Chapter 6: Tracing the Dream and Returning to the Shadow

When Immortal Lord Qingyue was at her peak, she could even make millions of people fall into someone's memories at the same time, and then be trapped to death in the memories.

But now, her realm had fallen, and after a day and night of rest, she had only recovered a tiny bit of magic, and still needed to borrow blood and talismans to "trace the dream."

"Returning to the shadow" could only return to one person for a short time.

And at this moment, Dongfang Yan finally recognized in Princess Qing'an's memories that it was the streets of Shouyang Prefecture.

Shouyang Prefecture was the fief of Dongfang Yan's father, the previous Prince of Jin.

Dongfang Yan was seven years old when he went to Shouyang with his father.

At that time, Dongfang Yan was naughty and couldn't bear to be confined in the Wangfu by his father to study, often sneaking out to play, each time inevitably getting a beating, but he wouldn't change.

That year, on the Lantern Festival, he heard that the lantern festival outside was grand, so he left his books and sneaked out, and even took Princess Qing'an with him.

At this moment, the scene appearing in front of Dongfang Yan was the long street of Shouyang Prefecture.

That night of the Lantern Festival, flowers were like trees, stars were like rain, and the whole city was brilliant with lights.

But looking at it in Dongfang Yan's eyes now, he didn't know what it triggered, making him look terrified.

Yes, he remembered.

That night, he lost his sister Princess Qing'an, causing his mother to die with hatred...

In the scene at this moment, two children, a boy and a girl, appeared.

The boy was attracted by a lantern riddle, racked his brains to figure it out, only to find that his sister was gone.

At that time, Princess Qing'an was only five years old, looking like carved jade, very cute, and she and Dongfang Yan were born of the same mother, so the siblings had a very good relationship.

Dongfang Yan searched everywhere in a hurry, but there were people everywhere on the long street, and he couldn't see his sister's figure at all.

"Sister, sister!" The voice shouted at the top of his lungs was instantly drowned out by the noise of the crowd.

"Stupid, Qing'an was abducted into a small alley. You hurry to the small alley to chase, hurry to chase!"

In the phantom of the dream, the adult Dongfang Yan shouted at his younger self.

But his younger self was still a child, panicked and helpless, and was pushed further and further away by the crowd.

The scene changed, the seven-year-old Dongfang Yan disappeared, and what appeared in front of him was Princess Qing'an's perspective.

In the pitch-black alley, the five-year-old Princess Qing'an was drugged and thrown into a sack.

I don't know how long it took, she woke up faintly and found herself in a simple carriage. All the children around her were about the same age as her, all with their hands tied and mouths sealed.

The voices of adults came from outside:

"I heard that the Jin Wang Fu lost a Junzhu, and they are searching the whole city, could it be that our people got her?"

"In this batch of goods today, there are indeed a few little girls dressed like daughters of wealthy families."

"Ah! What should we do? Should we return the person?"

"How to return? The trade we do is already a crime, and you still want to throw yourself into the net, do you want to be exterminated to the ninth generation? Anyway, we are already out of the city, sell this batch of goods early. Who can find out it was us?"

"That's right, whether she is a Junzhu or a beggar, in our hands, she is just a piglet!"

A few days later, Princess Qing'an was sold to an acrobatics troupe, from a noble Junzhu to a little apprentice in the troupe.

She was forced to practice every day, and if she was not careful, she would get a whip.

In the acrobatics troupe, some children were weak and couldn't hold on, and died of illness not long after.

The boss didn't care, throwing them to the mass grave to feed wild dogs.

Even Princess Qing'an once almost died because her wound was infected and she had a fever for several days. Fortunately, her life was tough, and she survived.

Just like that, after four years, Princess Qing'an began to perform on stage.

Carrying large jars, drilling through fire rings, stacking chairs and doing handstands, she could complete them smoothly, especially skilled in high-altitude rope skills.

When she wore vulgar makeup and stood on a high platform, looking at the ladies and misses laughing and talking, she would occasionally remember that she was once a noble guest sitting under the stage.

As she grew older, the memories of the past became more and more faint, and she almost forgot that she was once a noble Junzhu, the Emperor's niece, and the Jin Wang's legitimate daughter.

Occasionally thinking of it, she even doubted whether it was just a dream.

In a flash, Qing'an grew to 13 years old.

That year, the troupe was invited by a high official to perform for a guest from afar.

It was said that the guest was a newly titled Prince, because his sister liked acrobatics, he loved the house and its crow.

The officials below catered to his preferences and specifically invited the most famous acrobatics troupe in the area to perform.

That day, Qing'an wore a peach-red acrobatics suit, holding a balance pole, swaying and walking to the center of the steel cable.

Applause rang out below, and a cold voice came to her ears: "Reward."

"Jin Wang has an order—reward!"

Jin Wang!

What a familiar title, she vaguely remembered that it seemed to be her father's title.

She couldn't help but look down, and saw a man in gorgeous clothes sitting on the high seat. His face was young, and there was a shadow of her father between his eyebrows.

Not her father, it was her brother!

She remembered, I am Princess Qing'an, I am royal nobility, not a performer for others to enjoy!

Her mind was unstable, her body swayed, and suddenly she fell from the rope.

The surroundings instantly became chaotic.

There were screams, and the host's dissatisfied reprimands, as well as the troupe boss's repeated apologies.

Princess Qing'an felt dizzy for a while, then struggled to wake up.

She tried hard to climb up, wanting to run to that person, wanting to say: "Brother, I am Qing'an, I am your sister!"

Blood vomited from her mouth, and she couldn't say anything.

The troupe boss was afraid of disturbing the noble guest again, so he hurriedly asked his men to carry her away.

She wanted to struggle, wanted to shout, but it was all in vain.

Just like when she was abducted by human traffickers, she was just as helpless.

At the last moment of being carried away, she saw the noble man's face look unhappy, turning and leaving, his back resolute.

Therefore, he didn't see Qing'an reaching out to him.

Nor did he hear Qing'an's silent cry:

"Brother, I want to go home... I want my father and mother..."

Because the performance failed and annoyed the noble guest, the entire troupe was kicked out of the mansion in a sorry state.

The troupe boss was very angry about this, scolded Qing'an, and punished her for not eating for two days.

Qing'an knew she couldn't continue like this, she had to ask for help.

And her brother's status was noble, even the officials below could hardly see him, let alone ordinary people?

He finally appeared here, finally met, once the opportunity was missed, it might be impossible to see him again in this life.

But Qing'an was seriously injured, especially her leg was broken, and she couldn't go out.

So, she entrusted her best partner in the troupe to help her find Jin Wang.

Two days later, Jin Wang personally brought a large number of guards.

That day, the female performer who had been abused since childhood was welcomed away, and from then on, she lived in luxury and was noble beyond compare.

What no one knew was that on the same day, at the bottom of the well in the acrobatics troupe's courtyard, a girl with a tragic fate drowned silently.

And everyone in the acrobatics troupe was also punished and executed.

The scene in front of him suddenly dissipated, Dongfang Yan's face was pale, and he couldn't recover for a long time.

In the flashback of the dream, he saw with his own eyes his sister being abducted and sold into the acrobatics troupe, watching his sister grow up in daily abuse, growing into... another appearance.

He slowly raised his eyes, looking blankly at the distance—Princess Qing'an, who was wet all over.

But at this moment, Princess Qing'an... the Princess Qing'an he personally picked up from the acrobatics troupe, was not the appearance in the flashback.

"Who are you? You are not Qing'an?"

After the Qing'an in the flashback was abducted, those vicious abductors were afraid of being found out, so they simply poisoned all the little girls in the same batch.

Therefore, Qing'an couldn't speak, even if she met her brother again later, she could only shout and cry silently.

Later, she used sign language and spent a lot of thought to make her best partner understand what she meant.

Her partner was named "Hong Yan'er," also a performer in the acrobatics troupe.

Hong Yan'er was also sold in.

She was originally just an ordinary farmer's daughter, her family suffered a disaster and couldn't live, so she was sold.

Hong Yan'er had a violent temper since she was a child, and the performers in the troupe didn't get along with her. Only Qing'an had a gentle personality and couldn't speak, and got along well with Hong Yan'er.

After learning that Qing'an's identity was actually a Junzhu, Hong Yan'er immediately nodded and agreed to help.

The next day, Hong Yan'er ran back in a hurry: "The news has been delivered! Your brother will come to pick you up soon. You are too dirty, do you want to wash up first?"

"Your leg injury can't walk? It's okay, I'll carry you to the well to wash. Performers are already looked down upon, if you are dirty and smelly, what if your brother dislikes you and doesn't recognize you? That is the noble Prince!"

Just like that, she coaxed Princess Qing'an to the well, and then pushed her down ruthlessly—

"Both of us were abducted and sold, why do you get to turn around and go back to be a Junzhu? And I can only be a lowly performer forever?"

"You can be a Junzhu, why can't I? Your life is bad, you deserve to die, don't blame me!"

When Dongfang Yan got the news and rushed over with people, Hong Yan'er stood out with tears in her eyes: "Brother, I am Qing'an..."

When Dongfang Yan asked her how she had lived all these years, she cried about being abused, being forced to learn acrobatics, and said she had almost been beaten to death several times.

Coaxing Dongfang Yan to punish everyone in the acrobatics troupe, so that no one would find out she was a fake Junzhu.

When she was a performer, she was lowly and bullied by everyone.

But after she sat on the noble position of Junzhu, she not only enjoyed wealth and glory, but also experienced many conveniences brought by power.

When she was unhappy, she could beat and scold maids at will, and even sell them to death.

Even people in the noble class had to kneel and flatter her.

Gradually, she became more and more arrogant. She forgot her lowly birth and forgot that everything she had was stolen.

And Dongfang Yan, because he lost his sister due to his own willfulness, felt guilty and self-blaming, and after finding her again, he became a sister-pampering maniac.

Even when it was time to discuss marriage, Princess Qing'an didn't want to marry, and he indulged her.

But he never thought that the sister he had pampered for many years was a fake.

Even, in the flashback of the dream, he saw with his own eyes the fake sister pushing his real sister into the well and drowning her!

At this moment, he looked at the woman in front of him in disbelief: "Who are you? Are you Qing'an, or... Hong Yan'er?"

"Is it you who is playing tricks!" He suddenly glared at Lin Qingyue again.

At this moment, he would rather believe that Lin Qingyue was playing tricks than accept the cruel reality.

"Instead of questioning me, why don't you see for yourself who is your sister!"

Lin Qingyue said, raising her hand and stroking his eyes, opening his yin and yang eyes.

So Dongfang Yan clearly saw someone lying on the back of "Princess Qing'an."

It was a girl of about 13 years old, dripping with water.

Seeing Dongfang Yan looking over, she slowly raised her head, and when the wet soft long hair slid open, it revealed a pale, pale face.

The features on that face had a few similarities to their mother.

In an instant, Dongfang Yan's mind surfaced with his mother's instructions before she died: "A-Yan, you must find your sister, you must find her!"

Because he lost his sister, his mother was depressed and died within two years.

His father accidentally fell off his horse during an outing to find her.

That willfulness and naughtiness lost his sister and also caused his parents to die early one after another.

Everything was his fault!

After many years, he finally found his sister, but found a fake one.

And he actually pampered a fake one to the sky, not knowing that his real sister had long become a lonely ghost, suffering.

Just now, he even forced Xie Shouzheng to beat her soul away to save the fake sister, so that she would never be transcended!

"Pfft!" Dongfang Yan felt a sharp pain in his heart and spat out a large mouthful of blood.

"Qing'an... sister..." The usually cold and arrogant man finally collapsed and cried.

Qing'an's soul fell from Hong Yan'er, tilting her head and looking blankly at the crying man.

A moment later, a little expression slowly appeared on her face, and two lines of tears rolled out.

And the fake Junzhu Hong Yan'er also woke up at this moment, blankly shouting: "Brother."

"I saw it all, you pushed Qing'an into the well, you killed my sister, and you impersonated her identity, being a Junzhu for five whole years! You had a very happy time these five years, right?"

"I was like a fool, pampering you, indulging you! Even if you injured the Minister's daughter, I couldn't bear to scold you, and even collected evidence of the Minister's corruption to help you settle the matter, so you wouldn't be punished by the Emperor."

"In the end, I was raising a tiger!"

"You... know?" Hong Yan'er sat on the ground, stunned for a moment, then suddenly crawled over and hugged Dongfang Yan's leg to cry and beg.

"No matter what, the feelings of these years cannot be fake."

"Brother, human hearts are made of flesh. I have never lived a good life in my life, and I have never met anyone who treated me well."

"You are the only one who treated me well, I am grateful, and I put you first in everything. I send you out every day, waiting for you to return to the mansion. When you were sick and injured, I took care of you day and night, wishing I could replace you."

"You didn't like Lin Qingyue, so I racked my brains to help you get rid of her!"

"Brother, you once asked me what kind of husband I wanted to find. I didn't answer at the time, now I tell you, the husband I want is someone like you!"

"In this world, what other woman understands you, respects you... loves you like I do?"

"Brother, can you give me another chance? If I can't be your sister, just let me stay by your side, even as a slave or maid." ===== CHAPTER 7 =====