Under his persuasion, the little girl stopped crying and sobbed: “My name is Anu.” She pointed to a teahouse not far away and said: “My grandmother and I brought the old lady here, she’s right there.”

Li Shimin asked puzzledly: “What old lady?”

The little girl shook her head with its dangling bun hairstyle and said: “My grandmother and I live outside the city. Several days ago, a beautiful older sister brought an old lady to our home, gave my grandmother a lot of money, and said to let us take care of the old lady for a few days. She also said to let us come into the city every two days to inquire, and if there were people in the city pursuing a assassin named Wu… Wu Meixue, then bring the old lady to find the Second Young Master of the Governor’s residence. She said Second Young Master you would properly settle the old lady.” Though young, her logic was clear, and she spoke everything clearly.

Li Shimin vaguely thought of something but dared not be certain, so he asked again: “What are their names?”

“The older sister didn’t say. As for the old lady, she said she has a son called Ajin.” At this point, the little girl added: “Oh right, oh right, the old lady can’t see things.”

Duan Zhihong’s expression changed slightly, and he blurted out: “It’s Ajin’s blind old mother, but didn’t Ajin say she was already killed by the assassin?”

Li Shimin didn’t answer, only held the little girl’s hand and quickly walked toward the teahouse she pointed to. When they arrived, they indeed saw two gray-haired old women sitting inside, chatting away, one of whom had empty, lightless eyes.

Before entering the teahouse, the little girl already called out crisply: “Grandmother, granny, I brought the Second Young Master!”

Hearing her words, the blind old woman immediately stood up, groping her way toward them, but was tripped by a stool and fell to the ground. The other old woman quickly helped her up, saying: “Old sister, slow down, don’t rush, where did you hurt yourself?”

“I’m fine.” The old woman hurriedly answered, then urgently shouted: “Second Young Master! Second Young Master!”

Li Shimin stepped forward and grasped her hand that was waving in the air: “Granny, I’m here.”

The old woman tightly grabbed Li Shimin’s hand and urgently said: “Where is Ajin, where is my Ajin? She said that as long as I don’t speak about her affairs, she would spare Ajin’s life. These past few days I haven’t said anything, not a single word.”

Duan Zhihong’s eyelids twitched, and he said in astonishment: “These words, were they said to you by Shen Yunyi?”

The old woman shook her head: “I don’t know who this Shen Yunyi you speak of is. I only know she’s called Wu Meixue. Feng Li, whom Ajin rescued, was killed by her. She originally wanted to kill Ajin too, but fortunately I stopped her. I thought she would kill me, but unexpectedly she spared my life, entrusting me to Old Sister Zhao’s care, saying that as long as I don’t reveal her name, when she catches Ajin in the future, she will spare his life.” She then anxiously said: “Second Young Master, where is Ajin? Where is he? I heard from Anu that you’re capturing the assassin. Is Ajin alright?”

“Ajin…” Duan Zhihong had just said two words when Li Shimin interrupted him: “We haven’t found Ajin, but someone has seen him, saying he escaped to a neighboring commandery. He should return after a while.”

Ajin was naturally dead. The so-called escape to a neighboring commandery was just a lie Li Shimin fabricated to prevent the old woman from being heartbroken.

“Good that he’s safe, good that he’s safe.” The old woman murmured. Since that tragic incident, she had worried about Ajin’s safety day and night. Now her heart could finally settle somewhat.

After comforting the old woman, Li Shimin said: “Zhihong, take the old lady to Jiyuan Garden. Tell the people there to take good care of her.” Besides distributing rice and giving porridge, Jiyuan Garden occasionally also settled lonely, helpless elderly people, allowing them to spend peaceful twilight years. Before leaving, the old woman repeatedly urged Li Shimin to tell her immediately if there was any news of Ajin.

After they left, Zhao Shi took Anu’s hand: “Alright, we should go back too.”

Anu nodded obediently. When passing by Li Shimin, she looked up with bright, curious eyes: “Second Young Master, is Wu Meixue that sister’s name? Why do you want to catch her?”

Li Shimin lowered his head and stroked her hair: “No, Yunyi is her name.”

“Yunyi…” Anu repeated it several times in a low voice, then smiled sweetly: “I like this name, it sounds better than Meixue.” She waved goodbye and bounced away with Zhao Shi.

Li Shimin stood there, the figure that made him both hate and… appearing in his mind. She wasn’t as cold and ruthless as they had thought. She spared Ajin’s mother, and even… she really had considered sparing Ajin’s life. Unfortunately, to prevent Ajin from revealing her name, she ultimately killed him!

No matter what, he would only spare her this once. The next time they met, there would only be one outcome between them—a fight to the death!

As for Yunyi, following the path Wu Laosan had indicated, she traveled all the way east. When hungry, she picked wild fruits to eat; when thirsty, she drank mountain spring water. The mountain paths were treacherous and the journey extremely difficult. Fortunately, she encountered no more pursuers along the way. After walking for more than half a month, she finally emerged from the continuous mountain ranges and left the boundaries of Honghua Commandery.

In this situation, she couldn’t possibly return to Honghua Commandery to assassinate Li Yuan. After finding a horse, she rode straight toward Luoyang. The distance from here to Luoyang was vast, and even traveling day and night, it took more than ten days to reach Luoyang. Upon stepping through the city gate, the exhausted Yunyi said “I want to see Lord Xiao Yu, the Assistant Secretary of the Imperial Secretariat” and then fainted.

When Yunyi awoke again, she was in a familiar palace chamber—the Changsheng Hall where she had lived since childhood. Seeing her open her eyes, a palace maid said joyfully: “Your Majesty, look, the princess is awake!”

A beautiful woman wearing a peony and phoenix patterned Huanhua brocade robe quickly came to the bed, stroking Yunyi’s pale cheek with pity: “Finally awake, you had your mother so worried.” This person was none other than Yang Guang’s Empress Xiao, also Yunyi’s birth mother. Her appearance was extremely similar to Yunyi’s, as if carved from the same mold, only she looked more dignified and serene.

Seeing Empress Xiao, whom she hadn’t seen for half a year, Yunyi’s eyes immediately reddened, tears sliding down her cheeks as she choked: “Mother…”

Empress Xiao wiped away the tears from her eyes, her voice gentle: “Mother is here, don’t cry.”

The palace maid interjected: “Princess, you don’t know, during the three days you were unconscious, Her Majesty the Empress never left your side for a moment.”

Yunyi also noticed the dark circles under Empress Xiao’s eyes and said guiltily: “It’s all Yunyi’s fault, making mother worry and suffer.”

“The most important thing is that you’re safe. Mother suffering a little doesn’t matter.” As she spoke, palace servants brought medicine. Empress Xiao personally fed Yunyi the medicine, and after wiping away the medicine stains from her lips, asked: “Feeling better?”