In the mountains, time loses its meaning. When Jiang Yunshu left the tranquil lakeside and returned to the bustling city by carriage, she felt as if an entire lifetime had passed.
Xie Lin, thinking she wasn’t ready to return to the palace yet, covered her hand with his and gave it a gentle pat. "We’ll come out again next year," he said.
"By next year, Yuancheng will be a little older, and we’ll feel more at ease leaving the palace. We can stay out longer and travel even farther."
Jiang Yunshu suddenly remembered when she had first transmigrated to this ancient era—back then, she was just a child, eagerly waiting to grow up so she could explore the mountains and rivers of this world.
But as she grew older and came to understand the realities of this era, that dream gradually faded.
In ancient times, traveling to see famous landscapes was difficult, especially for women.
She never imagined that the dream she had long abandoned would one day come true.
With a smile, she asked Xie Lin, "How did the Chief Steward know I wanted to travel farther to see the scenery?"
Xie Lin couldn’t be bothered to answer—even a blind man could have seen it.
Before returning to the palace, Jiang Yunshu made sure to set aside half a day to go shopping. She wasn’t buying for herself, but mostly for Yuancheng.
She and Xie Lin had gone off to enjoy themselves, leaving Yuancheng alone in the palace to study and practice martial arts… Poor child.
Since there were no tourist souvenirs, she decided to buy him some little trinkets he wouldn’t find in the palace.
Once she started, she couldn’t stop. Specialty foods the palace kitchens didn’t make, signature dishes from famous restaurants, brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones suited for Yuancheng, a small bow, rough but charming wooden carvings…
In the end, she bought so much that it filled several carriages. And it wasn’t just for Yuancheng—there were gifts for Xie Lin, Concubine Qiao, Taoye, Zhezhi… everyone had something!
The first thing Jiang Yunshu did upon returning to the palace was distribute the gifts. The palace immediately came alive with joy as everyone received their presents, their faces beaming.
Yuancheng had originally been sulking. After so many days, he had missed his mother terribly—and maybe, just a little, his adoptive father too.
But when he saw the boxes upon boxes of gifts his mother had brought back for him, all his earlier grievances vanished.
She had bought him so many things! And so many of them were things he’d never seen before!
Seeing Yuancheng’s mood shift from gloomy to bright in an instant, Jiang Yunshu couldn’t help but laugh. Children were so easy to please!
She made a mental note of this trick—from then on, every year when they returned from their travels, she would bring back a pile of gifts for Yuancheng, and he would always be happy.
Year after year, Yuancheng grew from a child into a young man, becoming more and more capable.
Jiang Yunshu and Xie Lin’s trips outside the palace grew longer—ten days, half a month, even a full month at a time…
By the time Yuancheng turned sixteen, Jiang Yunshu and Xie Lin moved out of the palace altogether, settling in an imperial estate in the outskirts of the capital.
Though Yuancheng was reluctant to part with his mother and adoptive father, he knew they had never loved the palace. They preferred the open beauty of the countryside estate and the leisurely life it offered.
So he didn’t try to keep them, only asking that they allow him to visit often.
Their move was seen by court officials and nobles as a significant signal—Xie Lin was fully relinquishing power to Yuancheng.
From then on, the young emperor would rule independently.
Yuancheng felt the weight of responsibility on his shoulders, but he knew it was his duty. He would not fail the years of careful guidance his mother and adoptive father had given him.
Several months later, on Jiang Yunshu’s birthday, Yuancheng traveled to the imperial estate to celebrate with her. To outsiders, it was simply a son honoring his mother—but Yuancheng knew he was celebrating both his mother and adoptive father.
Xie Lin didn’t know his own birth date, so Jiang Yunshu had declared that they would share hers. Every year from then on, they would celebrate together.
Thus, since he was old enough to remember, Yuancheng had always presented them each with a gift on this day.
This year, one of his gifts would be prepared on the spot after he arrived.
He had found a painter whose portraits were strikingly lifelike, especially skilled at capturing people. So Yuancheng summoned the artist to paint a family portrait on their birthday.
Jiang Yunshu and Xie Lin sat side by side, with Yuancheng at their side and Concubine Qiao on the other.
A white cat lounged lazily on Concubine Qiao’s lap.
Yuancheng held Zhui Feng in his arms, but after a while, the dog grew restless and tried to run off. With just one call from Yuancheng, it obediently settled back down.
Curious, Jiang Yunshu asked the painter, "Could you add a window behind us, with a few horses standing outside?"
She wanted their beloved horses included in the painting.
The painter nodded. "Of course."
Half a month later, Jiang Yunshu received the finished painting.
Everything in it perfectly matched that day.
Yuancheng had grown into a tall, dignified young man, while she and Xie Lin still looked as youthful as ever. Concubine Qiao, too, had lost none of her grace.
The only thing that surprised Jiang Yunshu was that, in the painting, Xie Lin wasn’t looking straight ahead—instead, his face was slightly turned, his gaze resting gently on her.
She knew the painter wouldn’t have dared to invent such a detail.
Her fingertips lightly traced the image… Had Xie Lin really been looking at her like that that day?
The painter Yuancheng had found was truly exceptional—he had captured Xie Lin’s expression with breathtaking clarity.
The warmth and admiration in his eyes on the canvas were just as they had been when they first met… and just as they still were, every day.
