Chapter 8: Identity
This was not her home.
Night shrouded the Prince of Qi's Mansion. Standing among the ancient tree branches, Lin Lin looked out over the sprawling estate, its buildings scattered like stars across the darkness.
Though she had already known this wasn't the modern society she once lived in—with its bright lights, towering buildings, and bustling streets—gazing down from this height in the dead of night made the reality feel far more tangible.
Lin Lin tilted her head back to look at the night sky. The stars and moon, at least, remained the same.
Could it be that when people die, they all go to another world?
Had her enemies and friends come here too?
Oh, wait—she only had enemies, not friends.
As for family, she had never even had a fixed residence, so one could say she had no home to begin with.
Lin Lin smiled faintly.
Faint footsteps reached her ears, growing closer, mingled with the clatter of armor.
Soon a squad of guards appeared in her sight, armed with long halberds and clad in armor. They marched slowly past when, suddenly, one of them turned his head in her direction...
Following his motion, the entire squad halted, their gazes converging on her position.
The withered winter branches rustled, a few night birds cried out, then flapped away in a flurry.
The group withdrew their gazes and continued their patrol along the wall.
Only when the sound of footsteps faded completely did Lin Lin slide gently down from the tree trunk she had been pressed against.
The Prince's Mansion was heavily guarded, and these guards possessed real skill.
She needed to tread carefully and avoid causing trouble before she left.
Though she had told the mansion she would stay a month to recover from her injuries, she had no intention of remaining that long. Ten days would be enough—she would use homesickness as an excuse to leave early.
Of course, she wouldn't return to the capital either, nor would she go to the home of the original Lin Lin.
She planned to discard this identity entirely. Without a single memory of the original owner, returning to the capital and mingling among those who knew Lin Lin would inevitably expose her.
Lin Lin smiled in the darkness.
Though she hadn't yet shed the identity of Lin Lin, she had already shed her former self.
She was no longer Puppet Ling Ling.
In truth, she wasn't even surnamed Lin. The name Lin Lin came from her code name—Ling Ling—a killer raised from childhood without parents.
What name should she choose next? What kind of life should she pursue?
...
...
"Miss Lin, please go slowly."
At dawn, the two maids assigned to care for her, Xiao Tao and Xiao He, entered the room and were startled to see Lin Lin standing while gripping the edge of the bed. They hurried forward to support her.
Lin Lin smiled at them. "It's fine, it's fine."
Xiao Tao's face was etched with worry. "Your wounds haven't healed yet. You shouldn't be walking."
"I know my limits," Lin Lin said. "Standing for a bit won't hurt."
Though they had been assigned to look after her, since she had been brought here, this Miss Lin had never once asked them to wait on her—she handled her own medicine application, dressing changes, and even personal needs.
Partly out of modesty, and partly because Miss Lin claimed she had studied medicine and knew better how to care for herself, the maids had simply let her be.
True to her word, Lin Lin stood only briefly before returning to the bed.
"The medicine from your Imperial Medical Academy is truly remarkable," Xiao He couldn't help but praise.
It wasn't the medicine that was remarkable—it was this body of hers. Lin Lin looked at them with a grateful expression. "No, it's because the Princess Dowager showed mercy. She didn't strike hard."
"Isn't it heavy? Xiao Tao and Xiao He are just lowly maidservants; they have no place by the Princess Dowager's side, nor did they witness the situation firsthand. But when they went to carry Lin Lin here, they still remembered seeing blood seeping through her buttocks and legs..."
However, that was nothing much. Caning was a technique that required great skill—it could look bloody and gruesome without actually damaging bones or sinews, while a beating that didn't look frightening could prove fatal.
"The mansion must be very busy now, with the Heir Apparent back and that Commandery Prince as well. I'm recuperating here—am I causing trouble for the household?"
Lin Lin began her daily probing for information.
She listened as the maidservants said things like "No trouble at all," "The Heir Apparent isn't home," "He's gone to see the Prince," and "The Commandery Prince of the Northern Garrison went too."
Watching over Miss Lin here was easy work, and the maidservants couldn't help but chat about household matters.
Lin Lin pricked up her ears. Over these days, she had learned that she was in a country called Great Chu, whose imperial family bore the surname Zhao.
The Prince of Qi held an unusual position—the old Prince of Qi had been the elder brother of the previous emperor, making him the current emperor's uncle.
When she heard the maidservants mention the Commandery Prince of the Northern Garrison, Lin Lin couldn't help but ask: "The Commandery Prince of the Northern Garrison is..."
The maidservants looked at her with slight surprise: "You don't know him?"
Should she know him? Lin Lin's eyes flickered. "...I rarely hear people mention him."
The maidservants nodded. "Better not to mention him." "Indeed, alas." "I thought he would stay at Qingcheng Mountain forever."
It sounded like someone everyone knew but everyone avoided...
Well, being too curious wasn't a good trait either.
Lin Lin didn't press further.
After three more days of stability, Lin Lin proposed leaving the Prince's mansion to return to the capital, citing reasons such as being much better, being fit to travel, having heavy coursework at the Imperial Medical Academy, and fearing her family would worry.
The maidservants went to ask the Princess Dowager.
The Princess Dowager had almost forgotten this person existed.
"She can really travel now?" she said with a frown. "Don't let her die on the road and end up being blamed on our Prince of Qi's mansion."
The maidservant who came to ask quickly said: "Miss Lin has been walking around these past few days. She says she studies medicine and knows her limits."
The attendant Caixia said softly at the side: "This Miss Lin comes from the Lin Family of Huzhou..."
The Princess Dowager didn't particularly care about the apprentice's background, but she looked at Caixia with slight surprise: "The Lin family of Minister Lin?"
Caixia nodded: "I heard it from her companions." She pursed her lips and smiled at this point. "Miss Lin is quite haughty in her daily conduct, mindful of her status."
So she didn't get along well with others, which was why those apprentices had testified against her—the Princess Dowager recalled the earlier matter.
"Since she's a daughter of the Lin family, how did she end up as an apprentice at the Imperial Medical Academy?" she asked.
In recent years, the apprentices recruited by the Imperial Medical Academy were said to be studying medicine, but in truth they were akin to palace servants. Only children of common folk and ordinary families would seek advancement there.
How could young ladies from noble families possibly do such a thing?
Caixia shook her head: "That, I don't know."
She guessed that this Miss Lin might be an insignificant branch of the Lin clan. She had the maidservants there ask around indirectly, but unfortunately, Miss Lin was tight-lipped and revealed nothing.
The Princess Dowager had no interest in asking further. She waved her hand: "Let her go. If we tried to persuade her to continue recuperating, we'd only be blamed for it."
...
A bundle contained a medical classic, a notebook for daily records, a few dresses, and two or three pieces of broken silver.
That was Lin Lin's luggage.
It looked quite meager.
But that didn't matter—once she shed this identity, she had plenty of ways to earn a living.
Since she wasn't entitled to use the Prince's Mansion's carriage, the mansion had rented one from the city, along with a male and a female servant to accompany her.
"Miss Lin, safe travels."
The maids who had attended to her saw her off at the door.
Lin Lin leaned against the carriage to thank them, then took one last look at the mansion's main gate—this was the first time she'd seen the front entrance of the Prince of Qi's Mansion, and it would be the last.
Lin Lin smiled faintly and was about to board the carriage with the help of the hired female attendant when the sound of hooves rang out in the street. The gatekeepers, who had been standing idly chatting without paying them any mind, all rushed forward.
"The Heir Apparent has returned."
They bowed with respectful enthusiasm.
Lin Lin looked over and saw a retinue of attendants escorting the Heir Apparent, Zhao Chengzhi, along with the Commandery Prince of the Northern Garrison, stopping before the gate.
"What's this?" Zhao Chengzhi also looked at the carriage, which he considered rather shabby, and asked.
A maid hurried forward to bow and explain.
So it was that female apprentice. Zhao Chengzhi turned his gaze to Lin Lin.
That day in the hall, she'd been beaten bloody, crying and screaming—he hadn't gotten a clear look at her, nor had he bothered to note her appearance.
But now...
This female apprentice seemed rather frightened and frail, barely able to stand even with the hired attendant's support, as if she were made of paper.
She kept her head lowered, her voice timid: "Greetings, Heir Apparent."
Zhao Chengzhi looked back at Xiao E, who was dismounting, and said, "You see, if you hadn't spotted the poisoning back then, this girl would have died unjustly. Now she can return to the capital alive."
Lin Lin steadied herself and bowed again: "Thank you, Commandery Prince, for saving my life..."
Xiao E didn't seem to hear, his gaze not even turning her way. He dismounted and walked straight inside.
"I need to wash up," he said only.
Zhao Chengzhi laughed and dismounted to follow: "What, can't stand the smoke and grime of the mine? Weren't you around smoke and fire every day at Qingcheng Mountain?"
Lin Lin lowered her head and breathed a sigh of relief, glad the two nobles hadn't paid her any mind. And so they parted ways.
She signaled the attendant to help her into the carriage, when more hoofbeats sounded.
This time, the hoofbeats were dense, and she could feel the ground trembling.
Lin Lin looked over and saw a mass of riders like a dark cloud bearing down on them.
Zhao Chengzhi, who was about to step over the threshold, turned back. Seeing this, his previously bright brows furrowed.
The riders arrived at the gate in an instant.
They wore no armor, only coarse black robes, each carrying two long knives strapped across their backs—at a glance, they looked like wings.
They reined in their horses in unison, surrounding the gate like spreading a great net.
"The Flying Eagle Guard is handling a case!"
"No one in the Prince's Mansion may move."
One of them rode forward from the lead and shouted loudly.
Lin Lin's heart skipped a beat. She shouldn't count as part of the Prince's Mansion's people, should she?