Before she traveled through time, Gan Qiongying never imagined she would experience such thrilling events, let alone fall so deeply in love with a man.

I love him so much that I need to take a deep breath to prepare myself before even thinking about him, otherwise my internal organs will ache.

After preparing herself, Gan Qiongying took a deep breath, touched her stomach, and then picked up a new sheet of paper. She wrote: "Seeing this letter is like seeing you in person; opening it brings a smile to my face. Long have we been apart, and my longing for you is deep. Distance and other matters prevent us from meeting again..."

Gan Qiongying racked her brains, wishing she could write down all the love poems she had ever learned, seen, or read in her life on this thin piece of paper.

She hoped that these tender words could turn into ropes, binding her beloved tightly.

By the time I finished writing the letter, it was already dark.

The refugees rescued by the shadow guards could finally be vaguely seen. Although it was not completely dark yet, because it was a cloudy day, if it weren't for the heavy snow, the people would have been almost invisible.

At this moment, Gan Lin reminded Gan Qiongying from outside the carriage: "Sister, they're back! Hold on tight, we're about to go up the mountain. The road up the mountain is a bit bumpy, so put an extra blanket under you."

Gan Qiongying replied, "I understand."

Then she pushed open the carriage window, turned over, and looked outside.

In the distance, a group of people were walking in this direction, and the person at the front was carrying a lantern.

It started snowing again, falling softly and gradually, until in the blink of an eye, it became a blanket of snow, covering the sky like goose feathers.

Gan Qiongying was slightly stunned. She reached out and caught a snowflake. The snow was so heavy, just like the day she ran away from the imperial city.

Then the carriage began to move, heading towards the mountain.

At the same time, the snowflakes seemed to have flown over thousands of mountains and rivers, fluttering and swirling to the other side of the landscape.

Yindu.

"How long has Master been standing outside? With such heavy snow, how can his leg, which has only just recovered, withstand this?"

Sanjiu was so anxious that the veins on his forehead bulged, but his figure, holding a lamp and standing in the dark night amidst the swirling snow, was so stubborn and lonely that no one dared to step forward to dissuade him.

Sweetie was carrying a thick fox fur coat and a hand warmer filled with charcoal, but she had already gone to Li Hua's side three times, only to be driven back each time.

Li Hua looked quite beautiful today. Underneath her newly tailored winter coat was a finely colored cotton robe, and on the outside was a priceless piece of colorful brocade and a shawl made of snow fox fur.

Her long hair was half tied up, with one half pinned to the top of her head and secured by a jade crown, and the other half cascading down her shoulders, as smooth as ink.

His back was straight as a pine tree, and he carried a magnificent and exquisite autobiographical lantern in his hand. It was the largest and most expensive one that he had his servants buy on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month.

Unable to spend the Lantern Festival with Gan Qiongying, he thought of buying a lantern to light on the day she returned, so that they could make up for the missed opportunity together.

Today was the last day of the agreed time. Li Hua was originally waiting in the study before dark, but after dark it started snowing, so Li Hua insisted on having someone push him to the gate of the princess's residence.

Someone lit the lamp.

Order the torches at the main gate of the princess's residence to be lit, and the lanterns in all the courtyards of the princess's residence to be lit.

He was afraid that if Gan Qiongying returned, she wouldn't be able to find her way home because the princess's residence was pitch black.

But the wind and snow grew heavier and heavier. He supported himself in his wheelchair and tried his best to walk like a normal person, carrying that beautiful lamp in his hand, stubbornly waiting at the door.

He wouldn't allow anyone to hold an umbrella for him or put a coat on him, ruining his outfit for the day.

He hoped that the moment Gan Qiongying returned and saw him, she would remember his appearance and be able to completely distinguish him from Zhong Lizheng.

But the snow fell heavier and heavier, and his body and head were completely covered by snowflakes.

His handsome face, made even more ethereal by the snow, seemed to be that of a celestial being descended to earth. Yet, with the passage of time, it gradually faded.

Li Hua himself couldn't remember exactly how long he had been standing there.

In short, wait until his legs are sore and unbearable, and until the candle in the lantern in his hand burns out completely.

Li Hua lowered his stiff hand.

This time, he didn't become hysterical, didn't shout, didn't cry, and wasn't angry.

He simply opened his hands, which were frozen stiff like a corpse, and threw the lamp on the ground.

The last spark licked the side of the lantern, quickly setting it ablaze.

Li Hua stood there, the flames of the lanterns reflected in his eyes, and exhaled a breath of frost-covered air. The ice and snow made him look as if his hair had turned white overnight.

He turned around and called to Sweetie, letting the people around him put his clothes on him, help him back into his wheelchair, and push him back into the house.

This time, Li Hua didn't get sick. She went back and took a good bath, and got up as usual the next morning.

When he woke up and had breakfast, he calmly instructed everyone: "Withdraw all our people from the princess's residence back to the prince consort's residence."

"So I took everything I brought with me."

Li Hua's fingers were still red from standing in the snow for so long yesterday, still showing signs of being frozen.

He glanced down at it and smiled slightly.

No one would make a fuss or call a doctor to treat him anymore because he injured his hand.

No one around him dared to disobey him, much less show excessive concern that might annoy him.

Li Hua concluded, "We'll leave here today."

He knew he wouldn't be able to wait for Gan Qiongying any longer.

The second letter tucked in the ledger, with its few words, was not the hope that Gan Qiongying had left for him.

Li Hua only realized now that she had misunderstood.

Just like the first letter Gan Qiongying left on the table the night she departed, telling him to return to the Prince Consort's residence and wait.

That was Gan Qiongying's second tactic to restrain him.

Gan Qiongying's calculations were very accurate; she was truly intelligent. She knew that once she saw the letter, she would obediently wait.

Because he had been waiting patiently for two months, he would definitely not be able to find the person if he went out to look for them now.

She wouldn't give him any chance to find her.

She was once so gentle and warm, like a rippling warm spring, making Li Hua feel that she would be willing to drown in it.

Her resolute demeanor now was even more chilling to Li Hua than the snow that had fallen on her the night before.

Li Hua ate his meal slowly with his not-so-good hand.

He didn't know what he had eaten, nor could he feel the pain and itching in his hands; it was as if he had completely lost his sense of sensation and taste.

He even wondered... maybe he had misunderstood everything. Maybe he was daydreaming, maybe he was out of his mind, maybe he was actually fantasizing about spending his life with her.

From the very beginning, just as Zhong Lizhengzhen said, Gan Qiongying never loved him and had always been deceiving and using him.

Once he has completely lost his usefulness, kick him aside.

A fake is still a fake.

She witnessed firsthand the counterfeit attempting to replace the genuine article, and saw the counterfeit's madness and bloodlust; naturally, she felt no pity and would never turn back.