Mistakenly Connected to the Jade Flower Branch

The river flows swiftly and ceaselessly. Nanfei tossed a stone into the water, making a thud and splashing up tiny ripples.

Some people are like pebbles, creating ripples in life before disappearing. Others are like waves, representing the intricate beauty and endless vitality of life.

Duoyi was no longer the girl who depended on him, and he was no longer the gentle and warm boy. Everything should have ended there, or rather, it should have ended abruptly when he collapsed at the city gate.

Nanfei stood up: "You didn't report your departure from the palace, did you? I'll take you back."

Duo Yi looked up at him. Unlike her dazed and dejected state at the Yuan residence, Nan Fei's expression was normal, as if he had figured something out while sitting by the river.

Duo Yi reached up, and Nan Fei hesitated. Then a hand reached out from behind him and pulled Duo Yi up.

Yuan Feng blocked Nan Fei's way, and Nan Fei took two steps back.

Duo Yi shook off Yuan Feng and shouted, "Why are you following us like a ghost?"

Yuan Feng's tone was calm yet extremely authoritative: "He is my man."

Duo Yi opened her mouth several times, but swallowed it back under Yuan Feng's pressure, stomped her foot, and ran away.

From the past to the present, Duoyi has always been like an unreasonable little girl in front of Yuan Feng, arrogant but powerless.

Yuan Feng watched Duo Yi walk away and turned to return to her residence. Nan Fei reached out to pull her, but Yuan Feng flipped her hand away as he touched her sleeve.

Nan Fei had anticipated this. Following Yuan Feng's movement, he reached up and gripped her wrist tightly. Yuan Feng spun half a circle and landed in his arms, then kicked back with her foot.

Nanfei was stunned and stepped back, squatting down with a pained expression: "Ah Feng, this will cause you to have no descendants."

Yuan Feng coldly said, "What's the point of having children and grandchildren? To repeat the lives of their parents?"

Yuan Feng left after she finished speaking.

Nanfei followed up: "Even if we don't want children, we can't lack romance as a couple."

Yuan Feng ignored him.

Nanfei persisted: "Don't you feel sorry for your own man?"

Yuan Feng said, "Then find someone else to feel sorry for you?"

Seeing her expression, Nanfei replied, "Didn't you chase them away?"

Yuan Feng was furious and was about to take action in the street when Nan Fei ran away in a flash.

Yuan Feng looked unhappy, but Nan Fei was quite cheerful, and they maintained this until Eighth Sister brought over the medicine in the evening.

Eighth Sister was very honest: "Young Master, the Old Madam instructed us to keep an eye on you as you drink it."

Nanfei smiled and said, "The general is watching you. You can't escape. You can go now."

Yuan Feng coldly said, "What's so funny? What's so funny?"

Nanfei teased, "You look quite cute when you're jealous."

Using "cute" to describe a general is an insult. Yuan Feng said, "Young Master Nan is mistaken."

Nanfei asked, "What did you misunderstand? Are you not jealous, or are you not cute?"

The argument with Nan Fei hadn't even begun; the outcome was already decided. Yuan Feng turned her head away.

That awkward, affected manner is truly rare. Nan Fei walked up to her. Yuan Feng felt inexplicably nervous: "What do you want?"

Nan Fei pulled her up, wrapped his arms around her waist and clasped them tightly. He turned around and sat on her chair, with Yuan Feng naturally sitting on his lap.

Nanfei said, "I just wanted to hug you, but you're so nervous."

Yuan Feng gave up struggling and slowly softened, her expression still somewhat aggrieved.

Nan Fei rested his head on her shoulder: "If you're still angry, you can kick us out. This is your house, why are you running away?"

Yuan Feng said, "I'll understand next time."

Nanfei raised an eyebrow: "Next time? There's going to be a next time? You're so narrow-minded, don't you even know how you lead troops?"

A smile gradually appeared on Yuan Feng's face.

Nanfei felt a little relieved: "Why are you so brave today? Did your parents ask you to tell them something? Did you say a lot of bad things about me to them? I'm completely innocent."

Yuan Feng was both amused and exasperated: "No."

Nanfei said, "You have a good relationship with your parents, do you tell them everything?"

Yuan Feng said, "My father and mother didn't get along very well. My father didn't like to talk and my mother didn't like to chat. There was never any sound at the dinner table. I had to find things to talk about, and I would tell them everything I saw, heard, and experienced. They both loved listening to me talk, and eventually they got used to it..."

Nanfei praised her, "You are such a good daughter. Your parents are so proud of you."

Yuan Feng sighed softly, "It just so happens that I don't have many friends, so I talk to them when I'm alone. They're both very good people, but they're not a good match. Nanfei, about us in the future..."

Yuan Feng stopped, as if thinking of something.

Nanfei pressed further, "What happened next?"

Yuan Feng said, "It's nothing..."

Nanfei kissed her: "Ah Feng, what are you worried about?"

Nanfei always had a knack for understanding people's hearts. Yuan Feng hugged his neck and sighed, "Nanfei, I really can't bear to part with you."

Nanfei, unaccustomed to Yuan Feng's sorrow, picked up the bowl on the table: "It's getting cold."

Yuan Feng sat up straight: "Don't drink it. All medicines have some side effects. Drinking it for a long time is bad for your health."

Nanfei said, "This medicine is good for aphrodisiacs. Young master, you are a divine physician, it won't really harm your body."

Yuan Feng said nervously, "There's no need for flirting."

Nanfei ignored her advice, took a big gulp, and lifted her chin.

Just as Yuan Feng was about to ask a question, Nan Fei lowered his head and poured the whole thing into her mouth: "Then you drink it?"

"Can't escape it?" Yuan Feng simply picked up the bowl, tilted her head back, and drank it all down, displaying a fearless spirit.

Nanfei laughed loudly: "Ah Feng, is this marital intimacy meant for the battlefield?"

Yuan Feng argued softly, "Actually... it's about the same..."

Nianyao, still thinking about the willow-leaf hairpin, dragged Luo An to the Prince Le's residence after strolling along Hefang Street. When she saw An Qile and Meng Dong, she was somewhat surprised and whispered, "Luo An, why didn't you tell me earlier that my uncle is Prince Le?"

Luo An said, "I thought you knew."

How could she know this when she first arrived in Bianjing? They really don't treat her like an outsider!

Consort Liu had a full head of white hair and was very ill. An Qile said that Consort Liu sometimes didn't even recognize him.

Consort Liu looked at Nianyao, her eyes brightening, seemingly a little excited. She tugged at Nianyao and mumbled something indistinctly.

Nianyao's parents were both orphans, and she had never had any grandparents or relatives. It was the first time that she was being chatted with by her grandmother, and a strange sense of familiarity slowly rose in her heart.

Nianyao looked at Consort Liu. Through her aged face, one could vaguely discern that she had been a beauty in her youth. No wonder the prince fell in love with her at first sight and eloped with her.

Nianyao couldn't easily break free from Consort Liu, so she occasionally nodded to show she was listening. The group sat there until Consort Liu fell asleep before leaving.

Nianyao asked curiously, "Uncle, what did Grandma just say?"

An Qile said, "We couldn't understand what Mother was saying after she became seriously ill..."

Unable to communicate with Consort Liu, Nianyao could only give the willow-leaf hairpin to An Qile and tell him about the willow grove: "Uncle, I don't know if this hairpin is for Grandma, so why don't you keep it?"

On the day of the family banquet, An Liangchen, An Qile, and Luo An had already discussed it. An Qile naturally took the lead: "Mother and Father had a marriage agreement before they got married. Their elopement back then caused quite a stir. This hairpin is probably hers."

Nianyao asked, "Is her fiancé Uncle Liu?"

An Qile shook his head: "Mother has never mentioned it, and we don't feel comfortable asking, so we really don't know."

Nianyao stared at An Qile, and the atmosphere immediately became subtle.

Meng Dong advised, "Nianyao, eloping is not honorable, especially for a woman's reputation. Now that Uncle Liu is dead and Mother is nearing her end, let bygones be bygones. Don't hit someone in the face, don't expose someone's shortcomings. If others don't bring it up, we younger ones should not bring it up again, only to cause more harm."