Winter of the thirteenth year of Xingwu, in the Cold Palace.

The doors of the desolate palace chamber were tightly shut. Except for ventilation holes, all four windows had been nailed shut with wooden boards. Even at the brightest hour of the day, only a few faint beams of light filtered through the cracks between the boards, illuminating the dust particles dancing near the ceiling.

In the silent room, the nearly exhausted charcoal fire gave out a feeble gasp. Jing Zhe, who had been lying at the edge of the bed, was startled awake by the crackling sound. She suddenly opened her eyes, realizing she had accidentally fallen asleep, and immediately looked up at the person on the bed.

The person on the bed had black hair spread around her, a pale complexion, and furrowed brows in her unconscious state. In her sleep, she must have dreamed of something distressing, as the hand hanging at her side was tightly clenched into a fist, trembling from the effort.

Jing Zhe hurriedly pried open the five fingers that Jiang Zhiyi had dug into her palm, revealing the purple-red crescent marks in her palm. She hastily rose to get ointment from the drawer cabinet.

Upon opening the porcelain jar’s lid, she discovered the ointment was nearly gone. She called outside for someone, called several times, but the only response was the harsh cawing of crows outside the window.

A hostage who had already lost her value—even the guards no longer cared.

Who would remember that the young woman now lying in this abandoned Cold Palace, unattended and forgotten, was once the most pampered and willful noble lady in Chang’an, even more favored by the Emperor than the imperial princesses?

From being surrounded by luxury and admiration to falling into the dust—it took just two years.

Jing Zhe raised her eyes to look at this gloomy prison, then dragged her steps back to the bed. She scraped the remaining ointment from the sides of the porcelain jar and gently applied it to the wounds in Jiang Zhiyi’s palm. Looking at the hideous marks, at the depleted charcoal fire by her feet, she silently shed tears.

The beginning of all this dated back to the Yong’en Marquis Manor two years ago.

That winter, the Madam, in order to use the Princess to bring good fortune to the First Young Master, took advantage of the Marquis’s absence in the south for canal repairs. She secretly performed witchcraft on the Princess and, using a maid planted at the Princess’s side, employed despicable means at a banquet attended by numerous nobles to send the Princess into the First Young Master’s courtyard.

She had sensed something wrong and rushed over, desperately protecting the Princess’s chastity, but she couldn’t prevent the scandal from spreading, subjecting the Princess to endless rumors.

Amid the citywide gossip, the Princess suffered nightmares every night, feeling so nauseated that she couldn’t bear to stay at the Marquis Manor for a single day.

With the Marquis away, the Emperor personally stepped in to severely punish the Madam and First Young Master, bringing the Princess into the palace to live in the chamber that had been reserved for her all these years.

The Princess had always known that the Emperor’s exceptional favor toward the daughter of his meritorious official was because in the early days of his reign, he needed to consolidate his throne and win people’s hearts. But she thought, so much had already been lost—wouldn’t it be too pitiful to question the purity of what she still possessed? The Princess didn’t want to overthink; she accepted this imperial favor as she had done for many years.

For the next two months, the Princess lived in seclusion in the deep palace, not venturing out at all. Though she had come to seek peace, her food, clothing, shelter, and transportation remained extraordinarily luxurious. With Princess Baojia occasionally visiting to keep her company, her days were quite pleasant.

At that time, the Princess was truly grateful for this shelter the Emperor had provided.

Under the Emperor’s authority, the rumors gradually subsided, and the Princess’s nightmares slowly faded away.

As the New Year approached, the Madam’s natal family, the Kangle Baron Manor, was implicated in a shocking case of embezzling military funds. The entire Zhong family was imprisoned, and Madam Zhong’s dream of relying on her natal family completely shattered.

The Princess finally felt a mood to applaud, asking who had done such a good deed in exposing the Zhong family.

She went to gather information for the Princess and heard that it was Madam Zhuo from the Xuande Marquis Manor who had filed the accusation. But within the palace, another rumor circulated that Lady Fan, the wife of the River East Military Governor, had secretly indicated to the Emperor that Young General Shen was behind this matter.

“Shen Yuance?” When the Princess heard this name, she was quite surprised.

Indeed, if the Princess were to guess, she would likely exhaust the entire court’s officials before thinking of Shen Yuance.

It was only then that the Princess learned that the pampered young master who had once quarreled with her over a cricket had transformed greatly after three years of warfare. The current Shen Yuance now carried the title of “Young War God.” Two months ago, on the day of his triumphant return, the streets of Chang’an were packed with onlookers, and flower petals rained down everywhere—a spectacle even grander than the triennial parade of the top imperial scholar.

The Princess, fearing the cold in winter, rarely went out. Coincidentally, she had encountered trouble right when Young General Shen was returning victorious, and had not crossed paths with him during these two months. Upon hearing this, she still found it hard to believe and asked if it was really true.

She then told the Princess everything she had learned from outside, from Young General Shen’s military achievements in the Hexi region to his current prominence at the Tianchong Academy.

The Princess remained half-convinced.

The Marquis couldn’t make it back to the capital for New Year’s Eve due to his duties. On New Year’s Eve, Princess Baojia came to the palace to celebrate with the Princess and casually remarked to her, “Could it be that Shen Yuance feels he was too harsh toward you in the past and brought down the Zhong family to make amends?”

The Princess replied, “Come on, setting aside whether he has that capability, even if he did, he wouldn’t have the conscience.”

Princess Baojia, never one to avoid stirring up trouble, promptly went to ask Young General Shen for confirmation, inquiring whether he had stood up for the Princess. Unexpectedly, Young General Shen said, “In three years of not seeing her, the Princess has grown even more presumptuous.”

Upon hearing this, the Princess was furious, angry at Young General Shen for his unchanged maliciousness, and also angry at Princess Baojia for taking matters into her own hands: “Who said he’s different? Isn’t he still the same old impossible person?”

Princess Baojia spent a long time appeasing the Princess and apologizing, saying who would have thought that Shen Yuance, appearing so decent on the outside, would still be so difficult with the Princess, and promised to ignore him in the future.

However, seeing that the Princess had the spirit to be angry with someone suggested that the shadow left by the First Young Master was finally passing.

On the second day of the New Year, the Emperor hosted a banquet for foreign envoys. The Princess attended this grand palace banquet along with the princes and princesses.

Halfway through the banquet, urgent news arrived from eight hundred miles away that the Queen of Xiluo was critically ill. Like a stone causing ripples, the Xiluo diplomatic mission hastily left the capital, and unease spread throughout the palace as everyone began calculating their own interests.

After the banquet, the Emperor urgently summoned Young General Shen to the palace to discuss his views on the matter.

It was on that day in the palace that the Princess met Young General Shen for the first time after three years of separation.

As they passed each other, the Princess was still angry about Young General Shen’s comment about her being presumptuous, and Young General Shen also seemed reluctant to engage with the Princess. Neither of them spoke to the other.

Even though the court was in political turmoil at that time, it had nothing to do with the Princess. For her, it was just another ordinary day among thousands.

After that day, Young General Shen returned to Hexi. The Marquis came back to Chang’an to reunite with the Princess, sending a divorce letter to expel the Madam from the Marquis Manor. All the male members of the Zhong family were sentenced to exile and disappeared during the journey.

All the people the Princess disliked were no longer in Chang’an, except for the First Young Master who, as the Marquis’s legitimate son, remained at the Marquis Manor. The Princess didn’t want the Marquis to be torn between his son and her, so she used the excuse that she was more comfortable in the palace and had no intention of returning to the Marquis Manor.

She continued to stay with the Princess in the palace until February, when they were shocked to hear that the Marquis had contracted pneumonia after catching a cold. Only then did they learn that the Marquis’s delay in returning to the capital for New Year’s wasn’t due to his duties, but because he had been accidentally injured by a boulder while working on the canal, leaving him with lingering health issues.

The Princess hurriedly returned to the Marquis Manor and, setting aside her hatred for the First Young Master, attended to the Marquis at his sickbed every day from then on.

Yet after some time, even after consulting all the famous doctors in Chang’an, the Marquis showed no signs of improvement.

Princess Baojia suggested that there might be someone who could save the Marquis and wrote a letter to Hexi.

It turned out that a military doctor named Li Dafeng under Young General Shen’s command was an old acquaintance of Princess Baojia and was known for his miraculous healing abilities.

Following the treatment from the prescription in Military Doctor Li’s reply, the Marquis’s condition finally stabilized.

The Princess prepared gifts to send to Hexi as thanks. Remembering that Military Doctor Li was in Young General Shen’s Yuance camp in Guzang, she worried that if Young General Shen heard about it, his pettiness might prevent his subordinates from helping her. So she insisted on sending a gift to Young General Shen as well, to keep him from interfering.

As the Marquis’s health gradually improved, the Princess also took this opportunity to move back to the Marquis Manor. Everything seemed to be returning to how it was before.

Until that day, a hundred days after the death of the Queen of Xiluo, another devastating blow shattered the life the Princess had just barely restored—

Xiluo sent a letter to Great Yu requesting a renewal of their marriage alliance, and the person they asked to marry was the Princess.

They later realized belatedly that on the second day of the New Year, when the Princess attended the palace banquet, the Xiluo envoy was sitting across from her and had asked a palace maid, “Which princess is that?”

Perhaps that was how the lustful old King of Xiluo had learned of the Princess’s existence.

But years ago, when Princess Deqing went to Xiluo as a peace bride, it was because Great Yu was weak and had to maintain border stability. Now, Great Yu had become strong enough to fight, and the Emperor had always advocated for military strength during his reign. How could he agree to another marriage alliance?

Moreover, when the Princess had her previous incident, the Emperor had assured her: “Why would a daughter of the imperial family need to submit to marrying such a scoundrel because of a few rumors? Don’t worry about what people outside say. In the future, your Imperial Uncle will arrange the best marriage for you.”

The Emperor couldn’t possibly send the Princess to Xiluo—at least, that’s what they initially thought.

A few days later, however, the Emperor summoned the Princess to the palace. With great distress, he explained that Hexi was the throat connecting the Central Plains to the Western Regions and was also Great Yu’s shield against foreign enemies. For thousands of years, it had been a strategically crucial area fought over by military forces. After three years of fighting with Northern Jie, if they were to engage in another three-year war with Xiluo, how could Hexi sustain it? How could Great Yu sustain it?

The Princess returned from the palace in a daze, understanding the Emperor’s true intentions.

Hexi, Hedong, and the Imperial Court formed a stable triangle. Now, the Fan family of Hedong had grown too powerful and might harbor treasonous thoughts, with the Second Prince, their nephew, supporting them in the capital. The Emperor needed to rely on the sword of Hexi to check Hedong’s power.

But if Hexi went to war with Xiluo, it would be unable to attend to other matters, possibly allowing Hedong to take advantage of the situation.

The Emperor couldn’t risk this, so he had to sacrifice the Princess to secure peace on the western front.

Half a year ago, the Emperor had spread his wings to shelter the Princess from wind and rain. Half a year later, the Emperor personally pushed her into the storm.

Overnight, the orphaned daughter of a meritorious official, once used to win people’s hearts, became a discarded piece.

A young girl who had never met someone she truly loved, who had never seriously considered what kind of person she wanted to marry, now had to accept such a cruel fate for the sake of politics.

It turned out that on what the Princess thought was just an ordinary day, in places unseen by all, the wheels of fate had already begun to turn silently.

The Marquis was so heartbroken that his cough worsened. He dragged his sick body to seek an audience with the Emperor. Princess Baojia had a huge argument with the Emperor, and the Fourth Prince, who had been close to the Princess since childhood, also begged the Emperor to reconsider.

Unfortunately, no one could change the Emperor’s decision.

The Princess sat with the imperial edict in her hands all night. With no choice but to accept her fate, she still had to console the Marquis, saying that until she actually married into Xiluo, there might still be a turning point.

What turning point could there be when it was like an arm trying to stop a chariot? Before the greater situation, the Princess knew she was always the one to be abandoned. She was used to it, and even her hatred had become calm.

During the days waiting for the wedding garments and peace envoy procession to be prepared, the Princess neither cried nor made a fuss. She just sat on her bed with her knees drawn up all day.

She urged the Princess not to resign herself like this. If the Emperor’s concern was Hexi, could Young General Shen possibly change the situation?

“How could Shen Yuance possibly help me? Besides, if I don’t marry for peace, wouldn’t he have to go to war?” At that time, the Princess didn’t even consider this possibility.

“What about Minister Zhou? I’ve inquired and learned that the envoy escorting you to the marriage alliance is Zhou Zheng’an, the Minister of Protocol. Minister Zhou also regrets that after Great Yu spent ten years preparing for war, they still have to resort to a marriage alliance. Is there any chance we could win him over?” she continued to encourage the Princess.

If they could get Minister Zhou’s help, perhaps there was a method worth trying, the Princess murmured.

Though the chance was slim, at least they had a plan, like treating a dead horse as if it were still alive. She accompanied the Princess as she regained her spirits, managing to obtain a prescription for feigning death, preparing for an escape plan.

Before departure, the Princess lied to the Marquis that the prescription wouldn’t harm her, telling him not to worry, and set off on the western journey under the escort of the diplomatic mission.

It was one of Great Yu’s hottest summers in a decade. Under the scorching sun, the peace marriage procession traveled less than twenty li each day. The Princess suffered from the heat, but this also gave her more time and opportunities to win people over.

Throughout the arduous journey, the Princess remained gentle and never complained. She often shared her stored ice with servants and attendants who suffered from heat stroke. Gradually, people changed their impression of the supposedly pampered Princess and became more attentive in caring for her.

But the key figure was Minister Zhou. They tried to subtly influence Zhou Zheng’an, waiting for the right moment to negotiate with him.

One day, as the peace envoy procession was about to leave the capital area and had set up camp in the wilderness, they happened to have dumplings for a meal. The Princess decided to use a ploy of suffering, making it appear as if Jing Zhe had been negligent, allowing dumplings to be sent into the main tent.

The Princess had developed an aversion to dumplings since childhood when she had received news of her mother’s suicide while eating them. For years, she couldn’t even bear to look at dumplings without feeling suffocated. Faced with the dumplings before her, the Princess broke out in a cold sweat and began retching uncontrollably, frightening Minister Zhou into hurriedly calling for a doctor.

She pretended to arrive late, as if she had been neglectful in her duties, and naturally explained the story behind the dumplings to Minister Zhou and the doctor.

Minister Zhou, being a parent himself, sighed upon seeing the outwardly dazzling Princess suffering such sorrow in private, and ordered that no dumplings should appear in the procession again.

After that, the Princess occasionally showed vulnerability, though most of what she revealed was genuine, except for one matter.

Once, when the Princess fainted from the heat, Minister Zhou lamented that if the Princess had married earlier, she wouldn’t have had to endure this ordeal.

She heard Minister Zhou’s implication that the Princess was now in this predicament because she had been too selective in her youth. Sensing that her influence still wasn’t sufficient, she embellished the truth, claiming that the Princess had previously arranged a marriage, but it had been ruined by Madam Zhong’s schemes and the ensuing rumors.

Minister Zhou was surprised, asking why he hadn’t heard of this.

She made up a story, saying that initially the Marquis didn’t approve of the match, so the Princess could only meet the other party secretly, which was why no one in Chang’an knew about it.

Mixing lies with truth, Minister Zhou indeed believed her. She continued to elaborate, and Minister Zhou’s gaze toward the Princess grew more sympathetic with each passing day.

But this bit of sympathy was not enough to win over an imperial envoy, and the Princess was contemplating her next plan.

Then, unexpectedly, an incident occurred.

At the end of June, the Second Prince and the Fan family of Hedong took advantage of the drought in the three southern provinces to start a rebellion, blocking the path of the peace marriage.

The rebel army came too suddenly, with one force marching directly toward Chang’an and another mainly attacking the inland to intercept reinforcements from Hexi. Although they were not directly affected by the fighting, the peace marriage procession had to remain where they were amid the chaos of war.

Minister Zhou led the diplomatic mission to seek refuge in a city near the capital region, waiting for the Imperial Court and Hexi to suppress the rebellion.

They spent an anxious month there, hearing that after Hedong rebelled, the Yuance Army had set out from Hexi to provide aid, marching urgently over a thousand li, until they encountered resistance at Xingzhou.

The city of Xingyang, the administrative center of Xingzhou, had traitors who allowed the supposedly defensible city to be easily captured by the rebels, becoming a fortress for them to resist the Yuance Army.

The Yuance Army, having marched so far to provide aid, was inevitably exhausted. Even with their fighting prowess, they unavoidably spent a great deal of time and sacrificed many soldiers at that location. Fortunately, they eventually took Xingyang.

After passing this obstacle, the Yuance Army was finally able to advance all the way, sweeping through everything in their path, recovering the inland and causing the rebels to flee in disarray.

Just as the rebellion seemed about to be quelled, bad news arrived—the Fan family was withdrawing from the capital region in a direction that would take them through the city where the peace marriage envoy was located.

Minister Zhou sensed trouble, suspecting that the Fan family, desperate and without bargaining chips, might take the peace marriage Princess hostage. He quickly had the Princess disguise herself and hide in the home of a local commoner.

Soon, Minister Zhou’s premonition came true. That night, the rebel army stormed into the city, searching house by house.

She protected the Princess as they remained hidden, but the rebels were ruthless, threatening to slaughter the city’s residents if the Princess wasn’t surrendered.

She and the Princess hid in darkness, watching as rebels walked back and forth outside with torches. When a rebel raised a knife to a young child and began counting down from three, the Princess broke free from her grasp and tremblingly rushed out at the count of one.

“I said the daughter of the Ningguo Duke wouldn’t disregard the lives of the common people. It’s truly a pity, Princess, that the blood flowing in your veins is too kind. Today, Uncle Fan will teach you a lesson—kind people have too many weaknesses, which is why good people never end up with good outcomes.” Seated on a tall horse, Fan smiled as he looked at the Princess who had walked into the trap.

As soon as he finished speaking, in a flash like lightning, an arrow shot through the darkness, piercing Fan’s chest.

The surrounding rebels were so shocked that they forgot to bind the Princess. Fan slowly looked down at the arrow in his chest and fell from his horse in disbelief.

“Then let me also teach Minister Fan a lesson—evil people who talk too much don’t end up with good outcomes either.” A smiling male voice came from the rooftop.

That was the second time the Princess met Young General Shen.

In the night filled with gunpowder smoke and blazing fire, at the Princess’s most desperate moment, that young man had miraculously infiltrated the city occupied by rebels, single-handedly, like a deity descending from heaven.

The Princess finally believed that the title of “War God” given to him by the people was not undeserved, and she began to reconsider her memory of him.

That night, Young General Shen, with just one person and one spear, carved out a bloody path for the Princess.

She led the Princess along the escape route, and the Yuance Army that arrived later also rescued the captured peace envoy. However, at dawn, when they reunited with Minister Zhou at the military camp, they discovered that more than half of the envoy’s staff was missing.

It turned out that the previous night, before threatening to massacre the city, the rebels had first attacked the envoy, killing one person after another, but no one revealed the Princess’s whereabouts, which was why the rebels had turned to searching the city.

Minister Zhou said regretfully that throughout the journey, everyone had been indebted to the Princess’s kindness, and they had thought that if they could delay even for a moment, the reinforcements would be one step closer.

In the bright daylight, with corpses strewn before them, the Princess seemed to truly reach the edge of collapse, far worse than her earlier despair when she had walked into the trap.

The Princess knelt on the ground of the military camp, looking at the mountain of bodies and sea of blood, crying out loud, repeatedly saying “I’m sorry.”

Perhaps Minister Zhou, Young General Shen, and Military Doctor Li didn’t know why the Princess was so distraught.

Only she knew that the Princess’s apologies were because her kindness toward everyone in the envoy had been calculated, all for the purpose of manipulating them. Yet in the end, these people had repaid a self-serving, insignificant kindness with their lives.

She supported the Princess back to her tent, passing by the injured attendants and soldiers along the way. As they passed Young General Shen’s tent, she saw soldiers carrying out basins of bloody water. Inside the tent, after the bloody battle, Young General Shen was casually treating his wounds—fresh wounds layered over old ones.

The Princess stood transfixed, unable to move forward until Minister Zhou came to guide her away.

Looking back later, it was probably from that day forward that the Princess no longer felt such aversion toward Young General Shen.

Young General Shen had come to rescue the Princess not because of who she was, but because of her identity as the peace marriage Princess. If the peace marriage Princess became a hostage, it would put Young General Shen in a dilemma. If he spared Fan, the rebellion would not be suppressed; but if the peace marriage Princess were harmed, even if the rebellion was successfully quelled, the Yuance Army would be criticized by those with ulterior motives, accused of disregarding peace treaties and being overly fond of war.

But for the Princess, regardless of the initial motive, the result was that Young General Shen had been injured like that to save her.

Those childish arguments from their youth perhaps no longer mattered in the face of that bloody scene.

During those days, while the peace envoy and the Yuance Army remained in place to recover, the Princess repeatedly had her send medicines and food to Young General Shen. Coming and going, a misunderstanding arose.

One day, after tending to the Princess, she was carrying a basin out of the Princess’s tent when Minister Zhou called her over.

Minister Zhou asked her if the person who had been secretly engaged to the Princess was Young General Shen.

She hadn’t expected the lie she had made up would be matched to him, and in her surprise, she hastily denied it.

Upon reflection, the old Young General Shen did indeed fit the profile of someone the Marquis would look down upon, and he had had many interactions with the Princess. There had already been rumors in court about Young General Shen bringing down the Zhong family, and now Young General Shen had personally rescued the Princess. Add to this the Princess’s complex emotions these days—on one hand grateful for Young General Shen’s rescue and checking on his injuries, on the other hand awkward due to their past and unable to show her face openly—it did indeed seem like former lovers meeting.

She immediately explained that the Princess and Young General Shen were purely adversaries, nervous because of her lie. But in Minister Zhou’s eyes, it appeared as if she was nervous because the truth had been guessed.

Minister Zhou naturally didn’t say anything further on the surface, only saying that he had misunderstood. She thought that if Minister Zhou mentioned this matter to Young General Shen, and Young General Shen guessed their intentions, it would be troublesome. She hurriedly asked the Princess what to do.

The Princess replied: “It doesn’t matter. Whether it’s exposed or not, it’s not important anymore.”

She vaguely sensed that the Princess had made some decision, but she wasn’t sure at the time. Until an imperial edict arrived from Chang’an, ordering the peace envoy to continue westward after recovery, with the Yuance Army returning west to clear the path and escort them due to the heavy casualties among the attendants.

The marriage alliance had been decided, and delaying at this point would allow Xiluo to see that Great Yu was seriously weakened after the internal rebellion. Xiluo might change from peace to war, and the Emperor did not want Hexi to fight again, so the marriage alliance still had to proceed.

The night before departure, the Princess played the ocarina to send off those who had sacrificed. After returning to her tent, she crushed the pill that was to be used for feigning death.

She desperately tried to stop the Princess, but the Princess calmly looked at the powder: “Jing Zhe, do you know what I was thinking the moment Hedong rebelled and the marriage alliance was interrupted?”

She asked what?

The Princess answered: “I was thinking, now that Hedong has rebelled, maybe I won’t have to go through with the marriage alliance? With so many cities about to fall, so many innocent people about to die by the rebels’ swords, the first thing I thought of was this. Am I very selfish…”

“You didn’t know at first that this battle would be so dangerous,” she comforted the Princess.

“But I know now,” the Princess looked at her and said, “Those who try to stop a chariot with their arm, if they don’t accept their fate, will cost others their lives… My life, I’ll accept it.”

The next day, the Princess once again boarded the westbound carriage, escorted by the remaining attendants and an elite Yuance Army unit.

Under the newly risen sun, the Princess leaned against the carriage wall, gazing calmly at the young man in black armor on horseback outside the window, and said to her: “I never thought the person accompanying me on my final journey would be him.”

“It’s the land of my ancestors from now on. Let’s make this last journey a happy one,” the Princess said with a smile, looking at the distant mountains and rivers.

After that day, the Princess seemed to forget the destination of this journey, living happily every day.

Because the official road had not been completely reopened, the envoy traveled mostly on wilderness paths throughout the inland. The Princess, having been sheltered in inner chambers since childhood, used to find the wilderness dirty and had never experienced its pleasures. Now, she didn’t mind anything. In the clear autumn days of August, they passed by a stream one day, and the Princess was suddenly inspired to catch fish.

Minister Zhou indulged the Princess and the accompanying Yuance Army soldiers, knowing that the Princess’s marriage alliance was taking the place of what they should have done, perhaps felt some guilt. They began teaching the Princess the art of fishing.

Though the soldiers taught her, how could the Princess learn? Standing by the stream with a fish spear, she didn’t catch any fish but was terrified by a water snake, resulting in everyone frantically trying to catch the snake.

A perfect group of military elites was thrown into confusion by the Princess. Young General Shen watched until he could no longer bear it, speared a sword full of fish, and presented them to the Princess, asking: “Is this enough for the Princess to eat?”

The Princess looked at the densely packed dead fish on the sword and turned away to vomit violently. She didn’t eat fish again for a whole ten days.

After the fishing failure, they passed through a forest one day, and the Princess, having forgotten the pain of her previous experience, became interested in hunting.

But hunting required learning archery first, which couldn’t be accomplished in one day. The soldiers said there was a sleeve arrow that could be mastered quickly, though it wasn’t used in the military, but their general knew how to make one.

The Princess probably thought it was too much trouble and was about to give up, but remembering how Young General Shen had spoiled her fun last time, she changed her mind and said: “Then send down the order, this Princess wants a sleeve arrow.”

The next day, a sleeve arrow was delivered to the Princess by a soldier. It was evident that Young General Shen was very unwilling, having spent a day making the sleeve arrow without showing his face even once.

In the forest, the soldiers knew the Princess wouldn’t be able to hit any game even with the sleeve arrow, so they had prepared in advance. When the Princess shot an arrow, they went to grab a rabbit that had already been hidden in the grass, telling her she had hit it.

To avoid the Princess seeing a brutal scene and vomiting again, the soldiers had killed the rabbit beforehand in a very proper manner, without even shedding blood.

The Princess was elated, treating the wild rabbit as if she had conquered Great Yu’s realm, declaring grandly that she would reward the entire camp with her first-ever game.

When the rabbit was roasted, she realized it wasn’t enough to share. She could only distribute some meat to the few soldiers who had participated in the hunt, keeping one rabbit leg for herself.

Just as Young General Shen happened to pass by the bonfire, the Princess remembered that the sleeve arrow had been made by him, and if she didn’t give him a share, it would seem as if she was still holding a grudge from the past. So she held out the rabbit leg that was about to reach her mouth.

Young General Shen seemed to look down on this bit of meat that wasn’t even enough to fill a tooth gap and didn’t take it. Instead, he went to the side to roast a deer he had casually caught.

Such a large deer was truly enough to reward the entire camp. While the Princess muttered about what was so good about deer meat, she cherished her rabbit leg and ate it slowly, savoring every bite.

In the end, Young General Shen didn’t share a single piece of deer meat with the Princess. When she glared at him, he coldly remarked: “Didn’t the Princess say—what’s so good about deer meat?”

In the entire envoy, only Young General Shen dared to speak to the Princess this way. After returning to her tent, the Princess huffed that next time she would also catch a deer.

After that, the Princess fell in love with hunting. Whenever they stopped to rest during the journey, she would take her sleeve arrow and call for people to set out.

From wild rabbits to pheasants to deer, the Princess’s reputation for hitting every target spread throughout the envoy.

She, of course, knew the truth but didn’t tell the Princess—after all, it was all to make the Princess happy.

Eating wild game naturally became tiresome after a while. When the official road reopened, they happened to pass through a city on the Mid-Autumn Festival. The Princess took a bag of gold leaves and asked Minister Zhou to send someone into the city to buy good wine and food, saying she wanted to treat everyone for the festival.

But the military had strict discipline—who would dare to drink alcohol during a march? In the end, the good food was distributed to everyone, but the good wine all remained with the Princess.

The Princess ate the delicacies and drank the wine, sighing that the only thing missing was entertainment. As the wine took effect, she had someone invite Young General Shen, asking him to perform spear techniques for her.

Young General Shen was exasperated and turned to leave, but the Princess began to cry on her own: “Isn’t everyone trying to make me happy? We haven’t even left the border yet, why have you all stopped pretending…”

It was then that she realized the Princess had known all along that she couldn’t hit any game, and was only pretending not to know to give herself a reason to be happy.

Just like pretending this was just a beautiful autumn tour, with home still as the destination.

On this Mid-Autumn night of reunion, she knew the Princess was homesick. The Princess cried and spoke incoherently, eventually no longer talking about the spear performance, but about her father, her mother, the Imperial Uncle she had called for ten years, asking why no one had chosen her.

She didn’t stop the Princess, hoping Young General Shen would show some compassion.

She didn’t know what Young General Shen thought as he stood at the tent entrance for a long time. After a while, with his back to the Princess, he said five words: “If you want to see, come out.”

She accompanied the Princess out of the main tent to watch Young General Shen perform with his spear and sword under the moon. The Princess broke into a smile through her tears, drunkenly applauding and cheering from the side.

That night, after taking the Princess back to her tent, she went out to fetch water and saw Young General Shen kneeling on a tree branch, playing a tune on a leaf.

That melody had a strange feeling to it. At the time, she didn’t think much of it, assuming Young General Shen was just bored.

It wasn’t until much later, when she recalled that scene recalled the melody from that night, that she vaguely understood what that feeling was.

It was as if Young General Shen had understood the Princess’s words.

It was as if Young General Shen that night was as lonely as the Princess.

After getting drunk on Mid-Autumn night, the Princess felt she had lost face and avoided Young General Shen for several days.

After a while, the Princess grew tired of her wild pursuits and found a new amusement. She had the attendants who went into cities for supplies buy several decks of leaf cards, and during rest stops, she suggested gathering people to play card games.

Remembering that Young General Shen used to be a frequent visitor to gambling houses, the Princess’s embarrassment had passed, and in return for his spear and sword performance, she invited him without holding a grudge.

Young General Shen said he was busy, but that evening, she and the Princess discovered Young General Shen and Military Doctor Li secretly playing cards.

“What does he mean by this?” The Princess was very angry.

She consoled the Princess with a guess: “Perhaps Young General Shen hasn’t played for several years and is afraid of showing his rustiness in front of you, so he’s practicing first.”

Surprisingly, she had accidentally guessed right. Later, when the Princess gathered people again, Young General Shen accepted the invitation.

She had thought that since he needed to practice, Young General Shen must have become rusty, but unexpectedly, at the card table as on the battlefield, Young General Shen played with the dominance of sweeping through thousands of troops. A flip of a card, a toss of a card, a smile at the corner of his mouth would determine the outcome.

The Princess maintained a facade of indifference, but privately she studied hard to calculate card techniques, challenging Young General Shen again, only to be defeated repeatedly.

Until they played until they were yawning while drawing cards, the Princess finally got a perfect hand and won a round against Young General Shen.

As for whether this perfect hand was heaven’s mercy or Young General Shen’s mercy, only Young General Shen knew.

Along the long journey, the Princess found various forms of amusement, playing every kind of gambling game possible. There were also more proper entertainments; for instance, the Princess significantly improved her chess skills throughout the journey.

Minister Zhou probably understood this was the Princess’s last revelry and indulged her as much as possible, turning a blind eye and pretending not to see the absurdity.

Play was for leisure time; the journey of course didn’t fall behind at all. They proceeded according to plan until late autumn, when one day, a heavy rainstorm disrupted their travel.

When the procession encountered the storm, they were neither near a village nor an inn, with barren mountains by the roadside. Under the overcast sky, it seemed as if doomsday had come early.

Raindrops pattered loudly on the carriage roof, as if about to break through. She comforted the frightened Princess and moved aside a gap in the carriage door to check the road conditions. She saw Young General Shen suddenly raise his palm, ordering all carriages to turn around.

The carriages struggled to turn around on the muddy road, taking a long time to make the turn. Young General Shen opened the carriage door, stepped onto the carriage, and announced in a loud voice, “Abandon the carriages and retreat,” urging them to get out.

At first, they didn’t know what was happening ahead, but seeing Young General Shen’s unprecedented seriousness, they hurriedly followed him out.

She was about to hold an umbrella for the Princess, but Young General Shen, standing by the carriage as if he had lost patience, took off his cape and draped it over the Princess’s head, then picked her up and carried her down, placing her on his horse before mounting behind her and galloping away.

Hearing the Princess’s surprised cry, she hurriedly got on a horse and anxiously followed the two.

Everyone in the envoy followed Young General Shen’s rapid retreat. After retreating some distance, a sound different from the rain arose behind them. In an instant, the mountains roared and the earth moved, water surged and the land split.

Looking back, they saw rocks rolling down the mountainside, erupting in the direction they had been heading.

She rode in pursuit of the Princess, filled with fear. When they reached safety, she saw Young General Shen with one hand on the reins and the other holding the Princess in front of him, ordering everyone to move to higher ground.

Outside, the world was in tempest, heaven falling and earth shattering, yet the Princess was safe within Young General Shen’s cape.

Young General Shen carried the Princess down from the horse, knelt on one knee, bent down, and presented his back to the Princess, saying, “Get on.”

The Princess stood in stunned bewilderment, hesitating before climbing onto Young General Shen’s back.

Young General Shen took the umbrella from her hands, told the Princess to hold it properly, and carried her toward the higher ground.

It was a matter of life and death, and Young General Shen was probably just acting out of urgent necessity, but those following behind watching this scene seemed to be momentarily entranced.

In that fleeting moment, they appeared like a truly well-matched pair.

She followed closely behind the two, watching Young General Shen step by step through the mud and water up the mountain, one hand supporting the Princess’s leg, occasionally grabbing a tree trunk along the way to help climb the slope.

Fragments of their conversation mixed with the sound of rain came to her—

“Move the umbrella back a bit, it’s blocking my view.”

“But then you’ll be in the rain, won’t you?”

“Does the Princess think everyone is as delicate as you? This little rain hardly counts as rain.”

She looked up and, through the white curtain of rain, saw the Princess move the umbrella backward. The umbrella completely covered the Princess, but Young General Shen was fully exposed to the rain.

The Princess held a handkerchief, her hand extending out and then pausing, extending again,9, and then hesitating. After several wavering attempts, she finally wiped Young General Shen’s rain-soaked forehead.

Young General Shen’s steps faltered for a moment, then after a brief pause, he continued carrying the Princess step by step up the mountain.