Tired of the old

Perhaps this was a unique aspect of the Jin culture, but Shen Yao felt nothing about it. However, Bao Yintu seemed to sense something was amiss, so he passed the question to Shen Yao, saying, "That's what my father said."

Shen Yao didn't want to be pestered with a million questions, so when she understood what Bao Yintu meant, she simply said, "Suheharu bullies others by relying on his power, so his subordinates are all men who fear authority. If you don't want to be with such a man for life, then don't try to tame your lover with fear."

Bao Yintu raised an eyebrow: "Then what do women of the Sheng Dynasty use to tame their lovers?"

Shen Yao said, "If you can love, then love; if you can't, then so be it. What's the point of taming?"

Bao Yintu frowned, seemingly feeling that Shen Yao's answer was irrelevant, but that was exactly what Shen Yao thought, so he couldn't explain anything further to her.

Bao Yintu pressed on, saying, "I think taming a man is like taming a wild eagle. You have to keep challenging him, be fearless, and bravely step forward until he submits."

Just like her approach to Pei Heng, which was initially passionate and direct, they embraced each other less than a day after meeting, without any mutual understanding or ambiguity. What Bao Yintu wanted was absolute submission from beginning to end.

Shen Yao sighed and said, "I don't understand these matters of the bedroom. I don't want to tame anyone, nor do I want to be tamed by anyone."

Bao Yintu laughed and said, "If no one can tame her, wouldn't that mean the princess is incompetent?"

If someone else had said this, Shen Yao might have thought it was a provocation, but since Bao Yintu said it, it was purely out of curiosity.

Shen Yao understood what she meant. Bao Yintu was probably saying that if someone couldn't be tamed by anyone, it meant that the person had no charm.

In fact, Shen Yao once had such a competitive spirit. At that time, she had no problem getting along with women, so she began to be curious about the opposite sex and began to yearn for love, and then she went astray.

In order to gain the approval of the opposite sex, she desperately wanted to become beautiful. Later, she gradually realized that if you want to "tame" a man in a relationship, your face is useless.

You have to learn to act obedient, gentle, and considerate, and pinpoint the other person's emotional weaknesses to exploit them precisely. This "skill" has nothing to do with self-worth, but is part of interpersonal skills, it's emotional intelligence.

So Shen Yao let go of her obsession. After all, from the perspective of human relationships, if she couldn't "tame" anyone, it only meant that there wasn't anyone of the opposite sex in this group that she got along with particularly well. It wasn't a big deal, since she didn't always get along with the same sex either.

Even if you're not compatible, you can still get along; it all depends on how much you compromise.

However, these were all Shen Yao's own thoughts. She didn't intend to mislead Bao Yintu, so she remained silent. Although she didn't speak, her face showed a nonchalant expression, which made Bao Yintu understand what she was thinking.

If you're not capable, you're not capable. I don't care, it doesn't matter.

This fits Shen Yao's image of frequently going up the mountain to worship Buddha and being detached from worldly affairs.

Bao Yintu was different. What she hated most was her mother's passive and cowardly behavior after falling out of favor and hiding in the Buddhist hall. If her mother wanted to win Suheharu's favor, she should have tried her best to win his favor. At worst, she could have killed all of Suheharu's other concubines.

But her mother refused and never responded to her.

Bao Yintu smiled and said, "...I fell in love with Young Master Pei at first sight."

Shen Yao smiled and said, "Young Master Pei is already married and has publicly sworn not to take a concubine."

Bao Yintu laughed and said, "I know that. Now that I think about it, I was just attracted by some quality of his, it can't be called infatuation. Deep affection is foolish, it's human nature to be fickle."

Shen Yao remained noncommittal. She respected her nature just as much as she respected the rules, so she strongly agreed with the saying—in the end, love depends entirely on conscience.

The traditional culture of the prosperous dynasty tamed the women of that dynasty into more conscientious people, but without this "conscience," when looking at the problems in "love"—what to do if you are hurt for no reason? What to do if you are betrayed for no reason?... the answer becomes very clear.

There's no need to be ruthless; everyone has their own way of doing things.

Thinking of this, Shen Yao suddenly realized that Bao Yintu hadn't mentioned anything else about "Pei Heng" all day. Perhaps she had realized that Pei Heng wouldn't give up Shen Zan for her.

That's for the best. After all, given Bao Yintu's personality, if Pei Heng dares to let her love him end in heartbreak, Bao Yintu will definitely destroy everything around him, ultimately affecting Xiliang City as well.

Pei Heng is fine with whatever he wants, but Shen Yao just doesn't want the people of Xiliang to be implicated.

After arriving at the general's mansion, Shen Yao didn't dare to sleep. She stayed up all night until dawn, and then delivered the Baoyin Map outside the city.

After mounting his horse, Bao Yintu tilted his head and looked at her with an ambiguous smile: "Princess sister, I heard that General Lan and Prince Jing have always had a bad relationship."

Shen Yao said calmly, "I am not aware of the matter concerning the驸马 (imperial son-in-law).

Bao Yintu smiled and took the reins: "Is that so? So the Three Obediences and Four Virtues of women in the Sheng Dynasty were just a pretense to appease people."

Shen Yao didn't respond, so Bao Yintu continued with a smile: "There will be big news in Xiliang City today. I hope the princess will be a little happier after hearing it."

After saying that, Bao Yintu flicked the reins and rode away.

Shen Yao didn't know what she wanted to talk about, but after she finished speaking, a sense of foreboding arose in Shen Yao's heart. She coiled the snake inside the carriage, lost in thought. Perhaps due to her recent overwork, even Little White seemed listless, dozing off with its eyes half-closed in her hands.

Shen Yao pinched her body, but Xiao Bai still didn't move.

At this moment, Shen Yao suddenly sensed something was wrong. She grabbed Xiao Bai's body and shook it violently, only to find that Xiao Bai's body was stiff, swinging in the air like a thick white leather rope.

Shen Yao stared in astonishment at the lifeless creature in her hand. Before she could even grieve, A Yuan's panting voice came from outside the carriage: "Princess, something terrible has happened!"

Suppressing her unease, Shen Yao asked, "What's wrong?"

A Yuan: "Just now... just now someone said they saw the little princess in Camel Bell Alley... being thrown out of a Jin brothel without clothes on."

Shen Yao quickly lifted the carriage curtain and frowned, saying, "Who said that?!"

A-Yuan hurriedly explained where the news came from; it was something he had overheard on the way when Shen Yao asked him to do something.

Shen Yao: "Where is the princess now?"

A-Yuan: "I heard that the Princess has been taken home by Prince Jing and his wife, but I don't know if the news is true or not..."

"Go to the Pei residence." Shen Yao lowered the curtain and gave the order impatiently before A Yuan could even finish speaking.

A Yuan cupped her hands in greeting, immediately got into the carriage, took the reins from Xia Guo, and drove the horse toward the Pei residence.

...

The sun had already reached noon, but the Pei residence was still shrouded in shadow, as if it hadn't woken up yet.

Not wanting to attract too much attention, Shen Yao removed all the ornaments from the carriage halfway there and dismissed the guards, taking only A Yuan and Xia Guo with her. But before she even reached the Pei residence, she felt the strange looks from passersby.

So she suppressed her temper and whispered to Xia Guo and A Yuan through the curtain, "Return to the General's Mansion. A Yuan, send someone to the Pei Mansion to inquire about the whereabouts of the Princess."

A-Yuan nodded. People along the street, seeing the princess's carriage continue on without turning, immediately wore expressions of utter boredom.

After Shen Yao returned to the manor, A Yuan came to the study shortly afterward and whispered, "The young marquis won't let anyone in, so I sent someone to Prince Jing's manor, but Prince Jing also refused to see any guests. However, the young marquis asked me to pass on a message to the princess."

Shen Yao held the small snake in her hand, stroking its chin with her thumb: "What did you say?"

“The young marquis said, ‘Please, princess, don’t make a sound. Please, general, you will surely defeat the Jin Kingdom.’” A-Yuan said, “That’s all.”

Shen Yao suddenly felt a darkness before her eyes, and her heart ached as if it had been struck by a heavy hammer. She clutched her chest, and at the same time, a metallic taste filled her mouth.

She was startled and quickly covered her mouth, swallowing the mouthful of black blood.

A-Yuan kept his head down and didn't notice anything amiss. Shen Yao calmly asked him to leave the study.

A Yuan, unsuspecting, cupped her hands in greeting to Chen Yao and then left.

Inside the study, the setting sun shone through the window, casting neat patches of light and shadow on the floor.

Shen Yao stood up from behind her desk, feeling dizzy, and walked out. She wanted to call Xia Guo into the room so they could go to Lingshan Temple together... Cheng Xin might have a solution. The feeling of being poisoned was too unbearable, and she didn't really want to die yet.

I don't want to die...

However, excruciating pain still emanated from her internal organs, causing Shen Yao to collapse to the ground, spitting out black blood continuously.

Her lower abdomen also hurt, and then a chill ran up to the top of her head, making her suddenly realize the real reason for her inexplicable fatigue during this period.

But what good is it now that she knows? She found out too late.

She should have realized that Bao Yintu's reluctance to kill her didn't mean he wouldn't. She was the jewel of the Jin Kingdom, Suheharu's most beloved daughter, and she would forever remain loyal to the Jin Kingdom and her father, who loved her most in the world.

She should have realized long ago that because she had repeatedly obstructed trade between the Sheng and Jin states and set up various barriers that greatly reduced the benefits that the Jin people could gain, she was bound to die in the eyes of the Jin people.

She thought that obtaining the spirit snake would solve everything, but when death truly approached, she finally understood Chengxin's words.

What needs to be done in this life, will be done in this life.

Even if one can be reborn, can they continue their past relationship?

When will I be reborn again?

In the original novel, the male protagonist is reborn 4 or 5 years later. Who will remember Shen Yao then? Lan Yunyi… will Lan Yunyi still be alive?!

What should be done about the karmic burdens she left behind?

Those who were loyal to her will be thrown into chaos by her death; those she loved will have no one to love them anymore.

And their children.

What will happen to Lan Yunyi after he finds out? He'll find out eventually...

She longed to know, but sadly, she could never find out.