Dad, open the door. I'll bring your mistress back for you.

The news that Emperor Jing agreed to let Zhou Lin go to the north and the news that Shen Chuning was going to be engaged to Xie Xiuqi reached General Dingguo's Mansion almost at the same time.

The moment Zhou Lin heard the news, he felt mixed emotions, not knowing whether to be happy or sad.

A few days ago, Emperor Jing had asked Xie Xiuqi to compare the horoscopes of Xiao Yuanyi and Shen Chuning.

Xie Xiuqi perfectly pointed out, "This woman's horoscope is the same as my fiancée's."

When Emperor Jing heard this, he did not believe it at first, but he had to believe it until Shen Huaizhong brought the marriage certificate that had been prepared long ago into the palace for an audience.

Because the date written on the marriage certificate was clearly visible, and the marriage contract was actually confirmed when Shen Chuning was still in Shandong.

Although Emperor Jing was dissatisfied with the result, as the king of a country, he would never do such a disgraceful thing as forcing his subjects to break the agreement.

Shen Chuning suddenly saw Zhou Lin at the Shen family, and a look of surprise appeared on her face.

It has been a long time since he left the Yun Family Teahouse that day.

She asked softly, "Are you here to pay your respects to my aunt?"

Zhou Lin slowly shook his head and replied, "I came here to find Doctor Ning and ask him to check my leg injury."

Hearing this, Shen Chuning subconsciously raised her head and looked at Zhou Lin with concern, "How is your leg injury now?"

She wanted to say, "Why don't you let me take a look at it for you," but then she thought again and felt that this was not appropriate, so she swallowed the second half of the sentence.

Zhou Lin smiled faintly and reassured her, "I'm fine now. I'm just about to return to the North, so I came to ask Doctor Ning to check again."

"Did he say you can leave?" Shen Chuning asked.

"Of course I can. I'm no different from an ordinary person now." Zhou Lin answered firmly without thinking, as if Shen Chuning wouldn't believe him if he kept saying it slower.

"That's good." These three simple words came out of Shen Chuning's mouth.

But after that, the whole atmosphere suddenly fell into silence.

For a moment, the two of them were speechless, and no one knew how to break the awkward silence.

At this moment, it was as if we were in sync.

"correct……"

"I forgot to mention..."

Two voices rang out almost simultaneously.

As soon as the words fell, both of them were stunned, and then smiled at each other.

"You go ahead and say it."

In the end, it was Zhou Lin who spoke first and made concessions.

His eyes, as deep as a pool of water, stared at Shen Chuning closely, revealing an indescribable complex emotion.

Shen Chuning took a deep breath and said slowly, "Xuanyou and Xuanying have always wanted to go into battle. Can you take them with you on this trip to the North? They didn't go back because they made a mistake. It's just that I have trained new secret guards here, and I feel more at ease using my own people."

Zhou Lin listened to Shen Chuning's words quietly. When he heard her mention using her own manpower, his heart suddenly ached.

Now they have become so unfamiliar with each other that she even feels uneasy about using the secret guard he gave her.

That's right, she is already engaged, so naturally she has to draw a clear line between herself and me and cut off all ties with me.

Thinking of this, Zhou Lin's eyes dimmed for a moment, but soon returned to normal.

"Okay." Zhou Lin suppressed the pain in his heart and answered decisively.

He didn't want Shen Chuning to notice that something was wrong with him, he just wanted to satisfy her requirements as much as possible.

Seeing Zhou Lin agreed without hesitation, Shen Chuning secretly breathed a sigh of relief. The big stone that had been hanging in her heart finally fell to the ground, and she finally put her mind at ease.

Then she asked curiously, "What did you want to say just now?"

"I heard you're engaged, but unfortunately, I'm afraid I won't be able to return when you get married. So I'm giving you this gift in advance today. Think of it as a gift from your family to help you."

As Zhou Lin spoke, he slowly took out a house deed and a small and exquisite key from his arms and handed them to Shen Chuning.

However, the words of congratulations that he should have said seemed to be stuck in his throat, making him unable to utter them no matter what.

Shen Chuning originally thought that the gift Zhou Lin sent should be just a small house or an ordinary shop.

So she didn't think much about it and naturally reached out her hand to take the gift.

But when she took it in her hand and looked down at it carefully, she was shocked. It turned out to be a mansion with five courtyards!

Such a generous gift really made Shen Chuning feel a little nervous.

She raised her head hurriedly, wanting to return the deed to Zhou Lin: "This... I really can't accept this, it's too valuable!"

However, facing Shen Chuning's refusal, Zhou Lin had no intention of reaching out to take back the house deed.

He shook his head slightly and said softly, "Take it. Don't refuse anymore. I've made many great achievements on the battlefield over the years, and His Majesty has bestowed upon me a wealth of gold, silver, and treasures. This house is but a tiny, insignificant part of it. And here's the key to the storeroom. It contains some small finds I've collected over the years. I'm too lazy to unload and organize them one by one myself. If you have some free time in the future, you can go and sort them out yourself."

Hearing this, Shen Chuning felt even more ashamed: "No, no, these are all earned by you with your life, I really can't accept them."

Seeing that Shen Chuning still refused to accept it, Zhou Lin couldn't help but frown and raised his voice slightly, "You still call me cousin! Since we are cousins, why be so polite? This is just a small token of my appreciation. Just accept it with peace of mind."

The word "cousin" reached Shen Chuning's ears, causing ripples in her heart.

Yes, I think the reason why Zhou Lin gave these to her was probably because of her aunt's kindness.

Thinking of this, Shen Chuning lost interest in arguing with him. She nodded and carefully put the house deed and key into her arms.

"When are you leaving?" Shen Chuning frowned slightly and asked softly.

"Tomorrow." Zhou Lin replied briefly.

Hearing this answer, Shen Chuning couldn't help but feel a little disappointed, but she still forced a smile and said, "I happen to be busy tomorrow, so I'm afraid I won't be able to see you off. I wish you a safe journey."

Having said that, on the morning of the next day, before dawn, Shen Chuning had quietly gotten up, dressed up, and hurried to the Yun family teahouse.

The Yun Family Teahouse is located on Zhuque Street, which is a must-pass place for entering and leaving the city.

Shen Chuning chose a seat by the window and sat down, her eyes occasionally looking towards the distant street.

Sure enough, not long after, she saw Zhou Lin riding a horse slowly towards her.

I saw him looking back from time to time, as if he was expecting someone to appear.

Only when Zhou Lin walked farther and farther away and disappeared from her sight did Shen Chuning withdraw her gaze.

Just as she was about to leave, she caught a glimpse of a majestic group of people slowly entering the city from outside.

The leader was none other than the third son of the current emperor - Xiao Yuanlang.

Shen Chuning stood up and muttered to herself, "You're back so quickly."