"Master, master! Have you heard? The regent was assassinated last night and is now on the verge of death. He might never wake up!"
Rong Lan propped her chin on her hand and gently tapped the head of the teenage boy sitting in front of her fortune - telling stall and sharing the gossip with her with her folding fan. "I've heard. As soon as I set up my stall, I heard people around me talking about it."
"So, master, do you have any unique insights on this matter? For example, do you also think, like others, that the regent was really on the verge of death because of the assassination?" The thirteen - or fourteen - year - old boy lowered his voice.
Rong Lan stroked her chin and lowered her voice along with the boy. "In my opinion—"
The boy thought he could get the real truth from Rong Lan. His eyes sparkled like little light bulbs as he looked at Rong Lan expectantly.
However, Rong Lan didn't plan to tell so much to a child. "In my opinion—you should go back and study hard. Striving to pass the imperial examinations as soon as possible is the right way." After saying that, Rong Lan packed up the things on her stall, got up with a walking stick in her hand.
"Master?" The boy's face immediately fell. "Are you closing the stall now, master?"
"Yes. I'm closing the stall to meet an old acquaintance." Rong Lan walked towards the palace. Hearing the boy's voice, she didn't even turn her head, just waved her hand, indicating that he didn't need to worry about her.
She still remembered that when she sent Song Wanyue to this world, Song Wanyue had mentioned that her sweetheart was a court official highly regarded by the emperor. And when she returned to this world, she found that this official had become the regent. Moreover, although Song Wanyue was the youngest princess, she had been enthroned as the emperor. And not long after that, the regent was actually assassinated?
It was time for her to check on how her client was doing.
It wasn't difficult to meet Song Wanyue. All she needed was to use something unique to the world they had previously been in as a secret signal.
But when Song Wanyue saw the person standing in front of her, she couldn't recognize her for a moment. After hearing the message passed on by the guards, she thought Rong Lan had also come to this world. She rushed to the palace gate in a hurry to pick her up. But... who was this old woman with wrinkled face and gray hair?
Seeing the suspicion in Song Wanyue's eyes, Rong Lan covered her mouth and coughed lightly. She spoke in her original voice, "When traveling, of course, it's necessary to change into a look that's convenient for action."
On the first day when she came to the imperial city to set up a fortune - telling stall on a whim, some hooligans had accosted her because she was good - looking. She originally planned to bring Chu Hengyuan along to scare them off. But her elder brother had insisted on dragging Chu Hengyuan to teach him magic. Her elder brother was afraid that her human partner couldn't protect her. So, she had no choice but to transform into an old woman and come out to have fun on her own, for fear that if she was too slow, her elder brother would also drag her to study.
Hearing this familiar voice, Song Wanyue's eyes suddenly brightened. "Master!"
"It's me." Rong Lan smiled. "I'm idle and want to come and see you. Can we have a chat?"
"Okay!" Song Wanyue quickly replied, with a sincere smile on her face.
She led Rong Lan to the imperial garden and dismissed all the maids and attendants. "Master, you can actually change back to your original appearance. I'm really not used to your current look."
Not only was Song Wanyue not used to it, but even Rong Lan herself wasn't used to pretending to be an old and infirm person. She touched her wrinkled face. "Then you'll have to close your eyes."
"Okay." Song Wanyue closed her eyes as she was told. She trusted Rong Lan completely and wasn't the least bit afraid that Rong Lan would do something to her when she couldn't see.
Seeing that Song Wanyue had closed her eyes, Rong Lan made hand gestures and circulated her spiritual power. Her palm brushed across her cheek in the air. "Okay."
When Song Wanyue opened her eyes again, she saw that familiar and extremely beautiful face. She smiled and let out a sigh of relief. "Master is still the same as a few years ago. It seems that time has left no trace on you."
Rong Lan was almost showing her fox tail because of the compliment. She coughed lightly and stared deeply at Song Wanyue. "I haven't changed much, but you've changed a lot." The gentle and elegant beautiful girl before had become the emperor, and her whole temperament had changed. She had become a bit more sharp and proud as a person in power. But Song Wanyue was still as gentle as before in front of her. "Ms. Song, have you been doing well since you came to this world?"
The little fox deliberately softened her tone when asking this last question.
Song Wanyue was stunned. Somehow, she heard the concern of an elder for a junior from that tone. But Master clearly looked about the same age as her. She smiled gently. "I... I'm doing okay..."
"Really?" Rong Lan glanced at the golden python - embroidered robe on Song Wanyue. "Then let me ask in another way. Are you giving up on your lover?"
She guessed that the regent's assassination was related to Song Wanyue.
But if she remembered correctly, Song Wanyue had been determined to come back to this world because of the current regent.
"Master." Song Wanyue's voice was very soft, so soft that it seemed to blend with the gentle breeze brushing through her hair. "I don't have a lover anymore."
Rong Lan tilted her head.
Seeing Rong Lan's confusion, Song Wanyue gently explained to her, "Master doesn't know. I didn't know until I came back to this world that when I was in the original world, my body in this world was in a coma. When I came back, I found that my originally healthy father was bed - ridden due to illness, my elder brother, who was the crown prince, had died of a serious illness, and my eldest sister... had also passed away... And the person who killed my elder brother and sister was the current regent. He was also the one who made my father bed - ridden for a long time."
Rong Lan: "..." Was it really that difficult to survive in the royal family?
"He approached me and was kind to me just to use me. He only needed to create a false impression of deeply loving me in public. After killing my elder brother and sister and forcing my father to pass the throne to me, he could rely on my inexperience in politics and make my father appoint him as the regent. Moreover, after my father passed away and I ascended the throne, he served as the regent. As long as I died or fell into a coma like before, the world would be his. What an ambitious plan..."
Rong Lan was silent for a long time. Finally, she let out a sigh. "So you saw his true face and gave him up, right?" She had actually guessed correctly.
"Yes." Song Wanyue lifted her lips and smiled. "I couldn't just sit back and wait for him to abandon me. Fortunately, in his eyes, I was just a useless person. He didn't guard against me, so I didn't have much trouble getting my revenge. He will... never wake up again..."
Rong Lan fell into silence again, with a serious little face. Song Wanyue had wanted to come back to this world, firstly because the person she loved was here, and secondly because in this world, Song Wanyue could feel the love of her relatives, which could make up for the emotional deficiency caused by the death of her parents. But unfortunately, fate played a cruel joke. Now, she had neither a lover nor relatives.
"Do you... regret it?"