Ning Dao Covered with Snow

Chapter 377 Sisters
Yan Ciwan looked at Si Buping and asked, "Is she inside?"

Although she didn't name names, Si Buping knew she was referring to Yan Tingyu. He explained, "The Crown Princess is cultivating here, wishing to pray for favorable weather for the people of Daye. The Emperor specifically instructed that no one should disturb her, but today he made an exception for you. Please go in quickly."

Yan Ciwan secretly guessed that the emperor already knew Yan Tingyu's true identity, and that his so-called cultivation was actually a disguised form of house arrest.

Xiao Wang pushed her into the Tianyuan Tower, while the abbot and Si Buping stayed outside.

The tower was dimly lit, relying entirely on candlelight, and the air was filled with a strong sandalwood scent.

In the center of the first floor was an incense table, and a futon was placed on the ground next to it. At this moment, Yan Tingyu, dressed in plain clothes, was kneeling on the futon. When she heard the noise, she turned her head to look at the door.

When Yan Tingyu saw who it was, she was not surprised at all.

She stood up and said expressionlessly, "You've finally arrived. I've been waiting for you for a long time."

Xiao Wang and Yan Ciwan stopped about ten feet away from Yan Tingyu.

Yan Ciwan sat in her wheelchair, looking at her elder sister whom she had once hated to the core. She had thought she would be very emotional, but now she was unusually calm.

She carefully examined Yan Tingyu's appearance. Yan Tingyu had lost a lot of weight, her face was bare of makeup, and she wore no accessories at all, making her look extremely plain.

At this moment, Yan Tingyu was also looking her over. She saw that she was sitting in a wheelchair, with bandages wrapped around the back of her exposed hands and neck, and there were still unhealed scars on her face.

Yan Tingyu laughed gleefully: "I thought I was in a really bad situation, but I didn't expect you to be in an even worse one. You're even in a wheelchair now. Have you become a cripple?"

Yan Ciwan knew that she was deliberately provoking her. If she really got angry, it would only make the other party get what she wanted.

Therefore, Yan Ciwan did not give much of a reaction, and her expression remained indifferent.

She asked, "How long have you been here?"

Yan Tingyu said lazily, "It was probably eight or nine days, but I don't remember exactly. This place is so dark that sometimes I can't tell whether it's day or night outside."

Yan Ciwan secretly calculated that, judging from the timeline, Yan Tingyu was placed under house arrest here almost the day after her marriage to the Crown Prince.

She said, "I heard that you and the Crown Prince have a good relationship. Does the Crown Prince know you are here?"

"He probably doesn't know. He's too naive. He completely believes in my identity. Even though the emperor has hinted at it to him, he doesn't understand the emperor's meaning at all. I don't know how someone with his personality could become the crown prince." Yan Tingyu said this with a rather disdainful tone, but her eyes revealed a hint of tenderness.

She suddenly lifted her foot and walked towards Yan Ciwan. Xiao Wang, fearing that she would harm Yan Ciwan, immediately stepped forward to stop her.

Yan Tingyu glanced at him and asked, "Who are you?"

"I am Xiao Liulang, and I am friends with Aci."

"Friends?" Yan Tingyu's gaze swept between them, and she smiled enigmatically. "You two don't seem like ordinary friends."

Xiao Wang didn't reply, but quietly stood in front of Yan Ciwan, preventing Yan Tingyu from getting any closer to her.

Seeing that he ignored her, Yan Tingyu felt rather bored and spoke directly to Yan Ciwan. "I know you came here specifically to see me to seek revenge. I'm giving you a chance now. Do you dare to accept it?"

Yan Ciwan met her eyes; her expression was clearly one of deliberate provocation.

Yan Ciwan asked, "What do you want to do?"

Yan Tingyu pointed to Xiao Wang in front of her and said to Yan Ciwan, "Let your good friend step aside first. With him standing between us sisters like this, we can't have a proper reunion."

Yan Ciwan said, "Xiao Liu, please step aside."

Although Xiao Wang was still worried, he obediently stepped aside so as not to offend Yan Ciwan.

Seeing this, Yan Tingyu gave a self-deprecating smile: "Yan Ciwan, I really envy you. From a young age, you have been pampered by your father and the princess. Your father treats you like a precious jewel, while treating me like a roadside weed. He has given you the best of everything. If the emperor hadn't suddenly issued an edict to betroth you, he would have even considered passing the throne and fiefdom to you. Later, when I stabbed you in the chest, I thought you were surely dead, but you actually survived. Not only that, you have also received help from so many people. Heaven is really too biased, so biased that I can't help but start to envy you again."

Yan Ciwan listened quietly to her finish speaking, and said, "We've gotten along fairly well since we were little. I feel I've never wronged you. Even if you're going to be jealous, you shouldn't hate me."

"Someone like you will never understand. Someone as lowly and cowardly as me, in that situation, clearly resentful but powerless to change the status quo, can only hate. But what's laughable is that you didn't know what I hated from beginning to end. Even when I stabbed you through the chest and you fell into the Xiang River, your expression was still one of shock and confusion. You and the Crown Prince are both incredibly stupid."

Yan Tingyu walked step by step to Yan Ciwan.

At this moment, the two were only one step apart.

Yan Ciwan sat in a wheelchair and had to tilt her head slightly to see Yan Tingyu's face.

Yan Tingyu bent down, placed her hands on the armrests of the wheelchair, stared intently at Yan Ciwan, and said, word by word, "When I found out that you were not Father's biological daughter, I really hated you, but at the same time I felt a little happy, because from now on Father will only have me as his daughter, and Father will definitely love me as much as he loved you back then."

Yan Ciwan looked into her eyes, which were so close to hers, and said calmly, "Between you and me, the King of Xizhou chose to protect me. This is his personal decision. If you want to hate someone, you should hate him."

Yan Tingyu certainly knew this principle.

Humans are complex creatures; rational understanding is one thing, but reality is another.

“I want to hate him too, but he’s my father, the person I admire most. How can I hate him?” She gave a self-deprecating laugh. “Don’t you think I’m pathetic?”

Yan Ciwan said calmly, "I can understand you, but I can't empathize with you, after all, you almost killed me."

"Yes, you came here to see me today specifically for this matter, didn't you?" Yan Tingyu stretched out her right hand and slowly pulled out the silver hairpin from Yan Ciwan's hair.

Upon seeing this, Xiao Wang's heart leaped into his throat. He wanted to step forward to stop him: "What do you want to do?"

The next moment he saw Yan Tingyu turn the silver hairpin around, put the end in Yan Ciwan's hand, then hold Yan Ciwan's hand, raise the silver hairpin, and press the tip of the hairpin against her heart.

Yan Tingyu didn't even glance at Xiao Wang, her eyes fixed on Yan Ciwan, and she said in a low voice.

“With just a little effort, you can pierce this hairpin into my heart and get your revenge.”