My heart sank slightly. I knew Yan Huo wouldn’t have let me meet Xia Zhichun so easily without reason. Even if I met Xia Zhichun, whether I could ultimately obtain the black gold token still depended on him. What a cunning Yan Huo – what exactly did he want to gain from me through this arrangement?
“Since that’s the case, Zhao Hua won’t force Your Highness,” I forced a smile. “I didn’t expect to ultimately still need Emperor Yan to speak.”
“Since that’s the case, I’ll excuse myself for a moment. No one will come here, so you can be at ease.”
Huh? I watched him leave, confused. Wasn’t he supposed to tell me An Jin’s whereabouts? Why did he just leave?
“A Yao,”
An Jin’s voice sounded behind me, seemingly accompanied by a long-suppressed sigh of relief.
I decisively took two steps back, watching him warily. “Who are you? What is the intention of impersonating An Jin?”
“Impersonation?” He looked somewhat shocked. “A Yao, can you not even recognize my voice?”
“If it were An Jin, he should have answered ‘People with too much curiosity often die the fastest’,” I confidently glared at him. “I’ve heard that some people can imitate voices perfectly. Stop pretending. Were you sent by Yan or Xia Zhichun to test me?”
His expression stiffened, neither laughing nor crying. “Good, very good. My little demon, you’ve finally learned to be cautious, to probe, to suspect, and to scheme. You won’t need me anymore, right? Since you don’t believe me, why didn’t you choose the Wujin token just now?”
I opened my eyes wide. “You… you are really…”
He pulled out a red silk handkerchief from his chest. “This should prove my identity, right?”
I certainly wouldn’t forget this handkerchief.
I had personally embroidered this handkerchief for him, with a Yao flower on it. There were some unexpected incidents during the competition, and I hadn’t paid attention to where the handkerchief went, never expecting he had kept it.
“To gain the Qi Emperor’s trust, and to give you a hint, I had Tang Wei bring back the handkerchief your mother embroidered,” he stuffed the silk handkerchief into my hand. “I’ve kept this handkerchief safe. When I miss you, I take it out to look at.”
