Chapter 2 Unveiling the Mystery of Her Origins

Xianyu Jing immediately noticed that in the center of the room stood a crystal ice coffin, gleaming coldly. Inside the translucent, snow-white coffin, a woman lay in stillness.

She wore a pale blue gauze gown that cascaded down elegantly. Her bare arms were as white and smooth as snow, her ten fingers interlaced gently upon her chest. Around her flawless jade-like neck hung a dark ring, strung on a fine thread and inscribed with mysterious patterns.

Her features were refined and soft; beneath slender, graceful brows her eyes were closed in repose, her red lips gently pressed together. Her expression was tranquil and serene, like a sleeping beauty.

Staring at the face so strikingly similar to her own, Xianyu Jing felt a surge of emotion.

“She…”

She wanted to ask if the woman had passed away, but the words stuck in her throat and a dull ache settled in her heart.

The noblewoman approached the ice coffin, caressing the crystal lid as she spoke softly, “The Namgung clan has a lower body temperature than ordinary people and is highly resistant to the cold. Below freezing, they can enter a state of hibernation.”

Xianyu Jing was astonished. “She’s still alive?”

“Of course your mother is alive. But… she was poisoned some time ago, and to this day, no cure has been found. She has no choice but to remain in this state of hibernation.”

“Poisoned?”

“When your mother was being hunted by her enemies, the Namgung family went to rescue her, but by the time they arrived, she had already been gravely poisoned.”

Enemies seeking vengeance?

The more Xianyu Jing heard, the more tangled the situation seemed.

“She begged us to find you, her lost child, but all these years, we could find no trace of you,” the noblewoman continued. “It wasn’t until you were brought to Angel Hospital that we discovered, through your blood test, that you bore the Namgung bloodline.”

Xianyu Jing’s thoughts were in turmoil.

Ever since she had fallen ill at the age of six, she had lived quietly with her mother in the countryside. Her family had always cared for her with utmost tenderness, never allowing her to suffer serious illness or injury. Whenever her strange malady struck, it was her brother who used their grandfather’s old remedies to alleviate her symptoms.

To find a cure for her illness, her brother had come to the imperial city three years before to study medicine at the university. Thanks to his talent, a patron from the academy sponsored his studies abroad.

It was because of this connection that Xianyu Jing was brought to the city and enrolled in a local high school.

Because of her peculiar illness, she kept to herself, avoiding close contact with others. Even though her grades were excellent, she always tried to remain inconspicuous.

Perhaps it was for these reasons that the Namgung family had never managed to find any clue about her all these years.

And yet, faced with this sudden, overwhelming revelation, she could not bring herself to accept it.

The noblewoman seemed to sense her turmoil and spoke in a gentle, reassuring tone. “It’s not easy to accept your true heritage all at once. I have already contacted your adoptive mother—she is here at the villa waiting for you. After you meet, we’ll talk further.”

With that, Steward Xue was sent to fetch Xianyu Jing’s mother.

——

When Ning Wenyen learned that her daughter had been in a car accident, she rushed to Angel Hospital, only to be told that her daughter had been taken to the Namgung family’s estate.

Before Xianyu Jing woke up, Madam Namgung had already spoken with her at length.

When Ning Wenyen was finally led into the spacious hall at the back of the villa and saw her daughter safe and sound, the anxiety in her heart slowly eased.

“Jingjing!”

She hurried forward, grasping Xianyu Jing’s cold hand, her eyes full of pain as she noticed the blood seeping through the bandage on her daughter’s forehead.

“They said you weren’t badly hurt, but look at your forehead—it’s scarred!”

“I’m fine, it’s just a scrape.” Xianyu Jing tried to manage a smile, but couldn’t quite bring herself to do so.

Ning Wenyen had intended to scold her, but the words caught in her throat and she fell silent.

After a while, Xianyu Jing said quietly, “Mom, I saw a woman who looks very much like me. Someone told me she’s my birth mother…”

She paused, watching for a reaction from Ning Wenyen.

In response, Ning Wenyen took out a small embroidered pouch and placed it in Xianyu Jing’s hand.

Xianyu Jing squeezed the pouch and then carefully opened it, emptying its contents into her palm.

Sure enough, it was a dark ring.

Its material was hard to describe—similar to blackened silver, yet astonishingly light. It was engraved with a ring of patterns identical to those on the pendant worn by the beautiful woman in the ice coffin.

Looking more closely, Xianyu Jing realized the patterns were in a script she could not read.

“Jingjing,” Ning Wenyen said, her face shadowed with guilt as she saw her daughter lost in thought, “Twelve winters ago, A’Feng and his grandfather were gathering herbs in the valley when they found you, passed out from the cold in a hunter’s trap. They brought you home. You had a terrible fever and lost your memory. A’Feng couldn’t bear to see you sent to an orphanage, so he asked me to adopt you.”

Xianyu Jing had no memory of how she had gotten lost in the snowy mountains.

All she remembered was that, when she first opened her eyes, she looked up into her brother’s deep brown eyes—eyes full of stars. She remembered the thin scar at the end of his brow, left by a sharp thorn as he carried her out of the trap.

She’d had no memory at all then. The first words she spoke were, “Brother, I’m scared…”

Only twelve years old at the time, Xianyu Feng had placed his cool hand on her feverish forehead and soothed her gently, “Don’t be afraid. I’m here.”

Those simple words were like the brightest star in the night sky above a fog-shrouded valley, guiding her out of the labyrinth.

But now, having learned the truth of her origins from Ning Wenyen, Xianyu Jing felt as if she had fallen once more into the misty valley where she had been lost so many years ago—confused, helpless, and chilled to the bone.

“Jingjing, Jingjing…”

Ning Wenyen’s cries seemed to recede into the distance as the cold intensified in Xianyu Jing’s body.

These were the symptoms of her illness: her body temperature plummeted, and she began to shiver uncontrollably.

Ning Wenyen held her as she grew weaker, panic rising in her voice. “Madam Namgung, you said you could cure her—please, save her!”

Madam Namgung descended gracefully from the second-floor landing, smiling reassuringly at Ning Wenyen. “There’s no need for alarm. Once Jingjing returns to the Namgung family, I will naturally cure her cold syndrome.”

Ning Wenyen’s eyes filled with tears. “As long as she can be healed, I’ll do anything!”

“Excellent,” Madam Namgung nodded in satisfaction, then signaled to Steward Xue.

Steward Xue immediately took a red pill from an ancient porcelain bottle and handed it to Ning Wenyen.

Ning Wenyen hesitated, the pill trembling in her grasp.

Madam Namgung slowly withdrew a silk handkerchief from her sleeve and dabbed her nose as she spoke unhurriedly, “This is a special calming medicine of our Namgung family. It strengthens the mind and replenishes energy, and is specifically for treating cold syndrome. If you doubt me, there’s nothing more I can do. But every minute you delay, her condition will only worsen.”