The two men in front of Feng Yao continued talking, oblivious to the way that her eyes were lowered in thought.

"Although His Majesty and that damned Jun Clan's Young Master had a previous friendship, there's no excuse for what he's done. I don't care if he's the previous head of the imperial guards or if he had a friendship with the Emperor. The fact is that he was definitely the one that committed the crime!"

Gu Ting slammed his fist in anger against the table making the teacups on top rattle wildly. Several of the other customers sitting nearby glanced over but quickly looked away after noticing the scary glint in Gu Ting's eyes.

Bei Yu seemed quite used to his commander's anger and simply sighed before picking up the teacups that had fallen over. Luckily, they were all empty.

At this moment, a calm voice suddenly sounded out in front of them. Gu Ting and Bei Yu paused as they looked over at Feng Yao who was slowly tapping her fingers against the table.

"But there's no evidence." 

Her fingers abruptly stopped as she lifted her head to stare at them. The look in her eyes were astonishingly sharp as if she could see straight into their thoughts. 

"Am I correct?"

Her unusually bright eyes combined with her expressionless face surrounded her in an aura that shocked their senses into alertness.

"I--ah...Y-yes, that's correct." 

For the first time today, Gu Ting stumbled over his words. As he looked over at this young man in front of him, he couldn't help but stare in surprise.

Even Bei Yu felt a small shiver go down his spine from the sudden intimidating air coming from this person. Narrowing his eyes, Bei Yu stared closer at this young man sitting in front of them. 

He was dressed simply in a plain outfit with no accessories that could hint at his status, yet his posture and bearing was exactly that of a nobleman. Although his looks were definitely much more feminine than masculine, it seemed to work in his favor and give him the unique air of a beautiful scholar.

Glancing down, Bei Yu took notice of this Young Master's pale wrist and delicate fingers that was resting lightly against the table. If Bei Yu hadn't noticed the way that this man's body lacked any hints of feminine curves underneath his robes, he would have thought that this man sitting calmly in front of him was actually a female.

Perhaps sensing his probing gaze, the young man's eyes flickered from Gu Ting over towards Bei Yu with an unreadable expression.

Bei Yu could only meet his steady gaze as feelings of awe and admiration slowly filled inside of his heart. It was obvious that this Young Master was much younger than both him and Gu Ting, but somehow the air that surrounded him was one that could make both him and his commander feel wary.

As he continued sizing up Feng Yao, Feng Yao also took the time to study him. Earlier, she had felt his burning gaze and wondered if he'd seen through her male disguise. 

But going based off of the faint look of awe in his eyes, it seems that that wasn't the case. It seemed that it had been a good decision after all to use padding underneath her robes to mask her body shape.

Feng Yao turned back to look at Gu Ting who was similarly studying her with narrowed eyes. She suddenly felt that it was funny.

If they both knew that she was a women, would they still be looking at her in the same way?

A light chuckle escaped her lips, immediately dispelling the cold aura around her. Before Gu Ting or Bei Yu could react, Feng Yao had already stood up and bowed respectfully towards them. 

"I offer my sincerest thanks to the both of you for taking the time to speak with me. Perhaps one day, our paths will cross again. It's not everyday that I am able to meet with such two impressive figures."

Gu Ting was the first one to snap out of his daze and quickly stood up to bow towards her.

"The pleasure was all ours. I had almost given up on finding and thanking my savior that helped me escape from death last year, so I am incredibly happy to have finally been able to meet you in person to give you my personal thanks."

Bei Yu stood up and nodded. "Young Master Zhuang, please let us know if you ever require our assistance. We'd both be honored to offer our help."

Feng Yao's lips turned up into a warm smile as she nodded in agreement.

"Many thanks. I will definitely keep your kind words in mind."

As she disappeared from view, Bei Yu slowly turned towards Gu Ting who was still staring in the direction that she had gone.

"Commander, should we report this to His Majesty?"

Gu Ting immediately nodded. 

"Of course we have to. Being able to find the person who saved me last year is no light matter. His Majesty had even expressed during then that he wanted to find this person and offer his personal thanks too. At that time, we couldn't even find a trace of that person who helped. But now knowing that that person had been Young Master Zhuang, it now makes sense why his tracks were so easily erased."

Bei Yu agreed. "Yes, Young Master Zhuang seems to be an incredible figure. It's just a pity that he was poisoned and lost his martial art abilities. It would have been an honor to spar against such a master."

Outside of the tea house, Feng Yao walked calmly down the bustling streets, unaware of Gu Ting and Bei Yu's resolution to speak to their Emperor on her behalf. 

Her thoughts went through the information that she had just gained.

So Ru Qiang is on house arrest for being suspect in a murder case. Since the victim was none other than the imperial nephew, it's no wonder why everyone is against him. 

Since there's no evidence though, I wonder if he really did it? 

She suddenly realized something.

There's no way that the emperor hasn't realized that Ru Qiang disappeared during his house arrest. 

Adviser Gu Fan had intercepted them as they crossed the border from the Wei Kingdom into the Zheng Kingdom. Knowing his arrogant personality, most likely he had already tattled on Ru Qiang to His Majesty. 

But now the question was...did Gu Fan also tell the Zheng Emperor about her?

She thought about it for a moment before she shook her head. 

 No...it doesn't matter if he did or if he didn't. There's nothing that I can do about that now.

But the fact that the Emperor isn't letting Gu Fan spread the news about Ru Qiang leaving in the middle of his house arrest...is His Majesty protecting Ru Qiang?

Is it because of their previous childhood friendship? Or is it something deeper than that?

Feng Yao sighed. It seemed that every single kingdom had a mountain-load of secrets. Trying to untangle them all was truly too much work.

Her gaze lightly scanned the vendors lining the busy streets that were packed with countless people. On all sides of her, she could see many shopkeepers ushering young masters and misses to come and see their new items. With so many different shops, it really did seem like you could buy anything that you desired.

Suddenly, she heard someone call out to her from the side.

"That Young Master over there! Would you be interested in taking a look at these hand-crafted swords? They were made by the best blacksmith in the entire city!"

Feng Yao slightly turned her face to look over to see an older man staring at her with bright eyes. Her gaze traveled from his kind face over towards the weapon shop that he was standing in front of.

Indeed, he did seem to have quite a good collection of weapons. From swords to hunting bows, this shop seemed to have it all.

With a small apologetic smile, she answered, "I am quite interested. Unfortunately, I'm a bit low on funds at the moment though."

His bright expression dimmed at her words, but immediately after, he smiled again. 

"No worries about the price! You can still browse through and find something that you like. If it you like it enough, I'll even keep it to the side so that you can come back another day to pick it up!"

Feng Yao frowned as she sized him up. Something about this old man seemed a bit strange, but she couldn't quite place her finger on it.

Just as she opened her mouth to decline again, she suddenly noticed something out of the corner of her eyes.

Her senses immediately went on alert as she quickly turned her head to look. With a sharp expression, she scanned the crowd for the source of her unease, but she wasn't able to find what she was looking for.

Just as she thought that she had imagined it, her piercing eyes suddenly noticed a particular figure at the very end of the street just about to turn the corner. 

"Impossible..."

It felt like all of the air was abruptly knocked out of her chest as her eyes instantly chilled into ice. 

Completely impossible. That person can't be here. 

A burst of anger exploded within her body before it was expertly hidden behind her eyes that were filled to the brim with hatred.  

Without a moment of hesitation, she hurried after that figure that had already disappeared, unaware of the way that the old man in front of the weapon shop stared at her with a thoughtful look hidden deep within his eyes.

The streets between Feng Yao and that corner that the person's figure had been at were densely packed with countless people. It was only because she was used to weaving in between crowds that she was able to quickly make her way to the end of the street as fast as she did.

But even though she had made it here as fast as she did, the figure that had caught her attention had already vanished into thin air. It was almost like that person had never existed.

Feng Yao's eyes darkened as she slowly looked around her, thoroughly looking for any trace of that person. But it was hopeless. With this many people surrounding her, there was no way that she could track down that person that had caught her attention.

Suddenly, she felt all of the energy leave her body. A self-mocking smile twisted her lips as she faintly whispered to herself.

"Hah...what kind of a cruel joke is this? The past has already vanished along with the broken remains of that place. But why will my mind never let me rest?"

That person...it's impossible that he's here. I must have imagined it.

He died by my own two hands. I killed him. He has to be dead. 

A brief broken fragment of her memories suddenly appeared in her mind.

Blood. Blood was gushing everywhere. It coated her small hands and ran down her pale arms that were frighteningly thin from years of undernourishment.

There was no emotion in her eyes. The splatters of bright red that stood out sharply against the white skin of her face only helped to make her look more like an expressionless doll. 

Yet, that same doll-like girl had still somehow been able to muster enough strength in her painfully thin body to pierce the cold sword in her grip straight into the chest of the man in front of her.

The man could only stare at her with an expression of pure fury on his pale face. If he had still had enough strength, he would already unhesitatingly reached out to crush her windpipe long ago.

"You--!"

But the little girl in front of him paid no attention to the murderous look in his eyes and immediately yanked out the sharp blade. It had been lodged deep against his bones, so it took multiple tugs before she was finally able to get it free.

The man immediately collapsed to the ground before spitting out mouthfuls of black blood. His body held no more strength as he laid there with his poisoned blood slowly spreading out around him like wings of death.

"Come on! We have to leave now!"

The little girl suddenly felt a tug on her arm and turned to look towards a young boy to her side that was urgently trying to pull her away. 

It was Mu Yun.

Silently, she looked up into his frantic eyes that were quickly scanning their surroundings in fear of being found by their enemies. Perhaps he was too focused on staying alert that he didn't realize that there was a blade wound under his left eye on his cheek that continued to let out a steady trail of blood.

"Your cheek."

The little girl finally spoke making the little boy flinch before he realized that it had just been her voice.

He seemed to be slightly confused and reached up towards where she was pointing. As he felt his wound underneath his fingertips, he suddenly understood.

"Ah, it's nothing. Come on, we've got to hurry."

He said that, but the girl could tell that the wound was quite deep and was going to leave a small scar on his left cheek. She immediately obeyed and turned to go with him.

But just as she was about to leave, she suddenly felt a frighteningly cold hand wrap tightly around her ankle.

"You can't leave me. I refuse! You'll always be stuck with me!"

Mu Yun jumped in fear from the chilling voice that echoed within the cold chamber, but the girl simply turned around to look at the bloodied man lying on the floor. He had somehow managed to muster up enough strength to reach out and grab her leg.

Wordlessly, she took back the sword in Mu Yun's hands that he'd taken from her earlier.

"What are you--" He looked at her with incredulous eyes, but she didn't answer.

Instead, she walked closer towards the man lying on the ground, letting the tip of the heavy sword slowly trail behind her on the ground. 

The man's sorry figure had already become soaked with his own blood, but he surprisingly still had enough energy to taunt her.

"Heh, you'll never be able to escape from me! Little girl, do you really think that killing me will be able to set you free? There's a much bigger power in play here, but too bad you won't live to see them finally take action!"

His words made her pause. 

Seeing that she finally stopped, the man let out an eerie laugh that seemed to bounce around the cold walls and surround them like the wails of the dead.

"Hahaha! I knew that you wouldn't be able to resist the temptation! In the end, you're just a damned orphan with no purpose but to follow me!"

But it was as if his ugly remarks had no effect on the little girl. The young boy at her side nervously tried to tug on her again, but this time she didn't budge as she stared at the man on the floor who was still cackling wildly.

Suddenly, his lips twisted into a condescending sneer.

"You'll never be able to run away. Not from me. Not from the imperial family. Not from the Yuan Kingdom. Not from--"

The blank look in the little girl's eyes suddenly shifted for the first time and became filled with a cold glint.

That familiar unsightly sneer of his had been the last straw.

Without any warning, she suddenly plunged the sword that was almost as tall as her body right into that man's heart.

His eyes flew wide open in surprise as if he couldn't believe that she would still dare to go against him, but he had already breathed his last and was unable to continue throwing his cruel words at her.

With a icy chill in her young eyes, she left the sword behind in his body before she turned around to join Mu Yun who was still waiting anxiously at the doorway. 

Mu Yun ignored the blood that was all over her hands and quickly intertwined his fingers with hers before pulling her behind him. In the darkness of the night on that fateful day, the two of them escaped from the palace.

In the present, Feng Yao shook her head to clear herself of the memories. 

There was no way that that man could have survived. But still, she couldn't seem to get rid of the cold feeling in the back of her mind.

She dearly hoped that she had been mistaken earlier.

But if I hadn't...

An empty laugh escaped past her lips, but as usual, no one took notice of it. Although she was surrounded by so many people, Feng Yao couldn't help but suddenly realize how alone she truly was. 

Even Mu Yun, the only other person in this world who could somewhat relate to her, had already long gone missing and was no longer by her side.

When Feng Yao finally returned back to Jun Estate, all traces of the complex emotions she had gone through earlier had already vanished. In their place was her usual carefree smile.

She had already changed back into women's clothing and was now walking down the white paths of the courtyards, keeping an eye out for any signs of Bai Qing. Feng Yao had already promised her that she'd help her out with her problem of being bullied by the other servant girls before she left the Jun Estate for good. 

As she turned the corner, she suddenly saw a group of servant girls seated at the stone table in the middle of the courtyard.

Ah? Isn't that Bai Qing sitting over there with them?

Letting herself lean against one of the pillars, she silently watched them. Their voices were loud enough that Feng Yao could still hear them from where she was at.

"Little sister Bai Qing, you're looking much prettier today! I wonder if you did something different to your face?"

The voice sounded sweet, but it was laced with an undertone of mockery.

"Yes, little sister Bai Qing. You have to tell us your secrets! I bet it must be because of something that you received from that stupid lady you're serving right?"

"That must be right! Quick, show us the items that she's given you! Don't you know that it's rude to keep things hidden from your older sisters?"

They all laughed as Bai Qing timidly shrunk away from their shrill voices. Although all of the girls had on smiling faces, their eyes were all filled with ridicule.

"I-I don't have anything..." Bai Qing quietly whispered as she tried to move away, but one of the servant girls grasped her tightly by the arm, digging her nails into Bai Qing's wrist.

"Now now, little sister. It's not good to lie to us. I bet it's gone because you already used all of it, right?"

One of the other girls pretended to be shocked.

"Ehhh? Is that so? Then shouldn't you compensate us by paying? After all, it's only because you used it all that we, your older sisters, are unable to try some out."

Bai Qing's eyes filled with fear at their words.

"Y-you can't! I need that money!"

But her words were immediately ignored as they all continued to laugh and taunt her.

From the side, Feng Yao frowned. They were obviously bullying her with unreasonable demands, but how was she supposed to help?

The easiest thing to do would be to threaten them all and make them fear both her and Bai Qing. 

But that wouldn't work. She was planning to leave and Bai Qing's character was too timid. There was no way that Bai Qing would be able to keep them at bay once she was gone. And once those girls realized that, they'd naturally seek revenge.

She could also ask Ru Qiang to help keep an eye out for Bai Qing...but that wouldn't work either. Both him and his guards seemed to be too busy to keep track of one servant girl.

Her eyes lightly glanced over all of them.

Of course...I could ask Ru Qiang for permission to kill them all off. But