Chapter 5

Chapter 5

I didn’t actually have a beloved.

To be honest, the way Zhao Pingyan raised me could be described as extremely rigorous.

It was so rigorous that she wouldn’t even let me sleep with the same man twice.

She lived like a real-life anti-addiction system for my love life.

Furthermore, she had a complete theoretical framework to support her rules.

“The first time you sleep with someone, that’s just living in the moment. The second time, you’re only delaying your next bit of fun. That isn’t love; they’re just a passing traveler in your life.”

Where would I have found the time to develop feelings for anyone?

Across my two lifetimes combined, the only things I could barely call “feelings”…

Were for the Crown Prince and the man standing before me.

The Crown Prince had mentioned wanting to marry me, and he had even gotten into a fight with Zhao Pingyan over it.

As for Yuwen Chen, he was the one who broke my rule of only sleeping with a man once.

Of course, he didn’t know that yet.

And I certainly didn’t dare let him find out. (Don’t misunderstand; I just didn’t want him getting a big head about it.)

Now, Yuwen Chen suspected I had someone I liked.

I immediately denied it. “I don’t.”

He was about to look up when his gaze swept across my waist, and his eyes suddenly dimmed.

Hanging there was the Twin Fish Jade Pendant.

The Crown Prince never went anywhere without this pendant.

I was planning to wait until we reached the Yan Royal Palace to return it to him in person.

The main army of the Yan State, carrying the plundered people of the Southern Dynasty, had returned to the Yan Territory earlier than us.

Yuwen Xuan had brought a small unit to rescue Yuwen Chen, which caused us to miss the main force.

About a month later, I stepped down from the carriage and looked into the distance.

The lush mountains and beautiful waters had transformed into vast, gray plains under a boundless sky.

My relationship with Yuwen Chen remained lukewarm.

However, Yuwen Xuan’s attitude toward Zhao Pingyan seemed to have undergone a subtle change.

One day, while the troops were stationed for a rest, I didn’t see Zhao Pingyan all day.

It wasn’t until evening, as the sun neared the horizon, that the two of them returned riding on the same horse.

Yuwen Xuan dismounted and had only taken two steps before Zhao Pingyan called him back.

With a dark expression, the man turned back and carried her down.

I was peeking from the side, muttering to myself, “Those two definitely have something going on.”

A familiar, resentful voice sounded behind me.

“Indeed. Someone in this world has to have something going on.”

I didn’t need to look to know it was Yuwen Chen.

Lately, he had been acting listless. He mostly ignored me, yet I often caught him stealing glances at me. Whenever I noticed, he would let out a melancholy sigh.

Zhao Pingyan suggested I try to make peace with him.

After all, once we reached the Yan Territory, I would likely need Yuwen Chen’s protection.

I winked at her frantically. “Don’t I still have you? You and Yuwen Xuan that day…”

Zhao Pingyan was stunned for a moment before becoming uncharacteristically serious.

“You’ve misunderstood.” She lifted her skirt, revealing scars on her feet.

She explained that the day in question was the forty-ninth day after the Imperial Consort’s passing.

Zhao Pingyan had stolen Yuwen Xuan’s horse to go to the market to buy offerings before heading to the mountaintop to perform the memorial rites.

Yuwen Xuan thought she was escaping. When he found her coming down the mountain, they got into an argument that turned physical, and they both rolled down the slope.

Later, after Yuwen Xuan learned the truth, they had looked at each other in silence before he brought her back.

She had made him carry her off the horse because her feet were cut up.

I looked at Zhao Pingyan skeptically.

“First of all, I have no doubt that you are the most filial person in the Capital City-even though that day wasn’t actually the forty-ninth day after the Imperial Consort’s death. Secondly… wait, you did that on purpose, didn’t you? You knew his birth mother was of low status and died early. You’re totally baiting him, aren’t you?”

Zhao Pingyan propped her chin on her hand, her eyes curving into a smile.

“If I’m baiting him, I’m baiting him. Do I really need to pick a specific day for that?”

Imperial Consort, may your spirit in heaven just watch over me instead.