“Does Father Emperor wish to meet the person who wrote the letter?”

Yun Chu asked slowly.

After returning from the Li family banquet, she had known this Madam Jin was the fake Li Jingshu.

But as to the specific circumstances, she couldn’t deduce them, so she invited the mad aunt into the prince’s residence. Staying with her personally, she finally obtained key information from the mad ravings.

It turned out that when Li Jingshu was thirteen years old, at a palace banquet, she and His Majesty had fallen in love at first sight. After that meeting, the two began corresponding.

They wrote letters to each other continuously until Li Jingshu turned sixteen. Everything was beautiful.

Until Li Jingshu’s mother died suddenly, only then did she learn that her father had long had a mistress, along with a younger sister only two months younger than herself.

The mistress brought the younger sister into the main household, and she suddenly fell gravely ill and was confined in a dilapidated temple of the Li family.

From that point on, she never had freedom again.

Every few days, her half-sister would force her to write letters.

Until she went completely mad, only then did the letter writing end…

The mad aunt was truly too severely mad. Wu Yun treated her according to the divine physician’s prescription for a year, barely managing to stop the mad aunt’s aggressive behavior.

Through coaxing and deception, she finally got the mad aunt to write several letters.

She had originally planned to wait until after the palace banquet ended to explain this matter to the Emperor together with Chu Yi.

Since Li Jingshu had stirred up trouble, then in full public view, let Li Jingshu be utterly disgraced!

“Father Emperor, the person who wrote the letter says she wants to see her second young master.”

As soon as Yun Chu finished speaking, Li Jingshu immediately said: “Who dares impersonate me? Your Majesty, you must apprehend this person and interrogate them thoroughly!”

The Emperor looked at the letter, his gaze somewhat heavy. He paused, then said slowly: “Summon this person into the hall.”

Li Jingshu’s heart suddenly panicked.

She couldn’t care about much else and hurried forward several steps, meeting the Emperor’s gaze directly, but it was useless.

She remembered the Western Region witch saying that only pure emotion could make the parasitic worm take effect—whether familial love, romantic love, or friendship… as long as both parties had some slight emotional bond, it would work. But as soon as even a thread of doubt arose, the worm could no longer control the other person.

She didn’t have time to think of a countermeasure.

Then she saw two Imperial Guards bring in a plainly dressed woman.

Li Jingshu almost didn’t recognize this as her own half-sister.

Because every time she had seen her before, this wretch had been disheveled, raving mad, covered in filth…

As she was scrutinizing the newcomer, the newcomer also saw her.

The mad aunt had originally looked like a normal person, but upon seeing Li Jingshu’s face, she suddenly erupted. Her mouth emitted roars like a wild beast as she charged recklessly toward Li Jingshu.

The two Imperial Guards hurriedly restrained her.

“This is clearly a madwoman!” Li Jingshu was frightened and patted her chest. “Your Majesty, two years ago when Secondary Consort Fang lost her child, I testified. This act must have angered Princess Consort Pingxi, making her bear such a grudge that she found a madwoman to impersonate me and even wants this madwoman to harm my life. Please, Your Majesty, render judgment!”

Perhaps hearing the words “Your Majesty,” the mad aunt quieted down and raised her head to look at the person in the highest seat.

Her lips moved, her face full of disbelief: “Second young master… is it second young master? You’ve aged, you’ve grown old, but your eyes are still those clear eyes from before. You’re still the youth in my heart. It can’t be wrong, it definitely can’t be wrong…”

The Emperor was completely stunned.

He controlled his emotions with great effort and said slowly: “Someone, bring writing materials. Let… this madwoman write the three characters ‘Li Jingshu.'”

When he was in his teens, at a palace banquet, he had fallen in love at first sight with Miss Li Jingshu, the eldest daughter of the Li family. After that meeting, he had proactively written a letter and had someone deliver it to the Li family. From then on, the two corresponded frequently. He signed as “Second Young Master,” she signed as “Li Jingshu.” He was more familiar with those three characters than his own name.

Only later, Li Jingshu injured her right hand and could no longer write. He hadn’t seen her handwriting in a very long time.

Yet the handwriting on this letter was identical to the handwriting from their correspondence years ago.

If it truly was written by this madwoman before him, then…

The Emperor looked at Li Jingshu: “Do you still remember what line of poetry we matched during our first meeting?”

Li Jingshu froze.

Because the first meeting hadn’t been with her, she didn’t know.

She had asked that wretch for details, but the wretch had never mentioned matching poetry with His Majesty.

She stammered: “It was over thirty or forty years ago. I, I don’t remember.”

At this moment, Yun Chu’s voice rang out coldly: “Who knows you is the one who knows your sound; regard it as the snow scene of mountain streams.”

The Emperor was astonished: “How do you know?”

“Father Emperor, this daughter-in-law is merely reading aloud the characters the mad aunt wrote.” Yun Chu pointed to that side.

The Emperor looked over and indeed saw the mad aunt had written a line of characters. She hadn’t written the three characters “Li Jingshu,” but a line of poetry.

“Who knows you is the one who knows your sound; regard it as the snow scene of mountain streams.”

Back then, he and she had met during a winter palace banquet, in a snowy landscape, using this line of poetry to become acquainted, then mutually confirmed their feelings.

The Emperor rapidly descended the steps: “It’s you! You are Jingshu!”

“Second young master!”

Tears rolled down the mad aunt’s face.

The Emperor pulled her into his embrace.

After they first met in their teens, they had only maintained correspondence. It wasn’t until she came of age that they met again—by then, four years had already passed.

He had fallen in love with that scholarly woman in the letters, that woman whose thoughts resonated with his, yet he had forgotten her appearance.

He deserved death, truly deserved death!

“Your Majesty, I am Jingshu!” Li Jingshu screamed hysterically. “She’s a madwoman! A madwoman of unknown origin! How can Your Majesty believe her!”

Chu Yi stepped forward, his voice cold: “Madam Jin’s true name should be Li Jinghua.”

“I, I…”

Li Jingshu—no, she should now be called Li Jinghua—never imagined her real name had also been discovered.

After returning to the Li family, she had directly replaced Li Jingshu as the eldest daughter of the Li family, then went to the temple to worship Buddha, then married into the Duke’s residence… Aside from her parents and the old matriarch, no one in the entire Li family knew about this matter. How could…

“To achieve your own goals, you made the real Li Jingshu live in darkness for over thirty years, forcibly driving a normal person mad!” Yun Chu’s voice was severe. “You stole her identity as the eldest daughter of the Li family! You stole the man she deeply loved! You stole her life! Stole her freedom! Yet you live so brilliantly—this is the greatest injustice to her!”

“Nonsense! You’re talking nonsense!” Li Jinghua was caught completely off guard, her mind in chaos. “I am Li Jingshu, I am! Your Majesty, you said you loved me most. You said you would protect me for life. You cannot deny who I am based on just a few simple words!”

The Emperor closed his eyes.

He had once found it strange why the gentle, kind woman in the letters had gradually lost her humanity.

She had said the Duke’s children were disrespectful to her and requested he intervene to deal with those children, so he had complied.

She had said some noble ladies looked down on her, so he had dealt with them.

Thinking back now, he should have noticed long ago—the real Jingshu couldn’t possibly have done such vicious things. So many signs, yet why hadn’t he noticed earlier, allowing Jingshu to suffer for so many years…