Outside Deyang Gate, Wu Lisheng obtained the news from unknown sources that Feng Zhaolian was going to leave the palace today and actually came over with a horse carriage to meet with him personally. Feng Zhaolian got a headache once he saw this Wu Lisheng and sometimes had the thought of selling this woman. Unfortunately, he had been unable to do so the whole time.

  Because Feng Zhaolian had stayed in the palace for some time, Wu Lisheng had not been him for a long time. It was probably because she missed him, so she lunged over like a gust of wind. Feng Zhaolian dodged by stepping back, but Xuan Tiaming pushed him forward, and the two collided with a ‘Bang’, Wu Lisheng then curled up in the crook of Feng Zhaolian’s arms and it looked like she was being hugged by him.

  The Seventh Prince Xuan Tianhua said with a smile: “Prince Lian has the best person to keep you company, how can my Chun Palace bear the weight of the arrival of Prince Lian.” After saying this, he said to Wu Lisheng: “Princess, please hurry to help Prince Lian onto the horse carriage, it’s cold outside, he is wearing too little, it would be bad if he catches a cold.”


  Feng Zhaolian really wanted to tell Xuan Tianhua that he really did not feel cold at all. To Qian Zhou, the cold in Da Shun capital was as warm as their spring and he could even wear lesser than this. But Wu Lisheng had a firm grip on him, dragging him to the side of the horse carriage from Lian Manor. The driver was also in cahoots with Wu Lisheng and quickly pulled him up, stuffing him into the carriage. When the carriage was leaving, Wu Lisheng bowed to Xuan Tianming, quietly showing her gratitude.

  When Feng Zhaolian’s horse carriage drove into the distance, Feng Yuheng directed a questioning gaze at Xuan Tianming. Xuan Tianming told her: “He should return to where he came from, I secretly sent someone to notify Lian Manor that he was leaving the palace today. This should be considered doing a good thing.”


  Feng Yuheng raised her thumb towards Xuan Tianming, showing her approval.

  Everyone left the palace separately and boarded their own family’s imperial carriages and horse carriages. Xiangrong followed the Seventh Prince to get on Chun Palace’s imperial carriage. On the way, Xuan Tianhua saw her pale complexion, lowered head and the fact that she had not said anything so far, so he finally sighed slightly and said: “Do not think too much, people’s fates aren’t decided by others. Look, even if Father Emperor granted the marriage, you were also able to avoid it successfully, and all of this was because you performed acts of kindness and accumulated all this virtue. Therefore, what saved you today was not other people, but yourself.”


  Xiangrong looked up towards him then, and for an instant, she really wanted to ask Xuan Tianhua if he wanted to marry her. But as the words reached the tip of her tongue, she thought that she was asking for too much and was even asking for a foot after gaining an inch. In the past, when she did not have much interaction with Xuan Tianhua, she only wished to occasionally see him from afar and was satisfied. Right now, she had entered Chun Palace, and wished to be able to speak a few sentences with him every day, then thought that it was best to have more opportunities to spend time together. Right now, she wanted to ask if he wanted to marry her, was she not asking for a foot after gaining an inch? The current situation was already much better than the past, why was she so anxious?

  This young girl’s face turned red again, lowering her head and did not say anything else.

  Actually, Xuan Tianhua understood what Xiangrong was thinking, it was just that he was the same as her, he knew that the person in front of him was very very good, but his heart could not get rid of the other person’s shadow. Accepting Xiangrong for no reason, he was afraid that he would end up hurting her one day.

  It was snowing outside and the imperial carriage was advancing very slowly on the road, they finally passed the section of road with a lot of people and carriages, and the journey ahead was much smoother, just as the driver prepared to spur on the horses, unexpectedly, the imperial carriage was suddenly stopped by someone.

  The carriage stopped abruptly, the people inside did not know the reason, but before they had the chance to ask, someone spoke loudly from outside: “Seventh Brother, my apologies, I stopped your carriage because I wanted to ask the person beside you a few questions.”


  Xiangrong jolted, it was Xuan Tianyi’s voice.

  “Feng Xiangrong.” Xuan Tianyi asked loudly: “I will just ask you one question, will you still be returning to Ji An Prefecture?”


  His voice was carried by the wind, entering her ears directly. Xiangrong said: “I am returning, my mother is still there, Ji An Prefecture is my home, not the capital.”


  “Alright.” Xuan Tianyi spoke again: “Then I will accompany you, let me know before you leave, we will go together.”


  Xiangrong frowned deeply and replied with determination: “If you insist on doing so, I will not be able to stop you, but I will jump off a cliff on the way to Ji An Prefecture. You can collect my body on the way!”


  Once she said this, Xuan Tianhua first frowned slightly, staring at this girl, his gaze containing some beratement.

  For half a beat, there was no response from outside. Just as Xiangrong thought that person had already left and was about to breathe a sigh of relief, she heard Xian Tianyi’s voice again, but it was a question directed at Xuan Tianhua: “Seventh Brother, can you give her happiness?” His voice contained deep loneliness and despair.

  Xuan Tianhua looked at Xiangrong and said very seriously: “Happiness is something you fight for yourself, do not expect others to give it to you. If you are a smart girl, you should learn how to fight for your own happiness.” Saying this, he was not willing to deal with Xuan Tianyi any longer and prompted the driver: “Let’s go! We’re going back to the palace.”


  The driver bowed towards Xuan Tianyi in apology, then got the carriage to move, moving around him and leaving. And until the imperial carriage drove a large distance away, they did not hear Xuan Tianyi’s voice again. Xiangrong thought, that person should have gone back already, right? Therefore, she secretly pulled open the carriage curtains and saw that in that wind and snow, that figure was still sitting on his horse, his gaze directed in her direction. Even if they were that far apart, she could still feel the deep separation and despair from his gaze.

  She lowered the curtains and faced forward, no longer looking. Xuan Tianhua said: “I’m afraid that with this separation, it would be difficult to meet again.”


  “Then we will not meet!” Xiangrong asked him, “Your Highness the Seventh Prince, if you have someone in your heart, but you know that the person she likes is not you, then, would you still disturb her?”


  Xuan Tianhua blinked, shaking his head, “I won’t.”


  “That’s it,” She showed a bitter smile, “He is your older brother, and is older than you, he will not be unable to understand this principle.”


  It was true, Xuan Tianyi understood this principle. In fact, at the Jade Hall, he had already said the words of severing their relationship and splitting up. But once he left the palace gates and saw the wind and snow, he could not help but catch up to Xuan Tianhua’s imperial carriage to put up a last struggle. He even thought, regardless of whether he was in Xiangrong’s heart or not, or that she had someone else in her heart, as long as that girl was willing to return to Ji An Prefecture, he would definitely follow her back again and stay by her side until the end of his days, he did not believe that his determination would lose.

  However, he did not think that way now. He saw Xiangrong’s resoluteness, saw Xiangrong’s determination and clearly knew that he had already lost in this rivalry. He was the Fourth Prince of Da Shun, and was a grounded man, if he had a big heart, he should be able to let go. Whatever he could not let go of in the palace, he should let them go after this chase.

  Xuan Tianyi looked up, watching the snow falling down from the sky. Many of them flew into his eyes, freezing cold, just like his heart. His attendant told him: “Master, let’s return! This snow is getting heavier.”


  Xuan Tianyi nodded and said nothing else, spurring on his horse and headed in the direction of Ping Palace. It was just that after travelling some distance, he remembered something, telling that attendant: “Just now in the palace, I said I did not want this position of prince and did not want to stay in Ping Palace anymore, Father Emperor seemed to have agreed. Though he is a little muddled now, those ministers might continue to remember this. We should go back and pack and move out as soon as possible! It’s better than being chased out, that would be embarrassing.”


  That attendant said: “But Master, if we’re not staying at Ping Palace, then where can we go? This Subordinate thinks, His Majesty was also angry at that time, wouldn’t this be resolved if you go back and apologise to him, how can he really not give his son a place to stay?”


  “I’m the one who doesn’t want to stay anymore.” Xuan Tianyi said, “It’s not just this Ping Palace, I don’t want to stay in this capital anymore. Just listen to me, go back and pack, and dismiss all the servants in the palace, we will follow our original plan and set off on the sixth day of the New Year, to…… to Ji An Prefecture.”


  On a snowy day and with slippery roads, the carriages were all moving very slowly. Feng Yuheng and Xuan Tianming were sitting in the imperial carriage, with Zirui at their side. For this child, it was the Empress who decided to let Feng Yuheng take him out of the palace. In the Empress’ words, the Emperor and Imperial Concubine Yuan Gui would not care about anything else, the Eighth Prince’s situation did not look that good, you should take this chance to bring Zirui out, if the Emperor asks about it later on, This One will deal with it. Right now, This One has lost the power from before, but making a decision to send a child away, even if the Emperor has any thoughts about it, he will not do anything to This One. In addition, this Empress is not an Empress and is just bait, This One should make use of the power as a bait to help all of you again.”


  Feng Yuheng put her arm around Zirui, feeling emotional. She wanted to steal Zirui out tomorrow night, then push the blame on Old Eighth. But since she could openly bring Zirui out, she definitely would not let Zirui stay another night in the palace as it was too risky. As for Old Eighth, she suddenly felt that the injection’s effects were quite good. Those people should suffer a little, and this suffering should accompany the Emperor’s Gu, acting up at the same time!

  “Tomorrow I will enter the palace and examine Imperial Concubine Yuan Gui’s pulse.” She told Xuan Tianming calmly, “Don’t worry, I will not allow the Gu poison to enter my body. I do want to search that Cun Shan Palace again. I keep feeling that the problem is there, but I simply had not found the root the previous time.” After saying this, she tightened her hug on Zirui next to her and without waiting for Xuan Tianming to reply, she immediately added on: “Xuan Tianming, if all of this ends, if I said I was tired, then that throne which is within reach, do you want it?”


  Xuan Tiaming did not even think about it, shaking his head directing and telling her: “I don’t want it! I have never been an ambitious person, and was just carrying the responsibility on my shoulders, thinking of the common people. Once this responsibility does not exist, that throne is just dust to me.” As he spoke, he reached out and took her small hand in his. This hand was much more delicate than before and was no longer as rough as when she was in Xiping Village. But though her hands have become more delicate, her heart had aged a lot, her worries were even showing in the corner of her eyes, making his heart ache. “If First Brother rules, the country would be rich; if Second Brother rules, the country would be stable; if Sixth Brother rules, the country would be wise. Look, Da Shun has so many exceptional princes, for the throne, who cannot sit on it? Oh, only Seventh Brother cannot, I’m afraid he dislikes the palace more than you, and he does not like the capital either. Didn’t we agree, at that time, he will bring Imperial Concubine Yun to travel the seas and go to Ren Xian Island. We will then head West, I will bring you to a life which is completely different from Da Shun.”


  Both of their hands were grasped tightly, even Zirui felt very excited when he heard Xuan Tianming’s words. As for Huang Quan and Wang Chuan, they felt that the future was infinitely beautiful. But only Feng Yuheng and Xuan Tianming knew in their hearts, the future they were aiming for, at least in the near future, was dim and devoid of light.

  The end of this road, where exactly was it?