From cute to empress

I clutched the diary tightly in my hands, the yellowed pages seeming to bear witness to the weight of history. The secrets within, like a veiled fog, shrouded my heart, lingering. I must journey to the imperial mausoleum, seeking the truth and justice for my parents and for Zhen Youcai.

I took a deep breath, walked out of the cave, and retraced my steps. I had to find Zhen Youcai and tell him my plan.

My heart was in my throat the whole way, fearing pursuit. Fortunately, perhaps my prayers worked, as I encountered no obstacles until I reached the entrance of the secret passage.

I crouched down and cautiously walked into the secret passage. It was pitch black, with only a faint firelight flickering, and I could vaguely make out the marks left by Zhen Youcai.

"Zhen Youcai! Where are you?" I groped forward in the darkness, calling his name in a low voice.

"Mengmeng, I'm here!" A familiar voice came from not far away. I was delighted and hurriedly ran towards the voice.

"Are you okay? Are you hurt?" I looked Zhen Youcai up and down and asked anxiously.

"I'm fine, just a minor injury, nothing serious." Zhen Youcai smiled and shook his head, his eyes falling on the diary in my hand. "Have you found any clues?"

I handed him the diary and told him everything I had discovered in the cave.

"The Royal Mausoleum?" Zhen Youcai frowned. "It's heavily guarded there. How can we get in?"

"There's always a way," I said firmly. "We must go. Perhaps there are answers to all the secrets there."

Zhen Youcai looked at my determined eyes and nodded. He knew that I had made up my mind.

According to the records in the diary, we found the entrance to the secret passage leading to the royal mausoleum. The entrance to the secret passage is hidden in a remote valley, surrounded by weeds and very hidden.

We pushed aside the weeds and moved the huge rock blocking the entrance, revealing a pitch-black cave.

"Let's go." I took a deep breath and walked in first.

The secret passage was dark and damp, and every step was terrifying. We advanced cautiously, and after about half an hour, we finally reached the entrance to the mausoleum.

At the entrance of the mausoleum, two huge stone lions stand majestically, as if guarding this underground palace that has been sleeping for thousands of years.

At this moment, an old voice suddenly rang out: "Who dares to trespass into the royal mausoleum?"

Two figures flashed out from the darkness and blocked our way. They were the keepers of the mausoleum, guarding the peace here for generations.

"We don't mean any harm," I explained quickly. "We just want to..."

Before I could finish my words, one of the tomb keepers interrupted me: "The royal tomb is not a place you can just come and go as you please! Leave immediately, or don't blame me for being rude!"

"We..." I wanted to fight for it again, but Zhen Youcai held me back.

"Let's go." Zhen Youcai said in a low voice, then pulled me and turned to leave.

"Stop!" the tomb keeper shouted sternly, "Anyone who trespasses into the tomb will be killed without mercy!"

I was startled, and before I could react, I heard a sound of breaking air behind me... I turned around instinctively, and saw a sharp arrow breaking through the air and shooting straight towards Zhen Youcai!

"Be careful!" I screamed and threw myself at Zhen Youcai without thinking. The sharp arrow flew past my scalp and was deeply embedded in the stone wall behind me.

I looked up in shock, only to find Zhen Youcai looking at me with a worried look on his face. He reached out and stroked my frightened pale face, his tone full of self-blame: "It's all my fault. I dragged you into this."

I shook my head, held his hand tightly, and said firmly, "We are husband and wife, we must advance and retreat together."

Just then, another tomb keeper walked up to us. He looked us up and down, and asked with a hint of suspicion: "Who are you? What are you doing in the royal tomb?"

I took a deep breath and decided to take a gamble. I pulled the diary from my pocket, handed it to the tomb keeper, and said sincerely, "Old man, to be honest, we are here to seek the truth. This diary records some secrets about the royal tombs. We suspect it may hold the answers we seek."

The tomb keeper took the diary and began to read it carefully. As he turned the pages, his brows furrowed more and more, and his expression became more and more solemn.

After a long while, he sighed and returned the diary to me, with a hint of helplessness in his tone: "You guys should go, this is not the place for you."

“Old man, please, let us in!” I begged. “We really need to find the truth!”

The tomb keeper was silent for a moment, then finally shook his head. "It's not that I don't want to help you, but I can't go against our ancestral teachings. No one except members of the royal family is allowed to enter the royal tomb without permission. This is a rule passed down from our ancestors, and I can't break it."

"But……"

"Mengmeng," Zhen Youcai pulled my hand, signaling me to stop talking, "Let's go back first."

Although I was unwilling, I also knew that now was not the time to be willful. We thanked the tomb keeper and turned to leave.

"Wait!" At this moment, the tomb keeper who had been silent all of a sudden spoke up, "Where did the diary in your hand come from?"

A thought struck me: could there be a chance for a reversal? I quickly told the tomb keeper the diary's origins, omitting the part about the intelligent magic array and simply stating that I had obtained it by accident.

After listening to my story, the tomb keeper pondered for a moment and then said to us, "Follow me."

We followed the tomb keeper to a secluded corner to one side of the tomb entrance. He pressed a button on an inconspicuous stone brick. With a rumbling sound, the stone wall slowly opened, revealing a dark passage.

"This is..." I looked at the scene in surprise, not knowing what to say for a moment.

"This is another secret passage leading to the mausoleum, known only to the mausoleum keepers of past generations," the mausoleum keeper explained. "You may proceed, but remember, be extremely careful. There are many traps here, and the slightest mistake could lead to your utter destruction."

"Thank you, old man!" I looked at the tomb keeper with gratitude, then pulled Zhen Youcai and walked into the secret passage.

The secret passage was pitch black, with no sight of our fingers. We groped our way forward, and after about an incense stick's worth of walking, we finally arrived at a spacious stone chamber.

Several eternal lamps were lit on the walls of the stone chamber, and the dim light illuminated the entire stone chamber. In the center of the stone chamber was a huge stone coffin, and around the stone coffin were all kinds of gold, silver and jewelry, which were dazzling and dazzling.

"Is this the royal tomb?" I looked around, my heart filled with shock.

"Be careful!" Zhen Youcai suddenly pulled me behind him, drew his sword, and looked ahead vigilantly.

I followed Zhen Youcai's gaze and saw a dark shadow flash out from the corner, holding a shining dagger in his hand.

"It's you!" I recognized the person at a glance. He was the mysterious man I met in the inn before!

"We meet again." The mysterious man smiled coldly, a hint of murderous intent flashing in his eyes...

"It's you. Who are you? Why are you following us?" I glared at the mysterious man in the silver mask in front of me, my heart beating wildly.

He chuckled softly, his tone contemptuous: "I'm here to take your lives." Before he finished speaking, he came up to me like a ghost, the dagger in his hand pointing straight at my throat.

Zhen Youcai, quick-witted and swift-handed, unsheathed his longsword, blocking the mysterious man's attack. The two exchanged blows, swords flashing, and for a moment, it was difficult to tell who was stronger. I had never seen Zhen Youcai use such sharp sword moves, each one deadly, as if he were a completely different person.

"Hurry up!" Zhen Youcai shouted to me anxiously while fending off the mysterious man's attacks. I knew that staying here would only be a burden to him, so I turned and ran.

However, the mysterious man seemed to have anticipated my intentions. He sneered, flicked his wrist, and launched several darts through the air. I screamed in surprise, and in my panic, I was unable to dodge and was about to be hit.

"Meng Meng!" In the nick of time, Zhen Youcai threw himself forward, blocking the dart with his own body. I watched him fall in a pool of blood, my heart aching.

"Zhen Youcai!" I shouted his name heartbreakingly, my eyes blurred with tears.

"Don't worry about me, just go away!" Zhen Youcai yelled at me while enduring the pain.

I shook my head desperately and cried, "I won't leave. If you want to leave, let's go together!"

The mysterious man approached step by step, his eyes flashing with bloodthirsty light, and sneered: "Want to leave? Not so easy!"

"Don't even think about hurting her!" Zhen Youcai struggled to stand up and used his last bit of strength to push me away.

"No!" I cried desperately, but there was nothing I could do.

The mysterious man brandished a dagger at Zhen Youcai with a sinister grin, and I closed my eyes in despair.

"Boom——"

With a loud bang, the entire mausoleum shook violently, stones above my head kept falling, dust filled the air, and I was shocked to the ground.

"Oh no, the mechanism has been triggered!"

I vaguely heard the panicked voice of the mysterious man, followed by a burst of chaotic footsteps.

I struggled to get up, but found that Zhen Youcai was gone.

"Zhen Youcai! Where are you?" I shouted at the top of my lungs, but the only response I got was an empty echo.

I stumbled forward, seeing only darkness and unknown fear...

"Zhen Youcai, you must not be in any trouble..."

The mausoleum was in chaos, and the falling rocks above me terrified me. I stumbled and groped around, calling out Zhen Youcai's name, but received no response.

"Zhen Youcai! Where are you?! Answer me!" My voice echoed in the empty mausoleum, but it seemed so powerless.

Despair and fear surged over me like an icy tide, and I almost gave up hope.

At that moment, I sensed a faint breath, like a dying candle, struggling tenaciously in the darkness. I followed the scent and finally found Zhen Youcai in a corner. He lay in a pool of blood, his face pale and his breath barely alive.

"Zhen Youcai!" I rushed to his side, heartbroken. His clothes were stained with blood, and several darts had pierced deep into his flesh.

"Don't... don't worry about me..." He opened his mouth with difficulty, his voice so weak that it was almost inaudible, "Go away..."

"No! Let's go together!" I cried and tried to help him up.

"Don't be silly..." He grabbed my hand, his eyes filled with sadness and reluctance, "I can't live anymore... Go away..."

"No! I won't leave you alone!" I shook my head desperately, tears streaming down my face.

I tore off my shirt and simply bandaged his wound, then tried my best to carry him on my back.

"Hold on! We'll be out soon!" I gritted my teeth and walked out of the mausoleum step by step.

The mausoleum's paths were intricate and complex, and I stumbled forward, relying on my memory. Stones kept falling from above, and I could only dodge them as best I could, fearing that they would trigger the mausoleum's mechanisms.

My strength was gradually failing, and Zhen Youcai on my back was becoming heavier and heavier. But I didn't dare stop. I knew that only by leaving this place as soon as possible would we have a chance of survival.

Finally, I saw a faint light. That was the exit of the mausoleum!

I was ecstatic and quickened my pace.

However, just as I was about to step out of the mausoleum, a cold voice suddenly sounded behind me:

"It seems that you are planning to elope..."