Despite his disfigured face, Xiao Chengyu recognized at a glance that his figure was extremely similar to Qi Mingxuan's. Her gaze fell on his bare chest—there was a familiar scar there, left from when he was injured by an assassin while saving her years ago.

“Mingxuan…” She reached out her hand, trembling, and gently touched the scar, tears welling up in her eyes.

The military doctor said in a low voice, "Princess, this person's injuries are extremely serious. Not only is his face disfigured, but he has also suffered a severe head injury and remains unconscious. It is still unknown whether he will survive."

"Save him at all costs!" Xiao Chengyu said firmly. "Use the best medicine, and get whatever you need directly from the palace."

In the days that followed, Xiao Chengyu stayed by his bedside day and night, personally feeding him medicine and bathing him. She called Qi Mingxuan's name again and again, hoping he would wake up.

Late on the third night, the man's fingers suddenly twitched, and he slowly opened his eyes.

"Mingxuan?" Xiao Chengyu grasped his hand in surprise. "You're awake?"

The man stared at her blankly, his eyes filled with unfamiliarity: "Who...are you? And who...am I?"

Xiao Chengyu felt a pang of pain in her heart and said softly, "You are Qi Mingxuan, the son-in-law of the Great Liang. I am your wife, Xiao Chengyu."

“Qi Mingxuan… Xiao Chengyu…” he murmured, his eyes still glazed over, “I don’t remember… my head hurts so much…”

The military doctor said this was a symptom of amnesia following a head injury; it might recover, or it might remain so forever.

Despite losing his memory, the man's words and actions were remarkably similar to Qi Mingxuan's. He habitually held a pen with his left hand, always blew on his tea three times before drinking it, and could even recite Qi Mingxuan's favorite poems in his sleep.

All of this convinced Xiao Chengyu that this was Qi Mingxuan, and that he had miraculously survived!

A month later, the man's injuries had improved considerably, and he was able to get out of bed and walk. Xiao Chengyu decided to take him back to the capital.

On the way back to Beijing, she patiently told him about their past: how they met, how they fell in love, and how they overcame hardships to finally become a couple.

The person always listened quietly, occasionally asking questions, but mostly remaining silent.

"Do you really remember nothing?" Xiao Chengyu couldn't help but ask.

He shook his head: "Only fragmented memories remain in my mind... firelight, falling, pain... and a woman's cry..." He looked at Xiao Chengyu, "Was that you?"

Xiao Chengyu felt a pang of sadness: "Back then, I thought you were dead..."

Upon his return to the capital, Qi Mingxuan caused a sensation throughout the court and the country. No one had expected that he would come back from the dead. The emperor personally greeted him, and court officials flocked to visit him.

However, amidst the celebrations, the commander of the secret guards brought unsettling news: after careful investigation, there was no record of Qi Mingxuan being captured by the Northern Barbarians. Furthermore, the time and location of the battle that supposedly rescued him differed from the actual events.

"You mean..." Xiao Chengyu felt a sense of foreboding rising in his heart.

"I dare not draw any conclusions, but there is indeed something strange about this matter," the commander of the secret guards said in a low voice. "Princess, you must be careful."

Xiao Chengyu looked at "Qi Mingxuan" practicing calligraphy in the courtyard, her heart filled with mixed emotions. How she wished this was her beloved husband, but the various doubts forced her to remain vigilant.

That evening, she deliberately probed, "Mingxuan, do you remember what you whispered in my ear on our wedding day?"

He paused for a moment, then said after a moment of contemplation, "I said... I will never let you down in this life."

The answer is correct. But that momentary hesitation did not escape Xiao Chengyu's notice.

A few days later, Qin Sang came to take his pulse. Before leaving, she quietly said to Xiao Chengyu, "Princess, this person's pulse is different from that of the Prince Consort when he was alive. The Prince Consort's pulse was slightly weaker in his left hand due to an old injury, but this person's pulse is even and strong in both hands."

Xiao Chengyu's heart sank. She remembered that Qi Mingxuan had indeed injured his left hand while saving her, and his pulse was different from that of an ordinary person.

Could this person be... not Qi Mingxuan?

However, she did not make a fuss, but secretly increased the number of people monitoring her. At the same time, she ordered people to continue investigating the origins of this "Qi Mingxuan".

The investigation revealed a shocking truth: three months before the battle that rescued him, there was indeed a man in the Northern Di territory who resembled a man from Daliang, but that man was a merchant and bore no resemblance to Qi Mingxuan.

Just as Xiao Chengyu was puzzled, this "Qi Mingxuan" began to behave strangely. He often spent the night alone, sometimes muttering to himself in front of a bronze mirror. The guards also discovered that he was secretly contacting people outside the palace.

That day, Xiao Chengyu deliberately returned from the court early and, as expected, found him rummaging through something in his study.

"What are you looking for?" she asked abruptly.

He was startled, but quickly regained his composure and said, "I'd like to find some old documents to look at; perhaps they can help me recover my memory."

Xiao Chengyu looked at the drawer he had just rummaged through—it contained military documents that Qi Mingxuan had handled before his death, including confidential information about border defenses.

"Did you remember anything?" she asked, trying to sound casual.

He shook his head: "It just feels so familiar..." Suddenly, he clutched his head, his face contorted in pain, "My head hurts so much... Some images flashed through my mind... Black Wind Cliff... falling..."

Xiao Chengyu helped him sit down, his suspicions deepening. If he was an imposter, how could he know so much about Qi Mingxuan's experiences? Even the details matched up perfectly?

That evening, she summoned the generals who had participated in the search back then: "Back then, besides the tattered clothes, were there any other pieces of evidence found at the foot of Black Wind Cliff to prove that the prince consort was dead?"

The general pondered for a moment: "There are indeed bloodstains and fragments of clothing at the bottom of the cliff, but some people say they saw a golden eagle carrying a dark figure flying north... At the time, I thought it was just my eyes playing tricks on me, but now that I think about it..."

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