In the first year of Yongning, the new Emperor ascended the throne and addressed two important state matters during the first month of the new year.
First, the punishment for Shen Yuance’s crime of regicide.
According to the Great Ye law, those who commit treason shall be executed, with punishment extending to three generations of relatives. Their fathers and sons shall be executed alongside them. Their mothers, daughters, wives, concubines, brothers, sisters, grandchildren, servants, property, and estates shall be confiscated by the government. Their uncles and nephews shall be exiled three thousand li away.
The Shen family had few members remaining. Since his fiancée had already dissolved their marriage contract in the twelfth year of Xingwu, only his mother remained within the three generations, and she, along with the servants and attendants of both the Chang’an and Hexi Shen residences, was punished according to the law as a warning to others. As none of Shen’s subordinates had participated in the treason, the Xuance Army was spared involvement. The Mu family temporarily took charge of it, maintaining its garrison in Hexi according to previous regulations.
Second, the new Emperor negotiated with Western Luo regarding the termination of the marriage alliance between Great Ye and Western Luo.
The new Emperor opposed his predecessor’s western policy and wished to promote peace with Western Luo through mutually beneficial trade policies.
The Western Luo King, grieving the loss of his second son but unable to pursue Great Ye due to the marriage alliance disaster originating with the Western Luo Second Prince, coupled with his advanced age and declining strength, appointed the Western Luo Crown Prince to manage state affairs.
The Western Luo Crown Prince had the intention of approaching and learning from the Central Plains to promote his country’s prosperity. He was willing to accept the peace proposal from Great Ye’s new Emperor and signed a peace treaty for mutual benefit.
Thus, the turmoil initiated by the marriage alliance between Great Ye and Western Luo officially concluded.
After all the dust had settled, when people mentioned the Xingwu Emperor, they both praised him for strengthening Great Ye’s military power during his early reign and criticized him for abandoning his initial aspirations in his later years, sacrificing a meritorious minister’s daughter for peace, and harboring suspicions against military officials. It could be said that Xingwu was both his making and his undoing.
Regarding Shen Yuance, although the court did not know the specific truth of that day’s events, they guessed that Shen Yuance’s solitary journey to Chang’an was essentially walking into a trap, and that the so-called regicide was likely unavoidable self-defense. All lamented the loss of such a young and renowned general for Great Ye.
In the month following Shen Yuance’s death, Princess Yongying submitted a memorial requesting the abolition of her princess title, reverting to her status as a commandery princess, and thereafter residing permanently in Hexi. The new Emperor approved.
Early spring in the second month, at Yaoguang Garden in Jiangzang, Hexi.
Jiang Zhiyi stood in the courtyard, watching the familiar faces bustling around the residence, displaying a relieved smile.
The new Emperor’s confiscation of both the Hexi and Chang’an Shen residences was merely a formality. In reality, people had been secretly substituted. Madam Shen and Qing Song were currently on their way to Hexi. The remaining servants and attendants at the Chang’an Shen residence, not being confidants, were dismissed, while those from the Hexi Shen residence, being trusted individuals, were all transferred to Yaoguang Garden.
Jiang Zhiyi, accompanied by her maid, finished checking each gift sent from afar to congratulate her on moving into her new residence. She then entered the study alone, sat by the window, and began opening the letters that had arrived with the gifts.
The first was from her uncle, sending his usual assurances that all was well at home. However, he mentioned that Madam Zhong was now unable to fulfill the role of the primary wife, and they had decided to separate. Since Concubine Xu had no intention of breaking tradition by assuming the position of a concubine elevated to wife, she had suggested that he take a new wife. Her uncle asked for her opinion on this proposal.
“This is for the best,” Jiang Zhiyi said to Jing Zhe beside her. “A marquis’s household must have a proper mistress. Although Concubine Xu is impeccable in character, promoting a concubine to wife would harm Uncle’s official career, and the entire marquis’s residence would be looked down upon.”
Jing Zhe smiled and said, “Commandery Princess has truly become the mistress of the household now, considering matters more thoroughly. In this servant’s opinion, the Commandery Princess should remind the Marquis in her reply to pay attention to the character of his potential new wife when selecting, and to avoid repeating the mistake made with Madam Zhong.”
Jiang Zhiyi nodded in sincere agreement, put down her uncle’s letter, and opened the second one from Pei Xueqing. As she read, she shared with Jing Zhe: “Elder Sister Xueqing says that after her brother decided to enter official service last year, she was also inspired and decided to open a medical clinic in Chang’an. After months of preparation, the clinic has now been completed.”
“It seems Miss Pei has truly revived her spirits after taking revenge on her enemy.”
Jiang Zhiyi blinked gently. “But perhaps Elder Sister Xueqing will not marry in the future.”
“Perhaps. Women need not necessarily marry.”
Jiang Zhiyi detected the implication in Jing Zhe’s words. Earlier, when Jing Zhe was recovering at the Zheng County clinic, she had formed a mutual attraction with an apprentice there. Later, due to her traveling back and forth between Hexi and Chang’an twice for Jiang Zhiyi, this potential marriage was put on hold. Now that they had settled down, Jiang Zhiyi had wanted to arrange this marriage for Jing Zhe, but Jing Zhe didn’t want to leave her for Chang’an, nor did she want the man to abandon his family and career to come to Hexi, so she ended the relationship.
“There’s still a long future ahead. Perhaps new opportunities will arise. If you meet another good man, getting married would be wonderful. If not, doing what you enjoy is also good,” Jiang Zhiyi said as she folded Pei Xueqing’s letter and opened Baojia’s.
Elder Sister Baojia was characteristically concise, stating that her gifts had arrived in Hexi first, and she would be arriving in Hexi shortly after. She wrote that living in Chang’an was truly boring, and the male companions in the princess’s residence were equally uninteresting, so she had dismissed them all and preferred to come to Hexi for a change of scenery.
Jiang Zhiyi smiled as she read, hearing Baojia’s calculating tone even across two thousand li.
The final letter was from Pei Zisong.
“Pei Zisong says that since I gave away my family fortune last year to help the people of Xingyang, I’m now regarded as a living female bodhisattva there,” Jiang Zhiyi joked with Jing Zhe as she read the letter. “What nonsense! I haven’t given away all my fortune yet. We’re just getting started. Let’s make another inventory. The properties left in Chang’an are inconvenient to manage from afar. We might as well sell them and acquire new properties here in Hexi.”
Jing Zhe nodded in agreement.
Jiang Zhiyi continued reading the letter and saw Pei Zisong mention that Xingyang had now recovered its vitality, and the people had built a heroes’ shrine for San Qi and the other 101 Xuance Army soldiers.
Jiang Zhiyi gazed southeast for a moment, lost in thought, and murmured, “When things settle down, let’s visit San Qi and the others in Xingyang and invite them to drink a toast to our happiness.”
After carefully storing the four letters, Jiang Zhiyi sat by the window, resting her chin on her palm as she gazed at the beautiful spring scenery outside.
These four letters spoke of different matters, yet they shared one common point—none of them mentioned Shen Yuance.
Perhaps they deliberately avoided mentioning him to prevent causing her pain, or perhaps they had vaguely guessed the truth and knew that silence was safer.
Before leaving, Shen Yuance had told her of his plan. Jiang Zhiyi guessed that Qi Yan had sent someone to act as Shen Yuance’s substitute, but after such a fierce battle, Shen Yuance must have been injured as well. Otherwise, given his speed when riding a swift horse, he wouldn’t have been delayed on the road until now.
Although Shen Yuance hadn’t brought any soldiers to Chang’an, Li Dafeng had followed him shortly after. With Li Dafeng there, his wounds should have received the best treatment.
But she truly missed him terribly.
She longed to see him the very next moment, wanting to comfort him about his new scars.
Thinking of this, Jiang Zhiyi took out a letter from a nearby box.
It was a secret message from Shen Yuance reporting his safety, received during the first month of the year. It wasn’t written in Shen Yuance’s usual handwriting, but in his true handwriting, with just one sentence—
“When the flowers bloom along the path, I shall return slowly.”
Jiang Zhiyi raised her eyes, looking at the apricot trees planted outside the window, densely covered with snow-white blossoms, filling the courtyard with fragrance.
The flowers had already bloomed—when would he return?
As she was brooding with her chin in her hand, suddenly an arrow flashed before her eyes. The arrow shot through the air like a meteor, making a “thwack” sound as it embedded itself deep into the wood.
The white blossoms were shaken off by the arrow. The spring breeze rustled, blowing up a shower of apricot petals.
Jiang Zhiyi slowly straightened up, staring at the familiar scene in a daze, her heart vibrating like the arrow’s fletching, pounding fiercely.
With some hesitation, like the nervousness of approaching one’s hometown, Jiang Zhiyi slowly stood up from the window and walked out step by step.
In the courtyard, a young man in crimson clothes stood against the wind, his garments fluttering. Upon seeing her, he lowered the longbow in his palm, curved his lips, and opened his arms to her.
On their wedding day, she had told him he looked good in red.
So he wore red to return home, and wore red to see her.
Tears instantly welled in Jiang Zhiyi’s eyes, and she ran wildly toward him, her skirts flying as she crashed into his embrace.
Shen Yuance tightened his arms around her, closed his eyes, and gently rubbed his chin against the top of her head, as if confirming her reality: “I’m back. From now on, I belong only to you.”
Jiang Zhiyi held tightly around his waist, listening to his vibrant heartbeat, inhaling the reassuring scent from his collar, and closed her eyes: “You belong only to me now.”
During their long embrace, suddenly footsteps approached as Gu Yu entered carrying a wooden box: “Commandery Princess, Young Master, this came from the palace in Chang’an. I’m not sure if it might be a housewarming gift from His Majesty for the Commandery Princess.”
They both opened their eyes.
Shen Yuance’s eyes narrowed dangerously as he said through clenched teeth: “I’m not dead yet, am I?”
Jiang Zhiyi froze, then gently poked him, telling him not to say such inauspicious things. She turned to ask Gu Yu, “What is it?”
Seeing the couple embracing so tightly, unwilling to separate even a fraction despite the arrival of a gift from the Emperor, Gu Yu stepped forward and opened the lid for them.
A general’s black gold helmet came into view, with scale armor hanging down to conceal the face.
This wasn’t for her but for Shen Yuance.
Since Shen Yuance could no longer enter the Xuance Army with his face, this was Qi Yan’s hint that Shen Yuance could return to being a general under a different identity.
However, what Qi Yan didn’t know was that Shen Yuance already had another masked identity within the Xuance Army.
The respect earned during eight years as a scout, and the weight that the name “Jizhu” carried in the heart of every Xuance Army soldier, was no less than “Young General Shen.”
Just as Jiang Zhiyi thought of this, she heard Shen Yuance click his tongue above her head: “I won’t accept it. Send it back. I’ve fought wars for ten years and just had my first day of rest. Don’t they have any sense?”
With that, he bent down and lifted Jiang Zhiyi into his arms.
With a surprised cry, Jiang Zhiyi wrapped her arms around his neck as he steadily carried her toward the bedroom: “…Where are we going?”
Shen Yuance looked down at the person in his arms and smiled: “To be your Commandery Prince Consort.”