identity

In crowded spaces, the air feels thin.

Lin Yun felt short of breath and prepared to get up to go outside for some fresh air, but Aunt Liu stopped him, asking, "Where are you rushing off to?"

"I suddenly remembered that I haven't packed my bags yet."

She was interrupted before she could finish speaking, "Suyue and the village chief saw that you hadn't come back, so they went to help you pack up."

"Then I'll go take a look." Lin Yun quickly lifted the curtain and ran back to his courtyard.

Yang Suyue and her grandfather were busy preparing for her, with two large bundles already at their feet.

"I'm back." She leaned against the door frame and chuckled, her voice fading in the warm spring sunshine. "I really couldn't bring so much stuff with me."

"Welcome back." Yang Suyue was still wearing the same white dress she wore this morning, but without the matching veil.

The village chief, who was half-squatting and packing his belongings, tried to get up when he heard the noise. He looked quite exhausted and swayed as if he was about to fall. Lin Yun quickly caught him and asked worriedly, "Grandpa, are you alright?"

The outstretched hand was gently brushed away, and the village chief said with a hint of reproach, "You, you get flustered when you care. My legs just went numb from squatting."

Seeing Su Yue's hesitant expression, the village chief tactfully prepared to leave. "The packing is almost done. I'll go see how they're doing with the meal." Perhaps because his legs were numb, he walked with a limp, quite unlike his usual brisk walk.

Looking at his retreating figure, Lin Yunwang's eyes unconsciously filled with worry.

“Yunwang…I…” Yang Suyue wanted to explain, but didn’t know where to begin.

"You, are you..."

The two spoke at the same time, their eyes meeting in mid-air. Yang Suyue looked at the warm light flickering in the other's eyes and suddenly felt a lump in her throat. She tried to hide it, but Lin Yunwang's sudden smile made her burst out laughing.

Lin Yun's mouth was stretched wide, while Yang Suyue's smile was even more exaggerated, and she leaned over the table.

Hahahaha.

At that moment, all guilt and doubt vanished.

As her breathing calmed down, Yang Suyue took out a handkerchief and gently wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes.

One person arrived uninvited.

The folding fan lifted the bamboo curtain, causing a sudden tightness in one's heart.

Lin Yun turned around and shielded Su Yue behind him.

"Miss Lin, I'm not some monster, why are you so nervous?" Xiao Zhichang still acted like he did when they first met, lazy and casual, and his words were somewhat nonchalant.

"You've picked up a bit of a Beijing accent today."

Yang Suyue patted her hands behind her back reassuringly, "Don't worry, it's His Highness the Crown Prince who needs my help."

Before this esteemed prince, Yang Suyue reverted to her usual coldness, and all the gentleness in her eyes vanished.

“If I—” she paused slightly, “...do not wish to, what can you do?”

Today, Xiao Zhichang's sudden return to the village with her caught Yang Suyue off guard, but she has calmed down now, after all, she has the most useful bargaining chip.

“Your Highness, it would be difficult to explain back with a corpse,” she said.

“No,” Xiao Zhichang raised an eyebrow, his face unusually serious. “This is an act of surrender, not coercion.”

He held a dozen or so household deeds between his fingers and handed them to Lin Yunwang.

Her delicate hand did not move an inch.

There is no such thing as getting the moon empty-handed in this world.

The key to this game wasn't originally hers. Lin Yunwang never liked making decisions for others; all she had to do was support her friend's decision and minimize any negative consequences afterward.

Seeing that she wouldn't take it, Xiao Zhichang flicked his wrist and put the deed away.

"I will personally serve the elders of Shixi." His words were very sincere. "Besides, they are originally subjects of Yunlan Kingdom. It is not the behavior of a gentleman to use them to coerce them."

A gentleman?

Ha, would a gentleman threaten someone else's life? That household deed, in other words, represents the life and fortune of Shixi Village.

This might fool some naive children, but none of those present believed it.

Seeing that his goal had not been achieved, he changed the subject. "Even if not for me, Miss Suyue should have compassion for the common people. For five years, no one has been in charge of the Imperial Preceptor's Mansion, and the astronomical chart of the Directorate of Ceremonial Affairs has been empty for five years. Yunlan Kingdom has no ability to foresee dangers, and the number of casualties during this period is more than a thousand."

From the moment Lin Yunwang glimpsed Yang Suyue hastily leaving to conceal her identity at the Fanyin Temple, he had already become a pawn in the game.

The spies had already ascertained the friendship between the two. What surprised him was that in just five years, the usually aloof and detached Grand Preceptor had formed such a deep bond with someone.

The household registration deeds of the villagers of Shixi Village were just another pawn in his game; his real purpose lay here.

He wanted to expose that old, scabbed wound in front of this man's closest friend, whom he most wanted to keep hidden.

Then, using the common people as a lock, we can firmly fasten this sharp blade.

He wanted to see if she could ruthlessly reveal her true nature in front of her best friend.

But Lin Yun's eyes remained calm; she simply looked at her friend quietly, respecting her will.

“Three months ago, when your uncle embezzled the relief funds for Yunzhou, the number of people starving to death was far more than just a few.” Yang Suyue’s eyes turned cold. “And what is your status in standing here saying these high-sounding words?”

Her letter of reminder went unanswered.

The unused letter revealed his location; otherwise, Xiao Zhichang wouldn't have come knocking on his door a few days ago.

For the past five years, she has imagined returning to the capital every day, a dream that has become a nightmare for her.

She was familiar with every step of the four seasonal sacrifices: spring offering, summer offering, autumn tasting, and winter steaming.

And what she also had to do was to divine good or bad fortune for those in power.

Then, they witnessed firsthand the murders committed by those in power out of suspicion.

After coming of age, on her first occasion, she divined for the emperor, which resulted in the loss of her master and the massacre of the entire loyal Chen family.

Yang Suyue wondered if the emperor, high above all others, dreamed in the dead of night, and whether he feared the presence of the dead in his dreams.

She was an accomplice, an executioner.

Every day, he can only fall asleep with the help of the calming incense that burns constantly in the house.

Lin Yunwang keenly noticed the slight tremor in Yang Suyue's shoulder, and steadily supported her cold elbow with his palm. The warmth of his body passed through her clothes, making her feel at ease.

"Give me a month to prepare, and I will return to the capital as promised." Her voice was very calm.

"I will hold a welcome banquet at Chengtian Pavilion at that time." The reason for Yang Suyue's departure from the Imperial Preceptor's residence was decided on the day she disappeared.

Although the newly appointed Imperial Preceptor was exceptionally gifted, he was still quite young. One day, while meditating at the Observatory, he realized that his understanding of the myriad aspects of human life was not deep enough, and he found it difficult to resonate with the world and all living beings. After pondering for three days and nights, he finally submitted a petition to the Emperor, earnestly requesting to enter the world to cultivate himself, arguing that "without eating the food of the mortal world, how can one connect with Heaven and Earth?"

The next day, he left the capital in a blue robe and white horse, and from then on traveled to all the streets and alleys of the sixteen prefectures, experiencing farming and commerce firsthand.

This beautiful story has spread throughout the streets and alleys of the capital.

Five years have passed, and now there's a sequel.

Just then, there was a knock on the wooden door, and the waiter's deliberately lowered voice pierced through the doorway, "Immortal Lord Sang is waiting outside."

Sang Zhao saw that Xiao Zhichang had not returned for a long time, so he went to look for him.

He found this place after only a moment's thought. In Shixi Village, Xiao Zhichang only went to two places: either Yang Suyue's thatched cottage or his junior sister Yunwang's courtyard. He had only taken a few steps when he saw His Highness the Crown Prince's eunuch guarding the door.

“You’ve come at just the right time… I originally intended to shamelessly ask Miss Lin for a cup of farewell tea, but seeing the current situation…” Xiao Zhichang turned back and smiled at Lin Yunwang, “I won’t bother the two ladies.”

He pushed open the door and left, leaving the household registration certificate on the table at some point.

"I'm sorry, it's such a nice farewell banquet..." Yang Suyue gently pressed her forehead against Yun Wang's shoulder. "There are some things I've wanted to tell you for a long time, but I just didn't know how to bring them up."

"Between you and me, there's never been a need for 'I'm sorry.'" She gently stroked Su Yue's back, offering comfort. "Are you really determined to return to the capital?"

"Yes, my mind is made up."

She knew this day would come, and the five years of peaceful life she had enjoyed and the friends she had made were already beyond her expectations.

Yang Suyue straightened up, the hair ornaments in her hair making a clear, tinkling sound as she placed the divination slip, symbolizing peace, into Yunwang's palm.

Last night, she consulted the oracle for her close friend. However, several divination slips were not favorable. Stubbornly, she tried again and again, ignoring the churning blood in her throat, until she finally obtained a good slip.

"When you are in the Jingyin Sect, remember to write to me often. Just send it to the Imperial Preceptor's residence."

"Don't worry about us. I'll go back after the last few households in Shixi Village are settled."

Yang Suyue gripped Lin Yunwang's sleeve, speaking hurriedly and incoherently, as if she wanted to say everything she would say about the rest of her life in advance.

She had long regarded Yunwang as a confidante, and since he was a few years older than her, she unconsciously placed herself in the position of an older sister.

The year I left home, my mother's belly was slightly protruding; the unborn child would now be about the same age as Yunwang.

At the age of thirteen, she was designated as the successor to the Imperial Preceptor and also gained her own confidants. She secretly asked someone to return to her hometown to inquire, but only found an empty house overgrown with weeds. Her master tapped her palm with a ruler and said, "If the fate is broken, don't force it."

She actually knew, but she just didn't want to believe it. Her parents moved house overnight after she was taken away.

But Lin Yunwang was different from her at that time.

Yang Suyue said firmly, "I am your fallback plan."

Unlike her master, who was foolish and trusted the emperor wholeheartedly, she was now able to leave herself or her friends a way out.

Yang Suyue's sorrowful appearance reminded Lin Yunwang of their first meeting. She looked just like that, even dressed in white, though she was covered in blood back then.

Feeling sad and lonely, I sat on the shore.

She suddenly rubbed Yang Suyue's cold cheek with her knuckles. "Don't look so sad. It's not like we're parting ways forever. I promise you, we'll meet again."

She then made a vow gesture.

"Besides, if anyone dares to bully you—" Lin Yun suddenly drew his sword and twirled it on the spot, "I'll fly to the capital on my sword and beat those bastards so badly they'll be embedded in the bricks and can't be pried out."

She's always been cautious and reserved, someone who keeps seven-tenths of what she says hidden. But now, she's making an exception for her friend.

Yang Suyue suddenly remembered the green bamboo she planted in front of her house, which stood tall and straight no matter spring, summer, autumn or winter.

It's a deal.

"It's a deal!"

The two made a vow by high-fiving.