Shen Mingzhu instinctively tightened the sleeve in her hand. Her heart seemed to be suddenly squeezed by a big hand. She pursed her lips and looked at him. "Your Highness." Chen Jin gave her a deep look again, his face showing a somewhat indescribable solemnity, and his tone gradually turned solemn. "I went to the border before the Crown Prince's southern inspection. At first, it was just my impulsive enthusiasm, but in the end, it became a last resort."
Shen Mingzhu looked at him and asked, "What do you mean?"
"At first, I just had no intention of taking the imperial examinations, so I wanted to join the army." As Chen Jin spoke, he thought of his former friend. He almost couldn't control his expression. He took a deep breath and then continued, "But later, it was the Crown Prince's instruction."
"Your Highness, do you know? The military power was originally in the hands of the late emperor, but some time before the Crown Prince's southern inspection, the late emperor suddenly intended to let someone other than the Crown Prince take over the military power."
Shen Mingzhu listened quietly. Her not - so - long fingernails had dug deeply into her palm. The pain spread, and she came back to her senses a little. Her heart was filled with shock.
Everyone knew the importance of military power! But she had no idea about it at all.
A sense of powerlessness spread in her chest. Shen Mingzhu rubbed the space between her eyebrows and then said to Chen Jin, who had paused there, "Go on."
Hearing this, Chen Jin continued, "Your Highness should not know about this?"
"At that time, the late emperor and the Crown Prince should have intended to hide it from you. For some unknown reason, a conflict suddenly arose between them, and things became like this. I just took this opportunity to help Your Highness stabilize the situation there."
As he spoke, a self - deprecating look appeared on Chen Jin's face. He instinctively reached for his waist but retracted his hand when he realized Shen Mingzhu was in front of him. Instead, he rubbed the tip of his nose and continued, "I didn't expect that when I came back, so many years had passed. The Crown Prince had passed away, and you... you had also gotten married."
Hearing the sadness in his tone, Shen Mingzhu didn't know how to comfort him, so she could only sigh.
"I came back first, so I got the news one step ahead of everyone else." Chen Jin said and continued, "This time, the northwest border has finally calmed down completely. I think there will be no more wars in the next ten years. My subordinates were a step slower than me, and they also brought back the princes and princesses of neighboring countries as hostages."
Hearing this, Shen Mingzhu was surprised, but finally saw the solemnity in Chen Jin's eyes.
He looked at her, the corners of his lips drooping slightly. "I didn't expect I still came too late."
Shen Mingzhu didn't know what to say. Finally, she could only comfort him, "It's not too late. It's just right that you came back when Yunyun was bullied. It's good."
Hearing this, Chen Jin came back to his senses and said to Shen Mingzhu, "Yes."
"I have another thing to say." Chen Jin's expression became even more solemn. He said to Shen Mingzhu, "A few days before the Crown Prince had an accident, I received a letter from him, saying that I should stay there peacefully, never act impulsively, and never take sides."
"At that time, I felt something was wrong, but a few days after I received the letter, I got the news of his death."
Thinking of his old friend, a look of dejection appeared on Chen Jin's face. The old wounds on his body also ached faintly. Finally, all of it turned into a sigh. He said to Shen Mingzhu, "Maybe, the Crown Prince..."
"Maybe he had a premonition of what would happen to him."
Shen Mingzhu stood there stunned.
She had learned too many things today. Shen Mingzhu didn't know how to react for a moment, so she could only sit there stupidly, her heart pounding.
No wonder Chen Jin didn't come back!
At first, Shen Mingzhu thought he was just protecting himself, but now she understood that it was probably the Crown Prince's instruction for him to stay at the border and not get involved in the turmoil in the capital.
This was probably the last way out the Crown Prince left for her. If she was affected, Chen Jin would surely come back and take her away. Fortunately, Shen Mingzhu had always been fine. Even now, she was beginning to faintly see the contradictions among her elder brother, her father, and her mother.
Chen Jin had always stayed at the border to stabilize the power and didn't come back until things were settled.
"Your Highness, take care. I'll bring Yunyun to see you in a few days."
Chen Jin knew that Shen Mingzhu was a very proud person and would surely not want outsiders to see the sadness in her eyes, so he got up and left. But after getting up, he left his handkerchief behind.
Shen Mingzhu watched Chen Jin leave. Only then did she feel a sourness at the tip of her nose, and an indescribable feeling of wanting to cry welled up in her heart.
She put away the handkerchief and left. Shen Mingzhu sniffed hard. When she went out, she saw Xie Lang leaning against the door. When he saw her coming, there was a hint of sigh in his eyes. He gently comforted her, "Don't cry."
"I'm not crying."
Shen Mingzhu replied and said to Xie Lang, "Come on, I'll take you out to relax."
Actually, the one who needed to relax now was Shen Mingzhu, but neither of them pointed it out. So Xie Lang just smiled and hooked her arm, gently saying, "Thank you, Your Highness, for accompanying me."
[Alas, judging from Shen Mingzhu's expression, Chen Jin must have said something about the Crown Prince.]
When Shen Mingzhu heard Xie Lang's thoughts, she couldn't help being surprised.
How did he know what she and Chen Jin had talked about?
But she couldn't ask, so her heart was filled with entanglement.
The street was bustling with people.
Shen Mingzhu had just been listening to old stories in the small courtyard. Now she suddenly came to such a lively place. So she instinctively frowned and took a moment to adjust. Then she said to Xie Lang, "What do you want to buy today?"
Seeing this, Xie Lang said to Shen Mingzhu, "Let's just look around."
As a result, Xie Lang took Shen Mingzhu around. They looked at all the stalls on the whole street. When they turned around, they only saw the guards holding all kinds of small items in their arms.
There were grass - woven small animals, sugar figurines, and all kinds of miscellaneous little trinkets.
At first, Shen Mingzhu wasn't very interested, but in the end, a faint smile appeared on her face.
"Let's go."
Seeing that it was getting late, Xie Lang took Shen Mingzhu's hand and walked forward, saying, "Come on, I'll take you to dinner."
Shen Mingzhu had been shopping all afternoon and was a bit tired. Hearing this, she propped up her eyes and looked at Xie Lang. "Okay, let's eat quickly and then go back."
Hearing this, Xie Lang chuckled and raised his eyebrows at Shen Mingzhu. "Don't you want to drink today?"
Shen Mingzhu immediately became interested and looked at the person in front of her. "Let's go, let's go."
Xie Lang laughed out loud but didn't say anything more. He took her hand and walked forward.
[Little drunkard]
When she came back to her senses, they were already on the top floor of a restaurant. Shen Mingzhu couldn't remember the name of this restaurant, but she vaguely remembered that it was a very famous one that had opened in the capital these days.
After going upstairs and sitting down, she was surprised and said, "Could this restaurant be yours?"
Hearing this, seeing the curiosity in Shen Mingzhu's eyes, Xie Lang couldn't help but show a faint smile in his heart. He said, "What do you think?"
Shen Mingzhu instinctively rolled her eyes at him and was too lazy to continue guessing.
Seeing that Shen Mingzhu was impatient, Xie Lang sighed and said, "If you like, it can be yours."
Shen Mingzhu was stunned.
She felt that her heart skipped a beat and then started beating even more violently.