Fearing being killed for his overwhelming merits, the empress decided to marry him.

"Brother, what's wrong with you?"

Jiang Shangxian was completely baffled by Shen Lang's actions.

Shen Lang tucked the Browning pistol behind his waist, lifted the curtain, and said dismissively, "As a Guards instructor, I should be vigilant at all times. Is that a problem?"

After saying that, he jumped off the carriage and mounted the black horse that Jiang Mengxuan had personally chosen before the expedition.

"It's been a long time since I've been back to Jinling. It's true that returning to the place where I grew up makes me feel more at home. Ah, hehe."

Mu Qingqiu, who was behind him, rode up to Shen Lang's side. Looking at the tall city gate, her face was full of smiles, and she said with emotion.

Shen Lang kept his eyes fixed on the departing donkey cart, seemingly deep in thought.

"Hey kid, what are you spacing out for?"

Mu Qingqiu patted Shen Lang on the shoulder.

"I've noticed you've been acting strange since earlier. What's wrong? Are you nervous about meeting your junior sister?"

Upon hearing Mu Qingqiu mention Jiang Mengxuan, Shen Lang instantly recalled the scene from his dream...

A bead of cold sweat dripped uncontrollably from his forehead.

It shouldn't be like this. It's just a dream that looks like Ding Zhen's, so why do I feel so uneasy?

"Brother, what's wrong with you?"

Seeing that Shen Lang had not entered the city gate for a long time, Jiang Shangxian immediately lifted the curtain and called out.

"Don't wait any longer. Didn't His Majesty make it very clear in his letter? Today is Qixi Festival, the day of the Daughters, and the number of people sightseeing throughout the city is increasing."

"It is truly inconvenient to give us a grand welcome. For now, please lead us into the palace to meet the Emperor. We will announce it to the world after the Girls' Festival."

After listening to Jiang Shangxian's words, Shen Lang wiped his forehead and casually replied, "Of course I know. Let's go into the city."

After speaking, Shen Lang rode his horse into the city gate first.

Behind him, nearly ten thousand Imperial Guards soldiers began to orderly set up temporary camps outside the city.

Upon entering Jinling City, one sees lanterns and decorations adorning the streets, with everyone preparing for the Daughters' Festival that evening.

"call……"

"what."

Shen Lang let out a long breath, feeling the atmosphere of fireworks before him, and couldn't help but smile self-deprecatingly.

"Two five six, two five seven, two eight two nine thirty-one..."

Just as he was relaxing his tense nerves, the catchy nursery rhyme of a group of girls playing jump rope not far away made Shen Lang's heart jump again.

I turned my head suddenly and saw two children playing with wooden tops not far from where they were jumping rope.

This scene was exactly the same as in my previous dream.

"Damn it, this can't be done like this!"

Just then, a woman suddenly rushed up to the two children who were spinning tops.

"Couldn't find you two this morning, so you were hiding here playing, huh? Wait till I get back, I'll have your dad deal with you two..."

Amid the woman's shouts and curses, the two children were reluctantly taken away.

Shen Lang let out a silent lament, and could only pray that it was all just a coincidence.

We continued on our horse and, after crossing just one street, we saw a shop selling sesame seed cakes.

"A sesame seed cake, a hot, freshly baked sesame seed cake!"

Upon hearing the vendor's shouts, Shen Lang's eyelids twitched, and he deliberately slowed down.

Sure enough, a short while later, a burly man arrived in front of the pancake shop.

"Sir, would you like some sesame seed cakes?"

"Give me ten pancakes."

"okay."

The vendor quickly wrapped up ten pancakes for the burly man and handed them over.

The burly man readily gave him twenty coins and was about to leave.

But the next second, the vendor called out to the burly man: "Sir, ten cakes cost twenty-five coins, you shortchanged me by five coins."

"Yesterday they were only two coins each, how come the price has gone up so much today? Don't tell me your cakes are made of gold?"

"Don't you even know what day it is today? It's Girls' Day! So many young men and women are going out to eat my cakes!"

Ten cakes cost twenty-five coins, that's only five coins more than you, and you think it's expensive? I think it's expensive too, so pay up now!

"Pah, that's disgusting. From now on, if I ever buy your cakes again, I'm your son."

"Buy it if you want, or get lost."

"Are you trying to pick a fight?"

"So what if you're picking a fight!"

"Damn it, you dare to overturn my pancake stand?!"

The burly man overturned the pancake stall and quickly became one with the vendor on a physical level.

Although some details have changed, the overall scene is not much different from what Shen Lang encountered in his dream.

With a feeling of unease, Shen Lang continued walking towards the palace.

"Fire has broken out!"

Upon hearing this roar, Shen Lang felt a sense of relief, as if it were the right thing to do.

A large lantern was seen burning on the street, engulfed in flames. Several patrolmen, armed with batons, quickly chased after it to extinguish the fire.

“Puff—”

At this moment, a group of villagers, carrying basins of water, helped the patrolman extinguish the fire, leaving behind charred marks on the ground...

Shen Lang didn't stop and quickened his pace to head to the next "accident" location.

This scene left Jiang Shangxian, Mu Qingqiu, and the four accompanying men—Lü, Zhang, Qu, and Meng—somewhat confused.

"What's wrong with my brother?" Jiang Shangxian scratched his head. "I've never seen him so out of control before."

Despite how strange it was, the group still followed closely behind.

At this moment, Shen Lang stood on his horse under a teahouse, his eyes fixed on the character "坊" (fang).

A gust of wind blew by, and the rope holding the character "坊" snapped instantly, causing the wooden sign with the character "坊" to fall vertically downwards.

A child happened to be passing by directly below where the wooden sign fell.

"Danger! Get out of the way!"

Suddenly, a burly, shirtless martial artist stepped forward and, just as the wooden sign hit the ground, managed to catch it with his shoulder.

This scene quickly attracted the attention of passersby, and the teahouse owner smiled and bowed to him in thanks.

The martial artist put down the wooden sign and flexed his chest muscles to show off his muscular physique to passersby.

After performing a set of exercises similar to modern aerobics, the martial artist casually pulled out a bottle of pills.

"I am a disciple of the Tiger Yang Sect, and I just happened to be passing by..."

"Want to have such amazing power as me?"

"If you're willing to spend a tael of silver to buy the Mighty Tiger Bone Pill I have, you too can instantly attract attention, just like me!"

Shen Lang's heart jumped again. Without saying a word, he immediately spurred his horse to the next location...

"Flowers bloom and wither, filling the sky, just as you appear and disappear."

"Day after day, night after night, I still cannot sketch your face."

I sigh softly at the fleeting nature of life and the passing of time, how many years have passed?

"Who will write the regrets of half a lifetime? Only passersby remain in this world."

On the stage, the song from my dream rang out once more.

Hearing the songstress's beautiful voice, Shen Langren was completely mesmerized.

"It really is 'Zhu Di's Happy Song'! What did I do to deserve this?!"

Although I copied this song for the music troupe last year to earn extra money, that doesn't matter anymore.

The important thing is——

run!

Run quickly!

The farther you run, the better!

The thoughts that surfaced in my mind grew stronger and stronger.

At this moment, Shen Lang's heart, which had been hanging in suspense, finally died.

He immediately pulled on the reins and quickly turned the horse around.

"Uu——"

With a mournful neigh from his mount, Shen Lang flicked his whip and charged off in another direction at breakneck speed.

"Brother, where are you going!"

"Instructor! What are you doing? The imperial city isn't in that direction."

When Jiang Shangxian and the others saw Shen Lang running away, they all spoke up to stop him.

"You all go ahead. I'm not feeling well. I'll come right away after I relieve myself. Tell His Majesty not to wait for me!"

Making up an excuse to abandon everyone, Shen Lang galloped away on horseback towards his home—Bie Ting Ju…

At this moment, in front of the Tranquil Platform at Weiyang Palace.

"Who wrote this book? It's so painful to read."

Jiang Mengxuan tossed aside the copy of "The Legend of Emperor Ruyan" that she had obtained from the common people.

The content written above really made her feel almost emo.

"In the grand hall, the Empress was seen embracing another man right in front of her husband? And she even had axemen lying in ambush to kill her husband at any moment?"

"Even though her husband loves her so much and manages the country so well for her, she still can't forget that so-called white moonlight."

"What's so great about that 'white moonlight'? Besides being somewhat beautiful as described in the book, what other use does she have? Why is she so favored by that Emperor Ruyan?"

"In the end, she even cheated on her husband and gave birth to that man's child. In order to make her white moonlight the right person, she had her husband executed on trumped-up charges."

"Did he only realize his regret after being betrayed by his beloved, leading to the fall of his country and the destruction of his family?"

"Putting aside how illogical the plot is, what's the use of regretting it now? Why didn't you do something earlier?!"

"How did such a woman become Empress? She deserved to have her family destroyed and her life ruined. She doesn't deserve any sympathy at all! She's infuriating me! Humph~"

After calming herself down, Jiang Mengxuan went up to the top of the Tranquility Platform and sat quietly in front of a Taoist priest who was skilled in physiognomy, with Qingwen by her side.

After carefully calculating for a while with his eyes closed, the alchemist stood up and said to Jiang Mengxuan, "Congratulations, Your Majesty, the marriage you asked me to calculate has come to a conclusion."

Jiang Mengxuan: "What was the result?"

The Taoist priest replied, "May you and the Emperor live in harmony and happiness, forever united in heart, hand in hand for a lifetime, never to be separated."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Mengxuan's face lit up with joy: "Then I'll take your kind words, Master. May I ask when would be the most auspicious day for our wedding?"

"The twelfth of this month is an auspicious day. Your Majesty and General Shen can tie the knot on that day and will surely be happy for life."

"Qingwen, reward her."

Regardless of whether what the sorcerer said was true or false, Jiang Mengxuan found his words very agreeable and generously had Qingwen take out a ten-tael gold ingot and place it in front of the sorcerer.

Unexpectedly, the Taoist priest smiled and refused: "It is my destiny to be able to predict Your Majesty's marriage. Please take these back."

Your marriage to General Shen was a natural progression, a truly blessed union.

Jiang Mengxuan arched her eyebrows: "Please accept this. It is all from my heart. If it is really as you say, then what I have given you is still not enough."

The sorcerer still refused, rising to say, "Your Majesty, your fortune is like the rising sun; you will surely lead the Chu Kingdom to glory and prosperity in the future."

This humble citizen is merely speaking through divine pronouncements, hoping that Your Majesty and the Emperor will strive for the well-being of all people after their marriage.

I hope that our vision will extend to the entire nation, rather than being limited to the territory of Chu.

Furthermore, with the Emperor by your side, Your Majesty will surely be immune to all evil.

After speaking, the Taoist priest bowed respectfully and then turned and left.

Jiang Mengxuan let out a soft breath, feeling exceptionally relaxed.

After glancing at the sky, he realized that Shen Lang and the others were almost at the palace gate, so he got up and walked towards the Hall of Supreme Harmony.

……

As soon as the Taoist priest stepped out of the palace gate into a deserted alley, a stunningly beautiful woman immediately approached him.

"Husband, is the matter finished?"

"Ah."

The Taoist priest responded and slowly removed his disguise, revealing a handsome and dashing face.

"Husband, when are we going back? Sister Song and Sister Mu are getting impatient, especially since your injuries haven't healed yet..."

"It's alright. It's quite interesting to be able to come out and see different realms. Don't you think so, Madam?"

"Honestly, why would you scare a junior with a dream? Look how scared he almost ran away."

"Haha, just playing a prank when I was bored. Don't worry, that Shen Lang is far more rational than we expected; he just has some unresolved issues in his mind."

I was merely giving those two young people a chance to deepen their relationship; at least they won't repeat the mistakes I made back then.

"You're tens of thousands of years old, and your personality is still the same as it was back then."

When will you and Brother Liang change your behavior?

"You deserved to run into that madman Shen Lian; he taught you a good lesson."

"It's so boring, I'm just playing around."

The man took one last look at this world and sighed, "Actually, we have to thank that madman Shen Lian. If it weren't for him, we wouldn't have been able to carve out this world."

Woman: "He hurt you so badly, and you're still defending him?"

"It was just a friendly spar. He beat me fair and square by half a move, so there's nothing more to say. Alright, our time here is up, it's time to go back."

"Um……"

As soon as he finished speaking, auspicious clouds enveloped the sky above Jinling, and the aura of dragons and phoenixes rose straight up with the light, disappearing into the horizon in the blink of an eye.