Princess, she is the one who facilitated the extradition.

Ji Linchuan closed his eyes weakly.

After a long while, he opened his mouth, and after confirming that he could make a sound, he sighed, "In the end, you still found out."

I, the Prince of Shu, and Qi Yu are sworn brothers. My father holds military power, and the Prince of Shu is the son of a prince. To avoid being suspected of forming cliques, we can only communicate in secret.

As for Qi Yu, the Duke of Qi believed that any social interaction was a neglect of studies, so very few people knew that we were friends.

Qi Yu was a child praised by his elders since childhood. My father often compared me to him, belittling me to nothing. The situation of the Prince of Shu was similar.

We were furious and planned to beat him up to vent our anger, but we found him hiding in a corner, crying pitifully like a kitten.

It turned out that the Duke of Qi was extremely strict with him. He spent all his time reading, and even his meals and sleep were scheduled.

But he was a slow and gentle person, eating slowly and deliberately. If he hadn't finished eating by the time it was time to eat, his food would be taken away.

Ji Linchuan opened his eyes, looked at Gui Yao and laughed, but his laughter was more like crying. "Can you imagine that the child prodigy praised throughout the capital would go hungry and shed tears like a little girl?"

I really wanted to call my father to come and see, and say, "Look, this is the child you praised, who can't even make ends meet. How is he better than your son?"

That beating obviously didn't happen; she was so effeminate, who could bring themselves to hit her?

Who would have thought that if we didn't beat him up, he would cling to us and ask us for food, saying that in his ten years of life, he had rarely had a full meal, and had not eaten a single bite of pork for several years.

The Duke of Qi believed that eating too much would make people mentally confused and disturb their minds, which would be detrimental to studying.

Eating too much pork might lead to developing a pig-like mentality, making one as stupid as a pig.

I found it amusing and wanted to take him to the Duke of Qi to reason with him, but he didn't dare, his eyes were full of tears, and the Prince of Shu couldn't bear it and gave him a lot of food.

Since then, Qi Yu has joined us, or more accurately, he has become attached to the Prince of Shu, who is also very willing to feed him.

Over time, the three of us became friends. I thought we would stay friends forever, until we grew old…

A glint of tears welled up in Ji Linchuan's eyes, and his voice gradually grew hoarse, "I don't know when their feelings for each other began, and by the time I found out, it was already beyond my control."

But they had grown up, and the Duke of Qi began to look for a wife of equal social standing for Qi Yu, while the marriage of the Prince of Shu was also put on the agenda.

They were not unknown individuals, and there was absolutely no possibility that they could be together.

Knowing the expectations the Duke of Qi had for Qi Yu, and also aware of the hardships Qi Yu had endured in his studies over the years, the Prince of Shu took the initiative to distance himself from Qi Yu.

Qi Yu also feared that if the royal family found out, it would implicate his family and the Prince of Shu, so they never saw each other again after that.

When Qi Yu became the top scholar in the imperial examination, everyone celebrated for him, but the person he most wanted to see did not appear.

Qi Yu finally couldn't resist and went to the horse farm they used to frequent. The Prince of Shu was also there. In fact, he had been waiting there for many days, but who knew that Qi Yu would break his leg.

Before I could even grieve for him, my father was beheaded, and my family and I were exiled.

Of the three brothers, one was crippled, one was exiled, and the remaining one lived in regret and self-blame, yet still had to make arrangements for me so that I wouldn't die in exile.

Qi Yu himself was still bedridden, yet he knelt and begged the Duke of Qi to help him make arrangements, for which he incurred a severe beating from the Duke of Qi…”

Ji Linchuan lowered his head and didn't utter a word for a long time. Tears fell in a steady stream, and as he hung in the air, the falling tears seemed especially heavy.

The princess trembled with heartache. She looked at Gui Yao and pleaded, "Please let him go. I'll tell you everything I know."

Gui Yao withdrew her spiritual power, and the person who had been lifted into the air slowly fell down. Xiao Huaijin also sheathed his sword.

The Princess Consort quickly hugged Ji Linchuan, choking back tears as she spoke, "They are good to Linchuan, but Linchuan is also worried about them."

Therefore, before their exile, they told me about their situation, hoping I could offer some advice.

Although I had little contact with them, Linchuan often talked to me about his two good friends, and in my heart, they were also my friends.

After that, I had more contact with the Prince of Shu. As you might have guessed, upon learning that I was pregnant, the Prince of Shu proposed to marry me, as he wanted to protect his friend's bloodline.

He said that once the Ji family's affairs faded from public view, we would divorce, and I would take the child to Linchuan.

But my child could not be saved; it was the maid of the Prince of Shu who did it.

She had served the Prince of Shu since childhood and had long been determined to become his woman.

The Prince of Shu delayed in taking her as his concubine, and she thought it was because of my obstruction, so she hated me.

The Prince of Shu married me to protect my child and me, but his men ended up harming my child, and he feels very guilty.

Just then, Qi Yu found Zhao Mingyue's child. He himself was struggling because of his broken leg and could no longer raise a child.

The Prince of Shu hid the child outside the city. Two months later, he took me outside the city and announced to the outside world that I had been born prematurely.

We stayed outside the city for two months before returning. No one doubted the child's parentage, and I gradually found solace in that place.

But my family kept demanding benefits from me. I am a cowardly and blindly filial person, and I don't know how to refuse. I can only repeatedly implicate the Prince of Shu. I owe him a lot, which makes my life very heavy.

Therefore, upon learning that Linchuan was buried under the mine and his remains were nowhere to be found, I went to the Ghost Market.

I've heard that the Ghost Market can satisfy people's desires. Linchuan and the child are gone, and I'm only a burden to the Prince of Shu if I live. I might as well use this body to repay his kindness and help him and Qi Yu be together.

The ghost market doesn't accept money; they barter. I traded family ties for incense to exchange for souls.

But Qi Yu was kind-hearted; he absolutely refused to have his soul swapped and even advised me to live well…”

The princess covered her face with her hands, her body trembling violently. "But he himself chose a dead end. In the dead of night, I often think, if I hadn't gone to find him that day, would he have not tried to kill himself..."

"It's not you."

Ji Linchuan embraced her and said sadly, "His condition has worsened. He has lost control of his bowels and bladder. The Duke of Qi also resents him and constantly insults and beats him. He was a god-like figure, but now he has fallen into such a state. Every day he lives is torture for him."

Gui Yao looked at the two of them, her expression unreadable. "Then how did you manage to exchange souls with the Prince of Shu?"

The Princess Consort shed tears, "I realized that I had done something wrong with good intentions, so I didn't dare to hide it and told the Prince of Shu about finding Qi Yu to exchange souls."

I proposed a divorce and planned to go to my place of exile to retrieve the remains of Linchuan, but he disagreed and asked me to stay in the capital while he went to find Linchuan for me.

I don't know when he took my soul-swapping incense; when he returned, my body was already occupied by Lin Chuan.

Ji Linchuan said, "I was indeed trapped under the mine, but there was a secret escape tunnel dug out by predecessors at the bottom of the mine. I came out through that tunnel and hid in the nearby mountains."

When the Prince of Shu found me, my body was infested with maggots, and I was on the verge of death, beyond any hope of recovery.

But I was content to see him before I died. But he made me swear to God that I would keep the things that this identity should keep for him.

I found it laughable; how could a dying man like me have a future?

He said he was devastated by the loss of Qi Yu and didn't want the Princess Consort to experience his pain. He said he would save me.

Ji Linchuan looked at Gui Yao, his lips trembling, "But I didn't know he saved me with his own life. By the time I found out, it was too late. After returning to the capital, we went to the Ghost Market and tried other methods, but no one could help us."

I felt guilty and fearful. He was of royal status, and the consequences of his exposure would be unimaginable. That's why we prepared that letter beforehand and dared not tell you the truth..."

The swordsman and the lamp bearer, who were listening silently outside the door, both had tears in their eyes.

Xiao Huaijin then looked at Gui Yao, whose expression remained unchanged. She said, "Something's still not right. Where is Qi Yu's soul? Why is it pointing to the Princess Consort?"

Ji Linchuan's hand, hidden in his sleeve, suddenly tightened.