Xiao Yu watched her expression change in an instant, and the pain in his heart deepened.
Without the slightest hesitation, he reached into his robes and took out the Dragon and Phoenix Jade Pendant, now perfectly reunited. Resting it in his palm, he held it out before her.
Bathed in the candlelight, the warm jade gleamed with a gentle luster. The crack where it had once been broken was still visible—painfully so.
“Li’er, look,” he said, his voice trembling ever so slightly. “Do you remember? Mother once told us that no matter where we went… no matter what became of us… as long as we each carried half of this pendant, we would always be able to find each other.”
His eyes never left hers.
“And when the two halves became one again… we would be whole.”
“They’re together now.”
“I found you.”
A’Li’s gaze lingered on the completed pendant for only the briefest instant—so quickly it was almost impossible to notice—before she forcibly looked away.
A trace of mockery crept into her voice.
“Oh? That pendant?”
“It is rather exquisite.”
“But I’m afraid you’ve mistaken it for something else, Your Highness.”
“I bought it from a roadside peddler when I went down the mountain a few days ago.”
“I thought it looked interesting, so I kept it.”
“It’s hardly some sacred family keepsake or token of an old promise.”
She spoke with casual indifference, as though the object that carried their shared memories and bound them by blood were nothing more than a trivial ornament.
How could Xiao Yu possibly believe her?
Her reaction…
Her indifference…
Only confirmed what he already knew.
The instant her words fell, Xiao Yu suddenly moved.
Taking advantage of the moment her thoughts were unsettled, he reached toward her.
A’Li instinctively raised a hand to block him.
But her injured shoulder slowed her by a fraction of a second.
With perfect precision, Xiao Yu caught the fastening cord of her silver half-mask.
It snapped loose.
The mask slid from her face and struck the floor with a metallic clang.
The candlelight fell upon her face without obstruction.
Without the mask to conceal her features…
The resemblance between them became undeniable.
The same graceful brows.
The same straight nose.
The same shape of their lips.
Every feature silently proclaimed the blood that could never be severed.
“You!”
A’Li’s eyes widened with shock and anger.
“What are you doing?!”
Xiao Yu looked at the face so astonishingly like his own.
Countless emotions surged through him.
He took a step forward, his voice thick with emotion.
“Li’er…”
“Please stop denying it.”
“I know it’s you.”
“Your eyes…”
“Your face…”
“You’re my little sister.”
“Xiao Li.”
“I’m not!”
A’Li exploded like a cat whose tail had been stepped on.
“There is no Xiao Li in this world anymore!”
“She died six years ago in the Eastern Palace!”
“The only person still alive…”
“…is A’Li.”
“A’Li of Qinglong Stronghold.”
“Do you understand now, Your Highness?”
She drew a deep breath, forcefully suppressing the turmoil in her heart.
A cold, merciless smile curved across her lips as she enunciated every word.
“Besides…”
“Don’t you already have a gentle, obedient, precious little sister?”
“Princess Anning.”
“Isn’t she enough to satisfy your precious sibling affection?”
“So why bother clinging to a mountain bandit like me?”
Her words were like poisoned daggers, driving straight into Xiao Yu’s heart.
His face turned pale.
He hurried forward, trying to grasp her wrist.
“No!”
“Li’er, listen to me.”
“Anning… she’s only—”
In his haste, his fingers accidentally pressed directly onto the wound on her shoulder.
“Ah—!”
A sharp cry escaped her lips.
The sudden agony caught her completely off guard.
Her body shuddered violently.
Fine beads of cold sweat instantly formed on her forehead.
Xiao Yu felt warmth spreading beneath his fingertips.
Startled, he looked down.
Fresh blood stained his fingers.
Only then did he notice that the fabric covering her shoulder was a darker shade of black.
Her wound had reopened.
It was bleeding again.
“You’re injured?!”
His face drained of color.
He released her immediately, horror and regret flooding his expression.
“When did this happen?”
“Let me see it!”
The instant he let go—
A’Li endured the pain, shifted her footing, and retreated several paces with a swift, graceful movement, instantly widening the distance between them.
Pressing a hand over her bleeding shoulder, she glared at him with a face pale from blood loss.
“I don’t need Your Highness’s concern.”
She gritted out the words through clenched teeth.
“You’d do better worrying about your own situation.”
Before he could respond, she spun around without hesitation.
She yanked open the door.
Her figure vanished into the darkness outside.
Only Xiao Yu remained standing where he was.
The cold night breeze drifted through the open doorway.
Lingering faintly within it…
Was the metallic scent of blood.
Xiao Yu stared blankly at the smear of crimson on his fingertips.
Then his gaze fell upon the silver mask lying abandoned on the floor.
Finally…
He looked out into the endless darkness beyond the doorway.
It felt as though someone had carved a piece out of his heart.
He had found her.
Yet somehow…
He had only pushed her farther away.
The atmosphere inside the command tent was heavy with silence.
Seated before the campaign desk, Xie Yan steadily wrote upon a strip of fine silk, concisely recording everything that had happened over the past several days.
His expression remained composed, but the slight furrow between his brows betrayed just how much more complicated the situation had become than anyone had anticipated.
Outside, beneath the night sky, a well-trained carrier pigeon landed quietly on his outstretched arm.
He carefully fastened a small bronze message tube to its leg.
“Go.”
“You must reach the capital.”
The pigeon beat its wings and quickly disappeared into the darkness.
Returning to the tent, he found Shen Yi sitting shirtless nearby.
The military physician had already treated the wound on his shoulder.
Even so, Xie Yan picked up a fresh roll of bandages and personally reinforced the dressing, wrapping it firmly without restricting movement.
Shen Yi sat with his head lowered.
His fists were clenched tightly.
His face was filled with remorse and self-reproach.
“It’s all my fault…”
His voice was hoarse with frustration.
“I never suspected a thing.”
“I even pitied her.”
“I thought she was clever… resourceful…”
“I must have been blind.”
“If I’d realized sooner…”
“…His Highness wouldn’t have…”
His voice faltered.
Unable to continue, he lowered his head even further.
The thought that the Crown Prince might now be trapped in enemy hands because of his own failure made him want to punch himself.
Xie Yan never paused in wrapping the bandage.
His voice remained calm.
“You don’t need to blame yourself so harshly.”
“That woman is extraordinarily cunning.”
“Her schemes run deep.”
“And her mastery of disguise borders on the miraculous.”
“Even His Highness himself was deceived until now.”
“It isn’t entirely our fault that we failed to see through her.”
After a brief pause, even Xie Yan’s eyes reflected genuine confusion.
“Still…”
“It truly is difficult to comprehend.”
“No matter how remarkable a disguise may be…”
“One’s build.”
“One’s eyes.”
“Even the smallest unconscious movements…”
“How could someone imitate another person so perfectly?”
“So perfectly…”
“…that even we couldn’t tell the difference?”
He slowly shook his head, leaving the thought unfinished.
Shen Yi suddenly looked up.
“Exactly!”
“And those eyes!”
“Brother Xie, did you notice?”
“That A’Li…”
“Her eyes…”
“They looked exactly like His Highness’s.”
“And her build too.”
“If I didn’t already know His Highness was imprisoned inside Qinglong Stronghold…”
“I almost would’ve thought…”
His words stopped halfway.
Even he found the thought too absurd to finish.
The two men exchanged a glance.
In each other’s eyes…
They saw the same confusion.
The same suspicion.
The same frightening possibility neither of them dared to voice.
Could two unrelated people truly resemble one another so closely?
Or… was there another explanation entirely?