“Why has the sky suddenly turned so overcast.”

Lin Yuanjin held her book, and upon hearing the nanny’s words, raised her head. Through the lifted carriage curtain, she saw the dark, oppressive clouds pressing low across the sky.

“It was clearly the eldest miss who was to go up the mountain to pray for blessings, yet just as she was about to set out, she claimed to be unwell and did not go.” The maid at the side muttered in a low voice, “And Madam actually let you go up the mountain alone.”

“Do not trouble yourself unnecessarily, have some pastries.” Lin Yuanjin smiled as if accustomed to it, only turning another page of the book in her hand. If the palace’s instructing nanny were to see, she would surely say again that she was lax.

After so many years, she had long been used to it.

What she should do, what she could do, had nothing to do with whether she wanted to or not.

Fortunately, there were not many people by her side, but they all treated her well. Those accompanying her today were all as close to her as blood kin.

“I have already told the coachman to hasten the journey, we should be able to reach the temple before it rains.” The nanny bent slightly as she spoke, concern evident in her tone. Seeing the maid eating pastries, she smiled, “Do not spoil her too much, in the future if you are not here, no one will want her.”

“They won’t!” The maid pouted.

Lin Yuanjin smiled, comforting her, “Nanny, do not be nervous, even if we are late and get caught in the rain for a while, it will not matter.”

But before she could absorb the words in her book, the carriage suddenly jolted violently, nearly throwing her out.

Lin Yuanjin’s hand was struck red from the impact. She set aside the book in her hand and watched as the nanny, angered, questioned “What are you doing?” as she stepped out of the carriage compartment.

Strangely, the coachman did not respond as usual.

What suddenly rang out outside the carriage was the sharp clash of weapons.

“Be careful!” “Who are you people?!” Familiar cries of alarm rose one after another, yet it seemed that no one outside responded.

“Guards! Guards!”

Only the continuous sounds of blows and dull impacts split through the air, followed by a heavy, pungent smell of rust.

Lin Yuanjin’s eyes widened abruptly, instantly realizing it was an attack. She flung aside the book in her hand and had just risen, wanting to observe the situation outside through the slit of the curtain, when the maid beside her cried “Be careful!” and pushed her away with force.

A strength she had never imagined shoved Lin Yuanjin entirely to the side, slamming her into the wooden frame. The pain in her chest made her vision go dark. Everything came too quickly; she had no time to think.

In that instant, an arrow pierced through the narrow curtain.

The arrowhead was silver-white like light; like a blade cutting through the air, it suddenly pierced through the center of the maid’s forehead.

The warm blood that splattered from the force of the penetration suddenly sprayed onto Lin Yuanjin’s face and neck, almost staining everything before her eyes red. Time seemed to freeze for a moment, and the cough in her throat came to an abrupt halt.

Lin Yuanjin’s pupils dilated, her hands suddenly stilled, her entire body frozen in place.

Her mind was completely blank. She could only watch helplessly as the once familiar face had its pupils strangely dilate, suddenly losing strength, like a puppet with its strings cut, collapsing heavily beside her legs.

The maid’s lips moved again and again, as if she was saying something.

Perhaps she was trying to convey something to her.

Lin Yuanjin could not hear it, nor could she understand, only remaining dazed and motionless.

She could not recall the cause, the process, or the outcome; she could not remember even a single word. Her thoughts had snapped. Even her usually sensitive heart had no time to feel fear. She could only see death suddenly appear before her eyes, advancing straight toward her, yet she did not know how to react.

After sixteen years.

Death once again beckoned to her.

Lin Yuanjin even forgot how to breathe for a moment, her face so pale it was nearly bluish, her whole body trembling reflexively.

At that very moment, a strange heavy thud slammed against the carriage beside her, accompanied by an extremely weak voice that forced its way into her ears with all its remaining strength.

“Run… run…”

Please, run quickly.

Hearing the voice of the nanny who had cared for her since childhood, like a body’s instinct for survival forcing her back to her senses, warm liquid fell from her eyes. As if released from shackles, Lin Yuanjin suddenly coughed out a breath.

Her pupils trembling and unfocused, she endured the fear and moved toward the carriage window, only to see an overwhelming sea of blood flooding her vision.

Blades flashing, blood splashing on the spot.

Familiar people fell one by one to the ground. Men who looked like bandits held long halberds and sharp blades, continuously slaughtering the attendants and guards escorting her, piling them up after killing them.

They did not care for wealth, only took lives. The maids and nannies who had treated her like kin and protected her since childhood were slaughtered completely.

Lin Yuanjin was forced to face an even more cruel death once again.

She should run, but how was she to run?

She… should she run?

Her legs lost strength. Struggling to breathe, Lin Yuanjin braced herself against the wooden board with her hands. She clearly knew what she should do now, yet she could not think of a way, nor did she have the ability to escape under the encirclement of killers.

She had no way.

Reality did not allow Lin Yuanjin to think any further. The damaged carriage suddenly lurched, and along with the agonized neigh of a horse injured outside, the entire carriage was violently dragged.

Through the curtain, she could vaguely see the coachman, still gripping a blood-soaked arrowhead, being thrown miserably onto the muddy ground.

“Why is the horse still alive?!” “What were you all doing just now!”

The irritated curses were quickly left behind by the galloping carriage.

Lin Yuanjin heard several arrows strike the wooden boards behind the carriage. She could only cling desperately to the few handholds inside, feeling the carriage charge recklessly along the mountain path that was barely a road at all.

Branches lashed past, crashing into tree trunks, the carriage becoming riddled with holes along the ominous path.

Inside the carriage, Lin Yuanjin could no longer tell east from west, nor did she know whether the horse would carry her toward life or death.

Suddenly, a terrifying sensation of being lifted into the air rose.

Her back slammed against the carriage board, everything before her spinning. Her hand was sliced open by sharp thorns. Her strength was nowhere near enough to hold onto the handhold, and her whole body was flung out of the carriage.

Weightlessness, falling.

She saw sparse branches, the dim sky, the carriage that nearly crashed into her but was deflected by the force of the tree trunk, the cold raindrops falling onto her face.

She heard the final cry of pain from the back of her head after a heavy impact. Along with a jolt that seemed to displace her internal organs, she coughed out a mouthful of blood. She thought she had fallen onto the ground, yet the warm thing cushioning her back was a hundred times softer than stone.

Lin Yuanjin felt herself exhale her last breath. Amid the uneven black and white before her eyes, she vaguely saw the horse beneath her convulsing, and then completely lost consciousness, fainting away.

—  .  ୨  ♡  ୧  .  —

The rain in the sky fell in a soft drizzle.

The damp earth was mixed with a heavy stench of blood. The sounds of breathing around had, at some point, completely disappeared. The broken carriage lay like a corpse beside the wild grass.

Lin Yuanjin lay behind the bushes, her vision blurred, struggling to look at the lifeless horse beside her. Darkness flickered across her sight again and again. The hunger in her stomach seemed insignificant under the intense pain throughout her body.

Rain slid down her cheeks onto her chapped, peeling lips; when it touched the bleeding wounds, it brought another dense wave of discomfort.

Whether it was cause for relief or worry, Lin Yuanjin had not died.

For the time being.

But the horse that had carried her out of the encirclement and saved her life in the fall from the cliff was already gradually stiffening.

Lin Yuanjin had survived by chance, yet there was not the slightest joy in her heart, only a dazed recollection.

Who wanted to kill her? Lin Weiyin? Or someone else?

Why?

For the emperor’s bestowed marriage?

The rain mixed with a salty taste, moistening Lin Yuanjin’s burning throat, as if forcing her to wake up. The pain made her tears slide down with the rain in an instant, the sobs in her mouth broken and hoarse.

Whether in her previous life or this life, her life seemed never to have been in her own hands.

But that did not matter. Lin Yuanjin only wanted to live in peace.

As long as she could live without worry for food and clothing, that was enough. Nothing else was important.

…But as things stood now, even this was a luxury.

Lin Yuanjin curled up on the cold stone ground, sniffled, and looked at her numb, unmoving legs. Afraid of being left crippled and living a fate worse than death, she even briefly gave rise to the thought of ending her own life.

Death, perhaps distant to others, had always been close at hand for her.

She had never been one to worry without cause.

Through this long night, she had always feared the arrival of death.

The memory of the bandits slaughtering without a word, fierce and relentless, replayed before her eyes.

Like a tattered puppet, unable to move yet still struggling to survive, she drank the rain falling from the sky, trying to wait for someone to come save her—but the reality might be that those who wanted to kill her would find her first.

Alive, they wanted to see the person; dead, they wanted to see the corpse. That she was still alive now was only a momentary stroke of luck.

Yet no matter which side it was, there was not a single sound.

From dawn to night, she waited, afraid of missing even the slightest noise. For the sake of a faint sound that might not even exist, she called out for help cautiously. The wounds on her body split open again and again because of it, blood soaking the cracks in the stone beside her red.

By now, it had been a full day and night since she had rolled down the cliff.

Insects crawled over her skin. Her ankles were so swollen they had lost all sensation. Her skirt had been torn to shreds by branches during the fall, mud clinging to her like a disease attached to the bone.

Lin Yuanjin finally realized that no one was coming to look for her.

Perhaps it was not entirely without benefit—at least… those vicious bandits would not deliberately come to kill her for the time being.

A sour ache filled Lin Yuanjin’s nose, yet her body could no longer produce tears. Each breath was like a blade carving into her chest, as if she were being slowly dismembered. Her internal organs seemed to convulse continuously, reminding her of her fragility and disgrace.

She had not fallen into a deserted cliff.

Longlin Temple was an imperial temple, and the mountain path leading to it was an official road.

So it was not that she could not be found—it was that no one came to find her. Perhaps for the reputation of the other women in the family, perhaps for benefit… no matter the reason, the result was that she had been cleanly discarded like garbage.

Lin Yuanjin curled up in a miserable state, her breathing trembling uncontrollably from the cold, her bones letting out unnatural “ka-ka” grinding sounds.

She still did not dare to kill herself, did not want to kill herself.

What if… what if there was still a chance?

She was obedient and sensible, never fighting for anything, never taking anything. Even the bestowed marriage—she had not willingly wanted to become the Crown Princess—so why should she die?

Yet the one lying at the bottom of the cliff, barely alive, was her. The one who had nearly been stabbed through by cold blades was her. The one who had nearly been brutally murdered by assassins sent after her was her.

Lin Yuanjin closed her eyes, feeling as if her consciousness was about to detach from this broken body. It was as though a blood-covered person was wailing within her mind, crying hoarsely over her misfortune and ill-fated life.

Forget it.

It was not the first time she had been abandoned.

Fatigue surged over her like a tide, even the sensation of pain beginning to blur.

The rain almost stripped away the little warmth left in Lin Yuanjin’s body.

The cold sensation continuously swallowed her awareness, pulling at her drifting consciousness. The back of her head felt as if struck, unbearably heavy, as though a heavy anchor dragged her downward, until she sank into the pitch-black night.

The sound of rain grew louder, her breathing weaker, brushed lightly away, carried off by the wind.

Suddenly, faint footsteps came from the damp ground.

If not pressed close to the earth, they would almost be imperceptible.

Lin Yuanjin’s heart suddenly pounded, like a phantom drum beating beside her ears at the brink of death, reminding her that her time had not yet come.

The stranger almost instantly noticed her barely audible breathing, his steps pausing before turning toward her direction, until he walked up to her and crouched down.

She felt a bone-deep chill.

Lin Yuanjin was so drowsy that it felt as if her upper and lower eyelids had stuck together, as though threads could be drawn between them when she tried to open them. Still, she struggled to open her eyes, and in her bloodshot gaze appeared a pitch-black figure.

Her blurred vision could not make out his features, only his slender outline, seemingly not very old.

Was this person also here to kill her?

Lin Yuanjin stared at him hollowly, sorrow rising in her heart, yet also a strange sense of relief.

No matter what, it could not be worse than this.

Her blood-streaked wrist trembled as she moved it. Hanging onto her last breath, enduring the pain as if her body were falling apart, she extended her hand with extreme difficulty and tightly grasped the boy’s wrist. Opening her mouth, her voice hoarse like a broken gong: “Can you save me?”

Her hand had already lost all sensation; she could only use what she believed was her greatest strength to grasp the person before her and beg.

The person before her looked her up and down, seemingly confirming her identity.

Lin Yuanjin had already exhausted all her strength, clutching his wrist. A surge of heat uncontrollably filled her eyes, as if she wanted to cry out all the sorrow of two lifetimes. Her voice was soft yet extremely clear, every word carrying heart-wrenching pain: “Please…”

Had she gone mad? Perhaps.

But this was her last hope.

“I will be obedient, I am willing to do anything.”

Even if it meant living one more day.

She truly… did not want to die like this. She still wanted to avenge her wrongfully dead loved ones.

She would die with her eyes unclosed.

The boy lowered his gaze and met Lin Yuanjin’s eyes.

The pure instinct to survive that burst forth from Lin Yuanjin in her desperate situation made her grip his wrist as if clutching the last thread of a spider’s silk on a cliff. In her unfocused eyes was reflected his appearance.

Cold rain slid down the boy’s cheeks and garments, as though a blurred curtain had been forcibly torn away, revealing a face so handsome it was almost exquisite.

He was dressed entirely in black, only his face pale and clean. In this desolate wilderness, he was like a wandering specter, taking lives without a trace.

“Are you the Lin family’s legitimate second young lady, Lin Yuanjin?” he suddenly spoke, his voice like the clear sound of a spring, falling into Lin Yuanjin’s ears.

Though it was a question, he seemed already certain of her identity.

Lin Yuanjin’s eyes flickered. “You are…”

“The name of a lowly person is not something the Crown Princess needs to know.” The boy’s brows and eyes were cold and distant, the corners of his eyes slightly raised like sharp blades. He extended his hand, disregarding the bloodstains and mud, and lifted her into his arms. “I am the Crown Prince’s shadow guard, ordered to come and save you.”

A shadow guard was the Crown Prince’s shadow, taking disasters and injuries in his place, doing everything he was unwilling to do.

This matter would harm the reputation of the future Crown Princess, and too many people could not be mobilized, so he alone had been sent to rescue her.

Lin Yuanjin’s gaze suddenly went blank, as if a heavy burden had been abruptly lifted. Her strength gave out, and she fainted.

The boy carried her, stood up, and walked forward along the path ahead.

The heavy rain gradually ceased.