Winter days were foggy, and just as dawn was breaking, Ming Li and Chen Zhou had already silently left the imperial palace, returning to yesterday’s breakfast stall.

Today’s breakfast was more abundant than yesterday’s. Chen Zhou had ordered everything available from the stall, filling the entire table.

Ming Li fiddled with a plum blossom tumbler on the table, using her materialization ability to make it resemble Zhou Zixi. She tapped the tumbler’s head with her fingertip, watching it sway left and right.

After a while, she changed it to Qing Ying, then to Dong Yeyun.

Chen Zhou, returning with the last plate of breakfast, was speechless when the tumbler transformed into his face.

You’ve truly mastered this materialization spirit technique.

Chen Zhou sat down to her left and said, “Wasting stellar power so early in the morning.”

Ming Li pondered, “What kind of father-son relationship would lead to never mentioning the person’s existence?”

Chen Zhou said, “Choose one: not mentioning because exposure would be dangerous, or not mentioning because of dislike.”

“Last night I asked Lu Yi. The six children all have different birth mothers. Only Princess Chang Xi is the Empress’s daughter. The Fifth Prince’s birth mother is from the current Duan family, much more powerful than the Crown Prince’s side.”

Ming Li gently flicked the tumbler with her finger, speaking casually, “By all accounts, the Crown Prince’s position should belong to the Fifth Prince.”

She didn’t mention Princess Chang Xi because she had been raised by the Scripture Sage. For this reason alone, Emperor Wenxiu would never choose her.

Choosing Princess Chang Xi would be no different from directly handing Great Qin’s throne to the Scripture Sage.

Chen Zhou picked up his chopsticks and began eating, while analyzing with her: “The Crown Prince was established three years ago. Three years ago, or perhaps a few years earlier, something must have happened to make him determined to install someone mentally deficient as Crown Prince.”

Ming Li had met the Crown Prince and could confirm his impairment.

With so many Life and Death Realm practitioners in the imperial capital, plus the Scripture Sage’s presence, it would be impossible for the Crown Prince to pretend to be mentally deficient. So he wasn’t pretending—he truly was mentally impaired.

Ming Li said, “Whether it’s the Crown Prince selecting a consort or the Fifth Prince seizing power, it’s not my concern. However, yesterday at the Sinking Prison, I saw someone lurking who didn’t dare approach, so I sent a wind-stealing bird over and discovered she eventually returned to the Eastern Palace.”

Chen Zhou said, “The Crown Prince must also have helpers, plus His Majesty’s favoritism.”

Ming Li pressed down on the swaying tumbler and said, “Parents’ too obvious favoritism easily breeds resentment in the neglected children.”

“The issue isn’t just favoritism, but also completeness versus deficiency,” Chen Zhou said. “His Majesty said with the Scripture Sage, there is no Crown Prince, meaning the Scripture Sage doesn’t want a mentally deficient person to become Great Qin’s most noble figure in the future. The two disagree.”

The relationship between Emperor Wenxiu and the Scripture Sage had indeed become subtle. Once as close as brothers and loyal to each other, they now had a rift.

“So he allowed people from the Northern Border tribes into the imperial capital and summoned you to cause trouble for the Scripture Sage, buying time to pave the way for the Crown Prince,” Chen Zhou said, narrowing his eyes. “I even suspect the Crown Prince will die before him.”

Ming Li looked at the tumbler, which had reverted to its plum blossom form. She stretched lazily and smiled, “Senior Brother, don’t trust Emperor Wenxiu too much.”

Chen Zhou raised an eyebrow: “What’s your view?”

“My view… he’s in league with the Wandering Ghosts,” Ming Li cradled the tumbler, watching it transform back into Zhou Zixi’s likeness, her eyes curving in a smile. “But you were right that he wants to cause trouble for the Scripture Sage.”

Chen Zhou asked further, “So what do you plan to do?”

“I’m busy looking for my brother, I don’t have time to search for Northern Border tribes. Let them come find me,” Ming Li said, raising her head to discover Zhou Zixi sitting across from her, frowning at the tumbler in her hands.

Zhou Zixi gestured with his eyes at the tumbler in her palm. “I’m already here. Change it back.”

Ming Li made a sound of acknowledgment and changed the tumbler back.

Hearing this sound, Chen Zhou knew Zhou Zixi had arrived. He leisurely raised his head to look at the seat across from Ming Li, and in his eyes, reflected a familiar figure.

A form that light could pass through, with faint black mist surrounding its human shape. The face was familiar, but the expression and demeanor carried some unfamiliarity.

Zhou Zixi glanced at Chen Zhou.

Chen Zhou looked at him and raised an eyebrow slightly, teasing, “So you’re willing to show yourself now?”

Zhou Zixi said, “It’s you who can see people now.”

Chen Zhou put down his chopsticks with a cold smile as Ming Li looked toward Liang Junxia approaching them. He also seemed to see Zhou Zixi sitting across from them. His expression showed momentary surprise, then wild joy as he rushed toward Zhou Zixi, shouting, “Zixi—”

He lunged through empty air, passing through the shadow and landing with a solid thud at Chen Zhou’s feet.

As other customers and the owner looked over, Chen Zhou turned his face away, his expression clearly stating, “I don’t know him.”

Ming Li also lowered her head to play with the tumbler, pretending she hadn’t seen anything.

Liang Junxia picked himself up from the ground and sat down nearby, asking Zhou Zixi, “What’s the meaning of this?”

Zhou Zixi said with no change in expression, “You chose to lunge at a shadow.”

Ming Li said, “Actually, shadows are just like that, you can’t touch them…”

“Don’t speak!” Liang Junxia glared at her. “Don’t think I don’t know your braid was done by this ‘untouchable shadow’!”

Ming Li fell silent.

Chen Zhou said with an ambiguous smile, “Willing to braid his senior sister’s hair, but unwilling to let people see him or hug you.”

Liang Junxia gritted his teeth, “You’re inhuman, only caring about your junior sister.”

Zhou Zixi said flatly, “Caring about Senior Sister has nothing to do with whether I’m human or not.”

Liang Junxia was stunned.

Chen Zhou also raised his eyebrows in surprise: “You dare to say that.”

Ming Li’s lips curved slightly, but she didn’t intervene, merely resting her chin on her hand with smiling eyes.

Liang Junxia looked back and forth between Ming Li and Zhou Zixi: “So you like your senior sister that much? The first thing you recovered was desire?”

Chen Zhou said, “Dog Yun should see this—he’d immediately end your friendship and kick you out of Seven Star City.”

Zhou Zixi also gave a cold smile: “Oh, let him try.”

Liang Junxia slapped the table, laughing uncontrollably: “Fine, keep acting tough now. Let’s see how you handle it later.”

Zhou Zixi laughed coldly.

Ming Li cleared her throat, knocked the tumbler down on the table, and let it spring back up. She said to Liang Junxia, “Let’s talk business first. What have you found out?”

Liang Junxia picked up his chopsticks, eating while talking: “Those with good relationships and deep connections to the Chu family are either dead or no longer in the imperial capital, scattered across various states. Finding them will take time.”

“Which means there’s no one familiar with Chu Xiao left in the imperial capital.”

When the Chu family was exterminated for poisoning the Empress, Chu Xiao was only sixteen, still a young girl. After hiding for several years, when she returned, few people recognized her.

“But it wasn’t completely fruitless,” Liang Junxia winked at everyone proudly. “I finally persuaded Madam Zhao.”

Madam Zhao’s daughter had once liked the Fifth Prince Chang Hanhe, which led to several conflicts with Chu Xiao, who often accompanied the Fifth Prince. During that time, she constantly complained to her mother about how much she disliked Chu Xiao.

Which meant—

“Chu Xiao’s beloved is most likely the current Fifth Prince.”

Chu Xiao had abandoned Dong Yeyun and desperately returned to the imperial capital to be with her beloved. If nothing unexpected had happened, she should be by Chang Hanhe’s side.

Ming Li recalled the carriage she had seen at the Sinking Prison yesterday and fell into deep thought.

Liang Junxia said, “Anyway, I’ll keep an eye on the Fifth Prince first.”

Ming Li nodded and said, “Then I’ll go to the Martial Supervision Alliance first.”

Chen Zhou remained silent. His task was obvious—continue wandering around the imperial capital, looking for traces of Dong Yeyun’s passage.

Finding Dong Yeyun was indeed not easy for Ming Li and the others.

This sort of thing had happened before. Dong Yeyun would travel alone, face assassination attempts, fall into traps, or get imprisoned—not for the first or second time.

Dong Yeyun would find his way out. If he really couldn’t, he still had a lifeline.

Because Ming Li’s Seven Star Token was with him.

In the past, after escaping, if he was angry, he would take Qing Ying and Zhou Zixi to cause trouble and fight back. Not once had he used Ming Li’s Seven Star Token.

This time, for some unknown reason, he hadn’t taken the Seven Star Token to the imperial capital.

*

After last night, news of the Bei Dou Holy Sage’s arrival in the imperial capital had spread. Everyone was waiting to glimpse the Holy Sage’s appearance, but nobody saw her at the stakeout in the imperial palace.

The Scripture Sage waited at the Martial Supervision Alliance, knowing Ming Li would certainly come.

So he also had Fang Hui wait nearby.

But Fang Hui didn’t know who was coming.

Liu Zhuo had already returned to the Martial Supervision Alliance headquarters. He pretended not to know about the team leader sleeping in the cesspool last night while others secretly laughed about it. He joined in the laughter, and as the team leader angrily scolded them, the group that had gathered to laugh dispersed.

Hong Xiu hadn’t returned yet.

Liu Zhuo noticed Yu Mu, who had been bewitched by her last night, looking outside several times with hope in his eyes, waiting for Hong Xiu.

Silly boy.

Liu Zhuo turned and walked away.

Huo Lingfeng only left the Star Scroll Tower at dawn. His Divine Miracle ability, Mirror Flower, could make all detection formation arrays ineffective against him, so he hadn’t drawn any attention from the guards.

He silently left the Star Fate Bureau, walking through snow-covered alleys. At the end of a corner, he saw Hong Xiu waiting.

Hong Xiu stood leaning against the wall. The snow had stopped during the day, so she didn’t have an umbrella. In the misty surroundings, she raised her hand to smooth her long hair, glancing at the approaching person and speaking first: “Pingshan once said he grew up in the imperial capital until he was fourteen. I spent all night searching the places where he lived, but no one remembered him.”

“However… I used my Heart Meridian to peer into the past of a deaf-mute woman and discovered something interesting,” Hong Xiu said with narrowed eyes and a smile. “She used to be from the palace.”

Her Divine Miracle ability came from the Heart Meridian—Heart Meridian: Shadow Echo—allowing her to see a person’s past. Not memories, but a kind of truth connected from countless details given to her by the heavenly and earthly star veins: what kind of person you once were.

“I previously used Shadow Echo on Pingshan and found a certain indescribable ‘energy’ about him, different from the flow of cosmic Qi. It doesn’t flow or show vitality, but is fixed from birth.”

Hong Xiu said, “It represents a person’s identity.”

“What a coincidence,” Huo Lingfeng said, handing her a record page. “The year he was born, a consort died in the palace.”

“The year he returned to the imperial capital, many people in the imperial capital also died.”

After reading it, Hong Xiu sighed softly. So that was it.

It seemed her friend was of noble birth.

Then Dong Yun’s coming to the imperial capital must mean he knew about Liang Pingshan’s identity.

Hong Xiu said, “See you later.”

Huo Lingfeng acknowledged, and they parted ways.

One needed to return to the Star Fate Bureau, the other to the Martial Supervision Alliance, continuing to search for news related to prisons. If Liang Pingshan was Emperor Wenxiu’s son and Dong Yun had come to the imperial capital for him, perhaps they should change their approach to finding him.

As the sky brightened, the fog dissipated somewhat, and people gradually filled the streets.

Hong Xiu walked against the flow of the crowd, a long hairpin between her teeth, both hands arranging her long hair. She inadvertently glanced at a man leaning against a wall among the crowd.

Well, one could even see a Heart Meridian expert casually standing on the street.

Chen Zhou’s gaze swept over the woman walking against the crowd, and he raised an eyebrow slightly.

Liang Junxia, returning after buying things, put his arm around Chen Zhou’s shoulder and followed his gaze: “The imperial capital has so many beautiful women.”

Chen Zhou: “You only look at whether people are beautiful?”

Liang Junxia: “What else? Wasn’t that girl beautiful?”

Chen Zhou pushed away the hand on his shoulder and said irritably, “Couldn’t you seriously look and see that was a Heart Meridian Divine Brilliance Realm expert?”

Heart Meridian experts were so rare in the world, yet the imperial capital had quite a few.