Who said the eldest daughter is crazy? She's clearly a woman of high rank and influence in the

Xi Yueli stood at the door, her fingers still resting on the door panel. She opened her mouth, but her throat felt blocked by something. Those eyes really looked just like her own.

She took a step forward, knelt down in front of Fu Yuan, looked up at his thin face, and uttered only a very soft question: "Did you tie the blue ribbon?"

Fu Yuan looked at her, and a thin layer of water suddenly appeared in his usually calm eyes.

When her fingertips landed on Xi Yueli's hair, the two of them stopped at the same time.

The moment Fu Yuan's fingertips touched Xi Yueli's scalp, it was as if an extremely fine string was plucked from the inside of both of their skulls at the same time, the lingering sound flowing from the top of their heads all the way to their hearts.

Xi Yueli knelt before the bed, looking up. The moment their eyes met, no words were needed.

Fu Yuan's hand slid down from Xi Yueli's hair, stopped in mid-air, and trembled slightly. She looked down at her fingertips, then looked up at Xi Yueli.

"You sensed it," Fu Yuan said.

Xi Yueli nodded. Her temples were throbbing, and the fog that had been churning in her mind for so long was now violently churning, as if something was about to burst out from within.

She steadied herself by holding onto the edge of the bed, her voice hoarse as she spoke, "Someone used some kind of secret technique on me, scattering my soul and stuffing it into different bodies, and you are one of them."

Fu Yuan closed his eyes briefly and slowly said, "I have been investigating this secret technique for three years. Empress Xiao of Daying has a group of sorcerers under her command who are proficient in the art of soul splitting."

She looked at Xi Yueli, her gaze revealing a deeper meaning. "On the night you were born, an unusual star passed by, and the celestial phenomena were abnormal. The Empress was monitoring all the women born that night in order to find you. Your complete identity should be more than just the eldest daughter of the Xi family."

Helian Jing stood by the door frame, and his back tensed when he heard this.

He thought of Shen Yanzhi, the man who publicly broke off the engagement; Shen Yanzhi's past was recorded in the files of the Tian Shu Division.

His sister had worked in the Empress's palace for three months before Shen Yan was transferred to the Ministry of Revenue, and later became engaged to the Xi family.

A single thread connects everything, making all the seemingly accidental events seem inevitable. Shen Yanzhi was the Empress's eyes and ears planted beside Xi Yueli.

"And what about you?" Xi Yueli looked at her. "Why are you locked up here?"

Fu Yuan lowered her eyes, the candlelight casting a faint shadow on her slender profile.

"Because I found the correspondence between Regent Tuoba Lie and the Empress, I intercepted a secret letter in which the Empress asked Tuoba Lie to cooperate and, when the time was right, to eliminate all those who were hindering their grand plan in the Northern Shuo royal court."

"Before I could present the letter to the King, the Queen's people arrived." Her voice softened. "She and the Regent colluded to cover my mouth from behind."

Xi Yueli gripped Fu Yuan's wrist tightly. "That secret technique... can you undo it?"

Fu Yuan looked at her, and the turmoil in his eyes suddenly froze.

"Xi Yueli, would you be willing to let this fragment of mine return to your body?"

Xi Yueli hesitated, gripping Fu Yuan's wrist. "What will you do?"

"I'm fine, but you suffer from the pain of your soul being squeezed every now and then." Fu Yuan held her hand in return.

"It's alright, I'm just glad you're okay."

Fu Yuan's lips curved slightly. She looked down at the thin, cold hand in her own, then looked up at Helian Jing at the door. "Young Master, please wait outside."

Helian Jing glanced at Xi Yueli, who didn't turn around, but she turned her face slightly, showing him the curve of her jawline and saying softly, "Your Highness, wait for me outside."

Helian Jing turned and left the underground chamber. The door closed behind him, and he leaned against the iron door, his ear pressed against the cold metal, listening to the sounds inside.

Fu Yuan got off the couch, her bare feet stepping on the cold stone floor, the hem of her black robe trailing behind her. She walked to a flat square brick in the center of the stone chamber, squatted down, and bit the tip of her index finger.

Dark red blood seeped from the wound. Using her finger as a brush, she drew an arc on the brick. The moment the first stroke landed, Xi Yueli's temple throbbed.

Fu Yuan's blood drew a complex pattern on the stone surface, with rings nested within rings and a crescent-shaped pattern in the center. When she finished the last stroke, she swayed and her knee hit the stone surface with a dull thud. She pressed the hand that had drawn the blood array against the center of the array.

"Come in." Her voice was hoarse, like gravel.

Xi Yueli walked to the center of the blood array and sat down cross-legged. She faced Fu Yuan, and the two sat facing each other in the dark red patterns, with only half an arm's length between their knees.

Fu Yuan raised his still-bleeding hand and placed his fingertips on the center of Xi Yue Li's brow.

"It will hurt," she said.

"Know."

The moment the blood droplet touched Xi Yueli's brow, the entire blood array suddenly lit up.

Dark red lines emerged from the surface of the bricks, spreading like living veins across the two people's bodies, all converging at the point where their brows met.

Xi Yueli felt the fog in her mind suddenly explode. All the fragments of Fu Yuan vibrated simultaneously in the light of the blood array, their frequency matching the beating of Xi Yueli's heart, getting closer and closer, faster and faster, until finally converging abruptly in a certain instant—

Her back arched sharply, her neck arched back, and a suppressed whimper escaped her throat. The fragments were slicing into her consciousness, carrying complete memories.

Fu Yuan's fingers, which were pressed against her brow, began to tremble. Her face paled inch by inch in the light of the blood array, and the color in her lips faded completely. But she gritted her teeth and did not stop.

The blood array was consuming her last bit of strength. The fragments were being peeled away from her body and put back into place, like barbs being pulled out of her body, each one with flesh and blood being drawn out.

"Soon." Fu Yuan squeezed out these two words through gritted teeth.

Xi Yueli was speechless. Her consciousness churned and sank amidst the surging fragments. Her eyelids felt as heavy as lead, but before she could sink completely, Fu Yuan's fingers slipped from between her eyebrows.

After the blood array's light suddenly shone brightly, it abruptly dimmed. The dark red patterns on the bricks faded to grayish-white as if their color had been drained, and then crumbled into powder.

Fu Yuan fell backward, her back hitting the stone with a dull thud. A mouthful of dark red blood gushed from the corner of her lips, flowing down her chin and into the collar of her black robe.

Xi Yueli's body lurched forward, and in her last moment of consciousness, she saw Helian Jing rush in from outside the iron gate and catch her.

Helian Jing caught her. Her breathing was shallow and erratic. A crescent-shaped light red mark remained on the spot between her eyebrows where the blood array had burned, like a newly stamped seal.

He looked down at her pale face, then pulled her head into his shoulder, and reached out his other hand towards Fu Yuan.

Fu Yuan lay on her back on the stone ground, blood still seeping from the corner of her mouth, but her eyes were open, her pupils, which were usually calm as deep water, now dilated and weak.

"Young Master." Fu Yuan propped herself up and sat up. Her gaze swept across Helian Jing's face, paused for a moment as if confirming something, and then a knowing smile appeared on her face.

"I remember you. Four years ago on the border of Beishuo, the mountains were blocked by heavy snow. You were badly injured, and I stitched you up with forty-seven stitches."