In March and April, the rainy season arrived, enveloping Lingnan in a persistent drizzle that left people feeling rather vexed. Due to the rain, pirates ceased harassing the harbor, which should have allowed for some peaceful days. However, Yan Shang was never one to remain idle. After his health improved in Lingnan, he began contemplating more matters, such as agricultural guidance and land reclamation.

There was too much-abandoned wasteland in Lingnan, making it difficult to find good farmland. This matter troubled Yan Shang deeply.

While he kept himself busy, Mu Wanyao was tormented by this month’s endless drizzle. The continuous rain left her lounging listlessly in bed for several days, appearing so dispirited that it alarmed Yan’s Father enough to personally visit her residence, thinking she had fallen ill.

Mu Wanyao had no choice but to force herself to appear more energetic.

When the rain finally stopped and the sun peeked out, Mu Wanyao, fearing they would face another half month of rain, quickly grabbed her husband, who was perpetually busy with official duties, to accompany her flower viewing and spring outing.

If she stayed in the house any longer after the rain, she would grow moldy, and if Yan Shang continued working so hard, he would fall ill again.

Yan Shang was dragged by Mu Wanyao to visit a lake. This lake was a scenic spot Mu Wanyao had discovered during her leisure time after arriving in Lingnan. The lake’s surface was vast, its waters clear and gentle, with ancient trees growing lush and tall along its banks, creating a delightful landscape.

Mu Wanyao arranged for the carriages to stop by the lakeside. She happily directed people to bring out low stools from the carriage, set up incense burners, and pile up firewood, clearly planning to spend time here with Yan Shang.

However, after all her bustling about, she realized she had lost track of her husband. Mu Wanyao panicked momentarily, as Yan Shang had been somewhat absent-minded lately due to farming matters, and she truly feared he might have an accident if he wasn’t careful.

Mu Wanyao mobilized the servants to search for Yan Shang and later found the young man standing under a willow tree, gazing out at the lake.

Yan Shang was staring fixedly at the lake and only came to his senses when Mu Wanyao coughed twice behind him. When he turned to look at her, his eyes softened with a gentle smile.

Seeing this, Mu Wanyao couldn’t bring herself to scold him for wandering off and making people worried.

She stood beside him, smiling as she followed his gaze to the lake’s surface. “How is it?” she asked.

She was proud, referring to this scenic spot she had discovered.

Yan Shang smiled. “It’s nice.”

Mu Wanyao’s eyes brightened, and just as she was about to boast, she noticed Yan Shang’s eyes remained fixed on the water, unwilling to look away. She heard him murmur, “If we filled in this lake, we could gain over two hundred qing of good farmland. It would solve my recent problem of finding quality fields.”

Mu Wanyao: “…?”

She stared at him with rounded eyes: Fill-fill in the lake? Looking at such beautiful scenery, all he could think about was filling in the lake.

She had thought his fixed gaze meant he was appreciating the beautiful view.

Mu Wanyao became unhappy. “Looking at this lake and sky, don’t you find it beautiful?”

Yan Shang said, “I only find it troubling. Such a large piece of land sitting empty… why leave it empty? If we drain the water and convert it to farmland, it would solve Lingnan’s problem of having too much wasteland and too little good fields… we should try it.”

Mu Wanyao was displeased by his practicality and pulled a long face, saying nothing.

After pondering for a while and figuring out how to implement this project, Yan Shang held Mu Wanyao’s hand and smiled, “Yaoyao, you’re so wonderful, helping me with such a big matter…”

He turned to praise her, only to be met with her sullen face. Yan Shang froze, realizing something had gone wrong.

Sure enough, Mu Wanyao yanked her hand away and erupted in anger: “Fill in the lake, fill in the lake! I brought you out to play because I was worried you’d suffocate yourself, but now I see you should just go back to your little room and grow moldy! You come out just to ruin my mood, what use are you!”

She turned and left.

Yan Shang followed her, suddenly becoming clever as he trailed behind her, asking softly, “What did I do wrong? Do you not like me filling in the lake?”

Mu Wanyao lifted her skirts as she walked, berating him: “Who would like that! Where am I supposed to enjoy the scenery if you fill in the lake? I truly regret bringing you out, you wooden blockhead, stone brain, unable to appreciate any romance or beauty, only remembering your political affairs and mundane matters…

“Why don’t you just marry your common people? Go ahead and marry thousands or tens of thousands of citizens by yourself!”

Following behind the princess, Qiu Si and the other servant girls glanced around, still having the mood to point out and admire the lake scenery, their eyes containing smiles. The princess scolding the Prince Consort was a daily occurrence, and the servant girls had gone from initial panic to now viewing it as normal, no longer afraid when the princess got angry.

Yan Shang felt both guilty and embarrassed, finally understanding why he had angered her.

He caught up with a few steps and grabbed her hand to stop her from leaving. His fingers massaged the inside of her wrist, showing a desire for reconciliation. Mu Wanyao stopped walking, her dark eyes glancing at him sidelong.

Yan Shang said sheepishly, “Then we won’t fill in the lake?”

Hearing this, Mu Wanyao’s eyebrows lifted slightly, her gaze somewhat cold yet somewhat coquettish. Her attitude had softened somewhat.

Yan Shang explained with a smile: “I made a mistake. I thought you brought me here to enlighten me, to teach me about converting the lake to good farmland. I was too slow-witted and didn’t realize Your Highness was concerned for me and wanted to play and rest together.

“Yaoyao, I was wrong, please don’t be angry. In such nice weather, why get angry because of someone as mundane as me?”

His gentle voice and careful explanation, explaining what needed to be explained and admitting mistakes where necessary… Sincerity was an excellent conversational technique, and Yan Shang used it skillfully. Who could continue to be angry when faced with his refined countenance?

Mu Wanyao turned her face away, refusing to look at him. Her lips were slightly pursed as she muttered, “I’m not angry.”

Yan Shang readily agreed, “Yes, then I must have seen wrong.”

Mu Wanyao’s cheeks burned red as she mulled over Yan Shang’s explanation, finding she rather liked the high praise he had given her. She imperiously declared, “Well then, about you saying I enlightened you about converting the lake to farmland, you can think that way. And tell others that too!”

Yan Shang smiled and agreed.

Thus she softened her attitude and allowed Yan Shang to hold her in his arms. Standing by the lake, with Yan Shang embracing her back, this intimate embrace made Mu Wanyao feel her love had returned, and her mood improved once again.

Mu Wanyao demanded: “Go fill in other lakes, fill this one last, let me enjoy it for a few more days.”

Yan Shang replied: “Yaoyao is truly kind-hearted. When I fill in the lake, I’ll make a stone tablet for Your Highness, writing that it was Your Highness who guided me to do this. Our lives are but several decades, but stone tablets last hundreds and thousands of years. When future generations see it, they’ll know what a principled princess Your Highness was.”

Mu Wanyao burst out laughing.

She lifted her head, her finger touching his chin: “You’re so good with words… so sweet. Come, kiss sister.”

Yan Shang’s eyes flickered slightly, gesturing for her to look at the servant girls behind them, telling her not to speak carelessly.

Mu Wanyao forcefully pulled on his neck to make him lower his head, biting his lips.

His heart thumped, and he stumbled back three steps in shock.

Mu Wanyao gave him a white-eyed look, smiling: “The stone tablet won’t just record my clear understanding of righteousness, it will also record how loving we are as husband and wife…”

Yan Shang: “Ah…”

Thinking of this aspect, he became somewhat unwilling to erect the stone tablet. He had always been low-key, unwilling to broadcast their private feelings for all under heaven to know, let alone leave them for future generations to speculate about. Yet it was precisely now that Mu Wanyao truly took interest in this matter, contemplating the lake-filling project.

Mu Wanyao and Yan Shang enthusiastically discussed the general plans for filling in the lake until they were satisfied. Only after being satisfied did Mu Wanyao have the mood to pull Yan Shang to sit by the lake, grilling fish while enjoying the scenery.

Mu Wanyao obediently sat on a huge rock where the servants had already spread out a cloth. After sitting down, she sent the servants far away to play, not wanting them to disturb her time with Yan Shang. Only when there were no outsiders around could Yan Shang truly relax with her.

Yan Shang lowered his head to grill fish for her, and with the servants gone, he took care of her. Being naturally attentive and meticulous, he specially prepared a cloth to remove the bones, making sure to clean out all the small bones before he handed the fish to Mu Wanyao.

Mu Wanyao: “Second Brother Yan, you treat me so well.”

Yan Shang looked up at her in surprise, not understanding why she suddenly said this.

Mu Wanyao exclaimed: “You’re so wonderful, thinking about filling in lakes when outside, and thinking about removing fish bones for me when at home. Managing both without conflict, how can you be so good?”

She was praising him again.

No matter how many times it happened, every time she got worked up and enthusiastically praised him, it made Yan Shang bashful. Yan Shang lowered his head to carefully remove bones, somewhat amused: “What’s this again? You praise me every day, I’m going to become conceited from your praise, not knowing my measure anymore.”

Mu Wanyao: “But you are just this good! Being so good, can’t people praise you? You do so many things, doesn’t anyone else praise you?”

Yan Shang spoke as if complaining: “Others aren’t like you, saying so much good whenever the thought strikes them.”

Mu Wanyao: “But I’m expressing my true feelings! I just think you’re especially wonderful, so wonderful that sometimes I feel inferior, feeling that my level can’t match yours, that I’m not worthy of you.”

Yan Shang didn’t comfort her about being worthy or not, but instead answered: “Sometimes it’s just like this. Perhaps sometimes… one just feels unworthy of the other. I often have this feeling too. But it’s just for a moment; most of the time, we’re just ordinary men and women, what’s there to talk about being worthy or not?”

Mu Wanyao asked in surprise: “You feel unworthy of me? Because of your background?”

Yan Shang kept his head down: “There are many reasons. For example, Your Highness’s courage, purity, determination, and stubborn persistence regardless of consequences… I admire all of these.

“I can only handle some mundane affairs, while Yaoyao is a great talent. I lack appreciation for many things, I can’t tell what’s good or bad, so I admire how you can immediately tell what’s good and what’s not…

“The world in Yaoyao’s eyes must be colorful and vibrant, right?

“The colors in my eyes are so boring, so monotonous. I often wonder why your emotions can fluctuate so much, how spectacular the world you see must be.”

Mu Wanyao rested her chin in her hand, her eyes curved in a smile, looking at the young man sitting below her with love and attachment. While grilling fish for her, he was carefully sharing his inner thoughts with her.

The differences between people are enormous; even lovers, loving to the extreme, cannot say they completely understand each other. Thus, Mu Wanyao extremely loved hearing Yan Shang tell her about his troubles, his thoughts… She listened like hearing stories about a world completely different from her own, once again marveling at how wonderful the fate between people could be.

Her husband was a person with poor aesthetic sense. It turned out he didn’t think himself good either; he also wanted rich sensory experiences.

She was so happy being with him!

The wind brushed their faces, and Mu Wanyao bent down, catching a strand of hair that had fallen on Yan Shang’s cheek. She said his hair crown was crooked and told him not to move. So Yan Shang continued lowering his head to grill fish, while Mu Wanyao sat on the boulder half a head higher than him, lowering her head to adjust his hair crown.

She lowered her head, seeing his curled thick eyelashes, his jade-white face, and his pink lips.

While she was in a daze, he raised his head, offering her a piece of deboned fish. His eyes sparkled like rippling water with falling starlight as he gently warned her to be careful of the heat.

At that moment, as Mu Wanyao was being fed by him, she felt the present time was so wonderful. So wonderful that she was reluctant to leave, so wonderful that she didn’t want anything to change.

Yan Shang held the chopsticks for a long time, but Mu Wanyao didn’t open her mouth. Seeing the fish was about to get cold, he looked at her in confusion. He saw Mu Wanyao gazing at him, and slowly, laughter began flowing in her eyes, her lips curving into a smile.

Yan Shang was helpless but also amused by her inexplicable behavior: “What are you laughing at?”

Mu Wanyao smiled, hugging her knees and resting her chin. When she opened her mouth to eat the meat, Yan Shang said it had gotten cold and couldn’t let her eat it. He ate that small piece of deboned fish himself, and Mu Wanyao hugged her knees watching him remove fish bones again. He had been busy all this time and had only eaten that tiny bit himself.

Mu Wanyao rested her chin in her hand, gazing at him intently, studying him, and after a while suddenly said: “What should we do, Second Brother?”

The busy Yan Shang slightly lifted his face.

The wind rustled through scattered hair, clothes flying like begonia petals. Mu Wanyao rested her chin in her hand and smiled foolishly: “I don’t want to return to Chang’an anymore.”

Yan Shang didn’t immediately understand her true meaning.

Mu Wanyao looked at him smiling: “I don’t want to return to Chang’an anymore, don’t want that power anymore. The letters the court officials write to me each month, I don’t want to read them anymore. I’ve been away from there for so long, what do those matters have to do with me? I can’t become Empress anyway.

“I seem to have fallen in love with our current life. My second Brother is here recuperating, so there aren’t too many official duties, and he can spend more time with me. I’ve picked up the skills I abandoned in my youth, reading books, and looking through ancient scores. We stay in Lingnan, close our doors, and live our own lives, not caring about the winds and clouds of Chang’an.

“We’re like immortal lovers! No, even if offered immortality, I wouldn’t want to trade this!

“Suddenly… I don’t seem to love power so much anymore. I seem to… like you more. Power sufficient for self-protection is enough, but Second Brother is the person I’ll spend my whole life with.”

Yan Shang stared at her speechlessly.

Mu Wanyao acted coquettishly: “Say something! I’m confessing to you, telling you I like you more than power, and you do not react at all?”

Light flowed in Yan Shang’s eyes.

He slowly said: “Yaoyao, I’m very happy.”

Mu Wanyao raised her eyebrows.

He said softly: “Not because you said I finally occupy first place in your heart. But because you can say such words, because… you’ve finally reconciled with the past. I have no intention of obsessing over what you love more, those things don’t have much meaning. When people make real choices, their momentary impulses, true thoughts, and deeply rooted daily thoughts might all be different.

“I’m just happy, Yaoyao, that you’ve finally let go of the past, and walked out of the shadows. I’ve accompanied you for several years, we’ve known each other for nearly ten years… I can pull you out of past nightmares, help you not to dwell on them, let you think about the present and future…

“I deserve your love, I haven’t let you down, right?”

Mu Wanyao quietly looked at him.

Tears gradually appeared in her eyes, and she wanted to say something, opened her lips, but smile overflowed from the corners instead. Her heart was both sour and astringent, both bitter and sweet. She would never be grateful for past sufferings, but she was grateful to heaven for letting her meet Yan Shang. Heaven had ultimately been kind to her, taking away some things but compensating her with the world’s best Yan Shang.

She loved this compensation.

Mu Wanyao said obediently and coquettishly: “Second Brother Yan, do you want to hug me?”

She paused slightly, her eyes brimming with light-like tears. She opened her arms to him, tilting her face up and closing her eyes, both obedient and charming: “Do you want to kiss me?”

Yan Shang smiled, he stood up abandoning what he was busy with, sat over, and bent down to hold her in his arms—

Bird songs and fragrant flowers, the world was quietly beautiful.

The husband and wife hadn’t cuddled for long when they heard urgent hoofbeats.

Yan Shang released Mu Wanyao, standing beside where she sat, his hand resting on her shoulder, turned his face, and saw Fang Tong holding several letters, hurriedly coming to find them.

Fang Tong faced Mu Wanyao: “The letters from Chang’an officials to Your Highness this month have arrived.”

Mu Wanyao lowered her eyes.

Fang Tong then turned to Yan Shang: “Young Master, Lady Xiaozhou has written you a letter… but it came through the emergency message channel we arranged with Han Shuxing, delivered by express horse.”

Yan Shang’s expression stilled, and his hand on Mu Wanyao’s shoulder trembled slightly. The emergency channel was naturally not used in ordinary times. Had something happened to Xiaozhou?

As waves rose in his heart, Mu Wanyao held his hand. He steadied himself, smiled at Mu Wanyao, and then tore open the letter.

Mu Wanyao quickly scanned several officials’ letters to her, feeling there were no changes in Chang’an’s situation. From the corner of her eye, she saw Yan Shang’s expression growing increasingly calm. As anxiety grew in her heart because of him, he raised his face and handed the letter to Mu Wanyao.

Yan Shang: “The intelligence Yang Third Brother spoke of… must be delivered to Chang’an by express horse.”—

Yang Si was now doing hard labor repairing city walls at the border, but the keen observational skills developed from his many years of military life couldn’t be underestimated.

Through Yan Xiaozhou’s words, he detailed the unusual behavior of the Southern barbarians’ border army over several months. For example, how their troops were increasingly concentrated, the difference in frequency of conflicts with Great Wei compared to previous years… all these revealed one piece of intelligence: the Southern barbarians might be preparing to attack Great Wei.

Yang Si judged that now, with spring grass beginning to grow and all things reviving, the Southern barbarians had recuperated well from their hibernation last winter. If they were truly going to attack, now would be the best time.

Yang Si suspected the Southern barbarians’ internal strife had ended. Now it was just a feint to lull Great Wei into complacency. The Southern barbarians were ambitious and might have coveted this war for a long time.

Such news reached Yan Shang and Mu Wanyao, the couple naturally couldn’t treat it as ordinary.

Yan Shang excelled at social connections, and he had made many friends in official circles. As soon as Yang Si’s letter arrived, Yan Shang began writing letters to the Military Commissioner of Jiannan, the Military Commissioner of Longyou, and several generals guarding the two main battle formations, inquiring about detailed military intelligence.

Moreover, Yan Shang worried that Lingnan was too remote and the time for letter exchanges would delay military matters, so he asked these people to send their replies to him later, with the most urgent matter being to send their replies to Chang’an.

When several pieces of intelligence arrived together, Yan Shang’s teacher Minister Liu, presiding in Chang’an, would surely see the problems therein. At the same time, Yan Shang also wrote a letter to Minister Liu, explaining in detail why Yang Si was passing messages through him.

Yan Shang even kept a shrewd eye on the situation—he realized that if Great Wei and the Southern barbarians were to go to war, Yang Si’s letter would become a breakthrough point for him to atone for his crimes through meritorious service.

Yan Shang wasn’t just thinking about Great Wei’s interests; he also wanted to take this opportunity to remove Yang Si’s crimes and help Third Brother Yang restore his reputation—

In April, Chang’an’s official circles entered a tense state. Minister Liu presided over court discussions, deliberating the Southern barbarian situation, discussing Great Wei’s troop movements, and preparing supplies.

Liu Wenyi, holding a military position, would naturally participate in such court discussions.

The only one excluded was the Emperor.

But the Emperor didn’t care either—the officials were too capable, leaving the Emperor with nothing to do. While the court officials discussed how credible the intelligence sent by Second Young Master Yan was and whether Great Wei should fight or make peace with the Southern barbarians, the Emperor was wearing down the officials, getting them to agree to let him tour the realm.

The Emperor was enthusiastic about touring Great Wei’s territory as the Son of Heaven, wanting to see how prosperous the Great Wei he governed was.

With several ministers managing state affairs, the Emperor couldn’t interfere much. When Yan Shang was in Chang’an, the Emperor still tried to contend with the officials. After Yan Shang left, the Emperor found he couldn’t compete with these officials, and fearing that given time, his shallow abilities would be exposed, he simply let the officials have their way.

Now, the Emperor just wanted to tour the realm!

But Minister Liu and others slapped the table, wanting to go to war. To go to war, naturally the Ministry of Revenue had to check accounts, ensure the national treasury and supplies were abundant, and calculate the use of every penny. The Emperor’s desire to tour naturally had to be postponed, couldn’t be approved.

Minister Liu was an unyielding person; he forcefully suppressed the voices opposing war in court. In his view, the Southern barbarians had been plotting for a long time, and if Great Wei sought peace instead of war, it would encourage their aggression. Although Great Wei’s military strength might not match the Southern barbarians, Great Wei’s abundant reserve supplies were far beyond what the Southern barbarians could compare to.

In this war, regardless of victory or defeat, Great Wei had to fight.

Minister Liu was originally on guard against Liu Wenyi creating obstacles and preventing the war. The conflict between scholars and internal attendants was so obvious that Liu Wenyi would oppose all his decisions.

But Liu Wenyi didn’t oppose the war, letting the scholars breathe a sigh of relief.

Liu Wenyi indeed didn’t oppose the war. The scholar faction could benefit from war, and so could the internal attendants. War was the fastest path to promotion… Liu Wenyi wanted to embed the internal attendants’ influence more deeply, wanted to elevate all the scholar factions led by the Zhao family who had allied with him to high positions.

Only the Emperor was unhappy, complaining to Liu Wenyi that his chance to tour the realm had been rejected by Minister Liu, that no one cared about him as Emperor.

Liu Wenyi perfunctorily dealt with the Emperor, inwardly despising his short-sightedness.

However, Liu Wenyi’s attitude toward cooperating with the war changed at the end of April. A group of Southern barbarians entered Chang’an in disguise, and instead of seeing the Emperor, they first met with Lord Liu, asking Lord Liu to cooperate with the Southern barbarians—

Yan Shang and Mu Wanyao stayed in Lingnan, with letters exchanged daily by express horse between Chang’an and Lingnan. It was just unfortunate that where they lived was truly too remote, the news lag too great, making it impossible to get the fastest news.

Yan Shang’s heart was tormented, he began suffering from insomnia at night, fearing the war would break out early while Chang’an wasn’t yet prepared.

On the sleepless night of the Yan couple, the Southern barbarians had already marshaled their troops, dividing into two armies, beginning their invasion from Hexi and Jiannan respectively. The Hexi forces were led by others, but Jiannan, being a rich territory, was coveted by the Southern barbarians’ King Ale, who personally deployed troops and presided over this area, wanting to take Jiannan.

Meng Zai Shi, following King Ale’s side, saw that once the decision to start the war was made, this obstinate king burst forth with unprecedented keen intuition. King Ale not only sent people to Chang’an to meet Liu Wenyi but also sent people to investigate Jiannan’s official army, investigating their weaknesses.

That night, at this border area of Jiannan, because of heightened vigilance against the Southern barbarians, the border army was stricter than usual. But by the time the guards changed in the latter half of the night, the guards began to relax.

Tired after a full day, when Yang Si was sleeping in his tent as usual, he closed his eyes but suddenly felt movement in the shadows. He immediately sat up, and among the soldiers sleeping deeply in the tent, he watched the tent. After a while, more moving shadows were cast on the tent…

Yang Si leaped up to his full height, jumping out of the tent.

Fire arrows suddenly attacked the camp formation in the darkness, the enemy carefully crept over like assassins to kill the guards on duty, and turning around, saw a black-clad youth springing forth, his body like black lightning—

“Seeking death!”

With Yang Si’s long howl, the entire military camp awakened, and the battle began!—

The moon was bright and the stars were sparse.

After the night watch, in Liu Wenyi’s private residence in Chang’an, Liu Wenyi sat in a corner, watching that foreigner speaking the broken Great Wei language, talking to him at length:

“Our Great King has evidence of all the things you’ve done, Lord. Your teacher Lord Cheng’an is currently being well fed and taken care of by our Great King. Only when Great Wei falls will he be finished. Otherwise, we will personally escort this Lord Cheng’an back to Great Wei to meet with you.

“After being master and disciple, I wonder if my lord wants to see him?”

Liu Wenyi stared at this bearded foreigner with gloomy eyes. He slowly asked: “What do you want?”

The other party answered: “We want territory, want wealth, want gold and silver and jewels, beautiful women in abundance… Lord, we’ve set our sights on that piece of Jiannan land, if Great Wei gives it to us, our tribal king is willing to sign a covenant with Great Wei’s Emperor, never to invade Great Wei again!”

Liu Wenyi said nothing.

Thinking to himself, Jiannan… you dare to ask for it, such a greedy demand.

Liu Wenyi lowered his eyes with a contained smile: “I need to think about it.”

The other party said: “Don’t think for too long… Lord, if our calculations are correct, our first army has already entered your Great Wei.”

Liu Wenyi’s eyes suddenly contracted, bursting with cold light, as the other party smiled maliciously, saying: “Your Great Wei army can’t defeat us.”