Chapter Twenty-Three

Zhou Yanqing noticed that she was daydreaming and nudged her secretly.

Si Yanmo suddenly came to her senses and realized that the cold sweat on her back had soaked through her inner clothes.

She steadied her breathing and said, "I apologize for being lost in thought. This was indeed my and my husband's fault, and Miss Ning was unaware of the situation, so I naturally don't mind. I hope you can forgive me."

"But..." she changed the subject, "Where is Miss Ning? My husband and I should thank her in person."

Ning He's kind expression cracked for a moment, but quickly returned to normal. "My daughter went to the market with her best friend today."

"Then we'll wait for Miss Ning to return."

Seeing that Si Yanmo seemed determined to see Ning Qingzi, Ning He's smile froze. It was Zhou Yanqing who stepped in to smooth things over, saying, "Since Miss Ning isn't home, let's do it another time."

Ning He readily agreed, "Afterwards, I ordered people to return all the betrothal gifts sent by Madam Zhou, and the matter was dropped."

Seeing that the other party had already given him a way out, Zhou Yanqing stopped trying to negotiate, agreed, bid farewell to Ning He, and then walked out with Si Yanmo.

Si Yanmo didn't want to leave until she heard him whisper, "Get in the carriage first, and we'll discuss this further."

Si Yanmo was slightly taken aback, and followed him step by step as they walked outside.

Just before getting into the carriage, she turned around and saw Ning He standing in front of the door, waving to the two of them with a smile.

The carriage moved forward, and the sign for the Ning residence grew farther and farther away, becoming increasingly indistinct, until it disappeared completely...

"What happened to Ning Qingzi? Tell me."

Inside the carriage, Zhou Yanqing seemed to have already seen through the woman's thoughts.

Earlier, when he entered the Ning residence, he had caught a glimpse of a woman with a maid by the long corridor. The woman had her head slightly lowered, and was wiping her face with a handkerchief, as if she were crying.

He knew that she was Ning Qingzi's mother.

"I...I don't know." Si Yanmo was a little flustered. "But I saw that Ning He's destiny said 'to kill his daughter for his own glory'..."

"He's going to kill Ning Qingzi!" She suddenly grabbed Zhou Yanqing's hand, her reddened eyes pleading with him to save this innocent girl.

"He did indeed make a move against Ning Qingzi." Zhou Yanqing's face darkened.

Si Yanmo was taken aback. "It seems you already knew?"

Zhou Yanqing nodded, "I guessed it. Ning He is a man who cares a lot about his reputation. Even if his illegitimate daughter is jilted, he will naturally lose face, but after all, he can't touch me..."

"So, the only option is to target Ning Qingzi?" Before he could finish speaking, Si Yanmo interrupted him, asking, "But this was just a misunderstanding, and he suffered no loss. Why would he kill his daughter?"

"Qin territory will eventually belong to Da Nan. For these people, their own face is the most important thing. Ning Qingzi is not a daughter to him, but a tool to curry favor with the King of Qin. Now that he has failed, he is naturally angry."

As Zhou Yanqing spoke, he slowly sighed. There were some things that even as the King of Qin, he could not change.

"That's why I insisted on bringing you here today to apologize. By giving him face, I hope he'll let Ning Qingzi go."

As Si Yanmo listened to his words, it was as if she had heard some kind of ghost story, and she couldn't help but shudder.

Although she is from Nandu, her parents doted on her and rarely allowed her to interact with outsiders because of her mental disability.

Even after she was able to go out and talk to people, she only learned that most people in the south looked down on women. She never expected that a man would hit his own daughter for the sake of his own face.

Zhou Yanqing held her hand. "Don't worry, nothing will happen."

The girl's hands were a little cold, and he unconsciously rubbed them together.

"How can I be at ease? You should have let me continue asking!" That was a human life!

Si Yanmo thought to herself, her brows furrowed with anxiety. She didn't even know if Ning Qingzi was alive or dead; how could she be at ease?

"Keep asking, and then what? Ning He said she went to the market. You wait here, and if no one comes back, he can easily say he knows nothing."

"Then search!"

"Search? What are you going to use to search?"

Zhou Yanqing frowned. "You're too naive. Ning Shi is the head of the Ministry of Revenue. He was there when Master was in office. He was instrumental in disaster relief when Qin suffered a drought."

"Even if I were the King of Qin, I couldn't arbitrarily search the residences of meritorious officials without any evidence. Besides, you and I are here today to apologize."

Si Yanmo hadn't expected his world to be so complicated, and she slumped back down. "So, we're not going to do anything?"

Although she had only met Ning Qingzi once, she couldn't accept doing nothing while knowing that the other's life was in danger.

Zhou Yanqing sighed, "I originally asked you to look at Ning Shi's fate to see if there was any possibility that he was colluding with Qi Gu."

"Don't worry, I'll send someone to investigate. Since his fate says he killed his daughter for his own reputation, he won't let Ning Qingzi die quietly. She should still be alive now."

Si Yanmo felt that what he said made sense and gradually felt at ease.

This was the first time he had heard Zhou Yanqing talk about the relationship between ruler and subject, which was far more complex than he had imagined.

She couldn't help but ask, "So... His Highness the King of Qin doesn't mean what he says, right?"

Zhou Yanqing laughed, "Yes, don't forget, I can't even interfere with who is chosen as the shaman, let alone these things."

In her past life, when Si Yanmo married the Third Prince, she felt that the power struggles within the household were too complex and unpredictable for her to handle. Little did she know that the path she had chosen now would be even more intricate and complicated.

Zhou Yanqing seemed to see her confusion, squeezed her hand, and said in a relaxed manner, "Alright, don't think about it anymore. Just focus on preparing for your divination exam. Leave the rest to me. I'm still waiting for you to save me."

Could she really save him?

After the two returned to the Prince of Qin's residence, Zhou Yanqing summoned Chen Wu to send people to investigate Ning He's residence and the whereabouts of Ning Qingzi.

Before leaving, Chen Wu recalled what had happened at the Bu Courtyard that morning and recounted it to him truthfully.

Zhou Yanqing's brows furrowed more and more as she listened. "She... really said that?"

Chen Wu rubbed his legs and nodded with a complicated expression. "Your Highness, do you think... we should find someone to teach the Princess Consort etiquette?"

“No need,” he waved his hand, rubbed his forehead and muttered softly, “As long as she doesn’t curse at me like that…”

"What?" Chen Wu didn't hear clearly at first and thought he had missed some important instructions.

"It's alright, you can go now."

Just as Chen Wu turned to leave, he was stopped again, "Wait, that person who disrespected the Princess Consort doesn't need to stay in the divination hall anymore, report him to Grand Tutor Mo."

"yes."

A kingfisher landed by the window and chirped at the people inside. Zhou Yanqing casually pinched off a piece of rice cake and handed it to the bird.

Watching the kingfisher peck at him, he smirked: What's the point of having so many masters? He can teach them all.

——

Several days passed without any news from Ning Qingzi. Perhaps no news was the best news, Si Yanmo comforted herself each day.

That day, she arrived at the divination hall and saw a group of people walking out with great enthusiasm.

She pulled Wu Zi'ang aside from the crowd, "What's wrong? Aren't there classes today?"

Wu Zi'ang was also excited. "I heard that a few days ago, Master Chen from the Astrology Institute observed the celestial phenomena and discovered that a comet was passing eastward, indicating that it was possessed by an evil spirit and was harming the Qin region. Today, they found the possessed woman and she is performing an exorcism at the Digu Temple. All the masters and guardians have allowed us to go and see what's going on."

An ominous thought flashed through Si Yanmo's mind: "Eastern, woman..."

This thought was confirmed the moment she walked out of the gate of the divination house with the others and saw Zhou Yanqing.

Today was originally sunny and windless, so Si Yanmo changed into lighter clothes.

But the closer we got to the Digu Temple, the more clouds there were on the horizon, dark and heavy, and we started to feel cold.

The crack of the driver's whip was left behind by the galloping hooves. Ignoring the violent jolting inside the carriage, Si Yanmo asked the man for confirmation: "It's Ning Qingzi, isn't it?"

Zhou Yanqing did not speak; his silence answered for him.

"Didn't you tell me to rest assured?" Perhaps because of the sudden change, Si Yanmo's tone was not good.

He wasn't angry, he just said, "The people I sent to investigate haven't returned to report. This morning, Chen Wu found their bodies at Wanku Cliff."

Before Si Yanmo could speak again, the carriage had already stopped. She didn't bother asking any more questions and simply got off.

Inside the Digu Temple, a crowd gathered around the altar, peering curiously inside. On the altar was Ning Qingzi, who was tied to a pillar.

The woman, who was originally fair-skinned and had rosy lips, now had no color in her face and her eyes were tightly closed.

"wait……"

Si Yanmo tried to rush into the crowd to stop them, but it was too late.

As Master Chen lowered the torch, flames instantly rose up on the altar, engulfing the woman on it. The heat wave forced those standing at the front to take a few steps back.

The scene before her eyes seemed to overlap with the time when her wet nurse passed away in her previous life. Si Yanmo desperately pushed through the crowd and tried to rush onto the altar.

At that moment, a strong hand pulled her back around the waist.

Zhou Yanqing covered her mouth with her other hand and carried her behind a pillar on the other side.

Si Yanmo sobbed and tried to break free, even digging her nails into his arm in a desperate attempt to escape.

"Si Yanmo!" Zhou Yanqing called her name, hoping she could calm down. "This is the Digu Temple, and they are performing an exorcism on the altar right now."

"Do you see that?" He pointed to Ning He's feigned weeping figure beside the altar's fireworks. "Ning He is here, and on the altar is his daughter. He is now sacrificing his own family for the greater good of Qin. On what grounds are you stopping him?"

Si Yanmo listened to his words, but she couldn't calm down at all.

In her past life, her wet nurse died in this way.

Si Yanmo and her older sister were born at the same time. Since their mother did not have enough breast milk, their father found a wet nurse to help feed the two children.

The wet nurse was a very kind person and took excellent care of the two children. Even after the two sisters grew up, their father still kept the wet nurse with him.

After Si Yanmo's mental age remained at the level of a five-year-old due to that accident, her wet nurse took care of her like her own mother.

But this good fortune didn't last long. When Si Yanmo was eleven years old, a fortune teller predicted that her wet nurse was born with a ghostly aura, which would clash with the princess and harm the country's fortune.

The soldiers took him to the Digu Temple, where he was burned alive, just like Ning Qingzi is now.