The following day, around midday, Shen Yunshu arrived at Zhenxiu Pavilion by carriage with Linglong.
Guided by the shop attendant, they went straight up to the second floor.
“Elder Brother Crown Prince.”
Shen Yunshu bowed respectfully to the Crown Prince.
“We are outside the palace—there’s no need for such formality,妹妹,” the Crown Prince said warmly. “You’re clever and perceptive, and you’re very close to Le’an. Huaiwen and Huaijin and I grew up together like real brothers. Since you’ve already called me ‘Elder Brother Crown Prince,’ you may treat me as one of your own brothers as well.”
Shen Yunshu studied him for a brief moment, then smiled.“If Elder Brother Crown Prince says so, then Yunshu won’t stand on ceremony. Did Elder Brother summon me today because there is something important you wish to discuss?”
After returning home the previous night, Shen Yunshu had thought long and hard.
Judging from all of the Crown Prince’s actions, there was a very high chance that he was a reborn individual.
From the moment he returned from resolving the Quzhou floods until now, everything he had done diverged sharply from recorded history.
And prophetic dreams were not something that could occur again and again. If one were warned of everything in advance through dreams, that was no different from being reborn outright.
Most importantly—according to the original history, Shen Yunshu did not exist.
The Zhenbei Prince’s household had no legitimate daughter.
If the Crown Prince truly had been reborn, then he should be aware of the differences between this life and the one before.
The Zhenbei Prince’s household was far too conspicuous; the sudden appearance of a legitimate daughter was impossible to ignore. That explained his unusual attention toward her from the very beginning.
Shen Yunshu glanced at the thin curls of smoke rising from the incense burner beside her, straightened her clothes, and sat down calmly.
From the moment the Crown Prince began speaking to her, he had mostly referred to himself as “I” rather than “this prince.” That alone was a clear signal of goodwill—at the very least, he had no intention of becoming her enemy for now.
“Some days ago, I caught a chill,” the Crown Prince said. “By the grace of the immortals, I was given a dream that revealed how to save Quzhou from the floods. Has妹妹 heard of this?”
The smile at the corner of Shen Yunshu’s lips stiffened slightly.
Straight to the point? So decisive?
“Of course I’ve heard,” she replied smoothly. “Who in the Yan Dynasty hasn’t? His Majesty governs with diligence and benevolence, loving the people as his own children. Your Highness is kind and compassionate, cherishing the common folk. Such virtue moved the heavens, and the divine entrusted Your Highness with a dream to save the people of Quzhou from disaster. This was the reward for the enlightened emperor’s and the Crown Prince’s accumulated merit, sparing our dynasty from calamity.”
Her expression remained unchanged as she delivered— in more elegant wording—exactly the sort of extravagant praise circulating among the common people.
The Crown Prince waved his hand, dismissing Moshen.
Linglong quietly read Shen Yunshu’s expression and followed suit, retreating as well.
The Crown Prince picked up the bamboo-handled incense fan and personally poured tea into a plum-blossom cup.
“It does sound rather mystical—like a beautiful legend,” he said lightly. “The people spread it eagerly, but in truth, they simply want to believe in something good. Perhaps even they don’t truly believe it themselves.”
He filled Shen Yunshu’s cup as well, his gaze probing.
“Do you believe it?”
“Yes.”
She herself had transmigrated—what was a dream compared to that?
“The immortals revealed more to me than just this one matter,” the Crown Prince continued. “Would妹妹 like to know what else?”
Seeing him pour tea for her personally, Shen Yunshu’s hand paused mid-air before calmly withdrawing.
If the Crown Prince was determined to elevate her, there was no need for false modesty.
It was only a cup of tea—if he wished to pour it, so be it.
“If Elder Brother wishes to tell a story, Yunshu is naturally willing to listen.”
“It’s merely a dull story,” he said. “Not much different from the life we live now. Only, when I awoke, I discovered that some things were… different.”
“A dream is still a dream,” Shen Yunshu replied. “It’s normal for it to differ from reality.”
“Yes. A dream ends when it ends. Things changing between dream and waking world is only natural. I simply don’t know whether everything I did in that dream was truly right.”
At that moment, Shen Yunshu’s suspicions were fully confirmed.
The Crown Prince—recorded by name in the history books—had indeed been reborn.
And the historical record she had once known must have been from before his rebirth.
She lifted her teacup. Just as she expected, it was Qingfeng Marrow tea.
“Zhuang Zhou dreamed of being a butterfly; the butterfly dreamed of being Zhuang Zhou. Between dream and waking world, like reflections in a mirror or flowers in water—who can say which is the dream, and which is reality? Does change truly matter so much? As for right and wrong, everyone carries their own scale. If one has a clear conscience, that is enough.”
The Crown Prince gave a self-mocking smile.“Yes… a clear conscience. If I truly had one, I wouldn’t be sitting here, tangled in doubt.”
He turned his head and gazed through the lattice window at the street below.
Across the way, a storyteller in a teahouse spoke animatedly, drawing in passing scholars. A waiter hurriedly wiped down tables with the cloth slung over his shoulder, preparing tea for new guests.
By the roadside, a candied-haw vendor hoisted a straw pole studded with bright red skewers, shouting loudly.
A little girl with twin buns in her hair tugged a woman’s hand as she ran out of a cloth shop, clamoring for candied haw.
The woman—likely just finished dyeing fabric—still had bluish-black droplets clinging to her hands. Frowning, she scolded, “You troublesome little thing, all you think about is eating!” Even so, she quickly wiped her wet hands on her clothes and fished out a few copper coins from her pouch.
The girl bit into her candied haw and skipped across the street to join her drooling friends. As the woman turned back toward the cloth shop, she caught sight of a filthy little beggar crouched in a corner. After a moment’s thought, she tossed her last remaining coin into his chipped bowl.
“Yunshu,” the Crown Prince asked quietly, “do you think it truly matters who sits on that throne?”
Seeing his distant expression, Shen Yunshu took a deep breath.
Was this melancholy a side effect of rebirth?
She had no idea what was going through his mind, but she knew one thing clearly—this was a lethal question if answered poorly.
“Of course it matters,” she replied carefully. “The people live in peace today because His Majesty is a wise ruler who appoints the capable. When the Founding Emperor and my Shen family’s ancestor rose to claim the realm, wasn’t it precisely because the previous dynasty’s ruler favored nepotism, was corrupt and foolish, and drove the people into misery?”
The Crown Prince caught her attempt to sidestep the issue and looked at her deeply.
“Then tell me—aside from myself, who else could sit there properly?”
Shen Yunshu immediately rose and bowed, putting on an expression of alarm.“Your Highness, though I am fortunate enough to have received His Majesty’s favor and been granted the title of Second-Rank County Lady, I do not possess the right to participate in court deliberations. If this were merely casual conversation between siblings, I might dare to say a word or two—but matters of succession concern the state. I would not dare speak recklessly.”
The Crown Prince lifted a hand as if to help her up, though he clearly had no intention of letting her rise by leaning on him.
“Sit. Today, I am the one seeking help. No matter what I say, you need not bow.”
“Your Highness is too kind. May I ask what it is you seek?”
“Answers,” he said simply.