Nie Ling had a secret.
For countless years, she had secretly possessed a mysterious pendant that she hung around her neck and hid under the multiple layers of her clothing, not daring to be seen by anyone, not even Nie Yongqi.
The mysterious pendant came in the shape of a goose egg. It was similar to a green nephrite jade, but with the addition of an odd engraving of a flying bird and a refreshingly chilling touch to its surface.
The pendant was something that was given to her by an ex-comrade, a past friend she had made back in her earlier days in the Half-moon Order.
Nie Ling had initially thought that the pendant was no more than an heirloom which had been passed down for countless generations. And since her friend was the same as her, an orphan with no family left, she had passed the pendant to Nie Ling upon heaving the last breath.
Exerting what's left of her strength, her friend shoved the jade pendant onto her palm and told her: "Ling, take care of this pendant for me. I hope that one day, it'll find its rightful owner and shine to its potential. This is a secret between us, Ling. Remember, don't let anyone know of this."
Faced with her friend's bloodless face that was akin to that of a corpse, Nie Ling furiously nodded with hot tears pouring out of her burning eyes.
Since that day, she had kept the pendant secure in her bosom, not letting it be revealed to anyone's eyes under whatever circumstances.
Nothing felt unordinary with the pendant until one day, when the time came for Nie Ling to fail her own mission and face the price she needed to pay for her mistake, the pendant floated in the air on its own, emitting out a blinding green light that soon fully enveloped her wounded figure like cocoon.
The light had not only magically healed all her wounds in the count of seconds, but also caused the martial qi within her body to increase in leaps and bounds. And it was only then did she realize just how unordinary the pendant turned out to be.
In the Martial Continent of Xuan Wu where the cultivation of Martial Qi was a common practice, Nie Ling was confident that the pendant – which can assist in one's cultivation – was a peerless treasure and would definitely worth a fortune.
Alas, she had still underestimated the pendant's prowess as on the night where she lost her life from all the blood loss, she found herself traveling through time and space with the pendant hanging around her neck, entering the body of another and regaining a second chance of life!
From then on, she assumed the identity of the Divine Chu clan's Fourth Young Miss, Chu Yu.
In this second lifetime, she lived a tranquil and secluded life in the Qing Mountains, where all the descendants of the Chu Lineage were raised and groomed to be the human panaceas for the Royal Family.
Nie Ling, now as Chu Yu, wanted to atone for her past sins. She spent her entire lifetime researching Heaven-defying remedies and curing diseases for the sick and needy. And as time passed by, her name was gradually known throughout the whole empire, gaining her the title of a Miracle Doctor Fairy.
Though embarrassing, it was exactly this title that reunited her with Nie Yongqi, whose looks and mannerism had turned vastly different from the past.
On the morning hour of a certain chilly day, he had come knocking on her door with a cold face that seemed to have been carved out of an ice block.
"Fourth Young Miss Chu, find me the remedy for this poison and I'll grant your one wish in return."
Nie Yongqi said as he placed a pill bottle on top of the papers strewn all over her desk. No smiles, no pleasantries, and just one stern request that allowed her no room for refusal.
Upon landing her eyes on his familiar handsome face, Nie Ling was pleasantly surprised, the ends of her mouth inevitably lifting to form a smile as she called out. "Yong–"
Bang!!!
"Y–Your Highness the Crown Prince…"
Standing by the entrance from the inner ward was a maidservant who had accidentally dropped the platter on her hands. Frightened, she quickly kneeled and placed her forehead against the ground, begging for forgiveness.
'Crown Prince?' Nie Ling's mouth was left agape as she found herself lost of all words.
"This vassal greets Your Highness the Crown Prince." She bent her back and greeted him with a lowered head.
"En, so your answer?"
Nie Yongqi, seemingly unbothered by the rigid air enveloping the room upon his arrival, persistently demanded for an answer. Nie Ling internally rolled her eyes. Well, at what part of his words had he asked for her consent?
"Yes, I'll do my best."
With her hands cupped together, she deeply bowed to Nie Yongqi, who was now the respectable crown prince of the empire.
***
When she opened the lid of the pill bottle and took a sniff, her hand that was holding the bottle couldn't help but stiffened as disbelief ran across her eyes.
It's the Withering Moon Venom!
Nie Yongqi had actually handed her the Withering Moon Venom and demanded her to search for the cure to this excruciatingly torturing and deadly poison!
As a former assassin of the Half-Moon Order, how can she not know of the deadly weapon the Order had relied on to control their people?
The Withering Moon Venom… How did Yongqi get his hands on these evil things? Why did he look so desperate to search for the cure? Did he perhaps– get himself poisoned as well?
With this wild assumption ongoing in mind, Nie Ling's effort turned exceedingly frantic as she researched day and night for the cure to save her Yongqi!
In those days where she would burn the midnight oil for the sake of greater progress, Nie Yongqi would frequently abuse his crown prince identity to enter in and out of her residence as he liked. Of course, with the purpose of nothing but to learn of her research's progress.
Nie Yongqi, no, the crown prince Zhou Yingyuan had truly grown up. He had become more and more stable with each passing day.
He was no longer that snotty little brat who would run into her arms with tears running down his face whenever he was wronged. And what surprised her the most was, he's no longer blind!
Nie Ling thought that he might have been lucky enough to come upon a miraculous encounter and got his eyes healed. However, when she found out that he was in fact relying on a certain drug to keep his sight working, she secretly learnt how to make the drug and had gradually built up a generous stock for him to use in dire times.
One night, they agreed to meet under the residence's gazebo. As per usual, Nie Ling started reporting the progress of her research.
"Your Highness…"
Upon finishing her report, she was just about to excuse herself when she was suddenly cut off by the man.
"Ying Yuan."