Xie Zhifei’s voice was flat.

“Zheng Huantang habitually used a blade, but according to Huaizuo, his swordsmanship was also excellent. Besides that, he was well-read.

Zheng Huantang’s wife was surnamed Zhao. She wasn’t a good match for the Zheng family—Zheng Huantang chose her himself.”

“Chose her himself.” Yan Sanhe repeated quietly.

So Father and Mother weren’t married by parents’ orders and matchmaker’s words. They were in love.

Xie Zhifei: “For this Lady Zhao, I heard Zheng Huantang quarreled with his family for a long time. Zheng Yu finally relented and reluctantly agreed.”

“How was this Lady Zhao not a good match for the Zheng family?”

Xie Zhifei: “She’d been engaged before. Her fiancé died before she could marry him, and she was blamed for it.”

My mother killed her husband?

Yan Sanhe sneered coldly. “What’s wrong with this world? Why must everything be blamed on women?”

Xie Zhifei: “She killed two.”

Two—so what? It was just the men’s poor fortune.

Though Yan Sanhe thought this, her tone was quite flat. “No wonder Old General Zheng didn’t agree.”

Xie Zhifei nodded.

“That Zheng Huantang insisted on marrying her shows this Lady Zhao had something exceptional about her.”

“According to Zheng Huaizuo, Lady Zhao had studied for several years. She was the most learned and courteous person, and very beautiful. They say she had a widow’s peak on her forehead.”

Yan Sanhe looked up, suspiciously. “Zheng Huaizuo even told you this?”

“Mm. He had no friends—I was the only one he could talk to.”

Xie Zhifei: “Sometimes when he was really bottled up, he’d say anything.”

Yan Sanhe remembered the conversation between those two servants in her dream and probed, “Why didn’t Zheng Huaizuo have friends?”

Xie Zhifei looked at her with an unusually serious gaze.

“Didn’t I tell you? How did you forget?”

You told me what?

Yan Sanhe’s expression showed some confusion.

She searched hard through her mind. “I don’t remember you telling me.”

The study fell quiet.

Xie Zhifei looked at her with an even more confused expression, as if probing whether her words were true or false.

The man’s gaze was too burning. Yan Sanhe wanted to look away but felt she shouldn’t be so guilty. She met his eyes directly.

“I wouldn’t remember wrong.”

“Then I must have remembered wrong.”

Xie Zhifei habitually put on a fake smile.

“Supposedly, twins’ birth dates aren’t auspicious. Lady Zhao killed her husbands, and the two of them would bring misfortune to the Zheng family, so the Zheng family confined their entire family to Haitang Courtyard and wouldn’t let them out.”

Yan Sanhe’s heart jumped violently. “When were the twins’ birth dates?”

Her eyes showed urgency as she looked at Xie Zhifei, who was stunned for quite a while.

“Same as mine—July fourteenth.”

“Ghost birth?”

Yan Sanhe was so shocked her voice cracked. Not wanting her loss of composure to be seen by Xie Zhifei, she quickly found words.

“Elder Sister-in-law mentioned ghost births come in two types—one is a living soul, one is a wandering little ghost outside.”

“Sister-in-law is correct.”

Xie Zhifei: “Living souls don’t harm people. Little ghosts do.”

Yan Sanhe: “Is this really true?”

Xie Zhifei smiled at her. “You’re a spirit medium. By rights, you should know better than me.”

When he smiled, his dimples deepened on both sides, but his eyes held no trace of mirth—instead carrying a hint of mockery.

This made Yan Sanhe feel somewhat strange.

Why does he smile like that?

“I only understand resolving karmic demons. I’m not clear about other things.”

Xie Zhifei muttered quietly, “You can see things in dead people’s minds, but these…”

“Don’t stray from the topic.”

Yan Sanhe interrupted him. “Continue about Zheng Huantang’s branch.”

“There’s nothing more to say.”

Xie Zhifei stood up, then suddenly sat back down and crooked his finger at Yan Sanhe.

Yan Sanhe didn’t know what he intended and leaned her head forward.

“By the way, there’s one more thing. These dragon-phoenix twins actually didn’t look that much alike—the older brother was more spirited, the younger sister was more delicate and sickly. Can you guess why?”

“Why?” Yan Sanhe looked up.

The distance between their brows was mere inches. Xie Zhifei could clearly see the red veins in her eyes and the undisguisable curiosity.

“I don’t know either.”

He said softly, “Perhaps not all twins look alike.”

Then why did you call me over?

Yan Sanhe’s body retreated. She ignored this person and slowly lowered her eyelashes.

My birthday is July fourteenth—a ghost birth.

I was delicate and sickly as a child.

I don’t look that much like Zheng Huaiyou.

The reason our family of four wasn’t favored—the seeds were planted from when Father insisted on marrying Mother.

Because we were confined to Haitang Courtyard, both my brother and I liked climbing trees and watching people come and go outside the high walls.

All this information matches my dream memories.

And fits perfectly!

“Yan Sanhe.”

Hearing him call suddenly, Yan Sanhe looked up blankly. “Ah?”

Her eyes widened, lips slightly parted. Looking at this face that knew nothing, Xie Zhifei felt a moment of helplessness in his heart.

“Don’t you want to ask—since the Zheng family wouldn’t let the siblings out to see people, how did I come to know them?”

“How did you know them?”

“Remember that old tree in the northeast corner of Four Lanes Alley that grew outside the wall?”

Yan Sanhe had explored the Zheng ruins twice and remembered very clearly.

“The one half-burned hollow at the base.”

“The siblings liked climbing that tree, and I always passed through Four Lanes Alley going in and out.”

Xie Zhifei’s voice was very soft. “Once, Huaiyou hit my head with a tree branch. That’s how I met them.”

Before Yan Sanhe could speak, he suddenly smiled again. “Do you believe me, Yan Sanhe?”

I believe.

It should have been exactly like that.

Yan Sanhe nodded forcefully, then asked, “What were Zheng Huaizuo and Zheng Huaiyou like in your impression?”

“Why ask about them?”

“I can’t very well ask about Zheng Huantang and Lady Zhao.”

Yan Sanhe, fearing Xie Zhifei would see her guilt, deliberately looked at him frankly. “You didn’t know them.”

Her gaze became frank, and Xie Zhifei felt his heart pierce with pain, wishing he could immediately tell her everything and ask her everything clearly.

But what would he say?

Say he died once and came back to life?

Who would believe that!

“Huaizuo was active, couldn’t sit still for a moment. He practiced martial arts with Zheng Huantang from childhood but didn’t love reading. He was like a little monkey.”

“Mm.”

Yan Sanhe stood up, pretending to pour tea to hide the moisture in her eyes.

“Huaiyou…”

Xie Zhifei looked at her back, tenderness in his eyes.

“Huaiyou was gentle and beautiful. She was very clever—she could remember anything after seeing it once.”

Yan Sanhe’s hand pouring tea froze in mid-air.

He actually still remembered what she was like as a child.

“Oh yes, she had a habit exactly like yours. Huaiyou said that no matter what she ate, she always left one bite.”

Yan Sanhe felt something stab her heart, painfully closing her eyes.

It’s me.

Xie Zhifei, I am Huaiyou!