Jade of Another World

Nangong Jin sighed helplessly, his eyes showing a hint of struggle and difficulty. He paced back and forth a few times, seemingly considering how to phrase his words so that Lin Ning wouldn't be too angry.

After a long while, Nangong Jin stopped and looked up at Lin Ning, saying slowly, "Miss Lin, it wasn't my intention before, but... there are some things about me that I can't say."

Lin Ning's eyes widened, her face filled with disbelief, and she pressed, "Then tell me! What do you take me for? Even if we're just ordinary friends, shouldn't I have the right to know the truth?"

Nangong Jin looked bitter and continued to explain, "Miss Lin, please don't be anxious. Let me explain slowly. Some things are too complicated and involve many secrets. If I were to tell you rashly, it might bring you trouble. That's why I've been keeping it from you, thinking that I would tell you the truth once everything was settled. But I didn't expect that you would still suffer so much. It's my fault."

Lin Ning snorted and said, "Nangong Jin, you always say you're afraid I'll be in danger and that you'll implicate me, but your evasiveness only makes me more uneasy. Do you trust me or not? I'm not the kind of coward who's afraid of trouble. Even if there's danger, we can work together to find a solution."

Nangong Jin looked at Lin Ning, took a deep breath, and as if he had finally made up his mind, slowly opened his mouth and revealed the secret he had kept hidden for a long time: "Miss Lin, I am not Nangong Jin, I am Xuan Yuanche."

Upon hearing this, Lin Ning's eyes widened in disbelief, her mouth agape. It took her a long while to recover. She exclaimed in surprise, "What? You... you're Xuan Yuanche? This... how is this possible! Although I did feel that you sometimes didn't resemble the previous Nangong Jin, how could anyone in this world look so alike? At the time, I just thought it was because your personality had become strange. I never expected... I never expected it to be like this."

Lin Ning unconsciously took two steps back, carefully examining the man in front of her who called himself Xuan Yuanche. The more she looked, the more flustered she felt. She continued, "But why are you impersonating Nangong Jin? By doing this, aren't you deceiving everyone? And what about the real Nangong Jin? Where is he?"

Xuan Yuanche sighed softly, his face filled with helplessness and bitterness, and said, "Miss Lin, there's a reason for this. The real Nangong Jin is of course in his Prince Xian's mansion. And I didn't actually impersonate him; many people know me."

Lin Ning frowned, filled with doubt, and pressed, "So when exactly did you start impersonating him in front of me?"

Xuan Yuanche shook his head and said solemnly, "Miss Lin, it was after Nangong Jin went to war that I saw he cared about you a lot and thought I would help him take care of you. If you hadn't found me that night, I probably wouldn't have appeared."

Listening to Xuan Yuanche's words, Lin Ning still felt that this matter was too bizarre, but seeing his sincere and helpless appearance, she understood that this matter could not be explained in a few words. However, she still found it difficult to accept this shocking fact, and her mind was still in a mess, not knowing where to start asking questions.

Xuanyuan Che frowned slightly, his face full of solemnity, and slowly explained his and Nangong Jin's situation: "Miss Lin, in fact, Nangong Jin and I are twins. However, I was secretly taken away as soon as I was born. At that time, the palace was in chaos, and some people deliberately concealed it, so even the Empress did not know that she had given birth to twins."

Lin Ning listened quietly, her eyes filled with shock. She never expected there to be such a hidden story behind it all, and couldn't help but interject, "If that's how it is, then who exactly took you away? And why would they do that?"

Xuanyuan Che sighed softly and continued, "I am still investigating who did it. But I think it might be to protect me. After all, in the royal family, twins are always considered an unlucky thing. According to the royal family's rules and beliefs, if the twins were to stay in the palace, I'm afraid neither of us would be able to survive, and it might even bring us greater trouble."

Lin Ning frowned and pondered, saying, "Even so, we shouldn't just take you away like this. Where have you grown up all these years? You must have suffered a lot."

A hint of gratitude flashed in Xuan Yuanche's eyes as he replied, "After I was taken away, I wandered around outside the palace. Fortunately, a kind family took me in, and I was able to grow up. Although life was hard, they treated me like their own child, teaching me to read and write, and I learned a lot of skills. But as I grew older, I learned about my background, and that's why I wanted to go back to the capital to find out the truth of what happened back then, and also to find my relatives."

Lin Ning listened with a sigh. She looked at Xuan Yuanche and said with sympathy, "That must have been so difficult. No wonder you risked your life to come to the capital. It turns out you have such a complicated and heartbreaking past. But what if you are discovered one day?"

Xuan Yuanche said with a wry smile, "I know the risks involved are enormous, but the situation was critical at the time, and in order to investigate the events of that year in depth, I really had no better way. I could only carefully impersonate Nangong Jin when he was not around, and wear a mask as much as possible at other times, hoping to uncover those secrets hidden for many years without being noticed."

Lin Ning shook her head slightly and said, "You're too bold. But since things have come to this, what do you plan to do next? You can't keep hiding it like this forever; it'll be exposed sooner or later. After all, Nangong Jin has already returned to the capital. Why don't you go back to where you were before?"

Xuan Yuanche's eyes hardened as he said, "Of course I know this can't go on forever. I've been secretly planning this, and I'm just waiting for the right moment to reveal the whole truth. But until then, I have to continue to be careful and make sure that those with ulterior motives don't notice anything amiss. That's why I've always been wearing a mask."

Upon hearing this, Lin Ning secretly worried for Xuan Yuanche. She knew that the road ahead would be full of thorns, but looking at Xuan Yuanche's appearance, she could only silently hope that he could achieve his wish.

As Lin Ning listened to his story, something suddenly flashed through her mind. She frowned, looked up at Xuan Yuanche, and asked, "Xuan Yuanche, I suddenly remembered something. When the princess was captured, were you the one present? Because in the princess's heart, Nangong Jin would never have stood by and watched her die. In fact, after the princess disappeared, Nangong Jin searched for her day and night. So the person the princess saw back then wasn't the real Nangong Jin, but you, right?"

Upon hearing this, Xuan Yuanche's expression changed slightly. After a moment of silence, he slowly nodded and said, "Miss Lin, you guessed correctly. The princess did see me at the time. The situation was critical, and I intended to secretly rescue the princess, but I didn't expect to be seen by her. I couldn't reveal my identity, so I had to leave in a hurry, which led to that misunderstanding. The princess mistakenly thought that Nangong Jin had abandoned her and left her to die. Alas, it was all my fault."

Lin Ning looked enlightened and continued, "No wonder the princess has been so resentful about this matter, and is extremely disappointed in Nangong Jin. She even said she would never forgive him. So that's the reason behind it all."

Xuan Yuanche sighed helplessly and replied with a bitter expression, "Miss Lin, in that situation, how could I dare to easily reveal my identity? Once exposed, not only would all the plans I had made before be in vain, but it might also put more people in danger. I could only harden my heart and consider the overall situation first."

Lin Ning frowned slightly and said with some resentment, "The princess cares a lot about Nangong Jin, and this misunderstanding has been quite a blow to her."

Xuanyuan Che gently shook his head and said, "This matter is difficult to explain. Besides, I have been impersonating Nangong Jin, which makes things very inconvenient. If I'm not careful, someone with ulterior motives might notice something amiss. So I can only wrong her. But thankfully, you saved her. I'm thinking of going to tell the princess everything after I've settled everything." As they spoke, they couldn't help but feel helpless about the complicated situation and deep misunderstandings. They only hoped that everything would gradually improve and those misunderstandings would be cleared up as soon as possible.

Lin Ning suddenly frowned, her face full of worry. She quickly said, "This is terrible! I just asked Nangong Jin to send the princess back. What if the princess told Nangong Jin about this? What if Nangong Jin finds out about you? The situation is already complicated enough. If there are any more variables, it will be even more difficult to deal with."

Xuan Yuanche felt a pang of anxiety upon hearing Lin Ning's words. He shook his head and said, "There's no other way now. Hopefully, she hasn't told us yet. As for Nangong Jin, he actually knows about my existence. We've been in contact privately, but for safety's sake, we've been operating in secret. We hope to uncover all the conspiracies behind this as soon as possible."

Lin Ning's eyes widened, and she said in surprise, "So Nangong Jin knew about your existence? That's too risky of you to act like this. What if word gets out one day and those people with ulterior motives find out? They'll definitely try every means to use this against you."

Xuan Yuanche gave a wry smile and replied, "Miss Lin, how could I not know that the risks involved are extremely high? But things have come to this point, and in order to protect Nangong Jin and to seek justice for my brother and me, and to find out the truth of what happened back then, we have no choice but to take the risk. Moreover, we have always been very careful in our actions, trying our best not to let others notice anything unusual. But we never expected that something would still go wrong with the princess. It's truly impossible to guard against such a thing."

Lin Ning gently bit her lip, pondered for a moment, and then said, "What should we do now? I think we need to find a way to dispel the princess's doubts, otherwise she'll give herself away. This is probably going to be difficult."

Xuan Yuanche nodded slightly and said with a solemn expression, "Miss Lin, you are right. I will go and think of a solution."

The two exchanged a glance, both seeing deep worry in each other's eyes. At this moment, they both knew that this intricate situation was like a large net, and if they were not careful, they might be entangled and unable to break free. They could only carefully deal with every possible crisis.

Lin Ning thought to herself: Xuan Yuanche has helped me a lot during this time. I used to think that it was all Nangong Jin's concern for me, but now I realize that it was all done by Xuan Yuanche. In such a complicated and dangerous situation, he still thought of helping me. This kindness is truly rare.

Thinking of this, Lin Ning raised her head, looked at Xuan Yuanche with a firm gaze, and said, "Xuan Yuanche, don't worry, I will help you cover this up. We are friends, and what you are doing now is to investigate the truth of what happened back then. If there is anything you need from me, you must tell me."

Xuan Yuanche was deeply moved by Lin Ning's words. He looked at Lin Ning and said sincerely, "Miss Lin, thank you so much. I am very grateful for your kindness. I saw that you and the princess drank so much today, and I was worried that some things I did in the past had upset you. I was afraid of losing you as a friend, so I wanted to tell you the truth as soon as possible."

Lin Ning smiled slightly and said, "Don't worry about me. Now that I know, you have your reasons. Just be careful when we contact each other in the future, so that no one with ulterior motives sees us. As for Nangong Jin, he hasn't contacted me since he came back. Maybe we can't even be considered friends."

Xuan Yuanche lowered his head slightly and said, "Miss Lin, please don't be sad. Nangong Jin has indeed changed since he came back. I wrote to him but didn't get a reply. I need to investigate this matter. I will try my best to find out the truth as soon as possible and get everything back on track. However, in the process, I will need your help in many things."