Lanxi opened his mouth in astonishment, the color slowly draining from his face.
Song Jinzhao's sudden question had caught him off guard and terrified him.
"My Lady, what are you talking about? This servant doesn't quite understand." Terrified of being exposed, his tongue trembled slightly as he spoke.
Unlike facing Song Shixue, lying to Song Jinzhao made Lanxi feel far more afraid.
During these few seconds of standoff, his heart was about to leap out of his throat.
Song Jinzhao stood up and stared at him.
"Ever since the diplomatic mission from the Shuobei Kingdom entered the capital, you started giving yourself away."
"Normally, you'd rather stay in the manor every day and never leave. Asking you to work at the estate was like asking for your life. Yet this time, not only did you volunteer, but you also stayed away for more than half a month."
Lanxi's eyes darted around as he stammered an explanation.
"That is because the estate was busy. This servant wanted to perform well to earn a bit more reward money for the New Year."
Song Jinzhao curled her lips into a playful chuckle.
"Could it be busier than before the perfume shop opened? Back then, you didn't even have enough time to sleep, yet you still managed to come back every few days."
"The moment you heard the word 'mission,' you reacted like a startled hedgehog. Shixue saw right through it at a glance."
"Now that they have left, and considering you are a member of my County Princess Manor, you must let me know what is going on, lest I fail to protect you when things come to light later."
Hearing this, Lanxi shuddered violently. He had not expected Song Jinzhao to say such a thing.
When she first bought him from the human trafficker, she was clearly reluctant.
If the Second Miss and the Young Master hadn't liked his blue eyes, she definitely wouldn't have bought him.
Seeing that he had not completely dropped his guard, Song Jinzhao shifted the topic to Qu Ya and the others.
"Those physically disabled men at the estate were soldiers of the Wu Family Army over twenty years ago. Marquis Wuying was defeated and branded with the crime of treason, perhaps also dragged down by the struggle for the throne."
"The current Emperor decreed that they all be executed. Chen Yan, the former Prime Minister of the Dongzhao Kingdom, was a close friend of Marquis Wuying. Unable to bear it, he saved them all and hid them at the estate."
"The man you met yesterday should also be connected to the Wu Family Army."
Lanxi's thoughts began to be led along.
He couldn't help but think to himself: If the County Princess is willing to protect people the Emperor of Dongzhao wants to kill, then would it be fine for him too?
Song Jinzhao changed her tone and brought the topic back to Lanxi.
"Once the seed of doubt is planted, I cannot fully trust and rely on you."
"As long as you are not at fault, have committed no evil, and can guarantee that the Song family will not be implicated, I will naturally protect you."
"Or, just like facing those innocent tenant farmers at the estate, I will choose to turn a blind eye."
Lanxi's hands, hanging by his waist, nervously clenched into fists and rubbed together.
Without trust and reliance, wouldn't he eventually have to leave the Song family after a while?
Just as she was about to lead Song Anhao out of the courtyard, Song Shixue turned back and ran to the study door.
Seeing this, Qingshuang first knocked on the door, then pushed it open.
Song Shixue stepped over the threshold with both feet and stopped, her gaze sweeping past Lanxi's face to land on Song Jinzhao.
"Sister, I'm going to take Anhao to the Dongfang family for school. I'll be back soon."
A faint smile hung on Song Jinzhao's lips, and she nodded gently.
"Go ahead. It's cold outside, so come back early."
Song Shixue nodded slightly, turned, and walked out of the study without looking at Lanxi again.
Noticing Song Shixue's somewhat cold profile as she left, Lanxi's heart sank to the bottom of a cliff.
He recalled the scene when Song Shixue went to the estate to treat Qu Ya's son and later left without a word.
She must have known he was lying back then and gotten angry, and she was still angry now.
The study door was once again closed from the outside by Qingshuang.
The room was deathly quiet. Outside the window, an icicle hanging from the eaves suddenly snapped and smashed onto the ground. The sharp crack seemed to strike right at the tip of Lanxi's heart.
He squeezed his eyes shut, took a deep breath, and when he opened them again, his eyes were filled with resolve.
"Actually, my original name is He Mingjue."
The gentle expression on Song Jinzhao's face instantly vanished. He was the royal surname of the Shuobei Kingdom.
"What is your relationship with the current Emperor of Shuobei, He Mingyuan?"
Lanxi's heart pounded nervously. "He is my third brother. I am the Fourth Prince of the Shuobei Kingdom."
Song Jinzhao blinked. This matter was much bigger than she had imagined. "Go on."
"Why did you appear in Anyang Prefecture?"
"Were the injuries on your body caused by Gong Linjue's men? Why?"
Lanxi gritted his teeth, a touch of sorrow appearing on his face.
"My mother was from the Dongzhao Kingdom. Not long after she gave birth to me, she contracted an illness and died."
"No one in the palace liked me. Even my imperial father looked at my eyes with utter disgust. He threw me into the most remote palace in the imperial grounds, right next to the cold palace. Every year, I could count the number of times I saw him on one hand. They called me a prince, but in truth, even the eunuchs could bully me."
"I thought my days would just pass by in a blur like that. Who knew that the year the Shuobei Kingdom and Dongzhao Kingdom went to war, He Mingyuan conspired with Gong Linjue to poison our imperial father, and even forged an edict of succession."
"When He Mingnan returned for the funeral, he was also murdered by Gong Linjue. I happened to witness them committing the murder, so I secretly told He Mingnan's mother. As a result, she was killed before she could even send the news out."
"I was so terrified that I secretly hid in a wooden bucket meant for night soil and escaped the palace. They sent people to chase me all the way, forcing me to a cliff. With no other choice, I jumped. Fortunately, I survived the disaster by falling into a river, which saved my life."
"After that, I traveled through the mountains toward the Dongzhao Kingdom. Worried about being discovered, I figured the further away from the border, the better. Eventually, I arrived in Anyang Prefecture, and then I met you, My Lady."
Killing his father and murdering his brother—this Third Prince was certainly exceedingly bold.
Willing to bear the title of a good-for-nothing and hide for over twenty years, such a person must have incredibly deep cunning, strong capabilities, and massive ambition. He was exactly cut from the same cloth as Gong Linjue.
Song Jinzhao stared at Lanxi and asked, "From a prince to a servant, are you resigned to this?"
Lanxi looked at Song Jinzhao with a serious expression. "When I was a prince in the past, I never felt my life was better than it is now."
"Compared to the past, I am much more willing to be a servant in the Song Manor. At least I am treated like a human being, I have things to do, and no one calls me a bastard because of my mother's background. I like the present much more than the past."
Song Jinzhao remained silent for a long time before speaking. "In that case, forget the past completely. In the Song Manor, there is no He Mingjue, only Lanxi."
His tense muscles completely relaxed at this moment, and Lanxi stared blankly at Song Jinzhao.
He hadn't expected the matter to pass so easily.
The identity that made him tremble with fear and kept him awake night after night was so easily accepted by Song Jinzhao.
It was as if it were just an ordinary, trivial matter, not worth taking to heart at all.
Song Jinzhao said, "When Shixue comes back, I will tell her about your identity. This matter will remain strictly between the three of us. No one else needs to know."
Lanxi widened his eyes, feeling uncertain. "What about the Eldest Young Master?"
Song Jinzhao leaned back.
"The fewer people who know about this, the better. The Shuobei diplomatic mission has already left, so Qiming doesn't need to know."
"Go back to the estate now and bring Chen Fu and Li Hou to me. I still have some questions about what happened yesterday."
Lanxi gave a soft nod and drifted toward the door, her mind completely elsewhere. She couldn't shake the feeling that she was walking through a dream.
