The closest he came was on his birthday.

He prepared a jar of good wine, a table of good food, inviting her to dine in the courtyard.

That was already the fourth month of Yuanfeng twenty-eight. Shen Duruo had been at the Crown Prince’s estate for nearly a year.

She gave a birthday gift—a qin music score.

This score had long been lost from the market. She had invested considerable effort.

Courage inexplicably rose in his heart. He thought that today, no matter what, he must speak the words in his heart.

After drinking half a bowl of wine, her face bloomed like peach blossoms.

His hands on his knees clenched into fists. He took a deep breath.

“Duruo.”

“Chengfeng.”

Both froze slightly.

His throat moved several times. He said generously: “What’s wrong?”

“Why must a woman necessarily marry and bear children? Why can’t she live alone?”

The wine’s delayed effect brought a rare fragility to her face.

“Why must family estates always be passed to men? We women can only receive a dowry?

Why, with all my medical skills, can I only treat gynecology?

Why, wherever I go, there’s always pointing and whispering?”

Dong Chengfeng took away the wine cup before her: “Don’t drink anymore.”

She snatched the cup back, poured herself another cup of wine, drank it all in one gulp, then looked at him with pitch-black eyes:

“Just because I’m a woman? In this world, should women be inferior?”

He didn’t know how to answer, only asking softly: “Then what do you want to do?”

“See the world’s scenery, treat the world’s illnesses. Not marry, not have children. Be myself.”

“When you’re old?”

“When I’m old, I’ll specifically find patients with difficult conditions, apply the Ghost Gate Thirteen Needles. Some day when luck runs out, my head will fall—then I’m gone. Clean and simple.”

She bit her lip hard: “However you live, it’s still a lifetime. Don’t you think?”

He couldn’t speak for a long while.

Shen Duruo, you really know how to pick days to say these things!

No chance.

Several months later, he finally understood—just because he had no chance didn’t mean others had none.

The reason she wanted to be alone was because she hadn’t found her destined person. Once she found him, she’d be willing to do anything.

“Who was Shen Duruo’s destined person?” Yan Sanhe’s curiosity was thoroughly aroused.

“You guess.”

“I can’t guess.”

Dong Chengfeng raised his eyebrows: “How can you not guess?”

Yan Sanhe felt somewhat uncomfortable: “…Why must I definitely be able to guess?”

Dong Chengfeng looked at her, his gaze pressing down: “It’s! Zhao! The! Fox!”

The former Crown Prince?

Zhao Rongyu?

Yan Sanhe stood frozen in place.

How could this be possible?

Shen Duruo entered the Crown Prince’s estate at twenty.

The Crown Prince was already in his early forties then.

In other words, he could have been Shen Duruo’s father!

“Quite shocking, isn’t it?”

Dong Chengfeng sneered coldly: “Not wanting me in my youth and vigor, actually liking an old man full of twilight air. I don’t even know what she saw in him.”

The air gradually tensed.

Long silence.

In the silence, Yan Sanhe once again scrutinized the Dong Chengfeng before her.

The person he liked was Shen Duruo.

And the person Shen Duruo liked was Zhao Rongyu.

The relationship between him and Zhao Rongyu was romantic rivals, not soulmates.

Then why would he waste half his life for a romantic rival?

“Speak then. How did Shen Duruo and the former Crown Prince begin?”

“Because of the Ghost Gate Thirteen Needles.”

The technique Shen Duruo displayed on New Year’s Eve not only shocked all the imperial physicians at the Imperial Medical Bureau, but also shocked the Zhao imperial clan.

“Have you heard of the Jade Sheng Tower in the capital?” Dong Chengfeng asked.

“I’ve heard. Reportedly opened by some old prince from the palace.”

“It was opened by Zhao the Fox’s junior imperial uncle. That man favors men.”

No wonder!

The former Crown Prince’s junior imperial uncle was also the current Emperor’s junior imperial uncle.

Last year when Tatar spies were discovered at Jade Sheng Tower, despite such a major incident, the tower only suspended operations for three months before resuming business.

Turned out he was an elder!

“That old thing had a favored attendant, reportedly breathtakingly beautiful. The old thing couldn’t even go to the privy without bringing him along.”

The favored attendant had followed the old thing for two years when he contracted a serious illness. Seeing he was about to die, the old thing couldn’t bear it. His heart hardened, and he kidnapped Shen Duruo, commanding her to apply the Ghost Gate Thirteen Needles.

After taking his pulse, Shen Duruo shook her head, saying there was no saving him.

The old thing wouldn’t listen. He placed a bowl of poison before Shen Duruo—either apply the needles or die.

With Shen Duruo’s temperament of preferring to break rather than bend, without a second word, she picked up the poison to drink.

The old thing furiously kicked out. The medicine spilled, and the person fell.

Hearing the tense moment, Yan Sanhe held her breath and asked: “What happened after?”

“Zhao the Fox rushed over.”

Zhao Rongyu brought no one except Xiao Ze.

Seeing the Crown Prince arrive, the old prince wasn’t afraid at all. Instead, he drew a long sword from a guard’s waist and pressed the blade to Shen Duruo’s heart.

“Crown Prince, judge this matter. Should this prince kill such a female physician who fears death?”

“Should!”

The old prince froze.

Zhao Rongyu’s brows darkened with fury: “Not only should she be killed, her Shen family should also be raided.”

Mentioning the Shen family, the old prince felt as if a basin of cold water had been poured over his head. In his impulsiveness, he’d forgotten—this person was the Shen family’s only daughter.

Zhao Rongyu walked to the main seat and sat down composedly.

“Imperial Uncle, that New Year’s Eve night, my son collapsed in my arms. One imperial physician after another came to examine him, one after another shaking their heads saying there was no saving him. Do you know what I wanted then? I wanted to be like you now—destroy heaven and earth, perish together with these quacks.”

“You speak nicely!”

The old prince sneered coldly: “Wasn’t he saved in the end?”

“Yes, he was saved. Imperial Uncle, do you still remember the circumstances then?”

Zhao Rongyu said calmly: “When the twelfth needle was applied, my son still wasn’t responding. In my fury, I pressed a blade to Physician Shen’s neck, forcing her to apply the last needle.”

The old prince’s complexion changed slightly. He’d been there that New Year’s Eve.

“Physician Shen sneered coldly. Without saying anything, she raised her hand and the needle fell.”

Zhao Rongyu paused.

“Afterward, I asked Physician Shen—without that blade, would that last needle have been applied? Guess how she answered me?”

“She said: A physician’s heart is like a parent’s.”

“She also said: Those who can be saved—even roadside commoners she saves. Those who cannot be saved—even the Heavenly Emperor himself, she won’t apply needles.”

“She finally said: Whether there’s a blade at the throat isn’t important. Whether there’s a conscience in the chest is very important.”

As the words fell, Shen Duruo, kneeling on the ground, suddenly raised her head and looked deeply at Zhao Rongyu.

Zhao Rongyu rose and walked to the old prince’s side, sighing softly.

“Imperial Uncle, Physician Shen doesn’t lie. It’s that you and that person—your fated connection was only that much.”

“Clang—”

The sword fell to the ground. The old prince collapsed into the grand master’s chair, eyes full of grief.

Zhao Rongyu bent down, extended his hand to help Shen Duruo rise, supporting her as they slowly walked out.

That night, Shen Duruo was injured in the waist from the old prince’s kick and rested at the Crown Prince’s estate.

When night fell, he waited until everyone dispersed, then ran to see her.

—