When the prince is reborn, he will only hit me if he doesn't hit the wall!

The clouds press low over the sky, like ink staining rice paper.

Qin Yuechuan lifted the curtain from inside the carriage and looked out. It seemed that the weather was going to change, perhaps there would be a rain or snow.

He tightened the cloak around the sleeping Xu Xianyue, hugged her tighter, and ordered, "Hurry up, return home before the snow falls."

Whether in the suburbs or in the city, as the sky darkened, vendors from all walks of life packed up their businesses and hurried home.

Business at Mobaozhai has been slow recently. Uncle Zhang sits in front of the counter, supporting his chin with one hand, dozing off in a daze.

The hot water bottle in my arms gradually became cooler, and even the temperature in my dream gradually became bone-chilling.

It seems like we are back to that cool autumn rainy season.

The heavy autumn rain has been falling for more than half a month.

In a daze, someone gently pushed his arm and called out repeatedly: "Yuqing, Yuqing? Wake up, don't sleep here."

Yu Qing? Are you calling him?

It has been many years since anyone has called me by this name.

Uncle Zhang rubbed his aching neck and tried to look up. It turned out to be his former colleague in the palace school.

What was it called? I can't remember.

I haven’t seen you for many years. How come you suddenly come to his Mobao Studio?

Before I could think about it, the man asked, "Are you still writing a petition for the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion?"

"Yu Qing, give up. This is a done deal. It's a serious crime of colluding with foreign enemies. You are... like an ant trying to shake a tree. It's useless."

Zhenguogong Mansion? Complaint?

Uncle Zhang lowered his head. The ink on the cicada-wing rice paper under his palm had completely dried. It was the petition for redress that he had written for the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion.

He stood up suddenly, feeling a burning pain in his shoulders, back and waist. He was caught off guard and could not help but bend down again, gasping for air.

The people beside him hurriedly helped him up and said, "I said, don't insist. You have already beaten the drum once and angered His Majesty. His Majesty is kind and sympathetic to your talent. He only punished you with a cane, which is already a grace from heaven. Why do you want to offend the emperor again? If it were anyone else, they would be beheaded!"

"If it were someone else, they might not be as lucky as you."

"There is no room for redemption. The entire He family will be exiled today. You..."

"The whole family was exiled!?" Uncle Zhang looked around. This was the house where he once stayed in the palace school. At that time, he was still working in the palace.

No, to be exact, it was right after he was dismissed.

Now he is Zhang Yuqing, not the "Uncle Zhang" that people usually call him.

"His Majesty has allowed you to recover from your injuries before leaving the palace, so don't be stubborn."

"You just said that the entire He family was exiled today?"

Can he still see her again? Even in a dream...

He couldn't remember how many years it had been since she appeared in his dreams.

"Yes... We are almost at the city gate now... Oh, where are you going? Your injury is not healed yet. Be careful not to get sick in the future and won't be able to ride a horse!"

Zhang Yuqing endured the burning pain and ran towards the palace gate regardless of anything. He intercepted a carriage carrying grass and grain and went straight to the city gate.

Everything is just the same as before, this road, this rain, and even this heart, even though it has been through a lot, I still can't help feeling anxious.

The bitter wind and rain diffused and hit his cheeks, and he could see nothing in front of his eyes except a gray fog.

He didn't know how long he had walked when he heard the yamen runners urging him from afar, "Hurry up! If it's too late, you don't know where you'll have to spend the night. Be careful or you'll all be fed to the wolves!"

The Duke and the Crown Prince of Zhenguo Mansion both went to the battlefield, leaving behind only some elderly, weak, women and children, as well as some members of the side branches of the family.

It was a cold late autumn rainy day, but the members of the Duke's Mansion who were being escorted were still wearing the coarse cloth clothes they had just changed out of when they were imprisoned. All of them were soaked through the clothes and hair. They shrank their heads, shivering with cold, their upper teeth clenching and their lower teeth grinding.

Zhang Yuqing's heart suddenly tightened, and he got out of the car hastily, shouting, "Wait!"

The yamen runner turned around and shouted fiercely: "Wait a minute, wait a minute, can't you see I'm in a hurry to leave the city?!"

Zhang Yuqing's steps were a little slow due to his back injury. He walked to the yamen runner, concealed his figure, and stuffed a bag of silver into his hand: "Please be lenient. I just want to say a few words."

Seeing that he was so tactful, the yamen runner weighed the silver, grinned, showing his yellow teeth, and softened his attitude a little: "It's just a cup of tea. If you have something to say, please say it quickly. Don't delay too long."

A slender figure in the crowd looked towards him and tried to twitch the corners of his lips: "Yu Qing? Are you here to see me off?"

He Xuenian's face was dirty, and she had a messy man's bun. Her hair was wet at the temples, and the dripping rain was sliding down her cheeks. She slightly bent her eyebrows and looked at him with sparkling eyes.

Zhang Yuqing's eyes were swollen. How could she be so nonchalant and smile at a time like this?

His throat was dry: "I..."

He Xuenian said in a gentle tone: "You don't have to say more, I understand everything. In the end, it was me who implicated you."

"No, it's because I'm useless. I believe the Duke's Mansion is wrongly accused. I..."

"Yeah, I know everything, but you don't have to worry."

She approached him, bowed her head and whispered quietly: "The Duke's Mansion will not perish because of this."

Zhang Yuqing didn't know how to start. The Duke and the Crown Prince were both gone, and the Duke's family was exiled to the borderland. They had fallen to the bottom of the world. He didn't know how to respond to He Xuenian's humble and almost hopeless wish.

This may be the only thing that keeps her alive.

He just looked at her, his eyes filled with endless sorrow, hating himself for being just a useless palace scholar who couldn't even save the person he loved.

He Xuenian's hands were tied, and he half-raised his arms in front of him and shook them: "What are you thinking about? I'm telling the truth."

She looked around and lowered her voice even more: "The prince is not dead. He will return to Kyoto in more than ten years to revive the Duke's Mansion."

Zhang Yuqing looked up in shock, "You..."

He Xue Nian continued to whisper: "I told you before that I am not from here, and this body is not mine. It was my dice that brought me here."

"When I first arrived here, He Xue Nian was already seriously ill, her soul was wandering, and she could die at any time. She allowed me to live in her body, and we lived together. She taught me the rules and regulations for living here, and I taught her the poison and medical skills to protect herself, as well as my thoughts and views on the world. I am both her and not her."

This was certainly not the first time Zhang Yuqing had heard He Xuenian say something like this, and he still found it hard to believe.

She looked up at the drizzling rain and said, "I know you won't believe it."

“It took me a long time to accept this fact.”

"I know the general direction of the story here, and I also know that the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion will definitely encounter this disaster. I have tried to change it and avoid it, but my power is too small."

"I am just a weak soul who came here by chance, trying to change the context of this huge story..."

"I'm useless. Even if I were to live in the heroine's body, I wouldn't be able to do it."

He Xue Nian turned to look at him again: "Don't be so discouraged, the story is not over yet, 'He Xue Nian' will see you again."

Zhang Yuqing keenly grasped the words: she was talking about "He Xue Nian" instead of "I".

"how about you?"

“I don’t know, maybe I will go back one day.”

Zhang Yuqing asked anxiously: "Go back? Go back where?"

He Xuenian's eyes moistened: "Maybe I should go back to my hometown. By then, everything here will be like a dream and will remain in my heart forever."

She paused, her eyes moist, not sure if it was tears or rain, and continued, "Zhang Yuqing, according to the direction of the story, we shouldn't have had any in-depth interactions. 'He Xue Nian' shouldn't have had any interactions with 'Zhang Yuqing'."

"Although I live in her body, we both have our own independent wills."

"The real He Xuenian has his own male protagonist. They will eventually meet, get to know each other, and fall in love. Their descendants will have a long story to develop."

"If He Xue Nian comes back in the future, I hope you won't interfere with the development of their real story, okay?"

"The outcome is predetermined and cannot be changed. I have tried it myself and it doesn't work."

impossible.

Zhang Yuqing was speechless and felt severe chest tightness and pain.

After getting to know her, he felt that He Xuenian had a bold and cheerful personality, but her style of doing things was gentle, delicate and cautious.

How could there be such a contradictory girl in the world? I was unconsciously attracted to her and approached her.

He sometimes realized that, although He Xue Nian had feelings for him, for some reason she repeatedly rejected his confession of love.

Draw a clear line with him.

It turns out to be two souls in one body.

Zhang Yuqing wanted to ask, what about him? He Xuenian had his own destined ending, so what about his?

After thinking about it, I swallowed the question back. It seemed there was no need to ask.

No matter who it was with, it couldn't be with her.

"Okay, okay, it's almost time to get going. I've been accommodating long enough!"

The yamen runner shouted again, grabbed He Xuenian's arm and pushed her back into the crowd.

Zhang Yuqing's feet seemed to have taken root and he could only watch her leave.

In the vast sky and earth, under the drizzle, the surrounding scenery was extremely unreal and blurred, as if he was the only one left.

As she said, three years later, "He Xue Nian" really came back. He used the alias Xue Nian and was brought back by Xu Yuanshan, the third young master of the Xu family.

Perhaps after experiencing a few years of hardships, she has become more mature and her appearance seems quite different from what I remember.

He is still gentle and kind, delicate and reserved, and his smile is as bright as the moon, but I have never heard such rough and bold words from him again.

He knew that that "He Xue Nian" was no longer there.

Although, she still carried the exquisite jade dice.

"Xue Nian" became the young lady of the third branch of the Xu family.

The third young master Xu, Xu Yuanshan, went against all odds in the Xu family and insisted on marrying her.

Zhang Yuqing could see that "Xue Nian" and Xu Yuanshan were in love. Her eyes and eyebrows showed affection, and she was thinking of the Third Young Master Xu.

Is this the destined male protagonist for He Xue Nian according to "she"?

Xu Yuanshan must have known her true feelings. In order to conceal her identity and keep her out of the spotlight, she was willing to give up her official career and turn to business, willing to assist the eldest young master of the Xu family.

They lived a happy, sweet and joyful life, and soon gave birth to a lovely daughter, whom they named Xianyue.

In the endless flow of time, it seemed that everyone was rushing forward, but he was the only one who stubbornly stayed where he was, guarding that fleeting and illusory beautiful illusion.

Xue Nian's Mobaozhai was short of a shopkeeper, so he went to take the job. When they met again, they both just smiled faintly, as if relieved, and avoided talking about the past.

"In that case, Mobaozhai will be in trouble. Yueyue, call Uncle Zhang."

The pink and tender girl, who was not even knee-high, looked up and called out in a baby voice, "Hello, Uncle Zhang~"

Zhang Yuqing looked at the little baby and felt warm inside.

The little baby grinned, smiling brightly and cutely, just like the familiar person in memory.

He squatted down, his eyes level with hers, and brushed his fingers across her delicate face: "Your name is Crescent Moon, right?"

"Too full will lead to a decline, too full will lead to an overflow, the crescent moon is just right."

"Yueyue, Uncle Zhang is a famous official. You should learn from him."

Xu Xinyue didn't know what a famous official was, so she just nodded and said, "Oh..."

For some reason, the little girl's catchphrase is always, "Mommy said, Mommy said." The childish words she said were exactly the same as what she said back then.

I don’t know which “mother” said this.

He Xuenian never erased the traces of her visit, and even passed on the medical skills she had taught him to Xu Xinyue. He must have thought of this "old friend"...

……

A fine chill spread down his cheeks, not knowing whether it was rain or tears. The hot water bottle in his arms had already cooled down. Uncle Zhang shivered unconsciously and woke up from his dream. He rubbed his forehead and said to himself, "I really love to reminisce about the past when I get old... even in my dreams."

Someone opened the door curtain, and a cold wind blew in. Uncle Zhang, who hadn't even opened his eyes yet, couldn't help but shudder and tightened his jacket: "Sir, are you buying a pen or paper? Most small shops have both."

A crisp girl's voice sounded: "Uncle Zhang. I need your help with something."