Volume 1, Chapter 9: Has She Been Possessed?-Após a Morte Trágica e a Reencarnação, As Portas do Palácio Se Ajoelham Uma Após a Outra Pedindo Meu Perdão.(Um sonho da grua negra)

Ever since she returned from the Yongxiang Alley, sister Zhi had become an entirely different person.

She used to be so lively and clingy, always full of energy as she pestered him. Her smiles were sweet and adorable; she would never contradict him, and she would even get jealous if he praised their younger sister, demanding to know which of them he liked best.

Now, she looked at him as if he were a complete stranger—cold and distant.

This was not his sister Zhi!

Was she possessed?

Yongxiang Alley was known for its dark, heavy aura. Pei Shangyan had indeed heard many rumors about ghosts, claiming that the spirits of deceased concubines would return to demand lives or possess others as scapegoats. His younger sister had warned him last night, too, noting that she also found sister Zhi acting strange.

Better to believe it than to risk it.

At this thought, Pei Shangyan’s gaze turned razor-sharp. He violently gripped Mu Yuanzhi’s wrist and roared, "You are not sister Zhi! Speak, you demon, where did you come from?!"

Is he insane?

Mu Yuanzhi was truly speechless. She tried to pull her hand back, but failing, she had to force herself to remain patient. "I am Mu Yuanzhi. If the Crown Prince does not believe me, you may summon the State Preceptor."

Although Mu Yuanzhi had no real interaction with the State Preceptor, based on her past life, he at least was not a follower of Pei Yunxi, so he wouldn't spout nonsense to put her in danger.

Pei Shangyan clearly did not believe her; his sister Zhi would never speak to him this way. Without further ado, he dragged her along.

"Let go of me! I am going to hunt in the back mountains! Pei Shangyan, are you sick in the head?!"

Seeing his sister glaring at him with such hostility, Pei Shangyan became even more convinced that she was possessed. Even when his sister Zhi scolded him, it used to be in a sweet, coquettish tone—how could she be this biting and sharp-tongued now?

He dragged her along quite roughly. Palace servants pointed and whispered along the way, and rumors began to spread instantly.

When it came to brute strength, Mu Yuanzhi was no match for Pei Shangyan. Even as she argued, he refused to let go in his fury.

"State Preceptor!"

Pei Shangyan called out twice, but no one answered. The others in the Astronomical Bureau did not know where the State Preceptor had gone; only the Junior Inspector was present.

"Your Highness the Crown Prince, what is this..." the Junior Inspector asked, approaching with a look of alarm.

"You have served the State Preceptor for so long; do you know how to tell if someone has been possessed by a spirit?" Pei Shangyan asked directly.

The Junior Inspector understood the situation immediately. His eyes swept over Mu Yuanzhi, and he nodded. "In reply to Your Highness, I certainly do."

Upon hearing this, Mu Yuanzhi keenly caught a flash of craftiness in the Junior Inspector’s eyes.

This man was wicked!

He pointed to a nearby pond and said, "Just submerge her head into the pool, and any demon or ghost will be forced to reveal its true form."

Just as she thought! Mu Yuanzhi knew this Junior Inspector was no good; he was likely one of Pei Yunxi’s pawns as well!

"Brother Crown Prince, I have only just recovered from a cold!" Mu Yuanzhi truly couldn't fathom how Pei Shangyan’s brain worked. How had she ever thought he was exceptionally intelligent?

Then again, if he were smart enough, he wouldn't be led around by the nose by Pei Yunxi. This entire family, with the exception of their great-grandmother, was brainless!

However, to Pei Shangyan’s ears, Mu Yuanzhi’s words were merely a sign of a guilty conscience. Without another word, he grabbed her and pushed her into the pond!

A suffocating sensation overwhelmed her. Mu Yuanzhi felt her brain deprived of oxygen; her lungs seemed to fill with water, and she was swallowed by a surging sense of terror.

It was unbearable!

Someone, save her!

Her hands, struggling against the water's surface, grew weaker.

Brother Crown Prince...

Pei Shangyan...

No!

She could not die like this!

She had worked so hard to be reborn; she absolutely would not die so pathetically!

With a surge of strength from somewhere, Mu Yuanzhi managed to break free from Pei Shangyan’s restraint!

"Sister Zhi!"

Pei Shangyan had been timing it, intending to pull her up, but he hadn't expected her sudden burst of strength to break his hold. He watched in horror as Mu Yuanzhi sank!

Almost instinctively, Pei Shangyan dove into the pond without a second thought. The splash drenched the Junior Inspector, who finally realized that the Crown Prince had jumped into the pool!

He didn't have enough heads to pay for this!

"Someone come! Quickly, save the Crown Prince!" The Junior Inspector could not swim, and the pond was very deep. He dared not jump, and he was so anxious he felt as if his head were smoking.

Mu Yuanzhi, slowly sinking to the bottom, could no longer hear any sound. She felt as if she were being devoured by darkness, her consciousness fading.

She felt such resentment—was she to die just like this?

A dazzling light pierced through her barely open eyelids, and all she saw was a warm, silvery white.

She reached out with all her might and grasped a hand that was equally warm.

...

Mu Yuanzhi woke up, and what met her eyes was a ceiling that was both strange and familiar.

This was... her own bedchamber?

"Cough..." Mu Yuanzhi tried to speak, but only a cough came out.

The imperial physician, who was checking her pulse, saw her wake up and beamed with joy. "The Princess has awakened!"

"The Princess is awake!" Hongdou and Linglong wept as they looked at each other.

Thank heavens!

Mu Yuanzhi still felt lingering fear; her fingers were trembling, and she had no heart to pay attention to the others in the room.

The physician was busy writing a prescription, and the two maids were bustling about, though she didn't know why.

Pei Shangyan, the culprit of it all, was nowhere to be seen, and Mu Yuanzhi had no desire to care whether he was there or not.

The person who saved her in the water definitely wasn't Pei Shangyan.

The light she saw must have been reflected off a man's jade hairpin. Who was it?

The State Preceptor? Or someone else from the Astronomical Bureau?

Outside the door, Pei Shangyan heard the news that Mu Yuanzhi had woken up, and the weight in his heart finally lifted. He felt too ashamed to go in and see her; the State Preceptor had already come by and confirmed that she was not possessed.

This should have been a happy occasion, but he couldn't bring himself to be glad. His feet felt like lead, and his guilt was suffocating him.

But why had sister Zhi changed so much?

Could it be that she was truly innocent regarding the matter of the hidden weapons?

But his younger sister would not lie. Could there be some other misunderstanding in all of this?

Pei Shangyan thought that he still had to go in and check on her; otherwise, he wouldn't be at ease.

He pushed the door open and entered. The physician was about to leave, and Pei Shangyan signaled for the two maids to withdraw as well.

Looking frail and haggard, Mu Yuanzhi appeared quiet and desolate. Pei Shangyan froze, recalling how she had been on the brink of death just moments ago; his heart tightened. "Sister Zhi... it was brother who misunderstood you... you..."

"Get out, I want to rest." Mu Yuanzhi didn't even glance at Pei Shangyan, interrupting him impatiently. The agitation caused another fit of coughing.

From now on, she would have to be even more guarded around him.

"Sister Zhi, is there somewhere else you are feeling unwell?" Pei Shangyan stepped forward, anxious.

He was filled with regret; his sister had only just recovered from a cold, and her body was at its weakest.

"I want to rest! Can you please leave?!" Mu Yuanzhi suddenly raised her voice, her brows etched with annoyance.

Pei Shangyan stood there in astonishment, his foot awkwardly retreating as he stepped back.