In the past two days, Shi Jun has been instructing Wei Xin on the preparations for leaving Beijing in Zhaoming Palace.

"Prepare several identical carriages. I will make it so that the prince can't even find us. By the time he comes to his senses, we will have gone far away."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

A palace servant outside the palace reported: "Your Highness Prince Jin, the Queen is here."

Shi Jun put away the map and asked Wei Xin to go out from the side door.

He went to the door to greet Queen Xiao. "

Auntie, all is well."

Queen Xiao got off the phoenix sedan and walked towards him with a gentle smile. Shi Jun seemed to see his mother Qingge.

"Jun'er, is your injury better? I'm here to change the medicine for you."

Queen Xiao stroked Shi Jun's injured arm with a loving look in her eyes.

"Aunt Lao worried about it, but it's all right now."

Taking her into the hall, Queen Xiao insisted on seeing his wounds. She really cared about him. It was impossible for Shi Jun not to be touched. In the past six months, besides Xu Mian, Queen Xiao was the one who had the most contact with him and took the most care of him.

How great it would be if she was his biological mother.

"The wound has healed. Young people recover quickly."

Queen Xiao applied medicine and tied a white silk ribbon carefully.

Shi Yan was so happy since he was a child. He had a gentle mother, a majestic father, and he knew Xu Mian since he was a child. For

a moment, Shi Jun felt a tightness in his chest. Jealousy was like a beast that made him want to explode and kill Shi Yan, but at this moment he had to endure it and pretend.

Empress Xiao took out a long brocade box from the tray held by the palace maid, and took out a scroll.

After opening it, in this painting, Empress Xiao and Qingge each held a swaddled baby.

The two sisters smiled sweetly at each other, and their relationship was really good.

"Jun'er, you and Yan'er have looked alike since you were young. You are more like brothers than brothers. Your mother and I agreed that we would let you study the Four Books and Five Classics together, ride horses and shoot arrows together..."

Empress Xiao was moved to tears when she mentioned her sister, and Jun handed her a handkerchief.

"Aunt, you are the closest person to Jun'er in this world, the one who truly cares about me."

Shi Jun didn't know why he reached out and held Empress Xiao's hand. Perhaps it was because of his desire for maternal love since childhood. He called out in his dreams for many nights, "Mother, I am Jun'er, mother..."

But at that time he didn't know what Qingge looked like. He had painted many portraits of women in front of the mirror and guessed that he should look like his mother.

Empress Xiao shook his hand back and placed it in her palm, "Jun'er, it's all my fault, otherwise your mother might not have died. It's my failure to protect her and you, and you have suffered for so many years."

"Aunt, it's not your fault."

He wanted to call her mother so much, but he didn't dare to call out after moving his lips several times.

During the half year when he pretended to be Shi Yan, he would call his mother every day when he went to Kunning Palace to pay his respects. If he had known, he should have called her more often. Fortunately, one of the two words "aunt" is "mother".

"Jun'er, aunt hopes that you can live in peace with Yan'er, and also hopes that you can find a good girl who loves you and build a happy family."

Shi Jun's moved expression froze. She had laid so much groundwork, probably just for this last hint, suggesting that he should stop thinking about Xu Mian, but it was obviously he who was born first, and he should have been engaged to Xu Mian.

"Don't worry, aunt, I will leave the capital next month."

Empress Xiao blamed herself and wanted to keep Shi Jun by her side to take care of him, but he and Shi Yan fell in love with Xu Mian at the same time, and they were incompatible. In order to prevent both sides from being hurt, separation was the best way.

"Jun'er, Jinling is not far from the capital. You must come back every New Year so that our family can be reunited."

"Okay."

Like a real mother and son, they had dinner together and sent Empress Xiao off on the phoenix sedan chair. Shi Jun watched her figure gradually disappear into the distance.

Aunt, I must take Mianmian with me.

The next day was Xu Mian's birthday. When she woke up early in the morning, she could smell the fragrance filling the house.

"Wow, so many orange blossoms! And roses of various colors."

"His Royal Highness the Crown Prince sent them here early in the morning."

Xuelian's body had not fully recovered from the beating, and she had to get up today to celebrate Xu Mian's birthday.

"Xue Lian, go lie down quickly."

"Crown Princess, today is an important day. I will take good care of you."

Xu Mian touched her back, "Does it still hurt?"

"It doesn't hurt anymore."

"You're lying. I allow you to serve me and then go to rest after you wash up. Otherwise, I will send you back to the Xu Mansion."

"Okay, then let me comb a beautiful bun for you."

"Xue Lian, you have the most dexterous hands."

She picked out a complicated and luxurious Yanluo dress, did an extremely complicated facial mask, applied jade-like facial rouge, applied scented powder, drew black eyebrows, applied rouge, and put on lipstick.

Xuelian expertly combed Xu Mian's hair into a bun, "The bun is high and reaches up to the clouds. His Highness will definitely like it when he sees it."

Xu Mian stroked the hair by her ears and pouted, "I don't care whether he likes it or not. As long as I like it, the most important thing in life is to be happy." She

specially selected the Eight Treasures Dragonfly and Flourishing Flowers from the makeup niche. Xuelian smiled and said, "Your Highness has a good eye. The Crown Princess must like this flowers very much, right?"

"It's just okay."

She thought to herself, Shi Yan said that he would give her a big surprise today, what is it?

Just as she was thinking, a palace maid came to report, "Crown Princess, His Highness has asked you to go to Jianfu Palace Garden in half an hour."

"Jianfu Palace? ... Oh, by the way, Ah Yan must want to ask me to go fishing."

"It's possible. There are a lot of koi in the pond over there. I'll ask someone to prepare the equipment for you."

Xu Mian looked into the bronze mirror and said narcissistically, "I'm so beautiful. I'll fascinate him."

She asked Xuelian to lie down and recuperate, and took two palace maids to Jianfu Palace.

Jianfu Palace is at the westernmost end of the imperial palace. It is a sparsely populated garden. Xu Mian was looking forward to what Shi Yan would take her to play.

The procession stopped outside the garden, and Xu Mian looked into the garden.

The sun is not very bright today, and there is a rare coolness in summer.

She walked in with two maids and admired the scenery, but did not see Shi Yan.

"Let's go sit in the pavilion." She thought about waiting for Shi Yan there.

After a while, a tall man in a cyan robe came from the corridor at one end. Xu Mian only looked at the color of the brocade robe, without looking at the pattern carefully, and waved, "A Yan! I'm here!"

Shi Jun also waved back at her, walked quickly to her, and said with a smile, "Mian Mian, happy birthday."

Xu Mian stood up and threw herself into his arms, her legs were so weak that she didn't want to touch the ground.

"Ayan, didn't you go to the morning court? Why did you ask me out so early?"

Shi Jun picked her up and kissed her lovingly, "Today is your birthday, I will accompany you all day."

He asked the two palace maids to leave.

Xu Mian hugged his neck and didn't find anything unusual, because Shi Jun deliberately made his expression rich and tried his best to imitate Shi Yan.

Isn't that kid so frivolous?

"Mianmian, I'll carry you to a place first. Let's go fishing and release paper fins later, okay?"

"Okay."

Shi Jun looked around, carried her through the path, chatted with her while walking, and finally entered a palace, where he would change Xu Mian's clothes...