A faint smile graced Xie Yanchuan’s face as he watched Pei Yunshu approach him. At first, she was walking, but her steps quickened until she threw herself into his arms. Xie Yanchuan was taken aback for a moment.
Looking at Pei Yunshu, who was now embracing him, Xie Yanchuan raised his arm without hesitation and placed it gently on her back, his hand softly stroking her long hair.
“What’s wrong? Did someone bully you?”
The person Pei Yunshu was holding was Xie Yanchuan, the current emperor of Dachen, and also her childhood tutor.
The previous emperor passed away early, passing the throne to his younger brother, Xie Yanchuan. When Xie Yanchuan ascended the throne, he was only eighteen years old—a true young sovereign. Now, at twenty-eight, he was a wise and powerful ruler in full control of the empire.
Shortly after his ascension, Xie Yanchuan went on an incognito inspection tour to investigate a corrupt and powerful minister. By chance, he became Pei Yunshu’s tutor. At that time, Pei Yunshu was only seven years old.
Sitting on the Dragon Throne, he wielded supreme authority but also bore the weight of the entire nation’s people. In those days, the only time Xie Yanchuan felt truly at ease was when he was with Pei Yunshu.
After Xie Yanchuan returned to the palace, he left Yuehua by Pei Yunshu’s side. The two continued to exchange letters and meet frequently.
Even the people of the Guogong Mansion were unaware that the teacher-student relationship between Xie Yanchuan and Pei Yunshu had persisted to this day.
“Niannian.”
Xie Yanchuan spoke softly. Perhaps even Xie Changyan did not know that Pei Yunshu’s courtesy name was Niannian. When she was seven, dissatisfied with her original childhood name, she had begged her tutor to give her a new courtesy name.
Xie Yanchuan then wrote the characters for “Niannian,” meaning “treasure.”
“Niannian, don’t cry. Tell Teacher, did someone bully you?” Having sat on the Dragon Throne for so long, Xie Yanchuan had accumulated immense authority and was accustomed to concealing his emotions.
But seeing Pei Yunshu remain silent, only shedding tears in his embrace as if she had suffered a grave injustice, a shadow of darkness crept uncontrollably into Xie Yanchuan’s heart.
“Teacher is here. If anyone dares to bully you, Teacher will surely stand up for you.”
Xie Yanchuan helped Pei Yunshu sit down. With a wave of his hand, someone brought over a handkerchief. The silk handkerchief was soft and gentle on the skin. Xie Yanchuan bent down before Pei Yunshu and carefully wiped away the tear stains on her face.
Those around Xie Yanchuan were already accustomed to this. Your Majesty was only this gentle in front of the eldest daughter of the Pei family, even going so far as to personally attend to her.
Pei Yunshu looked at the person before her, her heart filled with complex emotions.
“Didn’t you insist on seeing me? What’s the matter? Don’t rush to cry; tell Teacher first.”
Though he said this, in Xie Yanchuan’s heart, he had already sentenced the person who had wronged Pei Yunshu to death.
Pei Yunshu came from the Guogong Mansion and had Xie Yanchuan secretly protecting her. She had always sailed smoothly through life—how could she have suffered such great injustice?
“Teacher.”
Pei Yunshu looked at Xie Yanchuan. He could never refuse her—she should have known this long ago.
“Will you let me marry the Crown Prince?”
In her past life, Xie Yanchuan had once asked her, “Niannian, do you want to become the Crown Princess?”
Pei Yunshu had said she wanted to become the most noble woman in the land. And Xie Changyan had disguised himself so well that she almost believed he was her destined match.
“Yes, I do.” Pei Yunshu nodded, and she became the Crown Princess. But in the end, Xie Changyan looked at her with utter disgust in his eyes.
“If it weren’t for your vicious and domineering nature, and my father forcing me to marry you while demanding I treat you well, why would I ever marry you?”
Pei Yunshu looked at Xie Yanchuan before her, his eyes filled with concern. Having been reborn, her first resolution was to never become the Crown Princess.
“Niannian, do you want to be the Crown Princess?”
How familiar those words were—the beginning of her descent into the abyss.
Pei Yunshu did not speak, only staring intently at the person before her. Xie Changyan was handsome, but at most, he possessed only sixty percent of Xie Yanchuan’s beauty.
Xie Yanchuan had a beauty mark at the corner of his eye, sharp and aloof. Only when he smiled did his entire expression soften.
Pei Yunshu suddenly raised her hand to touch Xie Yanchuan’s face. Xie Yanchuan stiffened slightly before quickly regaining his composure. His little apprentice had always been fond of beautiful people since childhood.
Back then, it was because of his good looks that she had cried and begged him to become her tutor.
Noble? Was there anyone in this world more noble than the person before her?
“Teacher, I don’t want to marry the Crown Prince. Please don’t make me marry him, okay?”
Pei Yunshu’s eyes still glistened with tears as she spoke to Xie Yanchuan with a pleading tone.
“Teacher, I don’t want to marry the Crown Prince.”
“Alright, if you don’t like the Crown Prince, then you won’t marry him. With me here, who could possibly force you?”
Xie Yanchuan frowned. Xie Shaoyan was his elder brother’s child, and for that reason, he had always indulged the boy. After adopting him as his heir, he had made him Crown Prince.
As long as the Crown Prince’s position remained secure, it didn’t matter who the Crown Princess was—especially since Pei Yunshu was unwilling.
“But everyone says I’m going to marry the Crown Prince. I never said such a thing. Why do they all take it for granted that I should become the Crown Princess?”
As Xie Yanchuan listened, he considered that the Guogong Mansion represented military power. Niannian was naive, but to Xie Yanchuan, her feeling of being unwilling and coerced suggested there might be the Crown Prince’s influence behind it.
Was that child in such a hurry? A shadow flickered in Xie Yanchuan’s eyes.
“The Duke will return in a few days. I will remind him. Everyone knows Niannian is the Duke’s treasured pearl. If you are unwilling and someone still insists on forcing you, the Duke will likely resort to his fists.”
“Teacher, as the daughter of the Guogong Mansion, I cannot marry a military general or a civil official. Am I supposed to marry a commoner?”
“Nonsense.” Xie Yanchuan’s expression darkened. “There are so many fine young men in this world. There will surely be one worthy of you.”
“Then, what about you, Teacher? Is Niannian worthy of you?”
Pei Yunshu looked at Xie Yanchuan. Xie Changyan was the Crown Prince, and even the Guogong Mansion had to show him some deference. But Xie Yanchuan was different—he was the emperor of Dachen. In terms of nobility, was there anyone more noble than Xie Yanchuan?
The small garden was exceptionally quiet at this moment, with no sound other than the chirping of cicadas in the trees.
“Teacher, I won’t marry anyone else. I’ll marry you, okay?” Pei Yunshu paid no mind to the nearly frozen atmosphere, speaking her mind with her usual willfulness.
Xie Yanchuan felt as though something were stuck in his throat, preventing him from uttering a refusal. The depth of his thoughts was overtaken by astonishment, along with a joy he could not conceal.
“Don’t talk nonsense. How old are you now? I am much older. How could you marry me?”
“Last year, during the palace selection, weren’t there new consorts younger than me?”
Pei Yunshu knew that at this moment, reasoning would not work, but she was favored and could afford to be willfully unreasonable without restraint.
“Your Majesty must look down on me, then. Let’s just pretend I never came today. Could it be that I, Pei Yunshu, cannot find someone who wants to marry me?”