When Su Yujiao entered, she saw Jin Mudan kneeling on the ground.

She helped him up with a pained expression: "Why are you doing this? You're already in danger, why are you still worried about his life?"

Jin Mudan said calmly, "If I don't do something for him, I won't die in peace."

How does your body handle this?

Jin Mudan said indifferently, "Whatever you want."

"I have already sent someone to invite Master Xuanqing; perhaps he can save your health."

"I've given up hope."

Wei Yingzi returned just then: "Miss, the people at the Taoist temple said that Master Xuanqing went on a journey around the world half a month ago, and we don't know when he will return to the capital."

Su Yujiao's face turned ugly, and she immediately sent people to look for her.

Jin Mudan spoke up: "Jiaojiao, stop messing around and stop having such unrealistic ideas. This is my fate."

"Just find any coffin and bury me next to my parents."

That night, Jin Mudan stayed in the courtyard and returned to the palace early the next morning.

After handling Jin Mudan's funeral, Su Yujiao began to tackle more important matters.

She needs Golden Peony to help her collect the Emperor's and Chu Zhongyuan's blood or hair.

This way, a paternity test can be done to see if Chu Zhongyuan is indeed the emperor's biological son.

She had to find out the truth about this fatal weakness.

Although Jin Mudan didn't understand, she did as instructed.

Moreover, she was extremely efficient in handling matters. After all, she was seriously ill, and as her father and brother, they would naturally visit her frequently.

She could easily get two strands of hair from him by crying and hugging him.

Su Yujiao took the two people's hair and put it back in, and now she just had to wait for the result.

Three days later, Su Yujiao received the test results, but they were not the results she wanted.

Chu Zhongyuan and the Emperor are actually father and son!

Did Consort Jing make a mistake?

Or is Consort Jing lying?

Perhaps both are possible!

Sigh, it seems she was overthinking it. As the male protagonist in the original book, the author wouldn't give Chu Zhongyuan a flawed identity.

After all, his ultimate fate is to inherit the throne, so his identity cannot be that of a bastard.

Then we can only start with Consort Jing, after all, she is a genuine princess of the previous dynasty.

Once Consort Jing's identity is exposed and she insists that Chu Zhongyuan is not the Emperor's biological son, how can Consort Jing prove that Chu Zhongyuan is the Emperor's biological son?

There are no paternity tests here, only blood tests to determine kinship!

Blood-drop kinship testing has no scientific basis, and besides, it can be tampered with in the water.

The truth doesn't matter; what matters is that the emperor believes it.

So, under the guise of treating Jin Mudan, Su Yujiao gave her a pearl hairpin containing a recording device, as well as a finely crafted bronze mirror inlaid with various gemstones.

The gemstones on the bronze mirror refracted colorful light under the lamplight, making them gorgeous and precious, which perfectly matched Consort Jing's aesthetic.

Little did they know, hidden among these sparkling gems was a miniature recording device that occasionally flashed red and green light.

There was no plastic surgery in this era, so it was impossible for a princess from the previous dynasty to look exactly like a princess from the Xiao Nan tribe; it was difficult to tell the difference.

Consort Jing has had the support of her maternal clan all these years, which shows that she can even fool the Xiao Nan clan.

They must have had work done on their face to alter their appearance to a level that is indistinguishable from the real thing.

Jin Mudan then gave these two items to Consort Jing.

The reason was simple: she was dying and would no longer be able to stay by her mother's side to fulfill her filial duties.

So I wanted to leave something for my mother as a keepsake before I died.

Consort Jing held her daughter and cried uncontrollably. After returning home, she ordered the palace maids to move the original bronze mirror away and replace it with the one her daughter had given her.

She also personally wore that large, round pearl hairpin on her head, and wore it every day.

Firstly, she liked pearls, and secondly, it was a gift from her daughter.

She wanted her daughter to feel valued and loved.

The process of collecting evidence was lengthy, and it was not easy for Su Yujiao to enter the palace.

Despite Jin Mudan's help, Jin Mudan's health was deteriorating, and she would sometimes fall into a coma for several days in a row.

Three months have passed in the blink of an eye.

The autumn wind was chilly, the leaves were withered and yellow, and they fell to the ground in layers. By night, there was a deep chill in the air.

Jin Mudan's health was better than Su Yujiao had expected; she had thought she wouldn't last three months.

In order to receive news from Mo Lingchen every day, she bravely and strongly fought against her illness.

Every time she saw her writhing in pain on the bed, banging her head against the wall, she couldn't help but want to persuade her to give up.

But it's someone else's life. If someone wants to live, what right does she have to advise them to die?

Therefore, she could only try to alleviate her pain with medication and acupuncture.

Are you feeling better?

Jin Mudan nodded, her withered hand tightly gripping Su Yujiao's: "The pain is over, you're alright now."

"There is still half an hour before the next pain."

Su Yujiao couldn't help but wipe away her tears; her pain had been becoming more and more frequent lately.

Previously, I would experience pain once or twice a day, but now it occurs once every hour, lasting for half an hour each time.

"Jiaojiao, I haven't received a letter from Xiaobei for many days. Could something have happened to Mo Lingchen?"

She could have been freed from this situation much sooner, but she couldn't bear to leave without hearing news of his safe return to Beijing.

Su Yujiao sighed, thinking how foolish she was to have tormented herself like this for a man.

"Don't worry, he'll be fine."

"You gave him so much silver, enough to buy not only food, but also weapons."

Jin Mudan still felt inexplicably uneasy.

The border of the Northern Rong Kingdom, in the northern desert region.

Mo Lingchen led an army of 50,000 to garrison and defend the area.

As September drew to a close, temperatures plummeted in Mobei Prefecture, with howling winds and sand lashing at faces, causing a sharp, stinging pain.

Immediately afterwards, snowflakes began to fall. At first, there were only a few scattered snowflakes, but gradually, large flakes of snowflakes, like goose feathers, fluttered down and quickly covered the entire world.

"It's snowing?"

Mo Lingchen looked surprised.

It's only September, isn't it?

He was still missing when he set off, and it took him almost two months to travel. How come it started snowing as soon as he arrived?

It was as if there was no transition in between; overnight, it went from summer to winter!

Lieutenant General Li put on his cotton hat, tightened his collar, and explained, "General, you may not know this, but it's like this in the north. It starts snowing as soon as September begins."

"It will snow until October next year, which is almost half a year of snow season."

"This is also why the Northern Rong Kingdom can only harvest grain once a year, and because of the climate, there are fewer types of crops that can be grown."

"This leads to their food shortages year-round, which is why they come to rob us every winter."

When Lieutenant General Li saw Mo Lingchen sneeze, he quickly said, "General, please go into your tent. Don't catch a cold."

He thought to himself that this person was a scholar, and his physical strength was naturally not as good as theirs.

If he gets sick and dies, it will be his responsibility, and he can't afford to bear that.

Whether it's the emperor, the prime minister, or the princess, they would all blame them.