Chapter 327 I was wrong

Shen Changhe's heart sank again, and his eyes were sore. He didn't know what An An had experienced during the time he was away.

"You are the father of your unborn child, the one you love the most."

He took out a booklet from his pocket and handed it to her, "This is what your husband asked me to bring you."

Shen Anan took the booklet and was stunned for a while, "Then who are you?"

"I'm your eldest brother." Shen Changhe pointed at himself, then at Shen Anan, "We look alike, don't we?"

Shen Anan looked at his eyebrows and eyes carefully for a while, and they were indeed very similar.

She lowered her head, opened the booklet and read it slowly. Shen Changhe did not disturb her and sat aside waiting quietly.

From the bright day till the sunset.

Shen Anan closed the booklet, and tears fell like beads from a broken string.

Shen Changhe said softly, "He lived up to your expectations and fought his way out of the siege. He is now in the palace, waiting for you to return."

Shen Anan looked up at the kind-looking Guanyin statue on the shore, clasped her hands together, and said, "Thank you."

"Let's go." She tried to stand up with her hands on the ground, but her knees were numb from kneeling for so long that she staggered. Mo Xiang and Shen Changhe immediately supported her.

Mo Xiang's eyelids were red and swollen. She didn't dare to think about how heartbroken her brother-in-law would be when he saw the injury on the princess' knee.

Shen Changhe pursed his lips, picked up Shen Anan by the waist and strode out.

Ling Chenyi stared at the brother and sister in a daze for a moment.

Is that it?

Did Shen Anan remember Shen Changhe, but only forgot about Xiao Yuan?

In his heart, he silently felt sorry for Xiao Yuan for a long time.

The carriage for the return trip had already been prepared, but because Shen Anan was pregnant and could not ride on the bumpy road, the journey was very slow.

But for the person in the palace, there is finally hope.

With the protection of Shen Changhe and Ling Chenyi, the journey was smooth and they finally entered the capital on the third day.

When passing by a fruit shop on Hua'an Street, Shen Anan wanted to eat something sour, so she asked Mo Xiang to buy it.

She leaned on the car window and looked at the prosperous scene on the street.

Several girls, with parasols held by maids, walked and laughed, gesturing with hairpins on their heads.

"My father said that the palace banquet in a few days will be a beauty pageant. The current emperor will select some outstanding girls with outstanding appearance and family background to fill the harem. We must dress up well, maybe we can soar to the sky."

“Is this true? Why didn’t my father tell me?” said another girl.

"Of course it's true. Otherwise, why would the emperor agree to hold a palace banquet? Which emperor doesn't love beauty? The first thing to do after securing the throne is to recruit concubines."

"Not necessarily." The little girl who had been silent all the time said, "When the current emperor was still the fourth prince, he already had a princess consort, and the couple had a very close relationship. The prince's mansion didn't even have a concubine. Now that princess consort hasn't even been made queen, how could he choose a concubine?"

"You are ignorant. I heard that the emperor sent the princess away on the night he planned to start his rebellion. Now he has not brought her back. Maybe he does not want her to be the queen at all."

"Hush," the girl said, her face pale with fear, "you can't say that casually."

"What are you afraid of? Even if he makes her the empress, the emperor can still only keep her. Even if the emperor agrees, the officials will not agree. Since ancient times, it has been the ancestral rule to select concubines to fill the harem and expand the family. Wasn't this palace banquet a request from the officials to select concubines? In the end, the emperor had no choice but to agree, right?"

There have been infatuated emperors since ancient times, but in the end none of them could overcome the rules and regulations of the court.

"Whose family are you girls from? How dare you talk nonsense in the street!" Ling Chenyi scolded in a sharp voice.

The girls were shocked. They were all noble ladies in Beijing and naturally knew Ling Chenyi. Their faces turned pale immediately.

"Meet the Prince of Yongning."

Ling Chenyi's face was gloomy, "Who are you from?"

Sitting in the carriage was Shen Anan, whom they had invited back with great difficulty. If she got unhappy and something happened, who would be responsible?

He looked at these women and felt very angry. Moreover, he didn't think those court officials had the ability to force Xiao Yuan to agree to any beauty contest. Even if Xiao Yuan had that idea, he wouldn't be so hasty.

"Please forgive us, Your Highness. We were just talking nonsense and we won't dare to do it again." Several girls tried their best to explain and dispersed without waiting for Ling Chenyi to speak again.

Ling Chenyi and Shen Changhe both looked at Shen Anan who was lying on the car window.

Her expression remained calm, and she looked at the girls walking away very calmly.

Until Mo Xiang came back and handed her the sour fruit, "Princess, please try it."

Shen Anan then retracted his gaze, picked up one expressionlessly, and put it in his mouth.

Ling Chenyi heaved a sigh of relief and ordered to continue the journey to the palace, but Shen Anan's cold voice suddenly sounded, "Return to the Shen Mansion."

“…”

In the carriage on the way to the palace, Ling Chenyi picked up the sour fruit and ate it, it was so sour that he cried.

Why is this job so difficult?

Ouch——

With the driver's shout, the curtain of the carriage was suddenly lifted. He looked up in surprise and met Xiao Yuan's affectionate and eager eyes.

He managed to pull up the corners of his lips, "The Emperor has come to greet me personally."

Then he watched Xiao Yuan's face darken visibly, like a sign before a storm.

"Get down."

These three words were said with some gnashing of teeth.

Ling Chenyi stuffed another sour fruit into his mouth, sighed heavily, and got off the carriage reluctantly.

"Where's An An?"

Xiao Yuan's eyes were a little too scary.

Ling Chenyi had the illusion that he was going to grab his collar and beat him up, so he immediately said, "It's not my fault, it's all the fault of the girl from the Li Wang Zhang family. I was going to bring her into the palace."

In order to prevent him from getting into trouble, he had already found out everything about the girls from the three families on his way back.

He recounted at a very fast pace what had happened on Hua'an Street.

"Then, she refused to enter the palace and insisted on returning to the Shen Mansion. I couldn't stop her."

Xiao Yuan's face was tense, and his narrowed eyes were filled with danger. "Eunuch Liu, summon the three families to the palace for me."

"yes."

Eunuch Liu agreed, and Xiao Yuan said nothing more. He jumped on his horse, turned his horse's head and galloped out towards the palace road, heading towards the Shen Mansion.

"Your Majesty." Eunuch Liu was startled. Ling Chenyi said, "It should be fine in the imperial city. I'll follow you. You can go back and deal with the three masters."

If you ruin his job, he will be so angry that he won't be relieved unless you are beaten dozens of times.

In the Shen Mansion, Mrs. Shen learned about Shen Anan's situation from Shen Changhe, and her eyelids were swollen from crying. Shen Wen remained silent and was also full of sorrow.

Looking at this scene, Shen Anan felt very uncomfortable, but she just couldn't remember it. The harder she tried to think about it, the more her head began to ache.

Shen Changhe immediately stopped Madam Shen and sent Shen Anan back to her Begonia Garden.

"If you need anything, just send someone to look for my mother."

Shen Anan nodded. After two days of hard work, she was indeed very tired, so she went back to the house to rest.

Shen Changhe stood in her courtyard for a while before slowly leaving. However, when he reached the outer courtyard, he heard a commotion and a man in a dragon robe approached him very quickly.

Shen Changhe lowered his eyes, and when the man approached, he bowed and saluted, "Your Highness."

"Where's An An?"

"In the Begonia Garden."

Shen Changhe only felt a gust of wind blowing past him, and the person disappeared.

He immediately turned around to chase after him, but someone grabbed his arm from behind, "Where are you going?"

Ling Chenyi appeared from nowhere and said with a raised eyebrow.

"Don't you see that the emperor is unhappy? I want to go see my sister."

He used to be the fourth prince, and now he is the emperor, supreme. His status is different and his state of mind will also be different. An An was a little willful in this matter, and he may not spoil An An anymore.

Shen Changhe was very anxious, "Let me go quickly."

Ling Chenyi pouted, "You know he's unhappy but you still go up to him. You're not his sister."

Aren't you just asking for trouble?

"Don't worry, even if he beats himself up, he won't touch your sister."

Ling Chenyi was very sure, Shen Changhe frowned, and then slowly calmed down.

"Besides, he is the emperor now. If he says something you shouldn't hear and you hear it, wouldn't you be unhappy?"

“…”

Shen Changhe frowned even more tightly and looked at Ling Chenyi blankly.

——

Begonia Garden.

"An An, please open the door and listen to my explanation, okay?" Xiao Yuan's anger completely dissipated when he stepped into the Begonia Garden.

Mo Xiang stood aside, feeling a little helpless.

Qing'an suddenly appeared from nowhere, moved to Mo Xiang's side, pulled her up and left.

"What are you doing?"

Mo Xiang struggled, Qing An covered her mouth and dragged her out.

Xiao Yuan was the only one left in the courtyard.

He pushed the door. It was bolted from the inside and was very solid. However, if he tried to force his way in, it would still not be able to withstand a kick from him.

"An An," he leaned over the crack in the door and looked inside, but could see nothing.

"Can you please talk to me? I really didn't agree to the draft."

He talked for a long time, but there was no movement in the room. He began to admit his mistake, "I was wrong..."

He said all the nice things in front of the door, without a trace of anger or unhappiness.

There is not even a trace of the arrogance of an emperor.

He knew that An An must have forgotten something.

Whenever he thought that she might not remember him, or what they had been through, his heart ached like a knife.

But it didn't matter, they had no obstacles now, and he had countless days and nights to create new memories for the two of them.

Just like he said when they got married that year, he would use countless days and nights to prove that he and the self in her dreams were different.

All he wanted was for her to be there.