After being thoroughly violated, he ran away with the enemy emperor's child.

A destiny and predestination that has been attempted many times, but all have ended in failure.

He insisted on his opinion, and Lin Chen had no choice but to lower his head and say, "I hope Your Majesty will be careful. Your subordinates will stop the people down the mountain, even at the cost of their lives."

"it is good."

With Lin Chen and the others as his support, Chu Junci did not hesitate any longer and continued to walk towards the top of the mountain.

According to my memory, snow lotus grows on the summit of snow-capped mountains, and is pure white, almost blending into the snow.

The higher they climbed, the stronger the wind and snow became. Their cheeks and hands stung from the blizzard. Chu Junci pursed his lips, and his memory suddenly returned to a year ago.

That day—

In the Imperial Study of Yongguo, 19-year-old Chu Junci was reviewing memorials, while Chu Li sat beside him eating snacks.

When Chu Li ate some delicious pastries, his eyes would crinkle with a smile: "Brother, today's pastries are quite good."

"If you like it, that's fine."

Chu Junci always showed a lot of patience and tenderness towards his only younger brother.

"hey-hey."

Chu Li smiled and moved his chair closer to him: "Royal brother, the Grand Tutor praised me today."

"Oh? What did he praise you for?"

"The Grand Tutor praised me, saying that I had finally written a decent article, unlike before when I was completely ignorant."

"Yeah?"

Chu Junci put down his vermilion pen: "It's good that you're making progress. You'll get better every day. One day, A Li will also be able to write beautiful articles."

Upon hearing this, Chu Li scratched his head sheepishly: "Elegant writing... let's forget about it."

He was self-aware; being useless in both literary and martial arts, he was nothing more than a good-for-nothing hiding under the emperor's wing.

Thinking of this, he felt a little guilty: "Brother, there's nothing I can do to help you."

"Ever since Father and Father... the vast Yong Kingdom has been handed over to my brother. The Zhao Kingdom is eyeing us covetously, and Mo Yan is even more ambitious."

"According to the information sent back by the spies, Mo Yan is ordering people to modify weapons and improve training. It seems that things will not be peaceful in the future."

Chu Junci was silent for a moment, then gently ruffled Chu Li's hair: "Don't think too much, just leave these things to your brother."

"elder brother……"

Chu Li nuzzled Chu Junci's palm and looked up, "I only have my brother as family now, so you must take good care of yourself."

"Yes, A-Li too."

Chu Junci patted Chu Li's head and chuckled, "If you're bored, you can go out and play. You don't have to stay with me all the time."

"There's not much to do outside."

Chu Li pouted, then suddenly looked up as if remembering something: "Brother, when are you going to find me a sister-in-law?"

"That kid Ah Jin keeps telling me how beautiful his sister-in-law is, how loving his brother and sister-in-law are, and that they're about to have a nephew!"

Chu Li huffed, "I told him I'm about to have a sister-in-law and a nephew, so he shouldn't be so smug!"

Chu Jun Ci: "..."

Silently withdrawing his hand from Chu Li's head, Chu Junci picked up his vermilion brush without replying.

"elder brother?"

"A-Li..."

Chu Junci sighed, "Now is not the time to consider these things, and besides, I haven't found a woman I like yet."

"All right."

Having grown up under the care of their father and regent, the two developed the concept of "one man for one life," which is why Chu Junci would not easily choose a queen.

Even though the ministers urged him repeatedly, he suppressed them all.

Across from him, Chu Li silently ate his pastries. After finishing a plate, he clapped his hands and said, "Brother, I'm going to go play with Ah Jin now."

"Go."

After Chu Li left, Chu Junci reviewed several more memorials. This year, the harvest in Yong State was poor, and many ministers expressed their hope in the memorials to reduce taxes.

Chu Junci agreed to all of them and arranged for an imperial envoy to investigate the cause and find a solution.

After finishing grading the last book, he put down his vermilion pen and gazed out the window.

It was at this moment that a voice suddenly rang in his mind: "Chu Ling".

"Who?"

Looking around but seeing no one else, Chu Junci picked up his sword, his gaze sharp.

"Chu Ling..."

The voice spoke again, and in a daze, Chu Junci seemed to see another version of himself. It said, "I am...you."

-

Hu Hu Hu.

The sound of the wind interrupted Chu Junci's reverie. He looked up and found himself already at the mountaintop.

Before him stood a lotus flower with eight petals, pure white and somewhat transparent.

The lotus flower is about the size of a palm, and each petal displays vibrant life. The petals are fully open, signifying that it has matured.

He looked at it for a while, then reached out and plucked the lotus flower. After hesitating for a moment, he finally put it into his lips.

After swallowing the lotus flower, he exhaled and was about to retreat.

Suddenly, the earth shook violently, the snow-capped mountain beneath his feet collapsed, and he lost consciousness.

When I woke up again, I didn't know how much time had passed. Everything was dark before my eyes, and my mind was blank.

He forgot who he was, and even more so where he came from, only vaguely remembering that his name contained the character "辞" (ci).

"woke up?"

A male voice came from not far away, and he nervously clutched the quilt: "Who are you?"

"I am Emperor Zhao, Mo Yan, and it was I who saved you this time."

"Mo Yan..."

Before he could think any further, the man had already lifted his chin: "A life-saving grace should be repaid with one's body, don't you think?"

"..."

A burning gaze swept across his face, and Mo Yan leaned closer to his neck: "Smells so good."

"..."

"What's your name?"

"…I have no idea."

"Then I'll name one for you."

Worried that the name the man had given him was not good, he said, "...Ci, I remember there's a word in my name."

"Then from now on, you shall be called Mo Ci."

"Aci".

"Aci—"

Outside the dream, Mo Yan shook him anxiously, but Chu Junci was already trapped in a nightmare and could not hear him speak.

"Aci?"

The accompanying imperial physician knelt to one side, his face covered in cold sweat.

He tried feeding her medicine and acupuncture to wake the sleeping queen, but to no avail.

Seeing that His Majesty was becoming increasingly anxious, and that his voice was trembling as he called out, he lowered his head and dared not make a sound.

"Aci! Aci!"

Mo Yan was nearly driven mad, letting Chu Junci lean against him, his eyes filled with terror: "Aci... wake up, don't scare me."

"Wake up..."

After an unknown amount of time, the person in his arms moved their fingertips. Mo Yan froze, looked down, and met Chu Junci's gaze.

"Aci, you're awake."

"..."

The person in his arms did not speak, but his eyes held emotions he could not decipher.

"Aci? You..."

"Mo Yan".

With a hoarse voice, Chu Junci left Mo Yan's embrace, her lowered eyelashes concealing her thoughts: "I'm fine."

"Then how could you...?"

"I'm just too tired."

"lie."

Mo Yan gripped his shoulders, forcing him to look up: "What's wrong? Is there something you can't tell me?"