Chapter 3: 003 Watch Out, There's a Spy!

The old nanny returned quickly, but Murong Wei hadn't packed a single thing. She sat on the heated kang, toying with a crystal-clear, fish-shaped pendant. The material was artificial crystal, something that simply did not exist in this era.

She hadn't expected this item to travel through time with her.

She quickly searched the room and found her toolkit tucked inside the bedding, while the fountain pen she had used to pin up her long hair was lying under the pillow.

"Fourth Miss, what has gotten into you today! You aren't usually like this! The Eldest Miss has returned—did you hear me clearly or not?" the old nanny urged anxiously, noticing the pendant swaying in Murong Wei’s hand.

"Is it pretty?" Murong Wei’s voice softened.

"It is, Fourth Miss. What is this?" the old nanny asked, curious.

"Look closely. Is there a totem hidden inside?" Murong Wei said softly again, her voice seemingly imbued with magic.

The old nanny didn't answer; she stared with increasing intensity, as if her soul had been hooked by the crystal pendant. She leaned forward, watching with a dazed obsession.

Murong Wei stopped swaying the pendant. A mysterious and elegant smile curled at the corners of her lips. After a long moment, she spoke in a gentle tone: "Tell me, who am I?"

"Fourth Miss," the old nanny murmured, her soul truly ensnared.

This was the oldest and simplest form of hypnosis: instant hypnosis.

As a top-tier assassin, Murong Wei naturally understood it. This technique didn't work on everyone—only two or three out of a hundred people could be instantly hypnotized—but clearly, Murong Wei’s luck wasn't bad.

"Who is the Fourth Miss?" Her voice remained gentle as she lazily leaned back against a high pillow.

"The fourth daughter of General Murong of the Han Kingdom, Murong Zi. She is about to be sent to the Xuanyuan Dynasty for a political marriage to become the secondary consort of Prince Qi," the old nanny replied.

Murong Wei was startled. She hadn't expected this name to differ from her own by only one character. She smiled helplessly and was about to continue her questioning when she was shocked again.

About to be sent for a political marriage?

That meant she hadn't been sent to Xuanyuan yet. To be precise, she was pregnant out of wedlock, and she was on the verge of giving birth!

In ancient times, this was a matter even more terrifying than murder. After finally calming her emotions, Murong Wei asked in a soft voice, "Whose child is the Fourth Miss carrying?"

"This servant does not know who the man is. The Eldest Miss admires Prince Qi of Xuanyuan, but it was the Fourth Miss who was betrothed to him since childhood. A year ago, the Eldest Miss took the Fourth Miss to the north to escape the summer heat. After they returned, the Fourth Miss was pregnant. Only this old servant and a few guards know about this. When the child was three months along, the Fourth Miss claimed to be ill and came to this villa to rest. It just so happened that the Master was ordered to lead a campaign and the Madam accompanied him, which is how this matter has been kept hidden until now," the old nanny answered truthfully.

"Why didn't you get rid of the child?" Murong Wei continued to ask. She did not know that, a long, long time later, whenever she recalled this question, her heart would feel as if it were being sliced by a knife.

"The Fourth Miss is kind-hearted and timid; she wouldn't even step on an ant, let alone harm the child in her womb," the old nanny said.

Murong Wei shook her head helplessly and asked, "Does the Eldest Miss know about this?"

"Of course she knows. The Fourth Miss has been living in this villa. After the Master and Madam left, no one came to see the Fourth Miss because the Eldest Miss sent servants to keep watch. This servant was also ordered to watch over the Fourth Miss. On the surface, the Eldest Miss pretends to know nothing and has gone to the frontier with the General," the nanny replied.

Murong Wei nodded, but a sudden thought made her recoil in fear. That was a close call!

So... that meant the old nanny was actually a spy!

If she hadn't used hypnosis, she might have truly fallen into this old nanny's trap in her confusion!

She reminded herself: the first servant you meet after traveling through time isn't always a trusted confidant!

Murong Wei had roughly guessed the crux of the whole situation. She stretched and asked curiously, "And who is this Prince Qi?"

Although it was obvious that the Eldest Miss was the one framing her—and with very ruthless methods at that, intending not just to prevent her from marrying Prince Qi, but to take her life—she was, after all, the Fourth Miss of the Murong estate. If she were pregnant out of wedlock, she could have dealt with the child early on and married into a family of lower status than the General's estate. But being discovered while heavily pregnant and near labor made the situation far more complicated.

Regardless, she was more interested in men than women, and "Prince Qi of Xuanyuan" sounded quite impressive.

"Prince Qi of Xuanyuan, named Che, is the seventh prince of Xuanyuan. After the Crown Prince ascended the throne, he was enfeoffed as a Prince with the title 'Qi'. He is skilled in the six arts, possesses both talent and virtue, and is of peerless beauty. He became famous across the nations in his youth. He is a mysterious person with unpredictable whereabouts; unless it is a grand palace banquet, he is rarely seen," the old nanny replied truthfully.

"Xuanyuan Che?" Murong Wei muttered to herself, then asked, "Has the date for the marriage been set?"

"The betrothal was arranged in childhood. To this day, the Xuanyuan imperial family has not brought it up, but since the original decree from the late Emperor is in the General's hands, this marriage is unavoidable," the old nanny answered.

Murong Wei nodded and asked many more questions about the General Murong estate until late at night, when she finally put away the crystal pendant.

It turned out that General Murong had no sons, and this Fourth Miss was his only daughter born of his legal wife. The Eldest Miss Murong Lan, Second Miss Murong Qiu, and Third Miss Murong Yue were all born to the second concubine. The General's wife had married late and passed away early, leaving her own daughter to be bullied from childhood.

After a long while, the dazed old nanny suddenly shuddered and finally snapped out of it. She looked blank, having forgotten what she had just done.

She looked at Murong Wei in confusion, then grew anxious again. As she packed the belongings on the heated kang, she urged, "Fourth Miss, hurry, hurry! The carriage driver will be here soon."

Murong Wei, however, remained languid. She subtly pushed away the nanny's hand from the belongings and said calmly, "I'm tired, and it's getting late. Let's leave tomorrow. Remember to come wake me early."

With that, she picked up the heavy bundle with one hand, placed the other on her waist, and stood up with the practiced, standard gait of a pregnant woman, heading toward the bed.

Only then did the old nanny turn to look out the window and realize the night was deep. She was shocked—what was going on? How had it already become night!