Chapter 642

The sky gradually cleared from dim black to cold blue; it was the moon becoming bright.

Even if she added a few more pieces of clothing, it was cold to the bone as soon as the sky darkened. The coldness against the skin was stiff and hard, and the cold air that occasionally leaked in scurried inside.

Meng'er knew that this was not a problem that could be solved by wearing a few more pieces. Working in the wild wrapped in new and thick cotton wool shouldn't actually make her shiver, because the body itself would heat up from the inside out, and at most, frostbite would grow on her hands, feet, and ears.

But she didn't have such strong labor power, not to mention that supporting her body consumed half of her strength. After working for a while, the heat had just steamed up, and her body was already about to lose strength, so she had to sit on the ice and pant. The sweat that oozed out on her skin quickly cooled down, and her thin little body was like paper that would be transparent if blown by the wind.

Not to mention that she couldn't even stand up and jump.

Such continuous sudden cold and sudden heat, her body must not be able to bear it. But let whatever illness come next, as long as she didn't suddenly faint today.

Meng'er nestled in her arms, warming her frozen hands, adjusted her sitting posture, stretched out the leg that was still intact, and this posture was like a frog dragging a broken leg. Her body was frozen stiff, and the old injuries couldn't be felt anymore... The Highness should be at the banquet now, right? I wonder how the conversation went.

Of course, there would be no hope, she thought.

The Highness had been saying these past few nights that she was discussing ways to leave with Young Master Yongji, but she could actually see that the Highness hadn't gotten any answers.

And she couldn't get any answers either.

Because the Highness was a true blood heir, this was a matter like a large mountain.

Meng'er still remembered that scene to this day, vivid in her memory.

That was the morning the Highness went to participate in the Qilin Blood test. The sunlight outside illuminated everything very brightly. She stood in the dim palace, watching the Highness's back being led into the sunlight, as if seeing everything about to get better. The Ming Ming Niangniang leaning on the bed whispered beside her: "Heaven bless, I hope Long'er will not test for true blood..."

At that time, Meng'er was only eight years old, but she already understood many things. She tilted her head in a daze, watching the dry hair hanging on that side face, thin, pale, approachable, powerless; that was the last scene of Consort Mei left in her memory.

A long time later, Meng'er finally gradually understood this prayer.

The Great Ming Palace was not beautiful at all; it was so cold that it made people suffocate. The two master and servant who grew up together were like abandoned beasts warming each other in the ice and snow.

Perhaps they could have adapted to this place, just like the Ninth Highness, finding their own position in the strict hierarchy and rules, enough for the two to live. But Meng'er knew how close the Highness was to breaking down that night when her leg was broken and she was pushed back to the Qingsi Palace covered in blood.

It was impossible after that.

The Highness had always told her that they would leave this place together, and there would be such a day, and Meng'er also liked to listen very much. That often happened when the Highness was massaging her lower limbs, and then the two lay together, talking about what they would do when they got out, which was often the happiest moment of the day.

So, when Meng'er saw that flower, she really felt as if she were in a dream, as if a deity had shone moonlight on her.

It is said that this is the prohibition of the Qilin Holy God; without His permission, no Qilin child can leave the Divine Capital.

It is said that this is the forbidden area of the five surnames; true blood must never be scattered to outside surnames, which is a major matter affecting the Great Tang.

Young Master Yongji couldn't do it, taking the Highness away... only she could do it.

Meng'er lifted her head slightly, and her eyes shone with light.

In her field of vision, that soft and beautiful flower had never disappeared, growing from the corner of her eye, swaying in front of her. The petal shape like willow leaves and cicada wings, the silk ribbon winding around the stem was like a light mist picked from the mountains.

Where in the world is there such a beautiful flower? Unless it grew from a dream.

She was willing to let the Highness think that she was doing naive and silly things every day, and she had no way to explain to Master Pei that she hadn't made her brain stupid by dreaming. In the palace, "Wei Qingju" was a very dangerous name. She knew she was doing very dangerous things, so she couldn't implicate anyone.

But only this dream was not false; it appeared truly before her eyes.

At the time when she was most dead and desperate.

After Consort Mei passed away, the Qingsi Palace was in darkness. The Highness was clearly still a child, but she seemed to have changed into a different person. She used to climb on Sister Meng'er to talk about new ways to activate Qilin Blood she had figured out, holding a sword and darting around in the courtyard, sturdy like a little monkey. Later, she suddenly went quiet, and for a year or two, she couldn't hear what others were saying.

Meng'er later heard that Qilin children were precocious, all of them were child prodigies, especially after the stimulation of true blood... she couldn't help but tremble in her heart when she heard it.

At that time, she looked at the Highness's appearance and dreamed every night of Consort Mei taking them both to bask in the sun in the courtyard. The woman's warm palm stroked the back of her head, and the Highness was laughing and playing opposite her legs. She said: "Meng'er, you are the elder sister, take care of Long'er more in the future; Long'er..."

Once she dreamed of this scene, she would wake up from the night and never be able to sleep again.

She couldn't take care of the Highness well. The more she inquired about Qilin Blood, the more desperate she felt. She didn't know anyone, and she couldn't practice.

So when she heard those legends about the late Ming Ming Niangniang, she was obsessed and wouldn't let go.

Legend has it that the late Ming Ming Niangniang was a kind person who saved the suffering, legend has it that the palace maids at that time only had to say a word to leave the Great Ming Palace, legend has it that even after she left, she still missed the palace maids, and whoever was at the end of their rope could leave here through the "Fourteenth Door" she left behind.

Legend has it... she couldn't bear the suffering brought by Qilin Blood, so she left behind the secret method to wash away Qilin Blood.

Meng'er knew this sounded like deceiving herself, but every night when she woke up from the bed and looked out the window, these legends scratched in her chest like claws.

What if... what if?

She spent a very long time investigating and inquiring, and also spent a very long time preparing secretly, finally deciding in one night to go to that abandoned Mingyue Palace to see. She indeed considered a lot and prepared a lot; the only thing she didn't realize was that she was only fourteen years old.

Because she was caught trespassing in a forbidden area, she entered the Ye Ting Prison. She was so scared that her tears were out of control, and she fainted from pain. When she woke up, the sky was dim again, and she was sent back to the Qingsi Palace. Then she discovered that her left leg was gone.

It took her a long time to accept this fact, and she couldn't forget the Highness's face that was both crying and angry. While taking care of her, she kept getting angry at her. There were no candles lit in the Qingsi Palace at night during those days.

She was very afraid of the Highness getting angry, so she performed the first time she supported herself with crutches secretly. She swayed as she went out, then fell in the courtyard, couldn't stand up no matter what, fell into the mud, and several wounds cracked and bled again. She cried brokenly.

She was afraid of the Highness seeing her like this when she came back. She couldn't accept that she couldn't walk normally anymore, and she didn't know why she was so stupid, actually believing in that kind of slim legend, to the point of turning the situation into what it was now.

That was also at that time. It was unclear which moment it was, in short, tears blurred her vision into a piece. After she wiped it with her sleeve, this beautiful swaying flower grew in the corner of her eye.

Then in the soft light it scattered, she saw the handwriting like a hand-written line: "You seem to be the saddest little girl in the palace now, so Luoshen heard your heart's call. Did you encounter anything? Why not tell me about it."

Meng'er was stunned for a long time, didn't say a word, and after a while, the second sentence floated out.

"So that's how it is, it's too pitiful. But it doesn't matter, you came to look for the legend about me, I suppose you heard about the 'Fourteenth Door of the Great Ming Palace'."

"That's right, the matter of the secret passage is true! When it appears, you can see it through this flower."

Meng'er looked at the handwriting slowly changing to the last sentence in a daze and feeling numb all over, as if it were a promise handed down by heaven.

"Because you got the flower, you can leave here."

Meng'er withdrew her lifted gaze, stared at the ice hole that had been chiseled very deep for a while, and then a smile full of hope bent from the corner of her mouth.

Her body was about to be unable to bear the cold, the fatigue finally faded, and the moon in the sky tonight was very beautiful.

Since then, she had searched for a very, very long time, and she gradually learned to smile, responding to everything with a smile, even the Highness was surprised by her mood every day. Just because no matter when, this fairy flower swayed in her field of vision.

No one else could see it, she thought in the pain.

Meng'er adjusted her sitting posture, raised the iron skewer again, and chiseled down with all her might.

Three years, she had been looking for the door that was promised, but hadn't found it. Sometimes she thought it was because the fate hadn't arrived yet, and she and the Highness hadn't grown up yet, and couldn't bear the consequences after the drastic change.

Sometimes she thought it was the Ming Ming Niangniang testing her sincerity. Perhaps only at the most desperate moment would that door open to her, just like when she saw this flower. So she endured the fatigue, pain, and inconvenience, and climbed this mountain time and time again.

Then... it should be now.

With this chisel, the ice slag splashed and grazed her swollen cheek, bringing a string of raw and cold sharp pain. Meng'er's eyes were hot, and inexplicably a few lines of tears flowed down.

She raised her sleeve to wipe it, and chiseled on the ice surface again.

Because there were no other opportunities, Ming Ming Niangniang, as long as the Highness's Qilin Blood is washed away, she and Young Master Yongji can get married... only by washing away the Highness's Qilin Blood can she marry Young Master Yongji.

So she must be able to chisel open this ice surface today, and there must be that door under the ice surface.

She chiseled down with all her might again, her spirit seemed to be frozen, only her body bent and stretched time and time again, her chapped lips pursed lightly, and her eyes reflected a slight brightness, as if plated with a layer of water light... until a "whoosh" sound.

The dark ice surface was chiseled through by her. Suddenly, a large amount of soft light from nowhere seemed to overflow from the bottom of the water. In the girl's looking-down eyes, flowers seemed to bloom fully, and her entire dazed pupils were reflected into blue.

Half a foot square of ice blocks all sank, as if entering some unknowable space, leaving only the clear waves rippling, and a full moon was reflected on it.

Meng'er screamed with joy like a madman, completely forgetting her limbs, and bounced up, spun twice on the slippery ice, and even forgot her ability to swim, falling into it as if falling down.

Then she suddenly felt the world spinning, and found in a daze that she had fallen in, but she was standing straight, the road was under her feet, and there was no feeling of weightlessness, as if that had really been a... door that could be stepped into.

Meng'er had dreamed countless times of what she would see when she really entered that "secret passage," but no dream could compare to the present. This kind of flower, which she thought would not have a second one in the world, was everywhere here, one, two, five... more and more, gathering toward the front.

The sky seemed to be falling with water curtains, the pitch-black night sky was dotted with silver stars, and at the end of the road, there was a red courtyard wall that seemed to have no end.

A closed door was embedded in the wall, facing her.

She had never imagined such a quiet and beautiful world.

Then she stepped forward in a daze, and a soft voice came from her side: "Congratulations, your wish has been fulfilled."

Meng'er turned her head, the tear stains of excitement on her face hadn't dried yet. At this moment, she believed without a doubt that she was dreaming, because only in a dream could there be such an illogical scene, abruptly mixing the image of a nightmare into a beautiful dream.

But it wasn't.

Yu Sicheng stood beside her, a large spear on his back: "It was really difficult, I know, the Ming Ming Niangniang will not fail a child as kind and miserable as you."

Meng'er was cold all over. She opened her mouth, then stopped stiffly. After a long while, she looked at him and said in a low voice: "You, you go out quickly, this is the place the Ming Ming Niangniang opened for me... you, you can't come in..."

"You do your things, I do my things, and they don't interfere with each other." Yu Sicheng looked ahead indifferently and quietly, lowered his head and pulled a wheelchair carrying a person, "The secret passage you seek is already in front of you. You can leave the Great Ming Palace after passing through it. Go, I won't stop you."

"I, I am not here to find the secret passage." Meng'er felt her throat was too tight to speak, "I, I am here to take the secret technique to wash away Qilin Blood... the Ming Ming Niangniang left it here..."

"That is not something promised by this Luoshen wood peach; you can't get it."

"I can get it. I, I am the person chosen by the Ming Ming Niangniang, I have been looking for a long time, and the Ming Ming Niangniang has already opened the door for me..."

"You are not. These two things are not the same." Yu Sicheng said indifferently, moving forward, "Leave, that is what she promised you."

"I am!" Meng'er said eagerly, chasing after him and grabbing his robe, "I, I have this kind of flower growing on my eyes, only I can see it! You, you don't know—"

"Are you a fool?" Yu Sicheng stopped, frowned, and glanced at her.

"..."

"That flower was planted on you by me." He reached out and pinched the corner of her eye, plucked the flower, threw it to the side of the road, and said indifferently, "Now it's void."

"..."