“Noble Consort Rong has two sons and a daughter, none of whom are ordinary people. One must be cautious about becoming her enemy,” Shen Xihe felt compelled to remind.

“No good deed goes unpunished,” Princess Yaoxi pouted.

Shen Xihe smiled slightly: “It’s precisely because I care about your good intentions that I’m warning you.”

“Believe my words, Noble Consort Rong must be someone who appears kind but harbors a cruel heart. Unless you give up your power in the palace, you two will inevitably become enemies,” Princess Yaoxi insisted.

“It doesn’t matter. If she’s not content, she’s welcome to try and take it,” Shen Xihe responded indifferently.

Princess Yaoxi observed her. She wore a plain silver-colored jacket and skirt, her figure slender and posture upright. Sitting there, her spine was as straight as a ruler, proper yet without appearing forced. Every movement she made was flawless in etiquette, perfectly embodying the natural nobility of a Beijing aristocratic lady. She handled both people and situations with composed confidence as if no matter how turbulent the circumstances, she could resolve them with perfect serenity.

“Rather than worry about me, you’d better watch out for yourself. His Majesty is an exceptionally clever person,” Shen Xihe advised, noticing Princess Yaoxi’s unappreciative gaze.

“You can rest assured. His Majesty has already given me subtle hints, and I’m currently practicing the art of avoiding after comprehending the imperial meaning,” Princess Yaoxi said confidently. “This is called playing hard to get.”

After receiving Shen Xihe’s guidance, she found an opportunity. While she couldn’t rashly investigate the Emperor’s whereabouts, Xiao Huayong provided her with information that His Majesty would visit the palace library for several days each month. Anyone with palace access could enter the library. She waited for several days, reading a book each day, and this particular book was crucial to that Queen.

Because of this book, she met Emperor Youning. When he inquired about the reason, she brought up the Queen, half-truthfully and half-falsely. As a Tubo person, she naturally wouldn’t know where the Emperor’s heart lay, so the conversation naturally turned to the Queen.

At this moment, she was grateful that her mother, to please the Queen, had placed her under the Queen’s care. She could recount every detail about the past with the Queen. She already admired the Queen, and in front of Emperor Youning, she transformed seven parts of her respect into three parts of daughterly affection.

They both loved the same person, and His Majesty was desperate to know every detail about the Queen’s life in Tubo.

However, during their interactions, Princess Yaoxi still marveled at His Majesty’s self-control. Despite his obvious yearning, he never indulged himself, nor did he summon her daily. Even when he did summon her, he didn’t always ask about the Queen, presumably not wanting her to notice his true feelings.

Sometimes before she could even react, His Majesty would have already extracted information from her, and it would take her a long while to realize it.

If she hadn’t known early on that His Majesty’s heart belonged to the Queen, judging by his current behavior, she might have misunderstood and thought His Majesty was interested in her, hence his various attempts to learn about her life in Tubo.

It was far too easy for an emperor to win a woman’s heart, fortunately, she remained constantly vigilant.

Thinking of this, she couldn’t help but admire the woman before her even more. If Shen Xihe hadn’t told her early on about His Majesty’s intention to attack Tubo, if Shen Xihe hadn’t let her know that the Emperor’s heart had always belonged to someone else, she would have already fallen into His Majesty’s sweet trap.

He was a man who held the world in his hands, using thoughtful consideration like an ordinary man, gradually making her feel his protection and cherishing – a deadly tenderness.

Shen Xihe smiled slightly. At this moment, Zhenzhu made a hand gesture, and she said, “Let’s go, someone’s coming.”

Princess Yaoxi stood up and left.

After the plum blossom banquet, Shen Xihe began spending the winter with Short-Life Cat, rarely visiting the Eastern Palace. As their wedding day approached, Xiao Huayong was extremely busy. It was at this time that Shen Yueshan finished preparing Shen Xihe’s dowry and set out for the capital with Xue Hang and Xue Jinqiao.

“Father, you must personally give my gift for sister to Youyou,” Shen Yun’an, escorting them to the northwestern border before having to turn back, repeatedly instructed.

“Go back,” Shen Yueshan waved his hand impatiently.

Shen Yun’an, wearing a felt hat trimmed with raccoon fur, his nose red from the wind and snow, squinted as he rode his horse to the carriage side. He knocked on the window, which opened a small crack, revealing Xue Jinqiao’s fur-bundled head and two eyes: “Hmm?”

After a year of interaction, they had developed mutual feelings. Shen Yun’an looked at Xue Jinqiao with extreme tenderness: “Take good care of yourself, don’t bully others, and don’t let others bully you. When Youyou go to the Eastern Palace, you can visit her often in the palace…”

“You’re so annoying.”

Shen Yun’an: …

With a snap, Xue Jinqiao closed the window. Through the wooden carriage, her urging voice could be heard: “Hurry, hurry, I miss Sister!”

Even though Xue Jinqiao was engaged to Shen Yun’an, she couldn’t break her habit of calling Shen Xihe “Sister.” After being corrected by Shen Yun’an several times, she grew frustrated and said they should each use their terms of address – she would call Shen Xihe “Sister” forever.

She didn’t want Shen Xihe to call her “Sister-in-law,” feeling that this would prevent her from being clingy with Shen Xihe. When pushed too hard, she complained to Shen Yun’an: “Why did you have to be born earlier? Why couldn’t you be Sister’s younger brother?”

Shen Yun’an: …

Speechless for a long while, Shen Yun’an finally found his voice: “If I were a younger brother, how pitiful would Youyou has been in her childhood? No mother, and having to take care of a younger brother.”

Xue Jinqiao found this quite reasonable: “Mm, you’d better stay as an elder brother then. In the future, I’ll call you Elder Brother too.”

Shen Yun’an: …

“We’re engaged, we’re going to be husband and wife in the future, you…”

“It’s just a form of address, why are you so particular about it? Calling you Elder Brother is already me giving you an advantage, yet you’re still not satisfied.”

Shen Yun’an was left speechless.

The horses kicked up flying snow, and the grand procession vanished from his sight in an instant, leaving only endless snow falling silently before his eyes.

He recalled how a few days ago, when Xue Hang told Xue Jinqiao they were leaving, she had hugged his waist and cried loudly, saying she would miss him and couldn’t bear to part, only because her father was old and needed her companionship.

He had been completely moved at the time and was about to embrace and comfort her, but then Xue Hang mentioned they were returning to the capital.

Before he could even hug her, she pushed him away, quickly running into the house to pack her luggage. The tears at the corners of her eyes were wiped away as if they were a nuisance: “Going back to the capital, going back to the capital, I can see Youyou, I miss Youyou the most!”

Shen Yun’an: …

Previously, he had worried about loving his sister too much and feared it might wrong any potential wife, but now he had finally found a woman who loved his sister, and she truly cared about his sister this much. His heart was filled with mixed emotions, both sour and sweet, feeling both heartache and happiness – such feelings were truly indescribable.

Several times, he nearly couldn’t resist asking: “Are you marrying me only because I’m Youyou’s elder brother?”