Consort Zhao did not refer to herself as "this palace" but as "this general"—before her entire family was wiped out and her face was disfigured, the late emperor almost appointed her as the General of Zhennan, and the imperial edict had already been drafted, but who would have thought that such an accident would happen.
Shang Shaoyan's eyebrows slowly lit up as he raised one and asked, "What is the general's unfulfilled wish?"
Consort Zhao lowered her eyes, leaned down, and whispered in Shang Shaoyan's ear, saying each word slowly and deliberately, "We will make this world peaceful and prosperous, and the four seas at peace; if foreign tribes invade us, we will punish them no matter how far away they are."
The rain grew heavier and denser, gradually blurring the air and making even Consort Zhao's voice somewhat indistinct.
But Shang Shaoyan heard it clearly.
Shang Shaoyan's eyes flickered slightly, then he turned to look at Consort Zhao and said solemnly, "General, please forgive me, but I cannot grant General Zhennan's request."
She paused, then bowed her head in surprise under Consort Zhao's gaze, her magnificent robes soaked with rain: "One day, Shaoyan will ask the General to help me fulfill this wish. Shaoyan wants to see the General's dashing figure, raising the battle flag in the howling west wind, slaying enemies with a long sword, and celebrating victory with wine, rather than breaking willow branches and picking flowers within the palace walls, with the road to Zhaoyang cut off and longing for the Emperor's mercy."
Consort Zhao stared blankly at the young woman who was nearly twenty years younger than her. Although she was naive and young, her eyes burned with a fierce fire that the rain could not extinguish... Princess Heyang had great ambitions and the ability to match them.
This Princess Heyang had once conspired with her to sabotage the Empress within the palace, and had made no attempt to conceal it when she and her younger brother were infamous.
Now, the county magistrate of Heyang told her that she could return to the days when she fought on the battlefield.
Everyone says that she has finally found happiness after years of hardship, having fought on the frontier and had her face ruined, yet she was still able to marry into the royal family. But what they don't know is that she doesn't love flowers and brocade, nor does she crave rich food and delicacies. She misses the days of fighting in the desert sands and wearing iron armor and cold clothes.
She, Li Langhuan, was once a spirited young woman.
At this moment, the stagnant pool of water in Consort Zhao's heart, which had been calm and lifeless, suddenly began to ripple. These ripples not only did not disappear, but intensified, stirring up the vitality of the entire pool.
After a long while, she finally came to her senses and helped Shang Shaoyan up with trembling hands: "Princess Heyang, I will wait for this day."
Shang Shaoyan smiled and nodded. Looking at Consort Zhao's eyes, which were now filled with fighting spirit, she couldn't help but laugh loudly, "General, believe me, this day won't be long."
Consort Zhao slowly smiled, but this time her smile was no longer the manic, delirious laugh of before; rather…
Rather, it was the dashing and romantic spirit of their triumphant return to Beijing.
She looked at Shang Shaoyan's face, somewhat dazed, but she heard herself say, each word clear and powerful: "In that case, it is time for this general's sword to be drawn again."
...
After Consort Zhao left, Shang Yunlan looked at Shang Shaoyan and sighed, "An'an, sometimes I really wish you could be like other girls, adorning yourself with flowers in front of the mirror every day, drawing your eyebrows and putting on makeup, living a more carefree and happy life, instead of like this..."
He didn't finish his sentence, but Shang Shaoyan knew he wanted to say, "It's not that hard."
Shang Shaoyan, holding an umbrella, stopped what she was about to do and looked back at Shang Yunlan, smiling, "Brother, I'm doing what I want to do, and I'm very happy."
—I'm not having a hard time.
If I were confined to the inner chambers of my home, that would be the death of me.
Shang Yunlan chuckled: "Go ahead, be careful on the road."
This time, only Shang Shaoyan left, a stark contrast to the grand procession she had when she left a month ago. However, the way she nimbly mounted her horse clearly told everyone that this was her own path, a path she was determined to take.
Whether it was tears or rain, Shang Yunlan felt her eyes were misty and her vision was blurred: "An'an, take care."
"Brother, take care."
Shang Shaoyan turned around and smiled brightly, then put away his umbrella, shouted loudly, and rode away.
Looking at Shang Shaoyan's blurry figure in the rain, Shang Yunlan seemed to hear her laughter, a hearty, joyful sound.
He couldn't help but sigh, realizing that the little girl who had been bullied and remained silent until she was capable enough to fight back had grown into such an outstanding person.
...meaning that there are probably very few people who can beat her now.
Thinking of this, Shang Yunlan couldn't help but chuckle, then turned and went back to the mansion, casually saying to Qingzhu, "It's raining, we should close the net now."
...
Shang Shaoyan left Shengjing and arrived in Hangzhou at noon.
The rain in Hangzhou has stopped, the streets are still wet, but the city is still bustling with activity.
She kept the tiger tally close to her body, found an inn to change out of her fine clothes, and put on a more practical Hu (non-Han) outfit. She also took off her elaborate hair bun and combed it into a high ponytail.
Shang Shaoyan packed up her fine clothes and hairpins, then found a pawnshop and sold them for a good price. She then used the money to buy a fine riding whip, and with the remaining silver, she bought a pot of moderately priced cloudy wine.
After doing all this, she had no money left except for her travel expenses, so she could no longer live a life of ease and luxury as before.
"This young lady doesn't seem stupid..." A passerby muttered to himself, puzzled, watching her series of actions. "Using such fine things that would be used as tribute, she only bought a whip and a pot of murky wine. Is she out of her mind?"
Upon hearing this, the pawnshop owner chuckled and said, "Look at you, you fool—that's Princess Heyang. She has no shortage of fine clothes, gold, silver, and jade. If she's happy, what's it to you?"
Just then, Shang Shaoyan rode over. Hearing this, he was not annoyed. He laughed and left, saying in the bright spring sunshine: "I'll exchange brocade for a long whip, and use a jade hairpin for wine. I'd rather be a kite beyond the Great Wall than a sparrow in the imperial city."
She drank wine as she rode her horse to the prefectural government office.
Shang Shaoyan's current attire didn't resemble that of a noble lady from a prominent family in Nan Chen; she looked more like a wandering knight-errant, so the gatekeeper naturally stopped her.
Shang Shaoyan was in a good mood and didn't argue with him. She simply revealed her identity: "I am the Princess of Heyang County, the cousin of your eldest daughter-in-law."
The gatekeeper was somewhat skeptical, but the reputation of Princess Heyang was simply too great—not only because she had caused quite a stir in Hangzhou last time, but also because the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion was now deeply favored by the emperor and its power was even greater than when the old Duke and his wife were alive. Therefore, he dared not delay. Whether it was true or not, Yan Xuening would know once she arrived.
Sitting on her horse, Shang Shaoyan smiled slightly—before detouring to Shu Prefecture, she naturally had to check if Yan Xuening had resolved the mess at home.
After all, this person was under her protection and had been trained by her for some time. If they couldn't even handle something this simple, then she could only...
I personally helped her solve the duck problem.
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