"This is a surprise? You've been preparing this for the past two days?"

Cen Xi glanced at the brightly colored fox fur cloak on her body and couldn't help but ask.

"That's just one thing. There's something even more special. Would you like to go and see it with your husband?"

Shen Jinchen smiled and deliberately kept everyone in suspense.

"Where are we going? Does this count as our first date?"

Cen Xi's eyes sparkled with anticipation. She hadn't understood why Jun Xiaoqiao was always so excited about their dates, like she was on a high. Now she understood; it was because she was looking forward to his surprises and felt inexplicably sweet.

Not for anyone else, but for the man beside her.

"A date? You can think of it that way. Tonight it's just the two of us, no one will bother us, Ah-Xi, you'll have a different experience."

Shen Jinchen chuckled, then put his arm around Cen Xi's waist and leaped onto a horse.

The two left Lijia Village in an instant, like arrows released from a bow.

The horse ran for an hour and arrived at the foot of the famous Fengluan Mountain, a hundred miles away from Lijia Village.

"Up the mountain?"

Seeing Shen Jinchen dismount and prepare to mount, Cen Xi asked another question.

"Hmm! There are some on the mountain... Never mind! I won't tell you now, you'll find out when you get up there."

Shen Jinchen seemed impatient. Before Cen Xi could respond, he grabbed Cen Xi's waist and used his lightness skill to fly up the mountain.

It wasn't until they were halfway up the mountain that Shen Jinchen finally brought her down to the ground.

There is still a lot of snow on the mountain, which sparkles in the night and is so beautiful it is bewitching.

"Will you show me the scenery of the snow-capped mountains?"

Cen Xi landed, looked around, and seeing nothing amiss, asked.

"Kaikai, the snow is beautiful, but that's nothing. I've heard there's a hot spring here, and I've prepared a surprise for you there. Let's go see!"

On such a special day, Shen Jinchen would never be willing to compromise on not being able to return to Feifeng Mountain.

Before coming here, he had heard from others that there were hot springs nearby. So, in the past two days, he not only had Fengqin look for them, but he also spent two days searching for them himself.

Finally, his hard work paid off, and he found it.

"A natural hot spring? That's incredible! Could this place be connected to Feifeng Mountain?"

"They really have a knack for thinking. How can this place, which is thousands of miles away from Feifeng Mountain, be connected? It was naturally formed by this mountain."

Shen Jinchen tapped Cen Xi's forehead, then put his arm around her waist and flew towards the hot spring pool.

The moment she landed, Cen Xi was greeted by a vast, emerald-green pool that stretched for hundreds of miles, steaming with heat and capable of holding nearly a thousand people.

She couldn't help but sigh with emotion. Ancient times were truly abundant in resources; there were so many natural things like this. Before wearing this, she had also soaked in hot springs, but alas, they were all man-made. They couldn't compare to this at all.

Indeed, all things are created for the sake of balance.

Modern society, a technological society, has brought advanced transportation and material convenience, but it has also lost the purity of nature.

In ancient society, unexpected natural landscapes were everywhere, making it a paradise for leisure and vacation.

"It's so big, didn't anyone notice?"

"Dream on. The locals discovered us long ago. Today, it was only because I had the area cleared out that we were there. Otherwise, do you think it would just be you and me?"

Seeing Cen Xi's naivety, Shen Jinchen immediately poured cold water on him.

"If there are people here, there must be houses and places for leisure, right? Is this a vacation spot for nearby officials?"

After being prompted, Cen Xi immediately thought of resorts in modern society.

"Hmm! The lady I've chosen is indeed clever. Come on, let's go over there to change our clothes before we go into the water."

Shen Jinchen nodded, then pulled Cen Xi toward the southwest.

"Indeed, power is a good thing. The villagers down the mountain are starving, while the officials here are extravagant and debauched, and they've managed to create such a place. Now I understand the true meaning of a sentence I read before."

Looking at this beautiful place, and thinking of the villagers in Lijia Village who were struggling to make ends meet, Cen Xi couldn't help but sigh.

"What is it, Madam? Tell me."

When Cen Xi brought up people's livelihood, Shen Jinchen raised an eyebrow and looked at her meaningfully. He found that this woman always gave him unexpected surprises.

"When the dynasty prospers, the people suffer; when the dynasty falls, the people suffer. In any case, one change of power after another will not affect the nobles of high status, will it?"

Seeing Shen Jinchen raise an eyebrow, Cen Xi also raised an eyebrow in response.

"Yes, that's true! There's nothing we can do about it. People are born into different classes. Some people can enjoy wealth, some can enjoy power, some can only be poor, and some can't even afford to eat."

"To change one's social class, one must put in ten or a hundred times the effort, and also have talent and luck to achieve even a sliver of success. However, no one can control this. All that those in power can do is try to improve the court system and provide them with relative fairness."

"And Madam should also try to put herself in others' shoes. Sometimes being in the lower class isn't necessarily a bad thing. The more prestigious a person is, the more turbulent the undercurrents of power will be, and the closer death will be to them."

“For example, my grandfather, and the grand banquet now. And me. The life I’ve lived since I was a child is something ordinary people wouldn’t even dare to dream of. I’ve been on the verge of life and death several times when I was young. Tell me, what would my life be like now if I were just a villager’s son?”

Seeing Cen Xi's provocative expression, Shen Jinchen inevitably launched into a long speech. As the one in power, if he didn't break the issue down and explain it clearly to Cen Xi, he feared that after finally appeasing her, she would start to have a problem with him again.

"He's probably still digging and farming right now. He's definitely not going to be dragging his wife around the world looking for hot springs. I understand what you're saying, high risk, high reward, that's normal."

Cen Xi understood what Shen Jinchen meant; she was just saying it casually.

"Haha, my princess is so interesting."

With a smile in his eyes, Shen Jinchen gently kissed Cen Xi's cheek and then handed him a set of loose-fitting clothes.

"This princess is quite interesting, otherwise how could I have caught the eye of a prime minister? Is it really just the two of us here?"

Cen Xi took the clothes and looked around with a smile.

"Yes, Fengqin and the others are a hundred miles away, so there's no way they could bother us. Tonight is New Year's Eve just for the two of us. I've been resting for two days, my princess... you won't disappoint your husband tonight, will you?"

Shen Jinchen gently touched his ear, and before Cen Xi could react, he brazenly ripped off Cen Xi's belt.

"Is this considered a surprise?"

Cen Xi knew what he was going to do next, so she couldn't help but ask.

"No, it won't count until we soak in the hot spring. How could the surprise I prepared be so childish? Don't underestimate me, my wife."

After changing into a spacious bathrobe, Shen Jinchen picked up Cen Xi and carried her step by step into the hot spring pool.

Reaching the center of the hot spring, Shen Jinchen placed her in a boat that would sink half a meter, then held her tightly in his arms and began to harass her.

She finally understood why Jun Xiaoqiao never participated in their gatherings on weekends whenever she was in a relationship.