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

Shen Wangxi stayed in Qingyi Palace until the little girl's breathing became even and long.

Finally, he bent down and gently kissed her forehead before getting up and quietly leaving Qingyi Palace.

Not long after Shen Wangxi left, Shen Qingruo opened her eyes and sat up, still wrapped in the brocade quilt.

She whispered in her heart, "Xiao Jiu, I feel like something's wrong with him."

The sphere of light immediately lit up: "Aruo, what are you referring to?"

Shen Qingruo's fingertips gripped the blanket. "He clearly felt sorry for me, felt so guilty he could hardly breathe, and said all the things he could to comfort me."

"But when it comes to Shen Jingyan and Shen Yinian, his actions always favor them, even when he knows it's wrong."

Her eyes were full of confusion: "This isn't like him."

"If someone as decisive and ruthless as him truly cared about me, why would he repeatedly subject me to such humiliation? Was it merely for the sake of the royal family's reputation, or because Ulan Yun pleaded for me?"

Xiao Jiu's aura flickered a few times: "Aruo, your intuition is very sharp. Shen Wangxi's contradictions are very likely related to his past."

"past?"

"Yes, it's a heavy past about family." Xiao Jiu's voice turned solemn. "Do you want to see it?"

Shen Qingruo nodded.

The next moment, some past events surfaced in her mind.

Seventeen years ago, war raged on the border between the desert and the Central Plains.

The young Shen Wangxi, dressed in spotless white robes, rushed into the commander's tent.

The tent was in a mess. His elder brother, the eagle of the desert, the once valiant and skilled king of the desert, Shen Qingcang, now had a vacant look in his eyes. He had been fed a large amount of Wushi Powder by a spy sent by a eunuch from the Central Plains, which almost revealed military secrets and caused a disaster.

In a brief moment of lucidity, Shen Qingcang gripped his younger brother's hand tightly, quickly making arrangements for his last moments, his eyes filled with regret and resentment.

He looked at his younger brother, his voice hoarse with endless reluctance: "Wangxi, our parents passed away early, and you've always been a cold-hearted person. If your older brother is gone too, what will you do all by yourself...?"

Before he could finish speaking, the clarity in his eyes was replaced by madness once again as the effects of the Five-Stone Powder took hold.

Before Shen Wangxi could react, Shen Qingcang suddenly drew the sword from his waist and resolutely slashed his own neck.

Warm blood instantly stained Shen Wangxi's snow-white robes.

He stood frozen in place, his pupils shrinking, watching helplessly as his only brother collapsed before him, without even a proper farewell.

That night, the young Shen Wangxi held his brother's gradually cooling body, sitting there in a daze for the entire night amidst bloodshed and despair.

The scene shifts, and the sky begins to lighten.

The tent flap was suddenly flung open, and Wulan Yun, who was also young at the time, rushed in despite the guards' attempts to stop her.

Seeing the horrific scene inside the tent, her face turned deathly pale, but she forced herself to overcome her fear and rushed to Shen Wangxi's side, her voice firm:

"Shen Wangxi! Look at me! You are now the only royal bloodline left in the desert! You cannot fall! There is still war outside! Thousands of people are watching you!"

Looking into Shen Wangxi's empty eyes, she steeled herself and forcibly pulled his blood-stained hand, which was still resting on her brother, and pressed it tightly against her flat stomach.

"And..." Wulan Yun looked up, tears streaming down her face, "We're having another child."

"Yi Nian is still waiting for his father at the royal court, Shen Wangxi, can you hear me? We are all your family."

Shen Wangxi's gaze finally moved slowly and landed on the hand that was pressed against her lower abdomen. Family?

His fingertips, stained with his brother's blood, trembled slightly. His lips moved, and he repeated the word dryly:

"family……"

He raised his eyes and looked at Wulan Yun, as if to say to her, or as if to confirm to himself, "Yes, I still have family."