The next morning, Jiang Chun asked for leave for Qin Shuhuai, and Qin Shuhuai sat in the pavilion, playing the song over and over again, and no one dared to disturb him.

When Qin Peng saw that Qin Shuhuai didn't come to the morning court, she couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. Qin Shuhuai was too domineering, and she always felt a little nervous when he stood in front of her.

Then when he raised his eyes, Qin Peng met Liu Shuyan's gaze.

Liu Shuyan was different from usual. Usually, the Liu Shuyan she saw seemed to be a little indescribably gloomy. However, at this moment, Liu Shuyan seemed to be radiating light, just like when she first met him, with the boldness and frivolity unique to literati.

Even if he was careful to restrain himself, he could still detect it in the blink of an eye.

After the court session, Liu Shuyan waited for Qin Peng. Qin Peng was surprised to see Liu Shuyan waiting for her, "Master Liu is waiting for me?"

"I'm going to give lectures to His Majesty. The princess wants to go too, so let's go together."

When Qin Peng heard this, he knew that this was Liu Shuyan's response.

Maybe she helped him and made him like her, but she hoped that her feelings could be pure and clean love.

So she turned her head and looked at Liu Shuyan seriously: "Master Liu, there is one thing I must make clear to you."

"Princess, please speak."

Seeing Qin Peng's seriousness, Liu Shuyan also looked serious. Qin Peng looked at Liu Shuyan and said solemnly, "I like Master Liu because I think he is very warm-hearted and will never abandon me in difficult times. He is someone who can support me. I am moved by Master Liu and hope that Master Liu will be with me. This is also how I feel."

"If it's just out of gratitude, Master, please treat me as a princess."

Liu Shuyan listened quietly. He probably understood what Qin Peng said. He smiled slightly and said, "That's what I meant."

Qin Peng blinked, Liu Shuyan raised his hand, picked the peach blossom that fell on Qin Peng's head, and said gently: "I hope that when the princess is with me, she really likes me."

"So, Princess, can you give me a chance?" Liu Shuyan raised his eyes with a gentle expression, "Give me a chance to understand you and pursue you?"

He knew very well that the person Qin Peng said she liked was actually Qin Shuhuai who was pretending to be him.

He disdains and hates such feelings.

Qin Peng knew that "Liu Shuyan" had been holding back in response to her request. When she suddenly received such a promise, Qin Peng couldn't help but smile and nodded heavily: "Okay."

During the lecture that day, Qin Peng felt that Liu Shuyan had obviously changed his style.

Usually, Liu Shuyan would teach in a serious manner and never look at her. But that day, Liu Shuyan would look up at her from time to time, and his eyes and eyebrows seemed to be filled with silent love.

After school, Liu Shuyan said to Qin Peng, "I want to treat the princess to a meal. What do you think?"

Qin Peng burst into laughter: "Isn't it mutton soup again?"

Liu Shuyan learned this passage from Qin Shuhuai's book and couldn't help laughing. Although he had always been alone, it didn't mean that he didn't understand women. There were many sisters in the Liu family, and Liu Shuyan had been immersed in women for many years, so he naturally knew what women were thinking.

He suppressed his smile and said seriously, "Don't worry, it's not mutton soup."

The two of them left the palace together. Liu Shuyan was good at talking and told jokes all the way, which made Qin Peng chuckle. After a long time, the carriage stopped. Liu Shuyan rolled up the curtain, got off the carriage first, and then raised his hand.

Qin Peng walked out and looked up to see the name of the store "Liuli Pavilion". She smiled, put her hand on the back of Liu Shuyan's hand, and walked down with his support.

Liu Shuyan booked the entire top floor and led Qin Peng in. The top floor was planted with all kinds of flowers, as if in a garden, with colored glaze lanterns hung in an orderly manner. When the lights came on at night, they fell among the flowers, presenting a dreamlike beauty.

Soon after Qin Peng and Liu Shuyan arrived, it was dark. The two of them ate exquisite snacks and chatted casually. Then Qin Peng sat by the window, looking at the river view in the distance, watching the fishing boats singing in the evening and the lights on the riverside.

There were peonies blooming beside her. It was not the season for flowers to bloom, but someone had deliberately cultivated them. Liu Shuyan drank some wine and propped up his chin. Seeing the beauty and the flowers reflecting each other, he felt a little drunk.

Qin Peng sat there, alone.

Although he was clearly here, Liu Shuyan suddenly felt that there was only that person in this world.

She must be very cold, right?

Liu Shuyan didn't know why, but he suddenly felt this way. He propped himself up, walked over and put his coat on her.

Qin Peng was a little surprised. He turned around to look at Liu Shuyan, but saw the handsome young man smiling: "I will walk alone on the long road, and buy some warm clothes for her."

As he spoke, Liu Shuyan bent down, held her face with his hands, and rested his forehead against hers.

He smelled of alcohol and softened his voice: "I wish to have the care of a beautiful woman, and to be with her till we grow old together."

Qin Peng didn't say anything. She looked at his face so close to her and recalled that early morning when she walked out of the emperor's bedroom and when she thought the world was dark, this man stood not far away, looking at her with a smile.

"What are you doing here?"

"Come and take the princess back."

"What are you sending me for?"

"If the princess falls, there will be someone to help her up."

"I allow you to support me for the rest of my life."

The warmth of that moment was incomparable, and it surged up, making her eyes warm. She raised her hands, wrapped them around Liu Shuyan's neck, and said hoarsely, "Okay."

Liu Shuyan laughed softly, his expression gentle: "Don't rush to say yes, wait until you like me now, then say yes."

Qin Peng looked up in confusion: "What do you mean by you now?"

"That's right, don't dwell on the past all the time," Liu Shuyan straightened up, looked at her, and said slowly, "Look at the future me. When you still like me, we can talk about it later."

Qin Peng didn't quite understand what Liu Shuyan meant, and Liu Shuyan knew that she didn't understand, so he tapped her head with his fan and turned away with a smile.

At night, Liu Shuyan sent Qin Peng back home. When they reached the door, Liu Shuyan stood under the street light and watched Qin Peng enter the house. When he stepped over the threshold, Qin Peng couldn't help but turned around and suddenly called him: "Liu Shuyan!"

"Um?"

Liu Shuyan looked up at the woman in front of the gate. Qin Peng hesitated: "Do you like me?"

Liu Shuyan was slightly stunned, and then slowly smiled.

"Girl," he said in a gentle voice, "I like you a little, but I want to like you a little more."

Qin Peng couldn't tell what emotion she was feeling. She thought she would be sad, just like when Qin Shuhuai said he didn't like her, she felt a little bitter and sad.

However, perhaps because she had grown up, she didn't think it was a big deal when she heard the other party admit so openly that he didn't like her enough.

She nodded and said seriously, "Okay, I'll wait."

Liu Shuyan laughed out loud and watched Qin Peng turn around and go into the palace. He looked up at the flickering light of the lamp hanging on the roadside, then lit the lamp himself and went to Huai'an Palace.

When he arrived at Qin Shuhuai's residence, Jiang Chun quickly led him to the courtyard where Qin Shuhuai was. Now no one could persuade Qin Shuhuai, and Jiang Chun hoped that the serious business could make Qin Shuhuai come back to his senses.

When Liu Shuyan walked to the backyard, he heard the intermittent sound of a piano, one note after another, and he couldn't make out the tune at all.

The sound of the piano was very slow and difficult. Many people gathered on the corridor in the courtyard, but none of them dared to go forward. Liu Shuyan walked in with a lamp and saw the young man sitting cross-legged with his hair tied up.

His fingertips were covered in blood, and the blood fell all over the strings. A normal person would have given up because of the pain, but he still insisted on playing.

Liu Shuyan leaned against the pillar of the pavilion, looked at Qin Shuhuai quietly, and then listened to the intermittent sound of the piano.

"What are you playing?"

Liu Shuyan's voice was flat. Qin Shuhuai said nothing, as if this person did not exist, and lowered his head to play the piano.

"If you keep going like this, your hands will become useless."

Liu Shuyan reminded him, but Qin Shuhuai remained unmoved.

"you……"

"Don't talk."

Qin Shuhuai spoke seriously and gently, "You will disturb her."

Liu Shuyan frowned. Although he didn't know what happened exactly, he knew that it must be related to Zhao Peng.

He and Qin Shuhuai have always been in a very delicate relationship. In terms of identity and position, they are enemies.

However, for some reason, he always felt that they might be the people who understood each other best in this world.

As a result, their relationship is always on a delicate balance, with mutual trust occasionally and hostility often present.

Qin Shuhuai had Zhao Peng, and he had Dong Wanyi, but they are both dead.

Liu Shuyan never argued with Qin Shuhuai about some of the things he did, because sometimes Liu Shuyan felt that Qin Shuhuai had some problems with his brain. Especially when it came to things involving Zhao Peng, he was sick.

For example, at this moment, Liu Shuyan felt that Qin Shuhuai might be ill.

He sat down, poured himself a glass of wine, and softened his voice: "Princess Yuyang has been gone for six or seven years?"

Qin Shuhuai didn't respond. Liu Shuyan turned his wine glass: "This is the seventh year, right?"

"Have you done enough ridiculous things in the past seven years? Asking three or four-year-old children to find her reincarnation, asking Taoist priests to come to your house to summon her spirit, Qin Shuhuai," Liu Shuyan raised his eyes and looked at him: "When did she come back?"

"Shut up."

Qin Shuhuai's voice trembled slightly. Liu Shuyan took a sip of wine and said, "Qin Shuhuai, if she could come back, she would have come back long ago. If she didn't come back, she couldn't come back. Even if she came back, she wouldn't see you, which means she didn't want to see you."

"Shut up..."

"Qin Shuhuai," Liu Shuyan looked up at him and said calmly, "You should let go."

"I won't let go!"

Qin Shuhuai suddenly raised his voice, his eyes full of persistence: "I won't let go, why should I let go? I am her husband! I have been with her since she was nine years old, I love her, and she loves me too, why should I let go!"

As his voice sounded, the strings of the zither suddenly broke.

Liu Shuyan looked at him sadly: "If it's true as you said, she loves you so much, why doesn't she come to see you?"

Liu Shuyan stood up and looked at the trembling Qin Shuhuai: "If it is true as you said, that she loves you so much, why do you have to yell like this to prove that you two love each other?"

"Qin Shuhuai," Liu Shuyan said bluntly, "You yourself are not sure that she loves you, right?"

"Why would you bury yourself alive with such love?"

Liu Shuyan sighed, handed the handkerchief to Qin Shuhuai, and said gently: "Go and bandage the wound. It may be painful for you to wake up, but Qin Shuhuai, you can't live in your own lies for the rest of your life."

"She's not coming back, ever."

"If she comes back, then she doesn't love you either."