Loulan.
The palace.
It was a quiet and enclosed environment.
The tree branches cast sporadic shadows.
Occasionally, the caws of crows could be heard.
Faint noises could be vaguely heard from inside.
Zhao Shuning stood outside the door, looking at the place where prisoners were detained.
Mo Yan had no expression on his face.
"You locked her up here? Do you know that she grew up in a marquis's mansion and had never suffered like this before she went to Changkong Academy?" Mo Yan said in a stiff tone.
"I've already shown the greatest mercy by not killing her immediately," he said, and then he yanked Zhao Shuning hard.
The girl's defiant look stabbed at his heart like needles.
He turned her head and forced her to look at the door. He said in an extremely cold voice beside her ear, "If you hadn't come back with me this time, I would have killed her and sent her body to you."
Zhao Shuning turned around.
She could clearly see Mo Yan's blood - lust, his heartlessness, and all the harshness on his face.
"But she is the predestined daughter of Loulan," she said.
"No, she isn't. You are. I'm the leader of Loulan. I decide who is."
Zhao Shuning stood there, stunned.
"Lord Mo Yan," she said.
"I've said not to call me Lord Mo Yan. Call me Mo Yan. Why can't you remember? Why do you always go against me?" Mo Yan reached out his hand, trying to caress Zhao Shuning's face.
She immediately clamped his hand.
"I respect you for raising me, so I've always shown tolerance to you. If you go too far, even if you threaten me with the countless people of Loulan, I won't come back."
"You're really a wild little cat," Mo Yan said.
Zhao Shuning slapped away Mo Yan's out - stretched hand with a snap.
"Ah—"
At this moment, a shrill scream came from the room.
Zhao Shuning turned around and glared at Mo Yan fiercely.
"She'd better be okay. Otherwise, I'll surely settle this score with you."
Zhao Shuning rushed to the door.
The guards on both sides immediately saluted.
"Miss."
"Open the door."
The panicked screams came from inside again.
The two guards looked at each other and then both shook their heads.
"Miss, please don't make things difficult for us."
Zhao Shuning turned around.
"Mo Yan, tell them to open the door."
On her face, besides anxiety, there was also a trace of pleading.
Mo Yan sighed. Even though he had been so angry with the girl in front of him just a moment ago, as long as she pleaded with him, his heart would involuntarily soften.
He couldn't bear to see the girl he had cherished since childhood being wronged. Even if it was self - inflicted.
"Open it," he said.
Only then did the two guards step aside.
Zhao Shuning turned around, said thank you, and then rushed in immediately.
Inside the cell, it was dark all the way down. It was winter, and as soon as Zhao Shuning entered this dim environment, she couldn't help shivering.
It was so cold.
She looked inside.
No light could get into the dark cell, so Zhao Shuning had to feel her way forward.
The scream she had heard just now clearly came from Luo Qiu.
"Ah—"
"Help—"
The panicked voice of the woman came again. This time, she was even scared to cry.
Following the sound, Zhao Shuning quickly found the cell where the woman was. When she got outside that cell, she immediately kicked open the door.
Suddenly, dozens of rats ran out of the cell.
Zhao Shuning felt a shiver run down her spine.
There were two guards standing at the cell door. They were holding two sacks in their hands.
"Miss, this was ordered by the leader. We were told to take 'special care' of the woman in this cell."
"Get out!"
The two guards quickly backed off.
Zhao Shuning walked into the cell.
She lit an oil lamp in the upper - right corner of the cell. With the light, the cell became a bit warmer.
Zhao Shuning saw.
Luo Qiu was huddled in the corner.
Curled up, with her hands covering her head, there were still some stains on her face. Her hair was in a mess, and her eyes were dull.
At this moment, she was no longer the gentle and elegant young lady.
Zhao Shuning walked closer to her.
She didn't look up.
Her body was trembling uncontrollably.
"Don't—"
"Don't—"
"I was wrong—"
"I know I was wrong—"
The woman kept shaking her head.
Seeing this, Zhao Shuning felt a pang of pity in her heart.
If she had returned to the marquis's mansion normally, none of this would have happened, right?
Zhao Shuning had seen the torture in the Loulan cells. How could a marquis's daughter endure such torture?
Zhao Shuning's hand gently touched Luo Qiu, but Luo Qiu suddenly backed away.
But she forgot that there was a wall behind her and had nowhere to retreat.
Zhao Shuning quickly reached out her hand and put it under Luo Qiu's head, thus preventing her from hitting the wall.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Luo Qiu kept apologizing.
Zhao Shuning took a step forward and hugged her.
The familiar embrace and the familiar smell.
The woman in her arms was stunned.
Then, her voice was so soft that it could hardly be heard.
"Sister, is it you, sister?"
"I'm sorry. I'm late," Zhao Shuning said.
Hearing the answer, the woman in her arms hurriedly looked up. When she saw the face of the woman in front of her, she finally couldn't hold back and burrowed into Zhao Shuning's embrace, hugging her tightly.
"Sister, you've come to save me."
"I'll take you out."
"I'm so scared, I'm so scared. It's so dark here."
The woman's emotions suddenly collapsed, and she burst into tears. Zhao Shuning kept comforting Luo Qiu and picked her up.
"I'll take you out."
Luo Qiu nodded in Zhao Shuning's arms.
She buried her head in Zhao Shuning's embrace.
Zhao Shuning carried her out of the cell.
The blinding light shone in.
The woman in her arms finally found a safe embrace, so she fell asleep soon.
Zhao Shuning took Luo Qiu to the room where she used to live.
She ordered someone to wipe her body and change her into clean clothes. Only then did Zhao Shuning leave the room.
Mo Yan was already waiting for her in the main hall at this time.
Zhao Shuning knew that if Mo Yan went berserk, no one in Loulan could stop him.
However, she had to face it.
Now that things were out in the open.
She had to step back and let the real Luo Qiu do what belonged to her.
Zhao Shuning entered the main hall.
Mo Yan was sitting in the room with a gloomy face.
"Lord Mo Yan."
Mo Yan looked at the people in the room, and then they all went out.
After going out, they also closed the door.
"Lord Mo Yan, she is the real Luo Qiu," Zhao Shuning said.
"I know. But so what?"
Zhao Shuning said, "So, I'm actually Luo Feiyan. For Loulan, I'm the real threat. You should kill me."
Mo Yan didn't say a word.
Zhao Shuning took a deep breath.
She had come to this place for no reason, become the lucky star of Ruoqiang for no reason, and had her identity switched for no reason.
Now, things had developed to this point.
Zhao Shuning had already helped Luo Qiu complete most of what was recorded in the history books. It was time to return the identity of Luo Qiu to her.
"Why?"