Xue Zi Ning nodded, "We'll stay here tonight and head directly to the Imperial Mausoleum tomorrow."
Yan Zhao nodded, "Your Highness, please rest well."
With that, he turned to leave.
"Yan Zhao..." Xue Zi Ning suddenly spoke.
Yan Zhao paused, turned back, and looked at Xue Zi Ning, "Your Highness, what is it?"
Xue Zi Ning shook her head, "It's nothing, go and rest!"
Yan Zhao didn't leave, but walked back, "Your Highness, don't think about anything and get a good night's sleep."
Xue Zi Ning nodded, "Okay, you too."
After Yan Zhao left, Xue Zi Ning lay on the bed and surprisingly found herself unable to sleep.
The next day, Xue Zi Ning woke up with dark circles under her eyes. Yan Zhao saw her downstairs and was slightly startled, "Didn't you sleep well last night?"
Xue Zi Ning nodded, "Yes."
Last night, she tossed and turned, unable to sleep.
"Then the Imperial Mausoleum today..."
"It won't affect it." Xue Zi Ning knew Yan Zhao would want her to rest, but she didn't want to wait any longer. She had to face it eventually.
What difference did it make whether it was a day earlier or later?
After breakfast, Xue Zi Ning and Yan Zhao stepped to the foot of the Imperial Mausoleum. It was almost identical to the Imperial Mausoleum three lifetimes later.
So, even after all the people and things had changed, the scenery remained.
She walked forward and came to the entrance of the Imperial Mausoleum. There were two guards at the entrance. They were startled to see her, not expecting anyone to trespass. One of them stepped forward to block her, "Retire, no one is allowed to approach."
Xue Zi Ning took out the imperial token her father had given her, representing her identity, and handed it over, "His Majesty sent me to inspect the Imperial Mausoleum. No one is to obstruct me."
The two guards quickly knelt and paid their respects, "Greetings, Your Grace."
"Open it!" Xue Zi Ning said.
The guards opened the entrance to the Imperial Mausoleum and said, "Your Grace, there are mechanisms inside. Please be careful."
Xue Zi Ning nodded and stepped in. Yan Zhao followed closely behind. The large door of the Imperial Mausoleum closed again.
It was pitch black inside the Imperial Mausoleum, so dark she couldn't see her hand. Xue Zi Ning then realized she hadn't brought any flint.
"Yan Zhao," she called out and suddenly felt a familiar presence beside her. "Your Highness, I didn't bring any either."
Yan Zhao hadn't expected that he would need to prepare torches for the Imperial Mausoleum.
"Did you bring any weapons?" Xue Zi Ning asked.
"Yes." Yan Zhao nodded, then handed over the dagger he carried.
Xue Zi Ning took it, then took out a piece of silver from her waist and let the two rub together. Finally, a spark appeared, and she lit the crudely made torch. The interior finally lit up.
"Your Highness, give it to me," Yan Zhao said.
Xue Zi Ning handed the torch to him, and he used it to light the nearby candles.
Suddenly, it was bright.
Xue Zi Ning could then see the scenery inside the Imperial Mausoleum clearly. It was the same as when she had entered it three lifetimes later. It was a large room, with nothing in it.
In front, there was a covered walkway. As she walked forward, it was surprisingly open-air, and she saw the sky.
Continuing forward, there was still a mausoleum. Clearly, this was the real Imperial Mausoleum.
This majestic and vast mausoleum was semicircular, with only a stone door about her height. When she approached, there was no mechanism to open it, only a round bronze wine cup with a leak at the bottom, connected to the inside of the stone door.
"Your Highness, what should we do?" Yan Zhao asked.
"Since it is the Xue family's Imperial Mausoleum, it must be to prove that I am a member of the Xue family."
With that, Xue Zi Ning cut her palm with the dagger. "Your Highness, you..."
"Only this way can it be proven that I am a member of the Xue family."
Everything else could be faked, but blood could not.
The blood slowly flowed into the stone door through the bronze wine cup. After a long time, there was no reaction. Just as she thought she had misunderstood and was about to think of another method, the stone door suddenly moved.
"It's open," Xue Zi Ning said with a little joy.
Yan Zhao stepped forward and reached out to push the stone door. The stone door opened instantly.
The two looked at each other. Yan Zhao walked in first, and Xue Zi Ning followed closely behind. The interior suddenly lit up.
"Be careful..." Xue Zi Ning, who was behind Yan Zhao, heard his voice. She dodged and felt a silver light pass by her hair.
"Your Highness, are you alright? Are you injured?" Yan Zhao's voice was filled with anxiety.
"I'm fine," Xue Zi Ning shook her head, but she was startled by the sudden sharp object. One could imagine that there were countless mechanisms inside.
"Your Highness, follow me," Yan Zhao said.
Xue Zi Ning nodded and followed Yan Zhao closely. Perhaps due to increased vigilance, the subsequent entry went smoothly. Although there were mechanisms, Yan Zhao disarmed them by the time Xue Zi Ning arrived.
They reached a stone door, and Yan Zhao stopped, "Your Highness, I can't open this door."
Xue Zi Ning walked up. It was another stone door.
She untied the cloth that had been used to wrap her bleeding palm from earlier, then clenched her fist and dripped her blood onto the door.
With a rumbling sound, the door actually opened.
Xue Zi Ning watched as the door slowly opened, then stepped forward and walked in. "Your Highness..."
Xue Zi Ning turned back. Yan Zhao looked at her and said something, "Be careful."
She nodded and stepped in. Yan Zhao followed closely behind, but found the person who was so close to her was getting farther and farther away.
"Your Highness..." Yan Zhao was anxious and wanted to use his Qinggong, but found that even with it, Princess Chang Ning was still very far away.
Yan Zhao became desperate and shouted loudly, but the Princess Chang Ning in the distance kept walking forward and soon disappeared from sight.
He didn't have time to think of anything else and rushed in the direction Princess Chang Ning had disappeared.
Xue Zi Ning felt Yan Zhao's voice coming from behind her. She turned her head, only to see a dark expanse behind her.
"Yan Zhao," she called out, but there was no reply from Yan Zhao.
She stopped. Logically, Yan Zhao would not leave her side, unless something irreversible had happened.
"Yan Zhao..."
"Yan Zhao..."
She called out several times but received no answer from Yan Zhao. She started to worry. By now, Yan Zhao should have caught up with her. What had Yan Zhao encountered?
Suddenly, there was a faint light ahead. Xue Zi Ning froze. Reason told her that if she kept walking forward, she might be able to get out.
But her body told her that she had to go back and find Yan Zhao.
"Yan Zhao, Yan Zhao..."
Xue Zi Ning called out as she walked back the way she came. After an unknown amount of time, she still hadn't met Yan Zhao.
Just as she was about to lose hope, she suddenly heard Yan Zhao's voice not far away.
"Your Highness, Your Highness..."
"Yan Zhao, I'm here..."
Yan Zhao seemed to have heard her voice, "Your Highness..."
"Yan Zhao, where exactly are you?" Xue Zi Ning asked.
Yan Zhao replied, "Your Highness, I am right beneath your feet."
Xue Zi Ning was stunned. She looked down, and indeed, Yan Zhao was right beneath her feet.