Two young women served as "gatekeepers" at the National Teacher's residence. Dressed smartly, one in brocade and one in blue-green, they were like a peony and a secluded bamboo.
They stood guard respectively at the two covered walkways connecting the second and third courtyards, each with a standard-issue Great Li border army saber and short sword hanging from her waist.
Inside, Han E stood trembling as he asked, "It was an illusion wrought by immortals, wasn't it? Liu Wenjin isn't actually dead, is he?!"
They all said that Dao Cultivators in the mountains possessed a Sleeve Universe, could Shrink Ground Mountains and Rivers, and wield transformations beyond count—enough to pass falsehood off as truth.
Chen Ping'an lightly tapped his knee with a rolled-up book. "Liu Wenjin, forty-three years old, currently Minister of Rites for Qiu Kingdom. He stole an identity nineteen years ago. His real name was Zheng Lan, originally from Hua Xiang Prefecture of the Old White Frost Dynasty. His family was a prominent local clan, officials for generations, though he was born of a concubine. Hua Xiang Prefecture. What a coincidence."
Han E fell silent beside the chair. The young prince's heart was churning with towering waves. I can't die. I absolutely can't die! I still have too many ambitions left unrealized. I must fulfill my aspirations as Qiu Kingdom's new monarch, help the Han Clan of Qiu Kingdom break free from vassalage, and never again pay tribute to some suzerain state. I cannot let my ancestors suffer such humiliation any longer.
Chen Ping'an said, "At first, I was also worried that Liu Wenjin might have been a spy with two identities. I had the Ministry of Justice, even the Ministry of War, thoroughly reexamine all of his records for anything overlooked. The result was that there was