In the thirteenth year of the Tianbao era: I became Yang Guozhong's eldest son.

The sky outside the side courtyard was already faintly lit by the morning light.

The news has spread throughout the Yang household.

Princess Yanhe, who was usually as quiet as a shadow, did not accept the "removal of marriage" document from the Prime Minister's residence.

She did not, as others had expected, retreat to the royal residence and cleanly extricate herself from Yang Xuan's mess.

She simply stayed in the side courtyard.

But at this critical juncture, staying is an attitude in itself.

As dawn broke, the intense heat in the side courtyard had not yet subsided.

Yang Xuan, lying on the couch, was burning hot, his forehead covered in sweat, as if he had been thrown into a fire and repeatedly tortured.

Although the wound on his back had been treated with medicine, thirty strokes of the cane were real and could not be immediately suppressed by a few packets of medicine.

They would get up and leave during the night, and by dawn, even the old doctor's brows were heavy with worry.

Cai Fan brought in freshly boiled water, glanced at the couch, and spoke very softly.

"Princess, you haven't slept all night. Please go to the side room to rest. There are servants and a doctor here to watch over you. If anyone wakes up, I will call you immediately."

Yanhe sat motionless on the edge of the tatami mat, with a cup of tea that was almost cold in front of him and a folded document beside him.

She looked down at the document, and after a moment, said, "Prepare another dose of medicine."

Cai Fan hesitated, then said, "Princess..."

"Go."

Cai Fan had no choice but to comply and retreat.

The old doctor took Yang Xuan's pulse, gently put his hand down, and whispered, "The fever has subsided a bit compared to the latter half of the night. If you can wake up and take the medicine, you'll have passed the first hurdle."

Yanhe nodded.

The old doctor looked at her, then at Yang Xuan, who was unconscious on the bed. He recalled her question from last night, "If I were to leave, how should I leave?" and he became more and more certain.

This princess was not waiting for him to wake up so she could hear his decision about whether to stay or leave again.

She was waiting for him to wake up so she could tell him in person whether she was staying or leaving.

The room was quiet for a while.

Morning light shone through the half-open window paper, illuminating the face on the bed, which was abnormally red due to high fever, and also revealing a faint layer of weariness in Yanhe's eyes.

Yang Xuan woke up at this moment.

He first felt pain.

It wasn't just one spot that hurt; it spread from my shoulders and back to my waist and legs. It felt like my bones had been torn apart and then haphazardly put back together.

The slightest movement sent waves of pain crashing over him, making his chest tighten and almost causing him to faint on the spot.

Then, consciousness gradually returned to normal.

roof.

The smell of medicine.

The smoky smell left after the lamps had been burning all night.

There was also a very quiet figure by the tatami mat.

Yang Xuan's eyelashes trembled, and she struggled to open her eyes. The first thing she saw was Yanhe.

She sat very upright, as if she hadn't lost any of her composure even after guarding the place all night, but the weariness between her brows couldn't be suppressed, adding a touch of humanity to her otherwise overly aloof face.

When she saw him wake up, she paused slightly, then put down the cup of tea that had gone cold.

"Doctor".

The old doctor quickly stepped forward, took the pulse again, and checked the temperature on the forehead. The frown on his brow finally eased a little.

"It's good that you're awake. Princess, first feed her half a cup of warm water, then heat up the medicine and bring it to her."

Yang Xuan opened his mouth, but his throat was extremely dry, as if it were on fire.

Yanhe had already stood up and was personally supporting half of his shoulder and back.

Her movements weren't particularly skillful, but they were very steady. She avoided the injury on his back, only lifting him slightly before bringing the warm water to his lips.

Yang Xuan lowered his head and took two sips, finally feeling a little better in his throat.

He stared at the face so close to his own, momentarily stunned.

He had truly endured the thirty strokes of the cane outside the Hua'e Xianghui Tower last night, but he only had fragmented memories of how he was carried back to the mansion and how he was taken to the side courtyard.

He originally thought that when he woke up, he would most likely see Afu, the old doctor, or at the very least, a few old women.

Unexpectedly, it was Yanhe who was guarding this place.

He was silent for a moment before saying in a low voice, "You kept watch all night?"

"Otherwise what?" Yanhe placed the water cup back on the table, his tone still flat. "Are you just going to be burned to death here?"

Yang Xuan sensed that there was no sarcasm in those words, but rather a rare frankness, and couldn't help but smile.

The laugh aggravated the injuries to his chest, abdomen, and back, causing him to immediately frown and gasp.

"Now you know what pain is?" Yanhe looked at him. "Weren't you quite eloquent when you overturned the table before the Emperor yesterday?"

Yang Xuan leaned against the pillow for a moment before saying, "It hurts, but it's worth it."

Yanhe did not respond to that sentence.

She simply picked up the folded document from the table and placed it beside him.

"The decree arrived last night."

Yang Xuan's eyes flickered slightly.

He could roughly guess the contents without even opening it.

But when Yanhe slowly explained the handling of that imperial edict, his heart sank slightly.

Cut off the door fee.

Remove the yin and replenish the body.

He was demoted to magistrate of Yanjing County, Yaozhou.

He shall leave the capital immediately and shall not return to Chang'an without an imperial edict.

Yang Xuan leaned back on the couch and closed his eyes.

The result was a bit harsher than he had initially anticipated, but it was still within an acceptable range.

Yaozhou is a terrible place, and Yanjing County is the worst of the worst.

But the more this is the case, the more it shows that Emperor Xuanzong and Yang Guozhong really wanted to kick him away from Chang'an, the farther the better.

To outsiders, this is practically a dead end.

For him, this was the best possible outcome from the current predicament.

The problem is not with the imperial edict.

The problem lies in the phrase "leave Beijing immediately".

In his current condition, it's questionable whether he can even sit up. If he's really driven out of Chang'an today, he'll probably rot and die in the carriage before he can even walk ten miles.

Moreover, being assigned to a post outside the home is a viable option, but being assigned to a post outside the home empty-handed is not.

Money, people, carriages, places to stay, medicinal herbs, food, guards... none of these can be missing.

Yang Xuan quickly calculated in his mind, but didn't show it on his face. He just raised his hand and touched the document.

"Did this come from the Prime Minister's residence?"

"Yes."

"Divorce?"

"No," Yanhe said. "It was the Prime Minister who broke off the engagement for you. Now that you have been convicted and demoted, the Yang family dares not delay the noblewoman of the imperial family any longer, and has allowed me to choose to return to the manor."

Yang Xuan paused slightly, then looked up at her.

Their eyes met.

This glance was unlike any of the polite yet distant looks I had given before.

They used to be husband and wife, but they were more like two strangers living in the same mansion.

Yang Xuan was absurd, she was quiet, each keeping to their own boundaries.

But now that the situation in Chang'an, the attitude of the Prime Minister's residence, and the fate of the imperial edict are all out in the open, there is no more room for maneuver.

Yang Xuan spoke first.

"So what do you think?"

Yanhe did not answer immediately.

She simply took the document back into her hands, gently unfolded it, read it again, and then asked him, "What do you think?"

"I?"

Yang Xuan's voice was still hoarse from just waking up, but it was very calm.

"Of course I want you to leave."

Just as these words were spoken, Cai Fan entered the room carrying hot medicine. She paused, almost thinking she had misheard.

Yanhe's expression remained unchanged; he simply watched him quietly.

Yang Xuan continued, "Yaozhou Salt Wells is no good place. It's far away, the mountains are treacherous, and the miasma is severe. The court sent me there, which is essentially a form of exile. If you return to the imperial clan, at least you can live a peaceful life; if you come with me, not only will the journey be bumpy, but once you get there, you might not be much better off than the refugees outside Chang'an."

"The farther you are from me right now, the safer you are."