Xiao Man glanced coldly at Lan Qin, "Am I that kind of person?"
Lan Qin nodded without hesitation. As soon as she finished, she felt she should be more tactful, and quickly shook her head, "How could Big Sister be a bad person? It's the First Princess who is bad."
"By age, you are older than me. Just call me by my name," Xiao Man said in a flat tone. "If you call me Sister, and your sisters hear it, they'll take advantage of you."
"I am not sisters with them," the Third Princess said without hesitation. "You are the only sister I have."
Xiao Man glanced at Lan Qin, making her feel a little guilty. "After all, we've lived together for so many years. I have no blood relation with them, nor have I lived with them. What kind of sisters are we?"
Xiao Man nodded in agreement. In the royal family, even blood sisters could turn against each other, let alone those without blood relations.
"Family ties are very shallow in the royal family," Xiao Man said coldly. "Even blood sisters fight for power, let alone you."
"Anyway, I've made up my mind. I'll follow you. I'm not interested in the throne. Just let me be a carefree princess and provide for my food and entertainment."
"Providing for you is not impossible, but the prerequisite is that you must do something," Xiao Man said with a slight smile. "If nothing unexpected happens, the Empress will summon me in the next couple of days. I need you to do something for me."
Lan Qin leaned back and asked timidly, "What do you want me to do? You know my influence in Bianjing has been almost eradicated. Even my people have been bought over by those two. I don't have anyone to use right now."
"You can do it."
"I don't think I can."
"You can," Xiao Man patted Lan Qin's shoulder. "When the Empress summons me, I want you to sneak into the Empress's library and steal something for me..."
"No, absolutely not!"
"I haven't even said what it is!"
"What you want to steal is definitely not an ordinary thing. Ordinary things wouldn't be kept in the Empress's library!" Lan Qin shook her head like a rattle drum. Only a handful of people could enter the Empress's library, and it housed secrets that could not be revealed to the public. What Xiao Man wanted was definitely not a good thing!
"It's not stealing, just looking," Xiao Man said slowly. "I want to know a person's background. After thinking about it, I might find the answer in the Empress's library."
"There's someone whose background you can't find out?" Lan Qin was immediately intrigued. Xiao Man's abilities were already considered heaven-defying in her eyes. Yet, there was still someone Xiao Man couldn't find out about. Who could it be?
"Someone who makes me very curious," Xiao Man frowned slightly. "No matter how I investigate, I can't find any information related to him. It's as if he appeared out of thin air, and there's no trace of his existence in this world."
"Who is the person you want to investigate?" Lan Qin asked tentatively.
Xiao Man nodded, "Feng Mo Ran."
"Someone from the Feng family?" Lan Qin was quite surprised.
"You know?"
"Men from the Feng family have been the imperial consorts of Lan Yue for generations," Lan Qin said excitedly. "However, all the men of the Feng family are dead. Many years ago, due to an incident, most of the Feng family members died. It seems only a few remain. I heard that the last heir of the Feng family also died in a palace coup more than a decade ago."
"Men from the Feng family have been imperial consorts for generations?" Xiao Man was somewhat puzzled. "Who stipulated this?"
"The founding Empress stipulated it," Lan Qin replied. "The Feng family were founding heroes of Lan Yue, but they were willing to retreat behind the scenes. Therefore, men from the Feng family served as imperial consorts for generations. As far as I know, Feng Mo Ran should be the imperial consort of Empress Yue Xian!"
Xiao Man already knew that Feng Mo Ran was the imperial consort of Empress Yue Xian and had suspected his motive for killing her father. However, it wasn't enough. If it were truly out of hatred from love, he wouldn't have endured for so many years. There must be other reasons.
"Lan Qin, tell me, in this world, who hates my father the most?"
Lan Qin picked up a pastry from the table and sighed, "If Feng Mo Ran were still alive, it would be him."
"Why?"
"Big Sister, use your clever little mind to think. Father's appearance not only captured Empress Yue Xian's heart but also took away his position as imperial consort. Wouldn't he hate Father?"
"But outsiders don't know my father's identity," Xiao Man said slowly. "No, if they didn't know, how did you find me so accurately?" Su Dan Novel Network
Lan Qin finished the pastry in her hand. "You finally remembered. Father's identity was supposed to be a top secret. Only a select few knew. Besides Empress Yue Xian's confidantes, no one else could have possibly known."
"Feng Mo Ran." Xiao Man felt a chill down her spine. It was Feng Mo Ran who leaked her father's identity to Lan Ruo Yu. Lan Ruo Yu then sent spies to her side to search for the Imperial Seal and the military tally. If these two items hadn't been hidden in the mechanism box and carefully concealed by her father, Lan Ruo Yu would never have allowed her to grow up safely.
"He is already dead."
"He is still alive!" Xiao Man said with certainty.
"Did he escape in the chaos?"
"You definitely wouldn't guess where he is now," Xiao Man said faintly.
Lan Qin thought carefully, "Did he kill Father?"
Xiao Man didn't rush to answer, her gaze fixed on the window. A bird flew across the sky. The bird's feathers were red, a beautiful sight. Xiao Man got up and walked to the window, pushing it open. The fiery red bird, as if finding its owner, swooped down.
Xiao Man extended her hand, and the little bird immediately landed in her palm, affectionately rubbing its head against Xiao Man's palm.
Xiao Man took out a few small pills from her pouch. The little bird happily swallowed them and hopped joyfully in Xiao Man's palm.
"This is an Undying Bird!" Lan Qin reached out to touch it, but the Undying Bird instantly turned into a stream of light and flew into the sky. Lan Qin excitedly leaned out, "An Undying Bird, it's an Undying Bird!"
"Be careful not to fall," Xiao Man reached out and grabbed Lan Qin's collar. "It's just a bird, is it worth getting so excited?"
"Big Sister, that's an Undying Bird! The totem of Lan Yue is the Undying Bird, that's the divine bird of Lan Yue," Lan Qin said excitedly. "The Undying Bird actually favors you, it's incredible, truly incredible."
Xiao Man's expression remained calm, "It's just a bird."
"Look quickly, it's the Undying Bird." Some commoners spotted the Undying Bird and knelt down to worship it, as devout as believers.
Xiao Man narrowed her eyes, "Does the Undying Bird hold a high status in Lan Yue?"
"Of course. The commoners fear the Empress, but they truly worship the Undying Bird. It's a sign of good fortune," Lan Qin said excitedly. "The Hundred Flowers Pavilion opens today, and the Undying Bird appears. From now on, no one can shake the status of the Hundred Flowers Pavilion, and no one will dare to underestimate you!"