Zhou Caicai and several friends had arrived at the imperial capital and searched several prisons, but found no trace of Dong Yun.

She asked her maid Snow Sound, “Does your master have any other news?”

“If there is any, I will certainly tell Miss Zhou,” Snow Sound replied, bowing her head.

Finding Dong Yun’s image in the memory map had been an accident, and Sui Qiusan had opportunistically used this coincidence to help himself.

Zhou Caicai carefully recalled the scenes from the Sinking Prison, feeling vaguely uneasy. She began to doubt whether she had looked carefully enough, wondering if she had missed something.

The more she thought about it, the more restless she became, so she stood up and said, “I’ll go look again.”

“Miss,” Snow Sound tried to dissuade her, but failed, so she could only follow.

*

When Ming Li discovered that the person imprisoned in the Sinking Prison was Gu Qi, she recalled what the Wandering Ghost warriors had said when departing from the west:

“Next time we meet in battle, it will be in the Central Lands of the continent.”

So that was it.

Ming Li glanced at Chen Zhou and said to Lu Yi, “We’ll wait outside first.”

Though Lu Yi didn’t understand why, he didn’t question it at that moment. He followed Ming Li out, leaving only Chen Zhou inside.

Ming Li didn’t believe her senior brother had emerged from the Abyss completely unscathed, but he wouldn’t let those around him see his pain. Chen Zhou would choose to heal himself, even if it took a long time.

Some things didn’t matter in front of strangers, but one would rather die than let those closest to them know or see.

Ming Li arrived outside the Sinking Prison and noticed the snow had grown heavier.

She said leisurely, “Captain Lu, it seems the Scripture Sage just learned about His Majesty summoning me.”

Lu Yi said, “I am only responsible for receiving the Holy Sage, not for other matters.”

Ming Li asked again, “Do you think the Scripture Sage will be angry?”

Lu Yi replied, “Since it is His Majesty’s wish, how could the Scripture Sage be angry?”

Ming Li laughed softly at this response and sighed gently, “The relationship between His Majesty and the Scripture Sage… is truly close, seemingly a friendship spanning decades, from their youth.”

Lu Yi also smiled, “His Majesty and the Scripture Sage are like brothers.”

“And only His Majesty remains,” Ming Li said with curved brows and eyes.

Because all those who had known the Scripture Sage from before were now dead, with only Emperor Wenxiu still alive.

Lu Yi, who moved within palace circles, knew what should and shouldn’t be said. He intuitively sensed danger in the topic Ming Li had raised, but fortunately, she didn’t continue and instead changed the subject, which brought him relief.

As the two chatted, they suddenly saw people approaching from a distance.

Ming Li noticed two figures wearing cloaks on the right who had been walking toward the Sinking Prison. Upon seeing people ahead, they immediately concealed themselves, causing her to narrow her eyes.

On the left, someone approached quite openly—a carriage with wheels rolling through the snow, advancing unhurriedly to the main gate of the Sinking Prison.

The guard in front of the carriage bowed to Lu Yi and said, “Captain Lu.”

The carriage curtain was lifted slightly, revealing a man dressed in fine clothes inside. The curtain only reached his chin, concealing his full face.

Lu Yi addressed the person in the carriage, “Fifth Prince, His Majesty has ordered the interrogation of a prisoner in the Sinking Prison. Please return at a later time.”

The person in the carriage made a sound of acknowledgment and asked lazily, “What prisoner?”

Lu Yi said, “It’s confidential. Please understand, Fifth Prince.”

The person in the carriage continued, “Has Father Emperor come personally to interrogate?”

Lu Yi replied, “This matter is being handled by the Holy Sage of Bei Dou.”

The Fifth Prince’s hand gripping the curtain lifted slightly. As he saw the full appearance of the young woman standing beside Lu Yi, his knuckles curved slightly, followed by a soft laugh, “So it’s about the Northern Border conflict. It seems I’ve come at an inopportune time. Holy Sage, if you need any assistance, please feel free to find me.”

He lowered the curtain, and the guard bowed respectfully to Lu Yi and Ming Li before driving the carriage away.

Emperor Wenxiu’s fifth son, Great Qin’s Fifth Prince, Chang Hanhe.

Ming Li looked in the direction the carriage had gone for a while. Although she hadn’t seen what the man looked like, she could tell from his few sentences that he was indeed a physically complete person.

Whole, intelligent, yet not the Crown Prince—not even worthy of mention from Emperor Wenxiu’s lips.

Ming Li asked Lu Yi, “Is the relationship between the Fifth Prince and His Majesty not good?”

Lu Yi smiled, “Each prince is His Majesty’s child. How could there be talk of poor relations?”

Ming Li touched her slightly cold earlobe, her eyelashes fluttering lightly as she said, “Captain Lu, people who follow the rules too strictly become very boring.”

Lu Yi responded, “Those in the palace must follow the rules.”

*

Zhou Caicai hadn’t yet reached the Sinking Prison when she spotted two people at the main entrance from a distance. One of them she recognized—Imperial Guard Captain Lu Yi. She also recognized the carriage heading toward the Sinking Prison—Fifth Prince Chang Hanhe’s.

It seemed she had come at the wrong time.

Her maid Snow Sound whispered, “Miss, perhaps we should return first.”

Zhou Caicai frowned, showing no intention of leaving. She continued to conceal herself, watching the direction of the Sinking Prison.

The Fifth Prince left, but Lu Yi remained. Who was that woman beside him who made the Imperial Guard Captain so cautious?

Zhou Caicai kept watching until Ming Li and Lu Yi entered the Sinking Prison, but still didn’t leave, waiting for them to come out.

*

Ming Li returned to the Sinking Prison but didn’t attend to Gu Qi inside. Instead, she first looked at Chen Zhou standing outside.

Her senior brother still maintained his lazy demeanor.

Inside, Gu Qi was covered in sweat and blood, half-sitting against the wall. Half his body was crippled, and he was missing several fingers. Ming Li didn’t pay attention to whether they had been severed before or after coming to the Sinking Prison.

Gu Qi didn’t dare look at Chen Zhou. With a hoarse voice, he said, “They… took the map of Bei Dou Mountain from me.”

Ming Li said, “Just for that alone, I could kill you many times over.”

Gu Qi said self-mockingly, “That’s why I’m locked up here now.”

“What you want to know… I’ll tell you everything,” he struggled to raise his head to look at Ming Li, knowing that the reason Chen Zhou hadn’t killed him was that they still needed information about the Wandering Ghosts from him. So he still had a chance.

From the beginning until now, Gu Qi had only wanted to stay alive. To survive, he would do anything, regardless of abandonment or betrayal.

But Ming Li merely gave him a detached glance and, instead of asking him anything, said to Chen Zhou, “Senior Brother, let’s go.”

Chen Zhou said nothing, just stood up to follow her. From the corner of his eye, he glanced at the now-frozen Gu Qi with a trace of mockery, as if seeing through his thoughts.

Gu Qi couldn’t help but call out anxiously, “Wait, don’t you want to know about the Wandering Ghosts?!”

He could only use this to bargain with Ming Li for a slim chance of survival. But what if Ming Li had no interest in this and didn’t care at all?

Gu Qi fell into a desperate fear of impending death, with nowhere to turn, and trembling uncontrollably.

He recalled how Chen Zhou had earlier seen through his attachment to the days he had impersonated him at Bei Dou, seen through his reluctance to harm Yin Luo, yet had only smiled mockingly and said, “That was my sect friend, not yours.”

One sentence had cast him into hell.

Gu Qi had coveted his time at Bei Dou. Those who had been kind to him did so because he wore Chen Zhou’s face, making Dong Yeshou mistakenly believe he was the child he had raised, making Yin Luo and others mistakenly believe he was the friend who had grown up with them.

He had stolen several years of Chen Zhou’s life, believing it to be his redemption, but it had instead become a lifetime of guilt for those people toward Chen Zhou.

What was fake would always be fake, never becoming real.

Gu Qi would never obtain everything that Chen Zhou possessed.

Lu Yi hadn’t questioned Ming Li inside the Sinking Prison, but once outside, he couldn’t help asking, “Holy Sage, you…”

“Let him drown in fear,” Ming Li said.

Lu Yi, having discerned from the reactions of the master-disciple pair that they had a grudge against Gu Qi, hesitated and asked, “But the whereabouts of the Northern Border tribes…”

Ming Li said, “I will find them.”

Or rather, they would come looking for her.

Since Emperor Wenxiu had said everything was entrusted to Ming Li, Lu Yi had nothing more to say. He simply remained at Ming Li’s side, awaiting instructions.

As night had fallen deeply, Lu Yi escorted the two back to their resting palace before taking his leave.

*

The Eastern Palace was heavily guarded. Black-armored Imperial Guards surrounded the several entrances and exits of the Eastern Palace, with squads patrolling inside and out on schedule, adding a sense of severity to the biting winter night wind.

Zhou Caicai returned to the Eastern Palace and explained to the Crown Prince, who had been unable to find her. The Crown Prince was somewhat displeased and angrily handed her several sheets of paper for folding.

“Fold a crane or a frog?” Zhou Caicai asked resignedly as she sat down.

The Crown Prince said, “Frog.”

A’Nu waited to the side, while the maid Snow Sound guarded outside the door.

Zhou Caicai looked at the silent Crown Prince and raised her hand in a vow again, “I promise, I will inform Your Highness before leaving next time.”

The Crown Prince: “Won’t listen.”

These words were spoken with full resentment, showing his childishness very clearly.

Zhou Caicai wasn’t frightened at all by this; rather, she found it somewhat between laughter and tears.

“Then tonight I’ll fold many, many frogs for you, until Your Highness tells me to stop, alright?”

The Crown Prince: “Alright.”

Zhou Caicai thought to herself, You are too easy to coax.

She recalled the scene she had witnessed at the Sinking Prison, and as she folded paper, she asked, “Is His Majesty concerned with the consort selection matter again?”

The Crown Prince shook his head. He regarded Zhou Caicai as a close person, so he shared with her: “Father Emperor asked me to meet the Holy Sage.”

Zhou Caicai’s paper-folding movements stopped, and she looked up at him with surprise in her eyes.

So the young woman standing beside Lu Yi earlier was that Sacred Pilgrim from Bei Dou?

Zhou Caicai turned to look at A’Nu. A’Nu, expressionless, said, “I was outside and do not know what the Crown Prince and Holy Sage discussed.”

The Crown Prince held the frog Zhou Caicai had folded for him, nervously pursing his lips: “She is very formidable.”

Once their eyes met, he could no longer maintain his facade.

Zhou Caicai reassured him, “She is a Sacred Pilgrim, of course, she’s formidable. Your Highness need not worry too much. The Holy Sage won’t make things difficult for you.”

She thought that Emperor Wenxiu probably hadn’t been able to persuade the Holy Sage to participate in the Crown Prince’s consort selection.

Zhou Caicai had heard about the events in the west while in the imperial capital. She knew about the uproar Ming Li had caused there. Her father had told her not to worry about the situation in the west, to take care of herself in the imperial capital, which was why she hadn’t returned.

This matter had passed several months ago. Why had Ming Li now come to the imperial capital and gone to the Sinking Prison?

As Zhou Caicai pondered this, A’Nu suddenly said, “It’s about the Northern Border tribes.”

“…I see,” Zhou Caicai realized.

For a moment, she recalled that Dong Yun was also from the north, living in Seven Star City, so close to Bei Dou… but it seemed she was overthinking. Of course, people from Bei Dou coming to the imperial capital would be concerned with the Northern Border tribes they had battled before.

Zhou Caicai stayed with the Crown Prince for a long time, leaving the Eastern Palace only after he had fallen asleep.

In the snowy night, places without light were very dark, with visibility reduced to nothing. Just as Zhou Caicai left the imperial city gate, she saw the Fifth Prince’s carriage leisurely emerging from behind. Her heart skipped a beat, and she lowered her head to avoid him.

Fortunately, the Fifth Prince’s carriage didn’t stop, but the person sitting inside lifted a corner of the curtain.

Like Princess Chang Xi, the Fifth Prince didn’t reside in the palace.

Princess Chang Xi was at the Martial Supervision Alliance, while Fifth Prince Chang Hanhe had his mansion outside.

The carriage drove back to the Fifth Prince’s mansion in the deep night. The servants of the mansion received him, carrying lanterns and walking ahead to guide Chang Hanhe’s way.

Chang Hanhe entered the front room, removed his outer garment, and asked the maid Hong Shu, “Is she asleep?”

Hong Shu said, “Miss Chu has retired for the night.”

Chang Hanhe nodded and went alone to the rear sleeping chamber. He circled the screen to the bed, lifted the gauze curtain, and sat on the edge, looking at the person sleeping with her back to him. He reached out and gently traced her cheek.

He sighed softly, smiling with some indulgence, “Still angry?”

Chu Xiao, with her back to him, opened her eyes.

“I couldn’t accompany you these past days. That was my fault,” Chang Hanhe said patiently. “There were too many matters to handle during that time, going between the Martial Supervision Alliance and the Star Fate Bureau. With Father Emperor gravely ill and the Crown Prince unable to handle things, they could only be entrusted to me.”

Chu Xiao turned to look at him.

Chang Hanhe gently pinched her rosy face. These years had indeed restored her health.

“I promised I would help you take revenge, let you openly use the name Chu Xiao again,” Chang Hanhe bent down to place a kiss on her forehead. “That day won’t be far off.”

As he stood up, Chu Xiao caught his sleeve and asked, “Is Dong Yun still unwilling to reveal that person’s whereabouts?”

Chang Hanhe narrowed his eyes slightly, “He’s a tough one, able to endure for so long. But it doesn’t matter anymore. The Father Emperor is too ill. Even if he won’t speak, that person may not be alive anymore.”

Chu Xiao sat up, hesitating before saying, “Why not let me ask him?”

Chang Hanhe looked at her with an ambiguous smile, reaching out to pinch Chu Xiao’s chin, his tone carrying a hint of danger: “You want to see him?”

Chu Xiao said, “I want to ask him about Liang Pingshan’s whereabouts.”

Chang Hanhe continued, “Do you think I would let him leave alive after he reveals it?”

Chu Xiao remained silent.

Chang Hanhe stared at her: “What’s this? Want to beg for his life? Feeling sorry for him?”

Chu Xiao turned her face away in annoyance, only to have Chang Hanhe pinch her chin and turn it back. “The more you think of him, the more suffering I’ll inflict on him.”

“You know I only like you!” Chu Xiao said irritably.

Chang Hanhe, hearing the satisfactory answer, embraced Chu Xiao as they lay down. He said lightly, “Be careful of a woman on the Crown Prince’s side.”

Chu Xiao reached out to embrace him in return: “I’ll be careful.”

Chang Hanhe sneered, “That fool.”

Yet his closed eyes concealed gloom.

Chang Hanhe could accept Princess Chang Xi as his opponent, as she had the qualifications, but he couldn’t accept that fool.

Father Emperor would rather establish a fool as Crown Prince than choose him.