Fate is merciful

The blue brick clearly hit the void, but there was a sound of a mirror shattering.

Xu Shulou touched her chest. The scars were gone. She had recovered to the state when she first entered the painting. She sat up from the ground in a daze: "That's it? I thought there would be more powerful means..."

"Don't be complacent, this is just the first level."

“…”

———

When Xu Shulou woke up again, a pretty girl dressed as a palace maid was lifting the sunshade curtain over her eyes: "Your Highness, why did you fall asleep under the tree again?"

"Jing'er? Is that you?" Xu Shulou held her back, "You..."

Are you doing well? Did you survive the coup? I went looking for you, but I couldn't find you anywhere in the world. Where did you end up? Where were you buried?

But before she could say anything, she realized that this was not reality.

The lively and smiling girl in front of her was looking at her, waiting for her instructions: "Your Highness?"

Xu Shulou tried to smile and said, "It's okay, but you are not allowed to complain to the Queen Mother."

She looked around, and before her was a garden full of spring colors, the sun was shining, and the willows were green. Xu Shulou was looking at the small bridge, flowing water, and apricot blossoms not far away. This was exactly the corner of the Imperial Garden in her memory.

The little rabbit she raised jumped around her knees and acted coquettishly, so she picked it up, rubbed it, and kissed it on the ear. The rabbit seemed unable to bear such enthusiasm and jumped away to eat grass.

Xu Shulou lowered his head to look at his own hands. His hands were as soft as catkins, his skin as white as cream, so delicate that a careless bump would leave red marks. These were not the hands that had held a sword before. These were the delicate hands of the spoiled Princess Fangyi of the Xu royal family.

Not to mention swords and spears, at that time she had never even held an embroidery needle.

She stood there, and for a moment she was a little afraid to take a step, as if she was afraid that if she moved, everything in front of her would disappear.

"Your Highness, you make it sound like I'm a complainer," Jing'er said teasingly, "By the way, the top scholar is outside asking to see you, should we let him in or not?"

"You are just naughty," Xu Shulou pretended to chase her and hit her, but Jing'er jumped away with a smile, "Let him in."

The separation between men and women in this dynasty was not so strict, and there were not many rules to avoid suspicion between men and women who had already been engaged, but when they met, servants still had to follow them from a distance.

When the champion entered the imperial garden, he bowed to Xu Shulou first, then asked her with a smile: "How is your poem about apricot blossoms?"

Xu Shulou stuck out his tongue and said, "I always fail to write good poems. Facing the tree full of apricot blossoms, I can only think of apricot blossom glutinous rice balls, apricot blossom cakes and apricot blossom pork."

The top scholar burst into laughter.

Xu Shulou held his chin up and looked at him: "When you are with me, you always seem to laugh."

The top scholar looked at her seriously, his eyes softened, and he said with a bit of embarrassment: "Yes, I am afraid that the number of times I have laughed in my life is not as many as when I was with Your Highness."

"..." Xu Shulou suddenly asked, "Do you believe that people have an afterlife?"

The top scholar smiled and asked, "If so, what kind of person do you think I am?"

"I guess you're still a scholar," Xu Shulou wrinkled his nose, "a silly scholar!"

"Haha, that's good." The champion picked a piece of apricot petal that had fallen into her hair, then held it in his hand, reluctant to let it go for a long time. "I just wonder if I will be lucky enough to meet His Highness in my next life."

"Perhaps we will meet once," Xu Shulou said softly, "We will each go to investigate the demons in Wushuang City, and then meet in the deserted mountains at night, and you will be scared to death by me digging a grave."

The top scholar couldn't help laughing: "Strange fantasy."

"If this is true, can you accept it?"

The top scholar did not think she was joking. Instead, he thought about her words seriously and said, "As long as I can meet His Highness and continue to read the books of sages, there is nothing I cannot accept. However, if there is anything I can be greedy about, I hope that His Highness and I will not just meet once."

Xu Shulou smiled as he watched him lower his head in embarrassment after he finished speaking, with even his ears turning red. He sighed slightly in his heart, it's a pity that we end up taking different paths.

A brief encounter with you is already a mercy from fate.

———

After all, they were not married yet, and it was not good to stay in one place for too long. After a cup of tea, the top scholar said goodbye tactfully.

Watching his back gradually disappear into the distance, Xu Shulou sighed softly, turned around and asked the palace maid, "Jing'er, where is the queen mother?"

"Your Highness, have you forgotten? The Queen is hosting a banquet for the ladies of honor in Ronghua Palace today and told you not to go over and act naughty!"

Xu Shulou laughed: "I won't disturb you, I just... want to go and take a look."

Jing'er couldn't beat her, of course Jing'er couldn't beat her... The most noble little princess of the Xu royal family, she had been pampered since childhood and could get whatever she wanted. Even her father and mother had to compromise in front of her coquettishness.

"Jing'er, just follow me. No one else needs to follow." The other palace servants were already accustomed to Princess Fangyi's strange ideas, and they all responded with a smile when they heard her.

Xu Shulou tiptoed towards Ronghua Palace, gestured to the palace servants at the door to keep quiet, then quietly stuck his head out. At a glance, he saw the Queen Mother sitting on the throne.

The most noble woman in the Xu Dynasty looked to be in her early thirties. She was young, beautiful, luxurious and elegant, with a pair of beautiful eyes that sparkled and sparkled.

Xu Shulou's mother was the daughter of a scholarly family and the most famous beauty in the capital.

Since ancient times, beauties are like famous generals, and they are not allowed to grow old in the world.

The world has never seen her old. In Xu Shulou's memory, she will always remain young and beautiful at this moment.

Xu Shulou looked at it greedily for a long while before he whispered to Jing'er, "Let's go."

Jing'er was a little surprised: "Your Highness, are you really just here to take a look?"

"Fang Yi?" The Queen had already spotted her. "Come here quickly, kid."

Xu Shulou took a deep breath, imitated his appearance a hundred years ago, and leaned over to act coquettishly: "Mother, I miss you!"

The queen tapped her forehead and said to the ladies in the hall with a smile: "This child just clings to me, making everyone laugh at her."

"What's so special about that?" The ladies all laughed. "The love between the Queen and His Highness is so deep, it's a beautiful story."

Xu Shulou rested his head on the queen's shoulder: "Mother..."

"What's wrong?" The queen looked at her carefully, and suddenly stood up to apologize to the ladies, "Please sit down for a moment. I'm going to change my clothes and will be back soon."

She pulled Xu Shulou all the way to the quiet back hall, and then asked, "Shulou, what's wrong with you?"

Xu Shulou was puzzled: "I'm fine."

"Don't be so stubborn. Can you fool your mother?" The queen pulled her to sit down. "Who made you unhappy?"

Xu Shulou shook his head: "No, really not."

The Queen's hand gently stroked her face: "But your eyes have changed."

"Changed?" Xu Shulou was slightly stunned. "How could it be? I myself...didn't even notice it."

"You've changed. In the past, your thoughts were so clear that people could see through them at a glance," the queen gently combed her daughter's hair. "My dear mother, your eyes have become tougher and more mature now, just like someone who has been through a lot of things but finally had to let go of them. He is the kind of person who knows his fate after going through so much of the world."

“…I had a very long dream.”

"What happened to you in your dream? Did your father and I fail to protect you?"

In front of her mother, Xu Shulou finally couldn't control herself anymore. She started crying, crying heart-wrenchingly but silently.

Seeing her crying silently, the Queen hugged her distressedly and said, "What's wrong? My dear, every time you are sad, you always make a scene to let everyone know and everyone comes to comfort you. When did you learn to cry silently like this?"

When was it? It was probably on the way out of the palace that she finally understood clearly that no matter how loudly she cried, no one would come to comfort her.

Later, she became Xu Shulou, a disciple of Wuchen Island, the eldest senior sister of Mingyue Peak, and a woman whose folding fan caused headaches for countless people in the cultivation world. She no longer needed anyone to comfort her.

Just hearing these words "Is it your father and I who can't protect you?", she finally couldn't help but burst into tears.

Xu Shulou looked at his mother greedily: "Mother, I'm sorry for you. I can't even avenge you."

"Revenge?" The queen gently wiped her tears. "If anything happens to your father and I, our only wish is that you live well, not that you seek revenge."

Xu Shulou's tears flowed even more violently.

In fact, she understood it all. In fact, she also understood...

The queen stopped talking and let her cry as if to vent her feelings. When she gradually stopped sobbing, she patted her back gently and said, "Shu Lou, our greatest wish is that you can live happily."

Xu Shulou wiped away his tears and nodded solemnly: "I understand, I will definitely do it."

“…”

The scene in front of me suddenly stopped, and a voice sounded in the void: "I can help you stay here forever."

"Don't bother me, just stay away."

"..." The voice sounded a little annoyed, "If you don't know what's good for you, just bear with it."

In a blink of an eye, the warm scene before my eyes instantly turned into a bloody scene, with soldiers approaching and beacon fires threatening to break the city.

Xu Shulou sighed: "I'm tired of watching this war in my inner demon mirror."

"What Heart Mirror? I'm definitely much more advanced than that thing..."

Xu Shulou ignored the voice's mumbling. She looked at the imperial city from afar. She did not turn around, did not close her eyes, and did not hide. When everything was over, she knelt down and kowtowed three times in the direction of the main hall.

The voice sounded again: "You have passed the second level, I can do you a favor."

Xu Shulou had regained his composure: "What can I do for you?"

"I can make you forget the memories of the destruction of your country and your family, and only keep the most beautiful, best and warmest memories."

Xu Shulou blinked in confusion: "But I never said that I wanted to forget..."

There was a hint of surprise in the voice: "Don't you want to forget?"

"All of this," Xu Shulou looked towards the majestic imperial city, "all the memories, all the past, whether they are good or bad, add up to make me who I am today."

“…”

She shook her head firmly: "So, no, I don't want to forget."

"Okay," the voice sighed unwillingly, "Now you have passed the second level. If you choose to forget, you will stay with me forever."

"...Are you cheating me?" Xu Shulou took out a red brick from somewhere.

"?"