"Lady Li's" disjointed words not only failed to resolve Jiang Xiaoxiao's doubts but left her increasingly perplexed.
Jiang Xiaoxiao detested this feeling.
She frowned, "No matter who you are, harming the living adds an extra sin!"
"Lady Li" was greatly alarmed, "Young Miss, you mustn't lay a hand on me. I've come here solely to wait for you. You have no idea how difficult it is to get an audience with you—the Heavenly Master's Mansion isn't somewhere I can just go..."
"Lady Li's" tone was full of grievance.
"Then tell me, who am I?" Jiang Xiaoxiao asked as she formed hand seals.
If Lady Li dared utter a single lie, she would instantly reduce her to ashes.
"I...I can't say."
Seeing that Jiang Xiaoxiao meant business, "Lady Li" immediately separated from the body she was possessing and fled desperately.
The real Lady Li, freed from the ghost's control, collapsed unconscious on the ground.
As Jiang Xiaoxiao chased after it, Xie Xun happened to emerge from the hall.
"Xiaoxiao, what's wrong?"
Jiang Xiaoxiao glanced in the direction the ghost had fled and shook her head, "I'll tell you later."
When Fang Changyue learned that Lady Li had fainted, he was instantly white with fear and hurried to carry her to the bedroom.
There was no way they could have the meal now.
Fang Changyue looked apologetic, "I'm really sorry about this. I'd hoped to treat you all to a nice meal, but then my wife suddenly fell ill. Please make yourselves comfortable inside while I fetch the doctor. I'll have you dine outside later."
"No need," Xie Xun said. "It just so happens that we have other matters to attend to, so we'll take our leave."
As Fang Changyue tried to say more, Jiang Xiaoxiao handed him a talisman, "Have your wife keep this on her person. It will protect her safety."
Although not superstitious, Fang Changyue would not refuse others' goodwill.
He accepted the talisman and thanked her.
Jiang Xiaoxiao and the others soon left the Fang residence and returned to their small courtyard.
Jiang Xiaoxiao instructed Yang Ershun to kindle a fire in the kitchen while Xie Xun took the opportunity to ask her, "Did you encounter that thing at the Fang residence earlier?"
"Yes." Jiang Xiaoxiao nodded. "She was possessing Lady Li's body and said the reason she came here was because someone summoned her to see me.
I have a feeling it must be related to my origins, but when I tried to ask for more details, she had already fled."
"Your origins?"
Xie Xun seemed to have never heard Jiang Xiaoxiao mention her origins before.
"I don't know who I am," said Jiang Xiaoxiao, her gaze distant. "I've been at the Heavenly Master's Mansion since birth, with no memories of a father or mother.
It wasn't until my first menstruation in Guishui that Mother Ershun told me a mother was supposed to teach me about such things that I realized I needed a mother."
"Didn't you ask your master or your master's master?"
Jiang Xiaoxiao answered gloomily, "My master gets upset whenever I bring it up. As for my master's master, he never gets angry but just beats around the bush—it feels like he's said everything and yet nothing at all."
Xie Xun looked at her. "Do you want to find your parents?"
At last, Jiang Xiaoxiao's eyes held a glimmer beyond bewilderment. "If I find them, will I have a home to return to?"
Xie Xun nodded. "Once we're back in Yanjing City, I'll help you find a way."
Half a month later, the carriage sent by the imperial palace to fetch Xie Xun arrived in Kaihe County.
In addition to the lead escort, it was accompanied by over a dozen armor-clad guards and a stream of palace maids in powder-pink robes.
These people had been brought by Chen Sixi.
"Well, well!" Chen Sixi grumbled as soon as he entered the courtyard. "If I hadn't run into these folks asking about Xie Xun on my way back to town, and they went to Shi Mo Village only to find you two had already snuck off to the county, I wouldn't have known you'd moved here behind my back."
As he spoke, he effortlessly dragged over a stool and plopped down, continuing to complain, "Xie Xun, you sure have some nerve! I treat you like a brother, but how do you treat me?"
Xie Xun remained silent, his gaze fixed on the head escort, Su Hai.
Fourteen years ago, Su Hai had been the guard specifically assigned by Emperor Hongtai to secretly protect the Empress Xie.
Now, he was likely under the command of the Crown Prince.
Su Hai's expression was cold and stern. Sweeping his robe aside, he knelt. "This subject greets the Third Royal Highness."
Following his lead, the other guards and palace maids all knelt in unison.
In the midst of his grumbling, Chen Sixi suddenly heard those words and froze, whipping his head around to gape at Su Hai. "What's going on?!"
