As the first month arrived, the weather grew warmer day by day. During these consecutive clear days, the Marquis of Yong’en’s residence and the Shen residence joyfully prepared for the engagement of their children.
Inside the Buddhist prayer hall of the Marquis’s residence, where joy and sorrow did not intersect, Madam Zhong listened to the bustling outside—one day for the proposal, one day for the betrothal gifts. Yet at this moment, the court announced that the Marquis of Kangle’s crimes were confirmed. In consideration of his past meritorious service to the country, he was spared execution, but the entire Zhong family was sentenced—all female relatives were to be dispersed immediately, and all male relatives were exiled to distant lands.
With her maternal family completely fallen from power, left with no support, Madam Zhong’s heart sank to rock bottom. She could no longer even summon the energy to curse, spending her days staring with hollow, lifeless eyes, lying askew on her meditation cushion, having abandoned all struggle.
On the day the Zhong family was convicted, Jiang Zhiyi visited Madam Zhong once in the prayer hall. Seeing her in this state, she found it difficult to articulate her feelings.
To say she felt sympathy would be untrue, but to say she was happy would also be inaccurate.
Her grievances with her aunt and eldest cousin had finally concluded, but her uncle would have to continue living with his wife and children.
For the sake of his niece, her uncle had so thoroughly torn apart his relationship with his wife and son. After she left, who knew what the atmosphere in the Marquis’s residence would be like, or whether her uncle would be able to live in peace.
Thinking this way, as the day of parting with her uncle approached, she couldn’t help feeling worried and reluctant to leave.
The day of departure for Hexi happened to coincide with the Lantern Festival.
The night before the festival, the Marquis of Yong’en lamented with the two young people how they couldn’t stay just one more day so the family could enjoy the lantern festival together. Jiang Zhiyi also felt somewhat regretful, but seeing that Yuance didn’t respond, it seemed they couldn’t delay any further, so she had to let it go.
On the morning of the Lantern Festival, in front of the Marquis of Yong’en’s residence, Jiang Zhiyi stood beside the carriage exchanging instructions and reminders with her uncle. After finishing one sentence, she would remember another, stepping onto the mounting stool and then back down, up and down again.
“Enough, enough. What mishap could befall your uncle in Chang’an? Just take care of yourself. If you don’t reach the postal station before dark, you’ll have to camp outside. Hurry up and get in!” The Marquis of Yong’en waved his hand, urging her.
Jiang Zhiyi stepped onto the mounting stool for the eighth time and looked back: “…Then I’m leaving.”
“Quickly now,” the Marquis of Yong’en said, looking at Yuance, who had been waiting for a long time. “Lift her into the carriage!”
“Hey, don’t use force! I’ll get in myself, I’ll get in myself!” Jiang Zhiyi, assisted by Gu Yu, finally bent down and entered the carriage.
For this journey, she traveled as lightly as possible, bringing only one maidservant. The carriage had been specially modified over the past few days, removing unnecessary decorations to reduce weight and make travel easier. Her luggage had already been sent ahead to the postal station.
At this pace, traveling about two postal stations’ distance each day, they would, barring any mishaps, spend each night at a postal station. As she traveled to the next station, her luggage would be sent ahead, with arrangements made station by station.
As the carriage rumbled forward, Jiang Zhiyi leaned out the window, waving to her uncle all the way, continuing to look back even after she could no longer see him.
Yuance rode his horse beside her window, lowering his eyes to look at her: “If you’re so reluctant to leave, then don’t come with me?”
Jiang Zhiyi raised her head from the windowsill: “Missing my uncle is only natural, but going with you is my decision. There’s no conflict there. Besides, you and I will have plenty of time together on the journey ahead. The long road stretches before us—we might even grow tired of the sight of each other. Don’t begrudge these few glances I give my uncle, all right?”
“Grow tired of each other? So the pastry in hand is no longer sweet, is that it?” Yuance snorted with a laugh.
Jiang Zhiyi tilted her head: “If you want to compare yourself to a pastry, I can’t help that!”
Yuance curled his index finger and lightly pressed its knuckle against her forehead, pushing her back inside: “The wind is strong. Go back in.”
“Fine, but don’t let yourself get cold either. If you feel chilly, tell me, and I’ll pass you a hand warmer and hot tea.” Jiang Zhiyi sat back in the carriage and accepted the hot tea Gu Yu offered.
As the carriage drove out of Chongren Ward and approached the city gate, suddenly a deep, rich male voice came from outside the window: “Young General Shen, what a coincidence! You’re also leaving the capital today.”
Jiang Zhiyi recognized the voice—it was Fan De’nian, the Military Governor of Hedong.
During the Lantern Festival season, foreign embassies and various military governors who had entered the capital for the New Year were gradually returning. It seemed Fan De’nian was also heading back to Hedong.
While she was pondering this, Yuance and Fan De’nian exchanged words outside the window, and Fan De’nian remarked with regret: “It’s a pity that I must head east while Young General Shen heads west. Our paths are destined to diverge… Why don’t we travel together one last time before leaving the capital region?”
Jiang Zhiyi frowned slightly. Recalling how Fan De’nian had stirred up trouble before her Imperial Uncle last time, seemingly aware of what her Brother A-ce had done to the Zhong family, she knew his proposal certainly harbored ill intentions, regardless of his motives.
However, while this princess could dominate among the sons and daughters of noble families, she couldn’t directly show her displeasure to such a powerful figure who commanded his troops.
Jiang Zhiyi thought for a moment, then moved the window aside and poked her head out: “Brother A-ce—”
Yuance shifted his gaze from Fan De’nian and turned his head.
Jiang Zhiyi wiped her completely dry eyes with a handkerchief: “Brother A-ce, we’re about to leave the city, and I suddenly feel reluctant to go. Would you accompany me up to the city wall tower for one last look at Chang’an?”
Yuance raised an eyebrow and looked back at Fan De’nian: “It seems I won’t be able to travel that last stretch with Governor Fan after all.”
Fan De’nian sat on his horse with a saber at his waist, smiling as he glanced at Jiang Zhiyi: “The Princess has never left the capital before. Understandably, she feels some reluctance. If you want to take a look, go ahead. I’ll wait for you both at the bottom of the tower.”
Jiang Zhiyi descended from the carriage and walked toward the city tower with dignified poise.
This tower stood atop the outer wall of Chang’an, a restricted area where ordinary people were forbidden. The imperial guards on duty only allowed passage after Jiang Zhiyi presented her imperial decree.
“This token won’t be of use once we leave Chang’an, so this is the last time it will serve its purpose!” Jiang Zhiyi led Yuance up the steps to the tower, whispering in his ear, “…Let’s see how long that person waiting below thinks it takes me to look at Chang’an!”
Yuance glanced at her: “You seem to dislike him?”
Indeed, setting aside Fan De’nian’s provocations toward Yuance, Jiang Zhiyi didn’t particularly like this Uncle Fan.
During the battle that helped her Imperial Uncle ascend the throne, Fan De’nian, like her father, had rendered meritorious service. However, her father had died defending the city, while Fan De’nian had survived the battle and subsequently rose to become Military Governor of Hedong.
The entire Fan family had prospered from one member’s success. Fan De’nian’s sister, originally a consort of her Imperial Uncle, later became a Noble Consort and began to clash with the Empress. Fan Noble Consort’s son, the current Second Prince, likewise grew arrogant, frequently opposing the gentle-natured Crown Prince.
Years ago, when she played at her Imperial Uncle’s Prince Duan’s residence, the Empress and Crown Prince had treated her well, so naturally, she disliked the Fan family.
Jiang Zhiyi lowered her voice and whispered in Yuance’s ear: “Because I don’t like his nephew, the Second Prince.”
Yuance nodded thoughtfully: “Your uncle told me that when you were little, you would cling to those you liked and call them brother. If you don’t like the Second Prince, then which brother did you like? The Crown Prince?”
“…” She knew her uncle shouldn’t have revealed all her secrets.
“How could that be possible? The Crown Prince is almost ten years older than I. How could we have played together? It’s just that the Crown Prince was kind to all of us younger brothers and sisters.”
“Well, looking down the line, the Third Prince died young, and the Fifth Prince is several years younger than you. The one who could have played with you must be the Fourth Prince.”
“…”
With such intelligence, you should take the imperial examinations instead of going to war!
Jiang Zhiyi snorted indignantly: “That’s all in the past. The Fourth Prince and I haven’t spoken for many years!”
“You don’t even speak anymore?” Yuance nodded. “If things have deteriorated to this point, it seems there must have been genuine feelings.”
“…Will you ever stop?” Jiang Zhiyi glared at him. “I’m going all the way to Hexi with you, yet here you are fixating on ancient history!”
Yuance gave a light snort but didn’t respond.
By then, they had reached the top of the city tower. Standing on the twenty-foot-high wall, they had an unobstructed view of the entire square city, ward after ward in neat rows, the streets and alleys filled with a constant stream of carriages and horses, pedestrians as thick as weaving threads.
Though they had come up to avoid Fan De’nian, once there, genuine sentiments of a final farewell glance arose.
Jiang Zhiyi gazed pensively at the capital city where she had spent seventeen years, then turned to ask him: “Have you never been up on the city tower before?”
“Of course not,” Yuance raised an eyebrow. “Under normal circumstances, a military governor commanding troops would never step foot up here in his lifetime.”
“Then what would be the abnormal circumstance?”
Naturally, it would be the day when a military governor led troops to storm Chang’an—
Yuance curved his lips: “You.”
Jiang Zhiyi smiled, gazing into the distance: “But I can only show you the outer city. Even I can’t go up on the palace city walls.”
Indeed, the outer city wall stood twenty feet high, while the palace city wall rose over thirty feet. Even standing here, one couldn’t glimpse the full majesty of that imposing inner palace.
That palace, which held the power of life and death, was guarded by layers of protection in the most impregnable northern central part of Chang’an.
Yuance gazed far toward that inner palace, narrowing his eyes, as if seeing countless iron cavalry galloping through the streets of Chang’an, entering the palace gates, the palace walls collapsing, bricks shattering, the palace engulfed in raging flames, and in an instant, everything turning to ash.
“Look, that’s Chongren Ward where Uncle lives—” Jiang Zhiyi suddenly took Yuance’s arm.
The crimson images before his eyes suddenly faded. Yuance’s gaze faltered as he followed where Jiang Zhiyi was pointing.
“That’s Yongxing Ward where your mother lives, that’s Shengye Ward where Sister Baojia lives, that’s the home where I lived until I was seven, that’s the Western Market we visited together…”
Yuance looked at each place one by one, the clenched fist at his side slowly relaxing.
“Who knows what things will be like when we return,” Jiang Zhiyi mused. “Tonight, Chang’an will hold the lantern festival, which will be especially lively. It’s a pity we’ll miss it. Next year on this day, you must accompany me to enjoy the festivities!”
Yuance blinked but didn’t answer.
The chattering female voice beside him continued lamenting the missed lantern festival, going on about what magnificent sights would have been seen tonight.
Yuance lowered his eyelids and looked down at the base of the tower: “Enough. Governor Fan has already been irritated into leaving. Let’s go down.”
After passing through the city gate, Jiang Zhiyi’s carriage joined up with Yuance’s Xuan Strategy Army waiting outside the city.
Mu Xinhong had already led the main force of the Xuan Strategy Army ahead. Yuance had selected only a dozen elite soldiers and Li Dafeng to accompany them.
After leaving the city, they traveled on the official road, which wasn’t particularly bumpy. When Jiang Zhiyi grew tired of sitting in the carriage, she would lie down; when tired of lying down, she would sit up to read a book or chat with Yuance outside the window. When mealtime came, she would heat the prepared food on the small stove in the carriage. Yuance, however, did not eat with her, instead taking dried rations with his soldiers.
After a day in the carriage, though they hadn’t endured wind and rain or slept in the open, her body still felt somewhat weary.
As night fell, the convoy reached the postal station. Jiang Zhiyi was lifted down from the carriage by Yuance, finally able to stretch her body and exercise her limbs in front of the station entrance.
The postal station’s chief hurriedly came out to welcome them: “Princess, Young General Shen, the evening meal is prepared for you both and your soldiers. Tonight is the Lantern Festival—please come in quickly and enjoy the yuanxiao dumplings!”
The postal station ordinarily provided free food and lodging for passing officials, but since Jiang Zhiyi’s journey was considered a private matter, silver had been allocated in advance to all stations along the route.
This postal station, still within the capital region, was quite luxurious due to its proximity to the Emperor. Being the Lantern Festival, red lanterns hung at the entrance and throughout the courtyard.
Jiang Zhiyi and Yuance entered together. Just as they walked into the courtyard, they suddenly heard a familiar female voice: “You’ve kept me waiting so long!”
Jiang Zhiyi froze, looking up to see her Sister Baojia, who should have been dozens of miles away, walking toward them in a dashing riding outfit.
“Sister, why are you here?!” Jiang Zhiyi exclaimed in surprise.
“Since I didn’t get to say goodbye properly, I thought I’d come and spend the Lantern Festival with you.”
“…”
If Jiang Zhiyi remembered correctly, the two sisters had just shared a feast yesterday and said their goodbyes for a full two hours.
Jiang Zhiyi slowly turned around, glanced at Li Dafeng behind her, and lightly coughed: “Oh yes, I’ve been thinking about not having properly said goodbye to you, Sister. It’s truly been regrettable!”
“Regrettable enough to make you travel faster? I arrived on horseback an hour ago.”
“How tiresome it must have been for Sister to wait here for us like the farmer watching the stump for rabbits!”
Baojia turned and walked inside: “I’ll wait for you in the main quarters.”
Jiang Zhiyi turned back: “Then Military Physician Li should join us for dinner in the main quarters as well?”
Li Dafeng glanced at Baojia’s retreating figure and bowed: “Thank you for the invitation, Princess, but I’ll dine with the soldiers in the side quarters.”
Jiang Zhiyi lightly bumped Yuance’s arm, whispering: “What happened to your military orders being absolute?”
Yuance glanced at Li Dafeng: “Military orders.”
Li Dafeng: “…”
Yuance stood in place, pondering for a moment, then turned to Jiang Zhiyi: “Since the Princess has come, you shall stay with her in the main quarters tonight. I’ll go out for a while after dinner. You should rest early and don’t wait for me.”
“What are you going out to do so late at night?” Jiang Zhiyi’s eyebrows and eyes drooped in disappointment. “I had thought that since we wouldn’t be traveling at night, we could at least make lanterns at the postal station to celebrate the festival…”
“I’m going ahead to check tomorrow’s route. You celebrate with the Princess,” Yuance gave Li Dafeng a meaningful look. “When I’m not at the station, please keep an eye on things here.”
Li Dafeng, seeing the seriousness in his eyes, nodded: “Go without worry.”
Past midnight, the night was as cold as water.
A hundred miles from the postal station, far from the lantern lights of the festival in a desolate wilderness, a group of exiled criminals wearing shackles on their hands and feet huddled under thin blankets over their prison clothes, leaning against tree trunks, trying to sleep.
Not far away, around a bonfire, several bailiffs escorting the exiles clinked their wine jugs and took large gulps: “On the Lantern Festival, everyone else is enjoying themselves in the city, but we unfortunate brothers are out here escorting these damn criminals…”
“Exactly. I mean, the Emperor is something—the Zhong family embezzled so much silver, he could have just executed them and been done with it. Why exile them? Such a waste of people and resources…”
“Shh! Lower your voice. I heard this Marquis of Kangle has powerful backers. That’s why he was spared execution. Who knows, after exile, he might make a comeback. We should all watch our words and not offend anyone!”
The bailiffs chatted and drank until nearly the fourth watch, when one by one, they collapsed unconscious beside the bonfire.
Hearing the sudden silence, Zhong Boyong opened his eyes curiously. Seeing the unconscious bailiffs by the bonfire, he elbowed the person beside him: “Father, Father…”
The Marquis of Kangle awoke with a start.
“Father, these bailiffs don’t seem right. Did someone drug their wine? Has Uncle Fan sent people to rescue us?”
The Marquis of Kangle’s gaze suddenly darkened, his drowsiness instantly vanishing as he straightened his back, watchfully scanning the surroundings.
“Your Uncle Fan has already shown great benevolence in preserving our lives. We’re less than two hundred miles from the capital—he absolutely cannot take such a great risk…”
Hearing these words, Zhong Boyong couldn’t help but shudder.
From imprisonment to exile, having suffered inhuman torture, he finally understood his father’s warning—why they should never have provoked Shen Yuance.
Last May, when Shen Yuance faced a life-and-death crisis in Hexi, with a main force of the Xuan Strategy Army completely wiped out, it had all been his father’s handiwork.
His father, having been caught embezzling military funds, had been blackmailed by Fan De’nian years ago and had been working for the Fan family ever since.
As Fan De’nian’s pawn, his father had thoroughly offended the Shen family. And he, for the sake of his younger brother’s leg, had fearlessly gone to provoke Shen Yuance…
Unfortunately, all this understanding came too late. Now, aside from eking out a miserable existence and preserving their lives in hopes of finding an opportunity for revenge in the future, there was no other option.
But at this moment, these bailiffs were disturbingly quiet…
Zhong Boyong stared with his hair standing on end: “If the person who drugged the wine isn’t here to rescue us, then…”
“They’re here to kill you.” A smiling young male voice suddenly sounded from behind.
The Marquis of Kangle and Zhong Boyong whirled around.
In the thick darkness, a young man in black clothing, hand on the sword at his waist, stepped forward one by one through the crushed stones and tall grass. Each step brought his tall silhouette more into the bonfire’s light, illuminating that face with sword-like eyebrows, star-bright eyes, and distinct, chiseled features.
Yuance: “Long time no see, Young Master Zhong.”
Zhong Boyong trembled, trying to stand up, but the shackles on his feet tangled, causing him to stumble and fall awkwardly to the ground. He could only clumsily crawl backward.
The rest of the Zhong family sons gradually woke up. Seeing this scene, they all scrambled away as if they had seen a ghost.
“Shen Yuance—” The Marquis of Kangle rose from the ground and stood in front of his sons, raising his shackled hands, trying to placate Yuance. “I know you hate me to the core, but your true enemy is not me. If you spare us, I can tell you that the true mastermind behind all this is—”
“It’s Hedong, which wanted to weaken Hexi’s power; it’s Fan De’nian, who wants to install the Second Prince as heir; it’s the Second Prince, who wants to ascend the throne.” Yuance stood with his hand on his sword. “I already know all this. Does the Marquis of Kangle have any other bargaining chips to exchange for so many lives?”
The Marquis of Kangle’s face paled as he gasped: “I still hold evidence of Fan De’nian’s collusion with foreign powers…”
“If Fan De’nian were that stupid, why wouldn’t you be the Military Governor of Hedong? If our Emperor looked at the evidence, why would you still be standing here?”
The Marquis of Kangle drew a deep breath: “You… you can make demands. If you want me to serve you like an ox or horse for the rest of my life, I would do so without a second word!”
“That idea sounds quite sincere,” Yuance twisted his lips. “But unfortunately, I don’t need oxen or horses. I only want to send you to hell.”
Seeing the flash of killing intent in Yuance’s eyes, the Marquis of Kangle knew there was no possibility of persuading him. Swallowing nervously, he bent down and pulled a dagger from his boot.
Yuance chuckled softly, drawing his sword from its sheath and holding it horizontally.
The Marquis of Kangle raised his dagger to block, but before it could touch the sword’s edge, Yuance suddenly moved with ghost-like speed, flashing past him.
The Marquis of Kangle turned back in great alarm, screaming hoarsely: “No!”
With the rising and falling of his sword, the blade flashed and swept past. Several young noblemen clutched their profusely bleeding throats, their eyes wide open as they collapsed. Several young lives instantly fell silent.
“Shen Yuance—! The fifteenth day of the first month, lighting lanterns to honor Buddha—the Buddha sees all that man does—you will not die well—”
With shackles clanking noisily, the Marquis of Kangle screamed, his eyes bloodshot as he tightly gripped his dagger and charged forward.
Yuance’s sword thrust backward, making a sharp sound as it pierced flesh, driving straight through the heart.
The man in prison clothes stared wide-eyed as he slowly fell to his knees.
Yuance turned, gripped the sword hilt, and pulled the blade free.
Blood splattered three feet high, while the crackling bonfire nearby flickered, illuminating the thick liquid dripping from the lowered sword tip.
As the wind blew, the heavy scent of blood spread across the dark wilderness.
Yuance raised his hand, curled his index finger, and wiped the blood from his cheek with his knuckle, looking down at the motionless figure at his feet—
“You also knew that tonight is the fifteenth of the first month.”
“Yet you still chose to be exiled and cross my path on this day.”
“Causing my fiancée to miss the lantern festival.”