The Ginseng clan, in order to escape wild beasts and the fate of being eaten, had mastered the art of burrowing into the earth to flee. With this ability, Shen Yiren and Xiao Ba easily reached Yujing by dawn.
As they approached the General's Estate, they overheard the servants, who had been sent out to search for them, saying that the eldest daughter had already been married off. They were ordered to find the second daughter and lock her away somewhere else so she wouldn't return and ruin things.
They couldn't return to the General's Estate; doing so would be like delivering themselves into the tiger's maw.
Shen Yiren grabbed Xiao Ba, turning to head toward the Duke of Anguo Estate, but she had no idea where it was. After the original girl had been brought back home, she wasn't just forbidden from leaving the estate; she wasn't even allowed to wander around inside. It was always some excuse—either they were afraid she would pick the rare flowers she didn't recognize, or that she would offend the guests.
Thus, the original girl had remained in a small, secluded courtyard, waiting to marry Lord Cen, the man she had fallen for at first sight. She had thought things would be different once they were married.
"Family is unreliable, and that goes double for a man with no blood ties," Shen Yiren sighed softly and told Xiao Ba to go ask for directions.
Xiao Ba trotted off happily; the chubby, fair-skinned child was very easy to like.
"I’ve told you, you’re just a kid, you won't remember. See that ornate carriage? Prince Duan is close with the Duke of Anguo Estate; he must be heading to Lord Cen’s wedding banquet. Just follow them and you’ll find it."
Shen Yiren and Xiao Ba slunk along, following the carriage into an alleyway. Suddenly, two sharp swords were pressed against their necks.
Shen Yiren: "!!!"
Xiao Ba: "!!!"
They were so startled they almost reverted to their true forms.
"Who sent you?" the guard Cang Xu demanded coldly.
Xiao Ba let out a wail, crying earth-shatteringly loud. Ignoring the sword at his throat, he twisted around to hide behind Shen Yiren, clutching her hem and trembling. Although Sister Yiren had only just taken human form, she was the Ginseng King, a ten-thousand-year-old demon!
Even the guard was taken aback. Shen Yiren blinked her glistening eyes and explained, "My little brother and I just wanted to follow you to the Duke of Anguo Estate."
"Tell the truth!"
"Cang Xu." A weak voice came from the carriage. A pale, bone-thin hand, white as jade, lifted the curtain. "Bring them here."
Shen Yiren and Xiao Ba approached. They looked up and met a pair of eyes that appeared gentle yet profound. It was springtime, yet the man was wrapped in a fox-fur cloak. He was shrouded in a thick aura of illness, yet surrounded by an imperial purple glow, burdened by the destiny of the nation.
*Is his luck good or bad?* Shen Yiren tilted her head.
Faced with two pairs of wide, dark eyes—one large, one small—Prince Duan, Zhou Jinyan, paused and asked, "Are you..."
"I am human!" Humans shrouded in illness loved to eat ginseng. Shen Yiren spat out the words before he could finish.
Xiao Ba also raised his hand silently. "Xiao Ba is human too!"
Prince Duan didn't speak; he just remained silent. He gazed at the sixteen-year-old girl before him. Her almond-shaped eyes were wide, her round face was stained with blood and mud, and her clothes were covered in large patches of blood. Strangely, he didn't smell a hint of blood; instead, he caught a peculiar scent of medicinal herbs, and he couldn't help but take a deep breath.
In the past, any deep breath would have been followed by a coughing fit, but this time, there was none—only a feeling of complete clarity throughout his body.
Zhou Jinyan narrowed his eyes. The siblings didn't look like assassins, but they were too bizarre to be ordinary people. The younger one was even clutching a broken jar.
"What are you two doing at the Duke of Anguo Estate?"
Xiao Ba: "To seek re—"
Shen Yiren grabbed his hair, accidentally pulling out two strands. Seeing Xiao Ba’s eyes welling up with tears, she quickly reached out to cover his eyes.
Xiao Ba: "..."
Zhou Jinyan sat in the carriage, casting a light glance at the girl's clever expression. He had heard it.
Revenge?
Gratitude?
"Get on." Zhou Jinyan didn't care why they were going to the Duke of Anguo Estate; right now, he only wanted to know if the strange medicinal scent on the girl was beneficial to him. After observing her, he saw she wore no pearls or hairpins, and carried no sachets—where was the fragrance coming from?
The broken jar?
Zhou Jinyan glanced at the jar Xiao Ba was hugging, as the boy was secretly putting something inside it.
The girl suddenly moved, and he withdrew his gaze. Shen Yiren took some ginseng whiskers she had just plucked from Xiao Ba's hands and held them out to Zhou Jinyan’s lips.
Zhou Jinyan instinctively pulled back, raising a hand to block her. "What is this?"
"I don't accept favors for nothing. This is for you to eat; you'll feel better after," Shen Yiren said, looking him up and down. "Your body looks so useless."
Zhou Jinyan: "..."
He was momentarily speechless. While he was stunned, the girl shoved the item into his mouth again. He pressed his lips together tightly to prevent her from succeeding. For a moment, he felt like a decent man being forced into something.
Zhou Jinyan’s expression darkened as he took the item from her. "I will eat it later."
They arrived at the Duke of Anguo Estate. Shen Yiren had no time to worry about whether he would eat it; she rushed out of the carriage. Xiao Ba hurried after her, so rushed that he left the jar behind.
The gatekeeper saw them emerge from Prince Duan’s carriage and let them pass. Zhou Jinyan stepped off the carriage slowly and handed the two ginseng whiskers to another guard. "Cang Ming, have the physician examine these."
...
Inside the Duke of Anguo Estate, everything was festive. The bride and groom were in the middle of their wedding ceremony.
Cen Liangxuan glanced toward Shen Qingrui from time to time, though the bridal veil blocked the face he longed for. In truth, Shen Qingrui wasn't as pretty as Shen Yiren, but Yujing was full of beautiful women; he appreciated Shen Qingrui’s uniqueness. In return, she offered him her sweet lips and admiration. What man wouldn't be bewitched?
They had grown up together, a bond no outsider like Shen Yiren could ever hope to rival. Besides, Shen Yiren had grown up in the backwoods; if he had really married her, he feared he would be looked down upon. Once the ceremony was complete, they would be husband and wife in the eyes of the law.
Shen Qingrui felt the same. What did it matter that she was a fake? The affection she had received all her life was real, her status and wealth were real, and now, even the husband was hers! Shen Yiren would only ever live in her shadow.
"Escort the bride to..."
"Wait, wait, wait!" Shen Yiren finally caught up. She sprinted to the center of the wedding hall and said to everyone with a smile, "You’ve got it wrong, you’ve got it wrong. I’m the real Shen Yiren."
"Shen Yiren?" The Duchess of Anguo rose abruptly from the high seat, looking from the dirty Shen Yiren to the bride in the wedding dress.
Cen Liangxuan whipped his head around, his pupils dilated in shock. Impossible! How could Shen Yiren be alive? He had watched her be thrown off a thousand-foot cliff with his own eyes—how could she have survived?
"You..." Cen Liangxuan was dumbfounded, a chill creeping from the soles of his feet to the back of his neck.
"If you say you are Shen Yiren, then who is the bride?" someone asked.
Shen Yiren looked at the bride, whose body was trembling slightly. She reached out and snatched away the red veil. Shen Qingrui’s panicked, disheveled face was exposed to the guests.
They might not have recognized the true daughter of the Shen family, but everyone in Yujing knew the fake, Shen Qingrui, for her eccentric reputation.
The crowd was stunned.
Prince Duan arrived just then, and the guests bowed. "Greetings, Prince Duan."
"Shen Yiren?" Zhou Jinyan never imagined that the girl with the strange medicinal scent was the real daughter the General had brought back.
Shen Yiren straightened her back. "The real one!"
The guests snapped back to reality, whispering about why Shen Qingrui was the one getting married, and why Shen Yiren was covered in blood.
The Duchess of Anguo asked the three of them, "What exactly is going on here?"
"You're his mother, right?" Shen Yiren had seen many little spirits complain to their elders in the Buxian Mountains. She mimicked the gesture, pointing at Cen Liangxuan. "He wanted to marry Shen Qingrui, so he pushed me off a cliff! You’d better discipline him, or I will."
After all, getting slapped by a ginseng leaf could be quite painful. And she was a ten-thousand-year-old Ginseng King.