Repeatedly broken branches

Deng Yizhi seemed to have made up his mind to marry Ye Wanwan.

He knelt outside Zining Palace for a whole day, and no matter how much Siwan and Zhong'er cried and made a fuss, he showed no intention of getting up.

Xiao Mu was very angry. She was angry that Deng Yizhi was so infatuated with Ye Wanwan, and that Ye Wanwan was even more important to him than Si Wan.

Perhaps his kindness towards Siwan was simply a case of loving the house because of the house.

He loved Siwan solely because of Ye Wanwan.

A heavy rain fell, and some unknown wind blew it outside the palace, allowing her to see an old friend she hadn't seen for four years.

Xiao Mu leaned against the window, listening to the pattering rain outside. The person kneeling in the courtyard stood upright, looking up at the sky.

A woman in a light purple cloak stood beside him, holding an umbrella. Xiao Mu was very familiar with this person. That foxy and alluring face was none other than Ye Wanwan, whom he hadn't seen for more than four years. More than four years of slave life had not diminished her beauty; on the contrary, she looked even more pitiful.

She and Deng Yizhi knelt together in the courtyard of Zining Palace, truly resembling a pair of star-crossed lovers. If Xiao Mu hadn't witnessed her methods, she might have actually softened her heart.

"Wanwan, you go back first, I'll just stay here."

"No, you came to beg Her Majesty the Empress for my sake. I can't let you kneel alone in the rain. Also, I don't necessarily want you to marry me."

"Wanwan. I said I would give you a proper status, and I will definitely keep my promise."

"Tsk." Xiao Mu walked up to the two of them with an umbrella. They were soaked to the bone, and their lips were white and purple from the cold in the winter.

She glanced at Ye Wanwan. Her delicate face looked nothing like someone who had been a slave on the border. People would believe she was a rich young lady.

Or is it that Deng Yizhi has been taking good care of her during this time?

"Your Majesty, I was wrong about what happened before. Now I understand. I love Yizhi and I want to be with him forever. Please grant my wish." Ye Wanwan kowtowed heavily.

"I won't agree. You should go back."

Deng Yizhi looked at her, his eyes reddening, and said in a hoarse voice, "Your Majesty, I beg you to grant my request. I will be eternally grateful."

For Siwan's sake, she could not possibly agree.

Moreover, their relationship was ambiguous; Ye Wanwan was entangled with Zhou Tingxi, becoming his wife, and also had an unresolved entanglement with Deng Yizhi.

Ye Wanwan is definitely not a woman you can settle down with.

They knelt in the rain for several hours until Ye Wanwan fainted, at which point Deng Yizhi carried her out of the palace.

I wonder if their relationship will break down because of this.

Five days have passed.

A letter from home, a letter from home, why hasn't Yu Yanjing's letter arrived yet?

Is it still snowing heavily? Are the roads still impassable?

The little one in her arms nuzzled her chin, making soft "woo-woo" sounds, and kept searching her face for food on her clothes. It turned out the little one was hungry.

After handing the child over to the wet nurse, she felt increasingly empty inside. Yu Yanjing wasn't there, and the child wasn't very attached to her.

Her life began to become dull again.

"Your Majesty, no... something terrible has happened."

Rou Rou and Wei Lan stumbled in, tears still clinging to their eyes.

She immediately sensed something was terribly wrong. For Wei Lan to lose her composure like this, there must be something wrong with Yu Yanjing.

"what happened?"

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty and General Zhou..." Rou Rou's voice trembled, and she dared not continue speaking, tears streaming down her face.

"Yin Wuchen led his men into our camp. It was snowing heavily at the time, and our army was caught off guard. We had signed a ceasefire agreement, but who knew that Yin Wuchen would play dirty tricks and lead all his troops into our camp? Our army suffered heavy casualties... Lady Wei, General Wei... died on the spot. The Emperor, the Emperor and General Zhou were seriously wounded and their whereabouts are unknown... Your Majesty, you must hold on! You still have the little princess... Your Majesty..."

Xiao Mu's ears were ringing, and she couldn't hear anything.

No, no, Yu Yanjing will be alright, he said he'll come back, he'll come back to celebrate the New Year together, to celebrate the New Year with Xiao Ran'er.

How could he break his promise? She went through so much trouble to get back to his side, how could he just leave her like that?

What will happen to her? What will happen to Xiao Ran'er?

"I'm going to find Yu Yanjing."

Rou Rou and Wei Lan stopped her and advised her, "Your Majesty, you must cheer up. The Emperor is still missing, but Lord Shen has already sent people to look for him. There will definitely be news."

"You told me to go find him!" Xiao Mu cried out hoarsely. "What about Xiao Ran'er? She hasn't even seen her father yet."

Wei Lan's hands were cold and devoid of warmth as she wiped away the tears from her face. Her heart was no better than the Empress's; she had spent far more time with Yu Yanjing than she had.

Losing him is more painful than killing her.

Xiao Mu locked herself in her room, holding Xiao Ran'er as she sat listlessly on the tatami mat, not eating a single grain of rice or drinking a drop of water. The New Year was just a few days away.

She believed that Yu Yanjing would definitely come back.

She remembered every word he said.

They've already missed each other once, and they can't possibly miss each other again in this life. They just have to wait, and when it's time for him to come back, he will.

Xiao Shao and Rou Rou waited outside the door. Rou Rou begged her to open the door, even just for a drink of water.

Xiao Mu seemed to have completely shut them out, not noticing their presence at all, and muttered to herself to the sleeping child in her arms.

"Qingci, your father will be back soon. He will hold you when he does, so you mustn't cry."

“Xiao Qingci, seeing you sleeping so soundly, my heart feels like it’s being pricked by needles. You don’t even know where your father is. You’ve never met him… If he’s really gone, I really don’t know how I’ll go on living.”

Perhaps she will go with Yu Yanjing.

But what about this child? She's so young, she needs her so much, she can't be so selfish as to abandon even her and Yu Yanjing's child.

She held Qingci in her arms, humming the nursery rhyme her wet nurse had taught her: "Baby sleep, baby sleep, little chubby baby, parents love to hold you in their palms, baby sleep, baby sleep, when you grow up you'll wear flowers on your head..."

"Your Majesty, please give Tingxi back to me, okay?" Ouyang Meixi, dressed in white, knelt outside the gate of Zining Palace.

Xiao Shao and Rou Rou tried to persuade her to go back, but she wouldn't listen. She knelt outside and cried out in a heart-wrenching voice, every word piercing Xiao Mu's heart.

"If it weren't for you being here, Tingxi wouldn't have sided with Chaoyang, and he wouldn't have become an enemy of Yin Fu'an because of you! You're the one who killed Tingxi, give him back to me!"

Did she kill Zhou Tingxi?

Who told her that Zhou Tingxi was dead? The body was not found, so how could they say that Zhou Tingxi was dead?

Beneath her beautiful exterior lies such folly.

Xiao Mu gently patted Qing Ci's back, completely undisturbed by the outside world. She was only concerned about whether Ouyang Meixi's voice would wake Qing Ci up.

Yu Yanjing will not die, nor will Zhou Tingxi.

She never believed that Yu Yanjing was dead. She couldn't believe that a perfectly healthy person could just disappear like that.

Ouyang Meixi was still screaming hysterically outside. After a while, Xue Shi came and took her away. Only then did Zining Palace return to a deathly silence.

After handing Xiaoqing Ci to the wet nurse, Xiao Mu called Xiao Shao and Rou Rou in. After washing and dressing herself, she instructed them to decorate the palace to look like it was for the New Year, so that the whole palace could welcome the New Year.

A new year brings new beginnings; both the good and the bad will fade away.

She was unusually calm. If it were her former self, she would have cried for days and been depressed for days. This would not have done her any good and would have only gradually eroded her spirit.

Now she is the Empress, the mother of the nation, and Xiao Qingci's mother. She must be strong. She must manage the harem well while Yu Yanjing is away, and then return everything to him when he returns.

Two days later, Wei Hao and Jiang Qi's coffins were transported back. After she, Deng Yizhi, and Shen Ruoxuan paid their respects, they returned to the palace.

May they be a happy couple in heaven.

At least they are by each other's side.

Deng Yizhi did not mention marrying Ye Wanwan again. Instead, he devoted himself to managing court affairs with Shen Ruoxuan. Xiao Mu was not good at these things, but she was at ease leaving them to Shen Ruoxuan.

Because Shen Ruoxuan was also the person Yu Yanjing trusted the most.

During the day, I'm busy overseeing the decorations for those festivals. I'm practically thrown into work the moment I open my eyes. I can only see Xiao Ran'er during meals. In the evening, when everyone else has left, the loneliness is the most terrifying.

There was no news whatsoever about Yu Yanjing, and the people sent to inquire and search for her returned empty-handed, but she firmly believed that no news was good news.

Unable to sleep at night, she went to Zhongzigong alone, sat in Yu Yanjing's study, flipped through the memorials he had reviewed, and stroked his handwriting, which was so beautiful. She imagined the scene of Yu Yanjing teaching Xiao Ran'er to write in the future, and just thinking about it made her feel so happy.

She had never stayed in Yu Yanjing's study for so long before. In the past, she would only come here when she was delivering things or looking for him. Now, she would stay for several hours at a time, sitting there until dawn.

She was afraid of the night because it made her think about things she shouldn't. When she closed her eyes, all she could see in her mind was Yu Yanjing's image, whether he was laughing or angry, and she couldn't shake it off.

Their every moment felt like a dream, and happiness was as fleeting as fireworks. Why? Why are there so many happy people in the world? Why can't there be one more of them?

She hadn't slept all night, and the next day she had to take care of the palace's anniversary celebrations. If this continued for three days, even her body, if made of iron, would give out.

Finally, as she watched the palace servants hang the last red lantern outside the Zhongzi Palace gate, she no longer had the strength to stand and fainted in Rou Rou's arms.

The world went dark before her eyes. In her last moment, she saw Yu Yanjing. He was holding Xiao Ran'er in his arms, smiling at her and talking to her. She couldn't hear what he was saying. She just reached out to grab him, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't hold on...

"Xiao Mu, Xiao Mu, wake up! Today is your birthday. Get up and eat the longevity noodles your sister made for you!"

"Yes, yes, our Xiao Mu is eighteen years old now, she's finally an adult!"

It's the voice of the sisters at the base, Sister Peizhen and Sister Yueyi.

Is today her birthday?

Xiao Mu rubbed her eyes before she could see the faces of the two older sisters in front of her. They were Chen Lanhe and Song Xinning!

"Lanhe, Xinning..."

"Chen Lanhe" looked at her with a puzzled expression. "Who is Lanhe, and who is Xin Ning? You were chasing after celebrities again last night, weren't you? I've told you not to stay up late, but you wouldn't listen. Now you're starting to talk nonsense!"

"Lanhe, you don't remember me? I'm Xia Yunzhi, and Xin Ning too. How come you don't remember me? Even though we haven't seen each other for four years, there's no way I wouldn't recognize your faces." Xiao Mu looked at the two of them and said to them very seriously.

The two exchanged a smile, both agreeing that Xiao Mu was still half asleep.

Xiao Mu looked around and found that it was exactly the same as her room in the modern world. How did she get back to the modern world? Did she die and come back?

However, in the past four years, only four months have passed in the modern world, because she was seventeen years and six months old when she went there, and today is her eighteenth birthday.

What took four years to accomplish has been reduced to a mere four months here.

"Alright, Xiao Mu, get up and eat longevity noodles. Sister Peizhen made them especially for you."

Xiao Mu couldn't understand why Sister Pei Zhen and Sister Yue Yi looked exactly like Chen Lanhe and Song Xin Ning. Could they be the reincarnations of Song Xin Ning and Chen Lanhe?

How could they not remember themselves?

She desperately wanted to know what had happened.

After finishing a bowl of noodles, she forgot the taste. How can you appreciate the flavor when you're focused on eating?

"Xiao Mu, it's the weekend today. I'm giving you a ticket to your idol's concert as a birthday present!" Sister Yueyi handed her a paper ticket.

Xiao Mu took it and looked at it: tickets for Summer's 3rd Anniversary Tour Concert in Zhoushan.

Summer? She had absolutely no recollection of having an idol named Summer.

"Sister, how can we contact the system?" she asked, looking at her sister Peizhen.

Pei-chen shook her head. "I don't know either. Since we came back from the mission, we've completely forgotten everything that happened in the past."

How could she forget? Then why does she still remember?

"Then how can I remember things from the past?" Xiao Mu murmured to herself.

Pei-zhen looked at her and frowned. "You're talking nonsense again. You've never been back, how could you remember things from the past?"

Xiao Mu's eyes widened. "What do you mean I haven't gone back? I went back and found the person I was looking for. What do you mean by saying I haven't gone back?" Her heart began to pound rapidly, completely unaware that she was tightly gripping Pei Zhen's wrists.

Pei-zhen's hand was gripped so tightly it hurt, and she finally managed to break free. She couldn't understand why Xiao-mu's reaction was so strong, nor could she understand why her sister had become such a different person after just one night's sleep.

"It's true. The system hasn't assigned you any tasks yet, and no host consciousness has come knocking on your door."

Xiao Mu lowered her eyes, her gaze filled with astonishment. How could there be no mission assigned to her? Wasn't she the reincarnation of Xia Yunzhi? Wasn't she taken to the past by Xia Yunzhi's consciousness?

What is going on here?

"Alright, the concert is about to start, you should go now! We can talk about it when you get back." Yueyi pushed her to hurry up and leave, then hailed a taxi and shoved her inside.

Before she even realized she was in the car, the driver had already taken her away from the base.

It was the familiar city of Zhoushan, the familiar buildings, but her heart remained in Zining Palace. She was thinking frantically about Xiao Ran'er, her three-month-old daughter.

Without her, Xiao Ran'er would definitely cry.

The Lunar New Year is almost here. Have Yu Yanjing and Zhou Tingxi returned yet?

If she suddenly disappeared, the people in the palace would definitely think that she went to find Yu Yanjing, but she always worried about Xiao Ran'er. That child is still so young, what will happen to her if she leaves her mother?

She took out her phone and typed "Yu Yanjing" into the browser.

The answers given were all completely unrelated to what she was looking for, meaning that Yu Yanjing never existed in history.

She searched for Lin Yue Kingdom, Chao Yang Kingdom, Shen Ruoxuan, Deng Yizhi, and Zhou Tingxi one after another, but the results were all empty.

Xiao Mu looked out the car window. How could this be? She had truly experienced all of this. How could she not find it? There wasn't a single trace of them in history.

impossible.

Could it be that what I experienced was just a dream? How could a dream last for four months? I have absolutely no memory of those four months in the modern world.

"Miss, we've arrived at the stadium."

Xiao Mu got out of the car and saw a group of fans gathered at the entrance of the stadium. They were all wearing support outfits and holding colorful light sticks and banners.

Stanning a celebrity? How could she be a stan? She doesn't even remember what that Summer looks like. Could it be that she's developed a crush on her in the last four months?

After waiting outside for a while, we went through the ticket check and entered the venue. Sister Yueyi bought her a seat at the back. She is nearsighted and didn't wear contact lenses, so she could only hear the sounds.

Suddenly, all the lights went out, and a boy, suspended by wires, slowly descended to the center of the stage. All the spotlights shone on him one after another, accompanied by the screams of the fans.

Perhaps it was by some strange twist of fate, but Xiao Mu, who was nearsighted, was able to see his face clearly.

Those familiar peach blossom eyes, those eyes that looked at her with unbelievable tenderness, familiar yet strange. He stood in the center of the stage, holding a microphone, and bowed to the fans below the stage. Then the lights dimmed, and his voice surged from the speakers all around.

Xiao Mu almost forgot to breathe, her eyes fixed on the boy.

"Hello everyone, I'm Summer. This is the first time I'm meeting you all. I hope tonight will bring you unforgettable memories... So, I'll be performing a song for you, 'The Beginning'."