"Unfortunately, it didn't last long. Your fame was too great, and one day, those with ill intentions used a soul-binding technique to plot against you. Someone infiltrated the palace and wanted to kill you. The Empress had no choice but to use a trick to escape, and she had this old servant take you away from the palace."

“Once we got outside, we hid for several years, but the things that happened in the palace were eventually exposed. Your soul was injured and your mind was not intact. This old servant took you to find famous doctors, but we couldn’t find a cure. Three years ago, we were surrounded and killed by a group of people, and we both fell off a cliff.”

"After I woke up, this Su Nianniang was lying next to me. At first, I thought it was you. After spending two hours together, I realized that you just looked alike."

“Princess, this old servant has been searching for you for so long, but to no avail. Thankfully, you are unharmed and managed to find your way here. This old servant should truly thank our ancestors for their blessings.”

While wiping away his tears, Eunuch Qin recounted Cen Xi's past.

"Oh, so I was born here. I was probably too sharp and outstanding when I was three years old, which brought trouble upon myself."

Cen Xi murmured a few words to confirm her identity.

Cen Xi was eager to know what happened next, so she asked:

"And then what? How did you end up back here? And you two have been together ever since? And what about me? Why do the villagers all think I'm Lady Liu?"

“I know that, because I was also unwell before, weak and sickly and rarely saw outsiders, so the villagers rarely saw me. After my husband brought you back, he didn’t let you see anyone either, so the villagers naturally assumed you were me.”

“My husband has a habit of keeping a record of things. The reason I know so much is that I found his manuscripts in the study and learned about what happened to you later.”

Su Nianniang raised her eyes, sighed softly, and revealed all the secrets she had uncovered while rummaging through the room as soon as she returned.

If it weren't for those manuscripts, she wouldn't have known that her husband had already noticed something was wrong and had even secretly gone back to the old place to look for her.

Sadly, they are now separated by death.

"Oh, I see. Are you cured now?"

She was surprised that Su Nianniang would say that.

"No, I have asthma, which is generally incurable. I'll just live one day at a time. Could you take me to Beijing to see my daughter and son? I haven't seen them in so long, I... I miss them so much."

Su Nianniang sighed, refuted Cen Xi's words, and then looked at her with anticipation.

“Sure, Xiaoyu and Jiuyi must really want to see you. Once I’m done with my business here, you two can come back to the capital with me.”

"You have no idea, that brat Liu Jiuyi, I've only been here a few days and he already recognized that I'm not his mother. He's been pestering me all day long, asking me to tell him who his mother is. I've put in so much effort to deal with him. I'm so nice to him, but he still takes advantage of me. It seems that mother and son really are connected at heart."

"But it's also a kind of fate that I have with your family. I just let his unreasonable behavior go in the past. In the end, it was your husband who saved me, so I should take good care of them."

Cen Xi couldn't help but smile when she recalled the time when she first arrived, when she had nothing to eat or wear, the walls were drafty, and she had to scramble for food from the neighbors.

Thinking back to that time, although there was some chaos and turmoil, there was still a lot of joy.

Thinking back to Liu Jiuyi's mischievous behavior back then, he couldn't stop laughing.

“Princess, what are you saying? It’s true that her husband saved you, but this old servant also saved her. If it weren’t for me taking care of her all the way, how could she have returned to Li Family Village so smoothly? You don’t know, after we came back, her house had already been occupied. If it weren’t for this old servant standing up for her, she probably wouldn’t even have a place to live now.”

Eunuch Qin snorted, displeased that Cen Xi was so grateful to this woman.

She didn't suffer any loss at all. What she said back then was probably because her husband mistook the princess for her and brought her back to Lijia Village.

But who would have thought that when they returned here after going to great lengths, they couldn't find a single person. He, on the other hand, was exhausted from the long journey and his old injuries flared up, leaving him with no strength to leave Lijia Village to search for anyone.

If it weren't for that fat woman next door who, through her cursing and swearing, revealed the truth that Liu Xiucai had indeed brought back a woman, he probably would have died with resentment in his heart.

“Father-in-law, what are you saying? We support and care for each other. You have been seriously injured. If it weren’t for my careful recuperation, how would you still be alive to see the princess?”

Seeing that this old eunuch didn't remember a single good thing about her, Su Nianniang couldn't help but roll her eyes.

"Pfft! Alright, you two stop arguing. You're helping each other out, right? Why are you being so petty?"

Cen Xi glanced at Eunuch Qin's jealous eyes and Su Nianniang's ugly face, but couldn't help but laugh out loud. These two were too funny, like a pair of bickering lovers. If Eunuch Qin wasn't a eunuch, they might even become husband and wife.

“Su Nianniang, since the Princess has spoken up for you, this old servant will not argue with this young woman. What brings the Princess here? Is there anything this old servant can do to help?”

Eunuch Qin curled his lip and compromised first.

"The Princess has taken good care of my children, and I am naturally grateful. Humph! I won't bother arguing with you, you old hag. Princess, if you need any help, I can assist you. After all, I am a local, and some things are easier for me to handle."

After Su Nianniang snorted, she also became concerned about Cen Xi's situation.

"It's nothing serious. You two are both patients, so just take good care of yourselves. I can handle it myself."

Cen Xi couldn't very well say that he just wanted to go and see what was going on, and that he wanted to scare people in town, so he gave a vague and ambiguous refusal.

"Alright, Princess, please be careful. We'll wait until you've finished your business before heading to the capital."

Seeing that Cen Xi seemed to be really in trouble, Su Nianniang did not insist.

"Hmm! How's Li Dazhu's family next door? I haven't heard a sound since I arrived. Has something happened?"

Cen Xi nodded and then asked about the fat woman next door. She remembered that before she left, none of the men in the family liked her, and she wondered if she had survived.

"They're all fine, but they've all gone out to work right now. That fat woman is quite fierce; she often fights with her husband. Last time, she even fought with him to the village chief. Now she's got her husband completely under her thumb, but her already fat body seems to have gotten even fatter."

The mention of the plump woman next door piqued Su Nianniang's interest; she had been back for over a year and had seen several major performances.

The neighbors next door were always arguing or fighting, which gave her some fodder for gossip in her boring life.

"Oh, still the same old story! Before you came back, wasn't this house occupied by them?"

Cen Xi never expected that the person who was almost frozen solid back then would be so successful now, and a smile couldn't help but appear on her face.