On a rosewood bed carved with dragon patterns, a woman was lying.
She was not wearing any makeup, yet she was still strikingly beautiful.
The fire in the room was burning fiercely. Even though it had just snowed heavily in the capital, there was not the slightest bit of coldness in the room.
I don't know how much time had passed when the woman on the bed slowly opened her eyes.
"You're awake!"
A gentle male voice came into her ears.
She frowned slightly and propped herself up to sit.
"Who are you?"
She then stared intently and turned her head, scanning the room.
Seeing the unfamiliar environment and furnishings in the room, her frown deepened.
She continued to ask, "Where is this? Why am I here?"
After asking these two questions in succession, a more terrifying question suddenly popped up in her mind.
Instantly, a look of fear rose in her eyes, and her pupils trembled slightly.
"Who am I?"
She bit her lip tightly.
She tried hard to recall, but she just couldn't remember. Her mind seemed to be completely blank.
Yes.
Who was she?!
Seeing her looking so pained, Xiao Wang quickly grabbed her hand and said softly, "If you can't remember, don't force yourself. You've just recovered from a serious illness, so your memory is a bit fuzzy. Don't be afraid. I'll always be with you."
Hearing this, Ruan Jiu looked at Xiao Wang doubtfully and asked suspiciously, "I was sick?"
Xiao Wang nodded. "You were very sick. But as long as you take your medicine on time, you'll get better soon."
Before Ruan Jiu could say anything, Xiao Wang helped her lie back down.
He said tenderly, "You rest for a while. I'll go and boil the medicine for you."
After saying that, Xiao Wang walked out.
In the pharmacy, Xiao Wang took out a sharp dagger from his bosom. Then he rolled up his sleeve and made a cut on his arm with the dagger.
Blood immediately gushed out and dripped into the medicine bowl.
Xiao Wang handed the medicine bowl filled with his own blood to Lan Yu beside him.
He ordered coldly, "You must watch her drink it every day."
Lan Yu took the medicine bowl with a solemn expression.
After thinking for a long time, she said with difficulty, "Your Highness, are you really going to feed the parasite in Miss Ruan's body with your blood every day?"
Hearing this, Xiao Wang raised his eyes and looked into the distance.
"The witch doctor said that as long as my blood is used in the medicine for forty - nine days, her whole heart will only belong to me."
"But she's not the second Miss Song..."
"Of course I know she's not!" Xiao Wang roared.
His cold and fierce eyes stared menacingly at Lan Yu, scaring her so much that she trembled all over.
Xiao Wang continued, "You just need to do as I've told you. Don't talk too much!"
After hearing this, Lan Yu lowered her head, held the medicine bowl, and silently backed out.
Xiao Wang's eyes drifted into the distance again.
He knew that what he was doing was despicable, but he couldn't bear to let Ruan Jiu leave!
He didn't know when it started, but Ruan Jiu had gradually replaced Song Qingyu in his heart.
By the time he realized it, Ruan Jiu had already occupied his whole heart.
She haunted his dreams and made him unable to extricate himself!
He had already lost Song Qingyu once. This time, he decided that he couldn't lose Ruan Jiu again!
So, he found the Prince of Song and secretly sent the seemingly dead Ruan Jiu into the Eastern Palace.
He fed Ruan Jiu a parasite and erased all her memories.
He wanted Ruan Jiu's whole person and whole heart to only belong to him!
After a while, Lan Yu carried the medicine bowl and walked into Ruan Jiu's room.
She found Ruan Jiu sitting motionless in front of the bronze mirror.
"Your Highness, it's time to take your medicine."
Ruan Jiu didn't turn her head. She continued to look at her familiar yet strange face in the bronze mirror.
"Do you know who I am?" Ruan Jiu asked.
Lan Yu pursed her lips and replied, "Your Highness, your name is Ruan Jiu. You're the cousin of the Prince of Song's Mansion."
Ruan Jiu frowned.
The title of "cousin" did seem quite familiar.
So she turned around and looked at Lan Yu, then continued to ask, "Who is that man just now?"
"He's His Highness the Crown Prince, Xiao Wang."
"Are we on good terms?"
After all, that man just now seemed very worried about her.
Lan Yu nodded. "You were an orphan since childhood. It was His Highness the Crown Prince who picked you up and asked the Prince of Song to adopt you, making you the cousin in the Prince of Song's Mansion."
After hearing this, Ruan Jiu's frown relaxed slightly.
These words did coincide with some fragmented memories in her mind.
"But why did I lose my memory?"
"Not long ago, the Second Prince launched a palace coup. In the chaos, you were seriously injured. It was His Highness the Crown Prince who saved you."
Ruan Jiu nodded in sudden realization.
So that was it.
Seeing that Ruan Jiu believed what she had said, Lan Yu secretly let out a sigh of relief.
After all, everything she had just said was what Xiao Wang had told her to say.
The witch doctor said that even though Ruan Jiu had been given the medicine to erase her memories, there were still some scattered memories in her mind.
In order not to arouse Ruan Jiu's suspicion, they had fabricated a new story about her original background.
Suddenly, Ruan Jiu frowned again tightly. "But why do I feel like I've forgotten someone very important?"
Her intuition told her that this person was very important.
But she just couldn't remember!
As long as she tried to think further, her head would feel like it was about to explode.
Hearing this, a look of guilt flashed across Lan Yu's eyes.
She quickly handed over the medicine bowl in her hand.
"Your Highness, take your medicine first. You'll remember everything after you get better."
Ruan Jiu took the medicine bowl and took a small sip.
It was both fishy and astringent.
Instantly, her eyebrows knitted together, and she complained, "It tastes so bad!"
"Your Highness, you'll get better only after taking the medicine."
Ruan Jiu thought for a while.
Yes, only by taking the medicine could she recover all her memories.
Only then could she remember that very important person.
So, she picked up the medicine bowl and drank it all in one gulp.
On the other side, after Xie Jingchu found out that Ruan Jiu was missing, he immediately led his men to the Prince of Song's Mansion.
The white mourning streamers hanging in the Prince of Song's Mansion hadn't been removed yet. With the moonlight shining on them, it looked even more eerie and terrifying.
However, what made the Prince of Song's heart tremble even more was Xie Jingchu's gloomy face.
The Prince of Song asked tremblingly, "Young Marquis Xie, why are you here at my mansion in such an outfit at this late hour? Is there something you need?"
All of them were in black clothes, and each of them looked fierce.
At first glance, they looked a bit like robbers.
"Tell me! Where have you hidden her!" Xie Jingchu's cold voice was like falling into an ice cave.
"Wh...what person..."
The Prince of Song glanced at Xie Jingchu guiltily and then quickly shifted his gaze away.
Xie Jingchu squinted his eyes and waved his hand at the black - clothed men behind him.
Immediately, all the black - clothed men ran towards the inner courtyard.
Seeing this, the Prince of Song panicked and shouted, "Young Marquis Xie, what are you doing?!"
Xie Jingchu didn't say a word.
He just stood there motionless with a cold face.
After a while, the black - clothed men ran out of the inner courtyard one after another.
Each of them shook their heads at Xie Jingchu with a solemn expression. Xie Jingchu's fist tightened even more.
Until Qin Yuan, the last one, ran out of the inner courtyard. He leaned over and whispered in Xie Jingchu's ear, "Fourth Master, the cousin is not in there."
After hearing this, Xie Jingchu walked towards the Prince of Song with a gloomy face.
He forced the Prince of Song to take several steps back and almost fall to the ground.
"Tell me, where on earth is Ruan Jiu!"