CXD - 55

The person across from her smiled sinisterly, asking what she planned to do now, Jiang Zhiyi.

Yes, what was she to do now, Jiang Zhiyi—

What should she say next?

Jiang Zhiyi stared straight at Yuan Ce, feeling as though she had stumbled into a grave situation. Her mind was a jumbled mess, and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t untangle it.

Under such a gaze—predatory like a wolf and venomous like a snake—not only could she not think clearly, but she even struggled to catch her breath.

As the ancients said: “Misfortune comes from the mouth; speaking too much invites errors.”

They also said: “Of the thirty-six stratagems, retreat is the best option.”

Jiang Zhiyi’s eyes trembled, her lips quivered, and even her hair seemed to shiver uncontrollably. Pretending to have reached the limit of her endurance—which she truly had—she abruptly turned away with a flick of her sleeve and walked inside.

Jingzhe hurried after her, following her into the inner room and closing the door behind them.

In the final moment as the door slid shut, Yuan Ce’s faint smirk outside flattened, and his gaze dropped back to its indifferent state.

Inside, Jiang Zhiyi sat on the edge of the bed, holding her breath and listening intently for a long while until she finally heard movement signaling that the people outside had left.

Jingzhe stepped out to confirm, instructing Guyu to keep watch over the surroundings, then turned back to Jiang Zhiyi. “Princess, what happened?”

Jiang Zhiyi raised her palm slightly, signaling for a moment to think, striving to calm herself as she dissected each of those bewildering statements one by one.

“Clean slate, only my brother? You really like him this much—”

So, Shen Yuance had a brother, and he assumed that the person she liked was his brother?

It made sense. Shen Yuance didn’t know about The Tale of Yiyi , so he must have believed all along that after she hit her head, she mistook him for the person she originally liked.

But why did he think the “Brother Ace” she referred to was his brother? She didn’t even know if the Shen family had any illegitimate children.

Jiang Zhiyi muttered his next sentence: “You like him so much that even if I were with him… Jingzhe, what do you think he meant to say? Even if he and his brother…?”

“General Shen later mentioned that you don’t care about appearances. Could he mean that even if he and his brother look alike, you’d still only like his brother?”

“But—” Jiang Zhiyi furrowed her brows, chuckling bitterly, “Even if I judged by appearance and liked his brother’s looks but not his, wouldn’t I still be able to tell them apart? They may resemble each other, but they’re not identical. As someone with functioning eyes, I shouldn’t confuse the two. Surely these brothers weren’t carved from the same mold…”

Her laughter suddenly froze, as if an icy breeze had brushed against her back, sending a chill through her entire body.

“Carved from the same mold—it’s not entirely impossible, is it?” Jiang Zhiyi slowly raised her head, stunned.

“If they truly looked identical, it would make sense for General Shen to think you mistook him for his brother. But if that’s the case, does that mean they’re—twins?” Jingzhe’s eyes widened.

“Twins…” Jiang Zhiyi blinked, puzzled. “If they’re twins, why doesn’t anyone know about it? Illegitimate children are shameful, but what about twins is so—”

A sudden flash of realization struck her. Faint echoes of past conversations rang in her ears, and Jiang Zhiyi fell silent, recalling the last time she’d heard anything about twins—

On New Year’s Eve, at the princess’s residence, she had curiously asked Cui Mei about Baojia and Li Dafeng’s past. Cui Mei mentioned the reason Li Dafeng’s family was sentenced to exile, and during that conversation, there was mention of an old incident involving twins.

Roughly twenty years ago, the Grand Astrologer Jianwei observed the stars and prophesied that twin “demon stars” would be born that year to bring calamity to the nation. In response, the emperor ordered the execution of every pair of twins born nationwide that year…

Jiang Zhiyi sat up straight, a chill running down her spine, and muttered to herself, “How old is Shen Yuance again?”

“Nineteen, Princess.”

Nineteen years old, twenty years ago…

Jiang Zhiyi swayed, her face pale as she steadied herself against a nearby table.

Cui Mei had only given an approximate timeframe, but it was very possible that the dates aligned perfectly. If that were true, being twins was far more scandalous than being illegitimate—and hiding them would make complete sense.

But how could she possibly know such an earth-shattering secret when no one in the capital did? Why did Shen Yuance think she knew about his twin brother and liked him instead?

She only knew Shen Yuance…

Jiang Zhiyi’s eyes shot open.

That’s right—she only knew Shen Yuance. If there was any misunderstanding, it should’ve been that she liked Shen Yuance.

So, it wasn’t Shen Yuance who thought she liked his brother—it was Shen Yuance’s twin brother who believed she liked his elder brother, Shen Yuance.

In other words, the person standing before her today wasn’t Shen Yuance…

No, it wasn’t just today—the person who had been by her side for the past four months wasn’t Shen Yuance but his twin brother?!

Jiang Zhiyi gasped sharply, goosebumps rising repeatedly over her skin.

…No wonder she felt like this “Shen Yuance” seemed to forget about his private relationship with Pei Xueqing.

If the affair between Shen Yuance and Pei Xueqing was their secret, then Shen Yuance’s brother likely didn’t know about it. When he saw the jade pendant inscribed with the character “Yi,” and she claimed it as a token of affection, coupled with the fact that her闺名 contained the character “Yi,” he must have assumed that the person involved with his brother was her.

To avoid exposing the truth, he coaxed her back the next day, trying to keep her under control. It wasn’t until much later, when Pei Xueqing arrived with the other half of the jade pendant, that he realized his mistake.

Fearing she might recover her memory and uncover the truth, he decisively proposed to her that night and eventually lured her all the way to Hexi.

Jiang Zhiyi slowly covered her mouth.

Jingzhe, unaware of the full details, was still utterly confused. “Princess, what’s wrong? Don’t scare me!”

Jiang Zhiyi blankly reflected on everything that had happened over the past few months. After a long silence, she swallowed nervously. “Jingzhe, there’s good news and bad news. Which would you like to hear first?”

Good news at a time like this? How touching. Jingzhe answered without hesitation: “I’d like to hear the good news first.”

“The good news is that I haven’t been overly intimate with Shen Yuance these past days. It seems—I’m sort of… alive again, just a little bit.” As if finding a stroke of luck amidst misfortune, Jiang Zhiyi raised her hand to indicate a tiny fraction.

“So… the person who’s been intimate with you these days is?”

“That’s the bad news.” Jiang Zhiyi took a deep breath, her eyes hollow. “The person who’s been intimate with me these days is Shen Yuance’s twin brother. And now that I know this secret, just as I’m starting to come back to life, I might die…”

“Nonsense! Don’t say such unlucky things!” Jingzhe quickly waved away the ominous words, stomping on them as if to crush them. “You’re blessed, Princess. You’ll live a long and prosperous life!”

She was this unlucky—could she really be considered blessed? Hitting her head and going insane was one thing, but to go crazy in front of someone so clueless, who actually believed she and his brother were lovers! Now, here they were—one foolish person and another, both entangled in this absurd mess…

“No, wait,” Jiang Zhiyi said coldly, hugging her knees and suddenly looking up in terror. “He always thought I was involved with his brother, yet he still did those things with me. To protect their family’s secret, could he really be so ruthless and disregard morality to this extent? Shen Yuance is disgusting, but his brother is absolutely, utterly terrifying!”

“So I was the only fool, while he was clever all along, scheming layer upon layer, completely controlling me. Not only did he trick me into coming to Hexi, but he also took advantage of me along the way…”

Jingzhe: “Princess, your mind was unclear in the past, but you’re definitely smarter now. Look, he slipped up tonight because he was drunk. He’s not clever when he’s not sober.”

Jiang Zhiyi shook her head thoughtfully. “No, it wasn’t drunkenness that exposed him. Someone like him would never slip up because of alcohol.”

“Then what?”

“He realized I remembered and now hate him, but he still thinks I like his brother. Since I wouldn’t treat someone I like in such a disgusting way, he guessed I already knew he wasn’t Shen Yuance and thus spoke freely.”

“So, he overestimated you?”

“…” Why did that statement make her feel less than pleased?

Jingzhe: “Actually, even if he hadn’t lured you to Hexi, you might not have figured out he wasn’t the original Shen Yuance after recovering your memory. You could’ve lived peacefully. This whole thing was unnecessary and harmful to you!”

“Who says that? How is this unnecessary?” Jiang Zhiyi straightened up sternly. “Even if he hadn’t said those things tonight, I was close to figuring it out. I already suspected he might have amnesia, and thinking further would’ve led me to the truth.”

“…” Jingzhe frowned awkwardly. “Are you saying you think he tricked you correctly?”

“I only meant that it was correct of him to think I was clever, but deceiving me was absolutely wrong!” Jiang Zhiyi trembled as she slapped the armrest. “A pair of twins—one brother bullied me, the other tricked me—how despicable the Shen family is!”

“It seems we’ll have an even harder time returning to the capital now…”

“That’s not necessarily true. Before, we didn’t know why he wouldn’t let me leave. Now that we do, we can address the issue accordingly,” Jiang Zhiyi muttered thoughtfully. “Let me think this through… let me think…”

Jiang Zhiyi spent the entire night thinking.

Early the next morning, when Jingzhe came to help her wash up, she was startled by how red her eyes were. “Princess, why are your eyes so red?!”

Jiang Zhiyi had indeed been too troubled to sleep all night. Her body was exhausted, yet her mind couldn’t rest. Every time she closed her eyes, chaotic thoughts flooded in. When she finally managed to fall asleep for a brief moment, she dreamed of being chased by Shen Yuance—no, by Shen Yuance’s younger twin—and woke up terrified.

Now she understood everything. Over the past few months, without realizing it, she had faced countless life-threatening dangers. If not for her status as a princess and his mistaken belief that she was involved with his brother, she might not be in Hexi right now—she might already be in the underworld…

Thinking about this, she realized that perhaps some luck still favored her after all.

With these thoughts, Jiang Zhiyi sat up wearily. “My eyes feel heavy; they’re really that red?”

Jingzhe brought over a bronze mirror. “Look for yourself. If I didn’t know you spent last night strategizing, I’d think you cried all night!”

Last night’s revelations overwhelmed her at first, and it wasn’t until just before bed that she suddenly realized the real Shen Yuance might no longer be alive. This realization left her emotions tangled.

She disliked this person intensely, but she never wished for his death. Thinking that Shen Yuance might have fallen in battle sometime during the past three years while protecting the nation, she felt a pang of respect for him. Like her father, he was a hero who sacrificed himself for their country. Suddenly, those childhood grudges seemed trivial and unworthy of mention.

In light of this, if he had returned victorious, perhaps he would have matured after three years of war and wouldn’t oppose her anymore upon returning to the capital…

And if he had returned, would there even be these messy entanglements between her and his younger brother?

“It’s somewhat regretful, but not enough to cry all night…” Jiang Zhiyi sighed, looking at her bloodshot eyes in the mirror. Suddenly, inspiration struck. “But what if I did cry all night for him?”

“What do you mean, Princess?”

“Think about it. Why doesn’t ‘Shen Yuance’ let me go? Isn’t it because he’s afraid I’ll expose his family’s secret? So if I give him a reason to believe I won’t expose them, will he let me go?”

“You mean, since General Shen mistakenly believes you like his brother, you’ll play along…”

“Exactly!” Jiang Zhiyi sat deep in thought for a moment, then made up her mind. Waving her hand dismissively, she instructed, “You go shopping today. Once everything is prepared, head to the camp and inform Shen—though I don’t even know his name… Just tell the current ‘Shen Yuance’ that I have something to say.”

By evening, in the main tent of the Xiance Army camp, Yuan Ce stood before the sand table discussing matters with Mu Xinhong when a loud voice rang out: “Report—!”

“Enter.” Yuan Ce turned around and saw someone from the residence. Sighing, he asked, “Did she run away again?”

“Reporting to General, no, sir. The young mistress said she has something to discuss with you and requests your return to the estate.”

Yuan Ce raised an eyebrow, gesturing acknowledgment and dismissing the messenger. However, he remained standing in place, turning instead to look at Mu Xinhong.

Mu Xinhong found his hesitant expression strange. “You needn’t worry about the camp. Go ahead; I’ll take care of things here.”

“Am I worried about the camp?”

“Then why are you hesitating?”

Yuan Ce exhaled softly. “If you knew your wife was calling you possibly to argue, wouldn’t you prepare yourself?”

“But standing here motionless isn’t preparing either.”

“Mental preparation counts as preparation, doesn’t it?”

“Oh,” Mu Xinhong chuckled. “So that’s how it is. But I usually prepare differently.”

“For example?”

“For example—” Mu Xinhong pointed to his knee. “Knee pads for kneeling. Shall I prepare some for you?”

“...”

“Keep them for yourself.” Yuan Ce walked out of the tent and mounted the horse brought by a soldier.

About half an hour later, he arrived at the estate and headed straight for the inner courtyard.

Night had fallen, and the inner courtyard was lit up, bright and lively. Yet, strangely, Jiang Zhiyi’s bedroom remained dark, as if the gilded lamp tree he had ordered made for her hadn’t been lit.

Yuan Ce frowned, knocking twice on the door. Hearing the maid’s response, “Enter,” he pushed the door open.

The sight of mourning candles covering the floor greeted him. His foot froze on the threshold as he slowly raised his head.

In the dimly lit room stood an altar with incense sticks burning, offerings placed, and a nameless spirit tablet erected. In front of the altar, Jiang Zhiyi, dressed in mourning white, knelt rigidly on a prayer mat, quietly offering incense.

Yuan Ce hesitated before stepping fully into the room.

On the other side of the altar, Jiang Zhiyi held three thin incense sticks. Hearing movement behind her, her already racing heart leapt to her throat.

As she heard Yuan Ce’s approaching footsteps, Jiang Zhiyi, holding the incense and lowering her gaze, whispered silently in her heart—

Shen Yuance, the dead deserve respect. Past grievances are hereby erased. May you be reborn into a better family and avoid such a fate. As for this life… I still have my life to live. Your younger brother deceived me first, and for my freedom, I must use your name to secure my escape. Please forgive me!

After finishing her silent prayer, Jiang Zhiyi bowed three times, rose with Jingzhe’s assistance, and inserted the incense into the burner.

The incense trembled, and ash fell onto her hand. Jiang Zhiyi hissed in pain but didn’t have time to shake it off before a hand suddenly grabbed her wrist.

Startled, Jiang Zhiyi looked up to see Yuan Ce holding her hand, quickly brushing the ash off her hand. “How can lighting incense—”

He paused mid-sentence, sensing her sudden stiffness.

Looking up, he met her tear-filled, red-rimmed eyes, as though she had cried all day and night.

Jiang Zhiyi’s gaze flickered, and she slowly pulled her hand back.

Jingzhe hurried to fetch ointment.

Yuan Ce averted his gaze, surveying the mourning items filling the room. “His忌日 is in May, not today.”

“I know...” Though she didn’t know it was in May, she certainly realized it couldn’t coincidentally be today. “I just learned last night that he’s gone, so I’m paying respects today.”

—Besides, the words she planned to say next required such a somber atmosphere. Otherwise, she feared her act might slip.

“So this is what you called me here to discuss?” Yuan Ce turned his gaze back to her.

“Not just this,” Jiang Zhiyi gestured to the long table. “Let’s sit and talk.”

They sat on either side of the long table, one sitting sideways, the other cross-legged.

After a moment of contemplation, Jiang Zhiyi spoke the words she had carefully considered all day. “Before last night, I wanted to escape and find him desperately. But now that I know he’s gone, I’m no longer in a rush to leave Hexi.”

“I want to walk and see the places he spent his last three years. Surely you won’t forbid me from doing that?”

Yuan Ce turned his head away, saying nothing.

“You needn’t worry that I’ll expose your identity once I leave. You think I’m favored by His Majesty, so you assume I’m on his side. But when I was six, my father sacrificed himself for His Majesty’s cause, and my mother followed him. Do you think I’ve never harbored resentment toward His Majesty?”

Yuan Ce raised his eyes to look at her again.

“Seeing His Majesty favor me might include some guilt, but more importantly, it’s for show. Because His Majesty ascended the throne through rallying support rather than rightful succession, the remaining rebel forces were strong. To solidify his position, he had to promote and reward loyalists, treating their descendants well to expand his influence. My father’s tragic sacrifice made me the perfect example for His Majesty to display his benevolence and gain more hearts and support.”

“You... know all this?” Yuan Ce narrowed his eyes in surprise.

Yuan Ce naturally knew all this. Though he hoped Jiang Zhiyi would side with him, he hadn’t intended to drive a wedge between her and the royal family.

As Lord Yong’en said, she was merely comforting herself with wealth and status. Being naive might make her happier.

But apparently, she knew everything.

“I’ve known since I was very young. But enjoying His Majesty’s favor does have its benefits, so why trouble myself with these thoughts unnecessarily?” Jiang Zhiyi propped her forehead with her hand. “I’m telling you this today to let you know I’m not as devoted to His Majesty as you think. If I had someone I truly loved, I wouldn’t choose His Majesty—I’d choose him.”

“So the person you want to choose is my brother.”

Thus, when he asked her whether she could choose him, the choice wasn’t between him and the royal family—it was between his brother and the royal family.

It wasn’t that she couldn’t abandon the royal family; it was that he wasn’t even an option for her.

Jiang Zhiyi cleared her throat lightly. “Before last night, I wanted to escape because I thought you stole his identity. But after calming down last night, I realized you had no choice. So—I’ll keep your secret, and you let me go. Let’s call it even, no debts between us!”

Yuan Ce curved his lips slightly. “Call it even, no debts?”

…Why did his smile send chills down her spine again?

“Don’t you trust me?” Jiang Zhiyi forced a confident smile. “Though he’s gone, the Shen family still has his stepmother, and the Xiance Army still has his brothers-in-arms. I won’t harm them!”

“Is it—” Yuan Ce recalled Pei Xueqing’s words at Tinglan Pavilion. “Because you couldn’t protect him, at least now you can protect his family?”

“Yes, it seems you understand.” Jiang Zhiyi nodded approvingly.

“So, as his younger brother, I should fulfill your devotion and let you go?”

“…That’s the idea.”

Yuan Ce leaned across the table, slowly inching closer to her. “Jiang Zhiyi, you dream too sweetly.”

Jiang Zhiyi braced her hands on the ground, backing away. She suddenly regretted how narrow the table was.

“Isn’t it because you’re afraid I’ll expose your identity that you married me and kept me here…”

“Perhaps that was true until today. But just now, I changed my mind.”

As he drew closer, his nose almost touching hers, Jiang Zhiyi’s heart pounded like a drum. Leaning back so far her waist nearly snapped, she cautiously moved her lips. “You… you sit back first and speak properly… This place can pass as your brother’s memorial hall…”

Yuan Ce blinked, glancing at her trembling lips. “What am I doing with my betrothed in my brother’s memorial hall? What’s wrong with that?”

“You… you’re impossible…” Jiang Zhiyi lamented, on the verge of tears. “The marriage contract bears the name Shen Yuance, not yours!”

“My birth date matches, and I can also be called Shen Yuance.”

“How strange your family is…” Jiang Zhiyi groaned. “Then what will it take for you to let me go?”

“No matter what—I won’t let you go.”

Jiang Zhiyi’s resolve crumbled, her posture collapsing.

Yuan Ce reached out, pulling her close. Her figure, clad in mourning white, spilled into his arms like a cascade of black hair.

“Jiang Zhiyi, have you forgotten the vow you made? You promised that if one day you grew tired of me, I’d bind your hands and feet.”