once. She still remembered how happy Wei Yi had been when he could write that character “yi”—such a clean, such a bright smile.

If…

If back then she hadn’t walked before him, hadn’t taught him to write that character “yi,” perhaps everything afterward would have been different!

But in this world, there are no ifs!

Jingrong gathered her trembling body into his solid embrace, cherishing her deeply, protecting her.

“Yunshu, no matter what the future holds, you must remember—even if everything changes, I will always stay by your side. I won’t become a second Wei Yi, and I won’t become a second Ji Pei!”

I won’t become a second Wei Yi, and I won’t become a second Ji Pei!

In that moment, Ji Yunshu couldn’t help but cry.

Only in Jingrong’s embrace would all her forced composure crumble and shatter piece by piece. All the sharp thorns on her body would fall away one by one because of such a warm embrace.

Perhaps, this is love!

…

Late at night, she lay in bed, her eyes staring fixedly at the gauze canopy above her head.

Perhaps because the window wasn’t closed, the gray-white gauze canopy fluttered, like a hand gently stroking her body, gradually causing her to fall into sleep.

In her dream, she stood in a pool of blood, surrounded by smoke and gunpowder, with corpses everywhere.

That dream again!

She desperately searched around, and sure enough, she saw a familiar face—Muruo!

He knelt on one knee, the bloody sword in his hand thrust into the ground. He lifted his eyes to look at the armored man standing before him. There was no hatred in his eyes—rather, it was as if he had prepared himself for death and accepted it all.

And the person standing before him remained just a blurry silhouette.

Who was it?

Who exactly was that person?

This time, she desperately ran forward, but her feet seemed to step into emptiness. She tripped and fell. When she lifted her head, all the scenes before her eyes had disappeared, slowly being overtaken by darkness!

Sinking deeper and deeper.

She suddenly jolted awake, sitting up in bed, already drenched in sweat!

“Why is it this dream again? What does it foretell?”

That person standing before Muruo—who exactly was it?

Why couldn’t she see clearly?

She gasped for breath, gradually calming down.

“Creak!”

A sound came from the doorway.

“Who is it?” She looked alert.

“Creak!”

Like the sound of a door being blown open.

“Zhulan, is that you?”

No one answered.

She got out of bed and left the inner chamber. The outer door was closed.

She cautiously opened the door and looked outside—nothing there.

Just as she was about to close the door—

Suddenly a shadow appeared behind her, covering her mouth with a cloth.

“Mmph, mmph, mmph…”

Ji Yunshu struggled with all her might, but her strength was no match. She was firmly restrained by the person behind her. The smell from the cloth rushed into her nose, gradually causing her to lose consciousness…