It was Murong Yi’s face.

Under the Crown Princess’s mask was actually Murong Yi.

Then that Murong Yi who fell into the pit…

You Weixuan suddenly understood in an instant.

Tie Ci and Murong Yi had actually switched identities.

The enchanting Chun Wa was really a woman.

The noble and exalted Crown Princess was truly a man.

And she had assumed from the start that Murong Yi was skilled at disguising himself as a woman, so with that kind of charm, Chun Wa must be him.

But she had forgotten that the Crown Princess disguised herself as a man seamlessly, so being a woman would be even more natural for her.

Using the fire injury as an excuse, wearing a mask and changing her voice—what a perfect substitution.

You Weixuan remembered her shock when she first heard that the Crown Princess had kicked the groom to death, shocked not only that Chang Yuan died just like that, but that the Crown Princess in her impression wasn’t so violent.

Someone walked gracefully from the back hall.

In You Weixuan’s gradually blurring vision, she saw that person’s flowing sleeves, slightly stained with mud, yet maintaining a composed posture. Looking at her now, one could see beneath that charm the unmistakable noble bearing.

Tie Ci disguised as Chun Wa.

Indeed, she hadn’t really fallen into that sinkhole.

So that’s how it was.

What a punishment.

She wanted to marry her lover’s spirit tablet in front of the Crown Princess.

The Crown Princess made her be stripped of her disguise in front of the person she loved most, revealing all her selfishness, hypocrisy, and baseness.

You Weixuan’s breathing was rapid: “Good, good… what a punishment…”

Murong Yi said flatly: “No, it’s not over yet.”

On the ground, someone sat up, brushed the dust off himself, and sneered: “These floor tiles need replacing—they’re hurting my bones.”

That was You Yun.

Someone got up from the ground covered in dirt, not forgetting to wave his fan and sigh: “How undignified.”

That was You Weinan.

You Weixuan’s eyes moved stiffly, and through her dim pupils gradually showed desperate understanding: “You all…”

She wanted to say you were all acting.

You all deceived me.

The real life-and-death struggle was only between me and you.

What a performance, still going on here.

But why?

Everyone could see her question. Murong Yi was too lazy to answer her, the You father and son weren’t so kind-hearted and only sneered coldly. Finally, it was Tie Ci who sighed: “Weixuan, why did it have to be this way?”

“Tell me… for the sake of our time as classmates… let me die with peace of mind…”

When she said “classmates,” Murong Yi snorted with contempt.

But Tie Ci remembered that day when the Xiao family caused chaos at the academy with their army, Weixuan had also charged to the front with drawn sword. She remembered the archery competition at the training ground, where Weixuan had also boldly shot her arrow.

They had once fought side by side, once had a meeting of minds. It was only the lust for power and reality that drove people mad.

“Actually, I suspected you very early on.”

“As classmates, I knew you well enough. In this Yannan incident, you acted too weak.”

“Rootless drifting duckweed, bullied by everyone. If you were truly delicate and frail, that would be one thing, but you—who dared leave the Yannan Royal Palace and travel thousands of miles to the academy with your brother, who could scheme your way into the valley to play cards with Master He, who got along well with everyone in the women’s dormitory, who could mount a horse to shoot arrows and dismount to wield a sword—would you really be completely helpless on your own territory, allowing yourself to be slaughtered?”

“The tiger tally was in your hands, yet you wouldn’t use it? That’s not the Weixuan I know, unless you knew there was a problem with the tiger tally, knew that secret army had already been controlled by the You father and son. You gave me the tiger tally merely as a test—if I could get hold of it, the army would naturally return to your control; if I couldn’t, then I deserved whatever happened.”

“And though you were imprisoned for so long, and I had been in Yannan territory for so long, you had no way to contact me until immediately after I ruined You Yun’s reputation, when you could suddenly send Xiao Ying to contact us. Do you have ability or not?”

“Because of these basic suspicions, Murong and I decided to switch identities. This was self-protection and also a test of you.”

“Then in the first instant of meeting, you gave yourself away.”

You Weixuan had been listening woodenly, and now her eyes slowly moved.

She couldn’t figure out where she had exposed herself.

Thinking of how she had hugged Tie Ci’s thigh and nearly poured out her heart, she closed her eyes.

She no longer had the energy to feel embarrassed or angry.

All her deep schemes were laughable before those two.

“You thought Chun Wa was Murong Yi, your emotions surged, you confessed too early, your thoughts were urgent. A friend’s husband cannot be seized. I traveled thousands of miles to rescue you siblings, suffering many hardships along the way. Normally, any decent person would be grateful in their heart, certainly wouldn’t repay kindness with enmity. You knew about Murong Yi’s relationship with me, yet spoke and acted without restraint in front of me—your character earned a deduction.”

“How can we trust someone whose character isn’t solid?”

“There’s also another suspicious point that wasn’t quite a flaw. You said you were always controlled, and Xiao Ying also always lived at the manor. The manor is remote, heavily guarded, with news hard to come by. Even if Xiao Ying could come and go, with her status as a powerless maid, it probably wouldn’t be easy for her to have opportunities to gather information. So how could you, upon seeing me, immediately tell me everything You Yun had done and propose that you wanted nothing as long as your father’s revenge was avenged?”

“Either you weren’t that weak, or Xiao Ying wasn’t weak.”

“Later, when Murong Yi was negotiating with You Yun, You Yun hinted that you had problems, and then we set up this trap.”

“Now it’s my turn to explain to my dear niece.” You Yun smiled as he took over. “I said to His Highness—oh no, Young Master Murong: ‘I have a son, and Your Highness has friends who trust you with their lives. Is Your Highness truly willing to fight to mutual destruction? After the mantis catches the cicada, will it harm your dear friend?'”

“‘The mantis catches the cicada’—this phrase seems normal at first hearing, but doesn’t it feel abrupt upon careful thought? These four words had no connection to what I was saying at the time. I was telling Young Master Murong that someone was playing the oriole behind, ready to harm his friend.”

“I could naturally think of A Ci who was disguised as Chun Wa and went to you.” Murong Yi continued, glancing at You Yun. “But Regional Military Commissioner, are you really so kind-hearted? Since you could know that You Weixuan was holding back, did you really never cooperate with her at all?”

You Yun smiled modestly: “It wasn’t cooperation, just adding fuel to the fire.”

Though he didn’t say everything explicitly, everyone present understood.

You Yun had probably also discovered something wrong with You Weixuan and had been on guard, likely watching her constantly, so he knew her movements. He reminded Murong Yi in an extremely subtle way, and two intelligent people reached cooperation in a very short time. You Yun feigned death and tore off You Weixuan’s mask.

There was also another possibility—that You Yun and You Weixuan were originally in cooperation, both working together to trap Tie Ci, but in the end, You Yun betrayed her and chose to ally with Tie Ci against You Weixuan first.

This was because Murong Yi had revealed his attitude in their negotiations—there was a possibility of not completely destroying them, and a possibility of giving him territory to be a Provincial Administration Commissioner. But if You Weixuan won, she was the legitimate heir of the You family. Once she gained power, the You father and son would certainly die without burial ground.

When choosing between two evils, take the lesser one.

The mantis catches the cicada, the oriole waits behind—who was really the oriole would only be known at the very end.

The people in the room understood, but Wan Ji, standing closest to the door, was completely lost.

For the first time in his life, he felt his brain wasn’t enough.

These people’s intestines must make eighteen turns.

The explanation wasn’t finished, but You Weixuan clearly didn’t want to listen anymore.

Her blood was almost drained.

A person floated down lightly from the rafters—it was Xiao Ying. This seemingly innocent little maid now had a cold expression.

Seeing her, Murong Yi’s shoulders relaxed slightly, while Tie Ci’s expression tensed a bit.

Outside that abandoned courtyard wall, though she had been prepared, she could still feel the powerful martial force this maid possessed. Her attacks were the type that didn’t pursue fancy moves but focused on practicality—striking to kill, swift as lightning.

She had thought she could dodge, but almost really fell down, finally having to use teleportation.

Now her qi and blood were churning, and she couldn’t suppress it for a long time.

Murong Yi’s relaxation was because he had long known there was such a person on the rafters and was certain he might not be her match. He had been waiting for her to strike, especially when You Weixuan was stabbed and when Tie Ci appeared.

But she remained motionless, which made him somewhat nervous, fearing that crisis would come suddenly, and with too many enemies present, he couldn’t protect Tie Ci.

Now seeing her finally willing to come down, he felt the relief of dust settling.

Xiao Ying walked forward a few steps, looked at You Weixuan’s abdomen, and angrily shrieked: “Why didn’t you let me act!”

You Weixuan’s earlier shouts of “No” were directed at her.

You Weixuan only reached out to her, fingertips crimson and still dripping blood. Xiao Ying looked at her coldly but eventually supported her.

Opposite them, You Yun seemed unconcerned by Xiao Ying’s sudden appearance. He straightened his clothes, picked up the bloodstained steel needle from the ground, and with a few flicks of his fingers, the needle suddenly retracted section by section until only a short piece the length of half a finger remained.

It couldn’t even pierce through his big belly.

Then he pulled out a deflated blood bag from his robes and casually threw it away.

This was a common trick used by wandering performers, and he was quite skilled at it.

You Weixuan’s eyes slowly turned toward Murong Yi.

Murong Yi’s robe had a hole in it, revealing a hint of purple-blue light. He slowly opened his palm, which was covered in blood.

So the knife hadn’t penetrated—the blood came from his palm.

You Weixuan showed a slightly relaxed smile.

But Xiao Ying stared at Murong Yi in disbelief. She knew her own poison well—it could be said to seal the throat upon contact with blood. Even if he wasn’t injured in a vital spot, the palm wound was real, so how could he be fine?

She didn’t know that Murong Yi had been poisoned before. Though it nearly killed him, during his time with the Mei clan, fighting poison with poison had changed his constitution. Now most poisons didn’t have their intended effect on him.

You Weixuan wasn’t dissatisfied with this result.

The man before her—she had been infatuated with him, shown him favor, tested him. In the brief time in his presence, she had always hoped to be her best self, and now this deepest obsession was also shattered in the final moment.

She wanted to tell him that she hadn’t originally been so base, that it was all necessity. She just wanted to borrow Tie Ci’s power and influence to kill the You father and son. Afterward, as long as the court didn’t press too hard, she had thought of being a puppet Yannan King. What she originally wanted was really just to live without persecution, a stable life, growing old peacefully with her enlightened brother.

Before Xiao Ying struck outside the wall, she hadn’t thought of taking his and Tie Ci’s lives.

But when Chun Wa fell, in that moment when she was powerless, hatred suddenly arose and killing intent was born.

From childhood to adulthood, what she wanted was always so difficult to obtain.

Both being women, it was easier for Tie Ci than for her.

Why?

Those years of suppressed resentment and hatred found an outlet in this moment, transforming into the short blade at her waist, stabbing toward her benefactor and the person she loved, from then on remaining in the bloodstained darkness, never to return to its sheath.

But there was no need to say any of this now.

She turned her eyes—You Weixing was still crouching on the ground, absolutely refusing to raise his head.

The knife lay in her pool of blood, gently swaying. The blood reflected You Weixing’s face, eyes closed, neither listening nor looking.

He had closed the door of his heart again, wanting to distance himself from this world, farther and farther away.

For a moment, Tie Ci seemed to want to say something but was firmly held back by Murong Yi.

Time could flow backward, but evil could not be redeemed. He wouldn’t allow such a person to continue existing.

A bloodstained hand suddenly drooped down, gently picking up the knife. Blood strung from the blade tip in a long thread that scattered in the wind.

Tie Ci saw You Weixuan pick up the knife, with You Weixing right in front of her.

She instinctively stepped forward but was held back by Murong Yi’s hand on her shoulder.

You Weixuan felt her movement, looked up, and showed a somewhat blurry smile.

The blade tip turned inward, toward her throat, and pressed down.

Blood sprayed.

Only a little splashed before stopping—after all, she didn’t have much blood left to flow.

Under everyone’s shocked gaze, You Weixuan patted You Weixing’s head.

You Weixing instinctively looked up.

You Weixuan’s hand still rested on her throat, where a small wound had opened. She spoke to her brother in a muffled voice: “Sister did wrong things and killed herself in shame. It has nothing to do with you.”

“I was wrong, I killed myself. It has nothing to do with you.”

“Really, it has nothing to do with you.”

She used her last strength to tell him again and again—it wasn’t you, it doesn’t matter.

She knew this was a sensitive child, and excessive trauma would make him close his heart again. She couldn’t be the one to pull him out, but she couldn’t let him be pushed back because of her.

She knew he would passively accept. As long as she told him repeatedly, he would remember the last words.

It has nothing to do with you, my brother.

You will always be that cleanest, clearest good child.

The same-mother sibling that Mother made me swear on my life to protect before she died.

For those many years when you were bullied for being slow-witted, and I was targeted for being a woman occupying the heir position, you fought for me and I fought for you. Even then I swore that we would share honor and disgrace for life. I would fight for everything you deserved, make all those who looked down on us bow at our feet. For this I could abandon friendship, kinship, love, and conscience.

But as Murong Yi said, I never really knew what you needed, never truly understood you, so I couldn’t truly redeem you and was ultimately punished by fate.

“It doesn’t matter, it wasn’t you…”

Her voice grew lower and lower until it returned to silence.

In the bright red wedding hall, that expanse of red became a sea—drowning, viscous, thick, blinding sea.

She slept in the sea, her soul with nowhere to return.