Chapter 681: Identity
Editor: Atlas Studios
“Miss Wang?” A gentle voice sounded in her ear. Duan Yuqing’s brows creased slightly. When she opened her eyes, her vision was blurry and it took her a long time to see what was in front of her.
“Miss Wang?” Seeing that she had opened her eyes, Mu Yangling called out to her again. However, the person on the bed only frowned slightly and looked confused. She turned to look at her in confusion.
Mu Yangling smiled at her. “Miss, you’re awake? Are you feeling better?”
“You are?” Only then did Duan Yuqing sober up and look at Mu Yangling in confusion.
Mu Yangling helped her up and poured her a glass of water. After seeing that she had moistened her throat, she said, “You’re seriously injured and are recuperating at my home now.” Seeing that her expression had relaxed slightly, Mu Yangling suddenly asked, “How do you feel now, Miss Duan?”
Duan Yuqing put down her teacup and said with a smile of gratitude, “Thank you, Madam. I feel much better now. I wonder if my maidservant…”
“Are you talking about Miss Qiaohui? She went to brew medicine for you.” Mu Yangling asked gently, “How did you get injured, Miss Duan?”
Duan Yuqing replied vaguely, “I met an evil person on the way and accidentally got injured…” She did not know how Qiaohui had explained her background, so she did not dare to explain too clearly.
Duan Yuqing quickly looked around the room and saw that the furnishings were exquisite. Judging from this, she knew that this was the home of a wealthy family. Logically speaking, they should be keeping a low profile as they were fleeing for their lives. How did she end up here?
Duan Yuqing looked at the door anxiously and asked, “How should I address you, Madam?”
Mu Yangling looked at her carefully and said with a smile, “I’m Princess Consort Rong. Miss Duan, you can just call me Your Highness.”
Duan Yuqing’s expression changed slightly. “Princess Consort Rong?”
There was no Prince Rong in Dali. No, she had fled to Great Qi. When the Emperor of Great Qi ascended the throne, he conferred his younger brother the title of Prince Rong.
In her agitation, Duan Yuqing felt a pain in her waist and abdomen. All color drained from her face as she covered her wound and almost bit her lip until it bled.
“Miss?” Qiaohui, who had come in with the medicine, happened to see this scene. She rushed over, placed the medicine on the table beside her, and rushed in with an agitated and anxious look. “Miss, you’re awake? Did you accidentally touch your wound? I’ll call the imperial physician for you now.”
Duan Yuqing waved her hand and looked at Qiaohui anxiously. She had many questions to ask her, but with Mu Yangling here, there was so much she could not ask. She could only worry.
Mu Yangling seemed to know what she was thinking. She stood up and said, “Since you’re awake, take the medicine before resting. I’ll visit you again tonight.”
Mu Yangling brought the servants out, leaving the mistress and servant alone.
Duan Yuqing heaved a sigh of relief and asked, “What’s going on? Weren’t we going to White Cloud Temple? Why are we here at the Prince’s Residence?”
Qiaohui sat by the bed and hugged her. She whispered into her ear, “Your Highness, walls have ears…” In a low voice, she briefly explained what had happened in White Cloud Temple and Cleansing Water Nunnery.
Duan Yuqing’s heart skipped a beat. She could not help but clutch her chest and ask, “Who did you say my alias is?”
“Master Liao Wu said that you are General Wang’s daughter…”
“But…” Duan Yuqing’s face was pale. “But she called me Miss Duan just now.”
Qiaohui’s expression changed as well. She tightened her grip on Duan Yuqing’s hand. Gritting her teeth, Qiaohui said hatefully, “What a treacherous person!” She actually took advantage of her mistress’s unconscious state to do such a cunning thing.
“Qiaohui, can we leave?” Having been hunted down all the way, Duan Yuqing feared for her fate now that she had fallen into the hands of the Great Qi royal family.
“Your Highness,” Qiao Zhiyan’s eyes turned slightly red. “Your injuries are too serious…”
Not to mention that they were trapped in the General’s Residence and their sacrificial soldiers were imprisoned, even if the sacrificial soldiers were still around, they would not dare to escape. Duan Yuqing’s injuries were too serious. If there was no good medicine and doctor, perhaps…
Hatred filled Qiaohui’s heart as she knelt down and said, “Your Highness, that Princess Consort is not a pure-hearted person. Since she tricked you, it means that she already suspects your identity. You didn’t refute just now, so she’s most likely already determined your identity. In that case, why don’t you be honest and cooperate with Great Qi?”
Duan Yuqing lowered her eyes and bit her lip gently. She hesitated. “B-But if she uses me to make a deal with the Gao family…”
“If she has such thoughts, I will protect Your Highness even if I die. The most important thing now is to heal your injuries.”
Qiaohui had thought it through very clearly. If they wanted to escape, Duan Yuqing’s injuries had to be healed first. Otherwise, escaping was equivalent to death. The only thing she could do now was to think of a way to buy more time.
Seeing that she was still hesitating, Qiaohui whispered in her ear, “Your Highness, time is of the essence. We can’t hesitate anymore. If you reveal your identity, as the princess of a country, you will receive preferential treatment and your injuries will definitely recover faster. Even if she has evil intentions, she has to inform the Emperor of Great Qi first before thinking of a way to inform the Gao family in Dali. During this period of time, when you recover, I will immediately send you out.”
At the end of the day, what they were fighting for was time. Time to recuperate.
Duan Yuqing gritted her teeth and agreed. “Invite her over then. I’ll talk to her personally.”
Qiaohui was a little worried since Duan Yuqing was innocent and might not be a match for that treacherous Princess Consort. However, she was just a servant and indeed did not have the right to talk to Mu Yangling. Qiaohui gritted her teeth and fed Duan Yuqing the medicine before going to look for Mu Yangling.
Along the way, she kept thinking about where they had revealed their tracks.
How did Mu Yangling suddenly guess their identities? Could it be that the sacrificial soldiers had betrayed them?
No, that was impossible. Those people were well-trained and would not betray their masters. Qiaohui went through the speculations in her heart as she overthrew them one by one.
Meanwhile, Mu Yangling said excitedly, “Go and call Young Master Zijin back immediately. Tell him that I have something important to tell him.”
Initially, she was just randomly giving it a shot. She did not expect to really get it right. That was all thanks to all kinds of creative television dramas that she had watched in her previous life. Mu Yangling smiled happily.
She had originally suspected that Miss Wang was the Wang family’s son who had disguised himself as a woman to escape. Later, when she confirmed that it was indeed a woman, she naturally suspected that ‘Miss Wang’ was not a daughter of the Wang family.
Since she wasn’t from the Wang family, whose family did she belong to?
The power of Dali was higher than that of the Wang family. There were only a few families that could send so many sacrificial soldiers. Initially, she suspected that ‘Miss Wang’ was a daughter of the Gao family or the Qin family. After all, these two families were in charge of Dali now, especially the Gao family which controlled almost all the government affairs in Dali. She remembered that Haoran had previously said that in the past three years, Dali had rebelled twice just because they opposed the Gao family’s control of the government. He suspected that Dali and Qiannan were in frequent contact because the Gao family wanted to divert the attention of the country.
However, when she looked at the girl lying on the bed just now, she suddenly had a flash of inspiration and called her “Miss Duan” before she completely regained her senses.
So, her surname was Duan. In Dali, there was only one family with the powerful surname Duan—the Dali Imperial Family.
Chapter end
