He immediately ordered Liu Gan to go to Gaocheng to accept the surrender of the Western Qin forces. The latter believed this was Xue Rengao’s trick and firmly refused to allow it. Unfortunately, Li Shuliang was intoxicated by victory and thought Liu Gan was simply worrying unnecessarily. He threatened Liu Gan with his life, ordering him to leave the city to accept the surrender. Liu Gan went, knowing that this journey would likely mean death, but he couldn’t refuse to go.

As expected, Liu Gan was ambushed by Xue Rengao. All 3,000 men he led were killed, and he himself was tortured to death by Xue Rengao.

Before Liu Gan died, Xue Rengao brought him before Jingzhou and ordered him to call out for the soldiers in the city to surrender. However, Liu Gan instead told the soldiers to hold firm and wait for Li Shimin to come to their aid.

It was precisely these words that made Jingzhou remain as solid as copper walls and iron fortifications even after his death. Though Xue Rengao repeatedly assembled forces to attack, he never managed to break through.

The words Xue Rengao had once used to deceive Li Shuliang finally came true—lack of provisions.

Previously, when Xue Rengao was besieging Liu Gan, it wasn’t that Li Shimin didn’t want to provide aid, but that he was held in check near Gaocheng by Xue Rengao’s subordinate general Zong Luohou, unable to move freely.

Xue Rengao had wanted to capture Jingzhou, but not only did he fail to gnaw through this hard bone, he also retreated due to lack of provisions. After this, he once again fell into a stalemate with Li Shimin.

This stalemate lasted a full two months. Such an extended period posed no problem for Li Shimin, who had ample provisions, but for Xue Rengao, fighting far from home, it was deadly. Orders for transporting grain had been issued long ago, but the provisions were nowhere to be seen. Whether something had happened along the way or they simply hadn’t been sent at all was unknown!

Besides this, he also had Li Gui behind him. Who knew when Li Gui might join forces with Li Shimin to attack him from front and rear?

It could be said that during these two months, Xue Rengao’s days were extremely difficult, and his worst mistake was taking out these frustrations on his subordinates. He truly scolded them every three days and gave them major tongue-lashings every five days. Naturally, this wouldn’t lead to any good results.

In November, Liang Hulang and others led their followers to surrender to Li Shimin, telling him about the lack of provisions in Xue Rengao’s army and how reinforcement supplies were nowhere to be found.

The opportunity Li Shimin had been waiting for had finally arrived!

While Li Shimin was maneuvering with Xue Rengao, Li Jiancheng also spent every few days immersed in the Ministry of Personnel and Ministry of War, organizing provisions, supervising transport routes, and supplementing armor and weapons. He was extremely dedicated and earned considerable praise from Li Yuan.

At the same time, the situation in various residences throughout the city also underwent subtle changes. The day after Zheng Shi nearly faced deposition, Jirong entered the palace under the pretext of paying respects to test Wan Shi, wanting to see if the latter had developed different thoughts about her.

Though Jirong was quite scheming, she ultimately wasn’t as seasoned as Wan Shi, who had after all been tempered for nearly twenty years in the deep courtyards of great houses. Using the excuse that deposing Zheng Shi rashly would affect Li Yuan’s opinion of Li Jiancheng, given how much Li Yuan valued Zheng Shi, she covered up the entire matter perfectly.

Half a month later, Wan Shi bestowed two beautiful women each upon the Eastern Palace, Prince Qin’s residence, and Duke Qi’s residence. Yan Shi, whom Wan Shi had specifically met, was bestowed upon Prince Qin’s residence along with another beautiful woman, both receiving the title of Noble Lady.

In November, after the selection of beauties, Li Yuan accepted Li Jiancheng’s invitation to appreciate plum blossoms in the Eastern Palace. During this time, he encountered two maidservants picking plum blossoms. One had beautiful features and was pure and lovely; the other was bright and gorgeous with graceful bearing, like spring orchids and autumn chrysanthemums, each with their own merits. One was surnamed Zhang, the other Yin. What was remarkable was that when questioned, both women had actually read poetry and books and spoke with refined elegance.

This originally wasn’t anything special, but unexpectedly, the very next day, Li Jiancheng brought both women into Taiji Palace, having them serve by Li Yuan’s side.

Li Yuan already had a good impression of these two women, and now that Li Jiancheng was voluntarily offering them, there was no reason to refuse. He kept them.

Wan Shi was naturally displeased by this, but since Li Yuan had spoken, she couldn’t say much. She could only send people to keep a close watch on Yin Shi and Zhang Shi, not allowing them opportunities to bewitch Li Yuan.

But Yin and Zhang were, after all, serving in Taiji Palace. As the saying goes, “those near the water tower get the moon first”—how could they be easily guarded against? A month later, Yin Shi and Zhang Shi successively gained Li Yuan’s favor and were both granted the rank of seventh-grade Imperial Women.

Though Wan Shi was angry in her heart, she had to accept this fact while becoming more wary of Li Jiancheng. She hadn’t forgotten who had sent these two women into the palace.

As for Yunyi, in August, after her conversation with Lady Lin, she pondered repeatedly and finally decided to see Jiang Caiping again, so she sent people to Honghua Commandery to search for her.

In November, the people she had sent finally returned with Jiang Caiping. Upon hearing this news, Yunyi’s hand holding the tea cup trembled, and several drops of tea splashed from the freshly brewed cup, landing on the back of Yunyi’s hand. Though Ruyi quickly wiped it away for her, some redness still showed. Ruyi urgently said to a maidservant standing dazed nearby, “Why don’t you hurry and get the medicinal ointment? It’ll be troublesome if blisters form.”

Compared to Ruyi’s nervousness, Yunyi seemed oblivious, sitting dazed in her chair until the cool ointment was applied to the back of her hand. Only then did she come to her senses and said to the waiting servant, “Go and invite her in.”

Shortly after the servant withdrew, a woman dressed in plain clothes slowly walked into Changchun Pavilion. Though they hadn’t seen each other for several years and everything had changed, Yunyi still recognized her at first glance—this was Jiang Caiping, who had once treated her like a real sister in Honghua Commandery.

Though she had longed to see her so much, though she had so many words in her heart, when their eyes met, Yunyi didn’t know where to begin. It wasn’t until Jiang Caiping curtsied that she snapped back to awareness and instinctively stepped forward to support her. “Sister, there’s no need for such formality.”

The moment their fingers touched, Yunyi clearly felt Jiang Caiping’s body tremble. Before she could examine this closely, Jiang Caiping had already stepped back, avoiding her hand, and said indifferently, “Thank you, Your Highness.”

The distance in Jiang Caiping’s words pained Yunyi’s heart. Once upon a time, they had laughed and played together without restraint, closer than real sisters. Now, however…

But how could she blame Jiang Caiping? In fact, all of this was caused by her own hands—she had personally severed their sisterly bond.

After they had each taken their seats, Yunyi noticed Jiang Caiping’s hairstyle. Her hairstyle was still the same as five years ago—that of an unmarried woman. This meant that she… had never married and still remembered…

Yunyi swallowed the bitterness in her heart and said, “Sister, have you been well these past few years?”

“This commoner has been very well and doesn’t need Your Highness’s concern.” Jiang Caiping’s words were as distant and polite as before. She raised her eyes to sweep across Yunyi’s face, carrying a trace of pain and cold light. “This commoner truly never expected to see Your Highness again after so many years.”

“Back then, when I deceived you, I had unavoidable difficulties. I hope you can…” Before Yunyi could finish, Jiang Caiping coldly interrupted, “This commoner knows nothing of Your Highness’s difficulties, nor is she interested in knowing. My earlier words were merely a momentary sigh—Your Highness need not take them to heart.”