Reborn Princess

It was already the hour of You when Zhou Cechen came out of the palace gate. The sun sets early in winter, and it was already dusk. The sun slowly set in the west, and the sky seemed to be soaked in a layer of oil, just like the dim oil-paper umbrella, becoming translucent.

He mounted his horse, glanced at the setting sun in the west, then pulled the reins, tightened his grip on the horse and headed towards Imperial Street. Imperial Street was the central street of the entire Yanjing city, with tens of thousands of shops concentrated on both sides of it, and half of the people in Yanjing city lived nearby.

The sound of horse hooves clattering on the Imperial Street was heard as vendors were getting ready for their night market sales. The lights were just coming on and oil lamps were hung sporadically on both sides of the street.

The twilight afterglow of the setting sun lightly shines on the red bricks and green tiles or the brightly colored eaves of the pavilions, showing the prosperity.

The present-day Great Qi can be regarded as a prosperous and peaceful era. Although undercurrents are still surging, there has been no major war since Zhou Hengyan ascended the throne.

Zhou Hengyan emphasized the maintenance of friendly diplomatic relations and had been on good terms with neighboring countries since he ascended the throne. Therefore, there were many shops opened by the Arabs and the Yuezhi people, selling specialties from the Western Regions.

At this time, the city was bustling with people, and the East and West Markets were even more crowded. Various shops stood on the streets, with red and green flags fluttering in the wind, and peddlers and hawkers were walking back and forth beside the shops, showing the scene of a prosperous and glorious time.

Zhou Cechen held the reins tightly with his right hand and stopped next to a pastry shop.

The words also stopped.

"Your Majesty, you need to buy some cakes to take back. I will go and buy them."

"Need not."

Yanci thought that his master would not buy it, and then he saw Zhou Cechen had already dismounted.

It turns out that the master wants to buy it himself.

Zhou Cechen went into the shop. It was still early and there were not many people in the shops at the night market. The shop owner was smart and when he saw Zhou Cechen coming in, he thought he was a young man from a wealthy family who wanted to buy snacks for his wife.

"Sir, take a look and see what you want."

Zhou Cechen glanced at the pastries, there were all kinds of them. He thought of the time when Shen Xilan stuffed his mouth full while eating pastries, and his heart softened.

He ordered plum blossom cake, crabapple cake and cherry pancake.

"Young Master, you are really thoughtful. Madam will definitely be happy if you bring these cakes back."

Zhou Cechen was a little surprised. He thought she would be happy.

On the second floor of the hotel next to the dim sum shop, a man narrowed his eyes as he looked at the man riding away on horseback. It was really interesting.

……

When he returned home, the servants were lighting up the lamps in various places in the palace one by one.

For some reason, Zhou Cechen walked faster than usual towards Xiao Lanxuan.

In Xiaolanxuan, Shen Xilan was sitting at the table cutting window paper-cuts. She was very meticulous and was afraid of making any mistakes.

Chaoyun walked in with a teacup and put it down, saying, "Madam, it's time to eat."

Shen Lilan asked her, "Is the prince back?"

As he was asking, Zhou Cechen walked in.

When Shen Xilan saw Zhou Cechen, he quickly put down the window paper-cut in his hand, stood up and walked towards Zhou Cechen.

"Your Majesty." She called softly.

"Yeah." he replied.

Zhou Cechen glanced at the red paper-cut on the table and asked her, "What are you doing?"

"Cut window paper-cuts."

"Window paper-cuts?" Zhou Cechen didn't expect Shen Lilan could do these.

"Yes, there is less than a month until the Little New Year."

"Zhou Cechen" Shen Lilan looked at Zhou Cechen and called him.

"Hmm?" Zhou Cechen's voice was slightly hoarse.

"This will be our first year together after we get married."

Zhou Cechen's Adam's apple rolled, and he heard Shen Lilan say, "We still have many years to spend together in the future."

"it is good."

After that, Zhou Cechen handed her the cake in his hand and said, "I bought it on the way back."

Shen Yanlan's eyes lit up when he saw the cakes wrapped in oil paper. "This is the cake from Fugaoji. I was thinking about it today."

Zhou Cechen stared at her for a long time. She must be happy.

……

In the eighth year of Yongzhen, in the people's impression, the twelfth month of that year was the year with the heaviest snow.

The snow that had stopped for two days began to fall again intermittently. Lu Nong sat at the table near the window, supporting her chin with one hand and grinding ink for Shen Lilan with the other.

"My lady, how long will it take for the snow to stop? It's been really cold these past few days."

Shen Xilan's hand holding the small goat-hair brush paused for a moment, and she continued to write the poem before putting it down.

She raised her head and looked at the window. The mullioned window was half closed and half open. Looking out from the half that opened, she could see that the snow was falling particularly heavily.

She stared for a long time without saying a word. When Lu Nong propped up her head and looked at the snow outside enough, she turned to look at Shen Lilan. She saw Shen Lilan staring blankly out the window with red eyes.

Lu Nong felt that Shen Xilan was thinking about something unhappy, so she called out softly, "Empress." No one answered her.

Lu Nong called out again, and Shen Lilan came back to his senses.

"Madam, are you thinking of something unhappy?"

Shen Xilan did not answer her. She lowered her eyes to look at the poem on the rice paper. Lu Nong also lowered her head to look at the poem.

"The two of us, missing each other, getting wet in the snow together, we will eventually grow old together." Lu Nong recited the poem word by word, and the corners of Shen Lilan's lips curved up.

Lu Nong has followed Shen Lilan since she was a child. She is Shen Lilan's personal maid and has been accompanying Shen Lilan to read and learn to read since she was a child. Although she does not know as many words as Shen Lilan, she knows much more than ordinary maids.

So, she understood the meaning of this poem.

Her queen seemed to miss the prince.

……

In the study room of Liyuan Pavilion, Chunhua Qiushi and Zhou Cechen were describing what Shen Xilan had said at the Shen family's banquet a few days ago.

Not a single word is wrong.

Zhou Cechen's eyes darkened after hearing this. He ordered Yanci, "Go check how the princess lived in the Shen family after returning to Beijing from Mobei."

"Yes."

……

Ever since the day Shen Xilan went to Liyuan Pavilion to accompany Zhou Cechen for meals, Zhou Cechen would go to Xiaolanxuan for meals every day.

Every time they had meals at Xiao Lanxuan, Nanny Lin was very happy to see the two getting along harmoniously and their hidden feelings, but she also felt that the couple's relationship was still more distant than that of ordinary couples.

……

That day, after Zhou Cechen returned from Xiao Lanxuan after having dinner, Shen Xuanlan looked at the table of dishes with a slightly frowned brow.

At night, a heavy snowfall occurred, covering the roof and the ground with thick snow. The branches of Xiao Lanxuan's bamboo had already been bent.

After washing up, Shen Yanlan tossed and turned in bed but couldn't fall asleep.

She thought about her interactions with Zhou Cechen and her meals with him over the past few days. Although he looked normal, Shen Xilan could sense that Zhou Cechen was in a low mood.

Shen Lilan seemed to have thought of something, and she sat up from the bed.

"Lunong, Lunong." Shen Yanlan shouted.

"My lady." Lu Nong rushed in and asked her, "What's wrong with you?"

"Hurry, prepare a cloak for me." Shen Lilan looked a little anxious.

Lu Nong prepared the cloak. Shen Yanlan, with her long black hair and wearing pajamas, simply put on a white coat and then put on the cloak.

Seeing this, Lu Nong said, "Your Majesty, it's snowing heavily outside. You will get cold if you keep doing this."

But Shen Lilan couldn't wait a moment longer, she wanted to go see Zhou Cechen.