After the princess's death, the Wang Residence fell silent.

　　The emperor thought Shanshan had deliberately defied the imperial decree and was furious.

　　This time, without mercy, he directly ordered the enthronement of Jiaojiao as the esteemed princess and betrothed her to the prince of Sirong.

　　They would set off one month later.

　　Shanshan's funeral was held according to the specifications of a princess, and just like Wang An, I followed the procedures step by step."

　　He was not sad, but I felt as if my heart had turned to ashes.

　　I suggested staying at Songshou Palace again.

　　Prince An, feeling the pain of losing a daughter, agreed, but ordered Jiaojiao to accompany us.

　　It seemed that even the heavens recognized my sorrow, as it had been rainy and overcast for the past few days, and today was particularly stormy with dark clouds and strong winds.

　　Returning to the familiar bamboo house, I sat at the table again, silently shedding tears as I touched the nearly finished jewelry lacquer box.

　　Jiaojiao's face grew pale, and it seemed that she had also experienced considerable inner turmoil during this time.

　　She tried to comfort me, saying, "Your Highness, please grieve.

　　If it were my sister..." I interrupted her, shooting a cold gaze directly at her face, "Jiaojiao, I ask you, where is the real Prince An?" Jiaojiao became frantic, "Your Highness, what are you talking about...

　　isn't Father in the mansion?" I no longer bothered to pretend and picked up a carving knife from the side, playing with it.

　　"That is your father, but not Prince An.

　　You know very well who the soul in that body belongs to.

　　Jiaojiao, there is no one here to protect you.

　　He can kill my daughter, and I can kill you too." Jiaojiao trembled in fear and kept begging for mercy, "Please forgive me, Your Highness! I...

　　I will tell you..." Jiaojiao tearfully told me a story that I did not know.

　　When she was young, Prince An treated her and her mother very well.

　　They would eat together, chat, and admire the scenery.

　　As long as they deliberately ignored my and Shanshan's existence, they appeared to be a happily complete family.

　　But one day, Prince An suddenly became absent-minded during a meal and asked, "I wonder what Yunwei and Shanshan are doing?" Jiaojiao said that everything changed from that day on.

　　Prince An would often become absent-minded at certain moments, worrying about me and Shanshan.

　　He would even assign a maid who looked like me to serve him.

　　The concubine became suspicious, jealous, and hysterical.

　　She would often interrogate Prince An, asking if he still missed me, but could only receive sincere and comforting reassurance from him, never admitting to any change of heart.

　　Jiaojiao secretly observed and suddenly noticed that her father had changed.

　　It seemed as though there were two people living within him – one was her familiar father who loved his wife and daughter like an ordinary father, not very articulate but stubborn in his temper; the other was lazy, gentle, and occasionally made jokes, but became melancholy when thinking of me and Shanshan.

　　The latter father only appeared at certain moments, so the nervous concubine did not notice.

　　He also told Jiaojiao about some past events, about his daily interactions with me and Shanshan.

　　At that time, Jiaojiao was naive and foolishly asked the maid if she had noticed that her father had become strange.

　　The maid replied, "His Highness has always been the same.

　　It's your mother who has changed.

　　She must think this is some era where she can have a lifetime and a pair of people." Later, the concubine drowned her sorrows in alcohol, and when she drank too much, she began to rant, grabbing and scolding Prince An while breaking down in tears herself.

　　It was then that Jiaojiao first learned that her mother was someone who had traveled through time.

　　She saw her father's pale face, sadly looking at her mother, and holding her tightly muttered, "Why did you become like this...

　　why did you have to say it out loud..." After that, the concubine was poisoned to death by the maid, and the maid was executed by Prince An.

　　Jiaojiao was sent to me to be raised.

　　After experiencing all of this, her cleverness allowed her to easily distinguish the other time travelers in Prince An's mansion.

　　She made an interesting discovery – her father and the other father were silently locked in a showdown.

　　One hates time travelers.

　　If they blend into the An Palace, it's fine as long as they behave obediently.

　　But if they show inappropriate behavior, they will be killed by the King.

　　The other is very tolerant towards time travelers and enjoys watching them play clever tricks and create things that don't belong to this era.

　　They are then killed by the furious King, which brings delight to the other person.

　　Jiao Jiao looked at me with a shocked expression, clearly affected by this revelation.

　　She wiped away her tears, stood up, and asked me, "Queen, do you think my father is bad and the other father is the good one?" I looked at her, not understanding why she would say such a thing.

　　Jing Hong has always been kind and good, so what is there to dislike? "If I tell you that every time the King kills those time travelers, the other person feels nothing but indifference and finds it boring," she said.

　　Outside, thunder roared and a lightning bolt struck, casting an eerie shadow over the bamboo building.

　　My pupils dilated, my voice trembled with disbelief, and I said, "What did you say?!" Jiao Jiao shouted, "Queen, all the time travelers are driven insane by him! He deliberately makes those people relax their guard, then comes out to provoke them and make them paranoid.

　　Every time they start going crazy, the King kills them! The King is being controlled like a puppet by him!" Jiao Jiao knelt down and clung to my legs, crying and begging me, "Queen, only you are not a time traveler.

　　Only you have been safe all these years.

　　I beg you, please save my father! He has always wanted to break free from that person's control.

　　I'm begging you!" My eyes were red, and I looked down at this pitiful and vulnerable girl, tears flowing like a fountain, as if pierced by a thousand arrows, filled with unbearable pain.

　　I touched her head and murmured, "But Jiao Jiao...

　　actually...

　　Even your current father, the King, is a time traveler.

　　And I...

　　I am just the best disguised one." Could it be that Jing Hong kept the two of us here, waiting for us...

　　to kill each other?