He favored his concubine and I cut off my wealth. Everyone in the mansion was in a panic.

Ever since Shen Qing and Lu Yan invited each other once, their relationship has become much closer and their interactions have become more frequent.

When the weather is warm, Shen Qing will invite Lu Yan to go outing and horse riding outside the city; when the weather is gloomy, Lu Yan will invite Shen Qing to have a picnic and drink tea in his yard, and the life is very comfortable.

Unknowingly, Shen Qing had lived in Yuncheng for two months, and it was early August in a blink of an eye.

On the fifth day of August, Shen Qing received a letter from Yunyuan.

The content of the letter was very simple. It was undoubtedly asking Shen Qing whether she was comfortable living in Yuncheng and when she planned to return to Shengjing.

However, at the end of the letter, Yunyuan mentioned that the young master of the Yangling Marquis Mansion had reached the age of marrying a wife, and she was going to arrange a marriage for the two of them. When Shen Qing returned to Shengjing, the engagement ceremony could be held.

Shen Qing's face suddenly darkened, and the fingertips holding the letter couldn't help but tighten.

She has told Yunyuan many times that she doesn't like Mu Ziqian, and she doesn't want to marry him, but every time she gets Yunyuan's disappointed eyes and firm persistence, which is why Shen Qing... I went to Yuncheng specifically to hide in peace.

She never thought that even if she left Shengjing in anger, Yun Yuan's thoughts would not change at all.

Let Chanyi grind it, Shen Qing explained her thoughts clearly to Yunyuan one by one. The five-page letter was filled with Shen Qing's resistance to the marriage.

Although he knew that the result would still be silence, Shen Qing still chose to do this.

At this moment, she just felt like she was holding a breath in her heart and couldn't let it go.

The feeling of suffocation in his heart continued to spread, and Shen Qing chose to ride a horse outside the city to vent his anger. Because he was feeling depressed, he did not even ride in the carriage, but rode out of the alley.

Lize walked in from the door and happened to catch a glimpse of Shen Qing's leaving figure, but the unruly and free spirit he once had was gone.

Lize told Lu Yan about this matter. Lu Yan immediately realized that Shen Qing must be in a bad mood. Without saying a word, he went to the stables, took the horse and followed him out.

However, Lu Yan did not have the dazzling identity of Shen Qingyun's cousin. When there were many people, he could only lead the horse and walk, so when he left the city, Shen Qing had long disappeared.

After just staying for a moment, Lu Yan guessed where Shen Qing was going. He leaned on his horse and galloped away. He saw Shen Qing hiding on the grass by the river where the two of them often went, holding up his chin and looking into the distance, with eyes that couldn't let go. Get rid of boredom and sorrow.

Lu Yan got off his horse, sat down next to her, and asked softly, "Are you worried?"

Shen Qing didn't turn his head, but responded, "Well, I feel a little bored."

"Then tell me?"

Shen Qing was silent for a while, then suddenly turned to look at Lu Yan and said: "Ayan, my mother asked me to go back to Shengjing to marry someone, but I don't like that person because I... already have someone I like, so I don't willing."

Lu Yan wanted to ask Shen Qing if he was the one he liked, but he was at war with heaven and man in his heart for a long time, and finally chose to swallow the question.

"If Qingqing doesn't like someone, then don't marry him."

Lu Yan wanted to say, 'Don't marry anyone else, I will marry you', but when the words came to his lips, he swallowed them back because his body could not give Shen Qing happiness at all.

A flash of pain flashed in Shen Qing's eyes, "But I can't disobey my mother's opinion. She is so stubborn. Ever since I was a child, as long as she wanted me to do something, it would be useless for me to go on a hunger strike... "

Seeing the glittering light in Shen Qing's eyes, Lu Yan's heart ached slightly, and finally he took Shen Qing into his arms.

"Qingqing, don't cry."

The clothes on his chest were soaked with hot tears, and Lu Yan felt that his heart was burning. But despite this, Lu Yan still could not tell the answer Shen Qing wanted.

Shen Qing is such a good girl, how could he be worthy of her?

So it means that this feeling can only be buried in my heart forever.

…

After that day, Shen Qing and the two of them made a tacit understanding and never mentioned the matter of returning to Shengjing again, but continued to spend their days enjoying themselves as before.

The two of them went to many places they had never been before and did many things that Shen Qing had thought about for a long time but had never done.

The ten days passed by in a hurry, and it was the Reunion Festival in no time.

On the night of August 15th, Yuncheng will set off fireworks for a full hour. No matter how busy the people in the city are, they will go to the open space to watch the fireworks with their families.

Shen Qing and Lu Yan also went.

The two of them were sitting on the eaves of a hidden place, with Lize and Chanyi standing by, watching the bright and gorgeous fireworks in the sky bloom and disappear.

"Ayan, this is the most beautiful firework I have ever seen."

"At the beginning of the year, the fireworks in Yuncheng are even grander than this. How about we watch them together?"

Shen Qing was silent for a while, and finally said "Okay."

Shen Qing knew very well that it would be very difficult for her to go to this appointment, and even if she came, she might not be the same Shen Qing she is now.

As his thoughts wandered, Lu Yan's voice rang in his ears again, "Qingqing, look, the moon in the sky is so round, with such bright white moonlight, just like you... By the way, there are too many people calling you Qingqing." Well, can I call you 'Jiao Jiao' from now on?"

Lu Yan still hasn’t said a word——

Shen Qing's appearance was like a ray of bright moonlight, illuminating the depths of his heart that had been dim for a long time.

Shen Qing responded happily, "Okay, 'Jiao Jiao' is your special name for me."

When the girl's cheerful and joyful voice reached his ears, Lu Yan felt his heart tremble violently, as if stones were thrown into the lake of his heart one after another, and he could never return to the tranquility of the past.

When the fireworks burned out, Shen Qing and Lu Yan returned to Qinghe Lane together. When they walked to the gate of the yard, Shen Qing suddenly sighed: "Although the fireworks are beautiful, they are still short-lived."

Hearing this, Lu Yan pursed his lips tightly, and it took a long time before he responded: "Yes."

That night, Shen Qing still couldn't sleep, not only because of the fireworks that were beautiful only for a short moment, but also because of Yun Yuan's second letter.

The letter was very thick, so thick that Shen Qing almost couldn't breathe.

Yun Yuan told Shen Qing again and again: Everything she did now was for Shen Qing's future. As a mother, it is impossible for her to harm her own children. One sentence after another, it took up three pages.

At the end of the letter, Yun Yuan mentioned that her health was getting worse and worse. She always had an inexplicable fever these days, and she was always uncomfortable even when she slept at night, often staying up all night until dawn.

Although Yun Yuan's behavior disgusted Shen Qing, Yun Yuan was her mother who gave birth to her and raised her, so Shen Qing's harshness in her words suddenly decreased by half, and she showed more gentle care. At the end, she asked Yun Yuan to take good care of her body, and she would return to Shengjing in a few days.

In the following days, Shen Qing still went out and chatted with Lu Yan, but Lu Yan found a trace of worry in her eyes that could not be concealed.

His intuition told him that Shen Qing might leave Yuncheng, and everything they had happened in Yuncheng could only be traced in memory in the future.

On the seventh day of September, the two of them still made tea in the yard as usual. After hesitating for a long time, Lu Yan still said to Shen Qing: "Jiaojiao, I hope you can be happy."

Even if there is no him in the future.

Shen Qing raised a smile and nodded in a relaxed manner, "I will. You should also take good care of yourself."

Lu Yan agreed, but he couldn't raise his mouth no matter how hard he tried.

...

At night, Shen Qing tossed and turned for a long time and just fell asleep, but Chan Yi's panicked voice came from outside the house.

"Miss, it's not good. There was a letter from Shengjing saying that the lady was seriously ill and asked you to leave for Beijing immediately."

Shen Qing woke up instantly, sat up, called Chan Yi in, and asked anxiously while letting Chan Yi dress her: "What's going on? Why is mother seriously ill?"

Chan Yi shook her head slightly, "I don't know much about it. The news was directly transmitted to the City Lord's Mansion. Mr. Yun had fainted in anxiety. It was Miss Yun who sent a letter to the guards, asking us to return to Beijing now."

Since there was no more to ask, Shen Qing simply didn't ask any more questions, but followed Chan Yi directly on the carriage back to Shengjing, leaving the city overnight and heading north.

The journey that originally took six days was completed in just three days and nights due to Shen Qing's hard work day and night.

Shen Qing, who was exhausted, hurried to Yun Yuan's yard and saw her leaning on the couch with a weak face, her face was pale and almost bloodless.

All the complaints and grievances in the past were thrown behind her. Shen Qing quickly grabbed Yun Yuan's slightly cold fingertips and asked with concern: "Mother, what's wrong with you? Why are you so sick all of a sudden?"

Yun Yuan shook her head and smiled, raised her head and brushed away the broken hair at Shen Qing's temples, "Qingqing, don't worry too much. This is an old illness. It's just that you are so haggard. Did you travel overnight?"

Shen Qing nodded gently, with a little crying in her voice: "Mother, I am so worried about you."

Yun Yuan pulled Shen Qing into her arms, and her slender palm gently stroked Shen Qing's back, "Silly child, mother will be fine, mother just misses Qingqing a little."

The strong smell of medicine on Yun Yuan's body penetrated Shen Qing's nose, and Shen Qing felt that his nose was instantly sour, and tears slid down involuntarily, "Mother, I won't go anywhere, I will accompany you in Shengjing."

...

On the other side, Lu Yan learned the news early in the morning of the second day after Shen Qing left, but Lu Yan didn't believe it.

After stubbornly searching for Shen Qing in her small courtyard for a full circle, but still not finding Shen Qing, Lu Yan finally gave up.

Lu Yan said nothing, but turned back to his courtyard, and then sat in a familiar position in the courtyard in a daze. For a whole day, Lu Yan did not eat or drink, just quietly looking at the north of Yuncheng.

That was the direction of Shengjing.

Until the sky gradually darkened, and only a dark color was left in the north, Lu Yan said to Li Ze: "Ask the kitchen to make me a plate of osmanthus cake."

Li Ze agreed, and Lu Yan instructed: "Add more sugar."

About half an hour later, Li Ze came over with a plate of steaming osmanthus cake.

Lu Yan picked up a piece casually, put it in his mouth, took a bite, and put it down.

After a long time, Lu Yan responded without emotion: "Not sweet."

It was not even half as sweet as the osmanthus cake she sent.