"Miss Leng, the Empress Dowager and the Emperor Emeritus are inside with the Regent."
Xiao Chengyun straightened up. "It's you?"
"Who do you think you are? You have no manners at all!" The woman toyed with her hair that fell over her shoulder, looking at Xiao Chengyun with an arrogant expression. "I am the Empress Dowager's niece, and who are you? How dare you not even use a respectful title when addressing me?"
Xiao Chengyun looked her up and down and chuckled.
When he was young, this person fawned over him all day long, saying he wanted to marry his father. Now, after only a few years apart, he has become so arrogant.
"I am……"
Before Xiao Chengyun could finish speaking, the palace gates opened, and the Regent stepped out, about to reprimand him.
"Cousin!" The woman ran over excitedly when she saw the Regent. "Cousin, Shuran has finally met you."
“You’ve been going to the border all these years, and I’ve always wanted to go find you, but my father and grandfather wouldn’t let me.”
"Now it's all good, I'm so glad to see you back."
The woman gazed intently at the regent, her eyes revealing a deep affection she could not conceal.
"What does my return have to do with you?"
"I..." Leng Shuran bit her lip, pouting, and said, "Cousin, you know how I feel. Now that you're back, why don't you..."
"I am getting married," the Regent said calmly, gazing into the distance.
Then, speaking gently to his son standing beside him, he said, "Chengyun, let's go."
"Yes, Father."
Leng Shuran was shocked, then chased after him, her voice urgent, "Cousin, what did you say? You're getting married?"
"Whose daughter is she? Didn't you say you didn't want to get married? Back then I..."
Xiao Chengyun leaned back and popped his head out, saying, "I didn't want to before, but I do now."
"Then I can too..."
Xiao Chengyun stuck out her tongue at her and quickened her pace to catch up with the Regent. "You can't. I won't acknowledge you."
Leng Shuran stood still, watching the departing person with teary eyes.
When she was ten years old, she fell in love with the regent at first sight.
That was the first time she met the Regent, at a banquet.
He was exceptionally handsome, dashing and elegant, like a celestial being stepping out of a painting. Every woman around him was captivated by him, and every gesture he made perfectly embodied the image she admired.
When she learned that he had a son, she hesitated.
Later, she married into the Earl's family, but the person she always longed for was the Regent. Not long after, her husband died on the battlefield.
After leaving the Earl's mansion, she was determined to marry the Regent, but the Regent said he did not want to marry her.
"Aunt, why would my cousin rather marry someone else than Shuran? What's wrong with Shuran?"
The Empress Dowager sighed, grasped her hand, and said earnestly:
"Shuran, your aunt originally hoped that you two could get together, but now Lingyuan has fallen for someone. As his parents, we only ask that our child have a companion for the rest of his life."
"Shuran, perhaps you two were never meant to be. If you find someone you like in the future, tell your aunt, and your aunt will make the decision for you, okay?"
Leng Shuran stared blankly at the Empress Dowager.
The Empress Dowager was staying at the mountain resort to escape the summer heat, and since it wasn't far from her maternal grandparents' house, she took the opportunity to bring her back.
At first, the Empress Dowager would say that she only recognized her as her daughter-in-law, and she was overjoyed to hear that.
But how long has it been? The Empress Dowager actually agreed to let my cousin marry someone else?
"Aunt, nephew..."
She loves her cousin. For so many years, she has been looking forward to it every moment. Over the years, admiring her cousin has become the only thing she can do.
But now...
"Alright, Shuran, the banquet is about to begin. Let's go to the banquet hall." The Empress Dowager pulled Leng Shuran along, with the Emperor Emeritus following behind, and walked towards the banquet hall.
Throughout the journey, Leng Shuran's heart was in constant flux.
At the banquet, Ye Lanyin, holding Lin Wanwan, sat in the third row with the Ye family. Her eldest brother was stationed at the border, and her second brother was a fifth-rank official, so she sat with her second brother.
Seeing this, the Regent moved his own table and chair to the third row next to Ye Wennan, which startled Ye Wennan.
"Regent, what are you doing?"
"I'm tired of sitting in the first row. I'd like to see what the view is like in the third row." The Regent plopped down and pushed Ye Wennan's desk a little to the side.
"Indeed, the third row is different; the view is expansive. I'll sit here next time."
Ye Lanyin: "..."
Ye Wennan: "..."
When Leng Shuran entered the room and saw the Regent's appearance, her eyes widened in astonishment.
In the past, she always tried to please him, but now this regent is actually disregarding his status and sharing a seat with a subject?!
“Aunt, look…” She pointed to the corner of the third row, looking extremely aggrieved.
The Empress Dowager and the Emperor Emeritus looked in the direction she was pointing.
When he saw his son, a rough-looking man, carrying tables and chairs and squeezing into the corner of the third row, he glanced at Ye Lanyin, who was a head away from him.
Ye Lanyin held Lin Wanwan in her arms and sat dignifiedly in her seat, occasionally coaxing Lin Wanwan and occasionally showing concern for Xiao Chengyun beside her.
He then nodded in satisfaction.
Yes, it really does look like it.
"Shuran, ignore him. Even if he went to the outhouse, I'd think he deserved it!!"
Leng Shuran: "Empress Dowager, he has a very noble status."
"Who here isn't of noble status?" the Empress Dowager explained with a smile. "Those who are able to attend the welcoming banquet today are all ministers who have devoted themselves to the court on a daily basis."
“But my cousin should be in the first row,” Leng Shuran said anxiously.
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