"Haha, Xue Chang'an, I'll be waiting for you in hell..."
Fan Min spat out a mouthful of fresh blood.
Xue Zi Ning opened the door and saw Fan Min collapsed in front of it. She walked forward. Fan Min looked at her and smiled, "Kill... kill Xue Chang'an..."
She looked at Fan Min's expectant eyes and squatted down, asking, "Why did you choose me?"
"You... you will keep your promise..."
"Aren't you afraid I'll go back on my word?"
"You... you won't..."
"You..."
Fan Min lay flat, gazing at the rising sun in the sky, and said, "Xin'er, I'm coming..."
Xue Zi Ning said, "Go, killing Xue Chang'an is not just your goal, but mine as well."
Fan Min smiled, "You... you finally agreed..."
"Yes..."
Fan Min smiled.
The last image to freeze was his smile.
Xue Zi Ning stood up and said, "All past grievances are wiped clean. May you reunite with your Xin'er."
The wind swept past, blowing Fan Min's clothes. Xue Zi Ning saw that he was tightly clutching something in his hand; it was a hairpin used by a woman.
Xue Zi Ning was startled. That was... that was the hairpin she had given to those people that day.
She stepped forward and took out the hairpin. It was given to her by Yan Zhao.
The hairpin, lost and found.
"Thank you," she whispered to Fan Min.
After spending two taels of silver to bury Fan Min outside the city, Xue Zi Ning returned home and opened the secret manual.
Inside was the cultivation method of the Poison King Valley.
To practice this method, one must have no internal energy.
It seemed Fan Min had intended to give it to her long ago.
As waves of heat spread through her body, she opened her eyes. It was already pitch dark outside. With a gentle push of her hand, she could feel the wind accompanying her palm.
"Yan Zhao, try on the wedding dress. We're getting married the day after tomorrow." Xue Chang'an brought the wedding dress to Yan Zhao's sleeping chambers.
"Put it down!" Yan Zhao said indifferently.
Xue Chang'an had the wedding dress placed down and withdrew. She walked over and said, "Yan Zhao, you've been very cold to me since your return. Have I done something that displeased you?" Da Feng Xiao Shuo Wang
Yan Zhao looked up. She saw eyes that should have been as bright as stars, now shrouded in a mist of coldness. Somehow, she felt enveloped by this chill.
"Tomorrow, Xue Zi Xuan will be escorted to the capital. How will you handle it?" Yan Zhao suddenly spoke, but not about their wedding, rather about Xue Zi Xuan.
She said, "How does Yan Zhao think it should be handled? He actually amassed troops and acted independently. If I had known earlier, I shouldn't have let him leave."
"A Ning can handle it however she wishes, you don't need to ask me."
"Yan Zhao, you are very cold to me." Xue Chang'an squatted down, attempting to rest her head on his lap.
Yan Zhao stood up and said, "A Ning, I'm tired. Please go back first!"
Xue Chang'an was about to say something else when Xue Feng landed before her and respectfully said, "Your Majesty, His Highness needs to rest."
"Alright." Xue Chang'an knew she couldn't rush him. After all, they were getting married the day after tomorrow.
"Your Highness, His Majesty has left," Xue Feng said.
"I know," Yan Zhao said indifferently.
Xue Feng looked at his Highness and finally asked what was on his mind, "Your Highness, why are you so cold to the Empress? Is something wrong?"
Yan Zhao looked up at Xue Feng and said, "Do you think she is the Empress?"
Xue Feng was stunned and asked, "Your Highness, are you saying this Empress is fake?"
"I cannot be sure, but all signs indicate she is not the real one. By the way, has the body been found?" Yan Zhao asked.
Xue Feng replied, "Not yet. It's as if it vanished into thin air."
Yan Zhao's gaze deepened significantly upon hearing this.
If this is not A Ning, then where are you, A Ning?
He was certain that the A Ning in the valley was his A Ning.
A Ning, what exactly did you encounter? Why don't you appear?
Do I not earn your trust this much?
A Ning, I am very hurt...
Xue Zi Ning woke up from a dream. She felt Yan Zhao questioning her with all his might, asking why she had left him.
She curled up her legs. Yan Zhao, I miss you...
This affection had not dissipated with the passage of time; instead, it grew deeper.
She saw the secret manual on her bedside table, picked it up, and since she couldn't sleep, decided to practice again!
"It's him, the King of Beijiang amassed troops and intended to claim the throne..."
On both sides of the street, the common people were throwing rotten vegetables and eggs at the youth in the prisoner's cart.
The youth remained unfazed. It was the woman chained with him who retorted, "Nonsense, utter nonsense! My Highness has never amassed troops! It is the current Emperor who, forgetting all past favors, has framed my Highness with false charges..."
Unfortunately, before the woman could finish speaking, the crowd stuffed her mouth with rotten vegetables and eggs, shouting, "Shut up..."
The woman shook her head.
Xue Zi Ning, hidden in the crowd, suddenly looked in this direction. Upon seeing Xue Zi Ning, the youth trembled all over.
Xue Zi Ning made a shushing gesture. The youth softly spoke two words.
She heard it. It was "Elder Sister."
She responded with a few words.
The youth nodded.
Zi Xuan said he trusted her.
Just as Xue Zi Ning was about to leave the crowd, an old woman suddenly rushed towards the prisoner's cart, exclaiming, "Ming'er, that's my Ming'er..."
But there were too many people, and the old woman was quickly pushed to the ground.
Xue Zi Ning stepped forward, pulled the old woman up, and asked, "Aunty, are you alright?"
The old woman grabbed her and pointed at the prisoner's cart, saying, "Ming'er, my Ming'er..."
Xue Zi Ning was startled and said, "Aunty, the person in the prisoner's cart is the King of Beijiang."
The old woman shook her head, "No... no, that's Ming'er, Ming'er."
Xue Zi Ning frowned, helped the old woman to a side to rest, and asked, "Aunty, can you explain more clearly?"
The old woman looked at her, only repeating the same sentence, "That's Ming'er, Ming'er."
Xue Zi Ning asked the old woman again, "Aunty, are you saying the person in the prisoner's cart is your Ming'er?"
The old woman nodded, "Ming'er, Ming'er..."
"That person is of royal blood..."
"No, that's my Ming'er..."
Xue Zi Ning felt she wouldn't get any answers here and was about to take her home to question her properly.
"Mother, why did you run out alone?" a young man hurried towards them.
"Ming'er, that's Ming'er..."
Hearing the old woman say this, the young man quickly said, "Mother, what nonsense are you talking about?"
"Ming'er, that is Ming'er..." the old woman repeated.
The young man looked at Xue Zi Ning and said gratefully, "Thank you, young lady."
"What's wrong with Aunty?" Xue Zi Ning asked.
The young man said, "I had a younger brother who died sixteen years ago. No one in the family told her. She calls anyone around the age of her younger brother 'Ming'er'..."
"So that's how it is?" Xue Zi Ning stood up and watched the young man support the old woman as they left.
The young man helped his mother home and sighed, "Mother, you mustn't talk such nonsense in the future. If the wrong people hear it, we could be in mortal danger."
"That's Ming'er..."
"Mother, have you forgotten what that noble person said?"