A magpie startled from a branch, a cicada chirping in the middle of the night.

Beneath the pear tree, where the blossoms had faded, a gentle evening breeze blew as Liu Ruyan and Zhan Yue sat together, admiring the bright moon.

Liu Ruyan turned to look at her husband.

"Now you can rest assured, right?"

Zhan Yue raised his hand to brush away the green leaves that had fallen on his wife's temples and sighed.

"For the past sixteen years, what we have been most afraid of is that Xiao Zhi will fall in love with Hui Shi. Although Hui Shi is also a good child... he is, after all, the crown prince of a country and is destined to inherit the throne in the future."

Even if he could dismiss the harem like his father, he would still not be truly free within the inner palace.

Liu Ruyan and Zhan Yue had long sensed that Yan Huishi had some ambiguous feelings for their little one. Perhaps out of their own selfishness as parents, they had always opposed this unspoken relationship over the years.

Xiao Zhi was a wild child from a young age, and no one ever deliberately restrained her.

She can run around the streets and alleys like ordinary children, ride horses in the countryside, drink alcohol, practice martial arts, and do anything that is legal and that she wants to try.

Before Xiaozhi turned seven, at least there was someone in the family who could take care of her.

Now, only the two of them can worry about this.

"Husband, do you really think Xiaozhi doesn't remember anything?"

She was so spoiled as a child; if she tripped and fell, she would cry and come to us for comfort and a hug. But ever since we moved nine years ago, she suddenly wanted to learn martial arts with you, and she never uttered a sound, no matter how hard or painful it was.

Do you think she might have... been lying to us back then...?

Thinking of this, Liu Ruyan's eyes reddened, and she quickly looked up to hold back her tears.

Zhan Yue was taken aback, his gaze filled with a hidden sorrow.

A look of helpless guilt crossed his face as his thoughts drifted far, far back to that nightmarish experience that had horrified him.

"Alright, stop dwelling on that incident. The doctor said Xiaozhi would be fine. I know you still have nightmares from time to time, but even for Xiaozhi's sake, let's pretend nothing happened, okay?"

Liu Ruyan didn't respond, and dejectedly buried her head and covered her face.

Even after so much time has passed, recalling the scene she witnessed still makes her feel nauseous and vomit. It's as if a red cloth has been placed over her eyes, making everything appear bloodshot and obscuring all other colors.

She could even vaguely smell the stench of blood that made her stomach churn, as if in a hallucination.

She had never seen such a horrific scene before. She couldn't even remember how she managed to hold herself up, cover her head, scream in despair, and walk in step by step.

In the end, her stomach cramped and spasmed, and she had almost run out of tears. All she could do was scream at the top of her lungs. If it weren't for her daughter who she had to take care of, she really wondered if she would have gone crazy by then.

"Ayan, Ayan!"

Zhan Yue cupped Liu Ruyan's face, forcing her to pull herself out of her nightmarish memories.

He looked at her and promised, word by word, "Don't think about it, don't be afraid, it will never happen again. It's okay, I'm always here, I will never leave you again, okay?"

Facing her husband, Liu Ruyan finally couldn't hold back her tears. She covered her eyes in vain and sobbed uncontrollably.

"If only I had been home back then, if only you had stayed in the capital... Why! Why!!"

"Ayan, it's done."

Holding his beloved wife tightly in his arms, Zhan Yue patiently comforted her.

"It's all in the past now. Xiaozhi has someone she likes, and what we were worried about didn't happen. Perhaps it's better for her to be away from this family..."

As long as she's happy, nothing else matters.

Liu Ruyan stopped crying, and for a moment only the quiet chirping of cicadas remained in the wind.

Under the cool moonlight, the stack of silver notes was casually tossed on the stone table beside him, fluttering in the wind.

——

Upon receiving this letter, I felt utterly hopeless.

She used to run away from home on her own, but now she's the one who's been kicked out.

She stood in front of the familiar door, carrying a small floral bundle, her brow furrowed with worry.

I don't know if leaving Qiaoqiao there is a good thing.

Qiaoqiao was determined to learn martial arts, and coincidentally, her father's former deputy general's wife was a female instructor in a martial arts camp, so she simply used her connections to arrange for Qiaoqiao to go directly there.

Shen Suqing, who was standing to the side, did not know what the little girl was worried about, but he could not bear to see her with such a sullen face.

He bent down and gently touched her hair, then took out his keys and opened the door.

As soon as the door was opened a crack, an unidentified orange creature with its hazard lights flashing forced its way out of the gap with a "meow" and darted into the little girl's arms, knocking her backward.

Zhan Xinjia, who was so shocked that her vision went black, was stunned for a moment. The next second, she excitedly lifted the orange pig in her arms high.

"Oh my! Our Jidebao is still alive!!"

"Meow meow meow!!"

The left-behind child, Ji De, muttered a few curse words in annoyance.

Zhan Xinjia didn't care, and happily swaggered inside with Jide in her arms.

It was late at night. After eating the midnight snack cooked by Lord Shen, Zhan Xinjia, who hadn't had a good night's sleep for the past few days due to the bumpy carriage ride, was immediately sleepy and delirious. She yawned and walked towards the other end of the corridor with Jide in her arms, still half asleep.

They didn't forget to greet each other.

"Well, see you tomorrow, Master Shen."

The young man hesitated, as if he wanted to say something, but in the end he swallowed his words.

He lowered his head helplessly, rolled up his sleeves, and turned to walk towards the kitchen.

Half-asleep, the candlesticks in the room were lit.

In her dazed state, Zhan Xinjia felt a warm, soft handkerchief gently wiping her face.

She barely opened one eye, squinting it shut. Beside the bed, a young man who had changed into a blue robe with wide sleeves held a handkerchief soaked in hot water and was wiping her face by the dim candlelight.

Under the lamp, he frowned and muttered to himself.

"She went to bed without even washing up... really..."

Shaking his head helplessly, Shen Suqing wrung out the handkerchief and carefully wiped her hands that were exposed outside the quilt, making sure they were completely dry.

Finally, he used a dry cloth to wipe away all the water droplets before carefully tucking her hands back into the quilt.

Looking at the little girl sleeping soundly, Shen Suqing couldn't help but smile, and he tucked the blanket around her. Although it was already summer, the nights were still cool and frosty, and she might still catch a chill.

After he finished washing her up, the young man blew out the light, picked up the basin of water, and went out the door. The door creaked shut softly.

The room returned to complete darkness and silence. Moonlight seeped in from the window and fell on the table, where the dress he had brought, already washed and chosen, was draped on a shelf.

One piece on top of another, neatly arranged without a single flaw.

A faint, fresh scent of soapberry seemed to linger in the air.

Jide was snoring softly in bed, its fluffy fur snuggling against her legs. Zhan Xinjia couldn't hide her smile; her eyes curved into crescents, and her fingers casually stroked Jide's ears.

Why does it feel like Master Shen is like a mother to me...?

With a smile, Zhan Xinjia closed her eyes peacefully.

Shen Suqing thought the little girl would sleep until late morning, but to his surprise, she came to the kitchen with her hair disheveled and yawning.

"Young Master Shen, what are we having for dinner today?"

Having just finished tidying up the house and giving it a quick cleaning, Shen Suqing wiped his hands clean on a rag, then pressed his long, slender fingers, still icy from being soaked in cold water, against her face and pinched them.

"Why didn't you sleep a little longer?"

"Well... I used to seem like a lazy bum because I ran away from home and had to hide from my parents, you know. But now that my parents know where I am, I have no choice but to go back to school... Sigh."

The little girl looked worried and distressed.

She really didn't want to go to that shabby place, the Imperial College.

"go to school?"

A rare look of shock appeared on Shen Suqing's face.

He found it hard to imagine that the word "learning" could be associated with Ah Zhi; she actually knew that she needed to study—

She actually went to school?!

Unbelievable.