Zhan Xinjia was even more stunned.

Her eyes widened in shock as she looked at the young boy in front of her, who was sighing and rubbing his forehead because of a headache. She was so frightened that she couldn't speak coherently.

"You...you...how...how do you know me? No...Young Master Shen?! When did you arrive?!"

Zhan Xinjia suddenly remembered something very important—

Right, since p1 no longer exists, the dream that trapped Master Shen naturally disappeared as well. However, because Master Shen's soul hasn't finished its retrospective journey, it can't return to the correct point in time and can only be drawn here.

This was exactly what Jide had been struggling with—whether or not to remind her.

Young man, don't be reckless! Your Mr. Shen might be here at any moment!

So Zhan Xinjia only realized now that this seemingly innocent and naive Taoist priest was actually the cunning and shrewd Grand Tutor Shen!

Seeing her panic, the young boy calmly flicked his sleeve.

"You came here just now when you said you were going to marry someone else."

He paused, then added earnestly, "I'm very angry."

Zhan Xinjia: "..."

Zhan Xinjia: "I was wrong, I was wrong... Waaaaah, I was just kidding, I just wanted to tease you, waaaaah."

She quickly grabbed a section of his sleeve and acted coquettishly to win him over.

Seeing through her heart, the young boy glanced at her, unmoved.

"So, this is the reason why Ah Zhi took advantage of my young age to bully me?"

"..."

Zhan Xinjia was so embarrassed that she wanted to cover her face. She felt that when Xiao Shen used his thirteen or fourteen-year-old face to put on a solemn and dignified look like a young man in his twenties or thirties, it was very... cute!

Besides, he was clearly having a lot of fun using his Taoist priest identity!

Ignoring everything else, she simply reached out and happily embraced the handsome young Taoist priest in front of her.

"Young Master Shen, Young Daoist Shen, I miss you so much~~"

Shen Suqing was not yet used to her current body. Caught off guard by her sudden pounce, she lost her balance and stumbled backward, falling into the stream with her into the soft sand.

The two were instantly soaked, their clothes and hair drenched, splashing water everywhere.

Even so, Zhan Xinjia was still reluctant to let go.

Water droplets clung to her eyelashes, and her eyes were misty. She laughed as she hugged him tightly again in the mountain stream, acting like a carefree child, playfully rubbing against his clothes.

"Young Master Shen, what kind of dream did you have? You slept for a very, very long time."

Shen Suqing slowly relaxed his brows and eyes, delicately brushing aside a strand of wet hair from her temple with his fingertips, and looked at her with a smile.

His voice was clear and deep, like the overtones of a guqin, and his tone was as doting as ever.

"I dreamt that there was a fully automatic troublemaker in my house. He was always causing trouble and I couldn't discipline him no matter what I did. I was so worried that I didn't know what to do, and I accidentally wasted some time."

Not wanting to upset her further, he subconsciously omitted the unpleasant parts and instead wove a sweet dream.

Zhan Xinjia didn't press the matter further. The two lay quietly in the cool stream, embracing each other and feeling each other's rapid heartbeats.

Then, it's unclear who was first to lose their senses. When Zhan Xinjia groggily came back to her senses, his knuckles were supporting her chin. His trembling eyes were unfocused and confused, mixed with a familiar, undisguised agitation. He leaned down and unconsciously brought his lips to hers.

"Wait! Wait!! No kissing!!!"

Zhan Xinjia blushed as red as a crab just taken out of a steamer, hurriedly dodging away and hastily putting her hands on his shoulders to create distance.

Her peach blossom eyes were wet, and her gaze darted away, showing extreme embarrassment.

"No matter what, you're only thirteen or fourteen years old in this body right now, and it still hurts my conscience to kiss you..."

This was one of the few times her sense of morality kicked in.

But the young boy wouldn't give up. His phoenix eyes curved slightly, and a smile with an ambiguous meaning played on his lips. He leaned down and forcefully kissed him.

Only when their breaths became erratic and their rapid, intertwined, hot breaths began to become labored did he catch his breath and reluctantly release her. The young man's eyes were astonishingly bright, as if they had been washed by a stream.

He lovingly caressed her lips with his fingertips, his voice hoarse.

"Silly girl, go home."

He's not going to make it if he doesn't go home soon...

In any case, I am indeed too young now, and I feel somewhat powerless to do anything.

Zhan Xinjia was so overwhelmed by the kisses that her eyes were red and she bit her lip in annoyance, glaring at him.

"You're still a Taoist priest, can you please stop this!"

"What?"

"You, you, you! All those books you read before, weren't they about 'supreme detachment from emotions'? How come you didn't absorb any of them!"

Hearing her furious rebuke, Shen Suqing chuckled softly.

"But I am not a saint, and besides—"

He couldn't help but kiss her vibrant eyes and brows, whispering tenderly, his eyes filled with adoration.

"The highest ideal is to be detached from emotions, but for you, I cannot forget you."

——

Actually, Zhan Xinjia was very unsure of herself.

She couldn't imagine what reality would be like after the retrograde was over, but at least she had done everything she could.

However, there is one issue that she is still very concerned about.

"Will everyone's memories still be there?"

For example, she prevented Qiaoqiao from being separated from her family, so Qiaoqiao's mother would not have died from illness due to exhaustion on her journey to find her daughter. At the same time, Qiaoqiao would naturally not have met her at the inn in Jiangyuan County.

So... will Qiaoqiao still remember her?

Ji De thought about it carefully—

It depends on the extent of the involvement.

For example, your brother, Qiao Qiao, your little Shen, the Yan family members, Fu Shouan, and other people who are deeply involved with you, their memories of both lifetimes will be preserved. However, after the retrospection ends, they will return to the correct storyline that has been altered.

But the maids and guards in your household who died and came back to life, as well as your father and mother, and other common people and passersby, will have some of their memories corrected so that they believe that your brother never left.

Furthermore, the erasure of Mu Yunlan's existence might trigger other chain reactions in reality...

But it's nothing serious, just a few minor bugs at most; just ignore them!

With these words of encouragement, Zhan Xinjia finally felt relieved.

She didn't know why, but she still felt uneasy about something, though she couldn't quite put her finger on it, so she could only remain silent.

Then, at the moment when the retrograde process was completely over, she vaguely realized something...

Zhan Xinjia woke up in the general's mansion on the outskirts of Beijing.

In March, the spring sunshine is bright and the pear blossoms are in full bloom.

At that moment, Cui'er was carrying a tea table and walked in from outside, her expression complicated, as if she had been quite frightened.

"Miss, you're awake? Miss, I'm telling you, this was terrifying!"

A man surnamed Shen, some kind of Grand Tutor Shen, has suddenly come to propose marriage! The master and mistress are currently in the main hall overseeing things.

Cui'er was greatly shocked.

Theoretically, this Grand Tutor Shen and my young lady should have no connection whatsoever, so why would he suddenly come to propose marriage?

But these aren't the only strange things happening lately—

For example, the ruler of Nanjun Kingdom abdicated, the eldest princess passed away, and the current successor is the former Princess Liuyu of Nanjun Kingdom, now the empress.

For example, Princess Caixia has recently been entangled with Lord Fu, the head of the Dali Temple, and they are going through some strange phases of "she tries to escape, he chases, and she can't escape even if she has wings." It's unknown whether they will eventually become a beautiful story.

For example, there's that eccentric prince who left the capital to become a monk many years ago. He suddenly returned with a princess by his side. The two of them bicker and tease each other. They just held their wedding banquet not long ago and are currently deeply in love.

Finally, for example, she was chatting with Xiaotian today and discovered that everyone in the manor had been having the same strange nightmare for the past two weeks: that there were assassins in the manor who died tragically while protecting their master...

Of course, the ending of the nightmare wasn't scary.

In their dream, the young lady, who had practiced martial arts with the master and young master since childhood, bravely came to their rescue!

"Ouch, I feel dizzy..."

Overwhelmed by a flood of unfamiliar memories, Zhan Xinjia, lying on the bed, took a moment to process them. "By the way, where's my brother?"

"Young Master should have just finished his shift at the Dali Temple at this hour. He might be in the main hall. Would you like to change your clothes and go there, Miss?"

Zhan Xinjia: "..."

Good heavens, my brother and Fu Shouan have become colleagues!

Now that Dasheng and Nanjun are on good terms, there is no war to fight in this peaceful and prosperous era. Her father has long since retired from the army and returned to his hometown. Her brother's dream of becoming a general has also been shattered.

At this point, all the ships have sailed past.

She couldn't help but sigh, but the thought of seeing Lord Shen soon made Zhan Xinjia's lips curl into a smile. In a great mood, she covered her face and laughed to herself in embarrassment.

For her, her current life is the best possible outcome she could never have dreamed of before.

May the parents flourish together, and may the children share a harmonious relationship.

However, Ji De has left...