The seductive princess is no longer being pursued; the aloof prime minister is facing a crematorium.

Jiang Jinshuang was dreaming.

In her dream, she dreamt of the first time she met Prince Ruiyang.

At that time, Prince Ruiyang was not yet an unparalleled border general, but a leisurely prince who traveled around the world and rarely returned to the capital.

Most of the royal relatives of Wanjin were handsome and dignified.

However, Prince Ruiyang, Jiang Buhuo, was not tall and had an ordinary appearance.

If he weren't wearing those noble robes, he would be the kind of person you wouldn't notice if you threw him into a crowd.

At that time, Jiang Jinshuang was only five years old.

In the palace, whether it was maids, servants, brothers, or concubines, everyone was far superior to her.

Therefore, little Jiang Jinshuang could only talk to them while looking up.

Very tired.

She often skipped school. Back then, with Jiang Biechen protecting her, Jiang Jinshuang was practically a lawless little devil.

That day, she secretly slipped out of the palace while the Grand Tutor was testing her, and climbed the vine-covered courtyard wall alone, looking out at the world outside the palace gate.

That's when she met Prince Ruiyang.

He wasn't wearing any fancy robes, just a plain long robe with a tree branch in his hair, and he walked towards the imperial study while humming a little tune.

“Hey, you,” Jiang Jinshuang sat on the wall, raising an eyebrow as she looked down at him, “Which palace are you from? Don’t you know that Father Emperor is waiting for guests in the Imperial Study and doesn’t see outsiders?”

Jiang Buhuo was not tall, and he looked up at the little princess on the wall.

He smiled, his tone gentle and relaxed: "It's Princess Xiaohuang."

Your Highness, Your Highness. What does "Little Prince" mean?

Jiang Jinshuang raised her chin and snorted proudly, "Don't go any further. If you disturb Father's audience, I can't save you."

Jiang Buhuo smiled and shook his head: "Your Highness, come down from up there first. These palace walls are so high, they're quite intimidating."

Jiang Jinshuang became unhappy again, pouting, "No, it's tiring for me to look up at you."

He was stunned for a moment, then continued to laugh after realizing what he had said: "Your Highness, I am very short, you don't need to look up to talk to me."

Little Jiang Jinshuang is not so easily fooled!

"You're talking nonsense! Even if you're short, you're still taller than a little kid like me!"

Jiang Buhuo nodded thoughtfully: "Why don't you come down and have a competition, Your Highness?"

Jiang Jinshuang frowned slightly and jumped down from the wall.

Sure enough, although the man in front of her was not as tall as her father, he was still much taller than her!
I was about to lose my temper.

Jiang Buhuo smiled and half-squatted in front of Jiang Jinshuang.

Their lines of sight instantly became level.

Little Jiang Jinshuang's expression of wanting to throw a tantrum was frozen on her little face, which was particularly amusing.

Jiang Buhuo smiled and patted her head: "Your Highness, we're the same height now."

That was the first time Jiang Jinshuang met Uncle Ruiyang.

Later, every time Uncle Wang saw her, he would squat down to talk to her in a gentle and calm tone, never interrupting her.

Later, as she grew up, Uncle Wang began to bend down and talk to her.

Gradually, he no longer needed to bend down; in fact, he needed to raise his head slightly to meet her gaze.

In Jiang Jinshuang's memory, Uncle Ruiyang always seemed to be shorter than her.

At the lantern festival, Uncle Wang would lift her up onto his shoulders, and the fireworks in the night sky of the capital seemed as if she could reach out and touch them.

Even later, when he became a brave and undefeated border general, wearing that eerie mask of a killing god, Jiang Jinshuang never looked up at him.

He was always smiling, with a nonchalant demeanor, as if he didn't care about anything in particular. He was a naked prince, without even a family.

When she was a child, she spent more time with her uncle, Prince Ruiyang, than with her father, the Emperor.

The scene shifts, and Jiang Jinshuang dreams of that dark, damp, and silent prison.

The leader of the Black Armored Cavalry, clad in black iron armor and invincible on the battlefield, was none other than Uncle Ruiyang, who always enjoyed finding all sorts of novelties to amuse her.

He was hunched over and a head shorter than her.

—He is getting on in years.

He's an old man.

No light fell on him; he was like gloomy, damp rain, cold and biting.

“Your Highness,” he said, still forcing a smile, “your uncle is actually quite unambitious.”

"Uncle Wang used to only want to be a leisurely prince who traveled around the world and lived a mediocre life."

"...Your Highness, don't cry."

"Shuang'er, live well, eat more food, and if you're unhappy, speak up instead of keeping it to yourself."

Jiang Jinshuang opened her mouth. Only a low, hoarse sound came from her own throat.

"Uncle Wang, is that you?"

He smiled at her from the shadows.

"Your Highness, it's me."

……

When Jiang Jinshuang woke up from her dream, her back was covered in a layer of cold sweat.

She sat up abruptly in bed, panting heavily, with beads of sweat forming on her forehead.

A short while later, footsteps stopped outside the door.

Jiang Jinshuang calmed herself down and said to the person outside the door, "Yanjue, talk to me for a while."

The footsteps moved from the door to the window next to her bed.

Under the cold moonlight, Jiang Jinshuang could see the figure of the man outside the door.

Yan Jue held his sword with both hands, the night wind blowing his tall, tied-up hair silently.

A sense of peace settled over me for no apparent reason.

In fact, during her first year in Baiyujing, Jiang Jinshuang often had nightmares.

Yan Jue then took his sword and stood outside her bedchamber, saying nothing, just standing there.

Three years had passed, and she thought she would never have such nightmares again.

Sitting on the bed, Jiang Jinshuang looked at Yan Jue's figure outside the window and slowly asked, "Yan Jue, do you think the red-tailed kites in Baiyujing have bloomed yet?"

The red-tailed iris is the only flowering tree that can bloom in the harsh environment of Baiyujing.

Baiyujing is often covered in wind and snow, but the red-tailed kites can brave the cold wind and snow and fly for half a year without fear.

From afar, amidst the blanket of white snow, the fiery red on the trees stood out strikingly.

Judging by the time, it seems that it's the season for the red-tailed iris to bloom again.

outside the window.

"I don't know," he said calmly, his tone devoid of emotion.

Jiang Jinshuang smiled without realizing it: "After being out for so long, I've actually started to miss it."

Even three years ago, before she was demoted to the capital, she often returned to Baiyujing for short stays, sometimes for two or three months at a time.

The inkstone outside the window did not answer.

Jiang Jinshuang fiddled with the brocade quilt covering her, then changed the subject: "Yanjue, do you think the capital city or Baiyujing is better?"

After asking this question, Jiang Jinshuang felt that she was a bit stupid.

Yan Jue dislikes the capital city.

She rescued him in Baiyujing and he has stayed there ever since, never leaving without permission.

She definitely prefers Bai Yujing.

The people outside the window remained silent for a long time.

Jiang Jinshuang scratched her head, wondering if she should change the subject.

"It used to be Baiyujing, now it's the capital."

"Hmm?" Jiang Jinshuang asked, puzzled. "I thought you preferred Bai Yujing."

The cold wind couldn't get into her bedroom; the room was warm and quiet.

"With you, Bai Yujing is truly complete."

He doesn't care much about where he temporarily resides or where he stays.

As long as he follows her, he doesn't care whether it's the capital or Baiyujing.

—She is Bai Yujing.

The white jade capital in the sky has five cities on the twelfth floor.

She gave her desolate and harsh fiefdom a title that sounded like heaven on earth.

He once asked her, "What does Bai Yujing mean?"
She said that Baiyujing means home.

She said that was her Baiyujing.

Ke Yanjue didn't understand these things.

He doesn't feel a sense of belonging to any place, nor does he quite understand why "home" is a place.

For him—

She was his Bai Yujing. (End of Chapter)