The chilly autumn wind whipped at his long robe, and Li Hua broke out in a cold sweat, shivering as the wind blew against his back.

He strode over to Gan Qiongying's side, sat on the chaise lounge, and, following his heart, pulled her up without a second thought, then held her tightly in his arms.

Seeing his hurried manner, Gan Qiongying had basically guessed what was going on. She let him hug her tightly, then placed her hand on his back and gently patted him to help him catch his breath.

“I’m here…” Gan Qiongying said, “It’s just too stuffy inside, and it looks like it’s going to rain again, so I came out to get some fresh air under a thick blanket.”

"Mmm." Li Hua responded softly, holding Gan Qiongying with her eyes closed, maintaining this sideways position for a long time.

A gentle breeze caressed his cheeks, and after a long while, Li Hua said, "We can leave in four or five days."

"Once I've finally sorted out this matter, we'll leave. You can go wherever you want..."

"That's exactly what I was going to tell you. If we don't leave now, it'll be harder to leave later."

In the north, heavy snow starts falling around late October or November, and they have to return to the mountains before the snow closes them off.

Gan Qiongying didn't want to move for the time being. Her two little ones were born in Jishe Temple. Although they were premature, they grew up safely and healthily. It was an auspicious place.

Moreover, with the weather freezing cold, Gan Qiongying only wanted to take Lihua back to spend the winter.

"I will do it as soon as possible. I have already had more than a dozen cartloads of things packed to take with me, and all the people I'm taking are waiting in the city."

"The golden cage is too big and too conspicuous on the road. If you want to take that gold away, you'll have to have it melted down tonight."

"You can have Sweetie go shopping with you tomorrow. Buy whatever you like. We won't be back for a while, and Jinchuan has some things that you can't find anywhere else."

"I'll have the merchants deliver them in batches, you just need to buy them..."

These words are so charming, it's like a domineering CEO handing you a credit card and saying, "Spend as much as you want, honey, you'll be guilty if you don't spend it all."

Gan Qiongying was practically beaming with joy.

Only then did Li Hua ask, "Where are we going?"

This was the first time in so many days that Li Hua had asked Gan Qiongying where she was going, and his eyes were filled with anxiety.

When he and Gan Qiongying made their plan to escape from Nanzhao, Gan Qiongying told him a lot of routes.

But in the end, Gan Qiongying didn't take any of those paths. She resolutely shaved her long hair and escaped by blending in with the monks.

One night, when the two of them were lying together and talking about this, Gan Qiongying told it as a joke, and Li Hua listened to it as a joke as well.

But this is, after all, an insurmountable obstacle between them.

Li Hua was still complaining that Gan Qiongying had been too cruel back then, but he had completely come to believe what Gan Qiongying had said.

If he were Gan Qiongying... he might not have done better than Gan Qiongying.

Although she understood the reasoning, Li Hua still couldn't help but feel scared when the topic of going somewhere together came up again.

They were afraid that what Gan Qiongying told them was not the path they were meant to take.

Gan Qiongying said without hesitation, "Let's go to the northwest, to where Gan Lin and I will stay."

"Don't you know that Gan Lin contacted the Northwest Army because the Northwest Army is very close to where we are staying?"

"We stayed in a temple. There were some empty houses behind the temple. They were very simple, but very warm. In winter, there were heated brick beds instead of charcoal fires."

"There aren't many good options, so let's buy more on our way back."

Gan Qiongying naturally took Li Hua's hand, lowered her head and kissed it, saying, "It's a pity for my Crown Prince, with his dragon-like appearance and phoenix-like grace, that such a precious beauty has to live a simple life with me."

"These jade-like hands... I'm afraid they won't be able to handle any memorials or important national affairs in the future. I guess they'll be used for chopping firewood this winter."

"Gan Lin's hands were covered in blisters the first time he chopped firewood..."

Li Hua finally relaxed, and as Gan Qiongying recounted her ordinary life, anticipation gradually ignited in her eyes.

In fact, what Gan Qiongying said was the kind of life that Li Hua had always wanted to live.

He had spent half his life wandering and living in anonymity, striving and seeking, and only now... has he finally been able to achieve his wish.

“I’m not afraid of hardship. I’ve endured all kinds of hardship. I’ll take care of you from now on, and I’ll support whatever Ganlin wants to do.”

"Our family is doing well, and we will never be separated again."

Li Hua looked at Gan Qiongying and said these words with utmost solemnity. Every word was as heavy as a thousand pounds, as if he were throwing the heaviest promise of his life in front of Gan Qiongying.

Tears welled in his eyes, his reddened eyes filled with anticipation and joy, and even a hint of ingratiation, as if he feared being abandoned.

A gust of cold wind swept by, and Gan Qiongying shivered, as if her soul had been shaken.

The air was filled with a damp smell, and I guessed that a persistent drizzle was about to start again.

But the mist in Li Hua's eyes was what truly shook Gan Qiongying's soul.

It was only at this moment that she finally realized that Li Hua was not the cruel and terrifying person in the story.

It wouldn't be the male protagonist in Princess Duanrong's memory, the one who manipulated power and treated everyone as pawns in his hands.

Like any ordinary person, he longed for a peaceful life with his family. He could give up the power he had gained in Jinchuan over the past six months and the empire that was within his grasp. But because he was full of longing for the mundane world, his eyes would still reveal vulnerability.

This is the man she wants, her prince consort, her husband, her lucky charm, and the true love she has met only once in two lifetimes.

At this moment, Gan Qiongying finally, quietly and silently, but completely, entrusted her trust to him, a trust that would last a lifetime.

She opened her arms and hugged Li Hua tightly, saying, "Actually, there's something I'm hiding from you, and I swear this is absolutely the last thing."

"I'm going to tell you the truth now, can you please not be angry with me?"

Li Hua was trembling all over, not because he was angry that Gan Qiongying was hiding something from him. Li Hua had already sensed it, but he just couldn't guess it.

It was precisely because he couldn't guess what was going on that he was so anxious and had so many nightmares. Even when the two of them were about to leave, he was still doubting that Gan Qiongying would leave him.

But Gan Qiongying now says she wants to be honest with herself!

Li Hua hugged Gan Qiongying tightly, her voice trembling slightly as she said, "I don't care, I don't care what you've been hiding..."

"As long as you don't leave me, as long as you don't leave me again!" Li Hua said, "I really don't care!"

“No,” Gan Qiongying said sternly, pushing Li Hua away. “You must take this matter seriously!”

Li Hua was stunned, a tear still clinging to her eyelashes.

Gan Qiongying took a deep breath, looked at Li Hua, scratched her head and said, "Well... it's not a big deal, it's just that... the reason I didn't come back in time wasn't because I was seriously ill."

"I just had nothing better to do, haha, so I had two kids."

Li Hua's pupils, which were staring at Gan Qiongying, suddenly dilated in shock. He remained frozen in place, his arms half-open as if he wanted to hug Gan Qiongying.