The bright moon hangs high, beckoning him down from his pedestal.

As soon as the Spring Banquet ended, Shen Wangxi ostensibly returned to the Taiji Palace.

However, as soon as he arrived at Taiji Hall, he couldn't wait to secretly go to Qingyi Hall.

The inner chamber of Qingyi Hall was very quiet.

Shen Qingruo did not read or play the zither as usual, but just sat alone on the soft couch in a daze.

Upon seeing Shen Wangxi, she did not rise to greet him as usual, but silently turned her head away, refusing to look at him.

Shen Wangxi paused, but still walked over and sat down next to her.

The person on the bed still turned their head away, refusing to look at him.

Shen Wangxi reached out and gently pinched her delicate chin with his large palm, turning her face around without allowing her to refuse.

Upon seeing this, he gasped for breath.

The little girl's face was already covered in tears, her eyes were red and swollen, and her long eyelashes were wet with tears and trembled slightly.

She just looked at him without saying a word, but tears streamed down her face like broken beads, rolling down her fair cheeks and disappearing into her clothes.

She felt wronged, pitiful, and heartbroken at being let down by him.

"Why are you crying?" His voice was a little hoarse, and his fingertips unconsciously wiped away her tears.

Shen Qingruo turned her head away from his touch, her voice choked with emotion: "It's none of your business."

Shen Wangxi's hand froze.

"I didn't know the Empress would suddenly bring up your marriage," he tried to explain. "I had no intention of marrying you off."

Shen Qingruo finally looked up at him with tearful eyes, her gaze filled with disbelief. "You didn't know? Yet you didn't stop it!"

"You've remained silent the whole time! If you hadn't taught me how to set up that chess game a few days ago, would I have been casually given away by the Empress to someone I've never even seen before?"

Shen Wangxi could not refute her question.

Why did he remain silent at that time? It was because he was provoked by his own despicable thoughts and lost his composure for a moment, and also because he couldn't bear to refute A-Yun's words in public.

"No." He said firmly, taking her small hand in his large one and looking at her intently. "Aruo, I will not grant you marriage."

"Even if the Empress issues a decree, I will definitely ask for your consent. You can trust me."

Shen Qingruo shook her head vigorously, tears streaming down her face even more fiercely: "You only know how to comfort me. When Her Majesty the Empress spoke today, you remained silent the whole time. You didn't even ask me anything..."

"In your heart, don't you also think it's better for me to get married, so I won't be an eyesore in the palace...?"

She became more and more aggrieved as she spoke, sobbing silently, her small body trembling.

Seeing her like this, Shen Wangxi felt remorseful. He could no longer resist and pulled her slender body into his arms.

"Don't cry, Aruo." His deep voice sounded in her ear, and she even subconsciously changed her words, "It's my fault."

"It's my fault."

He did not use the pronoun "朕" (zhen, meaning "I" or "the emperor"), but instead used "我" (

Shen Qingruo struggled for a moment, but he held her even tighter.

After a while, Shen Wangxi felt that she gradually calmed down, but occasionally she would still sob softly because she had cried so hard.

He loosened his arm slightly and looked down. The little girl's nose and face were flushed, and she looked pitiful.

Shen Wangxi's heart softened, and she called out, "Wu Tian, ​​bring a basin of warm water."

Wu Tian quickly offered warm water and a clean, soft cloth, then tactfully retreated to wait outside the hall.

Shen Wangxi wrung out the handkerchief himself, sat back down on the couch, and wiped away her tears.

Shen Qingruo obediently tilted her little face up and let him serve her.

After he finished wiping, he turned around to put the cloth back in the basin, but his sleeve was suddenly tightened.

He turned around and saw the little girl's delicate white hands tightly gripping his sleeve, her pretty face, which had just been cleaned, looking up at him, her voice soft and sweet:

Where are you going?

Shen Wangxi was taken aback. Looking at the unease in her eyes, her heart felt as if it had been hit.

He casually tossed the handkerchief aside, sat back down beside her, and said gently, "I'm not going anywhere; I'll stay here with you."

Shen Qingruo stared at him for a long time, as if trying to confirm whether his words were true or false.

Then, she did something that Shen Wangxi didn't expect.

Shen Qingruo took his large hand and slowly placed it on her neck.

"Does Your Majesty know?" she asked, looking at him softly, "There have been wounds here more than once."

Shen Wangxi's pupils contracted, and not just once?

He remembered one time being wounded by Wei Zheng's blade on the city wall, and another time?

"And another time?" His voice tightened.

Shen Qingruo's tears fell again without warning, dripping onto the back of his hand, scalding hot.

Her voice choked with sobs, filled with humiliation and lingering fear, "It was the night I first arrived at the Liang Imperial Palace..."

"Emperor Liang saw that I was beautiful and wanted to force himself on me."

Shen Wangxi's heart sank. Emperor Liang was about the same age as her, old enough to be her father.

He used to view that marriage alliance as just another ordinary event in the conflict between two countries, and didn't think much of it.

But now, putting himself in the shoes of this delicate and fragile woman before him, and imagining an older man wanting to do something indecent to her, he felt an indescribable dull pain and violence welling up inside him.

"And then what happened?" His voice was terribly dry. "Why were you still a virgin that night?" This was a question that had been lingering in his heart for a long time.

Shen Qingruo did not answer directly, but instead took his large hand and moved it upwards, so that he could hold her tear-streaked face in his hands. She looked at him with a look of attachment and grievance.

"I took the dagger and threatened to kill myself." Her voice trembled, filled with determination. "I said that if I died in the Liang palace, my father, who was then the King of the Desert, would definitely use that as an excuse to march south."

"Emperor Liang, he dares not gamble."

"So, he sidelined me and left."

Shen Wangxi held her small face in his hands, his heart aching unbearably.

"I'm sorry..." His voice was hoarse, filled with heavy guilt.

It was he who personally sent her to that dangerous and treacherous place.

Shen Qingruo did not accept his apology, but continued to look at him with a hazy gaze, and said, "Your Majesty, I am gentle and weak, but if I dislike or find someone disgusting, I would rather die than let him touch my body."

Shen Wangxi froze, an answer already on the tip of her tongue.

Looking into her resolute eyes, he almost held his breath as he asked the question: "Then why were you willing that night in the Taiji Hall?"

"I'm the same age as Emperor Liang, so why can't he, but I can?"