Yunyi sighed and said quietly, “Are you still blaming me?”

Jiang Caiping replied expressionlessly, “Your Highness holds a noble status—how would this humble commoner dare to blame Your Highness?”

Ruyi and Jixiang frowned as they listened from the side. This Jiang Caiping—the Princess had already spoken to her with such humility, yet she still put on this attitude. How truly excessive.

“Caiping, must you really be like this?” Faced with Yunyi’s words, Jiang Caiping scoffed, “Then how does Imperial Consort Yang hope this commoner should act? Chat happily about old times with you?” Without waiting for Yunyi to speak, she shook her head. “I’m sorry, but this commoner cannot do that. In fact, you and I should never have met again at all.”

Yunyi gazed at her silently and said softly, “Yet you still came.”

Jiang Caiping’s eyes showed a struggling expression. When she learned that Yunyi had sent people to find her, she hesitated for a long time. She didn’t want to see this person who had deceived her and killed the only one she loved, but… there were many things she still wanted to ask face to face.

After a long silence, she said, “From when did Sister Wu become you?”

“From the day you went to fetch pastries for me and Chunxiu came to the room.” Yunyi’s words brought Jiang Caiping’s thoughts back to five years ago. She remembered that time she had encountered Meixue, who had just been released from the dungeon. The latter said she was very hungry, so she brought pastries. After eating them, she still said she was hungry, so she made another trip to the kitchen. At the time, she thought Meixue was acting somewhat strange, but she didn’t think deeply about it. Now…

“The person I met the first time was you, and the second time was the real Sister Wu, correct?”

“That’s right. I originally intended to leave after you brought the steamed buns, but I didn’t expect Meixue to suddenly return. With no choice, I could only hide in the cabinet. Later, when Chunxiu came to the room to arrest someone, Meixue, not knowing the situation, got into an argument with her and was unfortunately harmed by Chunxiu. From that moment on, I stayed in the Governor’s residence under Meixue’s identity.”

Jiang Caiping asked puzzledly, “Why do you and Sister Wu look so similar? Did you disguise your appearance?”

Yunyi touched her cheek. “This is my natural face. Meixue and I are twin sisters, but we were separated from childhood and didn’t know each other’s identity. When I first saw Meixue, I was also greatly shocked. I only gradually learned about our twin relationship after returning to Luoyang.”

After Jiang Caiping’s doubts were resolved, she said coldly, “So you naturally used this face to deceive me and everyone else?”

“At that time, I had my position and couldn’t tell the truth. I’ve always felt ashamed about this, but I truly regarded you as a sister—this was never false.”

“Regarded as a sister?” Jiang Caiping scoffed. “While you deceived me by saying you didn’t know where Third Young Master had gone, you had him tied up and imprisoned in an abandoned house. While you deceived me by saying Third Young Master would return safely, you killed him and burned his body, leaving him burned beyond recognition.” Though years had passed, whenever she thought of it, she still felt heartbreaking pain—pain for Li Xuanba’s departure and pain for Yunyi’s deception!

“Yang Yunyi, if this is what you call regarding someone as a sister, then…” Jiang Caiping stood up, her eyes filled with overwhelming hatred, saying word by word, “I want no part of it!”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” Besides these three words, Yunyi didn’t know what else she could say. But Jiang Caiping neither wanted nor wished to hear these three words. She stared at Yunyi and said hatefully, “Do you know that on the way here, I thought more than once about killing you to avenge Third Young Master? Even now, I haven’t completely given up on the idea.”

Upon hearing this, Ruyi quickly moved to block Yunyi, scolding, “The Princess has made it very clear—at that time, each had their own position. If the Princess hadn’t killed Li Xuanba, she would have been killed by him. There was no choice at all. Why must you be so obsessed?”

“Why must I be obsessed?” Her words made Jiang Caiping laugh, yet in those eyes, not a trace of mirth could be found. The next moment, the smile instantly transformed into cold, resentful hatred. “She killed my most beloved person, making me see everything in this world only in black and white from then on. Don’t I even have the right to be obsessed?”

Jixiang frowned. “Your obsession with past events will ultimately only bring suffering to yourself. Why is this necessary?”

Jiang Caiping sneered, “How could I not want to let go? But whenever I think of Third Young Master being burned to charcoal, his face beyond recognition, I cannot let go!” With that, she took several deep breaths and turned her gaze to Yunyi, whose expression was one of grief. “You’ve already seen me, and we’ve reminisced about all the old times there were to reminisce about. May I leave now?”

Yunyi said painfully, “Caiping, are you truly so unwilling to see me?”

Jiang Caiping shook her head. “There’s nothing good for you and me to see each other about. In fact… I shouldn’t have come to see you this time at all.” After a pause, she continued, “From now on, you take your broad road and I’ll cross my single-log bridge. We have no connection anymore.” Throwing down these words, she turned to leave, but at the doorway, she was unexpectedly blocked by a woman.

Zhangsun Shi looked Jiang Caiping up and down, then said to Yunyi, who had followed after her, “This must be the Miss Jiang that my sister has mentioned?”

Yunyi curtsied slightly. “In response to Princess Consort, that’s correct.”

Zhangsun Shi smiled slightly and looked at Jiang Caiping. “Before you came, Yang Consort often mentioned you to me, telling me about your past experiences together. They were quite interesting.”

Jiang Caiping looked puzzledly at this gentle but unfamiliar woman before her. Wenlan lightly called out, “Why don’t you quickly pay respects to Princess Consort?”

Before Jiang Caiping could speak, Zhangsun Shi was already saying, “No need for formalities. You and Yang Consort are sisters, so naturally you’re also my sister.”

Her words made Jiang Caiping’s gaze turn cold, and she said frigidly, “This commoner is of humble status and dare not call herself sister to Your Highnesses. This commoner takes her leave.”

“Caiping…” Yunyi had only said two words when Zhangsun Shi interrupted her with a glance, then smiled and pulled Jiang Caiping along. “Sister, you’ve only just arrived—how can you leave so soon? You should stay in the residence for a few days at least. Otherwise, if word gets out, people will say Prince Qin’s residence doesn’t know how to treat guests properly.” With that, she said without allowing any argument, “Come, let’s go sit in my Laiyi Hall. Imperial Consort Shu just bestowed some dried fruits upon us. We can eat and chat at the same time.”

Jiang Caiping was half-dragged, half-pulled by her to Laiyi Hall. After they left, Jixiang wrinkled her nose. “The Princess spoke to her with kind words, but she responded with harsh ones. People like this should be sent as far away as possible and never seen again.”

Ruyi had always been steady by nature, but this time, she also couldn’t help herself. “This Miss Jiang is truly excessive. No matter how you explain to her, she won’t listen. In this servant’s opinion, we should send someone to take her back to Honghua Commandery as soon as possible.”

Yunyi sighed, “I wronged her first—I can’t blame her for hating me so. If I hadn’t impulsively killed Prince Wei Huai, why would she remain unmarried to this day?”

Ruyi shook her head. “The Princess may bear some responsibility for this matter, but it’s been so many years since it happened. Continuing to cling to this unresolved knot in her heart—will Prince Wei Huai come back to life? In the end, isn’t she the one who suffers?”