Empress Niohuru is nearly driven mad by her own dreams.

In the dream, Honghui had long since died. The Fujin and the Prince harbored resentment towards each other because of the death of their legitimate son, and gradually became a couple who were only superficially harmonious.

For a long time after that, the mansion was dominated by Consort Li. Although her third son had limited talent, he was always being groomed by the Prince as his successor.

Until her son Hongli grew up, his brilliance became so dazzling that it could not be hidden, and he even received Kangxi's unique affection.

She had this dream on and off for many years. The years of confinement made the details of the dream clearer, and she increasingly felt that it was not a dream, but a prophecy, a gift from heaven.

But Honghui is still alive!

Why is this happening? Her prophetic dream was wrong. Can she still become the Empress Dowager? Can she still leave this dark room?

Thinking this, Niohuru felt a sense of fear. She knew she couldn't wait any longer; if she waited any longer, there would be no other outcome than imprisonment and death.

However, she was currently unable to leave her room or send out any messages. All the servants around her had been replaced by the Prince. Isolated and helpless, a determined expression appeared on her thin, bony face.

Niohuru looked around the house where she had lived for so many years. The furnishings were mainly made of wood, and there was not a trace of porcelain. Yinzhen had long been wary of her harming herself and others.

But as the saying goes, every cloud has a silver lining. Niohuru was clutching a thin nail in her palm, which she had painstakingly pried out of the chair by hand. It had taken her several months and cost her several fingers.

Niohuru took a deep breath, then forcefully inserted the nail near her throat. Blood gushed out instantly, and she slammed her head against the bed with a dull thud.

The female guard outside sensed something was wrong and immediately pushed the door open. She saw Niohuru lying on the ground, covered in blood.

They knew immediately that something bad had happened, and they quickly went to inform the prince.

When Yinzhen arrived with the doctor, Niohuru was no longer breathing. She lay on the ground with her hands clasped together, as cold as a corpse.

The imperial physician placed his hand on Niohuru's pulse and shook his head: "Your Highness, I am incompetent; the princess is beyond cure."

"Hold the funeral secretly, don't disturb anyone. Send the meals as usual every day, as if the person is still alive." Yinzhen looked down at this strangely eerie person.

He was initially afraid of her, then ignored her, and now pity her. The future that Niohuru saw may actually exist, but it is definitely not the present. The future is constantly changing, and being trapped by dreams and behaving madly ultimately cost her her life.

Such foresight is better left unsaid.

Niohuru was thrown into a mass grave. No one from the Prince's mansion was there to guard it, so they didn't see it. Several hours later, a person covered in blood crawled slowly on the ground, clutching their neck.

It turns out that this Niohuru clan member had a peculiar nature. When she was young, she suffered a serious illness, and her soul left her body and went to an unknown place. There, she met an immortal who gave her an elixir that could prolong her life.

As if gambling with his life, Niohuru pressed the elixir under his tongue when the nail pierced his blood vessels.

She knew that if she hadn't truly died once, Yinzhen would never have truly set her free.

The existence of this elixir was unknown even to her family; she had always kept it hidden in the jade pendant and sachet she always wore.

It was indeed a miraculous elixir; even after dying once, she could live again. Niohuru felt her throat slowly healing, and she was even able to stand up.

After discerning the direction of the capital, Niohuru wrapped her clothes tighter around herself, completely unconcerned about how frightening she looked, and slowly walked over.

As dawn approached, Niohuru arrived at the city gate. Her strength was completely exhausted, and she blended in with the beggars without looking out of place.

These beggars rested against the city wall. Although the city gate guards did not chase them away, they would never let them enter the city.

Niohuru stayed here for three days and thoroughly figured out the beggars' patterns of behavior.

The reason so many beggars could remain at the city gate was because the imperial court would distribute porridge here once a day. Sometimes, wealthy families from the capital would also do good deeds, and their porridge was much thicker than that distributed by the imperial court.

There was only one way for beggars to enter the city: every day, there were people with a road to lead them into the capital. As long as they followed them, they would definitely be able to get in.

But they all secretly hid under these people's carriages, and once discovered, they would be beaten to death with sticks.

After careful planning, Niohuru found a "hitchhiker" she wanted to hitch a ride on. While they were checking the road permits, she used her amazing willpower to lie down on the ruts of passing vehicles, narrowly escaping the inspection and successfully entering the city.

Taking advantage of everyone's inattention, he rolled to the ground and disappeared into the crowd in a few steps.

Niohuru was now in a dilemma. She should go home and ask her father for help, but the prince's spies were very likely still watching her.

Fortunately, although their family was not wealthy, they had several shops to support them, one of which sold jade.

Business was rather bleak because there was no good source of goods, and the wealthy and powerful looked down on inferior products.

However, Niohuru Lingzhu liked the shop's prized possession, a piece of yellow jade.

Yellow jade is not usually considered valuable, but this piece, with its naturally formed dragon-like pattern, was named "Jiaolong" by Lingzhu after repeated observation.

Not wanting the beautiful jade to be left to gather dust, he placed it in the shop. He both hoped that someone with discerning eyes would discover the jade, and feared that someone would actually buy it.

Therefore, Lingzhu would go to the store every few days to take a look, and it had become a habit over the years.

Niohuru waited outside the shop for four days before finally spotting that familiar figure.

She darted to Lingzhu and said, "Father, it's me."

Lingzhu was startled. He saw a beggar-like man with a look of disgust, but when he heard the man call him "father," he looked at him more closely.

Suddenly, Lingzhu's eyes widened, and he hesitated for a moment: "Da Ya?"

For the first time, Niohuru felt that the name "Da Ya" was so endearing, and nodded vigorously: "Yes, I am Da Ya, Father, I am still alive."

Lingzhu took a step back, closed his eyes, and then opened them again: "Weren't you at the Prince's residence? What happened?"

"Father, may I speak to you in private?" Niohuru clanswoman's face showed hatred upon hearing Yinzhen's name.

Lingzhu understood and led the little beggar into the jade shop, into a private room, and closed the door.

Niohuru took a big gulp of water: "Father, do you have any steamed buns?"

Lingzhu's expression was somewhat complicated. Although the beggar in front of him had several bruises on his face, he could also see a familiar face. It was indeed his eldest daughter, who should have been living a life of luxury as a princess in the Prince's mansion.

Lingzhu had a servant bring out a plate of snacks, which Niohuru wolfed down.

"Father, I want to enter Yuqing Palace to serve the Crown Prince!"