The azure beast lunged at her again, and Tao Chuyi rolled to the side, barely dodging the attack.
The remaining azure beasts clashed with the guards for a long while until Zhao Linglong suddenly swung her sword, severing the head of one.
“Sever their heads!”
At her command, the guards drew their swords and chopped off the beasts’ heads one after another.
Nangong Yunshang, anxious for her safety, leaned down and shouted, “Chuyi, aim for its head!”
The azure beast’s ears twitched. It turned and headed toward the ancient tree.
“Hey! I’m over here!”
Tao Chuyi’s eyes darkened as she raised the short knife in her hand.
“I’m right here.”
Sure enough, the azure beast wheeled around and charged at her. The blade plunged into its heart. Tao Chuyi put her strength into the thrust, driving the knife clean through so that the tip emerged from the beast’s back.
In that instant, the beast’s body crashed down, pinning Tao Chuyi beneath it.
“Chuyi!”
With the crisis resolved, Nangong Yunshang descended to the ground with Zishan’s assistance. She hurried to Tao Chuyi’s side, only to find that the azure beast had reverted to an ordinary corpse—one that bore Fendie’s features.
“She… how could she be here?”
Tao Chuyi reached out and gently closed Dieying’s eyes.
The guards buried all the other corpses nearby, but Tao Chuyi personally dug Dieying’s grave and erected the only wooden marker among them. Etched upon it were the words: Tomb of Senior Sister Fendie.
She suspected her senior sister no longer wished to be known as Dieying.
Nangong Yunshang finally pieced together the hidden truth and quietly remained at Tao Chuyi’s side, careful not to disturb her until Tao Chuyi rose on her own.
“Sister, let’s go home.”
“Alright. Home it is.”
The large procession pressed on day and night toward the Capital City. They encountered no further obstacles and arrived without delay. The staff at Princess Mansion had received word well in advance and waited respectfully at the gate.
At the sound of approaching hooves, Xichan dashed outside, waving enthusiastically at the convoy. The others rushed out behind her and bowed deeply in greeting.
“Welcome home, Your Highness and Prince Consort!”
The carriage halted before the mansion gate. Tao Chuyi lifted the curtain and leaped down. Autumn had arrived, and she had switched back to her familiar brocade white robes.
She turned and helped Nangong Yunshang alight. Standing side by side—one in white, the other in blue—they made a strikingly perfect pair.
Amid the bustle from the gate to the rear courtyard, Xichan had no chance to tend to her young master. Yet she couldn’t shake the feeling that he was somehow different from before.
Seizing the moment while Nangong Yunshang reviewed the mansion’s accounts, Xichan finally found an opportunity to speak with him privately.
“Young master, you’ve grown so thin. Were the food and sleep not to your liking on the road?”
Tao Chuyi turned to her—the girl who had always cared for her so devotedly—and felt a surge of fondness mingled with gratitude.
“Indeed, it’s nothing like the Capital City. I’ve missed your cooking terribly, Xichan. You’ve had it hard these past days.”
Xichan froze at her words, taking a moment to process them. “Young master… you’re… you’re recovered?”
Tao Chuyi nodded with a smile. “Completely.”
Overjoyed, Xichan bowed repeatedly to the heavens. “The ancestors have blessed us! The master will be over the moon!”
At the mention of Tao Siqing, Tao Chuyi’s smile dimmed slightly. She would need to find time for a proper talk with this “father” of hers.
Word soon spread through the Capital City that the Tao family’s young master was no longer a fool. The common folk marveled at the feat, wondering which miraculous physician possessed such divine medical skill as to cure an intractable case of idiocy.
Exhausted from the long journey, Nangong Yunshang fell ill upon their return. Coupled with her sleepless nights tending to Tao Chuyi, her condition deteriorated further now that the tension had eased.
Tao Chuyi brought a bowl of nourishing soup and fed it to her, unable to suppress a chuckle. “Sister, we’re both in the same predicament. I just finished mine—it’s your turn.”
Nangong Yunshang shot her a reproachful glance. “Don’t remind me. Mine’s the result of years of wear and tear, but as for you… don’t you dare collapse like that again. I… I won’t have the strength to save you.”
“Very well.”
Tao Chuyi agreed in a soft, gentle tone. Then she leaned forward and brushed her lips lightly against Nangong Yunshang’s, which still carried the bitter tang of medicinal herbs.
“It is quite bitter.”
Nangong Yunshang’s face flushed scarlet in an instant. “What do you think you’re doing? No sooner are you better than you start acting improper.”
Tao Chuyi produced a piece of malt candy and fed it to her. “How is this improper? I’m your prince consort. This is only natural.”
With the candy in her mouth, Nangong Yunshang had no easy retort. She could only glare at her.
Seeing her lover’s shy annoyance, Tao Chuyi knew when to stop. She quickly admitted fault with honeyed words, nestling into Nangong Yunshang’s embrace and acting ever so spoiled.
“Sister is the best. I like Sister the most. I love only Sister.”
After this barrage of sweet nothings, Nangong Yunshang lost all her ire, left only with the bashful blush of a young woman.
“You’re always so good at sweet-talking me.”
“But that’s only because Sister pampers me.”
Tao Chuyi tilted her head, her fingertip tracing idle patterns on the back of Nangong Yunshang’s hand.
Nangong Yunshang cleared her throat lightly. “Speaking of which, when exactly did you wake up?”
Tao Chuyi: “…”
“Back at Three Brothers’ Inn? Or even earlier?”
Nangong Yunshang pondered the question in her heart.
Tao Chuyi offered an apologetic smile. “It doesn’t matter.”
“How could it not? You don’t mean… back in Phoenix God Town…”
The rest of her words were sealed away in a kiss, never to be voiced.
Tao Chuyi couldn’t let her sister ask any further questions—not when they made cold sweat break out on her brow.
Tao Chuyi had intended to visit Tao Siqing once things settled down, but on the fourth day back in the Capital City, Tao Siqing came to her first.
When the “father and daughter” met, Nangong Yunshang tactfully sensed they needed privacy and withdrew to her room ahead of time.
Tao Siqing had learned days earlier that Tao Chuyi was cured. He had spent that time preparing what to say. Yet when the moment arrived, he stood mute as a stone, tongue-tied and stumbling over his words.
Uncertain how to begin, he simply swept back his robes and dropped to his knees.
“This subject greets the Prince Consort!”
Tao Chuyi swiftly pulled him up. “Father, what is this about?”
Tao Siqing’s mouth worked soundlessly. “You… you’re still calling me Father?”
“Why wouldn’t I?”
Tao Chuyi smiled and guided him to a seat. “Father, we’ve been father and daughter for nearly three years now. I’m quite used to it.”
Tao Siqing let out a long sigh, covering his eyes with his sleeve to hide his expression.
Seeing him like this, Tao Chuyi pressed on. “Father, I truly cherished my days living as Tao Chuyi in the Tao Mansion. I loved being Tao Chuyi. These two and a half years… they’ll live in my heart forever.”
“My little benefactor.”
Tao Siqing’s voice broke, his thoughts a whirlwind. It felt as though it had all happened just yesterday.
Five years prior, Tao Siqing had returned to his hometown to visit his foolish son. On the journey back, he was set upon by bandits. They outnumbered his meager escort of guards by far, and he had resigned himself to death. Then, from the heavens descended a slender figure in fitted black robes. The newcomer appeared young, but their strikes were swift, precise, and ruthless—they dispatched the bandits in short order.
He thanked his savior profusely and asked for a name, hoping for a chance to repay the debt someday. But the benefactor left without a word, and Tao Siqing had thought their paths would never cross again.
Two years later, the real Tao Chuyi passed away. Grief-stricken, Tao Siqing fell ill on his way back to the Capital City. Midway, he came upon a dying woman—bloodied and broken, as if she had plummeted from a great height, her mind already fading. He recognized her at once as his little benefactor and brought her back for treatment.
He saved her life, but her mind remained addled. Perhaps out of gratitude, or perhaps to fill the void of his lost son, he decided to disguise her as a young gentleman and bring her to the Capital City to raise as his own child.
After paying respects at the ancestral shrine, Tao Siqing relocated his son’s true tomb to the family plot. The unmarked grave left behind was merely a decoy. Upon returning, he dismissed all who knew the truth, rewarding them handsomely for their silence.
He chose his most loyal and trustworthy servant, Xichan, to be Tao Chuyi’s personal attendant. In the entire mansion, only he knew that Tao Chuyi was not his real daughter—Xichan knew only that the young master was in truth a young lady.
Tao Chuyi looked at him. “Father, if you’re willing, you can be my father forever.”
By then, tears streamed down Tao Siqing’s weathered face. “Of course I’m willing…”
“Father.”
Tao Chuyi stepped before him and knelt on one knee. “Then it’s settled. No growing distant from now on.”
Tao Siqing patted her shoulder. “Yes, Chuyi. Your father is overjoyed.”
That evening, Tao Siqing stayed for dinner at Princess Mansion. The three dined together in warm harmony, like a true family.
They had saved each other’s lives. From this day forward, no debts remained—only familial bonds.
After Tao Siqing departed, Tao Chuyi lingered at the doorway, gazing into the distance for a long while.
“You’re not coming inside?” Nangong Yunshang came up behind her at some point.
Tao Chuyi turned. “Sister, I’m so happy today.”
After many years and a twist of happy fate, she had found both a lover and family.
As she always had, Nangong Yunshang reached up and stroked her head. “As long as you’re happy. Come inside—it’s chilly out here. Even Fifteen has gone back to its room.”
“Sister, could you please not mention me in the same breath as Fifteen?”
Tao Chuyi complained.
Nangong Yunshang paid her no mind, thinking that Chuyi and Fifteen simply rolled off the tongue nicely.
Two days later, the imperial physicians visited the mansion once more to take her pulse and prescribed several tonics for recovery.
Tao Chuyi blinked. “Sister, I swear I just heard Little Eight talking.”
Nangong Yunshang laughed. “Don’t be ridiculous. The study is quite a distance from here.”
“It’s true. Go listen if you don’t believe me.”
Nangong Yunshang eyed her suspiciously but let herself be persuaded and actually stepped out to check.
Seizing the chance, Tao Chuyi turned to the imperial physician. “If it’s not too much trouble, please add a dose of Zhu Xian to the prescription.”
The imperial physician paused in surprise. “That’s highly toxic—used only when fighting poison with poison. Prince Consort, why…”
Using poison to counter poison was precisely the effect she desired. At this moment, without such a method, it would be impossible to sustain her life. She could not die yet—there were too many unfinished matters. She yearned to strike down her enemies with her own hands and to witness Nangong Yunshang ascend to a lofty position, reigning supreme above all others from that day forward.
Tao Chuyi cupped her hands in a salute. “I must trouble the imperial physician to keep this under wraps for me.”
The imperial physician gazed at her, then let out a long sigh. With a trembling hand, he added two characters to the prescription, his heart fluttering with unease as though he could already foresee the Third Princess erupting in thunderous rage.
When Nangong Yunshang returned, she seized Tao Chuyi’s cheeks and demanded, “Out with it—what did you send me away for?”
Tao Chuyi quickly begged for mercy, uttering a string of sweet words until her face was finally released, now bearing several red marks on her cheeks.
No Shadow Guards had access to the antidote, but she had always clearly remembered that the medicine for temporary suppression contained Zhu Xian.
“Sister, my face hurts,” she said.
She pointed to the imprint on her own cheek, seizing the chance to act spoiled.
