Little Lingdang slowly poked her head out from behind the tree, only to discover a pair of eyes staring right at her. Terrified, she punched those frightening eyes with one fist and ran away flailing and shouting.

Yun Ye covered his eye. This time he’d truly tried to steal a chicken only to lose his rice—he’d frightened someone, but he himself had suffered even greater injury. After Little Lingdang ran a few steps and looked back, she realized it was Yun Ye and slowly shuffled back, embarrassed.

“Lingdang, when did you learn such bad habits from your princess, hitting people at the drop of a hat? This habit isn’t good at all. Ah yo, my eye! You’ve blinded me—it’s over, it’s over. How am I going to marry a wife now?”

“I didn’t know it was you. You were hiding behind the tree scaring me—I only hit lightly.” Little Lingdang looked at Yun Ye crouching on the ground crying out in pain continuously and kept apologizing. From the sound of it, he seemed seriously injured.

Unable to bear teasing this kind-hearted woman, Yun Ye rubbed his eyes and stood up. It was nothing serious, just his left eye hurt a bit. Squinting his left eye, he asked Little Lingdang: “What are you doing here skulking about? Don’t tell me you’re planning to ambush the meal carriers and knock them out to rob some good food?”

Who could have expected that Lingdang didn’t refute Yun Ye’s nonsense as she usually did, but instead her mouth drooped and she began to cry.

Women crying was fatal. In two lifetimes he still hadn’t learned how to comfort women, so he could only resort to the Yun Family’s special technique: “Don’t cry yet. Tell me who bullied you, and I’ll go break his legs to vent your anger.”

“It’s that local king from Lingnan called Meng Shezhao who bullied me. He wants to marry the princess, and I don’t want to go to Lingnan. I heard they like to eat human flesh.” Unexpectedly, Little Lingdang actually named the culprit. But if he broke Li Er’s guest’s legs now, who knew if Li Er would turn around and break his legs in return?

“Little Lingdang, if you don’t want to go to Lingnan, that’s easy to handle. I’ll go find Meng Shezhao and ask for you. He must give me this face. If he doesn’t, I’ll just snatch you away—at most I’ll be fined some copper coins.”

Yun Ye spoke the truth. Between great families, gifting one or two maidservants was considered routine. Yun Ye was currently riding high—he figured a small local king wouldn’t dare say anything. Even if it came to snatching, it would just mean paying some copper coins as a fine. Yun Ye didn’t care about that. Even Empress Zhangsun currently owed him a favor—snatching one person really wasn’t anything at all.

Little Lingdang looked at Yun Ye with worship, her eyes practically sparkling with little stars. Grabbing Yun Ye’s hand and shaking it vigorously, she said: “Then can you also snatch the princess while you’re at it, please? The princess doesn’t want to go to Lingnan either.”

Not mentioning Li Anlan would have been fine, but once she brought up Li Anlan, Yun Ye flew into a rage: “Don’t mention that foolish woman! She even ran to tell His Majesty herself that she wanted to marry far away. Anyone who heard such disloyal and unfilial words would be angry. She’s reaping what she sowed—it serves her right! And she’s dragging others to suffer with her—utterly selfish! Don’t worry about it. I’ll go find that local king right now and ask for you. You can live well at the Yun Family from now on, doing whatever you want. If he dares refuse, I really will break his legs.”

Yun Ye turned to leave, but Little Lingdang held onto him and wouldn’t let him go, crying: “If you don’t rescue the princess too, I won’t go. I’ll accompany her to Lingnan. Otherwise she’ll be all alone and so pitiful. I know you like the princess—please help us.”

Yun Ye stopped and used his handkerchief to wipe Little Lingdang’s tears, saying seriously: “Lingdang, in this world there’s no love without reason, and no hate without reason either. You don’t understand my feelings toward the princess. Besides, the princess is an adult. She must take responsibility for her own actions. From the day she started throwing her little tantrums, it was destined that she would never be happy in life. She hasn’t given feelings to others—how can she expect others to have feelings for her?

Even if His Majesty was wrong, he’s her father. Standing under this great principle, she’s being disloyal and unfilial. Don’t forget that His Majesty is not only her father but also her sovereign. Her terrible temper will only make things worse and worse, finally creating this irreparable situation. She bears at least eighty percent of the responsibility herself.”

Little Lingdang only cried softly without speaking, nor did she release Yun Ye’s hem. Yun Ye was her last hope—she didn’t want to give up. Lingnan was too distant and too unfamiliar to her, filling her with great fear. Only by holding onto Yun Ye’s hem could she feel any sense of security.

“The princess wants to see you. She said you’ll regret it for the rest of your life if you don’t come.” Little Lingdang stopped crying and stated her purpose for coming.

Looking at Little Lingdang’s tear-stained face, Yun Ye nodded. As a friend, seeing her once before she left was reasonable and proper.

Upstairs in the small building, Li Anlan was carefully applying makeup. She didn’t like dressing up flamboyantly—in the palace she’d always gone barefaced. Today she’d gathered rouge and powder from her mother and deliberately chose crimson lip color. Her mother said it would look beautiful on her. The clothing was also requested from her mother. She wore only a breast binding underneath with a gauze robe over it. Her long hair was piled high, and she’d applied a flower decoration between her eyebrows.

Yun Ye would come—she was certain of it. She was meticulously adorning this body—surely she would be satisfied. Li Anlan no longer fantasized about pure and beautiful love. Shadow plays were ultimately just shadow plays. A beauty wearing flowers wouldn’t necessarily meet a refined gentleman—she might meet a scoundrel instead. Yun Ye didn’t like her—what he cared about was this body. Did she really resemble the woman Yun Ye called his wife?

Footsteps sounded on the stairs, each step steady. These were Yun Ye’s footsteps. The Crown Prince’s footsteps were somewhat hurried, while Little Lingdang’s were chaotic. She used both hands to lift her chest, making it appear more full. Her mother always said her chest was the most beautiful—now it was finally useful.

Seeing Li Anlan in full dress at first glance, Yun Ye was somewhat dazed. Features like a painting—truly painted. Her eyebrows were drawn into two thick black blobs, the powder on her face applied unevenly. Most excessive was her mouth—blood red with a red dot applied at the philtrum. Was she trying to dress as a Japanese person?

His wife rarely wore makeup, and even when she did, it was just a light-colored lipstick. Now this face had been ruined into this ghostly appearance. Yun Ye trembled with anger all over. This woman not only had no brains—even her aesthetic sense was problematic.

He pulled out his handkerchief, dampened it in the water basin, walked before Li Anlan, and wiped off all the coating on her face. After wiping three times, his wife’s plain face finally appeared. Yun Ye breathed a sigh of relief—he didn’t want any memory of what he’d just seen. “Am I beautiful?” Li Anlan didn’t stop Yun Ye’s rude behavior, letting him do as he pleased.

“Very beautiful now. Just now you looked like a ghost. Never do this again—it’s ruinous.” Yun Ye softened his tone. The current Li Anlan had actually abandoned her dignity, wanting to use her beauty to seduce him. She truly had reached a desperate situation—otherwise with her temperament she couldn’t have done such a thing.

Li Anlan nodded: “It seems I truly don’t know how to apply makeup. This was also my first time. I’ve made you laugh. There won’t be a next time.”

“When did you learn to be so considerate? Why didn’t I discover this before?”

“Before, I thought that as long as I was strong enough, there was nothing I couldn’t handle. Who knew that when things came to a head, I discovered I couldn’t control my own destiny at all. Father Emperor’s single decree made me fall into a bottomless abyss—going to Lingnan to marry a barbarian. Yun Ye, I know you don’t love me—you love this body. Do I resemble her very much?”

Yun Ye was startled in alarm—he hadn’t expected this woman to see through him. What delicate perception. Since he’d been exposed, there was no need to deny it—otherwise she would look down on him. Yun Ye’s self-respect also wouldn’t allow him to retreat before Li Anlan.

He half-closed his eyes and said: “Very much. Even the small mole on her chest is identical.”

A red flush rose on Li Anlan’s face, but she didn’t close her open collar. Instead she thrust out her chest and asked Yun Ye: “You’re very familiar with that body? You’ve even seen private places?”

“She was once my wife—what do you think?” Facing this body, Yun Ye truly felt there was no need to evade.

Li Anlan stood up. Her hand pulled at her waist, and all her garments slid from her body. The brocade was very smooth. Li Anlan wasn’t even wearing undergarments—she stood before Yun Ye completely naked.

Yun Ye retreated several steps and sat on the edge of the desk, but his gaze didn’t leave this body. This was a maiden’s body even younger and more vigorous than his wife’s, full of vitality. The ivory-colored skin gleamed with luster, straight legs, high breasts, slender waist—all at once bringing Yun Ye back to the past.

“Honey, does my stomach have extra fat?”

“No, don’t listen to your girlfriends’ nonsense. They’re jealous.”

“Honey, after having the baby I have stretch marks on my stomach—what should I do?”

“What’s wrong with that? Those are proof of your achievement. Having a big fat son isn’t enough for you to brag about? The Old Yun family will be grateful to you for a lifetime.”

“My waist has become like a barrel. Think of something quickly—otherwise how can I go out?”

“You’re not showing it to others. I think it looks fine. You’re fat because you don’t move enough. Let’s move a bit…”

In this world, probably only eunuchs and Yun Ye could shed tears facing a naked body. Tears flowed continuously from the corners of his eyes, crossing his lips and dripping from his chin. Yun Ye looked greedily but without a trace of lust or lewdness—he only wanted to firmly remember this body and hide it in his heart.

Li Anlan was very jealous and very angry. Yun Ye looked at her body yet shed tears for another. Even knowing the causes and consequences, a woman’s jealousy made her eyebrows stand on end. She picked up her outer robe from the floor and put it on, covering herself completely so no more spring beauty leaked out.

“I haven’t finished looking yet—why did you put it on?” Yun Ye raised his head, his eyes full of tears as he looked at Li Anlan.

Li Anlan gritted her teeth and forced out two words: “Shameless!” She’d completely forgotten that moments ago she herself had removed her clothes.

Yun Ye was immersed in memories and couldn’t extricate himself. How could he have time to care whether Li Anlan was happy or not? This past year, his loved ones appeared in his dreams less and less frequently. Many times before sleeping, Yun Ye would pray, hoping they could appear in his dreams so he could relive past sweetness.