He recalled his first encounter with Shen Lan Shu.
By then, he had been in the northwest for nearly two years. The harsh climate, barren land, and impoverished locals who lacked adequate clothing and food made it a place where everything needed rebuilding.
To him, such a place was both a hardship and an opportunity.
The Prince’s manor was established in Yecheng, the central county of the northwest. On the Mid-Autumn Festival in the twenty-seventh year of Yong’an, Governor Shen Mingyuan hosted a banquet. Yan Pingxiao did not refuse the invitation. In this remote region where the emperor’s authority was distant, Shen Mingyuan had resided for over two decades, and his influence as a local power could not be underestimated.
It was at the Shen residence’s banquet that he first laid eyes on Shen Lan Shu.
The young woman sat quietly among the female guests, her attention fixed solely on the dishes before her, without letting her gaze wander elsewhere.
The fading glow of the sunset draped over her like a crimson veil over a hibiscus, enhancing her delicate and radiant beauty.
Noticing his gaze, an advisor beside him remarked, “That is Governor Shen’s niece. I heard she originally hails from Lingzhou, but with both parents gone, she traveled far to the northwest to seek refuge with her relative, Governor Shen.”
The advisor gave him a thoughtful look before adding, “I believe she’s about to come of age soon.”
It wasn’t just his advisor who noticed his attention—Shen Mingyuan himself had taken note.
Thus, not long after the Mid-Autumn Festival, when Yan Pingxiao visited to discuss official matters, Shen Mingyuan brought up Shen Lan Shu.
“Your Highness, my niece is nearing her coming-of-age ceremony. Sadly, she has no parents to arrange her marriage. In my humble opinion, Your Highness still lacks a devoted companion by your side. I wonder if Lan Shu might be fortunate enough to fill that role.”
Yan Pingxiao had no reason to refuse.
It was customary for princes in the palace to have court ladies teach them about intimacy from their teens, but he had never experienced such a thing. His mind was wholly occupied with the thought of one day returning to the capital to exact revenge on all who had harmed him and his mother. Matters of the heart had never concerned him.
Yet, with Shen Lan Shu, a single glance was all it took for him to be smitten.
The scene shifted, light and shadow overlapping, and in an instant, the setting before him changed.
“Uncle, I beg you, please don’t send me to Yong Manor…”
Yan Pingxiao heard a woman’s voice, choked with tears—a voice all too familiar to him.
He strode in the direction of the sound. In his dream, the servants bustling along the path seemed oblivious to his presence, allowing him to stand unabashedly outside a chamber.
Inside, two people were arguing.
Shen Mingyuan, with his refined appearance, had unusually narrow, dark eyes that lent him a shrewd air. He said, “It’s not that your uncle doesn’t care for you. In these two years you’ve been in the northwest, haven’t your aunt and I treated you like our own daughter? Though Yong Wang may appear to be losing favor now, think of all he has accomplished in just two short years here!”
“This man is no ordinary soul. If you follow him, you will enjoy prosperity in the future.”
Shen Lan Shu’s eyes reddened. She knew well enough that Shen Mingyuan was deceiving her—if Yong Wang were truly suitable, why wouldn’t he send his own daughter? Yet, she had no means to firmly refuse. Such was the plight of living under another’s roof.
“Enough. In one month, you will come of age, and by then, Yong Wang will honorably take you as his concubine.”
Shen Mingyuan had not come to negotiate. After delivering these words, he departed, though the guards in the rear courtyard discreetly tightened their watch.
“Miss, what should we do? Are you really going to become Prince Yong’s concubine?” Chun Ming’s face was full of anxiety. “Putting everything else aside, Prince Yong was sent to the northwest because His Majesty despises him. Isn’t this throwing you into a pit of fire?”
Shen Lan Shu wiped her tears: “I don’t want to…”
She didn’t want to become someone’s concubine, nor did she want to stay in the northwest at all. She wanted to go home.
But whenever she mentioned wanting to return home, her uncle would always come up with numerous excuses to put her off. With her household registration and travel documents all in her uncle’s possession, she couldn’t go anywhere.
The young woman leaned against the lattice window, crying bitterly. It was the first time Yan Pingxiao realized how unwilling she was to marry him.
He reached out to wipe away her tears, but just as his fingers touched her, everything before him suddenly vanished like mist.
Layers of light and shadow shifted as the thick fog dispersed, and his surroundings changed once more.
Before him stood towering city gates and bustling crowds.
Suddenly, commotion erupted at the city gate.
“By order of His Highness, all carriages and horses entering or leaving the city must be thoroughly searched.”
Yan Pingxiao saw his former self sitting atop a black horse at the city gate, his gaze coldly sweeping over the passing crowd.
Eventually, soldiers intercepted an ox cart, and Shen Lan Shu with her maid Chun Ming were hiding inside barrels being transported on the cart.
“Where is Miss Shen going?”
Shen Lan Shu fearfully gripped Chun Ming’s hand, her knuckles turning white from the pressure. She pleaded: “Your Highness, please let me go. I want to return to Lingzhou…”
Shen Mingyuan, having received news, arrived at the scene. Seeing the situation, he immediately raised his hand to strike Shen Lan Shu across the face.
Shen Lan Shu fearfully closed her eyes, but the expected pain never came.
Yan Pingxiao had stepped in front of her.
Although Shen Mingyuan managed to pull back his strength in time, a scratch still appeared on the man’s resolute face.
The slight stinging sensation jolted Yan Pingxiao awake.
“Meow~”
He stared blankly at the bright yellow bed curtains above him, not yet fully conscious.
Mian Mian had somehow jumped onto his bed and was lying beside his head, patting him with her paw, accidentally leaving a faint red mark on his face.
The night outside remained deep, but Yan Pingxiao could no longer sleep.
Once again, he had witnessed events from the past that he never knew about, viewing them from an observer’s perspective.
Why was he able to dream of this today?
While stroking Mian Mian’s fluffy white fur with one hand, Yan Pingxiao fell into deep thought.
On the first occasion, he had saved Nan Shu from Leyang and injured his palm.
Today, he had protected Nan Shu from falling books at the Sacred Book Pavilion and injured his shoulder.
The man’s slender fingers unconsciously touched the swelling on his shoulder. But when he had cut his palm that day, nothing like this had happened. So…
Was it because he saved Nan Shu and got injured while doing so that he could see these past events?
Outside the palace hall.
Tang Shunfu was leaning against the door panel keeping night watch. As dawn approached, he dozed off wearily, his head nodding intermittently.
“Ouch…” He swayed and nearly fell.
Rubbing his old back, Tang Shunfu noticed it was almost time for the morning court session and went to knock on the door: “Your Majesty, it’s time.”
“Come in.”
Tang Shunfu pushed the door open and was terrified to see the man’s gloomy expression. Thinking he had made some mistake, he scrambled inside: “This servant deserves death! Yo-Yo-Your Majesty, what are your instructions?”
Yan Pingxiao’s eyes shifted with uncertainty, yet faced with Tang Shunfu’s look of utter panic, the doubts swirling in his heart still found no resolution.