Farewell Flower Festival

Seeing that the two were still talking, Chaoyan said that she would go in first. Before she even raised her feet, Han Lie called her and he came over to take her in.

Shang Ye said to himself, "This boy is so lucky, where did he find such a pretty girl?" Just as he was about to go in, he saw an acquaintance again. After Wen Yunlan came over, he teased, "Don't look for her, the second sister didn't come." Wen Yunlan's face turned red. Before she could greet him, Shang Ye pulled her aside and gave her a warning in advance, "Han Er brought a pretty girl with him. You can't be tempted by someone else and do something to let Rong'er down."

Wen Yunlan looked embarrassed and didn't know how to respond.

After the two of them went in, Shang Ye started talking about the little princess Shen Xue again. He wondered what kind of beautiful face she had. The late princess was number one on the rouge list before she got married. Naturally, her daughter wouldn't be much worse. Shang Ye couldn't wait to see her beauty.

Wen Yunlan didn't know how to respond to this topic.

Afterwards, the carriages from Prince An’s Mansion and Prince Ling’s Mansion arrived, and Mu Tianchen and Mu Tianling also came to the banquet.

When Shang Ye came over to say hello, he mentioned Han Lie again, saying that he had brought a very pretty little girl with him, and he didn't know where she came from. He didn't notice that Mu Tianling's face was becoming increasingly gloomy.

Han Lie was spotted by Mu Tianling when he walked out of the moon-shaped door next to him. Han Lie also saw him and walked over to greet him. Shang Ye looked behind him and asked, "Where is your distant cousin?" Han Lie asked in return, "Why does Brother Shang care so much about my cousin?"

Shang Ye was about to change the subject when Shen Cheng came over and invited everyone into the house for tea. While speaking, he glanced at Han Lie twice, as if he had something to ask him but was hesitant about whether to speak.

On the way, Han Lie walked up to Mu Tianling and asked, "Your Highness, have you just arrived?" Mu Tianling asked, "When did you get a little cousin?" Han Lie said, "I just recognized her."

......

On the other side, Han Min and several of her close friends were discussing the makeup and clothing styles that were popular in Beijing. Chao Yan was among them but did not express her opinion. Her attention was on the surrounding buildings and rocks. She felt a sense of déjà vu again.

When her gaze moved to the pear tree beside the rock, her head suddenly ached and a blurry image flashed by like a kaleidoscope.

After the stinging sensation disappeared, Chaoyan told Han Min that she saw an acquaintance and went over to say hello.

After leaving, Chao Yan went towards the pear tree. When she stood under the tree, a breeze blew and the branches and leaves swayed in the wind.

A snow-white petal passed by her eyes. She raised her hand to catch it, but suddenly an indescribable sadness welled up in her heart. A voice of "Mother" brought her back to reality. It was Shen Xue's voice. She hid behind the rockery, quietly poked her head out and glanced forward, and saw Shen Xue walking over with a woman.

The other party should be the person she wants to meet.

"Mother, is the Third Prince really here?" Shen Xue couldn't hide her pride in her excited voice, as if she thought the other party came because of her.

When Lin Rou's voice came, Chao Yan still couldn't control the creepy feeling in her heart, like a cold mollusk slowly crawling across her back, disgust and fear followed.

She felt a little breathless and just as Chao Yan took a deep breath, that pair of gentle eyes looked over here. She immediately raised her hand to cover her mouth and didn't dare to breathe, for fear of being discovered.

But Lin Rou was looking at the pear tree. As she looked at the swaying branches and leaves, a cold light flashed across her quiet eyes.

After the two of them walked away, Chao Yan breathed a sigh of relief. After calming down, she walked out from behind the rockery and prepared to meet Lin Rou, but saw that the other party had turned back. She immediately hid behind the rockery and saw the person go through a moon-shaped door to the backyard.

Seeing that there was only one person on the other side, she followed quietly.

Finally, Chaoyan followed Lin Rou to the gate of a courtyard. The gate was closed and the red paint on it had faded. The doors and windows of the mansion had all been renovated, but this one remained the same.

Lin Rou stood outside the door for a while, then pushed it open and walked in.

Chaoyan looked at the door and felt the same creepy fear in her heart again. She pinched herself hard, using the pain to temporarily suppress the fear, and quietly followed.

After slipping to the door, she hid by the wall and peeked inside, seeing a desolate scene.

The yard was overgrown with weeds, the houses had collapsed, and there seemed to be a hint of burning smell floating in the air.

Lin Rou stood in front of the burned-down house and said to herself, "Sister, you know, only here can I be sure that you are really gone."

At this moment, a shout came from outside the door, "Who's there?"

Lin Rou's expression tensed, and she turned around to see a figure running past the door. The next moment her expression changed drastically, and her eyes widened in horror. For a moment she thought she saw a person who had come back to life, and then she saw another figure chasing after her from the door, and she hurried out.

A "hidden weapon" was thrown over and stopped the pursuer.

Shen He glanced at the pebble that fell on the ground, and then glanced at the figure that disappeared around the corner.

"Prince, are you okay?" Lin Rou hurried over and asked with concern.

Shen He glanced at the courtyard behind her with a gloomy look, as if he was asking her or himself, "Why are you here?" Lin Rou said, "Sister, if she is in heaven, she will definitely be happy to see Xue'er has grown into a beautiful young lady."

Speaking of Shen Xue, Shen He sighed again. He regarded this lost and found daughter as a treasure, but he had to face a cruel fact: Shen Xue was not like her mother at all. Whenever he thought of this, he felt extremely guilty. If his daughter had grown up by his side since childhood, she would not have the personality she has now.

"Who was the prince chasing just now?" Lin Rou asked, changing the subject.

Shen He said: "Maybe she was just a little girl who got lost. She was probably scared by me, so she ran away."

On the way back, Lin Rou mentioned the Third Prince Mu Tianchen, saying that Shen Xue was very happy to hear that he was coming. Although she did not explicitly say that Shen Xue was interested in Mu Tianchen, Shen He could also hear it.

Shen He had a good impression of Mu Tianchen when they fought together on the border before, but he didn't want his daughter to marry into the royal family and be involved in the struggle for power. He also had a candidate for son-in-law in mind, that is, his adopted son Shen Ming, but according to his observation, Shen Xue was cold towards Shen Ming, and Shen Ming was only polite to her.

He knew that Shen Ming was a man who valued friendship and loyalty. As long as he asked, Shen Ming would definitely marry Shen Xue. However, he did not want to force the two of them. Given their current relationship, if they were forced to stay together now, they would soon fall out.

Lin Rou took a look at his expression and said sympathetically, "There's no rush for Xue'er's marriage, but Cheng'er, I wonder if there's a girl you like, it's time to discuss marriage."

Shen He said: "If he could go to discuss marriage obediently, the sun would rise from the west."

……