Who said the eldest daughter is crazy? She's clearly a woman of high rank and influence in the

At the very moment the newlyweds entered the corridor, a guest in an ochre silk robe stood up to leave at the banquet by the side gate of the courtyard, but people sat down on either side of him at the same time.

On his left was a short, stocky man in gray, and on his right was a tall, thin figure wearing a straw hat. They sandwiched him perfectly in the middle.

The short, stocky man's hand landed on the table, his palm pressing down on a black iron token, revealing half of the two characters "Tian Shu".

The figure wearing a straw hat turned his head to the side, his voice so low that only the guest in the ochre robe could hear: "Silver Shuttle, finish this cup of wedding wine, come with us."

The guest in the ochre robe paused for a moment on the jade thumb ring, then he put down his wine cup and did not move again.

At the other end of the corridor, two members of the Dark Pavilion were retreating from behind a pillar. The younger one placed the fruit platter on the railing and said in a low voice, "The Pavilion Master cried for so many nights at the inn, and here he is, going through the wedding ceremony—was his mouth twitching just now?"

The older guard continued walking forward expressionlessly: "I misjudged."

"I didn't see wrong! He really moved! The corners of his mouth turned up... He even dared to smile!"

"It's windy, that's why."

The older guard added in a low voice as he rounded the moon gate, his tone carrying a hint of uncertainty even to himself: "...I guess so."

The red candles in the bridal chamber burned brightly, the wedding curtains hung low, the wedding attendants left, and the sound of the door closing was heard softly behind them.

Helian Jing stood inside the door, looking at the red figure sitting on the edge of the wedding bed. The candlelight flickered on the embroidered gold veil. He walked over step by step, the sleeves of his bright red wedding robe hanging down, his fingertips hovering three inches above the edge of the veil, and then he stopped.

He heard his breathing was heavier than usual, and his hand hovered there, as if confirming something one last time.

Then he lifted the veil.

Xi Yueli looked up at him, a thin layer of rouge on her face, a dot of cinnabar between her brows, and the neckline of her bright red wedding dress was tightened by half a finger than usual, revealing the slender curve of her collarbone.

She looked at him, a smile on her lips, her voice warmed by the red candlelight, "Your Highness, I almost couldn't hold back my tears when we bowed to each other."

Helian Jing looked down at her, the sleeves of his bright red wedding robes hanging down to her knees, his fingertips pausing for a moment as they pressed against her palm.

"I endured the whole performance in the hall just now," his voice was hoarse, "but you, with that one breath that escaped, almost overturned my stage."

"Oh, it seems Your Highness is enjoying your wedding with Miss He?"

Before Helian Jing could explain, there was a knock on the door.

He straightened up, took a step to the side to block the view in front of the couch, and Xi Yueli straightened her skirt and sat up. The two looked at each other.

The door was pushed open a crack, and a corner of a crimson dress peeked in first, followed by He Qingshuang's beautiful face.

She changed out of her wedding dress and into a casual rouge-red thin jacket. The white fox fur at the collar made her face glow with a warm white in the candlelight. She squeezed through the door and closed it behind her.

"How about the wedding, newlyweds?" She leaned against the door, arms crossed, a smirk on her lips that betrayed an undisguised schadenfreude.

Xi Yueli stood up from the edge of the couch, patted her skirt, and said in a calm tone that didn't sound like she had just been cornered in the bridal chamber: "Miss He, you're early. The tea hasn't been served yet."

He Qingshuang chuckled, walked to the table and sat down. She looked up at the two of them, her smile fading slightly, revealing something deeper beneath.

"Time is short, I have a few things to say, listen carefully."

She put down her teacup and slowly circled her thumb around the rim. "First, the He family mansion will be in your hands starting tomorrow. I've already spoken to the steward, accountant, and shopkeepers this morning; they will come to pay their respects to you in three days."

"If you copy my handwriting when approving accounts and speak to guests in the same tone as me, no one will notice the difference."

"Secondly," He Qingshuang took out a slender brocade box from her sleeve, placed it on the table, and pushed it over. The lacquer of the box was slightly shiny from being rubbed, and there was a mark on the corner that it had been handled repeatedly, as if its owner had carried it with them for a long time.

She opened the box, and inside lay a gold and jade hairpin. The hairpin was made of translucent warm jade, and the head was carved into a phoenix with outstretched wings. Nine tiny gold beads were inlaid at the phoenix's tail. When the candlelight shone on it, the light silently spun around on the surface of the beads.

"Nine Heavens Hairpin." He Qingshuang pushed the brocade box in front of her.

"Your soul is unstable and your memory is fragmented because the fragments haven't fully meshed together yet. This hairpin can help you stabilize your main soul and nail all the fragmented memories in place. As long as you wear it, your memories will no longer leak out like sand."

"And in the three days before you appear in my guise, I will return the fragments of your soul to you."

Xi Yueli looked down at the jade hairpin lying in the brocade box. The warm jade was reflected in the candlelight as a warm honey color. She reached out and touched the hairpin. When her fingertips touched it, her whole body trembled slightly.

"Where did you get it?"

"I met a wandering Taoist priest when I was doing business in my early years. He said that someone else's soul was inside me, so he made this hairpin to suppress it."

He Qingshuang leaned back in her chair and tapped her fingertips lightly on the edge of the table. "Later, I searched for him for three years before I finally got the whole story out of him."

She paused, shifting her gaze from the hairpin to Xi Yueli's face. "After the fragments of the third me return to my body, this body will experience a period of weakness. My legs will be weak, and my vision will be blurred. It will take about six months to recover."

"So for the past six months, you've been acting as the eldest daughter of the He family, maintaining the facade of the He household. You've been able to handle all the complexities I've built up over the years, including accounts, shops, docks, and dealings with various merchants."

Looking into He Qingshuang's eyes, calm as deep water in the candlelight, Xi Yueli suddenly asked:

"He Qingshuang, why are you doing this? You've been doing so well all these years, the He family has relied on you alone. You've handed everything over to me, and now you're going to recuperate for half a year—why?"

He Qingshuang remained silent for a moment. She looked down at the hand that had just pushed the brocade box over, and turned her palm over.

"I wasn't originally a genius," she said, her voice softer than before. "Before I was eight, I was three beats slower than my peers at using an abacus, and I couldn't remember the numbers even after looking at them three times. My cousins ​​from the He family's collateral branches secretly called me 'the dull block of the He family.'"

"Then one day—I remember it very clearly, it was the evening of the winter solstice, I woke up from a nap and suddenly I could see the connections between all the numbers in the ledger at a glance, and the abacus beads seemed to have grown legs and were running under my fingers."

She looked up at Xi Yueli, the candlelight flickering deep in her pupils. "It took me many years to understand that it wasn't some genius sent from heaven."

"That's because your soul came in. A small fragment of you fell into my body and helped me turn the abacus beads for twelve years, making me see the accounts that I couldn't see myself."

As she said this, the corners of her mouth curved slightly, a very faint smile. "So the better I've been all these years, the clearer I've become in my heart—those things were never mine to begin with, and it's only right that I return them to you now."

Xi Yueli stood in the candlelight, the neckline of her bright red wedding dress tightly fitted, but she felt a soreness and swelling in her chest. She wanted to say something, and opened her mouth, but He Qingshuang had already stood up before her.

"There's one more thing." She took out another roll of yellowed paper from her sleeve and placed it next to the brocade box containing the Nine Heavens Hairpin. "This is a recipe that the Taoist priest left for me."

"After the fragments are removed, the symptoms of qi and blood deficiency can be recovered by following the prescription for half a year. The origin and processing method of each herb in the prescription are marked, so there will be no mistakes."

She stretched out her hand, palm up, facing Xi Yueli. "Xi Yueli, are you ready to take this piece from me?"