Let's walk together for the rest of our lives. If the host says to leave, she will leave.

"Is defending the country also called wading into muddy water?!" Shen Jingyi raised her voice, "You taught me to read and write, to distinguish right from wrong. Now that Yan State is in turmoil, how can we stay out of it?"

"The royal family was cowardly before the battle and was criticized by the world. If my Shen family stays out of the matter, wouldn't that mean we are just trying to live in peace and be the same as them? If the monarch is ignorant, should the ministers also be blind and heartless?"

Each question was deafening and each word was heartbreaking, filled with the unwillingness and anger of a sincere young man.

Shen Jingyi was born and raised here, and she has a deep love for this land.

What is happening now is not a simple change of dynasties, but an invasion by foreign races. This land is about to be occupied by the barbarians from the northern region.

She, Shen Jingyi, is just a scholar who cannot lift a sword or a spear. If the city wall is really breached in the future, she can only hide behind the guards and receive protection, continuing the so-called "century-old foundation" in a dark corner.

But, she has eyes and can see the country being torn apart and the blood flowing; she has ears and can hear the wailing and chaos everywhere.

She also has a heart with passionate blood flowing in it, and this heart can hurt.

Minister Shen panted heavily, and she pointed at her rebellious daughter with a trembling finger: "What a blind person! What a nice thing to say!"

"You shouldn't have rushed to take over Yan State if you knew it was a mess. Not to mention how many lives you would have to climb to that position, even if you succeeded, as you said, could you stop the cavalry from the Northern Territory?"

"Shen Jingyi, who do you think you are? You want to help the world after reading the books of sages for two years?

You are the eldest daughter, the future head of the Shen family, and more than a thousand people make a living under you. If you really have a sense of responsibility, you shouldn't try to be a hero!"

What's the point of defending the country, what's the point of foreign invasion? Survival is the most important thing.

The trend of the Yan State's collapse was irreversible. If it insisted on being stubborn, it would only add more bones to the dying dynasty.

The Shen family has the ability to survive in this chaotic world, so what's wrong with just living in peace?

When the new order is established, the dead will be just a passing mention in history books, a heartless number.

The surviving Shen family will surely make a comeback sooner or later in ten years or a hundred years, and by then no one will remember their desertion.

Shen Jingyi looked at her mother in disbelief. In the past, she could never imagine that her gentle and tolerant mother would one day tell her hysterically: Live, live by any means necessary.

Shen Jingyi's body was shaking. She took two steps back. Her eyes were red and filled with tears. Then, she slowly knelt down.

During the first bow, she said, "My daughter is unrighteous and I am sorry to the thousands of people in the Shen family. I am not worthy of being the head of the family."

Everyone has their own choice, whether to live in peace or to go all out, Shen Jingyi is not qualified to make decisions for them.

After all, human life is more important than anything else.

The second time she bowed, she said: "I am an unfilial daughter. I have let my younger brother Shen Nian'an down. I am not worthy of being the eldest sister."

Shen Nian'an knew nothing. She shouldn't have let Shen Nian'an get engaged to Gu Ling in the first place. Love is hard to plant and hard to remove.

Shen Nian'an couldn't lose his sister and his lover at the same time.

The timing of this relationship is wrong.

The third time she bowed, she said: "I am an unfilial daughter. I have failed my mother in raising me. I am not worthy of being called a daughter."

Her body and hair were given by her parents, but she never considered her mother's feelings and made plans for her own life.

Want to be a hero? She has never been a hero, she is just too soft-hearted and too upright.

There are some things that you have to do and cannot not do.

She knelt down three times, expressing loyalty, filial piety, brotherhood and righteousness, but the only thing she lacked was loyalty.

No, her loyalty is not here.

The empty hall was so quiet that it seemed as if no one was alive.

The setting sun had already gone down the mountain, leaving no afterglow or glow, only an indistinct darkness.

It is not the pitch-black night, but pure black. It is dusk, a hazy dusk.

Finally, Shen Jingyi said, "Mother, please let your daughter go."

Minister Shen was still standing at the door, the dim, dark light shining on her back. Her face was facing the inner room, and all her emotions were hidden in the shadows.

She spoke slowly, using the gentle and elegant tone that Shen Jingyi was most familiar with.

"Just stay in the mansion and don't do anything."

Shen Jingyi, kneeling on the ground, finally burst into tears.

Those tears were as hot as blood.

Those tears were as cold as ice.

……

Shen Nian'an in the room remained unaware. No one told him and no one disturbed him.

They all have an unspoken understanding that Shen Nian'an shouldn't know, and doesn't need to know. He just needs to live in a greenhouse and be a vibrant flower.

They used their shields to block the disturbances and swordplay in the outside world, and resisted with their bodies. They would never let Shen Nian'an know.

They said it was for his own good.

Shen Nian'an sat sideways by the window, her back leaning against the window frame, her legs swaying off the ground, her layered skirt flying up and down.

He had been searching for a long time in the house and finally found the dusty jade pendant in a corner.

This jade pendant was naturally the reward for "buying a horse" that Gu Ling threw to him.

Things in Qianjin Pavilion are always expensive, but the quality is also top-notch. This jade pendant is soft to the touch, rich in color and smooth in texture. Just as Gu Ling said, it is more than enough to buy ten Yuanbai coins.

Shen Nian'an held up the jade pendant and placed it in front of his eyes. He was looking at the jade, but what appeared in front of him were Gu Ling's gentle and smiling eyes, and what rang in his ears were Gu Ling's smiling words.

A token of love...

He recalled what Gu Ling had said in front of Feng Jun.

He was laughing happily, but a gust of wind blew and he quickly put the jade pendant into his arms.

After the wind passed, he jumped down and landed steadily on the ground, standing by the windowsill. Only then did he realize that it was getting dark.

He was about to close the window when he spotted a few withered, yellow, and curled crabapple petals.

"Spring is over." He said a little melancholy.

Spring had gone and summer was approaching, and his favorite crabapple tree had withered.

Shen Nian'an's favorite flower is the crabapple, so the yard is full of this flower. Every spring, the whole garden is full of flowers, dense but not charming, like...

It looks like Gu Ling’s red dress and also like Gu Ling’s face.

Etc., etc!

Why do you think of Gu Ling again?

Shen Nian'an shook his head, as if he wanted to get Gu Ling out of his mind. In order to stop thinking about it, he decisively closed the window and prepared to go to bed.

The wind was blowing hard outside the window again, and the crabapple petals all over the ground were blowing and falling with the wind.

Some turn into spring mud, waiting for flowers to bloom next year; some climb over the courtyard wall and go to distant places.

Today is finally over.