An eight-year-old kid emptied his scumbag father's warehouse and followed his grandparents into

The way home is always long. The winding official road is like a sleeping dragon. The sound of the carriage wheels rolling over the bluestone slabs is monotonous and heavy, and each sound seems to be grinding on Jing Chunxi's heart.

Outside the car window, the setting sun dyed the sky blood red, then gradually faded into light purple, and finally sank into dark blue.

The villages along the way lit up their lights one after another, like stars scattered on the earth, but that was not their home.

It was not until the next day that the wheels rolled over the last section of the mountain road, and the indigo outline of the Daqing Mountain emerged in the fog.

It was already the end of July. The roads were getting wider and wider as we approached the capital. The air was filled with the interwoven fragrance of gardenias and early osmanthus, a sweet aroma that was almost sickening.

Since Jing Chunxi insisted on returning to Qingshan Villa first, the carriage slowly stopped at the fork in the road leading to Daqingshan. The wheels crushed a few early-fallen sycamore leaves, making a crisp sound.

This is the fork in the road between two journeys - going forward is the official road leading to the south gate of the capital, and to the right is a gravel road winding towards the green mountains.

The car curtains were open and the wind was hot, just like her excitement about getting home, and it made the hair on her temples tremble slightly.

The two teams parted ways here, the sound of wheels colliding with bluestone slabs and the snorting of horses intertwined, like some kind of silent farewell ceremony.

She saw that Kuaijiao had ordered the guards to turn their horses to the right, the hilts of their swords gleaming coldly in the sun, while Xu Zize's personal soldiers reined in their horses and stood by the road, their backs as straight as gun barrels.

Xu Zize dismounted, his dark cape tracing a sharp arc in the air. He quickly walked to the carriage, and Chuntao immediately jumped out, reaching out to carry Xiaoyu down. Tang Shuang, of course, got off immediately, lowering her head and stepping aside. The rustling of her shoes on the sand was an extraordinarily cautious sound.

When the carriage was clear, he suddenly leaped lightly, landing silently in front of Jing Chunxi like a nimble leopard. The carriage swayed slightly from the sudden loss of weight, but his arrival was almost silent, with only ripples on the patterned curtains.

"Xi'er, when will you return to the city?"

Xu Zize held her shoulders with both hands, and the burning warmth from his fingertips came through her thin summer shirt.

He lowered his voice very low, as if afraid that people outside would hear, "Father will definitely summon you into the palace, but you can't stay too long." His thumb unconsciously stroked the fabric of her shoulder, where tiny wrinkles had already appeared.

As he spoke, his eyelashes cast two trembling shadows under his eyes, like the surface of a lake wrinkled by the wind, filled with inextricable attachment.

"I'm worried about my mother, and I miss my mother and brother, and besides," Jing Chunxi lowered his head, his fingertips unconsciously tightening the forbidden step hanging around his waist, and the jade ornaments collided with each other, making a tiny tinkling sound.

Ever since that night in Qiling Temple when they knelt side by side before the Buddha, saw their own reflections in each other's eyes through the flickering candlelight, and communicated with each other, she knew that Xu Zize was not the prince who played power games as rumored.

The scenes in the past where she had shared the joys and sorrows with him, faced dangers with him, and always managed to get through it, these details gnawed away at her defenses bit by bit like a silkworm eating mulberry leaves in spring.

Now, she no longer had any concerns about the fact that they would be together in the future, and her heart was unconsciously moving closer to him, just like a tired bird on a winter night instinctively flying towards a warm nest.

"I'm going to tell Dad and Mom about this first." She looked up at him and found that his jawline was tense like a sword drawn from its sheath, so she couldn't help laughing.

"As the eldest prince, why don't you hurry up and come to the palace to meet the emperor? I'm afraid you have a lot of things to deal with, right?" She deliberately poked the Kuilong pattern embroidered on his chest with her fingertips, and the gold thread scratched her fingertips, making them itch slightly.

"To meet the princess—" She suddenly stopped, the tip of her tongue seemed to be burned, "To meet the queen, Dai Xier paid her respects, and~" Her voice was as light as a feather, "and the two little princes and princesses, remember to give them the gifts from Jiangnan." The last few words almost dissipated in the wind.

"From now on, Xier should still call them Yunshu, Wangshu, and Xuecheng, and they will have to respectfully address you as the Emperor's sister-in-law." Xu Zize suddenly became serious, and each word sounded like a jade bead rolling across the ice, with unquestionable hardness.

The faint vertical line between his eyebrows appeared particularly clear at this moment. It was a line that only appeared when he was serious.

"Etiquette cannot be abolished. Besides," Jing Chunxi's eyelashes trembled like butterfly wings, casting two trembling moon-shaped shadows under her eyes, "We don't know whether the emperor and the empress agree or not!" She suddenly blushed and leaned close to his ear, her warm breath brushing his earlobe, "Even if the marriage is granted-"

But his voice suddenly dropped and his expression changed, as if he had been pricked by something sharp.

She suddenly shuddered, her fingertips shaking uncontrollably, and even the jade ornaments on her waist jingled. "Xier thought about marrying into the palace after she turned 18." The last word floated in the wind, so light that it was almost inaudible.

"Xi'er, are you afraid to enter the palace?" Xu Zize keenly sensed her barely perceptible trembling—like noticing a snowflake melting on scorching skin. His grip on her shoulder unconsciously tightened, but he forced himself to relax the next second, fearing he might hurt her.

She wanted to say, "Who isn't afraid?" The words rolled on her tongue, but she swallowed them back.

She thought of what her cheap father had said in the letter.

During the coronation ceremony of Emperor Wu of Yan, the deafening sound of bells and drums seemed to echo in her ears.

To provide relief to important officials and stabilize the political situation, the new emperor took two concubines within three days of his ascension. One was Cui Ru, the daughter of the imperial family and granddaughter of the Empress Dowager. The other was Xiao Yanhua, the eldest granddaughter of Prime Minister Xiao.

Originally, Jing Mingyue was also among those to be canonized, but the old general and the old lady were reluctant to let their granddaughter, who had just returned to Beijing, suffer in the palace, and they did not want to be involved in future royal disputes, so they politely declined.

At that time, she was happy for her cousin and was glad that she didn't have to be imprisoned in that cage for life.

Thinking of this, Jing Chunxi inexplicably felt a little nauseous.

Although Xu Zi Zegui had made a promise to the late queen in front of her spirit, the queen's position in any dynasty was never as secure as a rock, let alone being the only one favored.

However, she looked across at the man opposite her, who had a serious and affectionate expression on his face, not one that seemed fake. A sour feeling rose in her throat, and she swallowed it back calmly, tasting a hint of bitterness on the tip of her tongue.

But she still shook her head, and the tassels of her hairpins flashed with silver light. "No, Xier just wants to spend a few more years with mother and my brothers and sisters."

Her voice was as light as a willow catkin, but it floated stubbornly in the wind. "Otherwise, I'll be alienated from my unborn brother and sister. I'm afraid they won't even recognize me."

After saying this, she suddenly realized the choking in her voice and bit her lower lip hard.

The sunlight filtered through the front car window, casting mottled shadows on her face. The swaying spots of light looked like silent tears.

She forced the corners of her mouth to curl upwards, but she couldn't pull out a complete smile. In the end, she could only turn her face away in panic. The voice seemed to come from far away, "Go back quickly!"

She suddenly reached out and pushed him hard. Through the fabric of her clothes, she could feel his heartbeat in her chest, as rapid as a drum. "I'll stay in Qingshan Villa for a few days, and then I'll go to the city to visit my grandparents and aunts. Xi'er misses them too."

After saying this, she turned around almost as if running away. The curtain of the car fell behind her, like a heavy curtain blocking out all the unspoken attachment.

When the curtain swayed for the last time, Xu Zize saw her raise her hand and quickly wipe the corner of her eyes - the movement was as light as a fallen leaf brushing across the water, but it stirred up ripples in his heart that lasted for a long time.