With legs weak, the sickly stable boy became a mad regent.

Later, she pieced together the truth from the fragmented discussions of others—her father died tragically, the Shen family was wronged, and it was Shen Run, the纨绔大少爷 (spoiled young master) whom everyone looked down upon, who overnight transformed into a different person, donned armor, and took up the banner of the Shen family.

No one knows how much effort he put in to get those veterans to submit to him.

No one knows how many wounds he suffered or how much blood he shed on the battlefield.

All I know is that when he died, there wasn't a single piece of good flesh on his body, but he had a smile on his lips.

Because the enemy has retreated. Perhaps... the Shen family can be saved.

But the imperial court is ruthless. The war merits that my brother fought so hard for were stolen, and the Shen family is still a rebellious party!

At this moment, Shen Nannan looked at her living brother in front of her, at the stick in his hand that hadn't yet fallen, and at his face flushed red from standing up for his sister, and her eyes suddenly welled up with tears.

This is the man.

In his past life, he shielded her from countless storms and ultimately gave his own life to preserve the last vestiges of dignity for the Shen family.

"Nannan?"

Shen Run felt uneasy under her gaze, forgetting to put down the stick in his hand. "Why are you staring at your brother like that? Is there something on my face?"

Shen Nannan didn't say anything, she just stared at him.

Staring at his perfectly intact left arm.

Staring at his clean and tidy robes.

Staring at his face, which still retained a youthful air and had not yet been weathered by war and death.

It's good to be alive.

It's good that everyone is alive.

She took a deep breath and forcefully suppressed the tears that were about to spill from her eyes.

Lin Wan'er, standing to the side, glanced at Shen Run's subservient and obedient manner, a flash of jealousy and displeasure crossing her eyes, but she immediately replaced it with a sweet smile:

"Cousin, why did you come in person? These are small matters that my brother could have handled..."

"A trivial matter?" Shen Nannan caught her breath, her almond-shaped eyes coldly sweeping over Lin Wan'er, wishing she could skin her alive.

"Whether the people in my room live or die, are rewarded or punished, is none of your business to interfere, you outsider!"

Her words were extremely blunt and showed no mercy.

Lin Wan'er's face paled, her eyes immediately reddened, and she looked at Shen Run with a wronged expression: "Cousin, I... I just meant well..."

"Are you being kind?" Shen Nannan took a step forward, getting closer to her.

It carried a chill that Lin Wan'er had never seen before.

That wasn't just arrogance, but a kind of ingrained, unquestionable pressure.

"Lin Wan'er, you are a guest of the Shen family, so you should act like one. The affairs of my courtyard and my belongings are none of your business. And if I hear you again instigating my brother to harm my people—"

She paused, staring at Lin Wan'er's instantly frozen face, and said, word by word:

"Have you forgotten that my whip, Shen Nannan's whip, has also killed disobedient beasts!"

Shen Run had always doted on his younger sister, but seeing her genuine anger...

He quickly stepped forward to coax her, "Good girl, don't be sad, brother didn't... it was Wan'er who said..."

"Brother, next time, don't listen to outsiders! After all, who knows what their intentions are!"

Lin Wan'er's face paled. What was wrong with this good-for-nothing? He used to be so easy to coax with just a few words, but today...

"Cousin, that's not what I meant. I was just... just worried that this servant might harm you..."

"How could someone who's just woken up from serious injuries and can barely walk properly pose a threat to me?"

Shen Nannan interrupted her; the old and new grudges from her past life made her feel disgusted just looking at that face.

"Lin Wan'er, you're really, really noisy!"

She leaned slightly forward and spoke in a voice so soft it was icy, uttered in a volume only the two of them could hear:

"Say one more word, and I'll rip your tongue out! I mean it!"

Lin Wan'er quickly covered her mouth, and with her other hand she tugged at Shen Run's sleeve for help, her eyes brimming with tears.

"Enough." Shen Run waved Lin Wan'er's hand away. "Whatever Nannan says goes. And you too, you should have said you were my sister's person earlier. You made me upset Nannan for no reason! Go, go, go, and stop getting in my sister's way."

Lin Wan'er: "..."

Seeing him like this, Shen Nannan felt both sad and tender.

She thought to herself, this time, she must make sure her brother lives.

He didn't die on the battlefield, nor was his body lost forever. Instead, he lived, married, had children and grandchildren, and became a white-haired old man, sitting in the yard basking in the sun, bragging to his grandchildren about how powerful he was back in the day.

"Alright, brother, you take her away first. She's in the way. She's my own person, I'll deal with her myself."

Shen Run grinned: "Okay, whatever Nannan says goes."

He then pulled Lin Wan'er, whose eyes were red, away.

Shen Nannan looked at Lin Wan'er's frail figure, a flash of murderous intent in her eyes. She hadn't seen the civil official's face clearly that day, so she would spare him for a while. When the time came, she, Shen Nannan, would definitely cut him into a thousand pieces!

In the open space, only Shen Nannan and A Chao, who was still kneeling there, remained.

A cool morning breeze blew by.

Shen Nannan then realized that her feet were cold. Looking down, she saw that she was only wearing one shoe, and the sock on her other foot was covered with dust and grass clippings, making her look quite disheveled.

I was running so fast that I didn't even notice.

She bit her lower lip, and the tension in her heart eased slightly, but what surged up was lingering fear and exhaustion.

So close... so close.

"What are you still kneeling for?"

She forced her voice to sound calm, even carrying the impatience and disdain typical of a spoiled master.

"stand up."

Ah Chao didn't move.

He looked up at her.

My gaze moved from her disheveled hair to her cheeks flushed from running, and then to her delicate, stained feet.

That gaze was so focused and direct that it made Shen Nannan's heart, which had just calmed down, race again.

"I told you to get up." She looked away.

He just stared at her, his gaze lingering on her muddy feet for a moment.

Then, suddenly, he reached out—

Before Shen Nannan could react, he grabbed her ankle.

She froze.

He lowered his head and used his sleeve to wipe away the mud from the back of her feet, bit by bit. His well-defined fingers, through the thin silk stockings, caressed her inch by inch.

Sunlight fell on his downcast eyes, casting dappled shadows on his face.

He wiped very slowly and carefully, as if he were wiping something extremely precious.

But at this moment, it made Shen Nannan's hair stand on end.

In countless nights of his past life, he was like this—

He caressed her body inch by inch, with a kind of obsession she couldn't understand.

Then possess her fiercely...

Ah Chao suddenly looked up, staring into her eyes, his voice low and hoarse:

Why?