Qing Ye stumbled and staggered back to Li Court. Before she had even crossed the threshold, fresh blood spilled from her lips.

“Qing Ye, what happened to you?” Qing Zhi happened to be passing by and was startled by the blood on the ground. She rushed forward in a panic and caught her.

Seeing that her complexion had gone completely pale, Qing Zhi immediately supported her and hurried toward Long Feiyan’s bedchamber.

“Could it be that the Ninth Prince really is at the prince’s manor?” The number of people in the world capable of injuring Qing Ye this badly could be counted on one hand.

Long Feiyan had her sit down in a chair, then placed her hand on her shoulder. A stream of rich inner energy immediately surged into her body.

Qing Ye pressed her palms together on her lap, and only after borrowing Long Feiyan’s inner energy with great effort did she manage to recover her breath.

Once the pulse in her heart had calmed, she immediately said, “I am fine now. Thank you, my lord.”

Long Feiyan withdrew her inner energy, returned to the bedside and sat down, looking at her. “It was indeed the Ninth Prince?”

“No. This subordinate did not have the opportunity to see the Ninth Prince.”

Qing Ye drew a long breath, steadying herself until her breathing settled, then said, “My lord — it was Prince Ji!”

Prince Ji — the younger brother of Emperor Di, Emperor Ji!

“He is still alive?” Could it be that he had not perished in that battle all those years ago?

As for that war of long ago, Long Feiyan actually knew the truth — it was not Zhan’s people who had attempted to seize power.

Zhan Bufan was a good man. Had he not been, the Long family would never have been willing to help the Zhan imperial clan stabilize their realm.

Those old ministers, herself included, had all believed that every last member of the Di clan was gone.

A nation cannot go a single day without a sovereign. Though Zhan Bufan’s ascension to the throne had not been entirely legitimate, under the circumstances of that time, he was the most suitable candidate.

Moreover, foreign tribes had been invading at the time; had they been left without a leader, the nation would have been in grave peril.

In any case, the situation back then had been one of absolute helplessness.

What Long Feiyan had never imagined was that Emperor Ji had survived that catastrophe.

But if he was still alive, why had he refused to appear all these years?

No wonder Zhan Qingcheng knew of her own origins — it was because her biological imperial uncle was still in this world.

“Did he recognize you?” Long Feiyan looked at her.

Qing Ye thought for a moment, then shook her head. “Tonight the darkness was heavy and I did not draw close to him, so he most likely could not have made out my face clearly.”

“Moreover, back then, my lord and…” Qing Ye paused and did not dare continue.

Some people’s names were forbidden in her lord’s presence — not to be spoken.

She said, “Although I did see Prince Ji all those years ago, at the time I was only a girl of about ten. So many years have passed; Prince Ji should have long forgotten that someone like me even exists in this world.”

“That said, though Prince Ji has aged considerably, his appearance is not very different from before, so this subordinate recognized him at first glance. Only…”

“Only what?”

“Prince Ji… he was seated in a wheelchair.”

Prince Ji’s legs were injured?

In Long Feiyan’s mind, a figure slowly surfaced from memory.

At that time, Emperor Ji had still been a young man — full of vigor and spirit, a fierce and courageous warrior on the battlefield. A brilliant commander as well!

It could be said that in the Di family of those days, there was not a single weak person. Every one of them had been an exceptional fighter, one in ten thousand.

“My lord, this subordinate was injured by Prince Ji while trying to evade him, and was unable to see clearly whether the person in the room was indeed the Ninth Prince. This subordinate is incompetent.”

After her breathing had eased somewhat, Qing Ye immediately rose from the chair and moved to kneel before Long Feiyan.

Long Feiyan raised her hand slightly, and Qing Ye was immediately lifted by an invisible force.

Still feeling guilty at heart, Qing Ye said in a low voice, “My lord, please give this subordinate another chance. Once I have recovered a little by tomorrow, I will be able to…”

“There is no need. With Prince Ji present, for you to find out anything clearly would be no easy matter.”

Long Feiyan waved her hand, and her deep, brooding gaze drifted to some indeterminate point in the distance.

After a long moment, she finally said, “The Ninth Prince’s manor — I’m afraid I will have to go there myself.”

Feng Jiu’er felt inexplicably unsettled tonight.

She could not quite tell what was on her mind. Perhaps it was because her eyelid had been twitching continuously, making her feel as though something bad was about to happen.

But in truth, as someone who had studied medicine, she had long since learned that eyelid twitching was most often caused by days of accumulated exhaustion.

She had indeed been a little fatigued lately. In the past, of course, it would not have affected her like this — but now, without her inner energy to protect her body, she was even more fragile than an ordinary person.

“Left eye for fortune, right eye for disaster” was nothing but the superstition of ignorant women and children.

Since she knew that, why was she still uneasy?

“Qiao Mu, what place is up ahead?” She lifted the carriage curtain and called out to Qiao Mu riding outside.

“Tonight’s road is a bit unusual. Up ahead is a small town, but there is still quite a long distance before we reach it.”

They had already been away from the imperial capital for quite some time, and by now they were nearly veering off the main road.

Traveling from the Southern Wilds to Feng Territory — if they stayed on the main road, it would add at least five or six more days to the journey.

If they took the side path, the route would be shorter, but the dense forest depths were full of dangers.

In particular, they had to pass through Yamu City, whose lord was originally from the Nanmen clan.

Nanmen Rong had bestowed Yamu City upon its lord back in the day, and that lord had been grateful to Nanmen Rong his entire life.

The news that had spread from the imperial capital was that Feng Jiu’er and Nanmen Xu had joined forces to bring chaos upon the Nanmen clan.

Now the Nanmen clan had fallen into Nanmen Xu’s hands; some had submitted, while others still harbored resentment in their hearts.

And Feng Jiu’er had become the chief culprit — accused of having killed Nanmen Rong and seized the Nanmen clan’s military power.

Now that they needed to pass through Yamu City to reach Phoenix City, if the lord of Yamu City learned of it, he would certainly not let Feng Jiu’er off.

Jiu’er leaned against the wall of the carriage and glanced ahead. “Where are Mu Mu and Jiu Qing?”

“Mu Mu intends to go to Phoenix City first — he set out at dusk. Jiu Qing is just behind us. Don’t worry; he is watching over you.”

Over the past two days, after witnessing Jiu Qing’s martial prowess, even Qiao Mu could not help but admire him.

Entrusting Jiu’er to Jiu Qing put everyone’s minds at ease.

It was likely also because Jiu Qing was here that Mu Mu had dared to set out for Phoenix City ahead of them.

“Jiu’er, you needn’t worry. Even if the lord of Yamu City learns we are passing through, we still have the three squads of the Ninth Prince’s men here — they probably wouldn’t dare openly disrespect you.”

“That’s not certain.”

Though they had the Ninth Imperial Uncle’s three squads with them, their total numbers amounted to no more than three hundred or so. A great city, on the other hand, counted its forces in the tens of thousands.

What she feared was not the lord of Yamu City genuinely seeking revenge for Nanmen Rong by sending troops. What she feared was that he had been given backing by someone, making him bold enough to mobilize forces recklessly.

And whoever had given him that backing would be one of the Ninth Imperial Uncle’s enemies.

This thought had barely flickered through Feng Jiu’er’s mind when, up ahead, a commotion suddenly erupted.

Tuoba Keyan came galloping back on horseback, urgent in his approach, and called out, “A large force has been spotted up ahead, moving rapidly toward us!”