While she was speaking, Yunyi had already concealed the shock in her eyes and said, “Making Fourth Sister worry is truly Jinyang’s fault.”

Xin’an grasped Yunyi’s cold hands and said, “We are sisters—why speak such distant words? In any case, seeing you safe and sound now puts my mind at ease. From now on, we’ll live together in Chang’an City just like before. I only pity Ninth Sister and the others—there’s been no news of them at all.”

Yunyi calmly withdrew her hand and said, “Ninth Sister and the others are blessed by Heaven and will surely be fine.”

Xin’an lowered her head to look at her empty hands and smiled slightly, “I hope so.”

At this moment, a eunuch came in to report that Li Yuan was waiting in the imperial study and requesting Yang You to come quickly to discuss the matter of sending troops to Luoyang. The latter said helplessly, “I understand. I’ll go over shortly.”

After the eunuch withdrew, Yang You said, “I’ll go to the imperial study first and come back later to chat with you two aunts. Oh, and Seventh Aunt, since today is such a rare happy occasion, please stay in the palace to dine together this evening. I also have some matters to discuss with you. Is that alright?”

Yunyi smiled and said, “Since Your Majesty has spoken, how could Jinyang dare not comply?”

“That’s good then.” Saying this, Yang You followed the eunuch to the imperial study. After he left, Yunyi put away the smile on her face and stared coldly at Xin’an, “How did you get here?”

Xin’an took an orange and began peeling it, saying with a half-smile, “Seventh Sister asks such a strange question. This is my palace—if I’m not here, where should I be? Taiyuan?”

“How did you come back?” That day, she and Li Shimin had personally watched the carriage carrying Xin’an leave Chang’an City. By rights, she should be on her way to Taiyuan now. How had she returned to Chang’an and even met Yang You? Could it be that she escaped back while Old Zhang wasn’t paying attention?

Xin’an threw the orange peel onto the small table and sneered, “Of course you hope I went to Taiyuan, but unfortunately, Jinyang, no matter how carefully you calculated, you still missed a step and allowed me to return to this Shuangyue Hall.”

Yunyi stared at her, “How did you come back?”

Xin’an methodically picked at the white pith on the orange flesh, “Naturally you want to know, but… why should I tell you?”

“Who helped you?” Yunyi’s words made Xin’an’s eyelids twitch slightly, then she smiled charmingly and said, “Why would I need anyone’s help? That fellow surnamed Zhang had never seen many women in his life. With just a few coaxing words, his bones turned to mush, and he would do whatever I told him to do. And this… is the step you missed in your calculations.”

“Where is he now?” Faced with Yunyi’s inquiry, Xin’an smiled charmingly, picked up a segment of orange and put it in her mouth, then nodded, “Mmm, juicy and sweet—truly excellent. Seventh Sister, you should try some too.”

Yunyi ignored her words and only said, “Answer me.”

Xin’an shook her head, “Look at you, still as boring as before. No wonder among so many sisters, not one likes you. To be honest, Jinyang, you really need to change this temperament of yours, or you’ll suffer greatly sooner or later.” Saying this, she continued, “That fellow surnamed Zhang left after bringing me back to Chang’an. I really don’t know where he is now, but…” She glanced sideways at Yunyi, “Didn’t you seduce the Li family’s Second Young Master? With his influence, finding someone in Chang’an City shouldn’t be difficult. If that doesn’t work, you could ask your old flame Du Ruhui to help search—you’ll find him eventually!”

Yunyi’s eyes darkened as she said coldly, “Clean up your mouth!”

Xin’an shook her head disapprovingly, “Look at you. I don’t know if you’ve been in contact with common folk too much, but the words you speak are so crude and rude. Where is even half the bearing of a contemporary princess? I really don’t know how Empress Mother taught you all these years.”

Seeing that mocking her wasn’t enough, she even dragged Xiao Shi into it, making Yunyi’s expression even colder. Just when Xin’an was waiting to see her lose composure, Yunyi suddenly laughed, leaving Xin’an completely bewildered. She couldn’t help saying, “What are you laughing at?”

Yunyi picked up the orange peels Xin’an had thrown on the small table piece by piece and put them back in the fruit dish, smiling faintly, “Mother Empress only taught me how to speak with people, but never taught me how to speak with beasts. Look, beasts just throw things around like this, not understanding any rules or etiquette.”

“You!” Xin’an’s face turned livid with anger. This Jinyang was becoming more and more outrageous, actually calling her a beast. It was simply preposterous! She gritted her teeth and said, “Though we weren’t born of the same mother, we share the same father emperor. By cursing me like this, aren’t you cursing yourself?”

Yunyi smiled without speaking. If she were Yang Guang’s daughter, she would indeed have to think twice before saying such words. Unfortunately… she wasn’t!

After Xin’an’s complexion had improved somewhat, Yunyi said, “What do you plan to do from now on?”

“What do you mean what do I plan to do? Naturally, I’ll live in this Shuangyue Hall.” At this point, Xin’an’s eyes narrowed as she said coldly, “I know what you’re thinking, but His Majesty has already seen me. It’s impossible for you to drive me out of Chang’an again without anyone knowing, even with Li Shimin’s help. So you’d better give up this idea early.”

“I can let you stay in Shuangyue Hall, but you must also agree to one condition of mine.” Before Yunyi finished speaking, Xin’an was already laughing delightedly, laughing until tears appeared at the corners of her eyes before gradually stopping, “This Shuangyue Hall belongs to me in the first place. I can live here if I want to. When have I ever needed Jinyang’s permission, let alone you making any conditions?”

Yunyi didn’t get angry but said calmly, “If Fourth Sister thinks my words are unreasonable, you can ignore them. However… if Fourth Sister regrets it later, don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

Though Yunyi’s words seemed calm and harmless, without even a trace of threatening tone, they made Xin’an’s heart skip a beat, causing her to involuntarily say, “Speak.”

“It’s very simple—be a good princess and don’t interfere in court affairs.” This was originally why she had sent Xin’an away from Chang’an. Yang You was still young and his mind wasn’t mature enough. If Xin’an, unwilling to accept Li Yuan’s regency, instigated Yang You to turn against Li Yuan to reclaim Chang’an, then the common people who had finally had a few days of peace would suffer again. Moreover… once it reached that point, Li Yuan probably wouldn’t allow Yang You to live.

Xin’an looked her over and said sarcastically, “Oh my, you haven’t even married into the Li family yet, but you’re already so eager to turn your elbow outward, speaking so much for your future father-in-law.”

Yunyi was too lazy to argue with her and said, “Say what you will. In any case, remember these words well, or there will surely come a day you regret it!”

Xin’an pursed her flame-red lips without speaking. Yunyi, unwilling to face Xin’an in the hall any longer, walked outside. As soon as she stepped out, she saw several palace servants uprooting the plum trees planted in the courtyard. She quickly said, “What are you doing?”

Hearing this, the palace servants quickly replied, “Reporting to Princess Imperial, we servants are following Princess Xin’an’s orders to remove the plum trees from Shuangyue Hall.”