After the spiritual energy was restored: Goddess girlfriends came knocking.

Over the next two days, Tu Shan Ruoshui kept hearing some sounds.

At the corner of the corridor, behind the rockery in the garden, in those places where she was thought to be deaf.

She has half-human blood.

This was hardly a secret in the palace.

In the past, Tu Shan Lie doted on her, and no one dared to say anything to her face.

The fact that the Crown Prince was imprisoned in the forbidden area because of her acted like a fuse, igniting all the simmering resentment that had been building up for years.

"His Highness is the true descendant of the demon race."

"His Majesty is too biased. He imprisoned his own son for the sake of a human descendant."

But as soon as she appeared in those places, the gossip stopped abruptly, replaced by respectful smiling faces.

Tu Shan Ruoshui said nothing, but spent more and more time in the bedchamber.

That day, she buried her head in her mother's knees, her voice muffled.

"Mother, why are they all blaming me? I didn't do anything."

Tu Shan Yingxue gently patted her hair.

His eyes held a complex expression.

"Some things are not our fault. Whether we are demons or humans, prejudice in our hearts is a mountain."

……

Tu Shanlie came to see her after court and found his beloved daughter lying on the table, looking sullen.

"Who upset my Ruoshui? Tell your father, and he will help you get revenge."

Tu Shan Ruoshui shook her head listlessly.

She couldn't possibly repeat those comments to her father verbatim.

The things those people said were too nasty; she didn't want her father to know.

But she couldn't hide her grievances; her fox ears drooped, and her tail hung motionless by the bedside.

Tu Shanlie saw this and roughly understood what was going on.

He gently patted his daughter's fluffy head.

"How about this, Father allows you to go to the Jiang residence, so you can go play with that boy?"

Tu Shan Ruoshui's fox ears suddenly stood up.

"real?!"

Tu Shanlie felt a mix of sadness and relief as he looked into his daughter's eyes, which lit up instantly.

He waved his hand and said magnanimously, "Go ahead, take more people with you."

At that time, he did not realize that this decision, which he had taken the initiative to make, would make him regret it deeply a few years later.

At that moment, all he saw was his daughter jumping up from the couch, tugging at his sleeve and asking repeatedly, "Really? Really?" with her tail wagging rapidly behind her.

He only felt a sour feeling; was it really necessary to be this happy?

Meanwhile, at the training grounds of the Jiang residence.

Jiang Yan is practicing swordsmanship.

With his right hand wrapped in bandages, he used his left hand.

Liu Qingyi leaned against a pillar and watched, forgetting to bring the wine pot in her hand to her lips.

Left-handed swords are different from right-handed swords; the direction of force is reversed, and it takes ordinary people several months just to get used to it.

But Jiang Yan's left-hand sword technique was so fluid, it looked like she had practiced for several years.

Every strike—slashing, thrusting, parrying, and flicking—trajectories as precise as the right hand.

Jiang Yan sheathed his sword and looked down at his left hand.

Am I left-handed? No, he always writes and eats with his right hand.

But the feeling of holding the sword in the left hand is definitely more comfortable than in the right.

Liu Qingyi put down the wine pot, limped over, and stared at Jiang Yan's left hand for a long time.

Were you left-handed before?

"I don't think so," Jiang Yan replied somewhat uncertainly.

Liu Qingyi was silent for a moment, then chuckled.

There was a hint of relief in his laughter, but he didn't say anything. He just patted Jiang Yan on the shoulder and told him to keep practicing.

Suddenly, a face peeked in through the courtyard gate, first revealing fluffy fox ears, then a pair of bright, sparkling eyes.

"Jiang Yan!"

Tu Shan Ruoshui rushed in, followed by two panting attendants.

She immediately noticed the bandage on Jiang Yan's right hand, paused, and frowned.

"Your hand isn't healed yet?"

"Almost done." Jiang Yan put the wooden sword back against the wall.

"Then why were you practicing your sword just now?" Tu Shan Ruoshui frowned even more deeply.

"I used my left hand."

"My left hand is also injured; I need to rest properly."

Jiang Yan smiled helplessly and did not refute.

Tu Shan Ruoshui looked at his wound with concern again, and only after confirming that there was no more bleeding did she sit down on the stone bench next to him.

She rested her chin on her hand as she looked at him, her fox ears tilting slightly forward.

From that day on, Tu Shan Ruoshui began to frequently visit the Jiang residence.

Sometimes she would come in the morning, sometimes in the afternoon. Sometimes Jiang Yan would be practicing his sword, and she would sit on the veranda, resting her chin on her hand, watching him finish practicing.

She never gives advance notice, but she always brings gifts when she comes: newly made pastries from the imperial kitchen, spirit fruits she took from Tu Shan Lie's table, and osmanthus cakes made by Tu Shan Yingxue herself.

Jiang Yan would occasionally tell her stories.

Tell her about the Great Zhou Dynasty and Qinghe Village.

The story goes that someone caught a red fish by the stream.

The story tells of someone who waited for another person for fifty years, from a sixteen-year-old boy to an old man with white hair.

"Did that person wait for us?" Tu Shan Ruoshui asked, her fox ears standing straight up.

"We've arrived."

Tu Shan Ruoshui smiled.

"very nice."

She didn't know that person's other ending.

I just think the phrase "we've finally arrived" sounds really nice.

Jiang Yan looked at the smile on her face and didn't continue speaking.

Sometimes he would also tell her profound truths from classical Chinese texts.

At this point, she leaned back on the table, her fox ears drooping, and said, "Jiang Yan, you're so long-winded."

But I still listened obediently, and as I listened, I started to doze off, my head nodding off little by little.

Time passed by day by day.

Four years passed in a flash.

The two little ones have grown from six to ten years old without anyone noticing.

The title naturally changed from "Princess" to "Ruoshui".

Tu Shanlie began to sense that something was wrong.

At first, he didn't think much of it. What could possibly happen when two six- or seven-year-old children got together to play?

But Ruoshui always returned from the Jiang residence with a smile on her face.

Her dependence on Jiang Yan seems to go beyond the scope of "playmate".

Not only did he frequently seek opportunities to visit the Jiang residence, but he also constantly mentioned "Jiang Yan said" in his conversations, even while eating, he would say, "Jiang Yan likes to eat this."

How could a father not see through his daughter's thoughts?

He began to intentionally or unintentionally limit the number of times Ruoshui visited the Jiang residence.

Ruoshui herself realized that there seemed to be something wrong with her feelings for Jiang Yan.

Before, being with him was simply a source of joy, but now, sometimes when I look at his face, my heart inexplicably races.

This made her very shy, so she didn't resist her father's restrictions too much.

Anyway, it's not like we're completely forbidden from going; we'll just go a few less times.

Time passed slowly, and another three years went by.

The two are thirteen years old.

That afternoon, Jiang Yan returned from the training ground and sat cross-legged in her room.

After seven years of accumulation, Jiang Yan has reached the Foundation Establishment stage and is only one step away from the Golden Core stage.

Liu Qingyi said that breakthroughs cannot be rushed; they depend on the right opportunity.

His reputation in the capital has grown over the past few years.

It all started two years ago when he was shopping with Ruoshui.

Seeing several young demon princes bullying human vendors in the market, he walked over and stopped them.

The other party, seeing that it was just a human child, didn't take it seriously. As a result, when the fight started, the mid-Foundation Establishment cultivator was fighting the early-Foundation Establishment cultivator, and he was beaten black and blue in no time.

Later, those young masters came to cause trouble a few more times, and each time they were beaten back.

They couldn't beat him in a fight, and it would be too embarrassing to go back and complain. What demon clan would dare to say, "I was beaten by a human who is younger than me"?

Besides, Tu Shan Ruoshui was standing right next to him, so what could she do by complaining?

Over time, all the young demon princes in the Tushan capital knew that the eldest son of the Jiang family was not to be trifled with.

Don't bully humans in front of him; everything is fine when you're not around.

Jiang Yan always acted with great restraint, only injuring people and not killing them.

Tu Shanlie was pleased to see this happen; these brats were used to running rampant, and it would be good to have someone teach them a lesson.

In the hearts of the people of the royal capital, the name Jiang Yan carries increasing weight.

In the same year, the Tianlang Dynasty in the northern border of the Tushan Dynasty began to make its move.

The two countries are sworn enemies.

The previous Tushan King once defeated the Tianlang Army on the border, suppressing the Tianlang Dynasty for decades.

However, this generation of Sirius King is no pushover. Not only is his prestige the highest in the history of the Sirius Dynasty, but his cultivation level is also the highest in history.

It started as a minor border skirmish.

The Sirius cavalry crossed the border and plundered several villages, but the Tushan garrison counterattacked and drove them back.

Neither side has really taken any real action, but these kinds of things are happening more and more frequently.

On this day, an imperial decree was delivered to the Jiang residence.

The official edict on yellow silk.

The head guard, who was delivering the imperial edict, stood in the main hall of the Jiang residence. After reading the edict, he added, "His Majesty says that Young Master Jiang is requested to enter the palace immediately."