Only once Xiao Yingtao had made it safely out of the room did Feng Jiu’er rub her brow, a helpless sigh escaping her.
“She likes you very much. If you were to…”
“The only woman in my heart is you. In this life and all lives to come, there will be no one else.”
Mu Mu cut her off. His words carried an unmistakable, absolute sincerity.
“Mu Mu,” Feng Jiu’er’s tone was equally serious, “I am not suited to you. I have never once considered you in that way…”
“Then start considering it, beginning now.”
“No. Mu Mu, I don’t want to think about this. I have always only seen you as a friend — a very dear friend.”
Feng Jiu’er’s hand moved to her left wrist, about to remove the family heirloom Mu Mu had given her and return it to him.
But then, unexpectedly, she heard Mu Mu ask in a low, weighted voice: “Is it because you are unwilling to accept me — that you have fallen for the Ninth Prince?”
Feng Jiu’er startled, as though she had not expected Mu Mu to say such a thing. For a moment, she found herself unable to answer.
Then, a beat later, she abruptly came back to herself. She exhaled a long breath and shook her head.
“What I feel for the Ninth Imperial Uncle is reverence and gratitude. Where does any notion of ‘falling for him’ come from? The Ninth Imperial Uncle nearly lost his life for my sake. Right now, I have no other thoughts at all — I only want to protect him and heal his wounds.”
Mu Mu had been present at the time. He should have seen clearly enough just how harrowing that moment had been, and how much pain had been involved.
Feng Jiu’er had never imagined there could be anything as fanciful as romance between herself and the Ninth Imperial Uncle. After all, the two of them were not people of the same world.
He was the lofty, august Ninth Prince — and the mysterious, unfathomable Lord of the Tianzun Sect. Everything he did moved on a scale that could shift the fate of the entire nation in a single moment.
As for her — she was nothing but a small, insignificant person who simply hoped to go on practicing medicine one day and saving as many lives as she could.
Their paths in life ran in entirely different directions. Whether she liked him or not had ceased to matter much — because it was simply something that could never be.
“Mu Mu, I don’t have the heart to think about any of this right now. Oh, by the way, your family heirloom…”
“Someone is coming.” Mu Mu’s eyes narrowed slightly, and he said under his breath in a low warning.
“Go back for now.” Feng Jiu’er said at once.
Mu Mu gave a nod, turned, and stepped out of the room — vanishing in the blink of an eye.
The door to the neighboring room had barely closed when someone came hurrying up onto this floor, moving in quick strides toward Feng Jiu’er’s room.
“General Feng, it is I — Xing Zizhou.”
“Come in.”
When Xing Zizhou entered, Feng Jiu’er was seated by the tea table, reading. Xing Zizhou closed the door behind him, then quickly stepped up to her and lowered his voice: “There is still no precise location of Lord Yu Jingfeng’s party for the time being. However, they did indeed pass through this area in the past few days. By my estimate, they should now be somewhere in the vicinity of Ning City.”
“What channel did the message come through? Is it reliable?”
“It was sent by homing pigeon by my men. Following General Feng’s instructions, they are confident that those people are indeed Lord Yu Jingfeng’s party.”
“Very well. Have them continue monitoring Yu Jingfeng’s movements. I am not in a position to contact them directly at present, but I need to know their whereabouts.”
Xing Zizhou still looked somewhat puzzled: “General Feng, since Lord Yu is also in service of the Prince, why should we not simply make contact with his people directly? Why must we track them in secret?”
Feng Jiu’er had known he would have this question. She replied calmly: “We cannot act openly — because I suspect there is a mole within our ranks, or within theirs.”
“A mole?” Xing Zizhou was taken aback, his expression darkening slightly. “Do you know who it is?”