Reborn Princess

After the singing and laughter, the dark night remained. Yanci took Fu Zhen back to the city. Lu Hanze drank a few jars of wine on a whim and went back to bed. The servants cleaned up the yard and went back one after another.

Shen Lilan was wide awake, not feeling sleepy at all.

Zhou Cechen held her hand and asked, "Are you sleepy?"

Shen Lilan shook his head, "I don't know why, but I'm particularly sober tonight."

"Come on, I'll take you to a place." Zhou Cechen put the cloak on Shen Xilan and tied it up for her. He did not let the servants follow.

On the hill behind the house, Shen Lilan looked at the stairs and asked, "Should we go up the hill?"

Zhou Cechen looked at her: "Want to see the stars?"

Shen Lilan nodded, "I want to."

"Come up." Zhou Cechen bent down and said, "I'll carry you."

Shen Lilan shook his head: "No, I can still climb."

Zhou Cechen grabbed her wrist and said, "Be obedient."

Shen Xilan unceremoniously asked Zhou Cechen to carry her on his back.

It was late at night and everyone was asleep. Shen Lilan would have been scared outside, but at that moment, she felt at peace as she hugged Zhou Cechen's neck.

Shen Lilan pressed against Zhou Cechen's hard back, breathing softly, "Prince, have you found out about mother's affairs?"

Zhou Cechen's movement of climbing up suddenly stopped, and he realized who Shen Lilan was calling mother.

After just a moment, Zhou Cechen regained his composure and continued to walk up.

"All her maids and servants were executed. I read the case file at the county government a few days ago. It was the same as the one sent to the capital. Everything was just mentioned in one sentence."

Shen Lilan's heart trembled, "Just brush it all off?"

Zhou Cechen said in a very calm voice: "He was murdered."

Shen Lilan opened her eyes wide, and for a moment she found it difficult to breathe.

A concubine died on her way to the south, and all the files stated only that she was murdered.

Zhou Cechen was just a child at that time, how could he bear it?

"No coroner to perform an autopsy?"

"No."

"Without a coroner to perform an autopsy, how can this case be closed if everything is brushed aside?"

Shen Lilan couldn't imagine how powerful the person behind the scenes was, and he also felt the emperor's coldness.

"The late emperor was also in Yangzhou when the incident happened, so it was naturally approved by the late emperor."

Shen Lilan tightened his hold on Zhou Cechen.

Zhou Cechen sensed the change in Shen Lilan's mood, and he said to her: "These things are all in the past. I just want the truth now, but I won't be hurt by it anymore."

In less than half an hour, Zhou Cechen brought Shen Lilan to a flat ground where there was a small wooden house. Shen Lilan didn't expect that there was such a place on the mountain.

"There is actually a house." Shen Lilan exclaimed.

"Tomorrow morning, you can watch the sunrise."

Shen Lilan's eyes lit up, looking particularly smart in the dark.

"We sleep here?"

Zhou Cechen nodded, "It's not as good as the mansion, but it's okay."

Shen Xilan ran towards the wooden house, and Zhou Cechen followed her, looking at her cheerful back.

After opening the door and lighting the candles, Shen Lilan looked at the layout inside. Although small, it had everything. Shen Lilan particularly liked the layout here.

There is a wind chime hanging by the window. There is a bed, a table and chairs inside, making this small wooden house very warm.

"I like it here." Shen Lilan said.

Zhou Cechen felt relieved after hearing her words. He said, "Let's go outside and take a look?"

Shen Xilan nodded, and she walked out without forgetting to hold Zhou Cechen's hand.

Zhou Cechen looked at her holding his little hand and held her hand instead.

"So beautiful." Shen Lilan looked up at the sky full of stars.

Zhou Cechen's eyes softened unconsciously as he watched Shen Xilan raise her head to look at the stars.

Shen Xilan smiled and pointed at the stars in the sky with Zhou Cechen, but her eyes suddenly caught Zhou Cechen's eye.

"Your Highness." Shen Xilan wanted to call him to watch together, but Zhou Cechen pulled her wrist and led her towards him.

When Shen Lilan's mind was blank, Zhou Cechen had already kissed her.

Shen Lilan closed her eyes and responded to his kiss slowly and gently.

……

In the dark night, the two leaned against each other and looked up at the sky.

……

In Yangzhou city, Yanci sat in the carriage with his eyes closed, while Fuzhen leaned against the carriage with her arms folded and stared at him.

"She's quite good-looking." She whispered.

Yanci opened his eyes and said, "Since you are speaking in a low voice, don't let me hear it."

There was a hint of teasing in Fu Zhen's eyes, "What if I wanted you to hear it on purpose?"

He looked at her coldly and then looked away, responding to Fu Zhen in silence.

Fu Zhen snorted softly: "Where are we going today?"

"The Qin family's old house."

Fu Zhen's heart skipped a beat. She glanced at Yanci and felt relieved when she saw that he was looking away.

The Qin family started in Yangzhou in their early years, and then her father was promoted and moved to Yanjing City. The old house is where she was born.

She hadn't visited that place for more than ten years.

Along the way, Fu Zhen didn't say a word.

The carriage stopped at the riverside, "Sir, we're here."

Fu Zhen opened the curtain on the carriage window and looked outside. There were children playing and fighting, and women squatting by the river with wooden basins on their shoulders, washing clothes and vegetables.

Yanci got off the carriage first, and Fuzhen stood up behind him. She lifted the curtain and looked at the rows of horse-head walls. The plaque hanging under the dark tiles read "Qin Mansion".

As she stepped down on the sedan chair, she was still staring at the dusty plaque, but she stepped on empty air. Just as she was about to fall to the ground, a big hand grabbed her wrist and pulled her up.

Fu Zhen looked at Yanci who was holding her, and his wrist was still in his hand.

"Be careful," he said.

After saying that, he let go of Fu Zhen's wrist.

Fu Zhen smiled and said, "Thank you, Master Xiaoyan."

Yanci turned and walked towards the gate, and Fuzhen followed him. There was a seal on the gate, and Fuzhen looked at Yanci: "How can we get in if it's sealed?"

He paused for a moment and said, "Not through the front door."

It was not until Fu Zhen landed on the ground that she realized what Yanci meant by not going through the front door, and she used Qinggong to come in through the back door.

Yanci looked at Fu Zhen and said, "Your Kung Fu is quite impressive."

Fu Zhen wanted to give him a cold look, but ultimately didn't say anything in response.

The yard still looked the same as before, except that no one had been there for more than ten years. There were piles of fallen leaves and dust everywhere.

They were now in the backyard, and the place where she was standing was the yard where she had played since she was a child. There was a swing by the east wall of the yard, which was built for her by her father himself.

Looking at it now, it just feels desolate.

Yanci walked forward and saw that Fu Zhen had not caught up with him, so he turned around and saw her staring at a shabby swing in a daze.

He did not call her immediately, but stared at her for a long time. She was wearing a cloud-blue skirt. Since coming to Yangzhou, her dress was completely different from before in Wansang Tower.

She stood there alone, hiding a bit of newness in the desolate place, which was a visual collision.

Fu Zhen was awakened by the wind. She was looking for words, and when she turned her head, she saw him staring at her.

The two looked at each other and immediately looked away.