The protagonist suffered severe physical and mental trauma in the Secret Realm. After Yao Qing arranged a place for him to stay, he went directly to rest.

Only Linglong and Yao Qing were left in the courtyard.

Linglong looked at Yao Qing, puzzled, frowned, and asked, "I checked your situation with Aunt Su at the Four Seas Commerce Association before. Weren't you doing quite well? Why do you look now..."

Linglong organized her wording for a moment and then said, "Why do you look so immature?"

Yao Qing knew she couldn't hide from Linglong and spoke the truth: "All the things I did at the Four Seas Commerce Association were arranged by my sister. My sister's identity is special, so it's inconvenient for her to appear publicly. So she planned from behind, and I went out to put on an act."

Having said that, Yao Qing said proudly, "I acted for such a long time that I've learned to imitate quite well. Many people have been fooled by me!"

Linglong remained expressionless: "...That's nothing to be proud of."

Then she asked again, "What's the situation with Zhao Yi, the Crown Prince? Didn't he force you? Why do you now seem infatuated with him? Are you being foolish?"

Yao Qing shook her head, sighed, and said, "The matter is very complicated. He didn't exactly force me. I lost to him."

"What's going on? Explain clearly," Linglong said sternly.

Yao Qing then recounted how her sister, Yao Su, received intelligence from the Four Seas Commerce Association, heard about the protagonist's involvement with the Sixth Prince Consort, and urgently sent her to persuade the protagonist.

Yao Qing shook her head: "I hurried all the way but still arrived a step late. The Sixth Prince had already sent someone to assassinate Jing'Er."

Linglong seemed unsurprised by this situation.

She went directly to the point: "What do you mean by 'the wager'?"

Yao Qing said, "I went to find the Sixth Prince Zhao Yi... Oh, no, he's already the Crown Prince now. I went to plead with the Crown Prince, then learned that Eldest Prince Zhao Mian had pushed Jing'Er off a cliff. At that time, I was filled with despair, feeling too ashamed to face my sister. But Zhao Yi claimed Jing'Er wouldn't die, and then made a wager with me."

Linglong immediately grasped the crucial point: "Eldest Prince Zhao Mian said he pushed Yao Jing off the cliff, but Zhao Yi claimed he wouldn't die? Why was he so sure?"

Yao Qing shook her head.

This question from Linglong was something she had been unable to understand all along.

Yao Qing confirmed: "When Zhao Yi spoke, he seemed absolutely confident, as if he had seen it with his own eyes."

After Yao Qing finished speaking, she paused and said, "I waited at the exit of West Mountain as Zhao Yi had instructed, and within a day, Jing'Er came out!"

Linglong's expression became more puzzled as she asked, "What did Yao Jing say?"

Yao Qing shook her head: "Jing'Er was unconscious at the time. A young girl who called herself 'Little Poison' brought him out. Little Poison said that Jing'Er fell off the cliff and landed on a fierce beast named 'Black Stripe,' narrowly escaping death. That fierce beast called 'Black Stripe,' I guess it should be a python-like fierce beast!"

Upon hearing Yao Qing's words, Linglong analyzed, "The beast named Black Stripe shouldn't be a flood dragon. Most flood dragons live in great rivers and lakes. That fierce beast should be more like a snake or python-like fierce beast!"

Yao Qing nodded in agreement: "That's what I think too."

Yao Qing finished speaking, feeling relieved: "Fortunately, Jing'Er had great luck and happened to knock that beast unconscious. Otherwise, even if he didn't die from the fall, he would likely have become the beast's food!"

Linglong wore a look of contemplation.

"There are many discrepancies regarding Yao Jing's fall off the cliff."

"First, why was Zhao Yi sure that Yao Jing wouldn't die from the fall?"

"Second, how did Yao Jing fall off the cliff and land precisely on that beast?"

"Third, the sensory abilities of beasts far exceed those of human cultivators. That beast couldn't have failed to notice someone falling from above. Why didn't it dodge?"

"Fourth, jumping from such a high cliff and landing on that beast is actually not much different from landing directly on rocks. Yet, Yao Jing was only lightly injured while the beast was knocked unconscious. Does that make sense?"

Linglong's questions left Yao Qing unable to answer any of them.

Linglong clearly didn't expect her to answer either.

Linglong contemplated for a moment and firmly said, "There must be unknown secrets concerning Zhao Yi and Yao Jing!"

Linglong pondered: "Zhao Yi, being a prince of the Zhao clan and a famously wealthy individual globally, surely holds many cards and discovering that Yao Jing survived the fall isn't strange."

Speaking of which, she asked Yao Qing, "Yao Jing is merely a Buddha's Son from West Mountain Temple. The Residual Soul he carries isn't particularly powerful, so where do his secrets come from?"

Yao Qing looked confused: "Neither I nor my sister know anything about it."

Linglong nodded: "It seems he didn't speak the truth. This is good too; it at least shows he isn't utterly foolish."

After finishing her statement, Linglong looked at Yao Qing and asked, "What happened then? Have you really fallen in love with Zhao Yi?"

Upon hearing this, a hint of confusion flickered in Yao Qing's dark eyes, followed by a blush on her face.

She initially nodded, then shook her head, and sighed: "I can't quite explain what my relationship with him is, whether it's admiration or gratitude."

"Gratitude?" Linglong looked at her in confusion.

Yao Qing nodded: "He saved my life!"

Then, Yao Qing recounted how she sensed the protagonist's presence earlier and had planned to find him, but fell into a trap and almost died.

Finally, Yao Qing said, looking complex: "Earlier when you mentioned that the Zhao clan was behind the Four Seas Commerce Association, I couldn't understand why my sister, knowing the real enemy, never sought revenge. But now it seems she might have been in a similar situation as I was."

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