"Zhaoshuang, don't cling to the past... Some things can't be accomplished by you alone. Listen... to Grandma."
Grandma held her hand tightly, as if she would not relent until she heard an answer.
Who is Zhaoshuang? Qian Xingzhi felt dazed, but found herself speaking. "Grandma, if Zhaoshuang doesn't do it, who will? Don't worry, Shuang'er will be fine."
Qian Xingzhi felt warm tears streaming down her face like a broken string of pearls, but she couldn't lift her hand. Through tear-blurred eyes, she couldn't see the face of the old woman on the bed.
Her hand was so cold, her grip so tight, then slowly, silently, it slipped away.
A voice echoed in her mind: "Shuang'er's last loved one is gone. From now on, there is no more Yan Zhaoshuang in this world, only a wandering Daoist priest, Qian Xingzhi."
Qian Xingzhi's eyes snapped open. Escaping the dream woven from memory was taking more and more time. In the dream, she often felt dazed—who was she, really?
So the original owner's name was Yan Zhaoshuang. She had just disguised herself as a man and taken the alias Qian Xingzhi. Quite a coincidence. Could this be the reason she had transmigrated? Yan Zhaoshuang seemed to have a deep obsession. If Qian Xingzhi guessed correctly, it was inextricably linked to the Third Prince.
If she could return to Nanchuan, perhaps she could answer all her doubts. But as a key court official, with the assassination case still unresolved, how could she get away?
Thinking too much was useless; not being late for work was the real principle.
These past few days, the morning courts were all routine. As long as she could survive the time, she could go back to the Imperial Astronomical Bureau and slack off.
On the morning of the third day of the second month, the Third Prince led his entourage on a grand journey to Nanchuan. Jun Anche finally made a move.
During the morning court, Minister Xing reported the investigation results of the assassins. Unexpectedly, those people had tenuous connections to the Crown Prince. The emperor was furious, but since everything was based on unsubstantiated rumors, Jun Anche only ordered the Crown Prince to be stripped of all his positions and confined to Changle Palace unless summoned.
Those who had taken sides early in the court were trembling with fear, worried they would be purged along with him.
A few days later, Jun Anche quietly promoted the Seventh Prince a bit as a reward.
During this time, Qian Xingzhi had the most comfortable days. No one demanded money, no one threatened her life, and no one asked her to care about the case. After all, her nominal master had been 'exiled to the frontier,' and Minister Xing only had to obey Jun Anche's orders.
Since that night when she went out in women's clothing and accidentally ran into Lu Yu, Qian Xingzhi hadn't seen him for several days. Today, after the morning court, she heard from colleagues that he had caught a chill while on business and had taken leave to recover at home.
Qian Xingzhi recalled that Lu Yu had repeatedly offered to help her. Not visiting him seemed a bit inconsiderate. Besides, she and Lu Yu had quite a few cooperative projects, like 'rituals to swindle the emperor's money' and 'colluding to mess with the Third Prince.' Bringing a fruit basket to visit a sick colleague—what could go wrong?
So Qian Xingzhi really bought a vegetable basket from the street, stuffed it full of apples and oranges, and leisurely knocked on the Lu Mansion's gate.
The door wasn't shut tight, and no gateman greeted her. Qian Xingzhi was puzzled—the Lu Mansion didn't bother with theft prevention anymore?
It was eerily quiet. Qian Xingzhi, considering herself a regular at the Lu Mansion, knocked again and poked her head in. "Lord Lu? I heard you were ill—"
Before she could finish, a figure flew out from the corridor, disheveled and bleeding. It was Lu Yu. Behind him followed a man in eunuch's attire, holding a long sword with fierce strokes, pressing step by step toward the unarmed Lu Yu.
Qian Xingzhi was dumbfounded. Does your Nansheng Kingdom specialize in assassins disguised as eunuchs? Stabbed one day, killed the next—being an official or an emperor really is a high-risk profession.
Seeing Lu Yu on the losing side, Qian Xingzhi didn't know where she found the nerve. She pulled out an orange and threw it. "Hey! Where did this little eunuch come from? Take my orange!"
Miraculously, Qian Xingzhi had never hit the trash can when throwing paper balls, but today she hit the jackpot—the orange smacked the assassin right on the back of the head.
Both sides were stunned, even stopping their movements.
Lu Yu seized the moment to drive the assassin back, then in a flash, he grabbed Qian Xingzhi and leaped onto the beam with a single point of lightness. Perhaps the assassin was dazed by the orange and didn't immediately follow.
Qian Xingzhi never got motion sickness, but today she was dizzy from being carried. Being half-dragged by Lu Yu across rooftops and walls was really too much for her small body.
Just treat it like a roller coaster! Qian Xingzhi steeled herself, closed her eyes, and 'played dead.' Before long, she felt Lu Yu slow down. She heard two bangs of doors opening and closing, then Lu Yu, exhausted, tossed her onto a soft bed, while he collapsed on the floor.
Qian Xingzhi quickly suppressed her nausea to check on Lu Yu.
"Don't be afraid. Don't make a sound."
The man who was always the most dignified and self-possessed, now with disheveled clothes and sword wounds everywhere, dropped those six words and promptly fainted.
Emergency: superior beaten unconscious by a heavy blow, lying on the ground, and not allowed to call for help—what should one do?