TSFLIP Chapter 582

It was just a fake suitor selection, so why were those two more enthusiastic about it than she was?

As Fengguang walked back toward her chambers, she muttered to herself the whole way. Fengyu was fine—at least she was genuinely trying to help her choose—but her older brother? He was treating the whole thing like a game of “spot the flaw.” She ran a frustrated hand through her hair. That guy, Si Jia… was he not planning to show up anymore?

“Your Highness, please wait.”

An elderly voice called out from behind her. Fengguang turned around and saw it was Daoist Liao Liao. She quickly wiped the annoyance off her face and gave him a polite smile. “Oh, it’s you, Daoist. What brings you here?”

“Princess, I’d like to speak with you in private,” said the elderly man with the air of an immortal sage. He glanced at the palace maids behind her.

Daoist Liao Liao was the one who had awakened her from the dream realm—she trusted him not to harm her. Fengguang turned to the maids. “You may go.”

“Yes, Your Highness.” The maids obediently stepped away.

“Daoist, we’re alone now. What did you want to speak with me about?”

He stroked his graying beard. “Princess, your sudden announcement about choosing a consort—is it perhaps because of someone named Si Jia?”

Fengguang gave an awkward laugh. “What are you saying, Daoist? What does a court musician have to do with my selection of a husband?”

“There’s no need to pretend,” said the old man gently. “I can see the connection between you and Si Jia. Years ago, I read his fortune. His fate is indeed that of the ‘Star of Calamity and Solitude’—a cursed star—but there is a turning point in his destiny. Princess, I’ve tried to divine your fate as well, but I couldn’t. You are what we call a ‘person without destiny.’ And the moment I met you, I knew you were the one who could change Si Jia’s fate.”

The reason he couldn’t read her fate was, of course, because she didn’t belong to this world.

Fengguang already knew the Daoist was the real deal, so she stopped trying to hide it. “And what if there is something between Si Jia and me? He won’t even show up now. Even if I wanted to change his fate, what good is that if I can’t even see him?”

“That’s why you launched the consort selection—to draw him out.”

“Exactly. But as you can see, even that hasn’t worked. I’m starting to wonder… does he even like me?”

“You don’t need to doubt that,” the Daoist sighed. “Si Jia’s music can induce dreams, but this kind of dream is not without escape. If the person trapped within has a strong enough will to survive and isn’t swayed by the illusion, then they might remain unconscious, but their life won’t be in danger. From what I observed when you were in a coma, there was a moment when Si Jia may have had the intent to kill you. But later, your condition stabilized, though you still didn’t wake. My guess is, Si Jia decided not to kill you, but instead tried to trap you in the dream. If he no longer wanted to harm you, why would he choose to imprison you in a dream?”

Fengguang’s heart gave a jolt, and she suddenly understood. “In the real world, my father and mother would never allow me to be with him. So he tried to keep me in the dream realm, so we could stay together forever.”

That must’ve been why he asked her if she wanted immortality. In a dream, they could indeed live forever.

Which meant—he truly did love her.

That thought brought Fengguang some comfort, but more questions arose. “But if he loves me, why hasn’t he come to find me?”

“It’s not that he doesn’t want to,” the old man said heavily, “It’s that he can’t. I fear… he’s currently in grave danger.”

After all, Si Jia… was a man of the Wujilou.