Watching Qi Huan walk away, Li Shuchen only took his eyes off her when she sat down on the picnic mat to gaze at the moon. Hands behind his back, he spoke indifferently, "Speak."
"Your Highness, I have a secret."
Xiu Wen knelt upright, his words filled with an air of determination to face death. The moonlight kissed his pale face, seeming to fill his heart with boundless courage.
"Your Highness, I am not a eunuch.
That year, famine struck our village. Gou Dan and I went to the palace gate, hoping to trade our 'little brother' for some food to eat.
At that time, everyone was crammed into a small house in the outer garden, rushing to castrate themselves. But I had no knife and could only wait for them to finish and borrow one.
Unexpectedly, Gou Dan died right after the procedure. I was afraid I would meet the same fate. So... I picked up the piece of flesh that Gou Dan had cut off, hoping to bluff my way through.
But I didn't expect there would be an inspection afterwards.
Luckily, the superintendent eunuch who happened to pass by gave me an extra glance, thinking that I looked like a relative he had lost contact with when he was young. He asked about my family's names and ancestral home.
After everything matched up, he revealed that he was my uncle whom I had never met. Upon learning that my family had starved to death, he wept and cursed me for having ended our family line.
I told him the truth, and he conducted the inspection for the other young eunuchs. Gradually, he arranged for me to enter the Eastern Palace and acknowledge the Eastern Palace Chief Secretary as my foster father."
After explaining everything, Xiu Wen bowed his head to the ground, expressing a faint hope, "Please punish me, Your Highness."
His uncle had already died in the palace coup, and his foster father was beheaded along with the others in the Eastern Palace. Only he had followed His Highness and thus survived.
So he wasn't afraid of implicating others.
If His Highness really wanted him dead, he wouldn't argue.
Initially, he should have been executed according to the law.
Li Shuchen coldly pushed him away, deeply ingrained in his principle: a deceiver should die.
But somehow, he couldn't spit out the word.
In his dilemma, he saw a smiling Qi Huan in the distance. Suddenly, he remembered that Qi Huan had once asked him if Xiu Wen could possibly be a fake eunuch.
It turns out, she was right.
He really was a fake eunuch.
Just as Qi Huan had wished.
In an instant, Li Shuchen found a reason: yes, he spared Xiu Wen's life, only to fulfill Qi Huan's wish.
Convincing himself, Li Shuchen spoke coldly, "Those who intentionally conceal the truth are considered traitors, and should be executed without mercy..."
Before he could finish, Xiu Wen rose, smiling in acceptance of his fate. He looked at the moonlight reflected in the water, prepared to throw himself into the river, to drown in the embrace of the moonlight and water.
As he leaned towards the water, his sleeve was tugged.
Li Shuchen coldly said, "What's the rush? Xiu Wen is dead. Yan Jiu will arrange a new identity for you another day. But Xiu Wen's face must never appear before those who know him, understood?"
In a twist of fate, Xiu Wen was somewhat stunned. As he regained his senses, he exclaimed joyfully, "I'll go disfigure myself right away!"
"Idiot!" Li Shuchen was impatient. "Can't you afford a mask? Isn't a monthly salary of a hundred taels enough for you to buy one?"
"Your Highness..."
Xiu Wen’s eyes welled up, and he quickly knelt and knocked his head on the ground a few times. From now on, whenever Yan Jiu says that His Highness is cold and heartless, he will never agree again.
Seeing blood seeping from his forehead, Li Shuchen's gaze turned icy, "Stop, no need to keep kowtowing."
Halting his action, Xiu Wen was drenched in sweat, having narrowly escaped death.
He asked, "Your Highness, does this mean I can't go back?"
"Mm." Li Shuchen's tone remained indifferent, "Get a mask and go help the Yunying Caravan."
"Yes!"
Xiu Wen quickly got up. Unfamiliar with horse riding, he decided to walk back, then... buy a mask, change his household registration, and join the caravan.
As he left, Li Shuchen turned to search for Qi Huan.
"Ah Huan, as you wished, Xiu Wen is no longer a eunuch."
"That's great!"
Qi Huan jumped up excitedly, genuinely happy for her friend. She originally planned to use the search function to find if anyone had bought adult products, intending to give them to Xiu Wen to make up for his certain deficiency.
It seems now that it's unnecessary.
Seeing her happiness, the corner of Li Shuchen's mouth slowly curled into a smile. The smile faded as he thought of her possibly thinking of another man, his lips pressing into a thin line.
"Look at me!"
"Oh, ... Ah Shu, you're so handsome, I love you!" Qi Huan responded, giggling.
She was an expert at appeasing Li Shuchen. Leaning in, she hooked her arm around his neck and gave him a quick peck.
Li Shuchen gulped down his saliva.
Suppressing his restless heart, he turned towards his horse, unloaded a wooden box from its back, and took out a river lantern and a cloak.
After helping Qi Huan put on the cloak, he held up the river lantern and led her towards the river.
Qi Huan put away the box of fireworks they had just set off into her space, squatted beside him, and lit the candle together.
"Ah Shu, happy Qixi Festival."
"Happy Qixi Festival." Li Shuchen responded lightly, yet his eyes held a hint of a smile.
Together, they placed the river lantern into the water.
Then, Qi Huan watched in disbelief as their love boat capsized.
"......"
"......"
Li Shuchen's gaze shot towards the capsized paper boat, his eyes emitting a frosty coldness. He then patted Qi Huan's hand, reassuring her, "It's okay, I have more."
At this moment, Qi Huan remained still, frozen.
Looking at the beautiful scene appearing on the horizon, she said in a daze, "Ah Shu, the wish you made on your birthday came true."
In the night sky, next to the faintly glowing stars, a green light slowly spread, shining brilliantly, reflected in Qi Huan's surprised eyes.
On his birthday, Ah Shu had made a wish, "I wish for the Northern Lights on the summer solstice, and to share the view with a certain girl."
The summer solstice had passed without the appearance of the Northern Lights. However, they appeared on her birthday, fulfilling his wish.
With such a beautiful moment, she decided to kiss Li Shuchen again. This kiss, she would call it, the Aurora Kiss.
As she kissed him, she noticed something “a billion” times different.
Looking at the "little tent", Qi Huan quickly retreated, stepping back two steps, to a safe distance.
In her previous life, she and her girlfriends would often share videos of handsome guys on Douyin and occasionally tell dirty jokes. They were all talk and no action, always keeping within their boundaries.
So, she looked into Li Shuchen's eyes, filled with a hint of affection, and said earnestly, "Shuchen, I want you to marry me in a proper ceremony, marry only me in your lifetime, and only then can we do this and that on our wedding night."
"With a proper ceremony, no other concubines, devoting this lifetime, only to Huan." Under the aurora, Li Shuchen's voice was hoarse as he solemnly promised, "If I break this vow, may I be struck by lightning."
"......"
She didn't expect him to make such a "cliché" and harsh vow. Qi Huan was taken aback, then said, "I accept your promise and will keep it for life."
"But let me be clear, if you touch someone else, I'm going back to the Heavenly Court. A man who doesn't respect himself is like spoiled cabbage, no matter how much you love it, you have to throw it away."
"Rest assured, you won't have the chance to go back there."
......
The flirting and teasing between the man and woman dissipated into the wind, skimmed across the water surface, blew towards the sky, and floated into the aurora.
It also reached the ears of the system that had passed the shielding time.
"Host, I have a feeling that you could be the highest-ranking among all the hosts I've served."
"Hehe, I'm proud to be your pride. So, my dear Total, how many points do I have now?"
