Upon hearing Ye Qiaoqiao’s voice, a flash of jealousy and resentment flickered in Jiang Yao’s eyes. She couldn’t understand why she wasn’t Commander Ye’s daughter—why she wasn’t the one living a good life.
“It’s Qiaoqiao. I’ll open the door right away.”
“Ye Qiaoqiao, what are you doing here in the servants’ quarters? Don’t tell me you’re trying to claim that the gifts were stolen by your family’s servants?” Xu Zhengqing’s displeased voice came through the door.
Hearing this, Jiang Yao instantly formed a plan. She turned and saw the letterbox on the bedside table, immediately opening it and leaving it in a state of disarray, as if she hadn’t had time to tidy up.
Only then did she step forward and pull open the door.
When she saw that besides Ye Qiaoqiao, Zhou Cong was also standing outside, Jiang Yao suppressed the surge of joy in her heart.
Brother Zhou is here too!
“Qiaoqiao, Brother Zhou, Uncle Ye… why are you all here?” Jiang Yao spoke softly, her face filled with confusion and bewilderment.
“Of course, we’re here to meet ‘Yao Shuang’ in person.”
Ye Qiaoqiao’s words were startling.
Hearing the name “Yao Shuang,” Zhou Cong visibly reacted, his voice low as he pressed, “Qiaoqiao, what do you mean by that?”
“What do I mean? Don’t you understand? The ‘Yao Shuang’ you’ve been exchanging letters with isn’t me, Ye Qiaoqiao. It’s Jiang Yao, standing right in front of you.”
Ye Qiaoqiao harshly revealed the truth.
Seeing Zhou Cong frown, clearly disbelieving, she scanned Jiang Yao’s room and easily spotted the half-open letterbox.
Ye Qiaoqiao didn’t believe this was an accident.
After her death in her previous life, when her soul left her body and she learned the truth, she knew Jiang Yao wasn’t as simple as she seemed.
However, the other party’s eagerness to “voluntarily” reveal evidence in her desire to marry Zhou Cong actually worked in her favor.
Ye Qiaoqiao reached out and took the letterbox in her hand. Opening it, she only needed to flip through a few letters to confirm that they were indeed correspondence between the two.
“See for yourself. Aren’t these the letters you exchanged with ‘Yao Shuang’?”
Ye Qiaoqiao casually tossed the letterbox to Zhou Cong.
Zhou Cong stared intently at the familiar handwriting in the letters—his own fountain pen script—and immediately recognized them as his own.
Ye Qiaoqiao began rummaging through Jiang Yao’s room.
She easily found her suitcase.
In front of everyone, she flung it open, revealing the expensive gifts mentioned by Xu Zhengqing and the other military second-generation youths!
“Xu Zhengqing, open your eyes wide and see for yourself. Are these gifts the ones I received?” Ye Qiaoqiao crossed her arms, sneering mockingly at them.
Xu Zhengqing and the others looked extremely embarrassed.
They never expected the truth to be the complete opposite of what they had claimed.
By now, Zhou Cong had also realized what was happening. His expression turned cold and stern as he looked at Jiang Yao.
“…You’re Yao Shuang?”
Jiang Yao’s face flushed red with innocence. “Wh-what’s wrong?”
Xu Zhengqing and the others were stunned, unable to believe that Yao Shuang was actually someone else.
“Zhou Cong is the ‘Zhou Zhou’ you’ve been exchanging letters with.” Seeing how well Jiang Yao could pretend, Ye Qiaoqiao understood why, in her previous life, she had attempted to fake a suicide to expose the truth that she was Yao Shuang. Even the source of the rat poison she consumed was framed on her.
Even if she had the misfortune of actually poisoning herself to death, her initial plan was to frame Ye Qiaoqiao for giving her the poison. Even if she didn’t die, she could still shift the blame onto her.
Hearing this, Jiang Yao looked up at Zhou Cong in shock and surprise, her eyes reddening before she lowered her head again.
"Zhou Cong? Zhou Zhou? Aren't you Qiaoqiao's fiancé?" Jiang Yao wore an expression of utter devastation. After casting a deep, pained glance at Zhou Cong, she shook her head rapidly. "How could this be… How could Zhou Zhou be Brother Zhou?"
Ye Qiaoqiao watched her performance coldly. Anyone unaware would have thought Jiang Yao truly innocent, completely ignorant that the man she loved was Zhou Cong.
"Jiang Yao, are you saying you had no idea the person exchanging letters with you was Zhou Cong?" Ye Qiaoqiao's goal today was precisely to tear off both their masks.
Jiang Yao grabbed her hand, tears streaking her face as she shook her head. "Qiaoqiao, I really didn't know Zhou Zhou was Brother Zhou. If I had known earlier, I would never have continued contact with him. Brother Zhou is your fiancé—how could I dare to hope for more?"
After speaking, Jiang Yao turned her adoring, anguished gaze toward Zhou Cong.
"Brother Zhou, please treat the previous letters as a misunderstanding. It was my own failure to distinguish clearly. Forget about me, and live well with Qiaoqiao after your marriage." Having said this, Jiang Yao seemed overwhelmed with sorrow.
Zhou Cong's hand trembled slightly, his emotions in turmoil. He stared at Jiang Yao for a moment, his gaze shifting from wariness to gradually softening.
Ye Qiaoqiao saw it all clearly from the side—further proof of how blind she had been in her past life.
He instinctively reached out to help her up, but seeing Ye Qiaoqiao's furious expression beside him, he forced himself to hold back.
In the past, when he had visited Commander Ye's home with his parents, he had never paid much attention to Jiang Yao. Now, seeing her up close, he realized she was actually quite attractive.
Though not as exquisite as Ye Qiaoqiao, she had a pure and charming appeal.
He truly hadn't expected that Yao Shuang was Jiang Yao… not Ye Qiaoqiao.
Wait…
If Yao Shuang was Jiang Yao, then why had she stamped Ye Qiaoqiao's personal seal on the first three letters she sent him?
If not for that personal seal, he wouldn't have assumed Yao Shuang was Ye Qiaoqiao.
Zhou Cong immediately realized that the first three letters in his possession might be the key.
"Is that so? Is this what you call not knowing?" Drawing on her knowledge from her past life, Ye Qiaoqiao accurately found the forged seal hidden beneath Jiang Yao's bed.
She revealed the neat, block-printed characters "Ye Qiaoqiao" on the base of the seal.
"Jiang Yao, can you explain to me why you're hiding a forged version of my personal seal?" Ye Qiaoqiao demanded angrily.
Jiang Yao's face paled dramatically.
She had never expected the seal to be discovered.
Initially, it was by using that seal that she had been able to write to Zhou Cong under Ye Qiaoqiao's name. Later, seeing that Zhou Cong believed she was Ye Qiaoqiao, she had stopped using it.
But perhaps having tasted the benefits, she thought it might come in handy again someday, so she hadn't destroyed the seal.
It had never occurred to her that Ye Qiaoqiao would find it.
"No… I…" Jiang Yao shook her head, unable to form an explanation.
Looking around, she saw everyone staring at her with anger, especially Commander Ye.
A chill ran through Jiang Yao's heart. She knew that if an investigation were pursued, she couldn't hide the truth. Now, Zhou Cong was her only hope for help.
"Brother Zhou, I… please believe me, I didn't mean to. The first letter was an accident…" Jiang Yao threw herself toward Zhou Cong.
Zhou Cong instinctively reached out to steady her.
A flicker of relief and triumph flashed in Jiang Yao's eyes. Seizing the opportunity, she clung to Zhou Cong's arm, weeping pitifully. "Brother Zhou, please explain to Qiaoqiao for me. I really didn't mean to—this is all a misunderstanding."
Ye Qiaoqiao looked at the two of them with grief and indignation.
"Alright, now that we've talked about Jiang Yao, Zhou Cong, don't you even recognize my handwriting? How could you so easily believe that letter was written by me?"
She knew Zhou Cong had sensed something off about the handwriting from the start, but for some reason, he had deceived himself and never pursued it further.
Zhou Cong’s expression darkened, a mix of shame at having his thoughts exposed and anger that things hadn’t gone as he had anticipated.
She said to Zhou Cong in a low, sorrowful tone, "Just moments ago, you told my father that you developed deep feelings for me through our correspondence. But the truth is, you and Jiang Yao were secretly carrying on behind my back, treating me like a fool!"
Zhou Cong pressed his thin lips tightly together.
"Aren’t you going to explain to my father and me whether Jiang Yao deceived you by impersonating me, or whether you recognized all along that the handwriting wasn’t mine but still wavered between us?" Ye Qiaoqiao threw the question at Zhou Cong.
"I didn’t deceive anyone, I didn’t… Qiaoqiao, Uncle Ye, it’s all my fault… please don’t blame Brother Zhou." Jiang Yao, looking terrified, kowtowed to the two of them.
Zhou Cong’s face turned ashen, especially when he saw the blood on Jiang Yao’s forehead. He quickly helped her up.
He looked up, gritting his teeth, and said to Ye Qiaoqiao, "Qiaoqiao, I’d like to speak with Jiang Yao alone first."
"I’ll give you an explanation soon."
"Fine! So the two of you really have been secretly colluding and humiliating my Qiaoqiao!" Commander Ye pointed at Zhou Cong and shouted angrily.
"Dad, don’t be angry. They’re the ones who made the mistake. If they can shamelessly stay calm, why should we rush?" Ye Qiaoqiao curled her lips in a mocking smile.
Her words made Zhou Cong and Jiang Yao’s expressions turn extremely unpleasant.
Zhou Cong was displeased, feeling that even with the pen pal incident, he and Ye Qiaoqiao still shared some affection. Yet, she had shown him no face at all.
"Let them take their time to coordinate their stories. Either Zhou Cong knew who ‘Yaoshuang’ was all along and deceived me, or Jiang Yao deliberately used my identity to trick me."
"We’ll see which one they choose." Ye Qiaoqiao tossed these words out with disgust, then turned and pulled Commander Ye back to the living room.
She was curious to see what choice Zhou Cong would make!
As soon as the two left, the playboy second-generation heirs stared at Jiang Yao in disbelief and said to Zhou Cong, "Brother Zhou, it’s obvious this woman Jiang Yao deceived you. Why are you hesitating? Just hand her over to Commander Ye and give him an explanation."
"If this matter isn’t resolved properly today, who knows how many people will laugh at you behind your back once word gets out. Jiang Yao is just a maid’s daughter—don’t be foolish."
Hearing this, Jiang Yao saw that Zhou Cong remained silent. She immediately lowered her head and shed tears, saying, "Brother Zhou, I’ll help you. I shouldn’t have lacked confidence and failed to reveal my identity directly. It’s all my fault. You should marry Qiaoqiao. Don’t anger Commander Ye. Don’t waste any more time on me. As long as you’re well, I’m willing to do anything."
Listening to her words, Zhou Cong felt a surge of resentment toward Ye Qiaoqiao. This was just a misunderstanding—why did she have to make such a scene, leaving both sides with no way out?
Meanwhile, back in the living room, Commander Ye pulled Ye Qiaoqiao aside and asked, "Qiaoqiao, what exactly is going on?"
"Dad, I can’t marry Zhou Cong. He’ll be the death of us." Ye Qiaoqiao held back tears, gripping her father’s arm, and lowered her voice to recount what Zhou Cong had done to her in her past life, framing it as a nightmare she had experienced.
After hearing it, Commander Ye clenched his fists in fury. "How dare he!"
"Dad, I actually don't know about Zhou Cong and Jiang Yao's affair. I only saw it in my dreams. I never expected that when I tested it… it turned out to be true…"
"Don't be afraid, Qiaoqiao." Commander Ye led her to sit on the sofa, yet he believed his daughter's words without hesitation. His mind was already racing, thinking about how to investigate Zhou Cong and how to teach a lesson to those who had bullied Qiaoqiao.
Moreover, Commander Ye felt that if something happened to him in Qiaoqiao's dream, it definitely couldn't have been achieved by Zhou Cong alone.
So, someone was already targeting his position?
He had almost implicated Qiaoqiao. No, he had to find a way to change the situation.
Just then.
Guard Lin walked in from outside.
"Commander, Political Commissar Su and Platoon Leader Fu are here to deliver the military exercise report and to discuss the commendation ceremony for Platoon Leader Fu's first-class merit award."