“How improper!” Seeing Feng Jiu’er actually bend down and lift up the hem of her skirt, the Ninth Prince — who could remain composed even as a mountain collapsed before him — immediately frowned.

“I’m not about to undress, Ninth Imperial Uncle — why so flustered?” Feng Jiu’er had only lifted her skirt to remove the chain around her ankle.

She didn’t want to call people of this era old-fashioned — after all, the times shaped the thinking; there was nothing more to say about it.

The Ninth Imperial Uncle was simply afraid she might expose herself, that was all — Jiu’er certainly wasn’t upset about it. Had it been any other woman, the Ninth Imperial Uncle likely wouldn’t have even glanced her way, let alone spoken up to stop her.

But the instant the two chains appeared in her hand before the three of them, Ye Luocha leapt to her feet at once, and Emperor Ji’s legs twitched — he very nearly stood up as well!

Zhan Qingcheng, however, merely stared at the two chains in her hand, lost in thought.

Ye Luocha hurried over, and Emperor Ji wheeled himself forward as well, both their gazes locked entirely on the two chains.

Ye Luocha snatched the chains right out of Feng Jiu’er’s hand, and Jiu’er made no move to stop her, for she knew exactly what Ye Luocha intended to do.

Ye Luocha took the small key and tried to fit it into the golden lock on the other chain, but her hands were trembling so badly that she couldn’t even line it up with the keyhole.

“Let me.” Feng Jiu’er took the two chains back from her, aligned the key with the golden lock, and with a single click, opened it with effortless ease!

The key and the golden lock truly were a matching pair!

“Who gave you the golden key? Was it the Ninth Prince?”

“Where did you get the golden lock?”

Ye Luocha and Emperor Ji, of all things, spoke at exactly the same moment.

Jiu’er stepped back twice, careful not to be caught in the wake of their excitement.

Returning to Zhan Qingcheng’s side, she finally said, “This golden lock — the Ninth Imperial Uncle gave it to me.”

“I knew it, I knew it!” Ye Luocha stared at Zhan Qingcheng, and whether from excitement or sheer emotion, her eyes welled with tears in an instant, nearly spilling over.

It really was Wuya — the Ninth Prince truly was their family’s Wuya, of the Di clan!

But what had she done? She had so carefully orchestrated all of this, only to set the two brothers against each other!

And now Wuya had spent so much of his energy on Mu’er’s behalf, exhausting himself day after day.

And her own Mu’er still lay in bed, his condition stable now, yet there was no telling when he might wake.

What in the world had she done? What had she done!

“Then this golden lock… who gave you this golden lock?” Emperor Ji’s excitement was no less than Ye Luocha’s.

Staring at the two chains in Feng Jiu’er’s hand, he wanted to say something, but his lips trembled so much he couldn’t even get out a complete sentence.

Was this golden lock… was it…

“Mu Mu gave it to me.”

“He truly is the Second Prince!” A sharp pain stabbed through Emperor Ji’s chest, so intense it nearly brought tears to his old eyes.

The one lying unconscious on the sickbed all this time really was the Second Prince from all those years ago.

Heavens! Why did Wuya and Feimu have to fight such a battle against each other? Why did the two brothers have to turn on one another! Why!

Zhan Qingcheng turned to look at the figure on the bed, and on his ever cold and composed face, a faint crack began to show.

Jiu’er held his large hand, but kept her eyes on Emperor Ji and Ye Luocha. “I don’t know whether the Ninth Imperial Uncle is aware of this matter, but since the two of you both know, could you make everything clear?”

Ye Luocha and Emperor Ji looked at each other, countless emotions churning in their eyes.

At last, Ye Luocha said hoarsely, “Since both of them gave you their most precious family heirlooms, then I believe you truly are worthy of our trust.”

If she couldn’t be trusted, not even a fraction of this matter could be revealed.

But it seemed, by now, that Feng Jiu’er had already guessed some of it herself, even if she didn’t yet know the full story of what had happened all those years ago.

Ye Luocha glanced at Emperor Ji — there were still many things even she herself couldn’t fully grasp.

After steadying herself a little, she drew a deep breath and said, “Wuya… is the Ninth Prince. He is not the current Emperor’s true brother — he is… the Crown Prince… of the former Di dynasty.”

The story traced back twenty years, to a time when Zhan Qingcheng wasn’t called Zhan Qingcheng at all — he was called Di Wuya.

In those days, the reigning Emperor, Di Dingtian, was poisoned without warning and lay on the brink of death. At that very moment, the imperial city fell into chaos, as some unidentified force surged in.

That battle had been so chaotic, and afterward, badly wounded, Ye Luocha had fled with the Second Prince.

For the Second Prince’s sake, she’d lived under a false name for years, never daring to show herself, and so she had no idea what had truly happened in the capital after that battle.

All she knew was that, afterward, the former Prince Shezheng — the Crown Prince’s own maternal uncle, Zhan Bufan — had become emperor.

From then on, the Di dynasty had been overthrown, and the imperial throne had passed to the Zhan dynasty.

And so she had raised the Second Prince while harboring deep hatred for everyone in the Zhan clan, secretly building their own power in hopes of overthrowing the Zhan dynasty and reclaiming the Di clan’s rightful realm.

Ye Luocha had always believed that, aside from the Second Prince she herself had rescued, every other member of the Di clan was already gone.

For all these years, she had carefully raised the Second Prince, Di Feimu, giving him a new name, Mu Mu, raising him to adulthood, teaching him martial arts and letters — all so that one day he might avenge the entire Di clan.

But how was she to know that Zhan Qingcheng, the War God Prince of the Zhan dynasty of the Bei Mu Kingdom, was none other than Crown Prince Di Wuya, the very man she had longed for all these years?

She couldn’t make sense of it, and so even though she’d already had her suspicions about Zhan Qingcheng’s true identity, she still hadn’t dared to be certain.

It was because she knew very well that imperial bloodlines allowed for no mistakes, and that Wuya had already been six years old at the time, his features already taking shape — even if someone wanted to pass him off falsely as a child of the Zhan family, it shouldn’t have been possible.

How had this been accomplished? What exactly had happened?

Feng Jiu’er naturally shared the same question. She glanced at the Ninth Imperial Uncle, but he only kept his eyes on Mu Mu in the bed, saying nothing at all.

Ye Luocha’s and Feng Jiu’er’s gazes could only turn to Emperor Ji.

Emperor Ji let out a breath, his voice turning hoarse. “In that battle, Wuya was gravely wounded and fell seriously ill, lying unconscious in bed for months. When he finally woke, he’d forgotten nearly everything of his past.”

“But even so, that old scoundrel Zhan Bufan couldn’t possibly have failed to recognize him — they used to see each other often!” This was the very thing Ye Luocha couldn’t make sense of.

Emperor Ji looked at Ye Luocha and let out a soft sigh. “All these years, have you really thought of Zhan Bufan as your enemy?”

“Isn’t he?” The Di clan had fallen and the Zhan dynasty had risen — wasn’t it because that old scoundrel Zhan Bufan had conspired with those unknown forces to usurp the throne?

And to think how well the late Emperor had treated Zhan Bufan, how well he’d treated the entire Zhan family!

Yet who would have thought that Zhan Bufan, that ingrate, would repay kindness with betrayal!