Chapter 13: Innocence

The Sunflower Manual?

Shen Sheng racked her brains, thinking for a long time. Puzzled, she said, “To be honest with you, the Shen family’s martial techniques are all ancestral, passed down orally from generation to generation. Once the bloodline ends, the Shen family’s techniques will be lost. The Sunflower Manual you mentioned doesn’t belong to the Shen family’s arts. I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Two years ago, I wasn’t in the capital. It was most likely my mother who sent it on my behalf. Mother was extremely fond of Zhou Yi; it makes sense that she would send a congratulatory gift.”

Anu listened quietly, lifted the cup of plum blossom syrup, and tasted it. A hint of sweetness on her tongue. Jiang Buyu would like it.

Children couldn’t refuse sweet foods.

And naturally, she wouldn’t be an exception either.

“Why are you so quiet? I’m curious what kind of techniques are in the Sunflower Manual.” Shen Sheng leaned on the small table and added meaningfully, “My mother had a martial arts manual and never even showed it to me.”

As the two sat alone, Anu quietly observed the girl. For some reason, the Shen Sheng before her was fair-skinned and clean, her brows and eyes holding a hint of youthful purity, looking soft and easily bullied.

Yet that other one—that one had been of an insufferably arrogant nature.

Anu couldn’t help but reach out and pinch Shen Sheng’s cheek. She pinched it hard. Shen Sheng gasped in pain. “What are you doing…”

“I wanted to see if there was any difference between your face and Buyan’s. Yours is a bit tougher.” Anu lied without blinking, saying it as if it were perfectly reasonable.

Shen Sheng rubbed her own abused cheek. The icy-cold sensation made her eyelashes tremble. A strange sense of familiarity floated up in her heart.

Anu withdrew her hand, her gaze falling on the plum blossom syrup. Her brows and eyes were downcast.

With her brows and eyes lowered in such a submissive manner, that astonishing beauty took on a fleeting gentleness.

Shen Sheng boldly looked at her. She whispered, “Is Jiang Buyan a twin?”

The downcast brows and eyes twitched. Anu raised her eyes, looking towards the girl. “Why ask me?”

“You are their mother. You would know.” Shen Sheng was puzzled by the question. “Shouldn’t I be asking you?”

“I don’t know either.” Anu raised her hand, extending it towards Shen Sheng. Shen Sheng, startled, quickly covered her own cheeks. But that slender hand landed on her temple instead.

There was a small tuft of stray hair there, which had somehow become disheveled.

Anu pressed it down. When her fingertip released, the tuft of hair popped back up just as before.

After pressing it down twice with the same result—the stray hair remaining stubbornly a stray hair, showing no sign of surrender—Anu gave up.

She lazily straightened her body. Across from her, Shen Sheng had been flustered by her actions, her ears red and her face burning. The question she wanted to ask was thrown to the far corners of her mind.

The room suddenly fell silent. Shen Sheng covered her blushing cheeks, her heart pounding up to her throat.

After a moment of hesitation, Anu finally spoke a little, bit by bit. “Drinking the South River Water allows one to conceive and bear children. But it requires two different drops of blood. Only then will the child be related to both.”

“The South River is but a legend. How can you take it as fact?” Shen Sheng retorted.

“It is no legend. It is real. Those two were born in this way. Therefore, they have only two mothers. If you don’t understand, go to the Library Pavilion in the palace and look up the books on the South River.” Anu picked up a milk candy and unhurriedly put it in her mouth.

She had to admit, Shen Sheng had a knack for coaxing children. She had it before, and she still had it now.

Having given the preface, there must be the follow-up. She continued, “I will not hide it from you. We come from the year the South River was destroyed—that is, from a thousand years ago. That cauldron you saw, it was forged from the flesh and blood of the South River gods. It connects to a thousand years ago… but it’s broken now…”

These words were delivered as calmly as if she were discussing what she ate for breakfast or whom she had met. Shen Sheng listened, her eyes widening.

“Do you take me for a fool?”

“Oh, so you’re not a fool.”

Shen Sheng: “…” This woman was going to anger her to death.

Anu leaned against the backrest, her shoulders tilting, her collar loosening inadvertently to reveal a delicate collarbone. Every frown and smile carried an indescribable alluring beauty.

Shen Sheng stared with wide eyes, but Anu paid no mind to her stolen glances. Instead, she pursed her lips into a smile. “If you don’t believe it, jump into that cauldron. You’ll be able to travel to the South River of a thousand years ago.”

“Elixirs are refined inside that cauldron. I’d be burned to death the moment I jumped in.” Shen Sheng was increasingly convinced the State Preceptor was talking nonsense.

Yet she was so extraordinarily beautiful. Though Shen Sheng’s mouth said she didn’t believe, her heart began to waver. Jiang Buyan had also said they came from a thousand years ago.

Adults might lie, but what about children?

Anu stared at her. At such close proximity, her eyes seemed to hold everything, stirring up waves and tides.

In that moment, she remembered that night of intimacy. And immediately, her own ears reddened first.

A certain emotion churned within her eyes. She straightened her body, and those eyes returned to normal. Her hands adjusted her collar, concealing the spring scenery that had inadvertently been revealed.

She said lightly, “Do not let foolishness destroy your eyes.”

“Do not let arrogance destroy your mind,” Shen Sheng retorted, showing no weakness.

The moment her mouth closed, a hand grabbed her. Her body involuntarily leaned forward, meeting Anu’s eyes, which were stirring with waves and tides.

Suddenly, her lips felt a soft touch, and a delicate fragrance filled her nose…

In that instant, Shen Sheng’s mind went blank. Her ears burned, her cheeks hot enough to fry an egg.

Soft lips pressed together. She felt light as a feather, as if soaring through clouds. No matter where she rolled, the clouds beneath her were soft.

Time seemed to stop between one breath and the next. A scorching breath swept over her, and in that moment, her heart ceased beating altogether.

The breathing near her ear grew increasingly hot, burning her cheeks red.

Shen Sheng touched her own burning cheek, retreating helplessly, and blinked her bewildered eyes. “How could you just kiss me like that? You could have at least given a warning.”

Anu sat up straight. A tide of passion that had churned in her eyes was now calming down. Her gaze shifted away from Shen Sheng’s eyes. “It’s getting late. I should be going.”

“Stay and eat…” Shen Sheng hurriedly tried to keep her. “I had the kitchen prepare many things that Buyan likes.”

“His Majesty summoned me to dine in the palace.” Anu stood up gracefully. The emotion in her eyes had already been replaced, the scene from moments before completely gone.

Shen Sheng touched her own cheek and nodded. “Then you go ahead. I’ll send Buyan back later.”

“Buyan?” Anu turned her head to look at the person who was still completely in the dark. She kindly added, “Don’t be deceived by her. She is very mischievous.”

That small child had her own way of dealing with things, especially when the two were together—a bellyful of wicked schemes.

Shen Sheng seemed to catch a deeper meaning in her words and asked again, “She isn’t Jiang Buyan, is she?”

“Young General, you are clever at one moment and foolish the next.” Anu sighed softly. “Just send her back.”

Having said this, she left.

Shen Sheng was now certain: there were indeed two children. As for whether the one visiting today was Jiang Buyan, that still required further investigation.

After Anu left, she went to find Jiang Buyan.

After searching all around, she discovered Jiang Buyan and Shen Zhuzhu beneath the plum blossom trees.

Young children loved playing with slightly older children. The two of them had plucked a whole ground full of plum blossoms and were sitting amidst the petals, eating candy.

What looked like a beautiful scene was actually a tree stripped of all its blossoms. Shen Sheng massaged her forehead in exasperation. “What are you two doing?”

“Candy… candy… Aunt… Aunt…” Shen Zhuzhu scrambled up first, proudly showing off the candy in her hand, then pointed a finger at the girl beside her. “Sister… Sister…”

They had gotten so familiar, she was even calling her “Sister” now.

Shen Sheng stepped forward and scooped Shen Zhuzhu into her arms. She looked down at the girl. “Your mother has left. I’ll take you home in a bit.”

“Not going back tonight is also fine,” Jiang Buyu said casually, popping a milk candy into her mouth. She nodded with satisfaction. “Even if we go missing, she wouldn’t even notice.”

Shen Sheng was utterly speechless. She thought of taking the chance to test her. “That’s not a bad idea. Why not bring your sister along to stay the night too? Wouldn’t that be nice?”

The person happily eating candy suddenly changed expression. Shen Sheng smiled as kindly as possible. “Your mother already told me. You are twins.”

“She told you?” Jiang Buyu was surprised. She ground her back teeth in anger and stomped her foot. “We agreed—no, she wouldn’t say that. You tricked me!”

Shen Sheng raised an eyebrow. “You’ve already exposed yourself. Go and bring your little sister over. You can stay one day… or two days. Either is fine.”

As she spoke, she kneaded Shen Zhuzhu’s chubby little cheeks. “I just don’t understand. Why did you have to lie?”

“We were afraid it would scare you. What if you ran away?” Jiang Buyu sighed with a world-weary air. “Forget it. I won’t lie to you anymore. My name is Jiang Buyu.”

“Buyan, Buyu? How badly did your mother want you two to shut your mouths?” Shen Sheng was amused. “I’ll go to the State Preceptor Manor and bring her over. You two keep playing.”

Shen Sheng put the child down and stroked Zhuzhu’s head. Zhuzhu beamed a toothy smile. Jiang Buyu, however, glared at her with slight displeasure. Shen Sheng then, conveniently, also stroked her head. Only then did she relent.

After instructing the maids to watch over the two—one big, one small—Shen Sheng rode her horse to the State Preceptor Manor.

Anu was not at the manor. The vast estate held only one small, solitary person. Shen Sheng duly met her.

The tiny child had her hair tied up with a gray silk ribbon. The dull color did little to diminish her lively, adorable nature.

Shen Sheng crouched down and said with a smile, “Jiang Buyan?”

“Jiang Buyu told you?” Jiang Buyan frowned. “Why was she so honest?”

“Want to go to the Shen Manor? She said she doesn’t feel like coming home tonight. What about you?”

“Then I’m not coming home either,” Jiang Buyan huffed indignantly.

Shen Sheng promptly scooped her up to leave. Only once they were outside did she realize the problem: she had ridden her horse here. In the winter chill, a child would freeze on horseback.

Just as she hesitated, someone rode up on a horse. Clad in an official’s robe, refined and elegant—it was none other than the Prince Consort Zhou Yi.

Zhou Yi dismounted and walked up to the two figures, one large, one small. His gaze fell on Jiang Buyan’s small face.

Zhou Yi’s expression was dark, his gaze sinister. Shen Sheng quickly covered Jiang Buyan’s eyes and let out a low rebuke. “What are you doing?”

“Young General Shen, between you and me, feelings arose but were kept within the bounds of propriety. We never, ever crossed that line.” Zhou Yi’s face was flushed red from the cold wind, veins bulging on his forehead. “Why would you say such a thing? The Princess and I were already deeply in love. I have no feelings left for you. You should not ruin my innocence!”

Shen Sheng was utterly baffled by his words. Jiang Buyan, whose eyes she had covered, pushed her hand away and was the first to curse back at him. “Are you sick in the head? Coming to cause a scene at our doorstep? What ‘feelings arose but kept within propriety’? If that’s the case, why are you cursing someone on the street? What kind of hypocrite are you?!”

Shen Sheng: “…” This mouth, was it inherited directly from Anu?