Chapter 57: The Ghost Infant Arrives

  "Ling Xue?" Xuanyuan Mu's voice suddenly appeared. "Isn't this the Crown Prince of Nanzhao? You're supposed to return to your country today, why are you still here?"

  The man's strength relaxed a bit, and I quickly struggled out of his arms, panting heavily, looking at him in surprise.

  At this time, I just discovered that he was wearing a purple dragon robe, with a purple belt and a dragon crown. His face was as beautiful as jade, his figure robust and refreshing, and the space between his eyebrows was indeed similar to An Mingzhu's.

  I hid behind Xuan Yuan's back, vigilantly staring at the man opposite us.

  He furrowed his brow, with a fervent look in his eyes, then scanned me from head to toe before saying after a long while: "Your Majesty? Wrong person!"

  "It's all right, this is Ben Wang's personal 'servant' girl, Mei Lingxue." Xuan Yuan Mu said while stretching out his hand to pull me into his arms, proclaiming his dominance.

  But I found it strange, what happened to this man just now?

  Returning to the East Palace, An Mingzhu knew that I had met the Prince of Nanzhao and couldn't help but be shocked: "It's all over, it's all over. My imperial brother has a very stubborn temper. If he finds out that there is someone who looks exactly like Lan Xue, he will definitely not let it go!"

  "Ling Xue is my woman." Xuan Yuan Mu Leng said with a cold face.

  "I know, but... uh... you don't know his temper!"

  "You said your friend looks like me, is it Lan Xue?" I asked curiously.

  An Mingzhu nodded: "Lan Xue's original name was Lan, and she was the only daughter of the Lan family. From a young age, she practiced martial arts and was close to my brother, like two peas in a pod. However, after the Lan family was implicated in treason and executed, Lan Xue escaped due to her relationship with my brother. The two were never able to return to their past, and my father became Lan Xue's enemy. During an assassination attempt on my father, she was killed by my brother's sword, simply because she wore a nightwalker's cloak that evening, and my brother didn't realize the person he killed was her... Ah! Fate!"

  An Mingzhu let out a deep sigh: "Lan Xue has been dead for three years, and my imperial brother is still alone. No matter how much pressure my father the emperor and his ministers apply, he just won't accept anyone else. This time, seeing you, Mei Lingxue, I think he won't give up easily."

  "What's going on?" I never knew there was someone in the world who looked just like me?

  "It's nothing, we just ignore him and he'll have no choice but to give up. Tomorrow when Snow Big Sister sees him, she'll hide far away from him, making him retreat in defeat." Xue Qiufeng spoke with attention.

  I don't have time for this, but hiding from that foreign prince is also good, so as to avoid being disturbed by him finding the ghost baby.

  It's still a nightmare, and now the dream is so weird. I don't know if it's because those ghost babies cast some kind of spell on me or for other reasons. Even though I'm scared to death in my dreams, I couldn't shout out loud, only the sound of babies crying, laughing, and calling out "mom".

  I felt that the nightmare was terrible and decided to tell Xuan Yuan Wu, but when I opened my sleepy eyes, he had already left.

  I'm extremely sleepy, but I couldn't sleep anymore. If I fall asleep again, I'll dream of those kids once more. I don't want to dream of them again.

  I struggled to open my eyes, barefoot on the ground, splashed some cold tea water on my face, and then walked out. The sky was just a little bright, and some maids had already gotten up.

  I walked out of the hospital, trying hard to overcome the feeling of exhaustion.

  A gust of wind blew by, and suddenly I felt the place where the ghost baby had bitten me a few days ago start to hurt. What's going on? I rolled up my sleeve, and there was actually a wound on my arm.

  That's not right, Xuan Yuan checked me that day and I didn't have any wounds, and my body was fine when I went to sleep last night. I quickly walked into the room, closed the door, took off my clothes, and examined my own body.

  All the places that were bitten by the ghost baby had wounds, red and small, as if they had just been bitten and bled. Some of them were shocking to see, with such small tooth marks still on them.

  The first thought that came to my mind was, have those ghost babies grown teeth? Did they come last night? And even bit me in the same old wound? Don't they fear Xuan Yuan's dusk?

  I swallowed hard and looked around the room in terror, feeling that those three ghost babies were hiding in this very room, lurking in the dark corners with their eyes without pupils staring at me.

  "Dong dong dong..."

  The sudden knock on the door gave me a fright.

  "Who?" I looked around the room and then walked towards the 'door'.

  "Ling Xue, I am An Mingzhu!"

  I opened the door and walked out, An Mingzhu was about to enter the house, saw my action, and couldn't help but follow me: "Why is your face so pale, are you sick?"

  I shook my head, and my mind was filled with the dreams I had last night.

  "What's wrong with you? Why aren't you talking?"

  It wasn't until now that I realized I had been neglecting her a bit. "Princess, what brings you to find me?"

  Anming Zhu looked at me strangely, then turned around and glanced at the room behind her, and suddenly rushed into the house.

  In terms of status, she is far superior to me, equivalent to the difference between a mistress and a maid. But I didn't lower my status because Xuan Yuan favored me, which is probably what they call being spoiled by favoritism.

  What's it got to do with me? I really don't have the time or energy to play along with these imperial concubines' schemes. So, in order to save time, I often just ignore them.

  An Mingzhu walked out of the room, seemingly not finding anything unusual. She looked at me with a questioning gaze in her eyes.

  I smiled slightly and said: "Just woke up a little while ago, still feeling a bit dazed!"

  An Mingzhu frowned: "You smile just like Lan Xue!" She looked worried.

  "What exactly do you want from me?"

  "Did you hear the child's cry last night? I asked several people, and they all said they heard it. But this morning, I looked around everywhere, and didn't see any children in any of the courtyards. The voice sounded like a very young child." An Mingzhu said thoughtfully.

  The sound of children crying? So they came last night? Are they really not afraid of Xuan Yuan Mu? I am extremely terrified, thinking that from now on they will suck my blood every night, eat my 'flesh', and torment my will in my dreams.

  "Didn't you hear it too?" An Mingzhu looked at me and couldn't help but ask again.

  "No, I'm just a bit annoyed. I'll go out for a walk!" After saying that, I dodged An Mingzhu's inquiring gaze and rushed out of the East Palace.

  The day breaks quickly, the sun rises from the east, covering the entire imperial palace under the sunlight. I really like the sunlight, it can drive away my inner fears.

  Looking at the colorful sunlight reflected on the water's surface, I felt a sense of wonder. In the past, when I was caught by the female corpse, I didn't see myself getting scared like this. Why am I so afraid now that I've encountered a ghost infant? Is it really as Xue Qiufeng said, that the ghost infant is eroding my willpower? Or have I slowly lost myself in my dreams?