Return

Since their conversation about the jade pendant, the relationship between the two seemed to have subtly eased. Su Nian also began to proactively and purposefully ask him questions about the palace, about the princess's family...

Ling Yuan was initially displeased, especially when she repeatedly pressed him for details about the princess's death, and he always evaded the question. But gradually, perhaps he was moved by the persistence in Su Nian's eyes, or perhaps he also needed answers, he began to reveal information in a limited way.

He told her that Yan Shu came from a noble family, was the youngest daughter of the prime minister, and was gentle yet strong-willed, who died saving him. But when Su Nian tried to steer the conversation toward the relationship between the princess's family and other forces in the court, Ling Yuan's vigilance would instantly rise to its peak, his words becoming extremely cautious, even carrying a warning. "The affairs of the court are complex and intricate, beyond your ability to fathom."

This avoidance only made Su Nian more convinced that the princess's death was not simply "dying to save him," but must be involved in a political conspiracy.

This realization left her with mixed feelings. She would still find his occasional clumsiness both amusing and exasperating, and feel a subtle stirring in her heart when he instinctively defended her. But more often than not, however, she felt a sense of distance. She was acutely aware that all his attention was based on her face, which resembled "Yan Shu's."

The resentment of being used as a substitute accumulated with each of his obsessive convictions.

She couldn't continue living in this muddle. She took a deep breath, held up the historical record about the princess's "death" that she had photographed on her phone, walked up to Ling Yuan, and asked in as calm a tone as possible, "Ling Yuan, how exactly did Princess Yan Shu die?"

Ling Yuan's gaze shifted from the book pages to his phone screen. When he saw the words clearly, his face instantly turned pale, then was replaced by a terrifying gloom.

He suddenly looked up, staring intently at Su Nian, his eyes surging with rage and pain from having his sore spot touched, and a hint of... embarrassment at having his secret exposed?

"Who told you to investigate these things?!" His voice was icy cold, filled with suppressed anger. He suddenly stood up, grabbed Su Nian's wrist, and the force was so great that she instantly burst into tears from the pain.

"Don't bring up the past again!" he almost roared. "Those were nothing but slander from petty villains! Yan Shu died to save the orphan! Just remember that!"

Seeing his volatile emotions, Su Nian felt a chill in her heart far greater than the pain in her wrist. He had indeed been hiding something!

The immense mystery and the resentment of being used as a substitute stirred an indescribable bitterness and determination within her. She was determined to uncover the truth.

She used all her research privileges and connections to search for clues. Finally, one morning, she rushed into her mentor Professor Chen's office with her new discovery. Professor Chen excitedly unfolded a high-resolution scanned document and pointed to a line of small characters in the appendix of the funerary objects, which had been crossed out and then added in red ink: "The dragon-patterned jade pendant was split in two, one was buried with the deceased, and the other... remains."

"Preserved?" Su Nian's heart raced. "Does that mean it was preserved? Not buried with us?"

“Very likely!” Professor Chen lowered his voice. “Moreover, the hasty addition of these marks suggests that an accident or change may have occurred during the encoffining, resulting in only one being buried and the other being secretly preserved.” He paused, then added meaningfully, “Regarding that pair of jade pendants, perhaps… we could check the old archives of the former crown prince, the one who later ascended the throne, especially… the records concerning his maternal family, that illustrious father-in-law.”

The former crown prince? The emperor's father-in-law?

Su Nian was struck dumb! She immediately went home and told Ling Yuan the news. When he heard "Crown Prince" and "Father-in-law of the Emperor," Ling Yuan's face instantly turned extremely ugly.

“It was them…it was them who killed Yan Shu…” His voice was hoarse, and his fists were clenched.

"Them? Who are they? What exactly happened?" Su Nian asked anxiously.

Ling Yuan closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When he opened his eyes again, his gaze had returned to its icy coldness, but the pain lingered. "Yan Shu's father... the current prime minister, and also the crown prince's maternal grandfather, they are also political allies." He spoke slowly, each word seemingly squeezed out from between his teeth, "And I... hold military power, supporting another prince."

Su Nian gasped. Factional strife! The struggle for the throne!

"So...the princess..." An even more terrifying thought sent chills down her spine.

“No! Yan Shu didn’t betray me!” Ling Yuan interrupted her abruptly, his tone filled with protectiveness and pain. “She’s kind-hearted and never gets involved in such sordid things. It was me… it was me who implicated her. That ‘accident’ at the hunting grounds… that arrow that should have been aimed at me… they… they wanted my life! But they mistakenly… mistakenly hit her…”

A fluke? Su Nian's heart sank. Was it really a fluke?

“That jade pendant…” Su Nian’s voice trembled, “The jade pendant that was taken away… does it… does it hold some secret? Does it prove something?”

Ling Yuan looked at her: "The secret of that jade pendant caused the deaths of the entire Gu Mu clan!"

The entire maternal clan was wiped out! Su Nian felt as if struck by lightning. All the clues seemed to connect. The princess's death might not have been a simple accidental killing, but a meticulously planned conspiracy to kill two birds with one stone!

"We must find that jade pendant!" Su Nian's voice became sharp with excitement.

Ling Yuan nodded heavily.

The two decided to try touching the jade pendant simultaneously again. When their fingertips touched the pendant together, a connection stronger than ever before was established between them.

Just then, Su Nian's phone started vibrating incessantly. It was her best friend calling, her voice almost cracking with excitement: "Nian Nian! Quick! Turn on the computer! We just decrypted a batch of core documents from the previous dynasty! They contain everything about Yu Jue, and irrefutable evidence that the Duan Prince's maternal clan was framed!"

Su Nian's heart skipped a beat! The final truth! Her hands trembled as she grabbed the laptop and quickly turned it on. Ling Yuan was also shocked by the news and immediately moved closer, his breathing rapid.

The encrypted file is downloading; the progress bar moves slowly but steadily.

99%...

Suddenly! The jade pendant at Ling Yuan's waist burst forth with an unprecedented, dazzling white light, powerful enough to devour everything!

This time, the light was intense and pure, as if the barrier connecting two times and spaces had been completely shattered at this moment!

"No—!" Ling Yuan suddenly realized something. He stopped trying to grab the computer and instead turned around abruptly, reaching out with all his might to grab Su Nian beside him.

Su Nian also felt the destructive tearing force. She subconsciously looked at him and reached out her hand.

Their fingertips were about to touch in the dazzling white light.

However, the light seemed to possess its own will, enveloping not only Su Nian but also Ling Yuan completely. His outstretched hand, in Su Nian's incredulous gaze, began to become transparent and dissipate little by little, like a sand painting, starting from his fingertips.

"Lingyuan!" Su Nian exclaimed in shock, wanting to rush over, but found herself unable to move, her body also beginning to become light and transparent.

He looked at her, and as she rapidly dissipated, his eyes lost their usual coldness and the surprise he had shown earlier, leaving only a deep, complex emotion, as if he had seen through some kind of destiny.

Just as his figure had almost completely transformed into light, leaving only a silhouette, Su Nian clearly heard his broken yet persistent low cry:

"Yan Shu...!"

This name, like a dagger, pierced her heart the moment she and he vanished together, her consciousness about to be extinguished.

However, just as her consciousness was completely swallowed by the white light, that call, like a key, suddenly opened the long-sealed door deep in her mind!

Countless shattered images surged forth—

It was she herself, dressed in a princess's gown, amidst the chaotic carnage of the hunting grounds, who saw the arrow shot towards Ling Yuan. Without hesitation, she rushed forward, enduring the excruciating pain of the blade piercing her chest… It was in her final moments that she saw his grief-stricken face… It was in her dying moments that she felt someone take something from her…

She is Cui Yanshu! She is the Princess Consort of Duan who died for him, who had a blood feud with him, yet loved him deeply!

It turns out, she wasn't a substitute! She was the one he had been longing for and searching for for a thousand years!

The immense impact caused her to cry out amidst the dissipating particles of light, "Lingyuan..."

The white light completely engulfed everything.

Consciousness was abruptly pulled back from the boundless darkness.

Su Nian—no, the blood surging within her was screaming a name: Cui Yanshu!—suddenly opened her eyes.

What came into view was not the apartment ceiling, nor the blinding white light, but the swaying, dark sandalwood carriage canopy embroidered with intricate brocade bird and vine patterns.

Beneath her was a soft satin mattress, and to her nose was the delicate fragrance of benzoin and the air of a young girl's boudoir.

"Miss! You're finally awake!" Chun Tao, the personal maid, said with tears in her eyes. "You fell into the water and were unconscious for three days. We're on our way back to the capital!"

Drowning? Unconscious?

Yan Shu leaned back on the cushion, quickly calming herself. These hands were fair and soft, unlike Su Nian's calloused hands. The youthful vitality of her body was completely different from that of the "deceased" Princess Duan recorded in historical texts.

“Mirror.” Her voice was slightly hoarse.

Chuntao handed over the bronze mirror with a rhombus design.

The mirror reflected a pale face that was unmistakably hers—the same as her modern appearance, but younger, exactly like when she was fifteen or sixteen, before she was married.

Sure enough, she was Cui Yanshu, the Princess Consort of Duan who died young in the history books.

So she wasn't a stand-in, never was.

That encounter across a thousand years was the return of her soul to its rightful place. Su Nian was merely a bridge for her to return to her true self during his long wait.

Ecstasy and heartbreak intertwined. She had not only returned to the time before the tragedy, but also carried with her all the memories of the modern world—

I remember Lingyuan's stubbornness when he first woke up, I remember his clumsy adaptation to the modern world, and I remember that love that penetrated his soul and transcended a thousand years.

I also remember those cold historical records: the tragedy of Lingyuan's maternal clan being framed and executed, and the historians' understatement that "the imperial concubine's maternal clan was convicted and dismissed."

However, when she tried to recall the cause of her death, all she could think of were the cold words "died of illness" from the history books.

My memories of the last moments of my life are hazy. Only a vague image flashes of a figure in palace attire collapsing, and a blurry person standing backlit.

She tried desperately to recall, but her head was throbbing with pain; the true cause of death and the truth seemed to be locked away in the deepest part of the fog.

This gap in her memory, like a thorn, serves as a warning of the dangers ahead.

But soon, resolve overcame unease.

It doesn't matter if she can't remember the real cause of death. Now that she knows the ending, she's determined to turn the tide!

No matter how unbearable the forgotten truth may be, she will uncover it with her own hands. She will not allow anyone to take her away from Lingyuan again, forcing him to relive that thousand-year-old loneliness.

She not only wanted to live, but to live a clear-headed and powerful life, standing shoulder to shoulder with him to break free from fate.

"Is it... the seventeenth year of Yongye?" Her voice trembled slightly.

“Yes, Miss! It’s the first day of the third month of the seventeenth year of Yongye!” Chun Tao nodded vigorously. “Master and Madam are waiting for you to return to the manor to prepare for the wedding! The wedding date is set for the eighth day of next month!”

The seventeenth year of Yongye! The first day of the third month! The wedding is on the eighth day of next month!

The timing was perfect.

She still had time to prepare, to investigate the clues behind the "death from illness," and to ensure that she could stand clearly by Ling Yuan's side, rather than repeating the unclear mistakes in history books.

Carrying Cui Yanshu, who possesses a modern soul and a thousand years of memories, yet has forgotten the true cause of her death.