“Now the entire Chengdu Prefecture and surrounding areas are searching the mountains where the incident occurred. The Military Governor has dispatched thousands of men to comb through the mountains meticulously. If Prince Kui has even a thread of life left, he should be found soon.”

As people spoke, someone else shook their head and sighed: “Prince Kui met with trouble in our Shu Prefecture territory. Never mind the newly arrived Governor Zhou, I think all of Shu Prefecture can’t escape responsibility.”

“Forget about Shu Prefecture. Currently, the court’s power balance relies entirely on Prince Kui’s support, otherwise, the court would fall under eunuch control again. Now that Prince Kui has met with trouble, the only one who benefits is probably…”

The speaker shrank his head at this point and changed the subject: “It’s getting dark, looks like they’ll be searching through the night.”

“Hope there’ll be good news by tomorrow morning… If only Prince Kui would return safely.”

As the crowd dispersed, Huang Zixia looked up at Li Shubai on horseback and asked softly, “Should we go to Governor Zhou’s mansion first?”

Li Shubai shook his head, saying, “I think some people must be happy about my disappearance. Let’s find an inn to stay at first, let them enjoy themselves for a few days.”

Chengdu Prefecture had frequent merchant travelers, with many inns along the streets. They found a clean and tidy inn located in an alley to stay in.

After several days of exhausting travel, they had the inn’s servant bring water for a thorough wash. After Huang Zixia helped change his medicine, they immediately went to sleep.

The next day when Huang Zixia woke up, her whole body ached. Just like when she first fled from Shu Prefecture, running through wilderness and mountains every day, her entire body tense with nerves, she had kept going. But once stopped, she immediately felt the exhaustion, all the pain rushing up at once.

She lay in bed for a while, gazing blankly at the sunlight streaming through the window. Not knowing what day it was, nor where she was heading. The hollyhocks swaying outside were vivid in color, their light filtered through the sunlight shining on her window, deep purple and light red, like blurred rouge stains.

For a moment she was dazed, feeling as if she were still that pampered young lady of the governor’s family, with an almost perfect life. Good birth, beautiful appearance, famous throughout the land, and beside her that person who had walked with her to view flowers…

That person.

She thought about Yu Xuan for a moment but immediately sighed.

When he submitted her love letter as evidence of a crime to Military Governor Fan Yingxi, they had already completely ended.

What was there left to think about?

At this point, rather than thinking about him, she should think about the case she would face today, and think about what she needed to do with Li Shubai.

She dressed and sat before the mirror, somewhat worried. Before she could disguise herself as a eunuch, using her feminine appearance as a man. But now Li Shubai was also in disguise, how could she pretend to be a eunuch? Moreover, they were in Shu Prefecture where many people had seen her before—with her appearance, she would be recognized at a glance.

While still thinking, there was a gentle knock at the door.

She stood and walked to the door, asking softly, “Who is it?”

“Me, I have something for you.” Li Shubai’s voice.

She quickly opened the door. Li Shubai stood outside, handing her a package. He had already changed clothes and done something to his face, making him look thin and haggard with ordinary features, though his tall stature still made him stand out.

Huang Zixia took the package from his hand and asked, “So early… Your Highness went out?”

“Yes, from now on my surname is Wang, just call me Wang Kui.” He followed her inside, seeing her naturally open the small package he had handed over and take out the contents without any surprise. He faced the small copper mirror in the inn, carefully applying yellow powder to his face, using some glue to pull his eye corners downward, painting his eyebrows thick, and adding some freckles.

In the mirror appeared a young man, ordinary in appearance and listless, someone no one would give a second glance.

He casually asked, “How do you know disguise techniques?”

“When I was mixing with the constables before, what kinds of skills didn’t I learn?” She said, turning back to smile at him, “It’s stranger that Your Highness knows this.”

“I saw descriptions in the files at the Court of Justice.” He said briefly, while turning to leave, “Come out for breakfast.”

Huang Zixia quickly bound her chest, changed clothes, and followed him to the front shop to eat.

The inn was in an alley, though quiet, it therefore had few guests. The few people sitting and eating breakfast were all overnight guests from the night before.

They sat at a table eating breakfast, Huang Zixia biting into a steamed bun while Li Shubai casually added some chopped cilantro leaves to the wontons in front of her.

Halfway through her bowl, Huang Zixia noticed the guests at nearby tables all looking toward the entrance. Some were particularly exaggerated, stretching their necks like ducks to look ahead.

Holding her spoon, she raised her head to look toward the entrance.

A light and graceful cloud seemed to float slowly in through the door.

No, actually it wasn’t a cloud, but a slender and graceful woman who walked into the shop. She appeared to be over thirty, wearing the simplest narrow-sleeved cloth garment for traveling, with just a silk ribbon tying her hair, a bundle on her back, cloth shoes on her feet, and no other decorations anywhere.

Yet such a woman walked more gently than a young girl, like a willow branch swaying in the wind, extremely enchanting.

Though simply dressed, she was quite beautiful, but what attracted people most was her bearing in every movement, making all who saw her feel that every gesture was a pleasing sight to behold, even without seeing her face, causing them to exclaim in admiration.

Huang Zixia was also momentarily stunned, thinking that in her youth she must have been an incomparable beauty, and even now, her grace still captivated souls.

However, such a beauty wore an expression of deep sorrow, carrying heavy thoughts.

She sat by the window, lost in thought, took two sips of porridge, then sat quietly by the window, her delicate hand supporting her chin as she gazed at the green willows outside, remaining silent.

Seeing Huang Zixia continuously watching the beauty, Li Shubai lightly tapped the table twice, saying, “Eat quickly, we need to go out later.”

Huang Zixia made a sound of acknowledgment and quickly finished her remaining half bowl of wontons. When she looked toward the beauty again, she saw her take out a jade bracelet from her bundle, staring at it in a daze.

Huang Zixia’s hand suddenly went slack, her spoon dropping onto the table with a clatter.

That jade bracelet was far too familiar to her.

A mutton-fat white jade bracelet, carved with two long, graceful small fish, each biting the other’s tail, forming a perfect circle in the water waves. Because the fishes’ bodies were carved hollow, light passing through created an extraordinarily soft and clear radiance. The fish’s eyes were tiny pink-white rice pearl beads, inlaid in the white jade, the pearl’s luster reflecting the jade’s glow, extremely exquisite and eye-catching.

This was the jade bracelet Yu Xuan had given her.

This was what he bought with the silver reward money after passing the provincial examinations, accompanying her through countless mornings and evenings, her wrist long familiar with that cool sensation. When her family met with catastrophe and she fled Shu Prefecture in panic, the only valuable things she had were a hairpin on her head and a bracelet on her wrist.

No one knew with what desperate feelings she had pawned it. At that time, she had thought that once this bracelet left her wrist, she might never see it again.

However, she hadn’t expected that just after entering Shu Prefecture, before even reaching Chengdu, she would see this bracelet again.

Seeing her expression suddenly change, Li Shubai followed her gaze to examine the bracelet and asked, “What’s wrong?”

Seeing the beauty had already put the bracelet back in her bundle, she quickly stood up, said “Wait a moment” to Li Shubai, and walked swiftly toward the beauty.

The beauty glanced sideways at her, seeing only a sallow-faced, unremarkable young man, then turned her eyes away again, packing up her bundle and standing to leave.

Huang Zixia immediately said, “Sister, I recognize that jade bracelet you just had.”

The beauty indeed stopped, hesitantly asking, “You… have seen it before?”

Her voice was slightly hoarse, low, and gentle, very fitting for her person.

Huang Zixia nodded and asked, “May I ask where sister obtained it? As far as I know, its original owner pawned it on the road after leaving Chengdu.”

“So perhaps it was sold again by the pawnshop…” The beauty sighed softly, saying in a low voice, “This is a keepsake from one of my sisters, I came from Yangzhou to find her, but she has already passed away. This bracelet… was probably given to her by her lover.”

Seeing her manner, Huang Zixia immediately understood—she and her sister must have been women of humble origins, and the bracelet she had pawned was bought by someone and given to her sister.

So Huang Zixia said, “The world is often like this, many die suddenly from illness or accident, please accept my condolences, sister.”

The beauty silently shook her head but said nothing.

Huang Zixia asked again, “Might I ask if that bracelet could be transferred to me? Only because its original owner was very fond of that bracelet and still wishes to recover it…”

“This was the token of love between my little sister and her lover. Now that she’s gone, this is the only memento we sisters have left—I will not give it to anyone else no matter what.” The beauty flatly rejected her words, leaving no room for negotiation.

Seeing her so firm, Huang Zixia could only say helplessly, “If that’s the case, please forgive my presumption.”

As she turned to walk back, Li Shubai looked at her thoughtfully and asked, “That was yours?”

Huang Zixia said softly, “Yes, I pawned it on the road when I fled.”

“Do you still want it?” he asked again.

She thought for a moment, then shook her head, saying, “Never mind, it’s a memento for me, and for her too, the meaning is the same either way.”

“Moreover, you’ll soon see the person who gave you the bracelet, while she can never see hers again.”

Li Shubai’s voice was cold and indifferent. Huang Zixia hadn’t expected him to see through her thoughts so clearly, and her heart slightly stalled, her breathing becoming somewhat difficult.

She lowered her head to eat, remaining silent, not speaking.

Seeing her like this, he felt he shouldn’t have said such spiteful words, so he changed the subject, lowering his voice to say, “She’s the eldest sister of the Yunshao Six Women, Gong Sun Yuan.”

Huang Zixia started, asking, “Madame Gong Sun?”

“Yes, Li Twelve Lady’s disciple, an orphan without parents, so she took the surname Gong Sun after inheriting the art. Seventeen years ago she went to the capital to perform—I was only six or seven then and still living in the palace, but I can’t forget her even now. Unexpected that seventeen years later, she’s still such a beauty and her skills must have advanced even further.”

Huang Zixia admired this, saying, “Then she must be at least thirty-five or thirty-six.”

“Mei Wanzhi is about the same age.”

Huang Zixia couldn’t help but feel emotional. Of these two beauties who had once won fame together, now one wore plain clothes and traveled alone in the world, while the other wore fine silks and lived deep in the palace surrounded by thousands. The vicissitudes of fate couldn’t help but make one sigh.

However, who could know which one lived more happily?