Who said the eldest daughter is crazy? She's clearly a woman of high rank and influence in the

The capital of Beishuo was called Shuojing, which was smaller than the capital of Daying, but its city walls were more than three inches thicker. Built of gray-black boulders, the walls had been worn with a rough, dark luster by centuries of wind and sand erosion.

The checks at the city gates are much stricter than those at the border.

Helian Jing handed over the fake travel permit, which the Beishuo soldier guarding the city examined twice, then looked at the two of them again, his gaze lingering on Xi Yueli's face for a moment longer.

This face is too white, too white for a woman from the north who has been exposed to the wind and sun all year round.

"Where did you come from?"

"To the south, to buy furs." Helian Jing replied casually. Xi Yueli lowered her head and grabbed the corner of his clothes, still playing the role of siblings who depended on each other for survival.

The guards' gaze lingered on the two men's ordinary expressions for a moment before waving them away.

Upon entering Shuojing City, the appearance of the streets and markets was completely different from that in the south.

The shop signs on both sides were mostly written in winding northern script, whole sheepskins hung on the windowsills to dry, horseshoes stacked half a person high were placed in front of the blacksmith's shop, and the tea stalls were filled with the salty aroma of butter tea mixed with coarse salt.

Xi Yueli walked beside Helian Jing, her gaze sweeping over the signs and lintels along the street, her steps suddenly slowing.

There is an old elm tree on the street corner. Its trunk is so thick that two people cannot wrap their arms around it. Faded old strips of cloth hang from its branches, fluttering in the wind.

In northern customs, old elm trees are considered blessing trees. When crossing the sidewalk, people tie a strip of cloth to a branch and make a wish.

Xi Yueli stopped in front of the elm tree. She looked up at the strips of cloth fluttering in the wind. She didn't know why she had stopped there, but her feet seemed to be held back by something, and she couldn't take the next step.

Helian Jing walked a while before realizing she hadn't followed. He turned around and saw her standing under the old elm tree, looking up at the branches with a blank gaze.

"What's wrong?"

Xi Yueli shook her head, but she stretched out her right hand and touched the faded blue cloth strip tied to the lowest branch with her fingertips.

The way that cloth strip was tied was different from the others; it wasn't a regular slip knot, but rather it was wrapped around three times and then passed back to form a knot that was never tied.

The instant her fingers touched the blue cloth strip, a fleeting, extremely brief image flashed through her mind.

A hand, with distinct knuckles, gently patted the tree trunk after tying the cloth strips. The palm pressed against the rough bark, and patted three times, as if talking to the tree.

The familiarity in those movements made her heart ache suddenly. She withdrew her hand, the rough texture of the coarse cloth still lingering in her palm.

"It's nothing," she said, lowering her eyes. "Let's go."

On the next street, she saw an old brass bell hanging in front of a shop, a wooden door with half of its paint peeling off, and a very faint cross drawn in charcoal on a half-hidden gray wall deep in a narrow alley.

Every time something catches her eye, her steps involuntarily slow down, as if something is pulling her in those directions.

Helian Jing didn't say anything, he just silently followed beside her. When she turned a corner, he turned a corner too; when she stopped, he stopped too. He didn't even ask her a question.

Inside the inn, Helian Jing sat opposite Xi Yueli at the desk, folded his outer cloak and tucked it behind her back as she wrote, moving very quietly without saying a word.

Xi Yueli glanced at him sideways. "Your Highness, once we arrive at the Northern Shuo Royal Court, just consider yourself my guard. No matter what happens, don't take action."

Helian Jing glanced at her and said, "Okay."

Half a day later, the two arrived outside the city wall of the Northern Shuo Royal Court. There were sentries every three steps and guards every five steps along the base of the wall, and the guards were fully armed.

When Xi Yueli stood in front of the east corner gate, she raised her hand and knocked on the door. After a moment, the door was pulled open a crack from the inside, and a pair of cloudy eyes looked her up and down.

"Who is it?"

Xi Yueli spoke, her voice neither loud nor soft: "A blue cloth strip is tied to the old elm tree in the east of the city, and it's knotted three times."

There was a moment of silence inside the door, then the door was pulled open completely, and the old servant stepped aside to make way for the passage inside.

She guessed right on the first thread.

After passing through the passageway and courtyard, Xi Yueli was led into the east wing.

Helian Jing stopped at the doorway of the side room, leaning against the doorframe, arms crossed, his posture relaxed, his lowered gaze fixed on the area three inches in front of his boots. A competent guard should not be looking around.

About half an hour later, an old man in a gray robe entered. He placed a blue jade pendant on the table and pushed it in front of her: "Does the young lady recognize this?"

Xi Yueli looked down at the jade pendant. There was a hair-thin crack at the end of the character "Yuan". She knew that, but she knew nothing else about the jade pendant.

The old woman in the gray robe held the jade tablet box with a steady hand, but after looking at it for three breaths, she raised her eyes and subtly curved the corners of her mouth, as if confirming something she had expected.

"I recognize it," she said. "The crack on the jade pendant... it's from twenty years ago."

The old man in the gray robe trembled almost imperceptibly for a moment; the woman looked to be only twenty years old.

After saying this, Xi Yueli said no more. She simply picked up her teacup, took a sip, and acted as relaxed as someone who held countless cards but was too lazy to reveal them all at once.

Since she remained silent, the old man in the gray robe did not press her for answers.

Xi Yueli didn't know what had happened twenty years ago, but all she needed to do was make the other person believe that she could have told them everything, but simply didn't bother.

The old man in the gray robe did not press further. He stood up and bowed to her, saying, "Please wait a moment, young lady. I need to report to the King."

After the news spread, Xi Yueli was placed in the guest courtyard to await her audience with the king the next day.

Xi Yueli tossed and turned on the kang in the side courtyard, unable to sleep. She had used the first of the three things she had learned since arriving here, and the last one could only be told to the king in private.

But when she meets the king tomorrow, all the officials will be there. She can't reveal the secret in front of everyone. She has to maintain the illusion that "I know everything" under the watchful eyes of the crowd.

The wall panel was tapped three times.

"Still not asleep?" Helian Jing's voice came through the thin wall.

"...Your Highness, I might embarrass myself tomorrow."

There was a moment of silence on the other side of the wall, then a very soft laugh came from behind. "I'll accept it even if you make a fool of yourself. Go to sleep."

Xi Yueli smiled slightly in the darkness and closed her eyes.

The next day at dawn, the Left Prime Minister came to the side courtyard in person. He had changed into a very formal dark purple court robe and his face was solemn: "Miss, the King will summon you to the Hall of Diligent Governance at the third hour of the third lunar month. All the civil and military officials will be there."

Xi Yueli nodded and stood up. She changed into a clean indigo dress and braided her hair into a thick braid that hung down her shoulders. Helian Jing changed into a fur coat and sheepskin boots, with an ordinary curved knife at his waist. He followed half a step behind her with his hands hanging down.

The stone platform outside the Hall of Diligent Governance was already filled with thirty or forty court officials.

Purple-robed civil officials, armored military generals, and members of the imperial family wearing gold belts formed a dense, dark mass.

The moment Xi Yueli stepped onto the stone platform, several gazes pressed down on her simultaneously, mixed with whispers and sneers; those gazes were more piercing than the morning light.

Regent Tuoba Lie stood at the front of the crowd, dressed in a dark red python robe. Behind him were four guards with swords. When he saw Xi Yueli approaching, he took a step forward, his imposing figure casting a large shadow in front of her.

"This girl?" Tuoba Lie scoffed, his gaze sweeping from the top of her head to her toes, then back up again, his contempt undisguised.

"The Left Prime Minister returned last night saying you recognized the Imperial Preceptor's jade token? I don't think so. A wild girl from the south probably doesn't even know which way the city gates of Beishuo open, yet she dares to come to the royal court to swindle people?"