Return Of The Swallow

She put the jade seal back into the wooden box and opened the letter addressed to Jinxuan. The contents were brief, but very shocking.

Pang Zhixi"s men are already at the city walls, We are afraid We don"t have much time. We have committed innumerable evils in this life, Our death is not one to be mourned. Our only regret is beloved Yongfu. The princess is young and truly innocent. Brother Liu, We implore you to come. If you render aid, We would be the most grateful and repay with in any way possible in Our next life.

"Zhou Weixian" was the signature, and a personal seal stamped next to the name.

What else would Qin Yining not understand after seeing this name?

The surname of Northern Ji"s ruling clan was Zhou. The tyrant"s secondary name had been Weixian, a name that had drawn the ridicule of the people. The "wei" in his name stood for able and virtue, but the bearer was anything but competent or virtuous.

From this, she could concluded that Lily should be Princess Yongfu, her surname Zhou and her secondary name Xiaolian, the characters for Lily.

The one who"d died to protect Zhou Xiaolian must be General Liu Jinxuan.

Her expression grave, Qin Yining placed the letter and seal back into their original positions. She"d thought that Lily"s background wouldn"t be simple, but she"d never imagined that the child would be the princess of the previous dynasty!

Them meeting in the mountains was an indicator of their shared destiny. Qin Yining would never abandon this adorable girl to perish in the woods. Danger and wild animals lurked around every bush. She herself had once lived in the mountains and knew full well how difficult it was.

This child had fended for herself in the mountains since the age of six and had somehow made it to nine years old. She subsided on half-raw food and likely often went hungry. She looked like a little savage, but hadn"t been eaten by wild animals or died of illness. This was already a miracle in itself!

Qin Yining couldn"t promise if Zhou Xiaolian"s string of luck would continue if she remained on the mountain. I"m taking her with me!

But the most difficult part of this all was her ident.i.ty. Her father was the tyrant that had doomed Pang Xiao"s father.

Pang Xiao had overthrown the tyrant and ended the ludicrous Northern Ji in the name of revenge for his father. He was a hero in the people"s eyes, but an enemy in Zhou Xiaolian"s.

And in his, Zhou Xiaolian was the daughter of his enemy. Not to mention that she had the imperial seal of Northern Ji.

Great Zhou had surely hunted for this seal since the founding of their dynasty.

Qin Yining really couldn"t say with surety that Pang Xiao would let Zhou Xiaolian live after he knew of her ident.i.ty.

And even if he did, would the Zhou emperor show mercy? The others?

No, no!

Such a young child shouldn"t bear the sins of her father! Since Qin Yining had met the girl, she wouldn"t stand by idly. She would take Zhou Xiaolian with her and protect her. No one could find out about the child"s ident.i.ty, even Pang Xiao.

Just as thoughts ran rampant in Qin Yining"s mind, rustling in the woods sounded outside the cabin.

The door was pushed open to admit Zhou Xiaolian carrying a b.l.o.o.d.y wild rabbit, and a net full of small sparrows still frantically trying to flap to safety. Dirt and grime covered her all over as she called out happily, “Big sister, eat!”

The cleanliness of the cabin seem to strike her in the next second. The floors were the cleanest they"d ever been. The child hastily backed up, threw out the dripping prey, and scuffed at the b.l.o.o.d.y marks on the floor with her animal pelt boots. She smiled bashfully at Qin Yining.