“A… Zhao?” Jiang Li said.

Ji Heng’s eyes flickered slightly. Before he could speak, he saw Jiang Li walking quickly toward that person. She walked extremely fast, and by the end, she was almost running, reaching the person even before Zhao Ke. Zhao Ke hadn’t expected Jiang Li to suddenly overtake him and looked at her in surprise, saying nothing.

The young man in the chair turned his head and was also stunned to see Jiang Li. In the moonlight, his shadow gradually became clear from blurry. The familiar features remained, but with less childishness and more determination. His face still bore some faint scars, but his eyes were still as clear as before, though they looked at Jiang Li with confusion. He even wanted to smile at Jiang Li.

Jiang Li’s mind buzzed, and her hands uncontrollably reached toward the young man’s face, as if trying to determine whether this was a dream or reality. She murmured, “A Zhao…”

The young man asked in confusion, “Does this young lady… know me?”

His voice was still as cool as before, ringing in Jiang Li’s ears and making her body tremble. She snapped back to her senses with a start and stared at him blankly.

It wasn’t fake. A Zhao was speaking. It was A Zhao’s voice. This wasn’t a dream. Zhao Ke and Ji Heng were also here. This wasn’t A Zhao’s ghost either.

In an instant, her heart was filled simultaneously with immense joy and grief. She suddenly threw her arms around A Zhao and burst into tears.

The girl sobbed and cried, her weeping echoing particularly clearly in the courtyard. Zhao Ke’s mouth fell open, and he instinctively looked toward Ji Heng. Second Miss Jiang was actually hugging this young man called A Zhao—could it be they already knew each other? Second Miss Jiang and A Zhao were so intimate, could they have had a romantic relationship before? If that were true, what about his master? A perfectly good man couldn’t compare to a young man of unknown origin. Second Miss Jiang had just been holding hands with the master earlier, and now she was already embracing someone else right in front of the master. This was really…

A Zhao, being held by Jiang Li like this, was also at a loss for a moment. The young man’s face instantly flushed red. Suddenly being embraced by a strange young lady, A Zhao instinctively wanted to push her away. However, this young lady was crying heartbreakingly, so sorrowful that it inexplicably made his nose sting too. For a moment, he couldn’t bear to push her away and let her rest on his shoulder, sobbing uncontrollably.

Because it was nighttime, Jiang Li’s crying soon disturbed others. Little Red in the cage fluttered constantly, looking at Jiang Li and calling out “Fangfei,” though it was drowned out by Jiang Li’s crying. Old General Ji also seemed to have been awakened, bellowing with full vigor from the adjacent courtyard, telling Ji Heng to quiet down.

Ji Heng walked over and grabbed Jiang Li’s arm, pulling her up from A Zhao. Zhao Ke watched his master’s expression carefully and discovered that Ji Heng surprisingly showed no sign of anger, which shocked him even more. Second Miss Jiang had done such a thing, yet the master was still so tolerant. No wonder people always said “beautiful women bring disaster.”

Ji Heng said, “Let’s talk inside.”

Jiang Li wiped her tears and pushed A Zhao’s wheelchair into the house. Ji Heng also followed, leaving Zhao Ke outside to stand guard.

A Zhao usually lived in a small room next to Situ’s medicine preparation room. The small room was quite simple. Ji Heng sat on the edge of the bed and pulled Jiang Li to sit down. A Zhao lit the oil lamp and looked at Jiang Li, still feeling somewhat uncomfortable. Just as he was about to speak, he heard Jiang Li begin. Jiang Li asked, “What happened to your legs?”

A Zhao opened his mouth. This inexplicably strange woman was inexplicably asking him questions with such familiarity, as if he ought to tell her everything about himself. But A Zhao, as if possessed, answered honestly, “Doctor Situ said both my legs are broken and I’ll never be able to stand up again in the future. I keep thinking about whether I can try again, so at night I support myself against the windowsill and stand for a while, though I can’t hold on for long. I was afraid Doctor Situ would be angry if he saw, so I only do it at night. I didn’t expect to be seen by the master and the young lady.”

“Broken?” Jiang Li asked softly. After saying this, tears immediately flowed down her face again. She truly couldn’t imagine what kind of scene it would be for someone like A Zhao, a young wanderer of the martial world, to never be able to stand up again. You must know that when he was young, his ambition wasn’t to become an official or get rich, but to travel everywhere, punishing evil and promoting good. Very much like Ye Mingyu—the difference being that Ye Mingyu actually achieved it, but A Zhao would never be able to do so again.

Her tears fell in large drops, as if she had reached the extreme of sadness. Ji Heng watched from the side and sighed softly, taking out a handkerchief to wipe her tears. He used to think that no matter what situation the young lady encountered, she was always composed. Even when meeting the most vile people, she could still smile. But now it seemed that her few instances of crying were all related to family. Whenever she encountered family, her tears couldn’t be stopped, crying until one’s heart softened by half.

A Zhao also looked at Jiang Li helplessly. This young lady heard that his legs were broken and cried like this. He could tell that this young lady was genuinely sad for him. But precisely because of this, A Zhao became even more confused. He indeed had never seen this strange young lady, so why would she be so upset for him? He could only clumsily comfort her, “Young lady needn’t feel sorry for me. Although I can’t stand up, I’m still alive. As long as I have this life, I can do whatever I want in the future. There are countless people in this world more pitiful than me—some didn’t even get to live. Compared to them, I’m already very fortunate.”

Hearing this, Jiang Li froze. She said, “Alive? That’s right… why are you here… weren’t you dead?”

A Zhao was startled and looked at Ji Heng.

Ji Heng said gently, “You remember that day when you asked me to go to Princess Yongning’s private dungeon to find Jiang Youyao.”

Jiang Li nodded.

“When I was in the private dungeon, I saw him. He pleaded with me for help, so I brought him back,” Ji Heng answered.

Hearing this, a flash of realization crossed the young man’s face. He said, “You are… Second Miss Jiang?”

A Zhao still remembered Zhao Ke saying that on that day, it was Second Miss Jiang who asked Ji Heng to go to the dungeon to find someone, but inadvertently stumbled upon him. By this account, Ji Heng was his savior, and Jiang Li also saved his life. If Second Miss Jiang hadn’t asked Ji Heng to go to the princess’s mansion dungeon, he wouldn’t have been discovered.

He said, “So the young lady is Second Miss Jiang.”

Jiang Li looked at him. His eyes were filled with gratitude toward her. To Xue Zhao, Jiang Li was merely a chance savior.

“I’m not Second Miss Jiang,” she said. “I’m your older sister, A Zhao.”

Xue Zhao froze.

He didn’t quite understand Jiang Li’s words. Jiang Li clearly looked younger than himself, so why would she say she was his older sister? And to ask him to call her sister upon just meeting—that was too presumptuous.

Seeing that he still looked confused, Jiang Li knew that Xue Zhao hadn’t understood her words at all. She said again, “A Zhao, I am Xue Fangfei, I’m your older sister.”

Her voice couldn’t help but tremble. Ji Heng reached out and held her hand, and Jiang Li felt slightly more at ease. But A Zhao was thunderstruck, staring at Jiang Li. After a long while, he finally said, “You… what are you saying…”

The young lady before him was a stranger. Xue Zhao had definitely never seen this young lady before. And his older sister—whenever Xue Zhao thought of her, he felt extreme heartache. When he was in the private dungeon, Xue Zhao had already learned of Xue Fangfei’s death. His poor sister had been harmed by that pair of adulterous lovers and had to bear false accusations.

“You don’t believe me, do you?” Jiang Li asked softly.

“I don’t know you… My older sister is already dead,” Xue Zhao looked at her and answered blankly.

“You have a round birthmark on your body,” Jiang Li said.

Xue Zhao froze. He did indeed have a birthmark—that birthmark was on the inside of his thigh. He’d had it since childhood, and aside from family members, others shouldn’t know about it. But this wasn’t anything special either. After he was sent to the Duke’s mansion, he might have been seen when being treated for injuries.

“When you were five years old, you went with me to the forest and fell into a swamp. I was the one who pulled you out. At the time, we both thought we wouldn’t survive, but in the end, we luckily managed to keep our lives. Father forbade us from playing in the forest, so after we returned, neither of us told Father about this matter. This was a secret between just the two of us—no third person would know.”

Xue Zhao slowly widened his eyes. He knew that what Jiang Li said was true. That incident indeed had no third person who knew about it. But because it was a matter of life and death, it was etched particularly clearly in his mind, and he still couldn’t forget it even now.

“You like to eat osmanthus cake and drink green bamboo wine. Your favorite place to go is Uncle Zhang’s tavern in Tong Township. When you go out, you always carry a string of copper coins and one silver ingot. That silver was your winnings from a gambling house—you never wanted to use it, saying that once you saved up fifty taels of silver, you’d buy a treasured sword. You like the boots I make for you but don’t like the brush and ink Father buys. Since childhood, you’ve always been closer to me…”

She spoke at length without even pausing midway, as if those things were deeply engraved in her heart and she had never forgotten them for a moment. As she said more and more, it seemed the people in the room could see Xue Zhao growing up, from a young child to a spirited young man.

A Zhao’s eyes had unknowingly reddened, and his body trembled along with her words. He stared at Jiang Li, as if forcefully suppressing his excitement.

Until Jiang Li saw him shed a tear, she stopped talking and asked, “Do you believe me now, A Zhao?”

A Zhao looked at her with an expression between crying and laughing. After a long while, he suddenly said, “…Sister!”

Believe! How could he not believe? Those things she spoke of had truly happened to him in the past. Including those habits of his—if others wanted to investigate him, they couldn’t find out what he was thinking in his heart. The conversations he and his sister had shared over those years—Jiang Li could now recount them word for word. He knew that his older sister had a photographic memory!

Moreover, the way she spoke was too similar to Xue Fangfei. If Jiang Li hadn’t said so, Xue Zhao would have only thought it was a coincidence. But when Jiang Li revealed her identity and he looked at all those clues, they all became irrefutable evidence. Though her features were unfamiliar, in a trance, Xue Zhao felt that his sister had come back to life. She gently indulged his mischief and told him how to become a man who could stand tall and upright.

“Sister!” Xue Zhao called out.

“A Zhao…” Jiang Li cried.

“Sister! You really are my sister!” Xue Zhao said. “People outside all said you were dead. I thought you were dead too. How are you still alive? How did you end up looking like this?” He said with sudden realization, “Did you disguise yourself? But how did you become Second Miss Jiang? How have you been these days? Was it Shen Yurun and Princess Yongning who killed you? And Father—have you gone to see Father? Does he know about our situation?”

He had so many questions, clearly showing he had many uncertainties he wanted to clarify. Jiang Li smiled through her tears and only said, “It’s alright, I’ll tell you everything one by one.”

“A Zhao, I’m no longer Xue Fangfei now. I’m Jiang Yuanbai’s daughter, Jiang Li. At that time, Shen Yurun and Princess Yongning schemed against me and ruined my reputation, so I could only stay in the mansion. Princess Yongning wanted to drug me to make me waste away, but I discovered the signs. When that didn’t work, she strangled me to death.”

Though this was the second time hearing such things, Ji Heng still couldn’t help but narrow his eyes slightly and tightened his grip on Jiang Li’s hand. Xue Zhao was even more furious, grinding his teeth as he said, “Bastards!”

“I don’t know what happened. At the time, I also thought I was dead. When I woke up, I had already become Second Miss Jiang. The Second Miss Jiang at that time was living in Qingcheng Mountain, so I found a way to return to the capital. My purpose was to come back to Yanjing City and find an opportunity for revenge.”

Xue Zhao asked, “So Princess Yongning and Shen Yurun being accused and punished now—that was your doing?”

“Yes. But I was in the shadows—it was Father who wrote the formal accusation.”

“Father?” Xue Zhao understood that Jiang Li was referring to Xue Huaiyuan. He asked in shock, “Father is also in Yanjing?”

Jiang Li sighed. Xue Zhao had been locked up by Princess Yongning for too long. He had no idea what had happened outside. Princess Yongning hadn’t told him either, so Xue Zhao didn’t know at all how much suffering Xue Huaiyuan had endured in Tong Township.

“After I died, Princess Yongning sent people to Tong Township and falsely accused Father, landing him in prison. Father suffered all kinds of torture in prison and became mentally unclear. After I became Jiang Li, because Jiang Li’s maternal grandfather was in Xiangyang, I found a way to go to Xiangyang and learned of Father’s situation. To clear Father’s name, I brought the people of Tong Township and Father to Yanjing City to file an imperial petition. Later, Father stayed in Yanjing City, and Miss Jiuyue also cured Father.”

Jiang Li recounted to Xue Zhao how she had taken revenge on Princess Yongning and Shen Yurun step by step. After hearing it all, Xue Zhao was both shocked and angry, with mixed feelings. In the end, he said, “They truly are vicious. Sister… you must have suffered quite a bit in the Jiang family, haven’t you?”

Although Jiang Li spoke lightly of it, Xue Zhao knew that establishing a foothold in an unfamiliar place was not easy. Especially in a great household with many rules—his sister had always been carefree, but now entering a noble family, she naturally had to endure many regulations, and there were probably people along the way who wanted to scheme against and harm her.

“I’m fine. The Jiang family members are all quite decent,” Jiang Li didn’t want Xue Zhao to know about the bad things and only asked, “But what about you? That day, I only knew you had been killed by bandits, and I even buried you at Misty Rain Tower. Until before I died, Princess Yongning told me that it was the Capital Magistrate who revealed your whereabouts to her, and only then did she kill you.”

Xue Zhao was obviously learning of this for the first time and was greatly shocked. Then he said, “That day, I did indeed seek out the Capital Magistrate. I never imagined he was actually in league with Princess Yongning. But I didn’t die—I was knocked unconscious, and when I woke up, I was already in the private dungeon of the princess’s mansion. When I later learned it was Princess Yongning’s doing, I wanted nothing more than to kill her to avenge you, but unfortunately, I couldn’t do it. I think she probably said that deliberately to enrage you, to make Sister die with hatred and unwillingness.”

Jiang Li nodded. That corpse that looked like Xue Zhao must have also been Princess Yongning’s handiwork.

She looked at Xue Zhao, and immense grief surged up in her heart again. “If I had known earlier that you were in the princess mansion’s private dungeon, I definitely would have found a way to rescue you. I wouldn’t have let you suffer so much in there, to the point where you can’t even…” She looked at Xue Zhao’s legs, can’t even stand up anymore.

But Xue Zhao smiled at her and said, “Sister, I told you, I still have this life. In my view, Heaven has already been very kind to me. I thought I would die like that in the princess mansion’s private dungeon, unknown to anyone, just like the others in the dungeon. I never expected to be rescued, much less that I would now meet you, Sister, and that Father is also in Yanjing City. Heaven always leaves a way out—the heavens still left our Xue family a path to survival and didn’t exterminate us completely. Everyone says that after suffering comes sweetness. We’ve suffered, so the days ahead will surely all be good days!”

He was characteristically open-minded and carefree, able to say even such things with a smile. The more he was like this, the more sad Jiang Li felt.

“Sister, does Father know your identity?” Xue Zhao asked.

Jiang Li paused and gently shook her head. “I don’t know how to tell him, but in the next few days, I also plan to be honest with Father.”

“Sister, if you tell him, Father will definitely believe you. Although you’ve now become Miss Jiang and it’s somewhat difficult, at least our family is all still in Yanjing. I also want to see Father. Can I go see Father?”

Seeing him like this would surely make Xue Huaiyuan sad, but compared to the news of Xue Zhao’s death, knowing that Xue Zhao was still alive, Xue Huaiyuan would probably feel more joy than anything else. Jiang Li looked at Ji Heng and asked, “Can A Zhao go to the Ye mansion?”

Ji Heng said, “Yes, I’ll have Wenji escort him there.”

Xue Zhao looked at Jiang Li, then at Ji Heng. Having just seen Jiang Li and learned that his sister was still alive, immersed in wild joy and excitement, he had actually overlooked that all of Jiang Li’s words earlier had been spoken in front of Ji Heng without concealment.

Xue Zhao asked, “Did the master already know Sister’s identity?”

Jiang Li nodded. “He knows. When seeking revenge, he also helped a great deal.”

Xue Zhao was about to say something when his gaze fell on Jiang Li and Ji Heng’s hands clasped together. A flash of confusion crossed his eyes, but he said nothing. He actually wanted to ask what relationship Jiang Li and Ji Heng had—from the looks of it, their relationship was quite deep. In all the time he’d been at the Duke’s mansion, Xue Zhao had only seen Ji Heng once. The coldness of that time and the gentleness of this time were completely different.

Was it because of his sister?

Then what about Sister? What did she think?

But with Ji Heng present, Xue Zhao couldn’t possibly ask. Jiang Li looked at Xue Zhao’s legs and said, “A Zhao… your legs…”

“Not being able to stand doesn’t matter,” Xue Zhao said. “I kept thinking about whether I could stand up one day and even practiced at night while hiding from Doctor Situ, but it was only because I thought from then on it would just be Father and me. If I can’t stand up, who would take care of Father? I couldn’t let Father take care of me. But Sister is still alive, and I suddenly feel that none of this matters anymore. As long as our family is still alive, that’s very good.”

He genuinely showed an expression of contentment.

Jiang Li actually wanted to talk with Xue Zhao more. She truly had too much to say to this younger brother. However, Ji Heng interrupted them. Ji Heng said, “It’s getting late. You should go.”

Jiang Li looked at the sky. She had stayed at the Duke’s mansion for a very long time today. If she stayed any longer, by the time she returned to the mansion, the sky might already be brightening. Summer days dawned early—if people discovered this, it would be terrible.

Xue Zhao also understood and said, “Sister, you should go quickly. Now that you’re Miss Jiang, if the Jiang family knows you go out at night, it wouldn’t be a small matter.”

Actually, he was also puzzled. Although his sister had never been the kind of young lady from a great family who followed all the rules and would occasionally get into mischief with him, she wouldn’t go to a strange man’s mansion in the dead of night to talk. However, even so, Xue Zhao still believed that Jiang Li and Ji Heng wouldn’t do anything improper—not because he believed Ji Heng was an upright gentleman, but because he believed Xue Fangfei wasn’t that kind of person.

“Alright.” Jiang Li knew they were right and stood up, saying, “A Zhao, I’ll come see you another day. On the day you go see Father, have someone tell me in advance, and I’ll go with you. With you by my side, it will be easier for me to explain my identity to Father.”

Xue Zhao smiled. “Don’t worry, Sister.”

Jiang Li gave Xue Zhao thorough instructions about what he should be careful of. When she gave instructions, she was even more identical to the Xue Fangfei in Xue Zhao’s memory. Xue Zhao smiled and agreed to everything, and only then did Jiang Li and Ji Heng walk out of the room.

Zhao Ke had been squatting at the door for a long time. Seeing the two of them come out, he quickly moved aside. He saw that Jiang Li’s eyes were slightly swollen, as if she had cried hard, while Ji Heng’s expression was unreadable. Zhao Ke’s mind wandered wildly—could it be that his master, seeing Second Miss Jiang and A Zhao’s intimate relationship, had threatened Second Miss Jiang, or perhaps killed A Zhao? The master was ruthless and cold-blooded; he could do such things. But from the looks of it, Second Miss Jiang responded better to kindness than coercion. Being so forceful would probably make Second Miss Jiang angry.

He followed far behind Ji Heng and Jiang Li.

“Thank you, Ji Heng,” Jiang Li’s voice was somewhat muffled from crying, no longer as clear as usual. “You saved A Zhao.”

“It was merely a small effort,” Ji Heng said. “Besides, I didn’t know at the time that he was your younger brother.”

He truly hadn’t expected this person to be Jiang Li’s younger brother. Even after Xue Zhao had stayed at the mansion for a long time, he hadn’t paid attention to what Xue Zhao’s name was. If it weren’t for Zhao Ke calling out “A Zhao” tonight, who knows when this misunderstanding would have been cleared up. But it seemed the Xue family siblings truly had excellent feelings for each other, and he was also very glad for his effort at the time.

Although he usually didn’t like watching plays with happy endings, always finding them too fake and ridiculous, if it concerned Jiang Li, he felt it would be best if all tragedies stayed far away from her and everything ended happily.

“You and Doctor Situ are both benefactors of our Xue family,” Jiang Li said softly. “You rescued them, and Miss Jiuyue healed them. A Zhao’s recovery has been so rapid—Miss Jiuyue deserves much of the credit.”

“I didn’t tell her to be so attentive to a stranger. She did this on her own,” Ji Heng raised an eyebrow. “Your younger brother is quite remarkable.”

“Of course he’s remarkable.” Jiang Li smiled when talking about Xue Zhao. “Just as you all said, even in the private dungeon, he didn’t give up, did he? A Zhao is just that kind of person. But when I think about it now, I still feel somewhat frightened. If on that day I hadn’t asked you to go to the private dungeon to find Jiang Youyao, if you hadn’t seen A Zhao, if you had seen A Zhao but didn’t rescue him… my younger brother would still be alive but I wouldn’t know, leaving him to suffer torment. Just thinking about it makes me feel afraid.”

Even on a summer night, one could feel cold. She hugged her shoulders, shivering pitifully. She seemed to be thinking of something extremely frightening—even her lips had turned pale.

Ji Heng frowned and tapped her forehead.

Jiang Li covered her head and looked at him. “What are you doing?”

“There are no ‘what ifs,'” he said matter-of-factly. “There are no ifs, which is why I encountered him and rescued him, and why he’s alive. If we’re talking about ifs, then if I hadn’t encountered you causing trouble in Qingcheng Mountain to begin with, none of this would have happened.”

Jiang Li froze, then smiled. “That’s true.”

After walking for a while, when they were almost at the gate, Jiang Li asked again, “But Ji Heng, there’s still one thing I don’t understand. At that time, why did you save A Zhao? Even if A Zhao pleaded with you for help, why did you agree so easily?”

Ji Heng had never been someone with a kind and benevolent heart. When others sought help, most of the time he just stood by and watched. Yet this one time, in the private dungeon, when A Zhao grabbed onto his boot, he agreed.

Ji Heng smiled.

Why? Why were there so many whys in this world? People in darkness would unconsciously be drawn to light, just as he would inexplicably come to like a woman like Jiang Li. Her excessive tenderness and kindness were things he detested most, but strangely, it was precisely because of those qualities he detested that he came to like her.

Xue Zhao was the same. In the dark prison, he had seen the dying young man. That young man crawled with difficulty on the ground, his legs dragging out long trails of blood. He grabbed onto him like grabbing a beam of heavenly light. The young man’s eyes were bright and clear, filled with hope, and suddenly made Ji Heng think of his former self.

He had crawled in darkness. He had sold his soul to evil spirits. He had abandoned all soft emotions and had no vulnerabilities. But when he saw this young man, he suddenly felt a trace of compassion.

So with one hand, he pulled him out from the darkness.

There was no why—he just didn’t want to see his former self repeat the past journey again.

Yet by accident, he had saved Jiang Li’s younger brother.

Ji Heng stopped walking and looked down at Jiang Li.

Jiang Li looked up at him. The girl’s gaze was identical to her younger brother’s, but amid the young man’s recklessness and open-mindedness, there was an added touch of determination and frankness.

“I don’t know,” he said.

Why did you save him?

I don’t know.

“Perhaps,” he said with a sighing smile, “it was fate’s guidance, and I couldn’t refuse.”