Since returning south in March, Shen Xiling had not seen Qi Ying again.

When they parted at the city gate that night, he had said he would soon return to Fenghe Courtyard to see her, but she kept waiting and waiting, yet never waited for him. The letters she sent him all seemed to sink into the ocean without any response.

He seemed to have suddenly disappeared, though she clearly knew he was in Jiankang, at the main family residence.

Not receiving news from him made Shen Xiling extremely anxious and uneasy, but she was quite different from when she was a child. She no longer needed his replies to know what was happening outside Fenghe Courtyard—she had her own sources now and quickly learned what kind of predicament the Qi family had fallen into, even knowing that Qi Ying had been stripped of power and was now essentially under house arrest at the main residence.

Upon hearing this shocking news, Shen Xiling was terrified beyond self-control.

She perhaps understood this kind of fear better than anyone else in the world, because such sudden changes in fortune had already happened to her once more than four years ago. That catastrophe had taken the lives of her father and mother and left her homeless and displaced.

She couldn’t imagine all this befalling Qi Ying.

This made her sleepless at night and unable to eat, desperately trying to think of how she could help him, but no matter how she thought, she couldn’t find even one way—all she possessed was a little wealth, and before boundless power, that was nothing.

…She was still so weak and utterly useless.

Time passed extremely slowly day by day in such waiting. Shuipei and the others tried to persuade her to be more cheerful, but this was naturally useless. Moreover, even the servant girls sensed something unusual in the atmosphere, and all of Fenghe Courtyard became gloomy.

Perhaps the only thing that remained unchanged was the new lotus blossoms in the pond.

They were in their flowering season, emerging from the mud to bloom beautifully and purely. When gentle breezes came, they were incomparably fragrant. It was just a pity that this year no one appreciated such splendid scenery, making it seem much lonelier.

Then at the end of April, many armored soldiers with swords suddenly came to Fenghe Courtyard to arrest Shen Xiling and take her to prison.

This scene was even more identical to her childhood memories—the same family downfall and great disaster, the same sudden intrusion by soldiers, the same imprisonment. The only difference seemed to be changing from that dilapidated small courtyard of years past to Fenghe Courtyard.

The servant girls around her had all served in the Qi family for many years. Usually they couldn’t wait to be looked upon favorably by others—where had they ever seen such a dangerous scene? Naturally they all trembled like sieves in panic, not knowing where to turn. Even someone as composed as Shuipei was frightened pale. After being shackled by the soldiers, she became even more panicked and shouted loudly: “Who are you people? By what right do you arrest us?”

Those soldiers paid no attention and roughly pushed them along after shackling them. Zijun was so frightened she cried, yet still stubbornly added: “How dare you! We are people of the Qi family, serving before Second Young Master Qi. Acting like this—aren’t you afraid our master will settle accounts with you afterward?”

The Qi family had always been the servants’ backing, especially Second Young Master Qi’s reputation was extremely useful. Usually when they encountered any difficulties outside, they only needed to bring up the Second Young Master’s name and there was nothing that couldn’t be resolved. Who would have expected today to be different? When the soldiers arresting them heard them mention the Qi family and Qi Ying, not only did they not immediately become respectful, they actually showed mocking expressions and said to them: “Settle accounts? Your master can barely protect himself now. Whether he’ll even have the chance to settle accounts is questionable—where would he find the time to care about you?”

This single sentence made everyone in Fenghe Courtyard’s hearts sink to the bottom, while Shen Xiling felt even more…

…extremely cold.

Shangfang Prison.

This was the second time in Shen Xiling’s life that she had entered this jail. The last time she came here, her mother had accompanied her. It was here that she first truly saw members of the Shen family, listening to them endlessly curse her father with their incessant chatter.

This time it was somewhat quieter, because Shuipei and the others were not imprisoned together with her. She was confined alone in a cell, with only rats for company, along with the oppressive cold air that pervaded the prison even in summer.

Besides this, the only people she dealt with were the jailers who occasionally brought food. When they came in, they always looked her up and down with ill-intentioned gazes, inevitably reminding Shen Xiling of what Yang Dong had done to her at the southeastern villa. Fortunately, these jailers only looked at her with lewd eyes and did nothing else, but the obscene laughter they made when gathering outside the prison after leaving still filled her with deep fear.

Such circumstances naturally easily induced melancholy, but compared to her own situation, she was more concerned about Qi Ying.

She had never worried about someone so much.

She didn’t dare imagine how difficult his circumstances were at this time—not even a bit—yet she couldn’t help constantly thinking about it, over and over repeatedly, as if possessed. She thought about what he was doing at this moment, how his family was, whether Young Master Qi and Third Young Master Qi had cleared their names, whether he had been restored to his original position, whether he was eating properly, whether his stomach pain had returned, whether he was very tired, whether he was staying up all night again…

She thought like this all day, starting from when the first ray of light leaked through the small window in her cell, continuing until the sun completely set and only darkness remained in the prison.

She quickly lost a lot of weight.

She had originally been very slender, and now she was so thin and weak that it seemed a gust of wind could blow her away, yet she still couldn’t eat. It wasn’t because she disdained the coarse food in Shangfang Prison—she simply couldn’t eat.

She wanted to see him, desperately wanted to, but not because she wanted to seek affection and comfort from him as in the past, but because… she wanted to take care of him.

She wanted to protect him.

Shen Xiling leaned against the damp, cold wall of Shangfang Prison, looking up and silently shedding tears.

All the gods and Buddhas in heaven, no matter who, please let me exhaust everything I have to protect him.

That was perhaps the most difficult separation between them.

True, this period wasn’t very long—from their March parting until now was only about two months—but every moment was endlessly long, making her heart feel as if it were constantly being gnawed by ants. Sometimes when she really couldn’t bear the suffering in that cramped cell anymore, she had to repeatedly recall happy things that had happened before, only to discover that everything she remembered was related to him.

Even when she first met him and he was cold to her, that too had become her treasure.

As long as it had even the slightest connection to him, it was all wonderful.

Perhaps her sincere wish to see him finally moved Heaven, because one day she finally left that cell.

Those who came to fetch her were several palace attendants, all with rigid, expressionless faces. The jailers bowed and scraped to them, while they gave no response at all, only coming to fetch her.

The head eunuch lifted his chin to the little eunuchs beside him, and they entered the cell to hold Shen Xiling on both sides, gripping her painfully. But at that moment she had no time to pay attention to such minor details, only struggling to support her body that hadn’t eaten for a long time to ask those eunuchs where they were taking her.

That head eunuch had a contemptuous expression, looking at her with eyes that also showed some pity for her. He answered her like bestowing charity: “To the most precious place in this world. As for what you’re going there to do, you’ll know when you get there.”

Shen Xiling didn’t understand the meaning of his words and wanted to ask more, but the eunuch was unwilling to say anything else. He only turned to leave, leisurely dropping a sentence: “Take her away.”

As soon as his words fell, everything suddenly went dark before her eyes—the little eunuch beside her had covered her head with a black cloth bag. Shen Xiling’s heart pounded like thunder, but everything was beyond her control. She could only be led out of the prison onto a carriage, then heard only the rumbling of wheels as they went to who knows where.

Later she finally learned that the “most precious place in this world” the head eunuch had mentioned referred to the great hall of Liang Palace, where the Son of Heaven deliberated with his ministers.

Many people she knew had considerable connections to this magnificent palace—for instance Qi Ying, for instance her father, for instance the Left Prime Minister and Young Master Qi. Today she too had come here.

The great hall was majestic, like a coiled dragon lying quietly on the precious and magnificent imperial steps. The vermillion gates were tall and grand, even more imposing than the Qi family’s main residence, making one feel somewhat breathless.

No matter who it was, seeing such a scene for the first time would inevitably feel fear, but when Shen Xiling saw all this, she felt no fear at all. She had only one thought: Qi Ying was inside.

He must be inside.

She was going to see him.

Just thinking that he might be close at hand, her whole being seemed to come alive. Blood boiled in her body, and her weak frame that hadn’t eaten for days suddenly seemed to have strength. Even her steps were faster than the palace attendants supporting her on both sides, surprising them greatly.

She was brought into the great hall.

At that time the great hall was packed with people—the Son of Heaven and all his ministers were in the hall, a great crowd of people as lively as the Western Paradise depicted in Buddhist scriptures and precious scrolls, golden light glittering with auspicious qi. When the little eunuchs pushed her down to kneel on the ground, everyone turned to look at her. Their gazes were either inquiring or mocking, either lewd or scornful—truly strange and varied.

But Shen Xiling could see nothing.

Her vision suddenly became very narrow.

She could only see Qi Ying.

He stood in the hall, in a position quite forward, probably because he was a high official of the second rank, so he always stood close to the Son of Heaven. This made the distance between him and her quite far. But she could still see him. Even though his figure was obscured by the hall full of officials, appearing and disappearing, she still saw him at a glance, clearly and distinctly.

He had lost weight…

She was too familiar with him—just his back was enough to tell her about his recent situation. He must have endured much hardship when she couldn’t see him, which was why his usually well-fitting court robes now seemed much too loose.

Her eyes immediately became moist.

She knelt far from him and couldn’t see his face at all. Moreover, at that time everyone in the hall turned to look at her, but he alone stood there coldly and clearly, never turning back to look at her from beginning to end, as if he didn’t know she had come. Therefore she never got to see those phoenix eyes she was so familiar with, that made her love him to distraction day and night.

At that moment she suddenly had a feeling: he would not turn back.

She didn’t know where this feeling came from, but at that time she truly had such a premonition—very strong, very certain. Because of this she felt his distance. Clearly they were under the same roof at that moment, and she only needed to run toward him to throw herself into his arms, yet those few small steps seemed like the distance between heaven and earth. She looked at him as if across thousands of mountains and rivers, unable to get close no matter what.

She felt disappointed and lost, panic-stricken and at a loss.

Author’s Note: Tomorrow the results will be revealed! (Interested friends can make one final guess ww)