At the time, Qi Junzhuo had not said a single word. He simply stood there, his face cold, staring at Shen Nian with eyes full of interrogation and disbelief. In Qi Junzhou's eyes, his imperial brother deserved nothing but the finest things this world had to offer—he should never be touched by even a hint of scandal.
Shen Nian had said only one thing in response: "No matter what Your Highness thinks or how you see this, I will not leave."
At those words, Qi Junzhou's face had darkened even further, and he had stormed off in a huff. Because he understood—Shen Nian's confidence came from Qi Junmu himself. No matter how much he refused to believe it, this was the reality.
Naturally, Qi Junzhou's visit to Shen Nian did not escape the Emperor's notice. Shen Nian had not tried to hide it, so when the Emperor asked, he recounted the scene exactly as it happened.
The Emperor was quite pleased with his answer and said he had done right. Seeing the Emperor in such high spirits, Shen Nian asked, "Your Majesty, if this humble subject had felt any hesitation in his heart, would Your Majesty have been angered?"
After all, this touched on the matter of heirs and the future of Da Qi. The Emperor carried that burden, and so did he.
The Emperor had glanced at him casually and replied, "Shen Nian, I do not need you to make decisions on my behalf. If I ever wrong you, you may take my life and leave, and you may refuse to forgive me for life after life. But if you wrong me, I will not harm you or take your life—but I will never see you again for the rest of my days. I will act as though I never knew you at all. I will forget you. A sovereign's word is his bond."
The Emperor's tone was calm, but Shen Nian felt a tremor in his heart. After a long pause, he said, "I won't."
He would not make decisions under the guise of "for the Emperor's good," nor would he ever let the Emperor forget him.
Just thinking of such a day made his heart ache bitterly.
Compared to his father, he was fortunate indeed.
In these two years with the Emperor, he had known almost no troubles. As for the Shen family—after he returned home once, Shen Qing had taken Wen shi and left the capital, and there had been no word of them since.
The Old Madam Shen spent her days in the Buddha hall and rarely inquired about his affairs—or perhaps she no longer had the standing to do so.
The only source of discontent was the court officials pressing the Emperor to marry. An imperial harem with neither an empress nor any consorts struck everyone as abnormal.
But the Emperor remained stubbornly willful, and their pressure barely moved him.
When the ministers could not sway the Emperor, they turned their attention to Qi Junzhuo. Qi Junzhuo was displeased, but he never tried to persuade the Emperor. He understood in his heart that the Emperor's decisions were not easily changed—not even he had the right or standing to make the Emperor waver.
Shen Nian's thoughts drifted far and wide until the Emperor finally awoke.
The two lingered for a while, whispering sweet nothings before finally rising.
From the look on the Emperor's face, Ruan Jiqing could tell the Emperor was in an excellent mood. He knew the reason, but dared not use it as a topic for flattery. The Emperor, however, was feeling generous and rewarded him with quite a few fine gifts.
Ruan Jiqing understood that the Emperor was showing off. Grinning, he accepted the gifts with a bow. He was but a servant; his life belonged to the Emperor. If the Emperor was happy, then so was he.
Shen Nian and Qi Junmu enjoyed several carefree days together, and during that time, the court officials fell silent on the matter of the Emperor's consort selection.
The reason: the Empress Dowager had passed away.
When Qi Junmu received the news, he had been speaking with Shen Nian. After the eunuch's report, he was silent for a moment, then said flatly, "Handle it according to the proper rites and protocols."
The Empress Dowager had been the Empress Dowager in life, and she would be the Empress Dowager in death—no one would take that honor from her. But her last year or so had been far from comfortable. She had regretted Lin En's death in her heart, grieving day and night.
She had tried to assert her authority as Empress Dowager, but the Emperor had never given her that face.
After the Empress Dowager passed away, the Emperor naturally extended the mourning period by another three years. The court officials felt this wasn't how things should be done, but no one dared to voice an objection to the Emperor's calm countenance.
And so the matter of the consort selection was shelved for the time being.
Qi Junmu had thought it through clearly: in another three years, Qi Junzhuo would be married, and then he would simply take one of his children back to the palace. He hadn't said this to Qi Junzhuo, but he knew Qi Junzhuo understood.
Qi Junmu was a man who had already died once—he cared little for matters of heirs.
When Qi Junmu's thoughts turned to the future because of the Empress Dowager's death, Shen Nian thought he was feeling uneasy. In Shen Nian's eyes, no matter which path the Empress Dowager had walked, she was still Qi Junmu's mother. It was only natural for him to feel low now that she was gone.
When Qi Junmu learned of Shen Nian's thoughts, he laughed and said, "Marquis Shen, no one but you can hurt me."
With that one sentence, Shen Nian understood. The Emperor had long since let go of the past. Whether it was the Empress Dowager or Lin En, in the Emperor's eyes, they were all but smoke and clouds.
After the Empress Dowager's burial, Qi Junmu went to see Wen Wan.
According to reports from the Cold Palace, Wen Wan had been asking to see the Emperor ever since she was confined there. The Cold Palace was full of madwomen, and as time passed and the Emperor never came, Wen Wan lost her mind as well.
Others said Wen Wan had gone mad, but Wen Wan knew she had not. All these years, she had kept having the same dream, on and off—a dream in which she and Lin En were together.
She had never been in good health. The Wen family and the Lin family were in-laws, and she had accompanied her mother on visits to the Lin family. She was the first to see Lin En's face. At the time, he had hidden in the woods, taken off his mask, touched his own face, and wept in secret.
Startled when he saw her, he hastily put the mask back on and repeatedly warned her not to tell anyone, or it would bring death upon them.
She had also seen Qi Junmu, of course, and it was from that time that she learned there was a man in this world who looked identical to the Third Prince—yet had to wear a mask his entire life.
People who share secrets always grow closer than others, and so it was with Lin En and Wen Wan. Before she realized it, she had come to feel that the young man was deeply pitiable.
He had a mother he could not acknowledge, and a face he could not show.
The feelings of youth were pure, and hearts easily drew together—but the world of adults was far more complicated. Adults needed power and profit before they would consider marriage.
The Lin family and the Empress Dowager hoped that Lin En and Fuhua would marry, so that each child could call the other's mother "Mother"—even if only after the wedding.
The Wen family hoped to climb higher and establish themselves as true nobility for generations to come.
Marriage between their children became the bond. The Wen family was already tied to the Lin family by marriage, and the Lin family had no other legitimate daughters, so Wen Wan caught the eye of the then-Consort Shu. Knowing her family's plans, Wen Wan did think of resisting—but faced with her parents' hopeful faces, she said nothing. Instead, she put on a great show before the then-Consort Shu, drawing the Third Prince's gaze to her time and again.
She knew the Third Prince, Qi Junmu, well—and in her heart, she felt a pang of envy on Lin En's behalf.
But he was the Third Prince, and Lin En was a man who could not see the light of day. That day, when she accompanied her mother into the palace, the Third Prince gave her a flower, saying he had picked it from the imperial garden. She accepted it and smiled at him.
The Third Prince's face flushed slightly, and he whispered, "If we were to marry, I would treat you well."
It was not something he should have said—but the Third Prince said it anyway.
Wen Wan blushed and nodded. At that moment, she thought to herself, If only Lin En could say these words to me openly.
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