"Yu Shaoqing".

On the sand dune, Yu Shaoqing, dressed in white, had his eyebrows and lips slightly curved in the moonlight.

"haven't seen you for a long time!"

He avoided Ye Lisheng's gaze, perhaps out of guilt or self-reproach: "I imagined over a thousand ways to meet you, but I never expected it to be this way."

Ye Lisheng curled his lips and exhaled a breath of stale air: "I should thank you for protecting her so well."

"I don't know who you're talking about?" At this moment, Yu Shaoqing still held a sliver of hope, hoping that he hadn't recognized him.

Unexpectedly, Ye Lisheng's next sentence shattered his illusion: "Qiu Niang is okra."

"Although she didn't remove her veil, and although she didn't tell me directly, I know she is Okra, don't I?"

"But why won't she acknowledge me?"

He looked at him with longing eyes, hoping to hear something from him.

Why did you come to break our peace?

"You abandoned her back then, so she swore she would never have anything to do with you again!"

"That's not the case. I was delayed by something at the time."

"What could be more important than her life?"

"I will explain it to her personally."

"Don't see her anymore. She doesn't want to see you. We're getting married soon."

This was undoubtedly a thunderbolt from the blue, leaving my head buzzing.

He instinctively grabbed Yu Shaoqing by the collar, his fist clenched: "You are my best brother!"

"And she is my woman."

Ignoring everything else, Yu Shaoqing roared, "Didn't you notice? She's pretending not to know you in order to stay away from you!"

"So please stop torturing her and never appear in front of her again."

Hearing him say that, Ye Lisheng really thought that she hated him to the core, and his fist went limp, unable to swing at all.

"I haven't seen her for only a few months, how can things change so easily!"

The desolation in his eyes made even the stars in the sky seem a little dimmer.

"Humans are inherently fickle!"

He found Yu Shaoqing's words incredibly ironic, and forced a smile as he looked at the two jars of dark wine, saying, "This is what I prepared for you!"

He then opened the lid and drank it himself.

This wine was originally sweet, and although it was a bit spicy, you could still taste its sweetness.

Thus, this wine is nothing but spiciness and endless bitterness.

He has always been aloof and distant from others, never competing or vying for anything, and he doesn't have any particular favorites or things.

He often said that having someone you like is like telling others that you have a weakness.

But okra has always been his unwavering choice.

I used to have everything I wanted easily, but now I can only look on from afar.

"When are you getting married?" he asked.

Yu Shaoqing felt a little guilty because he knew perfectly well that I could never like him, much less marry him.

"It's not finalized yet; we're still picking an auspicious day."

"Let me know when you've made your choice, and I'll definitely come to congratulate you in person."

Perhaps fearing that staying any longer would lead him to reveal everything, Yu Shaoqing quickly ended the conversation: "It's too late, I should go back."

She fled as if she were running away, without waiting for him to speak.

When Ye Lisheng returned to the camp, it was already past midnight, and everyone was fast asleep.

After drinking two jars of wine, Ye Lisheng was not drunk at all; on the contrary, he was quite sober.

He looked around and saw Ling Shuang still sitting by the fire, her hands supporting her chin, looking into the distance with a smile.

Ye Lisheng curiously followed her gaze and saw Ling Ran asleep against a rock.

He couldn't help but get angry and gave her two sharp taps on the head.

She clutched her head and cried out, "Sixth Brother, it hurts!"

"You're about to get married, how can you still stare at other people? What kind of behavior is that!"

"snort!"

"It's not finished yet!"

He remained silent for a long time, and sadness welled up in his eyes as he looked at the flickering flames.

"What would you do if you married Ling Ran?"

"If he is happy, then I will naturally wish him well."

"But I won't leave him. I will quietly offer my blessings from the sidelines and wait until he is truly happy before I leave."

He suddenly realized that he didn't understand his sister at all.

Now it seems she sees things more clearly than I do.

"Yes! We need to see her happy!"

...

The lonely moonlight streamed into the room through the carved window, casting a pale glow on my face.

My mind was filled with images of Ye Lisheng. His appearance and his scent felt so familiar, as if I had known him for a long time.

And the woman beside him, wearing a veil, vaguely resembled me in her features.

I couldn't help but wonder if I was going crazy. How could there be two people in this world who look exactly alike?

"Maybe I'm just seeing things!" I thought.

The stars seem unusually dim tonight...

...

Saren's carriage waited outside the camp for a long time, ostensibly for Ling Shuang's safety, but actually to separate them.

"Your Highness, I apologize. There are some matters in the palace that are not convenient for outsiders to know, so His Majesty ordered me to bring back only the princess."

Ye Lisheng knew the reason without even asking.

The Lan Yi people are in internal strife. The current Crown Prince, Nangong Li, is merely a pawn to quell the unrest, while the Lan Yi ruler actually wants to install the eldest prince, Nangong Sumu.

Ling Shuang's marriage to a foreign ruler is mostly fraught with danger, but for now, she has no choice but to follow their arrangements, otherwise, who knows what might happen.

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