“You…” Qin Yunuan slightly opened her mouth, looking at Shi Ruisheng, who had a completely different appearance from Leng Changxi. She remembered that her cousin Su Chenghai did look familiar with Leng Changxi. However, Shi Ruisheng’s temperament was quite another. The sense of Confucian scholar hid behind his expressions.
Shi Ruisheng’s words were doting. He seemed to learn from Leng Changxi to act in a mild and indifferent way.
“What’s wrong? When you were a little girl, you wouldn’t be like that. You used to talk a lot, but now…mature a little more, words little less.” Shi Ruisheng said it naturally with the feeling of a brother. Qin Yunuan disdained him.
“That’s because I have nothing to say to you now.” She finished her words and left the tent. Shi Ruisheng wanted to chase her but was stopped by Leng Changxi, “Just let her go. Calm down, and she will be fine.”
Qin Yunuan kept walking. Along the way, she couldn’t help but look back but only found that either of them chased out to catch her up. She then went back directly to her tent. Yuanyang and Leng Shuang were waiting inside. A cup of half-warmed Liu’an Tea was ready on the case. Seeing Qin Yunuan come back, Yuanyang served the tea to her cleverly.
“I don’t need it. Not in the mood.”
“What’s wrong, Madam?” Yuanyang asked slightly.
Qin Yunuan turned her head to her side. She got a feeling of being cheated. At this time, a soldier brought the news in.
“Madam. General Leng asks whether you will be present at tonight’s celebration banquet.”
Obviously, Leng Changxi was becoming soft. Qin Yunuan snorted, “I’m not comfortable. Not going tonight.” She then turned her head and said, “Of course they are going to celebrate. Not only that they’ve accomplished such a great scheme behind me, but also that they’ve kept a secret for ten years excluding me. One of them is my husband, my beloved one. The other is my older brother who used to care me the most. I’ve trusted them so much. What about the result…”
“Madam, what do you mean?” Yuanyang missed her words. She wanted to know further, and then Leng Shuang hauled her back. They were merely servants. It would be better that they knew less.
The atmosphere in the tent was quiet. Qin Yunuan had been busy in planning with Leng Changxi since the early morning. She hadn’t eaten any food since then. She also refused desserts that Leng Changxi sent to her. A maid presented a plate of delicate Sweet Olive Cake. Leng Shuang used silver chopsticks to pick up a piece of it and place it in a small white saucer.
“Madam, look, this is your favorite Sweet Olive Cake and Glutinous Rice Balls. Leng Shuang heard yesterday that the condition of the Princess’s body was greatly improved. With Deputy General Zhuge’s care, it won’t be long that the poison in her body could be completely removed. Maner was on the mend, too. That’s all your credit. If you were ill, what would they be? Please, eat some.”
The words of Leng Shuang moved Qin Yunuan. She took a bite of the Sweet Olive Cake, which had a pleasant taste and nice fragrance. Once in the mouth, it melted. It seemed that as victory became closer, the meals in the military camp were also improving.
She only ate half of it, Yuanyang returning from the outside then murmured in her ears, “Madam, Shi Ruisheng was waiting outside. Will you meet him or not?”
“Shouldn’t Shi Ruisheng be with Leng Changxi at the celebration banquet to drink a lot right now? Why did he come to me?” Qin Yunuan disdainfully turned her head. The cheers and celebrations at the banquet could be heard vaguely from a far distance. They’ve won a huge victory. Leng Changxi’s army was under the city for a siege. Only one step from occupying the Royal City.
The Royal City of East Qin was said to be the most challenging city to attack. For one, it was situated in a highland. Such geographical advantage the place was because it was easy to defend and difficult to attack. For another, it had a deep moat. Half a month before Leng Changxi took over the city, the royal family of East Qin recruited artisans to dug it deeper and widener. But they failed anyway. Therefore, facing the Royal City of Qi, which was situated in plain and lacked defense, everyone considered that though Sima Ray was the commander, to conquer it was only a matter of time.
Tonight’s banquet was extraordinarily lively. Therefore, Shi Ruisheng sneaked away to find Qin Yunuan was hard to understand.
“You are such an introvert to avoid banquet.” Pinching a piece of soft Sweet Olive Cake, Qin Yunuan slowly paced out. She was leaning against a timber pile supporting the tent, with leisure bites on the laurel cake one after another, “The banquet outside is specially prepared for you. You are bold to sneak out.”
“My younger female cousin,” Shi Ruisheng stepped forward with a smile. With a move, Qin Yunuan held him back.
“You know how to practice martial skills?” Shi Ruisheng was surprised. He tranced for a second and subconsciously grabbed her arm.
Qin Yunuan glanced at him, “What? Are you surprised? I have never thought that my cousin, who had been missing for such a long time, could still alive and has such amazing skills.” Qin Yunuan’s arm stretched forward. She was using what Leng Changxi taught her before. Leng Changxi learned these skills from self-creation. However, Shi Ruisheng was familiar with Qin Yunuan’s skills. He could follow each of her skill and know her next step firmly.
“Why do we fight the first time we meet?” Shi Ruisheng was unwilling to fight hand to hand with Qin Yunuan. As if he was bullying her.
“So what. You don’t need to show mercy.” Qin Yunuan was pressuring him. Shi Ruisheng was able to resist, but suddenly he turned his head in another direction and ran away towards a dense forest next to the military camp. Qin Yunuan didn’t hesitate. She immediately followed him. Yuanyang and Leng Shuang urged to accompany but was ordered to stay. They were not allowed to take action without authorization.
All the way, Qin Yunuan was chasing him. Shi Ruisheng gained excellence in light skills. But he seemed to be waiting for Qin Yunuan to catch up with him deliberately. They ran to the edge of the forest, which was far away from the military camp. Shi Ruisheng suddenly turned his head and smiled strangely to Qin Yunuan, “Cousin, you are so bold. Won’t you be afraid of what I will do to you?”
A layer of sweat oozed slightly on Qin Yunuan’s forehead. The moonlight was a sliver disk hanging on the branches. The soft moonlight shined in the maple-leafed forest like covering a thin blanket.
Qin Yunuan strolled around Shi Ruisheng half-circled and said abruptly, “Thousands of people, thousands of appearances. Su Family was not a relative of the Leng Family, even traced back to past eight generations. But cousin, wouldn’t it be strange that you look so similar to Leng Changxi?”
Shi Ruisheng stunned. He didn’t say anything but leaned to look at Qin Yunuan.
Qin Yunuan continued, “Moreover, Zhao Huijin from East Qin considers Leng Changxi as his mortal foe. They have engaged more than a hundred times. You, a military doctor posing as Leng Changxi, could deceive him. How much you two are alike, I know. Now your face is a fake one.”
Shi Ruisheng smiled bitterly, “Not a fake one, but different from its original look. When I led the chasers away, I was forced to jump off the cliff. Although I survived fortunately, my face was destroyed and broken by stones. Later my master came to find me. Thanks to his miraculous surgical technique, my face got repaired. It was another look, though.”
The master in Shi Ruisheng’s utterance was no other than Sun Miaoyang. He already knew that the real Su Chenghai was alive. Then why did he struggle to find Qin Yunuan with such an effort?
“I begged him to find you.” Shi Ruisheng looked at Qin Yunuan’s expression turning to surprise and said, “I knew your life in Qin Family wasn’t that good. As you became increasingly excellent, more and more attention was given to you. Therefore, I begged my mater to help you.”
“You…” Qin Yunuan relaxed her frowned eyebrow, “You kept searching for me all these times?”
“Of course,” The tenderness in Shi Ruisheng’s eyes was almost the duplication of the way Leng Changxi usually did. It filled with sparkle and ardor, like staring at the first lover. The expression in his eyes was stifling, “For ten years, my younger cousin, never a day did I forget you.”
“What a pity,” Qin Yunuan looked straight into Shi Ruisheng’s eyes, “You are not my cousin.”
Qin Yunuan leaned to one side and continued, “You’ve searched for me and paid attention to me. I was also curious about how two persons with no kinship could be identical. Later, I got exciting news.”
“Thousands of people, thousands of appearances. Only those who have kinships can be similar in appearance to each other. However, to be identically the same, it should be twins. The West Xia royal family only knew that the Elder Princess gave birth to children in Yueya Mountain. What they didn’t know was the number of children. The Qi royal family only knew Prince Ning, Leng Zhongxiao brought back Qi’s royal blood, but they didn’t know whether other descendants were left in West Xia.”
“What do you mean by saying all these?”
“Cousin, you must know it clearer than me. Prince Ning was afraid of being noticed by West Xia. Seeing the Elder Princess gave birth to a pair of twins, he brought one of them, Leng Changxi, back to Qi, and left you there. They wanted to bring you back, too, but were hindered by the unexpected arrival of the second wave of assassins outside the Yeren Valley. There was happened to be Tamuer Village. The village head saved you and raised you.”
Qin Yunuan looked at Shi Ruisheng and continued, “I felt strange the moment I enter the Tamuer Village. In such a remote village, villagers could practice witchery. The white poplar forest outside the village was also used for cultivating bugs. I happened to catch an eye about such witchery in Doctor Sun’s manuscript. Since you are his only disciple, you shall know it, too. Therefore, after you grew up, you went back to Tamuer Village to teach villagers this kind of defensive technique.”
“Nice guess,” Shi Ruisheng smiled subtly, “But I only have one question. Where is the evidence?”
