Your Highness, your wife has had her virginity mark applied and married someone else.

Some things are better left unsaid than left unsaid, as this suggests that neither party is aware of them.

Wei Yuan had thought this day would arrive later, but looking into Shen Mingshu's clear eyes, he knew that Shen Mingshu no longer wanted to pretend.

"Ming Shu, I'm sorry, I—"

"A-Yuan," Shen Mingshu gazed at him affectionately, "have you fallen in love with her?"

"No!" Wei Yuan denied decisively, hugging Shen Mingshu tightly, his voice filled with pain: "Mingshu, I only love you, I will only love you for the rest of my life."

"But...but I can't refuse..."

"I see."

Like the Shen family before it, the Wei family was coveted by the emperor and a host of other families. One wrong step and they would be crushed to pieces and devoured.

Wei Yuan is a member of the Wei family. No matter how much he hates him, he still has the blood of the Wei family. He can't escape or avoid it.

Just like her, she loathed the Shen family, yet she still had no choice in the matter.

Shen Mingshu has nothing left to lose: her family, health, reputation, escape route, and future path.

She only wanted to try to win over Wei Yuan.

"Ah Yuan, all I want is for you to love me. Even if it means being a concubine, I'm willing. It's just a title after all."

Wei Yuan looked up in shock, his eyes still red and glistening with tears. He asked incredulously, "W-what did you say?"

Shen Mingshu hugged him, nestled in his arms, her eyes sparkling with light that shimmered in the night.

I said, I'm willing to be your concubine.

"Ming Shu..." Wei Yuan rolled over and kissed Shen Ming Shu's lips fiercely.

A short while later, the two lay back down in the same spot.

Shen Mingshu tentatively asked Wei Yuan if he wanted to, but he hugged her and said, "If I can't marry you properly, I'll owe you a lifetime of debt. If I don't follow the proper etiquette, I'm afraid the God of Love will be angry and make me lose you."

Shen Mingshu paused for a moment, then stood up and looked at him: "Did you refuse so many times before because you believed in this?"

Wei Yuan nodded: "That's what my mother said. She said that all marriages in the world are in the hands of the Old Man Under the Moon, but the Old Man Under the Moon is a rigid and strict god who doesn't know etiquette or follow order, so he can easily make lovers miss each other."

"I used to think that all we were missing was a marriage certificate that would be recognized by society, but now I not only owe you the traditional betrothal gifts, but I also owe our child an explanation."

Wei Yuan's eyes were serious: "Ming Shu, I don't want to act recklessly like my older brother. Until it comes to that, I don't want you to take any risks."

"You, you, you..." Even saying "you" three times couldn't express Shen Mingshu's shock.

"You bastard!"

Shen Mingshu threw herself into Wei Yuan's arms, tears falling into the air and dripping onto the back of Wei Yuan's hand, startling him so much that he immediately hugged Shen Mingshu and anxiously checked her over.

"I'm sorry, Ming Shu, did I say something wrong? Don't cry—"

"You bastard! You bastard! You bastard!" Shen Mingshu pounded his chest in regret. "You scared me to death! I thought you were disgusted with me! That's why you didn't want to touch me!"

"How...how could this be!"

Wei Yuan anxiously explained, "I'm not stupid. I understand why Zhang Yu chose you to join the sect. I accepted that the moment I started pursuing you."

"This is not your fault. No, that's not right. There's nothing wrong with it. It's just a difference in personal beliefs, and we can't be too demanding."

"I'm sorry, Ming Shu, I didn't explain it clearly. Actually—"

Wei Yuan held her in his arms, gazing at the bed curtains, his voice low and gentle: "I didn't believe it at first, but your love has given me the power to believe."

"If we can truly love each other and grow old together, I am willing to pray for that now."

Shen Mingshu nestled against Wei Yuan's neck, closed her eyes in comfort, and murmured softly, "Serving the emperor is just like this."

Wei Yuan gently kissed her forehead: "Goodnight."

……

It wasn't difficult to replace the adopted child with a page, but Wei Yuan encountered considerable resistance when it came to making Shen Mingshu his page.

This time, not only Wei Ziye, but even Old Madam Wei stepped in to reprimand him.

"Wei Yuan, I gave you people from the Night Domain, not so you could go and have romance."

In the deathly still room, through the screen, came the old lady Wei's weathered voice.

Wei Yuan knelt before the screen, bowing his head and respectfully responding.

"Grandmother, Ming Shu is willing to be my concubine and stay by my side. I have already owed her so much. The Shen family probably already knows that she has returned to the capital. If I leave her outside, I will not be at ease. I beg you to grant my request."

"If you are too attached to personal feelings, you are not fit for great responsibilities."

When Old Madam Wei said this, Wei Yuan's heart tightened, but the next second he heard her add something else.

"But she's intelligent."

"Fine, let her come and see this old woman again."

Wei Yuan hesitated for a moment, but after thinking it over, he agreed.

Upon hearing this, Shen Mingshu paused for a few seconds and nodded: "Even three years ago, my grandmother did not mistreat me, so I should visit her."

Wei Yuan was somewhat uneasy, thinking that Old Madam Wei also had the idea of ​​dragging the entire Wei family down with her, so he whispered some words of advice.

"Ming Shu, your grandmother is nearing her end, and her behavior may become somewhat erratic. Please be careful in everything you do. I will stay with you outside the courtyard."

Seeing the solemnity on his face, Shen Mingshu felt a growing sense of apprehension.

How eccentric can a dying old woman be?

……

As she walked onto the covered bridge, through the bamboo forest, and onto the covered walkway, a series of memories replayed before Shen Mingshu's eyes.

When the Wei family was at its peak, they could pluck the moon from the sky, but they lacked offspring.

The head of the family, Wei Congyu, followed the late emperor in his early years to fight in various battles and pacify the world. Even though his wife was willing, he only had one son, Wei Xu.

Wei Xu was forced by his mother to have three wives and four concubines, but Zhang Yu only had one son and was very domineering. In the end, only Wei Yuan's mother, Yuan Shi, successfully gave birth to a son and a daughter.

Unfortunately, he still couldn't escape the fate of being wasted.

Now, the Wei family is desolate, and the backyard is empty. The old lady is only kept alive by the many servants.

When Shen Mingshu entered the mansion, everyone treated her as Wei Ziye's concubine. Only Old Madam Wei treated her as a tool for bearing children and seriously evaluated her.

"He's smart."

"She has a cute face and is well-developed."

"If I were to remove the Jade-Severing Powder from your body, would you be willing to use yourself?"

After that day, Shen Mingshu realized that in some matters, the older generation still had more tricks and methods.

"Madam, Fifth Miss has arrived."

Old Madam Wei was even more desolate than Shen Mingshu had imagined.

On a sunny day, her room was dimly lit.

Old Madam Wei lay on the canopy bed in the main room, the curtains and bedding made of the finest Hangzhou silk, but the slivers of light filtering through the cracks in the window seemed extremely thin.

There were three layers of mattresses on the bed, and Old Madam Wei was sunk into them, her breathing sounding muffled.

A small burner of calming incense burned in the room, slowly dissipating in the dim light, but it couldn't suppress the bitter medicinal smell that filled the room.

Hearing the servant's reminder, she slowly opened her eyes, her cloudy gaze falling on Shen Mingshu. She squinted for a while with difficulty before slowly nodding.

"Yes, it's here."

"sit."

Those few words seemed to have exhausted all her strength, and her breath made her appear even more fragile.

The old woman brought her a bowl of medicine, and after drinking it, her complexion visibly became rosy.

"Do you know why I called you here?"