Chapter 5

Chapter 5

The Mass Grave lay ten miles outside the city, where the nighttime yin energy was so heavy it felt as if it could seep into one’s bones.

By the time Wen Xiuzhu and I arrived, the moon had just peeked out from behind the dark clouds. Amidst the desolate graves scattered across the ground, a figure was bent over, rummaging through something.

Wen Xiuzhu drew his blade with lightning speed, but the person raised their hands first. “Have mercy, my Lord! I’m not a grave robber!”

It was actually Luo Zhaochuan.

He was the son of the owner of the paper-offering shop in the south of the city, and also my mother’s most trusted young apprentice during her lifetime. In my previous life, he had died under mysterious circumstances. Seeing him, I knew almost instantly that I had come to the right place.

Luo Zhaochuan recognized me at once, his voice trembling with excitement. “Second Miss, you’re finally willing to see me. I’ve hidden the things Master left behind for eight years, fearing someone would come to steal them.”

As he spoke, he pulled an oilcloth bundle from beneath an unmarked grave.

Inside the bundle was a water-damaged register. Only three words were written on the cover.

Life-Exchange Register.

As I flipped to the first page, my fingers froze.

Recorded in the register were names, birth dates, skeletal characteristics, and “replacement destinations.” On one of the pages, it was starkly written:

“Xiao family legitimate daughter Mingyi, born on the ninth day of the third lunar month in the year of Jia-Shen. Discarded in a well.”

The next line read:

“Qiao family daughter Lingshu, born on the same day of the same month of the same year. Entered the Xiao Mansion, renamed Xiao Mingyi.”

My scalp went numb.

So the current Xiao Mingyi was actually named Qiao Lingshu-an impostor forcibly thrust into the Xiao family.

Turning further back, I saw a line that made my breath hitch even more.

“Gu family daughter Lanyin, born on the seventeenth day of the fifth lunar month in the year of Yi-You. Skeletal structure suitable. Reserved for the position of Princess Consort Jing. If the plan fails, can be used as a substitute corpse.”

I gripped the register tightly, my knuckles turning white.

So, from the moment the marriage was decreed, I was already on their list.

Wen Xiuzhu took the register from my hand, his expression terrifyingly grim. “If this register is real, it involves more than just the Xiao family.”

“Of course it’s more than that,” Luo Zhaochuan wiped his sweat and lowered his voice. “Master was silenced back then because she discovered someone was using death row prisoners and orphaned girls to replace the identities of noble ladies. Before she died, she told me to hide the register, saying that if Second Miss Gu ever wanted to investigate, I should give it to you.”

My throat tightened, and for a long while, I couldn’t speak.

My mother hadn’t died of illness.

She had been murdered.

While I was dazed, a circle of torches suddenly lit up outside the Mass Grave. Meng Shiyan led a group of men to surround us, a cold smile on his face. “Lord Wen, you left the city in the middle of the night. Why didn’t you let me know?”

Wen Xiuzhu shielded me behind him, the tip of his blade pointing diagonally at the ground. “Commander Meng is quite diligent when it comes to stalking people.”

Meng Shiyan’s gaze swept over the oilcloth bundle in my hand, and the corners of his lips curled. “The Prince said that Second Miss Gu is timid. If she’s frightened by the dead, his heart would ache. Leave the things behind, and you may go.”

I almost laughed.

Zhou Xuzhang didn’t show any mercy when he killed me, yet now he knew how to feign heartache.

Luo Zhaochuan suddenly lunged forward and smashed a ceramic jar hard onto the ground. Powder billowed up, choking everyone and making it impossible to see. He shouted, “Run!”

Wen Xiuzhu grabbed my wrist and dashed into the woods.

Since my rebirth, this was the first time I had held someone else’s hand so clearly.

His palm was burning hot, and his grip was incredibly steady, as if he were forcibly carving a path for me through the vast night.

The sound of arrows whistling through the air echoed behind us. I stumbled and nearly fell, but Wen Xiuzhu suddenly pulled me into his arms. An arrow grazed his shoulder, leaving a trail of blood droplets.

My breath hitched. “You’re hurt!”

“It won’t kill me,” his voice was deep. “Gu Lanyin, do you still have the register?”

I pressed the register tightly against my chest. “Yes.”

“Then it’s worth it.”

At the edge of the woods was an abandoned Mountain God Temple. By the time we hid inside, the blood on Wen Xiuzhu’s shoulder had soaked through half of his robes. I wanted to bandage it for him, but he pressed my hand down first and whispered, “After tonight, they will move even faster. You must find the other half of the evidence in Lord Gu’s possession before the wedding.”

I was stunned. “There’s another half?”

“The Bone Examination Records left by the Late Emperor before his death.” Wen Xiuzhu looked at me, enunciating every word. “Whoever can prove whether those ‘nobles’ in the palace are real or fake is the one who can topple everyone behind this Life-Exchange Register.”

I stared at the blood on his shoulder, suddenly remembering his words when he burst through the door at the paupers’ morgue: “Let her go.”

In my previous life, had he really just arrived too late?