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The palace attendants bowed respectfully on either side of the corridor as soon as Wang Dehai caught sight of the two figures, immediately approaching to pay his respects with great deference.

"Your Highness, Miss Shen, the Emperor has been awaiting you in the Qianqing Palace for quite some time."

By the time their entourage departed from Da Tong, word of their departure had already been dispatched to the imperial court.

Emperor Jiayou was well aware of the precise timing for halting at the waystations, arriving in Shuntian, and when they would reach the city gates.

When Wang Dehai arrived with his entourage, he found him engrossed in the imperial edict of betrothal from Gu Changjin, along with the miniature portrait.

Observing Emperor Jia Yu's silence, Wang Dehai ventured cautiously, "Your Majesty?"

Putting down the small portrait in his hand, Emperor Jia Yu spoke softly, "Let them in. If the Empress arrives, send her to the side palace and inform her to wait there."

Wang Dehai promptly agreed, bowing as he exited, leaving the heavy wooden door to swing shut slowly. It creaked open again soon after, admitting two figures in tandem.

Emperor Jia Yu's gaze was fixed on them. In that moment, it seemed as if he had been transported back many years, to when he and Qi Zhen had emerged from a cave, their fingers intertwined tightly.

He still vividly recalled the emotions that Prince Seventh, Xiao Yan, had felt when he took Miss Qi's hand back then.

At that moment, their hearts were intertwined as if they were ready to face death together, should it come in the next instant.

Fearless and undaunted.

Sharing life and death.

Emperor Jia You's gaze slowly ascended from their clasped hands to the lady on the right, dressed in an icy white robe and skirt.

As Qi Zhen had mentioned, the child resembled both him and her.

Only, she appeared slimmer than the portrait of her mother.

Gui Zhong said she had been injured in the avalanche and had taken several days to recover in a Taoist temple. Afterward, she endured the exhausting journey to Da Tong and then rushed to the capital. It was obvious she must have been weary, but there was no sign of fatigue in her demeanor; instead, she exuded a gentle vitality.

Emperor Jia You had held Xiao Yi and Xiao Yu in his arms, even Huai'an when he was born.

But this child, Qi Zhen's child, his only daughter, he had never held, seen, or spoken a word to.

Lost in thought, Rong Shu already bowed respectfully, saying, "This humble maiden, Shen Shu, pays her respects to the Emperor."

Emperor Jia You slowly lowered his gaze.

"Rise."

He gazed at her lowered eyelashes and asked, "You say your name is Shen Shu?"

"Yes, this humble maiden has forsaken my father's surname and taken my mother's, thus I now bear the name Shen," she replied.

Emperor Jia You fell silent.

Suddenly, he recalled when she was still the legitimate eldest daughter of Duke Cheng'an. Due to her ill-fated birth, she had never been favored by her grandmother or father, and was sent away from the capital since childhood.

Even when she returned to the capital later on, her days in the duke's residence were far from pleasant.

Emperor Jia You had known from a young age what it meant to be disliked by elders.

But at least he was a man, an imperial prince. No matter how much his father neglected him, his life was still better than hers.

"What do you come to speak with me about today?"

Emperor Jia You's voice was gentle, and his expression warm.

He knew very well that the Crown Prince would have brought her here only if she wished to come. And since she had come, it must be for a purpose.

Sure enough, as soon as he finished speaking, the young lady standing before the dragon table bowed respectfully and said, "This commoner wishes to plead for the return of a life."

The return of a life?

Emperor Jia You was momentarily taken aback. He glanced at her instinctively, then at Gu Changjin.

The man in his dark court attire didn't seem to notice or care about the emperor's gaze. He simply looked at the young lady quietly, a faint smile on his lips, his eyes soft.

Looking back at Rong Shu, Emperor Jia You asked, "Whose life?"

Rong Shu replied calmly, "It is this commoner's life, the one I was born with on the sixth day of the fourth month of Jia You's second year."

That was the fate of the princess born on the sixth day of the fourth month in the second year of Jiayou, a life abandoned by her birth mother and cut short in the autumn of the twenty-third year of Jiayou.

Jiayou Emperor asked, "Then whose fate is yours now?"

"It is Shen Shu's fate, for I was born on the fifteenth day of the seventh month in the second year of Jiayou."

Rong Shu replied with neither humility nor arrogance. The first two decades of her life were a gift from her mother, while every year that followed was bought by Gu Yunzhi.

Thus, she was now merely Shen Shu.

But across her past and present lives, they owed her that one life, and it must be repaid.

The Jiayou Emperor fell silent.

She called herself a commoner, claimed the surname Shen, and sought to reclaim the life of the one born on the sixth day of April.

This maiden had come to the palace not to acknowledge kinship, nor to reconnect with her roots, nor to confront or rebuke them.

She simply and resolutely sought retribution for a single life, with a calm determination.

As for how she intended to use the life she was reclaiming, could Emperor Jiayou not guess?

"You wish for Your Majesty to spare your life so you can save the Crown Prince?"

"Yes, this commoner's life was saved by the Crown Prince. I want to repay him with my life," Rong Shu said, raising her hands to her forehead in a deep bow. She then lifted her head and met Jiayou's gaze with unwavering determination. "I beg of Your Majesty to spare Shen Shu's life!"

Staring at her eyes that resembled Qi Zhen's, Emperor Jiayou strangely thought that though she appeared gentle, her character was fierce.

This was unlike him, and also distinct from Qi Zhen; perhaps it was inherited from her foster mother.

He let out a soft "hum" and said, "I understand. I will give you an answer. Go to the side palace first. The Crown Prince and I still have matters to discuss."

Then, he called out, "Wang Dehai."

Wang Dehai hurriedly bowed and entered the hall. "Miss Shen, please follow me."

Rong Shu turned to look at Gu Changjin, who gave her a small smile, assuring her not to worry.

She smiled back, nodded slightly, and turned to leave with Wang Dehai.

The inner chambers fell silent quickly.

Emperor Jiayou didn't rush to speak. He picked up his teacup and sipped at it leisurely for half the time it takes to drink a cup of tea before dramatically slamming the cup down onto the dragon-carved table with a clatter.