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

After the rain, the sky is misty and foggy, and the misty atmosphere is very conducive to inspiring scholars to paint and compose poems.

The premise is that there is no academic workload to distract you.

The exquisite carriages were covered in mud.

The students who were looking forward to the trip all hung their heads and wouldn't even open the car window.

It's like not wanting to let the vexation in your heart disappear into such a beautiful scene.

But we still have to face what we have to face.

The carriage slowly came to a stop.

Zhou Yuansheng was very excited. Standing on the farm, he shouted to the people behind him.

"Today we happen to be there when farmers are starting to cultivate seedlings! The year's plan starts in spring! Everyone, get off the bus and take a good look at how the farmers are preparing for spring!"

As he shouted, the students walked out of the carriage one by one, dejected.

Seeing the muddy ground, they reached out their feet, but like young ladies, they hesitated, holding up the hem of their robes, unsure of where to step.

Each of their delicate faces was filled with disdain, yet they could only look at the others with resentment and helplessness.

The faces that met the eye were all hideous and grotesque.

This scene is laughable no matter how you look at it.

Shen Mingshu admitted that she was laughing a little gloatingly.

She pressed a smile to her lips, jumped out of the car first, and stepped into the mud, reassuring everyone.

"The roads after the rain certainly made things more difficult for everyone, but the purpose of this trip was to experience it. Food and flowers grow even in mud, so why should we let this mud bother us?"

"What you say makes sense."

A gentle and clear voice came from behind. Wei Yuan got out of the car and walked steadily towards Shen Mingshu through the mud.

"Our path will not be blocked by a little mud."

For intellectuals, once something is given value and meaning, it is no longer simple.

But Shen Mingshu, seeing the ambiguous affection in Wei Yuan's eyes, knew that he was only referring to the relationship between the two of them.

"That's exactly how I feel! Brother Zhang, grit your teeth and jump down! So what if our shoes get dirty? We can't just stop walking, can we?"

"Exactly, if keeping shoes clean hinders walking, isn't that putting the cart before the horse?"

Seeing that many people had taken the first step, Shen Mingshu turned her head away, no longer looking at the lingering affection in Wei Yuan's eyes.

Just as I was about to leave, my sleeve was gently tugged.

"Ming Shu, do you still remember the path in front of your house?"

Dry grass, branches, and some pebbles are added, and then the mixture is repeatedly tamped down. That's how a road is made.

But Shen Mingshu's shoes were thin, and when she encountered winter rain, her feet would freeze and become numb every time she walked through them.

For this reason, Wei Yuan would often brave the cold wind to go to the riverbank and pick up the dried reed flowers that had been blown down by the wind and accumulated in the crevices of the rocks, then dry them and tie them into small mats.

They laid the reeds piece by piece along the road, so that every time Shen Mingshu stepped onto that road, she could feel the warmth of the reeds.

As for the price, Wei Yuan didn't say. In the end, it was Shen Mingshu herself who discovered that his finger joints would itch and develop sores every winter.

The condition has recurred repeatedly and has become an incurable chronic illness.

Shen Mingshu lowered her eyes to look at the hand that was holding hers, and slowly pulled her sleeve back: "Second Young Master Wei, let's not talk about the past anymore, you—"

"Brother A-Yuan!"

Suddenly, Lu Youyou's voice came from behind.

Both of them froze. When they saw that Lu Yanzhi was also there, Shen Mingshu took two steps back and respectfully bowed to the two of them.

"Greetings, Headmaster, Miss Lu."

"Mingzhu, there's no need for such formalities."

Lu Yanzhi's expression remained gentle. He raised his hand to help Shen Mingshu up, but Shen Mingshu subtly avoided it, straightened up, and still had a respectful smile on her face.

"Proper etiquette should still be observed in front of students, but why has the headmaster come in person today?"

"Come if you want, why bother explaining so much to you?"

In Lu Youyou's eyes, Shen Mingshu being promoted to the position of supervisor was nothing more than Lu Yanzhi's compensation for the slap he had given her.

This life-changing opportunity fell into Shen Mingshu's lap, so she should be secretly delighted.

Seeing that she still dared to be so arrogant, Lu Youyou became even more aloof.

"What? You don't think that just because you're a supervisor, you can control everything and even interfere in my brother's affairs, do you?"

"Yo-yo!" Lu Yanzhi frowned at Lu Youyou. "Mingzhu was merely asking politely, why are you being so rude?"

"Hmph." Lu Youyou openly hugged Wei Yuan's arm and stuck her tongue out at Lu Yanzhi: "Who told you to only let me and the child meet his father now? If he's unhappy, then I'm unhappy too, is that not allowed?"

"you--"

"Headmaster, something seems to have happened to Mr. Zhou. I'm going to take a look."

Wei Yuan didn't get to hear Shen Mingshu's sadness and disappointment. Instead, she immediately got distracted by something else, cupped her hands to Lu Yanzhi, and hurried towards Zhou Yuansheng.

At that moment, Wei Yuan felt a void in his heart.

Does she really not care?

"Brother A-Yuan, let's rest in the carriage."

In front of Wei Yuan, Lu Youyou reverted to her gentle and tender demeanor, gazing at him shyly with deep affection in her eyes.

"These days, Youyou has really missed you. Today, could you stay in the carriage with me and the child a little longer?"

The large hand was pulled to the abdomen by the small hand, the warm touch felt like it was prickly, Wei Yuan's hand felt like it was burned, he withdrew his hand, but did not refuse.

"There are too many people; let's not do this again."

With that, he walked toward the carriage.

Lu Youyou stared blankly at her empty hand for a moment, but when she saw Wei Yuan get into her carriage, she suppressed her feelings of anxiety and immediately followed, dragging her dirty skirt.

"Brother A-Yuan, wait for me!"

Inside the carriage, servants were cleaning the mud off the two of them.

Lu Youyou noticed that Wei Yuan kept looking out the window, so she couldn't help but glance at him as well.

Outside the carriage, Zhou Yuansheng and Yan Jing started arguing again.

Yan Jing stood on the carriage, his face full of disgust, refusing to get off.

Zhou Yuansheng was also stubborn and insisted on getting off the train in Yanjing, saying that this would allow him to empathize with many things and his views would not be as narrow as before.

Yan Jing was amused by his seemingly well-intentioned attitude, and the stalemate between the two almost escalated into a personal attack.

It was all thanks to Shen Mingshu and Lu Yanzhi mediating things.

However, both of them were stubborn, and no matter how much Shen Mingshu pleaded, neither of them was willing to back down.

Lu Youyou curled her lip, looking bored and disdainful: "How could someone of such a good-for-nothing background possibly become the academy's supervisor? The prince is really confused, actually compensating him with an official position just because of that slap I gave him."

The contempt in Lu Youyou's eyes was very glaring, but the next moment, she saw Yan Jing jump off the carriage!

Lu Youyou's face stiffened. "What...what did he say?"

Besides her, who else, apart from the eldest princess, could subdue Yanjing?

Wei Yuan watched as Shen Mingshu left the crowd and followed the sulking Yan Jing away, his eyes darkening slightly.

Her world no longer revolves around him.

……

Under the shade of a tree.

Yan Jing angrily grabbed the tree trunk, trying to shake off the mud from his boots, but ended up getting mud all over himself instead.

One of the drops even landed on his face.

He clenched his fists tightly, and just as the pent-up frustration in his chest was about to explode, a handkerchief appeared before his eyes.

The handkerchief was too plain and effeminate, so Yanjing brushed it away without a second thought.

He glared angrily at Shen Mingshu: "You've repeatedly used my mother to pressure me. The Dean had better think carefully about whether you can be protected by the academy for life!"