CHAPTER 1145: 1223: SHI YI

The little girl giggled, "Second Brother, I’m just worried about you. Now there’s just the two of us siblings relying on each other, I don’t want to see anything happen to you."

She jumped out from Fengsu’s arms and skipped forward.

Fengsu watched her lively back, and suddenly said softly, "I saw Ah Ran."

"..."

The little girl suddenly stiffened, then slowly lowered her gaze, "I see... Brother Ran, is he well?"

"Don’t you hate him?"

Fengsu walked over to her: "Shi Yi, back then he aided evil and wanted to harm you."

Shi Yi slowly turned around, a gentle, faint smile on her face. But contrasting with this tender smile, her eyes seemed like a dead sea of accumulated sadness. "I hate him, but what can I do? Second Brother, tell me, are feelings more terrifying than those deadly insects you raise? You can’t touch them. Once you do, even if you hate them to death, you still love them, can’t forget them, and can’t let them go."

Fengsu was silent for a moment: "Life and death are nothing unusual. Think of Little Jiu, she’s now mad and imprisoned in the palace. Although I have lived outside since childhood and never returned to the palace, I know. The situation is ever-changing; being alive is already fortunate. Compared to others, we have already fared well."

Shi Yi dejectedly lowered her head, "Ninth Sister... I actually think she may not be truly mad. I once planned to get her out, but she pretends to be mad and refuses to leave with me. She can’t let go of the Empress; she may be intentionally acting mad to investigate clues about the Empress."

Over the years, the Eighth Princess has falsely claimed to outsiders that the Empress is gravely ill and she has been handling state affairs in her stead. But the truth of the matter is known to only a few.

The Empress’s "illness" back then was caused by the Eighth Princess’s antics. The Eighth Princess, with ambitions of wildness, has been managing the government but is unable to ascend to the throne.

The Imperial Jade Seal’s whereabouts remain unknown, and the "gravely ill" Empress was hidden away by the Eighth Princess.

Shi Yi exhaled heavily, "At first, we were surrounded by enemies, and now Ninth Sister is uncertainly mad, and the Eighth Princess still cannot smoothly ascend the throne. Meanwhile, battles persist incessantly at the Outside and border areas, with several cities already lost – this has painted a picture of a country on the brink of demise."

Fengsu, the Second Prince of Dayuan, knocked on Shi Yi’s little head with a thud: "You’re so small, yet you worry about everything all day long. These matters have someone else to handle them; worry more about yourself. Your health isn’t good, so behave, especially in such cold weather. Don’t wander out all the time, or else you’ll get sick again."

Shi Yi pouted, "Second Brother is so annoying; I won’t talk to you anymore. I’m going to find Old Yang; I heard he brought back lots of fun stuff from Dajin!"

Shi Yi skipped away, and Fengsu watched her back as he sighed lightly.

He was the Second Prince of Dayuan, yet he lived outside since childhood. When he learned that Shi Yi went to Jiangnan, he sensed trouble. The Seventh Sister seemed kind to everyone, but she was actually deep-minded. Moreover, the political situation was turbulent then, and he quickly went to Jiangnan, worried about Shi Yi falling into Lao Qi’s trap.

Yet when he arrived, it was too late.

Yi Ran had done something foolish for Lao Qi, and when he found Shi Yi...

He still couldn’t forget — such a small person, only fourteen or fifteen years old, lying in a pool of blood, her face full of lifelessness.

If he had been a little later, just a little later, he feared he would not have made it.

He took Shi Yi to live in the Northwest, nurtured her for years, and gradually her health improved. But back then, that incident ultimately harmed Shi Yi’s foundation...