The night was deep, and though the remote courtyard was brightly lit, few people were serving, with faint guards surrounding the area in seclusion.
Inside the house, Miss Jun was already seated, while Zhu Zan stood, and Xue'er knelt trembling on the ground, looking up.
"You, are you really Princess Jiuli?" she asked in a trembling voice.
Miss Jun looked at her and smiled.
"The fire poker in the teahouse back then, I took it," she said. "I'm sorry for getting you scolded by Granny Zhou."
This small event in the teahouse was known by few in the Crown Prince Palace, except those involved.
Xue'er wiped her tears.
She didn't know whether to believe it or not, but naming her, mentioning Bing'er, and Jiang Yanbao, left her completely unsure of what to do now.
"Princess, you were too mischievous," she said, then lay on the ground crying and kowtowing repeatedly, "It's us servants who harmed you, told Bing'er too much, otherwise, you'd have lived well."
Miss Jun laughed.
"I'm living well now too," she said, "and even better."
Xue'er just cried harder.
"You probably don't know what happened," Miss Jun looked at Zhu Zan, "you knew I left the imperial palace to pray for my father, right?"
Zhu Zan made a sound and kept turning his head to the side.
"I heard about it," he said sullenly.
"Actually, I didn't go to the imperial temple to pray," Miss Jun said, "I went to study medicine with Divine Doctor Zhang, and the person who taught you chess at home, he wasn't Zhang's attendant, he was Divine Doctor Zhang himself."
Zhu Zan made a sound and glanced at her.
"I see," he said.
The solutions in the chess game and Runan's awkward encounter with him made sense now.
Miss Jun briefly recounted her medical studies.
"So, my father's illness was cured, he wouldn't have died from it, and only Bing'er and Xue'er knew about this," she said, looking at Xue'er who was still crying on the ground, "Later, I met Bing'er in the palace."
At this, she smiled.
"What happened afterward, you all know, I died of illness, and so did Bing'er."
Xue'er's sobbing grew louder as she finally crawled forward, grabbing Miss Jun's dress hem and kowtowing repeatedly.
"Your Highness, Your Highness, it's all our fault as servants," she cried.
Miss Jun reached out and patted her head.
"We weren't at fault, it's not our fault," she said, "don't cry anymore."
......
........
"Then how did you, how did you become?"
Comforted for a moment, Xue'er asked tremblingly, looking up at the woman in front of her.
This unfamiliar woman.
"I don't know either," Miss Jun said, looking at herself, "I thought I died, but when I woke up, I became Jun Zhenzhen, it's heaven's will to grant me justice."
Xue'er kowtowed repeatedly.
"Yes, yes, Your Highness," she cried again, "Your Highness, I'm willing to testify, I will testify."
"Don't be silly, what testimony now?" Zhu Zan said sullenly.
Miss Jun smiled again.
"You will testify, but not now," she said, "Just wait peacefully."
Xue'er nodded repeatedly in agreement.
A moment of silence filled the room.
Miss Jun looked at Zhu Zan, who was secretly glancing at her, and their eyes met before he quickly turned away.
Scared him, didn't she?
Miss Jun smiled.
"If you have more questions, you can ask me," she said, then thought of something, "Miss Xiao and the Qingshan Army, you probably guessed already, they're my master's, Zhang Divine Doctor's family."
Zhu Zan made a sound, his eyes wandering.
"Speaking of my master, there are more stories," Miss Jun said, about to speak but stopping, "but they're more irrelevant to you, so let's not talk about them."
Zhu Zan made another sound.
Seeing Zhu Zan, who wasn't his talkative and savvy self before, Miss Jun laughed.
"If you don't have any more questions, then go rest first," she said.
Zhu Zan made a sound and turned to leave.
So neat and swift, Miss Jun was a bit taken aback, she looked at Xue'er still kneeling on the ground.
"Xue'er, you should go too, just do what you used to do, pretend nothing happened today," she said.
Xue'er bravely looked up at her.
"I know what I said tonight is too bizarre," Miss Jun looked at her, "but I believe you can continue as before, Bing'er is already dead, we can't die, we all need to live well."
Xue'er nodded forcefully, her previously fearful gaze gradually firming.
Everyone left, leaving only Miss Jun alone in the room, she sat unmoving in the chair, and after a long while exhaled deeply, raising her hand to extinguish the lamps in the room.
The night was deep, the lights dim.
Footsteps echoed, and the night patrol guards immediately looked on alert, hearing a groan before they could see clearly.
Zhu Zan hissed, holding his forehead in his hand as he felt dizzy and had to bend down.
"Lord Heir? Are you alright?" the guards surrounded him with concern.
How did he bump into a tree?
Is the Lord Heir drunk?
Even drunk, the Lord Heir isn't someone who would walk into a tree.
Zhu Zan lowered his head and waved his hand.
"No, no, I'm looking for something," he said sullenly, "you all go, go."
Looking for something?
The guards shone their lanterns under the tree, was there something here?
But since Zhu Zan didn't say, they wouldn't ask.
"Lord Heir, do you need a lamp?" one guard asked.
Zhu Zan waved his hand.
"No, no," he said, still bent over as if searching, "you all go."
The guards no longer hesitated and saluted before leaving.
After they left, Zhu Zan straightened up, reaching for his forehead again, touching the bruised spot and hissing twice.
Not knowing what to say, he cursed, standing there somewhat dazed.
Where is this place?
He frowned and mumbled.
How embarrassing, how did he get so dazed?
The pain on his forehead gradually sobered him up, recalling what happened just now, and he couldn't help but inhale and exhale deeply.
Chu, Jiuli.
She is, Chu Jiuling.
With a flutter, Zhu Zan shuddered in fright, a strange cry escaping as a night bird fluttered past overhead.
"Damn," Zhu Zan cursed again, wiping the sweat that had beaded on his nose.
He thought he should ponder something, but didn't know what to think, standing dumbly under a tree as the night engulfed his figure.
The chirping of birds came from overhead, dewdrops falling from swaying branches onto Zhu Zan's face, waking him with a start, as dawn broke in his sight.
He had unexpectedly slept here.
Doubted he would, yet slept deeply without a single dream.
Zhu Zan scratched his head, recalling last night's events, could it have been a dream?
What a ridiculous dream it would be.
He stood dazed for a moment then began to move, hearing distant sounds from the training field, his father consistently maintained training regularly.
Zhu Zan quickened his pace, arriving at the training field to see two people shooting arrows.
One was his father, the Duke of Chengguo, the other was Fang Chengyu.
"Lord Heir is here," a feminine voice sounded.
Zhu Zan turned to see Miss Jun also approaching, their eyes met as she lightly smiled.
What to do? What to do?
Zhu Zan's mind was frantic, turning to escape.
"What's the matter with the Lord Heir?" Fang Chengyu asked in confusion.
Miss Jun smiled.
"Maybe he's hungry," she said, looking at the Duke, she changed the topic, "Duke, how is Chengyu's archery?"