The Substitute Princess
The museum's underground storage room was as cold as an icebox.
Su Nian looked at Prince Duan Lingyuan, who had been lying inside the temperature-controlled glass coffin for over a thousand years, through the glass.
This person has been dead for so long, yet he still looks so...handsome. His eyebrows and nose are like they were painted on.
Her gaze fell on the dragon-patterned jade pendant at his waist. Historical records say it was called a "chilong jue" (螭龙玦), his most prized possession, which he wore until his death.
As if possessed, she moved closer, wanting to see more clearly.
Just touched the glass surface—
"Click".
A very faint, crisp sound came from inside the jade pendant.
Su Nian felt a chill run down her spine.
Before she could react, her fingertips suddenly felt hot, as if they were on fire! She hissed and pulled her hand back, looking down to find that the glove was perfectly fine.
Something even more frightening happened.
The hand that was originally lying cross-legged inside the coffin, belonging to the ancient corpse, was rapidly losing its deadly bluish-white color and becoming... like a living person's!
Then, that hand, so fast it was just a blur, grabbed her neck!
"Ah!" Su Nian cried out in pain, feeling as if her bones were being crushed.
She looked up in alarm and met a pair of wide-open eyes!
Those eyes were as deep as an ancient well, containing not a trace of drowsiness from just waking up, but only the fury of being awakened and the icy coldness of looking at ants.
"Insolence!" His voice was deep and ancient. "How dare you attempt to assassinate the king?!"
Su Nian's mind went completely blank. Science? Materialism? Her knowledge of more than twenty years was shattered beyond repair.
"A...monster?!" Her teeth chattered.
But those angry eyes froze the moment they saw her face clearly. Shock, disbelief, and... a tremendous emotion she couldn't understand exploded in his eyes.
“Yan Shu…?” His voice trembled violently, carrying a fragile, cautious quality she had never heard before.
Su Nian was completely dumbfounded: "Cough cough cough, w...what book?"
The next second, he suddenly pulled her forcefully into his arms, almost dragging her! Her bones ached as she slammed against his cold, hard python robe.
"Yan Shu! It really is you!" He gripped her tightly, his body trembling uncontrollably, his voice hoarse and cracking, "You didn't die...you still came to find me..."
The strong scent of ancient wood and ambergris enveloped her. Su Nian, struggling to breathe under his chokehold, desperately pushed him away, crying, "Let go! You've mistaken me for someone else! I'm not him!"
He ignored her struggles and denials as if he hadn't heard them. He buried his face in the crook of her neck, repeating over and over, whether to her or to himself, "It's my fault... This time I will never let you leave again..."
The sound of security guards' footsteps and flashlight beams approached from outside the warehouse.
Su Nian felt her heart stop! Oh no! What if someone saw this…
Ling Yuan quickly covered her mouth and led her into the narrow shadow of the metal storage shelf next to them!
"Ugh!" Su Nian was held tightly in his arms, unable to move. His aura was ancient and unfamiliar. And there was the sound of a heartbeat, whether hers or his, pounding against her eardrums.
The security guard's flashlight shone in, and he muttered, "Nobody's here," before his footsteps faded into the distance.
The warehouse fell silent again, save for the two people's intertwined, hot breaths.
Ling Yuan loosened his grip slightly, but still kept her trapped between the shadows and his body, his unfathomable eyes staring at her like a branding iron.
“Now,” he began, his voice low and commanding, “tell me where this is. Then, take me away.”
In the dead of night, Su Nian led a thousand-year-old prince who had crawled out of a coffin through the empty streets.
Who would believe this experience if I told them?
Ling Yuan gripped her wrist tightly, so tightly that she wondered if her bones were broken. He stood ramrod straight as he walked down the modern street, his python robe and long hair attracting occasional glances from passing vehicles, but he paid no attention, as if his land was still his own.
A car sped past with its high beams on, the ear-piercing engine roar instantly tensing Ling Yuan's body. Almost instinctively, he turned to the side, quickly shielding Su Nian behind him, his gaze following the roaring "iron box" until it disappeared around the street corner.
"What is this?" His brows furrowed, his voice filled with utter vigilance.
“A car, a means of transportation, similar to a horse-drawn carriage from your time.” Su Nian tried to pull her hand away, but it wouldn’t budge, so she could only explain helplessly. She felt like a nurse in a mental hospital, trying to soothe a confused patient.
After much effort, she dragged and pulled him back to her rented apartment. Only after closing the door and leaning against the cold security door did Su Nian feel a little bit alive again.
Ling Yuan stood in the center of the living room, scanning the small space of less than sixty square meters. The sofa, the television, the refrigerator... each item deepened the sense of unfamiliarity in his eyes.
"Is this your residence?" He paused, his tone carrying obvious disdain, and a hint of... incomprehensible pity? "This tiny place is not even as spacious as the bathhouse in my royal palace."
He looked at her, his eyes filled with deep self-reproach: "Yan Shu, I have wronged you, leaving you stranded here, suffering."
Su Nian almost choked on her breath! The fear, grievances, and absurdity that had been building up all night instantly overwhelmed her reason: "Enough! How many times have I told you! I'm not Yan Shu! This isn't your palace! My name is Su Nian! Su, Nian! Open your eyes and look carefully! You've mistaken me for someone else!"
She practically screamed it out, her chest heaving violently.
Ling Yuan quietly watched her cheeks and eyes flushed with excitement, his face showing no doubt, only a maddening indulgence that said, "I know you're throwing a tantrum, but I won't hold it against you."
He stepped forward, reaching out to stroke her hair, which had become disheveled from her excitement. His tone was one of natural command, yet it carried a hint of clumsy soothing that he himself was unaware of: "Stop making a fuss. I'm thirsty, here's some tea."
Su Nian rolled her eyes, feeling so angry her liver hurt, but looking at his matter-of-fact face, she resignedly went to the kitchen to pour him a glass of tap water.
"What is this?" he asked, staring at the glass.
"Water! Drinkable water!" Su Nian said irritably.
He then took it, took a sip with an elegant gesture, his brows furrowed again, but he didn't say anything more.
Conflict, friction, and the frustration of talking past each other filled the small apartment. Su Nian felt like she was going crazy.
She took a deep breath and decided to let the facts speak for themselves. She opened her laptop, pulled up a historical timeline and archaeological reports about the Duan Prince's tomb, and pointed to the screen to show him: "Look carefully, your dynasty is long gone! More than a thousand years ago! You are now an... an antique! Understand?"
She expected to see him break down or be incredulous.
Ling Yuan stared silently for a moment, the cold light from the screen reflecting in his eyes. Then, he raised his eyes, his gaze firm and unwavering as he looked at her, as if the words and images did not exist: "I don't care what era this place is in. Since you are here, I am here too. The rise and fall of dynasties is the will of Heaven. Now, I only want you."
Su Nian felt a deep sense of powerlessness, as if she had punched cotton. But why did her heart inexplicably and uncontrollably flutter at his unreasonable words?
Her gaze was once again drawn to the dragon-patterned jade pendant at Ling Yuan's waist. Recalling the burning sensation and strange change she felt when she touched it in the storeroom, a thought popped into her head.
"Um... Jade Pendant, could I take another look at it?" she suggested, with a hint of probing.
Lingyuan glanced down at the jade pendant at his waist, took it off, and handed it to her.
The moment their fingertips touched—
Mutation and regeneration!
The living room ceiling light emitted a crackling electrical sound and flickered violently! The phone screen on the table lit up and then went out instantly! A burning sensation, clearer and stronger than before, traveled from the jade pendant to each other's fingertips, as if a faint electric current was coursing through their bodies!
The two quickly separated their hands at the same time.
All the strange phenomena stopped instantly.
An eerie silence filled the air, broken only by the faint hum of the overhead light after it returned to normal.
"It...it really reacted." Su Nian's voice was filled with surprise.
Ling Yuan seemed to understand something as well. He gripped the jade pendant tightly, as if he had grasped a key to the truth: "This jade does indeed possess a spirit. Perhaps... it is the bridge connecting you and me."
Looking at the dragon-patterned jade pendant that gleamed warmly under the light, Su Nian realized for the first time that she had awakened not only a thousand-year-old prince, but also a colossal mystery that she could neither understand nor escape. "Ling Yuan, we need to study this jade pendant carefully."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
