The old Taoist priest in the green robe laughed loudly, "Hahaha... What if you've heard this before, or not? Knowing its meaning, Miss, you'll only feel happiness or pain. What can that change? People's current happiness and pain are not necessarily caused by the karma of this life. Similarly, the effects created by the causes of the present may not ripen in this life. Cause and effect have no beginning. Buddha once asked his disciple: What is the most precious thing in the world? The disciple replied: What has been lost and what has not been obtained. Buddha remained silent. After many years, great changes occurred. Buddha asked again, and the disciple replied: The most precious thing in the world is what you currently possess! The reason people suffer is that they pursue the wrong things. Therefore, let go of one thought, and everything will naturally fall into place."

The woman, puzzled by his words, was furrowing her brow and pondering as she slowly turned something on her wrist. The old Taoist priest in the green robe glanced at her and noticed the colorful jade bracelet with gold threads on her wrist.

He then took a small vermilion wooden box from the cloth bag he was carrying, pushed it onto the stone table in front of the woman, and said, "It is fate that we met you tonight, Miss. I have a Resurrection Pill here. Grind it into powder and take it with the seven-colored gold and jade bracelet on your wrist. It will allow you to remember many things you have forgotten. However, it will also..."

"What will happen?" the woman asked curiously.

The old Taoist priest in the green robe composed himself and replied, “Miss will forget the obsession that has always been in her heart, a longing that should not belong to this life. Of course, without a doubt, it is indeed the most precious thing in Miss’s heart. To eat or not to eat, what to do or not to do, now rests solely on Miss’s decision. Therefore, forgetting does not mean that it never existed. True freedom comes from choice, not from deliberate effort. I suggest Miss let go, for the more you let go, the more you will realize that you possess more.”

Upon hearing this, the woman seemed to catch her breath instantly, and she froze in shock.

"The true dragon emerges from the sea, the spiritual realm is unified, the phoenix rises from the ashes, reborn from the flames, life is death, and death is life." With these words, the old Taoist in the green robe slowly rose, walked down the stone steps of the Dream Pavilion, and then quickly disappeared into the vast darkness of the night.

Just then, the night sky suddenly became clouded and the moon was obscured, and a light drizzle began to fall, as if all things in the world were beginning to sprout new buds from that moment on...

The woman, preoccupied with the sound of the waterwheel scooping up and emptying water from the river, seemed to have quietly departed, oblivious to the rain. She remained silent, muttering to herself, "The true dragon emerges from the sea, the spiritual realm is unified, the phoenix rises from the ashes, reborn from the flames, life is death, and death is life..."

Suddenly, Huan'er's voice came from not far outside the pavilion. Huan'er was running towards the Dream Pavilion, splashing through the rain puddles on the path, her little hands covering her head, calling out loudly, "Ruoxi, Ruoxi..."

"The lantern parade has ended so quickly? I thought it would go on much later?" The woman smiled and reached out her hand to try and find Huan'er's direction.

Huan'er's eyes were stinging from the rain, making it hard to open them for a moment. Just as she was about to reply, the woman touched her hand and then reached up to touch Huan'er's hand. The woman immediately exclaimed, "Oh dear! Your hands and clothes are all wet and cold! Did you accidentally fall into the river when we were crossing the bridge? No, you'll catch a cold. Come on, let's go home and change into dry clothes!"

As the woman spoke, she grabbed Huan'er's hand, her heart filled with anxiety, and stumbled to her feet.

"Ruoxi, Ruoxi, it's alright. I didn't fall into the river, it's just that it's raining outside right now." Huan'er quickly stopped her and pulled her back to explain.

The woman's face suddenly fell. "It's raining?... I can't see anything, and I even mistook it for the sound of the waterwheel that you said has always been there beside me."

Seeing this, Huan'er quickly comforted her, saying, "It's okay, it's okay, don't worry, we'll take it slowly, things will get better eventually."

As he spoke, he helped the woman sit down, and then sat down himself.

After the woman sat down, she seemed to fall into a strange and complicated state of mind again. Suddenly, she heard Huan'er beside her sneeze repeatedly, "Achoo, achoo..."

The woman quickly came to her senses, hurriedly groped to undo her cloak, and then groped to hand it to Huan'er.

Huan'er quickly pushed her away, saying, "No need, Ruoxi, I'm fine. You just woke up and you're still injured. If you catch a cold, it will be even harder for you to recover."

The woman smiled and shook her head, but still insisted on draping the cloak over his shoulders before sitting down with a sense of relief. She then asked, "By the way, Huan'er, did you see a Taoist priest just now? Or are there any Taoist priests in this Peach Blossom Village?"

Scratching her head and thinking for a moment, Huan'er replied, "Huan'er has never heard of any Taoist priests appearing in the village."

Hearing this, the woman was puzzled, but Huan'er's eyes lit up. She picked up the vermilion box placed in front of the woman and asked curiously, "What is this?"

The woman then came to her senses, calmed herself down, took a breath, and said to him, "This is a Resurrection Pill. A Taoist priest passed by here and gave it to me while he was resting. He said it would be of great benefit to my amnesia."

Huan'er gently opened the box, looking at the single pill placed on a red cloth base inside. Her face was full of doubt. "A gift from the Taoist priest? Ruoxi, are you sure this Taoist priest is trustworthy? Can this medicine be taken? I've never heard of any Taoist priests in this village. Could it be… a fraud, or perhaps one of your old enemies has come to kill you? Oh no, it must be your enemy! You can't stay here any longer, run…"

Before she could finish speaking, Huan'er frightened herself, quickly closed the box and threw it aside, then suddenly stood up anxiously.

The woman smiled calmly and explained, "Huan'er, don't get so agitated. If what you say is true, that he was my enemy before I lost my memory, then there were only the two of us in this Dream Pavilion at the time. He could have easily taken my life in a hundred or a thousand ways. Why bother with all this fuss and mystification?"

"Ruoxi, what you said is true. So who exactly is he...?"

Hearing this, Huan'er finally quieted down. Just as she was about to continue guessing, the woman fumbled to put the box away, interrupting Huan'er, saying, "Never mind, I wasn't planning on taking this pill anyway. All medicines have some toxicity. Perhaps, as you said, I just can't remember my past because my head injury hasn't healed yet. Maybe with time, or once the wound heals, my memories will all return. That's not impossible, is it? I feel like the head injury really doesn't hurt at all anymore."

After the woman finished speaking, she instantly realized it was true and felt somewhat puzzled. However, Huan'er seemed not to have heard the woman's words at all, still immersed in her own speculation.

The woman waited a while for a response, but then suddenly noticed that the sound of water beside her seemed to have lessened. She groped for Huan'er's arm and shook it, asking, "Has the rain stopped? If it has, let's hurry home and change you into some dry clothes. It's late at night, and the dew is heavy; be careful not to catch a cold. Otherwise, I, a blind man, will have to take care of you!"

Huan'er then snapped out of her daze, glanced outside the pavilion, and exclaimed in surprise, "Ruoxi, you're amazing! You can even tell that the rain has stopped now!"

The woman smiled faintly, and the two of them, supporting each other, slowly walked home.

In the south of the city, inside the City God Temple.

The Lantern Festival on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month is undoubtedly another day when incense is burning brightly, with a constant stream of worshippers coming and going.

Mei Xiyuan arrived at the temple early in the morning. After a short rest and adjustment, she was given a bath and purification ceremony and a very devout prayer ceremony. Under the guidance of the master, she offered two lamps of light.

The meals served in temples throughout the land were all the same, vegetarian dishes, without a trace of meat. Having been accustomed to a life of luxury since birth, she found all the food on the table tasteless and could only eat a little bit to stave off hunger.

At this moment, the night sky and moonlight created a vivid and exquisite ink painting. On any other day, after such an ordeal, the pampered princess would have been exhausted and had been waited on to rest.

But tonight, she was wide awake, her mind heavy with worries. Having traveled such a long and arduous journey, her purpose was not merely for this ephemeral prayer.

At this moment, she leaned against the quiet room, looking dejected. The hunger in her stomach and the anxiety about what was about to happen made her feel extremely agitated and tormented. Granny Zhao was by her side, comforting her and saying in a low voice, "Even if it is a huge matter, Your Highness, please don't be too pessimistic. To be defeated without a fight is not the way Your Highness usually acts."

“Granny Zhao, if that girl… she really is the legitimate princess, then what should I do? Actually… because my stepmother treated me quite well when she was alive, I still have some reservations in my heart. But for the sake of my mother and my own supreme glory, I have no choice but to…” Mei Xiyuan sighed deeply, hesitating to continue.

Upon hearing this, Granny Zhao's heart skipped a beat. From the moment Mei Xiyuan agreed to leave Dongning for the marriage alliance after her mother's request, it was already a done deal. Unexpectedly, Mei Xiyuan harbored some concerns and kindness that she shouldn't have had at all.

Once she came to her senses, she exclaimed in surprise, “Your Highness, things have come to this point. You must not be soft-hearted and let all our efforts go to waste. Your Highness must always remember that ‘kindness to the enemy is cruelty to oneself.’ Only by becoming truly strong can you be qualified to control everything.”

Almost as soon as she finished speaking angrily, seeing Mei Xiyuan's indifferent and sorrowful expression, Zhao Mama figured it was because she was too nervous. She then gently comforted her, saying, "Your Highness, there's no need to be so nervous. Everything will work out in the end. No matter what, this old servant will do everything in my power to help Your Highness. Please rest assured. Let's see how His Highness the Third Prince plans tonight, what he says, and how confident he is in that girl's status as a legitimate princess. We can discuss the rest back at the Prince's residence. Your Highness, please remember, no matter what, it's not up to us to take action ourselves."

Just then, a slow knocking sound suddenly rang out.