Shadow Nine did know about this. He was quite shocked when he first found out, but these Shadow Guards were trained from childhood to be machines that only knew how to obey.

No matter what doubts they had, these doubts did not prevent them from obeying orders.

"The prince consort has now taken on the identity of the hostage prince of Jinchuan. He will be dressed as the hostage prince of Jinchuan. In other words, even if you find the prince consort, you will not be able to distinguish him from the hostage prince of Jinchuan very quickly."

Gan Qiongying looked intently at Ying Jiu and said, "But the prince consort has a leg ailment. I came up with a way to make him walk like a normal person. But every night before he goes to sleep, he unties the bandages on his legs. After untying the bandages, his left leg will limp slightly when he walks."

"You must wait very patiently. If you find two people who look exactly alike, you must lie low and observe them until they are freed from their bonds and rest after nightfall. Only then can you recognize which one is the prince consort."

"The letter must be given to the person whose left leg is bound with a bandage, and who will walk with a slight limp after the bandage is removed."

"But you must never reveal our whereabouts to him. If he reads the letter and seems indifferent, you must run away as fast as you can."

"If he gets excited after reading the letter and says he wants to reply, you should wait a little while and then try to bring the letter back."

Gan Qiongying took out the envelope, which was already frayed, from her bosom and handed it to Ying Jiu. "On your way back, you should go south first, and you can visit your brother along the way."

"Next is how to shake off the people following you. I won't go into details, but don't rush back. Remember to only turn back when you are absolutely safe."

As Gan Qiongying spoke, she took out a second letter from her bosom: "This is to be given to the Grand Princess Huian. It is absolutely safe there. You can rest there for a while. If you need horses, clothes, or weapons, just say so."

"If the Grand Princess Hui'an asks you to do anything, just do it."

"Did you remember?"

"I understand, Master." Ying Jiu solemnly accepted the letter and then knelt down on the ground with a thud.

Gan Qiongying felt sorry for his knees just listening to him.

However, Gan Qiongying had no way to change these people's mindsets; she could only try to influence them gradually. She got up and helped him up.

He repeated, "Delivering the message is important, but my life is even more important. I need you to come back alive."

"Come back alive and stay by my side to protect me."

"Yes, Master." Ying Jiu wanted to kneel down after saying the last sentence, but Gan Qiongying helped her up.

"Go to Shadow One later to pick up a newly made cotton coat. It will be very windy on the road, so also bring a cotton cloak. Find a suitable time to set off."

Ying Jiu was clearly not used to speaking so intimately and naturally with Gan Qiongying. She took a small step back and subconsciously wanted to kneel down, but when she saw Gan Qiongying's eyes, she simply nodded at her.

"This servant will certainly... this subordinate will certainly deliver the letter." They had long since obeyed the princess's orders and no longer referred to themselves as "slave" but as "subordinate."

Before leaving after finishing speaking, Ying Jiu added, "I will definitely return alive."

Then she quickly left the house. Gan Qiongying heard the crunching footsteps fading away. The snow outside had clearly been swept, but now it must have accumulated quite a bit again.

It really snows here; the snow is so heavy it looks like it's burying the whole world.

Although the more they do this, the safer they will be, Gan Qiongying would rather go down less, so that those who have suffered disasters and are still struggling in their houses can get through the winter safely.

After Ying Jiu left, Gan Lin returned not long after. Now he basically just slightly alters his appearance every day to assist Physician Xiao.

The two got along better and better, and would occasionally exchange jokes. Doctor Xiao took good care of Gan Lin like an older brother.

Gan Lin has become increasingly skilled at preparing medicine, and she is quite adept at bandaging wounds and cleaning incisions.

Gan Qiongying looked at the worn-out notebook he was holding, which was full of medical prescriptions. It was obviously lent to him by Physician Xiao.

Gan Qiongying teased him, "Memorizing prescriptions again? Are you planning to become a doctor in the future?"

"Traveling around the world to heal the sick and save lives seems like a good idea."

Gan Lin paused, smiled at Gan Qiongying, and said, "I was thinking of getting you some medicinal food recipes to help you nourish yourself. Xiao Qiansong said that as your pregnancy progresses, it will be very difficult, with those two little ones in your belly crying for milk and sucking your lifeblood."

"It's as if I'm pregnant with two demons." Gan Qiongying laughed as she sat on the kang (a heated brick bed). Gan Lin then came over, put his book aside, knelt down in front of Gan Qiongying, and pressed his face against her stomach, seemingly listening to something.

He listens to it several times a day. Gan Qiongying is not wearing much clothing in the room, and her belly is indeed hard, but at this stage of pregnancy, the baby is unlikely to show any signs of life or movement.

But Gan Lin liked it this way, so Gan Qiongying would always play along, patting his head and asking him, "Did you hear them calling you 'uncle'?"

Gan Lin couldn't help but chuckle: "I could hear your intestines rumbling."

The siblings smiled at each other. Gan Lin, sitting next to Gan Qiongying, said, "I saw Ying Jiu leave the mountain. Is he going to send a message to the Prince Consort to ask him to come over?"

Gan Lin never understood why Gan Qiongying and the Imperial Son-in-Law had suddenly fallen out, and why she was even avoiding him. Moreover, when they left the Imperial City after leaving Qingshan Temple, the Imperial Son-in-Law actually blocked their way and searched for them one by one.

At that time, Gan Qiongying actually refrained from showing herself.

Gan Lin looked at Gan Qiongying's belly and said, "Sister, although I don't know what happened between you two, you will be very happy if he can be by your side now that you have a child."

Gan Lin could see that Gan Qiongying was occasionally lost in thought. Gan Lin had experienced the feeling of missing someone before. Although he missed his sister in the palace after he had a conflict with her, it was definitely not the same as his sister missing her husband.

But the longing between husband and wife is definitely more agonizing. Especially now that her sister is pregnant with her husband's child, she must really want him by her side.

Gan Qiongying lowered her eyes and remained silent for a while before saying, "He can't stay by my side. I haven't revealed our whereabouts, and you can't tell anyone either."

"It's just having two children. Physician Xiao is a master healer. With him by my side, everything will be fine."

"The capital is in chaos right now, and too many people are looking for us. We don't know if the Regent has been successfully delivered to Zhangzhou. If something goes wrong along the way, and the Kou family and the Regent launch a counterattack, we will still be in great danger. We haven't run far enough. When the snow melts next spring, we will need to find a safer place."

“We must remain anonymous for a very long time. Sending someone to deliver a message at this time is a very, very irrational decision.”

“But there’s nothing I can do,” Gan Qiongying sighed. “I like him, so I have to coax him and say sweet words to keep him from really changing his mind.”

"As for what happened between the two of us... it's nothing serious. I'll go back to him and explain things when it's absolutely safe."

If at that time Li Hua was still waiting for her, still loved her, hadn't changed his mind, hadn't been obsessed with power and unifying the two countries, held life and death in his hands and was high above, hadn't married someone else, and had followed the direction of the plot...

Only then could Gan Qiongying be completely certain that Li Hua would not become the cruel and terrifying male protagonist in the story, or in Princess Duanrong's memories.