Moonlight mixed with the stench of blood, filling the room.
Shen Changyin grew increasingly silent, but Xie Yu's gaze brightened in this silence.
A fire seemed to rekindle in her eyes, fatigue gradually fading.
She was not the type to wallow in negativity; she had now regained her composure.
"Not answering, huh? It's fine—we have plenty of time. We can wait."
She stood, kicked a chair behind Shen Changyin, and brought another chair to her side.
Left hand on the chairback, she didn't sit yet but said to Shen Changyin: "Sit."
Shen Changyin looked at her, wanting to speak.
Before Shen Changyin could speak, Xie Yu shot her a sharp, cutting glance.
Shen Changyin obediently sat down in the chair.
"I ask, you answer."
Seeing her sit, Xie Yu finally sat as well, leaning against the chairback, exuding an imposing pressure she didn't usually show.
"First question: Have you ever thought about killing me?"
If I said no, would you believe me?
Shen Changyin lowered her eyes. "Is there a correct answer to this question?"
Xie Yu slammed her hand on the table, the sound echoing sharply. "Do you think this is your home? Do you get to question me here? And you dare ask me back?"
Shen Changyin had never seen her so intimidating. Usually easygoing and approachable, Xie Yu now looked serious and resolute.
"Be honest."
If she told the truth, of course, the answer was yes.
Not just once, but countless times.
But back then, Xie Yu was already dead; she couldn't kill her again.
Shen Changyin did not feel ashamed to admit her murderous intent toward anyone, just as she never hid her hatred for the Xie royal family.
In this world, nothing was more righteous than revenge, and she never lied about it.
At the same time, she understood the difference between speaking ill of someone privately and directly insulting them—it marked whether you intended to maintain a relationship.
She didn't want to end things with Xie Yu.
Whether it was revenge or seizing power, everything she did, whether against the Fifth Princess or the Empress, was to rewrite past events.
But with this person, she cared more about the possibilities of the future.
She didn't want to destroy even the smallest chance.
Her eyelashes flickered, but her expression remained unchanged. Her heartbeat and pulse were calm, betraying no nervousness.
Even if a lie detector were attached to her, it would read her as telling the truth.
Her lips parted, ready to speak.
Xie Yu's eyes swept over her. "No lying."
Shen Changyin closed her mouth again.
She swallowed twice, touched her nose, and felt a rare flicker of tension.
"Yes," she said, speaking the truth under her fiancée's gaze.
She didn't look at Xie Yu, instead glancing at the Fifth Princess's corpse in the room, sensing the cruel irony of fate.
Yesterday afternoon, she had been interrogating others here; today, it was her turn to be "interrogated."
The young officer conducting the interrogation was cruel and cold. "Continue."
Shen Changyin: "But not now, nor ever again. After we met, I never had such thoughts again."
She consciously played the obedient prisoner.
"Reason?" Xie Yu fiddled with the firebrand in her hand, eyes burning into her.
The diesel scent was thick, and combined with fire, extremely dangerous.
Shen Changyin worriedly said, "The firebrand… maybe we should go outside—"
"Enough nonsense."
Xie Yu was furious, sneering: "If this place blows up, taking you with me wouldn't be a loss."
"I asked why you chose not to kill me. Answer honestly."
Shen Changyin looked at the floor. "Because I realized a Third Princess could be very useful to me—the heir to imperial power could…"
Xie Yu pushed her chair back, the legs scraping the floor loudly.
She stood, walked past Shen Changyin, seemingly about to leave.
"Because you held my hand," Shen Changyin immediately said.
She kept looking forward, not turning her head to Xie Yu.
"Because you held my hand," she repeated.
That thin, pale hand, previously stretched out beneath red-and-white curtains, was healthy and proportionate that night, holding hers.
A warmer body temperature passed through their joined hands. At that moment, she began to wonder what her early-dead fiancée, destined to die of illness three years later, was truly like.
Xie Yu stopped, returned, and sat back in her chair, spine straight.
"Sit properly," she instructed Shen Changyin.
The interrogation continued.
"What did the Fifth Princess do to you?"
Shen Changyin remained silent.
It was just revenge.
It wasn't a loss of power.
Being a victim was already shameful.
She clenched her hands.
Xie Yu noticed her gesture and changed the question.
"Compared to the young women drained for blood, was it better or worse?"
Shen Changyin glanced at her, then lowered her eyes again.
So Xie Yu got her answer—worse.
She continued in a cold, harsh voice: "Besides the Fifth Princess, who else? I already know about the Empress."
Shen Changyin pressed her lips together.
"All?" Xie Yu was incredulous.
A mother, six sisters—none good? What kind of genes ran through her?
Shen Changyin nodded. "All."
"What did I do to you?"
Strictly speaking, nothing.
No choice—she died too early.
This time, Shen Changyin answered truthfully: "Nothing."
"You still wanted to kill me?" Xie Yu's eyes widened. "Doing collective punishment, huh?"
Seeing her barely calm demeanor flare again, Shen Changyin added: "Only before we met. After meeting, I never thought of killing you."
Her voice gradually softened.
Xie Yu snorted.
She didn't ask further, only narrowed her eyes slightly, observing Shen Changyin.
Shen Changyin sat upright.
Xie Yu's mind was in turmoil: the Fifth Princess's corpse, Shen Changyin's admission of murderous thoughts, and yet her willingness to hand over the army—plus the two times Shen Changyin had kissed her.
She wasn't narcissistic, thinking everyone liked her.
But if Shen Changyin truly hated her and still kissed her, wasn't that… abnormal?
After much deliberation, she closed her eyes and opened them again.
She decided to give Shen Changyin a reprieve, avoiding absolute judgment for now.
But.
She pointed to her eyes with her index and middle fingers, then pointed at Shen Changyin.
"I'll be watching you."
Shen Changyin: "…I, Shen, will behave."
Xie Yu stood, casually tossing the firebrand to her.
Diesel everywhere!
Shen Changyin, unusually flustered, stood, tiptoed, and caught it.
"Clean up. If anyone hears I'm engaged to a psycho, you'll pay for it."
Without looking back, Xie Yu strode away.
Shen Changyin let out a bitter laugh, then used the firebrand to burn the courtyard.
She watched the flames roar, lighting up half the sky, before leaving the Fifth Princess's mansion.
She noticed her carriage, once parked at the gate, was gone—leaving an empty space.
Xie Yu actually wanted her to walk back.
Shen Changyin pressed the heel of her hand to her forehead.
She still smiled.
—
Xie Yu returned to the mansion by carriage.
Ate efficiently, washed, and lay in bed.
She heard Shen Changyin return but ignored it, assuming it was a thief.
Finished bathing, she lay in bed, clean and comfortable.
But her anger remained, growing stronger the more she thought about it.
Shen Changyin was an enormous, complicated trouble.
Had she known, she wouldn't have come back in the first place.
Just as she considered running away again, she dismissed the idea.
She knew she wasn't being rational—better to sleep first.
Everything could wait until morning.
She closed her eyes.
Twenty minutes later, she angrily opened them.
Turned, adjusted her pillow, closed her eyes again.
Another twenty minutes, still awake.
She officially diagnosed herself with insomnia.
Sat up, furious.
Silently cursed Shen Changyin.
Decided to walk in the courtyard to release energy and calm herself.
Pushed open her suite door, and saw Shen Changyin in plain white clothing in the main hall.
"Third Princess, can't sleep either?" The impeccably beautiful Shen Changyin asked with concern. "Shall I have someone prepare a calming soup?"
"No. I'm admiring the moon."
Already annoyed, Xie Yu's tone was stiff.
"Coincidentally, shall we go together?"
"No."
She refused to compromise, telling Shen Changyin: "Go back to your room. The courtyard is mine."
Shen Changyin wanted to speak, but Xie Yu repeated the "I'll be watching you" gesture.
Shen Changyin was speechless, paused for two seconds, then nodded: "Enjoy your walk."
Xie Yu returned to her room unhurriedly.
Moonlight danced in the courtyard; leaves rustled softly.
After several laps, her mood calmed, and she lay in the slightly cool rocking chair, slowly falling asleep.
She entered her dreams.
In her dream, she opened her eyes to find herself in Jing Shui Village, at Jiang Fang's home.
Still groggy, she heard someone outside calling her—today the militia training was starting again; she had to hurry.
What?
Xie Yu paused for a moment, then remembered:
The day she was last assassinated and jumped off the cliff, she had a dream. In the dream, there was no Shen Changyin, and no rebellion.
In this dream, she successfully escaped the capital, settled in Jing Shui Village, and began helping nearby villages train militia to resist bandits.
At the end of the previous dream, she fell asleep thinking about the candied pork knuckle she would eat the next day. When she opened her eyes, she was back in the real world.
So now she was dreaming again? A continuation of the last dream?
She first got out of bed, trained the militia along the storyline from the dream, and was called to the village chief's house for lunch.
Looking at the steaming, rich, succulent candied pork knuckle on the table, she suddenly felt a bit depressed.
Was she really so pathetic?
During the day, she had learned that Shen Changyin might want to kill her and couldn't be certain of her true identity. At night, she chose to escape into a dream without Shen Changyin, a world without that person?
She refused to be such a weak person.
She wanted to wake up.
But the pork knuckle in the dream smelled delicious.
She ate a whole knuckle before returning to her dream bedroom, standing at the edge of the bed, and leaning backward.
She tried to wake herself up through the sensation of weightlessness, like in Inception.
Bang—
Her head hit the pillow hard.
Yet she didn't wake up. She was still in Jiang Fang's house.
Xie Yu didn't give up and tried several more times.
On the eleventh attempt, she finally woke up.
Opening her eyes, she found herself in the rocking chair, in her own mansion's courtyard.
She got up, yawned, and returned to her bedroom. This time, she fell asleep quickly and soundly, with no more dreams.
The next morning, she went to court as usual.
She zoned out in the princess procession, thinking about what to do with Shen Changyin.
This person was immensely powerful, and her attitude remained unclear. Xie Yu needed some leverage to counter her.
As she mentally ruminated over the clever strategies protagonists in transmigration novels used, she suddenly heard Shen Changyin's familiar voice.
"I request to confer the Third Princess as Crown Princess."
What?
Xie Yu even wondered if she misheard.
Was it possible Shen Changyin said, "Crown the Third Princess as Crown Mother"?
But then, the Empress's voice rang out, majestic and commanding:
"Approved. From today, the Third Princess Xie Yu is conferred as Crown Princess."
What?!!!
The newly minted Crown Princess blinked in confusion.
—
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