The newly enthroned Emperor, having just completed his ascension ceremony, wore a dark expression, resembling a widower who had lost his wife, and stared mournfully at the doorway.
"Alright, Your Highness, no matter how long you stare, if her heart isn't with you, all your efforts are in vain," said the man fanning himself beside the Emperor, who was now clad in imperial yellow robes. Lin Moyuan glanced at the fellow making light of the situation and mused aloud,
"If I were to bestow that person upon you in marriage, would she return to my side?"
"Your Highness, please don't scare me! While the offer sounds quite interesting, if your imperial decree is issued now, I'd be 'chopped' by your Empress in no time! Oh, dear me, just thinking about it makes me tremble. No! I'm sure to have nightmares tonight. Since you'll be unable to sleep alone anyway, could you kindly offer me shelter for the night?"
"Scram!"
"Alright, Your Highness!"
Meanwhile, Lin Qingge and her companions, having left the grand hall, did not exit the palace but instead proceeded to Yongshou Palace, the residence of the Empress Dowager. Mama Yu found a secluded room for the two of them where no one else was present.
For a moment, they sat in silence, facing each other. After a long while, Leng Ningyue sighed and broke the stillness. "Qingge, let me explain."
Although Lin Qingge secretly relished the sudden shift in their identities, she maintained a visibly sulky demeanor. Leng Ningyue, who saw through her pretense but chose not to expose it, shook her head with a hint of amusement. She then painstakingly explained, word by word, "When I first arrived here, the original owner of this body had been severely poisoned by a potent drug. In my dazed state, I grabbed the first person I could reach. The next morning, the door was burst open from the outside. Hearing the intruders shout 'Crown Prince' Yunyun, I completely lost consciousness. When I opened my eyes again, I saw you."
"Wait! What do you mean you 'suddenly arrived here'? Could it be that Sister Ningyue, you're also...?" Lin Qingge, forgetting her anger, widened her eyes in disbelief. Although she had harbored a vague suspicion before, seeing the other woman nod affirmatively still left her astonished. After the initial shock, Lin Qingge pondered a question: "That's not right! If Sister Ningyue, you knew I was a transmigator long ago, why didn't you acknowledge me sooner? Isn't it said that when fellow countrymen meet, tears flow freely?"
Hearing this, a rare flicker of panic crossed Leng Ningyue's eyes. She bit her lower lip, as if making a significant decision, before lowering her gaze and admitting with a lack of confidence, "It wasn't my intention to deceive you, but some truths are too difficult to utter. It's because... I was the one who killed you."
???
!!!
Lin Qingge's mind replayed those words, linking them together and processing them repeatedly. For a long time, she couldn't make sense of it.
"Before your incident, did you question an old man by the roadside?" Leng Ningyue asked.
Hearing her question, Lin Qingge nodded numbly. "Yes, I think so."
"That old man's surname was Zhou, and he was my contact."
"Contact?" Lin Qingge murmured, becoming increasingly confused. As if recalling something, Leng Ningyue curved her lips slightly. "Oh, right, I haven't introduced my past life identity. My real name is Leng Ningyue, and I was an assassin belonging to 'Daybreak,' which is what you often refer to as 'Po Xiao.' My codename was 'Zero.'"
"What??? Daybreak!!!" This time, Lin Qingge was even more surprised than when she learned the other woman was also a transmigator. "Speaking of Zero from Daybreak, isn't that the world-class assassin ranked number one on the dark web? The one whose codename is Zero because of her zero failure rate when accepting contracts?"
Leng Ningyue nodded and continued, "That day, I was supposed to meet Old Zhou. But it turned out the meeting was a trap, and the real intention was to send me to hell. Speaking of which," a cold glint flashed in Leng Ningyue's eyes, "I presume that after I refused a mission assigned by the organization, they feared I would break free from their control and decided to eliminate me. After all, this is the usual modus operandi of Daybreak."
"Refused the organization's mission?"
"Although I am an assassin, I have my principles. The organization's prostitution den in City A was busted by the local police. To retaliate, the organization ordered me to eliminate the detective who led the operation at that time, in order to demonstrate Daybreak's terror and prestige."
"Wait! City A, prostitution den... Sister Ningyue, the lead detective you're referring to, couldn't it be me?" Lin Qingge used to live in City A in her previous life, and before she transmigrated, she had indeed led a team that busted a high-end prostitution ring disguised as a labor dispatch service. Because the ringleader's operations were extremely cautious, she had tailed him for two months and even called for backup before successfully dismantling the den. Come to think of it, she seemed to have promised something to the person she called for backup at that time...
Seeing Lin Qingge visibly zoning out, Leng Ningyue's already dim eyes filled with an ineffable sadness. "I knew it. You are the law, and I am the outlaw. Once you know my identity, even if you don't arrest me, we will be strangers, never to associate with each other again."
???
Although it sounded a bit melodramatic, Lin Qingge, feeling somewhat cornered, was quick to declare her stance. "How could you say that? The past is the past, and the present is the present. Not only have you looked after me and Mo'er, Sister Ningyue, but you've also saved my life on multiple occasions. How could I possibly become strangers with you and never associate with you again?"
Seeing that the other woman still looked crestfallen, Lin Qingge quickly changed the subject. "Sister Ningyue, how did you recognize me?"
"Before each mission, Daybreak would provide us with target information. Although I wasn't entirely certain at first, I just had a hunch. Later, through names and patterns of behavior, I became even more confident in my guess."
Despite hearing a string of explosive revelations, Lin Qingge did not forget her original purpose. "Sister Ningyue, is all this necessarily related to you becoming the Empress to Lin Moyuan?"
"To eliminate me, the organization sent Fu Xun, who is known for his cunning and hypnosis techniques. He planted a bomb near Old Zhou and detonated it when I was meeting with him."
"And coincidentally, I was there and blew up with him?"
Upon hearing Lin Qingge's question, Leng Ningyue shook her head with certainty. "No, given Fu Xun's cunning, your presence there was also part of his scheme. After all, there is no one Daybreak wishes to eliminate that they cannot. So, as I said earlier, it was I who killed you."
Unable to bear seeing her Sister Ningyue so dejected, Lin Qingge quickly retorted, "How can you say you killed me? It was clearly that fellow named Fu Xun!"
A subtle curve appeared on Leng Ningyue's lips as she continued, "Although I killed Fu Xun, who was hiding in the shadows, at the very moment the bomb detonated, just like you and I, Fu Xun also transmigrated to this side. I had two encounters with him before, but unfortunately, he had powerful allies, and he managed to escape both times. That's why I agreed to Lin Moyuan's terms, in exchange for the assistance of the Great Xia imperial family."