For the next few days, Yan Mingting stuck behind Zhao Yelan like a dog skin plaster.

After getting drunk that night, Yan Mingting already thought they were good brothers, and came to the door to find him very openly.

The cousin drove him away with a broom as usual, but Yan Mingting said, your cousin and I are good drinking buddies, and he will not drive me out.

The cousin looked at Zhao Yelan for his answer. Zhao Yelan turned around and pretended not to see, so the two of them assumed that he had acquiesced.

Yan Mingting immediately walked up behind him and asked: “Little Face, did you not drink alcohol last night? Do you remember what I said yesterday?”

Zhao Yelan was arranging herbs in the courtyard. He just stood there, staring intently at Zhao Yelan’s back as if he must see another shadow of that person, and said: “I seem to have been confused by drinking, and can’t remember what I said. My memory is spotty. Recently, my drinking capacity has really gotten worse.”

Zhao Yelan paused for a moment, then picked up the basket to set it on the eaves and let the herbs dry. He lifted it above his head and stood on tiptoe, but Yan Mingting suddenly appeared behind him and took the basket, easily setting it on the eaves.

“…….”

Zhao Yelan turned around and looked at him silently.

Yan Mingting pressed his head to compare their heights. Zhao Yelan reached his chin: “You’re as tall as him.”

Hearing this, Zhao Yelan purposely stood on tiptoe.

Yan Mingting smiled: “What? Are you still not convinced, ah? There’s nothing to be ashamed of, it’s just that I’m too tall.”

Zhao Yelan tried his best to stand on tiptoe. His figure was a little shaky, and he raised his chin proudly, which made Yan Mingting laugh out loud.

After a moment, Yan Mingting pressed the corners of his eyes and murmured: “Thank you. I can’t remember the last time I laughed.”

After following Zhao Yelan around like this for a few days, Yan Mingting suddenly disappeared and didn’t return for an entire day.

In the evening, Zhao Yelan gazed at the sunset and pounded medicine every now and then.

“You’ve been messing around all day.” When the cousin passed by, he couldn’t help but say, “Your thoughts aren’t on this, so you might as well go find him.”

Zhao Yelan returned to his senses and cast him a cold glance. The cousin smiled awkwardly. He had almost forgotten his identity, and actually regarded him as a cousin.

After dark, various birds chirped outside and made the room feel even more desolate.

He sat at the table with a stack of paper in front of him, trying to write quietly, but as soon as he pressed down with the brush, his stroke went crooked. Ink dripped onto the paper and blurred. He scratched the paper distractedly a few times, and then dropped the brush restlessly, spilling a few drops of ink.

At this time, there was movement in the courtyard. He immediately looked up and saw a black shadow jump from the courtyard wall and head straight to the window. Leaning his upper body through the window, Yan Mingting stared blankly at him and was about to speak, when he caught a glimpse of a ghostly talisman. He asked curiously: “Are you learning to write?”

Zhao Yelan blinked slowly, then nodded.

“I’ll teach you.” Yan Mingting came directly through the window, moving a chair to sit down beside him. He asked: “What characters do you want to learn?”

Zhao Yelan was deep in thought when he heard him say: “Let me teach you to write your name. I’ll write it down first, and then you can copy it.”

Zhao Yelan watched him write the words “Little Face” on the paper. The corners of his mouth twitched, but he still picked up the brush with his entire hand instead of his fingertips.

“No, no, your posture is wrong.” Yan Mingting took the brush and showed him the correct posture. “Try again.”

Zhao Yelan pretended to try a few times before he could use the correct posture. When he wrote, it was deliberately shaky.

“Don’t shake,” Yan Mingting instructed. While paying attention to the movements of his hands, he was gradually drawn to them.

“Wait.” Yan Mingting suddenly called for him to stop.

Zhao Yelan looked at him doubtfully. At this moment, Yan Mingting reached out to grasp his fingers, and gently pulled his little finger up.

“That’s how he holds the brush.” The corners of Yan Mingting’s mouth twitched. “The words written this way are very beautiful. You should try it too.”

Zhao Yelan looked at his fingers for a long moment. Even he hadn’t noticed that his little finger was slightly loose when he held a brush. This was a habit from when he was young, when he would imitate his mother holding her embroidery needle.

After he finished writing the words “Little Face” crookedly, he looked at Yan Mingting and beckoned to him to teach him new ones.

Yan Mingting wrote three words on the paper, and when he finished writing, Zhao Yelan was stunned for a moment.

Zhao Mengting.

Zhao Yelan’s eyes moved slightly. Looking at him blankly, he pointed at the words on the paper and waved his hands again, indicating that there were too many strokes and he couldn’t write it.

Yan Mingting had his own set of sign language logic, and asked: “You mean to say that you like this name very much? How many times do you want to write it?”

Zhao Yelan: “…….”

Yan Mingting: “Since you like it too, write it a few more times. How about I write with you?”

The two sat in front of the desk and wrote the same name. It took Zhao Yelan a while to write these words so that they didn’t look like his own handwriting at all.

He turned his head and glanced at Yan Mingting. He had thought that the other party would have written a lot after such a long time, but there was only the ‘Zhao’ character written. The rest was still unfinished, and he was staring at the paper in a daze.

When Zhao Yelan handed over his own paper for him to check, Zhao Mengting’s three huge characters appeared in front of him, and Yan Mingting’s eyes surged with heat, tears trailing from the ends of them.

Zhao Yelan was startled. He put down the paper in a panic, and reached toward his pocket. He stopped abruptly, then reached over and wiped the tears on the other’s face.

In a short while, Yan Mingting may have found that it was too embarrassing to display such behavior in a sober state, and he didn’t have the pleasure of venting drunkenly, so he gave a straightforward explanation: “I’m not crying, I just have tears in my eyes.”

“…….” Zhao Yelan was silent for a moment, then nodded as if he believed this nonsense.

Yan Mingting didn’t write any more. He stood up and said: “Nanjiang may not be peaceful in the future, you should be careful not to get caught up in it.”

Zhao Yelan frowned slightly. Seeing that he was about to leave, he unthinkingly grabbed the other’s sleeve, his eyes full of doubts.

Yan Mingting understood the look in his eyes, and explained: “Your Eighth Princess and Third Prince are planning to usurp the throne. They’re going to do it tonight.”

Zhao Yelan didn’t understand why he hadn’t stopped it. If it wasn’t stopped, it might affect the safety of the Xuan Dynasty, and that wasn’t Yan Mingting’s style.

“I will kill the Eighth Princess with my own hands, but I need a legitimate reason.” Yan Mingting gritted his teeth and said: “When my father died of poison, the poison came from her.”

Zhao Yelan suddenly realized that he must have learned of this from the former crown prince, so he rushed to the southern border.

But if the General of the Xuan Dynasty killed a princess of Nanjiang without authorization, it would inevitably lead to disputes and war, so he was waiting for the princess to commit the crime of treason first.

He even suspected that Yan Mingting had secretly facilitated this treason. The timing was too coincidental.

Zhao Yelan let go of his hand. He wouldn’t stop him from taking revenge.

Unexpectedly, after the other party left, he suddenly ran back and said: “You come with me. An innocent person could be hurt by mistake, I can protect you.”

The two looked at each other for a long moment, and Zhao Yelan’s heart wavered.

If he went with him, he would have to be vigilant at all times. Perhaps he would reveal his identity, and then everything he did before would be in vain.

He couldn’t go with him.

“Are you coming?” Yan Mingting asked again.

Zhao Yelan closed his eyes, intending to follow the choice he had decided on. Then, in the next moment, his body stood up involuntarily and he began to pack his luggage non-stop.

When the two left, Yan Mingting specifically asked: “What about your cousin? Do you want to take him with you?”

Zhao Yelan shook his head. He pointed toward the cousin, then pointed at the people in the next house, indicating that his family was there.

But Yan Mingting thought he wanted to bring those family members, so he urged the cousin to pack up quickly.

Zhao Yelan: “…….”

The cousin took his wife and children by the hands and asked with a blank expression where they were going?

Yan Mingting said that something was happening, and it was best to leave here immediately.

But the cousin subconsciously looked at Zhao Yelan. When he saw him secretly shake his head, he knew that his family couldn’t tag along. He waved his hand and hugged his wife and child: “We won’t go. This is our home, and we won’t leave it even if we die. You take my cousin away, ba. He’s still young, you must protect him and treat him well in the future.”

In the end, Yan Mingting only took away one person, and the two came to the gate of the city. Soon after, a group of subordinates appeared.

Zhao Yelan looked around, and was relieved to see nobody he knew.

Yan Mingting issued a few orders to his subordinates, then led them into the territory of the Xuan Dynasty. They would stay in the town closest to Nanjiang and wait for the army to arrive behind, as well as for the Nanjiang royal family to send out a distress signal before openly sending in troops.

“You should rest early, we’ll be living here temporarily for the next few days. Don’t run out if you have nothing to do,” Yan Mingting said.

Zhao Yelan nodded. He tossed and turned that night. He had unexpectedly returned to the Xuan Dynasty, so he might as well wait for the incident at the southern border to end before finding a reason to leave.

After fleeing all night, he felt a little thirsty, so he got up and fumbled around in the dark to pour water, and then heard erratic footsteps outside. He could probably guess who it was, and opened the door. It was Yan Mingting.

“Did I disturb you?” Yan Mingting apologized, “I’m sorry, I couldn’t sleep, so I just wanted to walk around.”

Zhao Yelan made a gesture.

Yan Mingting: “Are you asking me why I can’t sleep?”

He finally guessed it right for once. Zhao Yelan nodded.

“I don’t know, I just couldn’t fall asleep after a long time.” Yan Mingting looked at him and said softly, “But for some reason, seeing you these days inexplicably reassures me. I just wanted to see if you were asleep.”

Seeing the haggard look on his face, Zhao Yelan subconsciously grabbed his wrist and tugged him into the room, but the other party suddenly broke away from his hand. He reacted very quickly, a vigilant look in his eyes.

Zhao Yelan tilted his head, expressing his doubts.

“What are you touching me for? It’s still the middle of the night, and you want to drag me into your room?” Yan Mingting touched his wrist and pressed it to his chest, asking: “You don’t like me, do you?”

Zhao Yelan: “…….”

“You can’t like me,” Yan Mingting said. “There is someone in my heart. Although he disappeared from the world, he still lives in my memory.”

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Extra 9: Faking Death (2) <<Table of Contents >> Extra 11: Faking Death (4)