Shen Muzhou gasped for breath, as if he were in an ice and snow mountain being torn apart by wild beasts, his limbs and bones suffering from piercing cold and pain.
The scene shifted, and amidst a blizzard, he saw Zhaozhao.
That woman, as always, had her back to him, her head covered by a bamboo hat.
"Zhaozhao..."
This time, he called out her name.
The woman turned to look at him, and she slowly lifted the veil of her hat.
Beneath the veil was a familiar, fair, and small face. Her almond-shaped eyes were bright and intelligent, her smile endearing, with even the corners of her eyes and eyebrows curved in a smile.
The young girl spoke with a cheerful smile, her eyes like two crescent moons. It seemed that with her smile, he could feel the peach blossoms in full bloom and the sunshine even in the icy wilderness.
It was Lin Yanxi.
That face was Lin Yanxi's.
Lin Yanxi tilted her head, playfully teasing, "Shen Muzhou, aren't you getting up to find me quickly?"
He smiled. It had to be her, daring to call his name so recklessly.
After she finished speaking, she turned and ran into the depths of the snow...
"Zhaozhao... Don't go."
In the prison cell, Shen Muzhou clutched Lin Yanxi's hand as if grabbing a lifeline. A warm current flowed into his body, dispelling the bone-chilling cold.
Lin Yanxi looked at his gradually easing expression. Zhaozhao, Zhaozhao, does your Zhaozhao know you are imprisoned now?
Can your Zhaozhao break into the Imperial Clan Court alone to save you?
Then can your Zhaozhao... She gave him a look of exasperation. Can she let you hold her hand to dispel the cold?
"Yanxi."
Shen Muzhou mumbled in a daze, then suddenly opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was the small face he had seen in his dream.
For a moment, he couldn't distinguish between reality and illusion.
He simply offered her a beautiful smile, then coughed violently. Each cough pulled at his wounds, the pain gradually clearing his consciousness.
"Why are you here?" Shen Muzhou asked weakly.
Lin Yanxi could clearly see the pain he was enduring in his eyes. She frowned and said, "I'm here to help you escape."
Shen Muzhou shook his head, clearly not wanting her to get involved in this matter.
"I cannot leave. If I escape, it means I admit to stealing the jade talisman and will bear the crime of treason."
When Nanmin fought with Xizhou a few years ago, he led the brothers of the Dark Night Division in hundreds of battles, big and small. The Dark Night Division lost almost half of its men on the battlefield. Now, these people wanted to slander him with a jade talisman?
It was simply ridiculous.
Lin Yanxi shook her head. Just as she was about to say something, she remembered the strange old man with a white beard. She looked back in the old man's direction. The white-bearded old man was indeed looking towards them.
Seeing Lin Yanxi looking at him, the white-bearded old man waved his hand, squatted in the corner of the prison wall, and mumbled, "If you don't want me to listen, then I won't. Who cares? Hmph."
Lin Yanxi moved closer to Shen Muzhou. His white robe was torn with bloody wounds, only his fair, slender neck was intact. Her eyes darted around, a little red.
"The person who stole the jade talisman left a broken saber in the Eastern Palace. The blade was imbued with curse energy. I suspect it was the person in the black cloak who killed my mother, but I'm not sure about the relationship between the person in the black cloak and the Crown Prince."
"The day I entered the palace, the hairpin in the Crown Prince's hand was also imbued with curse energy. If we want to find the murderer of my mother, we might be able to start investigating from the matter of the stolen jade talisman."
In fact, when her mother died, she had considered another method: using talismans to kill the Crown Prince directly.
But if the Crown Prince were killed, the person behind him would still exist, and the Grand Tutor's mansion would also fall into disaster.
"Regardless of the relationship between the Crown Prince and the person in the black cloak, I need your help to investigate all of this."
Shen Muzhou weakly raised his eyes. He desperately wanted to help her, but how could he help her in his current state?
She was unsure if Shen Muzhou would agree to this method, especially since he already had someone in his heart.
After a pause, she still said it, "I have a plan. I want to fake a marriage with you. I need the identity of the Ninth Princess to investigate this case."
"If I become the Ninth Princess, I can tell His Majesty that you left the Eastern Palace that day to sneak into the Grand Tutor's mansion to meet me privately. Li Zi and Tang Chao can both testify."
"We will find the jade talisman together and investigate the person who stole it, so your crime will be disproven."
"And I, perhaps, can use this opportunity to bring down the Crown Prince and find the person who killed my mother."
She cleared her throat and said sternly, "You are imprisoned now, also because of the Crown Prince. He already harbors murderous intent towards you. If he succeeds to the throne one day, who do you think he will kill first?"
Shen Muzhou naturally knew that the Crown Prince had wanted to eliminate him for more than a day.
Seeing his hesitation, Lin Yanxi continued to persuade him, "It's just a fake wedding. I will be your nominal princess, and we will fight the Crown Prince together. After the Crown Prince is brought down, we can divorce. I will never pester you."
"Similarly, we will form an alliance. We will not let go of anyone who has harmed you and me."
When she said this, her eyes were exceptionally bright, filled with determination and a cold, murderous aura.
Shen Muzhou's eyes darkened. He recalled when he first went to the battlefield a few years ago, his entire body was covered in sword scars. Luo Jingxin cried and wailed when she knew he was injured.
She gently stroked the wounds on his arm, thinking about how people in storybooks would react in such situations to capture a man's heart.
So, with a look of heartache, gentleness, and tenderness, she asked, "Does it hurt?"
At that time, he had not yet been crowned prince. Seeing Luo Jingxin's appearance, he had thought then that his future imperial consort must not be such a weak character.
These wounds had cut through flesh and blood, so asking if it hurt was like asking the obvious. But these wounds were his honor, and even more so, the motivation for him to fight back.
It was only when he truly understood Lin Yanxi's character, decisive and resolute, that if someone stabbed him once, he would personally make them pay back tenfold, that he realized such a person was worthy of walking side by side with him.
Lin Yanxi saw that he was silent and guessed that it was because he had someone named Zhaozhao in his heart and refused to agree.
"Are you because..."
Shen Muzhou's voice was hoarse, his lips pale, "I am unsure if I can protect you at all times."
"My father kept me in the capital precisely because he wanted me to be a sharp weapon in his hands. Matters that are inconvenient to handle openly in court are resolved by the Dark Night Division. I have many enemies, and I am attacked several times a month. You saw what happened with Heijin. If it weren't for your hemostatic powder, I might have died by now under the swords of others."
"Do you know how many disasters being my princess will bring?"
Lin Yanxi shook her head and said, "From now on, we will walk side by side. All difficulties will be divided in half, with each person bearing half. We will surely overcome the danger."
"Moreover, as long as I can avenge my mother and protect the Grand Tutor's mansion, I am willing to walk any difficult path ahead."
The moonlight slanted onto her, enveloping her in a pale, cold, and beautiful moonlight. It accentuated her stunning beauty and ethereal aura. Her clear, determined eyes openly displayed ambition and desire.
For the years he had suffered from the cold affliction, he had always felt that his time was short. Whether he died at the hands of the Crown Prince or his enemies made no difference.
Since his mother's death, there had been no one in this world who cared about him, nor anyone he cared about.
But recently, his emotions were always stirred by Lin Yanxi. He would grieve and rejoice with her. He couldn't even figure out if the person in his dream was originally Lin Yanxi or if he wished it were Lin Yanxi.
This time, he wanted to live well, to fulfill his unfinished ambition of governing the country with her.
"Okay, I promise you."
Lin Yanxi's eyes immediately softened. Her originally tense and serious little face relaxed a bit.
She asked, "Then what exactly were you doing in the Eastern Palace that day?"
Shen Muzhou's slightly upturned lips stiffened for a moment and said, "You will know in the future."
He took out a piece of broken jade from the innermost part of his clothes and handed it to Lin Yanxi. He looked at the little rabbit wooden hairpin in her hair and a smile tugged at the corner of his lips.
"If you see my father, give him this broken jade. If he... feels even a sliver of guilt for the past, he will not blame you, regardless of whether this matter succeeds or fails."
Lin Yanxi wanted to ask more questions, but he suddenly coughed violently, a sweet, metallic taste rising in his throat, and he spat a mouthful of fresh blood onto the ground.
She accepted the broken jade, a worried expression on her face. The childlike, lively features of her small face now looked pitiful. Her lips trembled, and tears began to stream down her cheeks.
"You've already been tortured like this in just one day."
He weakly pulled at the corner of his mouth and said, "Don't worry, I won't die anytime soon."
At this moment, it had gradually become quiet outside. It seemed the fire had been extinguished.
Shen Muzhou said softly, "Go quickly."
"I will hold on until the day you come to pick me up from prison."
Lin Yanxi nodded and said, "Don't worry, I'll go and beg His Majesty. We'll have news soon."
As Lin Yanxi passed the white-bearded old man, he grabbed the cage and shouted, "Little Talisman Master, if you want to truly master talisman arts, get me out and take me as your master!"
She glanced back at him, her steps faltering slightly. But the sound of footsteps from outside was getting closer. She didn't have time to ask his identity clearly, so she could only run out first.
---
The next day, Lin Yanxi went to Fengnan Temple early in the morning.
A few days ago, when she entered the palace for the banquet, she had told Consort Yu that Fengnan Temple was efficacious for praying for the gender of the unborn child.
She had already made preparations then, in case Shen Muzhou was imprisoned, she could ask the Emperor of Nanmin for mercy on his behalf.
Consort Yu, dressed in a smoky purple imperial robe, was supported by several maids. Seeing Yanxi arrive, she warmly beckoned her over.
"Greetings, Consort Yu."
Consort Yu was in a very good mood today. The Emperor of Nanmin was willing to accompany her to pray for a child despite his busy schedule, showing how much he valued the child in her womb.
"No need, no need. Just call me Aunt. I haven't been out of the palace for a long time, and I find everything in the capital very fresh today."
The Emperor of Nanmin emerged from another room in Nanfeng Temple. He was not wearing his golden dragon robe, but ordinary clothes, although the fabric was not something commoners could afford.
He said dotingly, "If you like it, after you give birth to a little prince for the royal family, I will allow you to go out more often to relax."
Consort Yu smiled and leaned dotingly into the Emperor of Nanmin's embrace, pouting, "Your Majesty is so biased. What if the child in my belly is not a son?"
The Emperor of Nanmin pinched her chin and said, "I've already accompanied you to Nanfeng Temple. I am the Son of Heaven, and all the deities will naturally give me face."
Consort Yu said respectfully, "Naturally. Your Majesty's divine might will surely bless me to get my wish."
The Emperor of Nanmin's eyes flickered towards Lin Yanxi and said, "The holy monk in the front courtyard has already prepared the items for Buddhist worship. Let the maids help you go and see, I will follow shortly."
Consort Yu looked at Lin Yanxi with some concern, said no more, and retreated.
The Emperor of Nanmin's smile instantly disappeared, and when he faced Lin Yanxi, he was full of authority and coldness.
His voice was grim, "Is this how you lured me here to see you?"