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

"Shen Chengliu, she is your biological sister! How can you be so cruel to send her to marry?" Zhou Lin roared angrily.

At this moment, there were many other people around, and Shen Chengliu was unable to explain the reason in detail to Zhou Lin.

In desperation, he had to use the words he had prepared before to deal with the current situation.

Shen Chengliu took a deep breath and spoke slowly, "As long as Nanzhao is willing to withdraw its troops, grandfather and father can return to the capital safely. Nanzhao's condition for withdrawal is that Xiaojiu go to marry. Now that things have come to this, for the sake of the entire Shen family, there is really no other better solution."

Hearing this, Zhou Lin's face flushed with anger. He suddenly reached out and grabbed Shen Chengliu by the collar, gritting his teeth and demanding, "Are you going to sacrifice the innocent An Ning just for these so-called family interests? How can you have the face to call yourself her family when you act like this!"

At this moment, Shen Chuning walked down from the carriage and came to the two of them.

She looked at Zhou Lin calmly and said softly, "Mr. Zhou, what is your identity to say such words here?"

Zhou Lin was speechless for a moment, and after a moment he stammered, "I... I just couldn't bear to see An Ning suffer like this."

Before Zhou Lin could finish his words, Shen Chuning interrupted him rudely: "Can't bear it? How do you know, Master Zhou, that I'm not willing to do this?"

Zhou Lin stared at Shen Chuning with wide eyes, as if he couldn't believe what he heard.

Then, as if he had made up his mind, he spoke again, "A Ning, come with me. I will definitely protect you."

Shen Chuning simply shook her head and asked, "Go with you? Then what happens? What about those members of my Shen family who were exiled to Lingnan? Should we abandon them?"

"Your Majesty's ultimate goal is nothing more than to have Nanzhao withdraw his troops, but this isn't the only path to achieving this goal!" Zhou Lin's face was filled with anxiety, and his tone was firm. "I will immediately ask His Majesty to allocate 30% of the troops from Sichuan and Huguang to me. In this way, I am confident that I can defeat Nanzhao's army in one fell swoop! Then, you can be reunited with your family."

After hearing Zhou Lin's words, Shen Chuning was silent for a moment, but she couldn't help but ask, "You went to such great lengths to stop the wedding procession, and now you're leading the troops to fight. Are you trying to marry me?"

Zhou Lin couldn't help but startled slightly, a painful and tangled expression on his face. After a while, he slowly said: "I... I'm sorry... I can't..."

Seeing this, Shen Chuning couldn't help but sneer, shaking her head in self-mockery. She said, "Haha... If that's the case, then there's no need to bother you, Master Zhou, with all the trouble. To be honest, I'm willing to go to Nanzhao this time."

As soon as she finished speaking, she reached into her waist pouch and pulled out a house deed and a key, handing them to Zhou Lin. She continued, "This is the engagement gift Young Master Zhou gave me. Unfortunately, I'm afraid I'll never have the chance to return to the capital. This house is useless to me, so it would be better to return it to Young Master Zhou."

However, Zhou Lin did not reach out to take the title deed and the key. His eyes were always fixed on the beads on Shen Chuning's wrist.