Yu Lingxi casually asked a few questions about Ning Yin’s situation, believing she was being quite restrained.

She hadn’t expected even Tang Buli to notice, which wasn’t a good sign.

Yu Lingxi carefully swallowed the piece of pear, her tongue numbed by medicine unable to taste whether it was sweet or sour, and smiled lightly: “When a prince suddenly appears at court, who wouldn’t be curious? Especially a patient like me who’s just recovering from a serious illness.”

“That’s true. But for some reason, the Emperor doesn’t seem fond of this lost and found Seventh Prince. All this time, he hasn’t even been given a formal title, and few have seen his appearance.”

Tang Buli cut a piece of pear and put it in her mouth, resting her chin on her hand, saying, “In my opinion, the Seventh Prince would be better off as a commoner with freedom! Why return to the palace and wade into these muddy waters?”

Yu Lingxi lowered her eyes.

She knew why Ning Yin had to return—his blood was buried there, along with his hatred.

Her chest began to feel congested again, pulling with a dense pain. Yu Lingxi quickly put a salted plum in her mouth to steady herself.

During the past two months of leisure and sweetness, she had long abstained from spicy foods. The sudden tartness made her throat hurt, and she changed the subject with a hoarse voice: “By the way, A-Li, you mentioned you’re engaged. To whose family?”

At the mention of this, Tang Buli’s eyebrows drooped, and she said carelessly: “The grandson of Grand Tutor Chen, Chen Jian.”

Hearing the name “Chen Jian,” Yu Lingxi’s heart skipped a beat.

She remembered that in her previous life, Tang Buli had also married Chen Jian, a man who was all facade with nothing inside, whose lecherous nature became evident after marriage. Later, Chen Jian once insulted Regent Ning Yin while drunk, and had his tongue cut out in public…

Fate seemed to be circling back to its starting point.

“I should be happy for A-Li’s engagement,” Yu Lingxi carefully chose her words and warned, “But I’ve heard that Chen Jian is excessively romantic and arrogant, with a questionable reputation. You should think this through carefully.”

Tang Buli had suspected that the Chen family had bribed the matchmaker, and now her doubts grew, making her even more resistant to this marriage.

Considering that Yu Lingxi was still recovering, Tang Buli didn’t want to trouble her with these matters, so she pretended to be unconcerned as she took a bite of pear: “Let’s not talk about this anymore. Yesterday, while copying sutras for my grandmother’s blessing, I also copied a set for you. I’ve already had them blessed by the abbot of Jinyun Temple. Suisui, if you place them under your pillow while sleeping, they can dispel misfortune and illness.”

As she spoke, Tang Buli took out a square, golden cloth bag containing a thick stack of hand-copied sutras.

Yu Lingxi knew that Tang Buli normally detested reading and writing, yet now she was willing to copy thick sutras for her blessing. This gesture of friendship comforted her considerably.

“Thank you, A-Li.” Yu Lingxi received the cloth bag with both hands and placed it under her pillow, smiling, “Where is your calligrapher young gentleman?”

“What gentleman?”

Tang Buli was puzzled for a moment before realizing she meant the scholar they had met on the night of the Qixi Festival, and replied dejectedly, “Oh, you mean Zhou Yunqing! How could I still afford to have him copy books? I sent him away after Qixi.”

“Who?”

Yu Lingxi suspected she had misheard the name. “What did you say his name was?”

“Zhou Yunqing! The ‘Yun’ from ‘yunzang’ (harboring), and the ‘Qing’ from ‘keqing’ (guest).”

Tang Buli scrutinized Yu Lingxi’s expression suspiciously and asked, “What’s the matter?”

It is him!

Yu Lingxi was stunned for a long moment, then suddenly grasped Tang Buli’s hand with great solemnity: “A-Li, can you find Zhou Yunqing again? Find him and keep him well.”

She vaguely remembered that in her previous life, when Chen Jian drunkenly insulted the Regent had his tongue cut out, and was sentenced to execution, the person in charge of the case was one of Ning Yin’s trusted confidants—the fifteenth-year Tanhua (third-place imperial exam winner) of Tianzhao reign, the newly appointed Junior Judge of the Court of Judicial Review Zhou Yunqing, known as the “Cold-faced Judge.”

There couldn’t be two Zhou Yunqings in the capital!

Tang Buli was completely bewildered, putting down her half-eaten pear and reaching out to feel Yu Lingxi’s forehead: “Are you all right, Suisui? Why are you saying such strange things?”

After Tang Buli left, muttering to herself, a servant came to report that the Xue family had sent ginseng, a bird’s nest, and other gifts.

According to the maid, Xue Cen had also visited twice, each time sitting desolately for a long while before leaving with reddened eyes.

At that time, Yu Lingxi had been delirious with illness and didn’t know if the maid was exaggerating.

However, she did recall that several times, half-asleep and half-awake, she had sensed someone sitting far outside her bed curtains, observing her. Could it be that her heart was so troubled that she mistook the visiting Xue Cen for Ning Yin?

Yu Lingxi fell back onto the bed, touched the jade hairpin on her head, and felt a hole in her heart, empty and drafty.

She wondered how Ning Yin was doing.

She closed her eyes and sighed lightly, truly feeling she might go mad.

……

Eastern Palace.

An attendant brought forth an old palace maid with graying hair, pressing down on her hunched back, forcing her to kneel on the ground.

Ning Tan lifted his drunken eyelids, examined the trembling old woman who was muttering to herself, and frowned: “Just this crazy old woman?”

The attendant said: “This humble servant has confirmed that among those who served the Empress, only this old palace maid is still alive.”

A person who had escaped for twenty years after being released from the palace had suddenly reappeared some days ago.

But if there had been nothing hidden about the events of those years, why had these palace people either died or fled?

Ning Tan’s expression darkened as he dismissed the attendant.

For this investigation, he had borrowed men from the Imperial Guard without letting Cui An or the Empress know.

Ning Tan staggered to his feet, kicked the frightened old woman with his toe, and said gruffly: “Old thing, do you know who I am? I am the Crown Prince of the Eastern Palace, and I have questions for you…”

He shouldn’t have mentioned this; upon hearing “Crown Prince of the Eastern Palace,” the old woman suddenly sprang up.

She widened her cloudy eyes as if seeing something terrifying, waving her twig-like hands frantically: “This servant said nothing! This servant knows nothing! Don’t kill me, don’t kill me…”

Ning Tan was nearly scratched by her and immediately lost patience: “Speak quickly! What exactly happened back then? Who wants to kill you?”

“Remove the mother, keep the son; remove the mother, keep the son…”

No matter how much he pressed her, the old woman only muttered this one phrase indistinctly.

“Remove the mother… keep the son?”

Ning Tan pondered these words, then suddenly pushed the woman violently to the ground, shouting in panic: “You witch, talking nonsense! I am the Empress’s son! I am the legitimate heir!”

“Spare my life, Your Majesty, please calm your anger… Qing Luo has already been thrown into the well, they’re all dead!”

The old woman raised a trembling finger and hushed, almost humbly coaxing: “No one knows the origin of the Second Prince, no one knows. This servant won’t say either…”

Crown Prince Ning Tan was the second in line, so who this “Second Prince” referred to was self-evident.

Both shocked and angered, he tightly gripped the old woman’s collar, twisting as he demanded: “Who is Qing Luo? Speak!”

The old woman, choked until her eyes bulged, sputtered: “Qing Luo… was the Empress’s maid, the birth… mother of the Second Prince… The Empress couldn’t bear children, so she let Qing Luo… ugh!”

Under the stress, the old woman convulsed, drooling as she collapsed to the floor, unable to reveal anything more.

Ning Tan felt as if struck by lightning, falling to the ground with ice-cold hands and feet.

When the rumors first spread, he was determined to get to the truth. Now, hearing the testimony of the palace maid who had assisted at his birth, he was left with nothing but endless panic.

If he was not the Empress’s legitimate son but born of a lowly palace maid, a pawn used by the Empress to consolidate her position…

Then the Xue family’s secret support and his position as Crown Prince would all turn to bubbles.

The old woman was dragged away, and Ning Tan gulped down a pot of wine before smashing it on the ground.

Should he kill this woman?

No, he couldn’t.

His mother the Empress seemed indifferent to worldly affairs but had deep thoughts. He must leave himself a way out. If someday his mother wanted to depose him, this old woman would be the best bargaining chip.

Ning Tan displayed a twisted smile worse than crying, feeling himself extremely clever.

……

By the time Yu Lingxi was able to move about, the hot, fiery sun had become cool and gentle, and the leaves under the eaves had begun to turn slightly yellow.

A few withered lotus stood alone by the pontoon bridge over the lotus pond, but there was no longer anyone carelessly raising a hand to feed the brocade carp, trying to hook her in.

The royal autumn hunt had departed with great fanfare, and Yu Lingxi ultimately did not participate.

Firstly, she truly lacked the energy, and secondly, she didn’t know how to face Ning Yin.

In recent days, she often dreamed of the moment she waved goodbye, of Ning Yin’s eyes black and still as ice, his gaze like knives stabbing her heart.

She rested for several days in the mansion and began to calmly analyze the current situation.

Since the Emperor had divided her father’s military power with a few words, the Yu family had been living with extreme caution.

Unable to catch evidence of the Yu family’s collusion with a prince, the Emperor gradually diverted his attention and began using conciliatory tactics to pacify Yu’s father and son.

As for Ning Yin…

Never mind, better to find ways to continue delaying the wedding date.

Just as she was deep in thought, Yu Huanchen and Yu Xinyi unexpectedly returned a day early.

“Brother, Sister.”

Hearing the sound of returning hoofbeats, Yu Lingxi hurriedly went out to greet them, asking, “Weren’t you accompanying the Emperor on the autumn hunt? Why have you returned early?”

She worried that something had gone wrong during the hunt.

After all, although Ning Yin was a “blemished” prince ineligible to compete for succession, his appearance would certainly disrupt the court’s arrangements and hurt some people’s eyes.

Yu Xinyi, lacking Yu Huanchen’s sharp mind, exclaimed, “The Emperor suddenly caught a cold and his dragon body was indisposed, so we broke camp and returned to the palace early.”

Yu Lingxi said “Oh,” and felt relieved.

Yu Huanchen noticed his youngest sister’s emotions and dismounted, saying: “By the way, Suisui, the Empress’s birthday is approaching. Just now, a female official from Kunning Palace came to deliver the Empress’s decree, summoning you to the palace to join in the birthday celebrations.”

As expected, Yu Lingxi’s brow, which had just relaxed, furrowed slightly again.

Yu Huanchen felt reluctant.

But compared to that, he was even more unwilling to see his sister drawn into dangerous vortexes because of Ning Yin, so he had to harden his heart and sigh: “Your sister will accompany you. Prepare well, Suisui.”

On the ninth day of the tenth month, the Empress’s birthday, a grand banquet was held in the palace.

Just as dawn was breaking, Yu Lingxi got up to wash and change into elegant ceremonial robes with large sleeves.

There was still some time before the catastrophe of her previous life. If she remembered correctly, Ning Yin should be keeping a low profile at this time, living in seclusion and rarely appearing before court officials.

Would Ning Yin participate in the Empress’s birthday banquet? Probably not.

She recalled that in her previous life, among the banquet dignitaries her uncle had tried to curry favor with, Ning Yin had never been present… Yu Lingxi couldn’t tell whether she felt glad or disappointed.

For the Empress’s birthday banquet, each noble lady’s hairpins and attire had to conform to her rank. To avoid unnecessary complications, Yu Lingxi thought for a moment and removed the spiral cloud-patterned jade hairpin from her hair bun, carefully storing it in a drawer.

At the hour of Si (9-11 AM), the palace gates were crowded with luxurious carriages.

Yu Lingxi alighted from the carriage with her sister and saw an elegant, handsome figure approaching, his jade pendants tinkling as he called out clearly: “Second Young Lady.”

Yu Lingxi wasn’t surprised that Xue Cen was waiting there.

After all, the marriage between their families was known to all, and since it was arranged by the Emperor and Empress with special significance, at such an occasion, to show gratitude for the imperial favor, she and Xue Cen should attend the banquet together to express their thanks.

So Yu Lingxi displayed a proper, faint smile and returned the greeting: “You’ve been waiting long.”

The young lady before him today had arranged her hair in a “flying immortal” bun, revealing her slender, fair neck. A light crimson ceremonial robe floated in the gentle breeze, making even the sunlight seem dim in comparison.

Xue Cen’s eyes were filled with amazed satisfaction, even though Yu Lingxi’s eyes were currently as calm as autumn waters, without a ripple of intimacy.

He smiled and said gently: “This way, Second Young Lady. This way, Miss Yu.”

As soon as Yu Lingxi and Xue Cen entered, they caused a small commotion.

The Ministry of Rites must have received instructions from the Emperor, for although the Yu and Xue families were distinctly separate military and civil families, their banquet tables had been arranged together.

Very well.

Yu Lingxi frowned slightly but had to sit adjacent to Xue Cen.

Just as they were seated, an even greater stir arose from the banquet.

Someone whispered: “Look, the Seventh Prince has arrived!”

Yu Lingxi’s hand, pouring tea, trembled, spilling two drops.

Why had he come?

Could her memory be wrong?

In her daze, a eunuch announced in a high-pitched voice: “The Seventh Prince arrives—”

Among the palace walls and vermilion halls, amidst the fragrance of clothes and elaborate hairstyles, a familiar figure in purple robes and a jade crown, holding a folding fan, approached with slow steps.

In that instant, Yu Lingxi’s heart stopped, as if seeing her previous life.