Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
“It’s made of superior ironwood. A lot of effort was put into constructing this door, and it’s exceptionally heavy. However, I’ve embedded something inside the door.”
“You’ve embedded something? What is it?”
“Make a guess,” he said with a look of tenderness.
“Would I have asked you if I could guess it? Just what is it?” she probed.
He lowered his head and whispered into her ear, “Something that I had written.”
“What is it?”
“I doubt you can see it. It’s already sealed inside this door, it won’t be easy to retrieve it. I wrote it for you,” he said softly.
“Why did you…”
“I wanted to keep a unique memento and place it somewhere only we know.”
Smiling, she looked up and gazed at him, revealing her straight rows of pearly whites.
His heart fluttered upon seeing her smile and he said, “You just have this power to make me infuriated yet happy.”
The air was filled with a joyous atmosphere that would have persisted on if the Princess Consort hadn’t showed up.
What a pity that she did.
“Oh, how times have changed,” the Princess Consort gibed while striding in gracefully with Xiao Liu behind her. It did not cross An Xiaoning’s mind that Xiao Liu would become her maid.
“Greetings, Princess Consort,” said An Xiaoning, who felt it was only appropriate to follow the rules.
“Don’t say that, Miss Hua Jin. You’re no longer who you used to be. You’re now the goddaughter of the Gu Nation’s prince, not the little lass who used to be at everyone’s beck and call a year ago. In hindsight, it must have been tough for His Highness to have to watch you get beaten up and punished so severely. I really thought that you had died from the beating and was randomly buried somewhere. Turns out, His Highness was so remarkably intelligent and hid everything so well. I’m no match for him at all,” she sneered.
There was a blatant animosity in her sarcastic remark that she did not try to hide at all.
“Please leave if there’s nothing else you have to say,” he said coldly.
The Princess Consort was at a loss for words.
She had initially wanted to say something, but to no avail.
“I’d like to invite His Highness and Miss Hua Jin for a meal together. How does that sound, Your Highness?”
“Sure.”
An Xiaoning was rather awkward and tense throughout the meal. She mimicked the actions of others and chewed slowly, taking one small mouthful of food at a time. She decided to keep quiet because she had no idea what to say around the Princess Consort.
However, the Princess Consort could no longer tolerate it further and sneered with a smirk, “There aren’t any outsiders here. May I ask, when did your relationship with His Highness begin? Was it when you climbed onto his bed when you were still a maid?”
An Xiaoning turned to look at Jin Qingyan, only to discover that an austere expression had formed on his face. “Don’t you know what to ask and what not to?” he snapped.
Feeling extremely disgruntled, the Princess Consort said, “I married Your Highness and I’ve been a virtuous wife in every aspect. I just don’t understand, what’s so great about her? Why are you so in love with her? Please tell me, Your Highness. I’d like to have some of your love too.”
“You’ll never have her attributes, no matter how hard you try. You don’t have to waste your efforts.”
An Xiaoning looked down and remained quiet.
After breakfast, she returned to her room to get some rest. Just as she was about to fall asleep, she felt a sudden burning sensation in her throat.
Someone was calling her name, over and over again.
It was a familiar and alluring voice.
She opened her eyes again to see that it was the present-day Jin Qingyan. She was suffering from a splitting headache, and her lips were dry and cracked.
“You’re finally awake. Have some water, quick,” he said while handing her a bottle of mineral water that he had already opened.
An Xiaoning took it from him and chugged half the bottle in one go to quench her immense thirst.
“Where is everyone else?”
“Near the tent. You were sleeping when I arrived.”
“What time is it now?”
“Past five o’clock.”
The days were longer and the nights were shorter in the summer. The sky was still as bright as ever.
She told him everything that had happened in her dream.
She then alighted from the car while Jin Qingyan followed suit.
“Where are we going?”
“To get the car keys from Captain Wang. I have to get past that door.”
Jin Qingyan stayed put to wait for her. Not long after, she returned with the car keys.
“Let me drive,” said Jin Qingyan, who took the keys from her and quickly got inside the car.
An Xiaoning walked past the car and scurried toward the passenger’s seat.
“You were so reluctant to let me come at first. If I hadn’t come, how would I have known that you and I have had a past in this place?” she said.
He smiled and said, “Yes, yes, yes. I won’t stop you from doing whatever you want again from now on.”
“Are you indulging me?”
“No, I’m just pampering and doting on you.”
An Xiaoning was pleased to hear his words. In the blink of an eye, they arrived at their destination.
Jin Qingyan held her hand and walked toward the door. Out of nowhere, he began to tear up the moment he stepped foot inside.
He gripped her fingers even more tightly.
Once they entered the yard, she walked toward the door and said to him, “This is the door that you said was made painstakingly. You told me that it was made of superior ironwood and that something you wrote was embedded inside it. I want to know what it is.”
“However, it’s not that easy to pry open such a rigid wood. Why don’t I call those archeologists to bring some tools over for us to try prying it open?”
“We were too eager just now. We should have just brought them over together, but it’s alright, the sky is still bright. Bring them here.”
“Sure.”
Less than twenty minutes later, Wang Jinsheng arrived with two of his male subordinates and some tools.
“Ms. An, is this the door?”
“Yes. Pry it open, but be careful, there’s something inside.”
“What is it?”
“You’ll know after we open it.”
He nodded and began sawing the door with an electric saw.
“Oh goodness, I was wondering why it was so heavy. Turns out there’s even a steel barrier inside. Which nutcase made this door? Who would put a steel plate inside a door for no reason? What’s the point of making such a heavy door? Was it meant to prevent burglars from coming in?” Wang Jinsheng remarked with a sigh.
An Xiaoning looked at Jin Qingyan and chuckled before saying, “That’s why I said there must be something inside that door that made it so heavy. Captain Wang, hurry and take a look at what’s below that steel plate.”
They dismantled the door into a few parts and everyone got a huge shock upon seeing what was beneath the steel plate.
There were dozens of pieces of paper that were stacked neatly together. Each piece was folded into a square.
Clearly, the steel plate had been pressed compactly against the papers, thus preventing them from sliding down to the bottom of the door.
Noticing that Wang Jinsheng was about to pick it up, An Xiaoning frantically stopped him, “Don’t move.”
He quickly retracted his hand and said, “I just wanted to see what was written on it.”
“These papers are aged and they might just tear if we touch it.”
She meticulously took the papers out and stacked them together again carefully, making a conscious effort to be gentle while handling them.
Once she took out all of the papers, she unfolded one of the squares to discover that she could not read the words written on it at all. She asked, “Captain Wang, what do these mean?”
