Mistakenly Marked the Madly Beautiful Princess - Chapter 84

Two more days passed, and Ling Yue decided to leave this place. Bai Yuqi continued to follow them.

They traveled intermittently, stopping and resting along the way.

Under the deep night sky, Qing Niao gathered firewood and placed it by the campfire. Wiping the sweat from her forehead, she let out a long sigh, then blocked Yunli, who was trying to play with the fire.

Sitting by the campfire, Qing Niao tossed dry branches into the flames. The bright firelight illuminated Ling Yue’s face.

Noticing that Qing Niao seemed particularly cheerful, Ling Yue couldn’t help but ask, “What’s made you so happy?”

Qing Niao chuckled at the question, “When you’re happy, I’m happy.”

The words felt familiar. Though Ling Yue had rarely experienced familial love herself, she had witnessed how elders in other families expressed it. They often said, “Your happiness is my happiness.”

The Eldest Princess had mentioned she needed to leave temporarily, so only the few of them remained. Ling Yue had some questions she wanted to ask Qing Niao questions about the Ke family.

The fire was now blazing vigorously. Qing Niao clapped her hands and ruffled Yunli’s hair.

Unfortunately, Yunli was still in a huff and impatiently swatted away the hand messing with her hair.

Qing Niao found this amusing and laughed, “You little rascal.”

Watching the heartwarming scene between mother and daughter, Ling Yue couldn’t help but think of her own mother, suddenly feeling a pang of envy.

Qing Niao yawned and looked up to see Ling Yue watching her with a somewhat desolate expression.

“Has she only been gone a short while, and you’re already feeling down?”

Qing Niao had clearly misunderstood. Ling Yue shook her head, “No, I was just thinking of my mother.”

Qing Niao’s teasing words caught in her throat. She straightened her posture and asked, “Do you still remember what she looked like?”

Ling Yue shook her head. Time had washed away her memories, leaving them increasingly faint. Now, her mother was nothing more than a blurry shadow.

Sighing, Ling Yue hugged her knees tighter and looked up at Qing Niao. “What exactly is this so-called secret technique?”

Ling Yue knew Qing Niao was aware of it, but over the past few days, Qing Niao had been busy with the Eldest Princess, leaving no opportunity to ask.

Qing Niao glanced at Yunli. Though still in a cold war with her mother, Yunli understood her mother’s gaze and stood up, then ran toward a tree behind them.

Bai Yuqi was perched in the tree, planning to spend the night there, though she hadn’t yet fallen asleep.

Yunli called out, “Sister Yuqi, I think I dropped something.”

Bai Yuqi opened her eyes, nimbly jumped down from the tree, and bent slightly to ask, “What did you lose?”

Yunli blinked. “A jade pendant. I’m not sure where it fell.”

“My mother doesn’t know martial arts. Can you take me to look for it?”

Bai Yuqi glanced toward the campfire. She knew she wasn’t meant to hear what would follow and didn’t linger. Taking Yunli’s hand, she said, “Let’s go.”

The figures of the two, one tall and one small, vanished into the darkness. The crackling of the fire occasionally broke the silence.

Noticing the flames were dying down, Qing Niao tossed another dry branch into the fire.

The firelight reflected in Qing Niao’s eyes as she suddenly let out a laugh, though it carried no joy.

“Of course, I know.”

Qing Niao looked in the direction Yunli had gone, offering only her profile to Ling Yue.

“The so-called secret technique is to offer an extremely tormented soul as a sacrifice to another tormented soul.”

Qing Niao fixed her gaze on Ling Yue, her tone gentle and measured. “Then, these two souls will be reborn.”

Ling Yue was startled, feeling as if Qing Niao’s words were directed at her. Just as she hesitated over whether to confess, Qing Niao across from her broke into her usual carefree grin.

“Even if someone knew the details of the secret method, this is just too absurd.”

Ling Yue laughed awkwardly. “Y-yeah, it’s complete nonsense.”

Seeing her lowered head, Qing Niao’s lips curled into a faint smile before quickly fading.

The rumors outside were mistaken, if someone had truly succeeded in the sacrifice, those unrelated to it wouldn’t sense any change.

Just like now, only the person involved would know; others would remain completely unaware.

All they knew was that the timid second young lady of the Ling family had suddenly become a different person.

The sacrificial method had been told to her by Lin Yi from her previous life. Back then, Lin Yi was adorned with jewels and rarely spoke of her origins, so Qing Niao had always assumed she lived well.

However, this method carried a high risk of failure. Excruciating memories would gradually take over, leading to rejection, and eventually driving the person insane.

The Ke clan had such examples.

That’s why Qing Niao didn’t dare lay everything bare, fearing that this hard-won second chance would be ruined in an instant.

But this wasn’t something she could control. Their memories would grow clearer and clearer, and she had no idea what would ultimately become of them.

So, before that day arrived, she wanted to hold them close and cherish their time together.

After saying all this, Qing Niao gazed up at the twinkling stars in the sky. “Tomorrow should be nice weather. As long as it doesn’t rain, it’ll be fine.”

Ling Yue picked up the thread. “Yeah, rain makes traveling difficult.”

But that wasn’t what Qing Niao meant. Her dislike for rain wasn’t due to the inconvenience it brought, but because in her past life, the people she cherished always left her in the rain.

She had thought Lu He would be different, but in the end, she was just the same.

Yet, she didn’t hate the heavy rain back then; in fact, she had wished for it to pour even harder, to extinguish the devouring flames.

Suddenly, the fire before her seemed too bright. Qing Niao covered her eyes.

Memories surged in her mind, and the cheerful voices of old acquaintances echoed in her ears.

That silly, grinning girl, her face covered in wounds, held a blue bird pendant in her hand. “I saved up for a long time.”

“Qing Niao will save many people in the future, become a bodhisattva. When we meet on the wheel of reincarnation, you have to look after me~”

The girl’s smile was so radiant that Qing Niao often feared she would melt under its warmth. But when she looked up again, the face had changed.

It was Yunli.

Yes, Yunli looked so much like her.

A cold liquid trickled down her face. Qing Niao thought she was crying and was about to mock herself when she realized the same sensation was on the back of her hand.

It was raining, and the familiar scent of blood wafted through the rain.

Someone wiped the water from the corner of her eye, forcing a smile, their words fragmented, each syllable spoken with great effort.

“Mother, d-don’t cry.”

Qing Niao looked down and saw the blood at the corner of Yunli’s lips being washed away by the rain. She couldn’t process it at first, but then she watched Yunli’s forced smile crumble.

“Mother, I don’t want to die.”

Raindrops fell into her eyes, the discomfort making her raise a hand only to realize it was warm tears.

The fire flickered, and Qing Niao finally snapped back to reality.

She looked at the tears on her hand and chuckled lightly, then said with a laugh, “Seems my fire-tending skills aren’t great, ashes got in my eyes.”

Seeing this, Ling Yue offered, “Let me take over.”

Qing Niao quickly intervened and began teasing Ling Yue again, “Sit down. Your dear sister said you’re afraid of fire and shouldn’t touch it~”

That sarcastic tone was truly asking for a beating, but Ling Yue only felt embarrassed.

“Mother!”

Yunli ran from the darkness into the warm light, throwing her arms around Qing Niao’s neck and burrowing into her embrace.

All the gloom vanished in that moment. Qing Niao pinched Yunli’s nose and asked, “Did you find it?”

Bai Yuqi slowly approached. “No, we didn’t.”

How could they have found it? It was just a hastily made-up excuse.

But Yunli was so happy, there must have been some reason behind it.

Qing Niao suddenly had a thought and asked suspiciously, “You didn’t ask Sister Bai to teach you martial arts, did you?”

Yunli’s joy froze on her face, and she feigned innocence. “Of course not, Mother. You’re overthinking it.”

Qing Niao was both angry and amused. Even if she were learning martial arts, studying a little from this school and a little from that, what style would she end up with in the future?

She grabbed Yunli’s ear, intending to scold her, but when she saw the child’s furrowed brow, she let go.

“I’ll let you off today.”

Yunli rubbed her narrowly saved ear and suddenly felt that her mother seemed different today. But children don’t dwell on such thoughts.

She was just happy to have escaped punishment.

Bai Yuqi watched for a moment before moving closer to Ling Yue. “We’ll be taking a boat tomorrow. The water route is much faster than traveling by land.”

Ling Yue had already figured that out.

But that wasn’t what Bai Yuqi really wanted to say. With a worried expression, she added, “Although my situation isn’t great, I still have some friends. Are you sure you want to continue on this journey?”

Ling Yue glanced at Qing Niao and Yunli, then nodded firmly. “Of course. Why do you ask?”

Bai Yuqi wasn’t sure if her information was accurate, but she felt she had to share it. “I heard there’s been some turmoil in the capital. It’s chaotic right now.”

Ling Yue frowned. “Chaotic?”

“Yes, chaos has broken out. They say the Northern Kingdom’s emperor,” Lu Ai made a slicing motion across her neck, ” is gone.”

No one knew how long this news had been suppressed, but only now were whispers of it emerging.

Thinking of her elder sister currently in the Northern Kingdom, Lu Ai couldn’t help but wonder if her sister had killed the emperor.

After all, in her mind, her elder sister was capable of anything. Sneaking into the enemy’s palace and assassinating their emperor would be a simple task for her.

But when she thought about the timing, it didn’t quite add up, and Lu Ai found her own speculation somewhat ridiculous.

Shaking her head helplessly, she turned to the worried Ling Ya beside her. “Are you worried about Ling Yue?”

Ling Ya nodded. “Why did it have to happen at this time?”

Lu Ai looked at her, somewhat puzzled.

The two sisters hadn’t spent much time together, yet their bond seemed deep.

Setting down the document in her hand, Lu Ai walked over to Ling Ya. She wanted to say something but ultimately remained silent.

Bending down, she took the rabbit from Ling Ya’s arms and said softly, “You’ll be leaving the palace today. Let Qiuling accompany you.”

Watching as the other gently stroked the rabbit, Ling Ya quietly agreed, “Alright.”

The general’s residence had grown somewhat quiet. With Ling Yue gone, Ling Ya rarely returned home.

Ling Ya entered her room, where Qingyue stood waiting at the door.

“Young Miss.”

“Mm.”

Ling Ya pushed the door open and went inside, heading straight to the innermost part of the room. There, she opened a locked cabinet in the corner and retrieved a scroll from within.

Even after reading it many times, Ling Ya still couldn’t believe the contents of the scroll.

But Ling Fu believed it and had done many terrible things because of it.

Ling Ya hugged the scroll tightly, a pained expression on her face.

“After all, I owe Ling Yue.”

Thinking of the current chaos in the Northern Kingdom, Ling Ya couldn’t help but pray, “Please stay safe.”

Support