The mountain has trees, and the trees have branches; eighty-three times they meet again.

  On the broad thoroughfare of Chang'an's eastern suburbs, a cloud of dust rose far away, and a team of four horses slowly approached from afar.

  A young servant named Zhou, about twelve or thirteen years old, came forward and bowed, saying, "You must be tired from the journey, please come to the reception hall to rest for a night."

  A middle-aged man fell from the horseback and ordered, "Take the horse to feed it fully, then tidy up the upper house, my family's noble lady will rest in it."

  It was rare for a young lady to travel alone at this time, and Zhou Er stared in surprise at the carriage stopped behind her. The carriage body was made of dark lacquer and was very spacious. A black flag fluttered in the wind at the back of the carriage, with a flying fish painted on it, accompanied by the clear sound of the bell ringing.

  I don't know which vassal's daughter she is.

  Zhou'er was thinking secretly in her heart.

  "I apologize, sir," he said briskly, "If it were an ordinary day, the upper house would naturally be empty and waiting for your esteemed wife. However, you see," he smiled brightly, "the Empress Dowager's birthday is approaching, and all the nobles from various regions are rushing to Chang'an to celebrate, we really can't make any arrangements." He lowered his voice, "At present, the upper house is already occupied by the envoy sent by the King of Qi to deliver congratulatory gifts."

  "It's not a trivial matter." Zhang Chu was slightly angry, "Is it worth humiliating the noble daughter of my family just for a Qi Wang He Shi?"

  Zhou Er smiled and said, "That's right." The tone of the conversation shifted, "But this envoy is not an ordinary person, he is the younger brother-in-law of King Qi, a young master of the Ju family."

  Judging from the flags on their carriage, this family is probably a noblewoman of a vassal state. There are countless vassals in the Han Dynasty, but there are only a few well-known princes who have names and surnames, all of whom are close relatives of Emperor Gaozu.

  Zhang Chu sneered, "That's even more unacceptable. Since Gu Gongzi is celebrating the birthday of Empress He, how can he let the empress's own niece live in an inferior house?"

  Zhou'er was taken aback and hesitated, "Who is the noble lady?"

  Zhang Chu smiled proudly, "The eldest daughter of Xuanping Hou, she is indeed the emperor's niece."

  After washing away the dust of the journey, Zhang Yan changed into her nightclothes and came out. Just in time, Tuo Fen brought in a bowl of freshly cooked apricot kernel porridge, and Zhang Yan took a sip, praising, "The heat is just right, it melts in your mouth. Cen's cooking skills have improved even more."

  "Daughter," Jie You pushed open the door and came in with a smile, "the young master from the Rui family is outside asking to see you, do you want to meet him?"

  "No." Zhang Yan yawned and shook her head. "I'm very tired." Distant relatives, even if they met, didn't have much meaning.

  With a smile, he stepped out of the hospital door and said to Yu Jun, "My family's young lady says that she has accepted your good intentions. However, she just finished washing up and it's not suitable for her to see external guests, so please excuse her."

  Yu Zhen nodded and returned to her room. Fang Heng said, "She's just a little girl, what's she got to be arrogant about? Wait till later...she'll get what's coming to her."

  "The young master should not have said that." The strategist in the house shook his head, "Now Empress Lü's power is great, and Marquis of Pingyang being her son-in-law, although he is just a minor noble. On the surface, we cannot treat him lightly. However," his voice was laced with coldness, "their foundation is shallow. If one day she falls, they will naturally self-destruct, why must you take it to heart?"

  Zhang Yan had a habit of choosing seats since childhood, tossing and turning until midnight before falling asleep. The next day she woke up to find the sky already bright. Hearing some noise outside her room, it was Tong Xiang bringing in hot water. She smiled and called out loudly, "Come in."

  With a creak, Zhou'er nervously pushed open the door and entered.

  According to the old man, this noble lady is the daughter of Princess Ruyuan Changgong, and today she is the legitimate niece of the emperor, extremely proud and arrogant.

  What would the princess's daughter look like? He thought about it for a whole night, but still couldn't figure it out.

  As soon as he entered the house, he caught a whiff of a sweet and fragrant scent, which made him involuntarily lower his head. Then he heard soft footsteps, and a girl in a yellow dress instructed, "Put the water on the shelf." He was startled, suddenly raised his head, and before his eyes was a girl about eleven or twelve years old, roughly the same age as him, with a stunningly beautiful face that left him dazed.

  "What's wrong with you, silly boy?" Jie You scolded, "Put down the water and get out!"

  "Ah——" Zhou Er came back to his senses, hastily putting down the copper basin. He felt both embarrassed and delighted in his heart, and for some unknown reason, he wanted to please this beautiful and extraordinary girl. Stammering, he said, "The meal is already prepared downstairs, shall I bring it up for you?"

  Jie You and Tao Mei exchanged a glance, both secretly smiling. Tao Mei said with a hint of annoyance, "My wife isn't used to eating out, thanks for the trouble."

  Zhou's face suddenly turned red and he was extremely embarrassed, unsure of what to do next.

  Zhang Yan looked at his adorable expression, smiled, picked up a fresh orange from the fruit plate on one side, and called out, "Hey."

  "Huh?" Zhou Er snapped back to reality in confusion.

  "This is for you." She handed him an orange, a shallow dimple on her left cheek.

  Zhou'er took it with a silly expression, only feeling that the hand passing over was slender and white like jade, as old people often said. After leaving in a daze, she suddenly slapped her forehead, "Ah, I forgot to say thank you."

  The melon rind relieved its worries and laughed with a bent waist. The melon rind shook its head and said, "Girl, you've fooled the silly child again."

  Zhang Yan burst out laughing and let the two of them skillfully braid her hair into a bun, saying "In half a day, we can enter Chang'an, right?"

  Once I enter Chang'an, I can see Mother.

  With a loud cry of "Hurray!", Zhang Yan sprang onto her horse.

  "Madam," Zhang Chu said with a bow, "the wind is strong on the road, Madam Zhang should get back in the carriage."

  "Don't worry." Zhang Yan said with a smile, "We've been traveling for so long and we're almost near Chang'an now. What could possibly happen? Don't worry about it."

  Zhang Chu was still trying to persuade him, but Zhang Yan's mischievous heart arose, and with a sudden crack of the whip.

  Under him a red horse whinnied and galloped forward with a burst of speed.

  "Daughter!" Zhang Chu shouted loudly, flustered and exasperated to the guards, "Hurry up and catch up to protect the young lady."

  The red horse under her was a rare fine steed, which was bestowed by the High Emperor to Xuanping Hou in those years, and then given to his daughter by Zhang Ao. Its foot strength was extraordinary, not ordinary horses could catch up with it. In just a moment, it had left the guards far behind. After galloping for a short while, she raised her head and saw that the city ahead was within sight, with the words "Xin Feng" written on it.

  She reined in her horse and walked slowly along the Xiang River.

  It's been a year since I last came to Xinfeng, and Xinfeng is more lively than I remembered. The streets are crowded with people calling out to sell their goods, and pedestrians coming and going, showing a prosperous scene.

  There were children playing, using a slingshot to shoot, one stone hit the horse's leg, the proud horse was frightened and whinnied, Zhang Yan was startled, busy holding the reins, wanting to calm down the horse. The horse had already rushed forward several steps, knocking over a man who couldn't dodge in time.

  "I'm sorry." Zhang Yan hastily dismounted and apologized, "Are you okay?"

  The man jumped up, grasped Zhang Yan's arm and said, "Can it be settled with just an apology? If I were trampled to death by your horse, can you afford to compensate me, little girl?" The strong smell of wine sprayed onto Zhang Yan's face.

  Zhang Yan was slightly startled and struggled free, shouting "Let go."

  The drunkard became more and more arrogant, looking at her with a slanted gaze, and kicked the horse beside her. He laughed loudly, "Since this beast bumped into me, you should compensate me for it. I'll cook it and eat it for dinner. That's also a way to take revenge."

  "Nonsense." Zhang Yan's face turned red with anger, "I didn't bump into you at all."

  "Hey, little girl won't compensate?" He let out a belch and teased, "Then use you to exchange for that horse. I'll take the loss, and just accept it." His other hand was about to touch her face.

  Cold sweat dripped down, Zhang Yan hastily dodged and only then felt regret. Reasoning can't get the better of being unreasonable, sobriety can't win against intoxication. If she had really suffered a loss due to her own impulsiveness in running out alone, even if all the iron in the nine provinces were melted down, it would be hard to write a single character for hatred.

  Everyone on the street was watching the show, but no one was willing to come out and help.

  Although Zhang Yan was clever and resourceful, in the face of this situation, apart from screaming a few times and struggling physically, there were no other ways.

  "Bang." A vigorous fist struck the drunkard's back.

  "Bullying a weak woman is no great achievement." The newcomer curled his little finger and smiled. "Come on, come on. That punch just now was thrown by me, your grandfather. If you have the ability, then make me apologize to you too."

  The drunkard got up from the ground, shook his head, let out a loud roar and rushed over.

  Zhang Yan's soul had just calmed down, and with a look of disgust, she shook off the wrist that had been grasped by that brute. She looked again, and couldn't help but be stunned for a moment.

  It's been a year since we last met. The man in blue in the field, although he looked like he had grown taller and his eyebrows were thicker, still looked the same as before - it was actually Fan Qiang.

  She heard that during the year she left, Fan Kuai had his coming-of-age ceremony and got a courtesy name called Weiqi. Empress Lü trusted this nephew from her maternal family and appointed him as the General of Changle Garrison to guard the palace.

  Then, since Fan Jiang is here, then the one who came with him -

  Zhang Yan suddenly heard her own heartbeat pounding.

  She turned around and looked in the direction where Fan Qiang was coming from, and suddenly she was stunned there.

  A young man in a black robe with a slightly anxious expression rushed down from upstairs at the roadside restaurant.

  Uncle

  Liu Ying first scrutinized her from head to toe, confirming that she was not injured, before retracting her anxious expression. Only then did she recall the awkwardness between them when they parted ways in the capital last time, and stood at a distance, quietly gazing at her with a hint of embarrassment.

  In an instant, Zhang Yan seemed to see her past self through time, the awkward girl who was afraid of the fate written in history and pretended to be calm, using her own hands to draw a circle around herself.

  One year's time, it is neither long nor short.

  It's said it's short because in the long life, they intersect like a snap of fingers.

  It's not a short period of time, because with just one year, everything can change completely.

  She still didn't want to marry her uncle against the natural order, but she learned to recognize that this marriage had nothing to do with their feelings for each other.

  Even if they still interact intimately, as long as they face that absurd marriage bond that may be pushed to the forefront in the future and resolutely refuse to say a word, how can Lü Hou really force his son and granddaughter to become husband and wife?

  To put it another way, if Empress Lü really made up her mind to make this marriage happen, would she care about whether the relationship between her uncle and herself was close or distant?

  Zhang Yan, who had figured this out, looked back at her past self and couldn't help but laugh silently.

  Zhang Yan took a deep breath. Looking at the hidden guards rushing up from all sides, they seemed to be protecting Liu Ying behind them.

  It's always a reunion at an unexpected moment, and this is what can't hide the surprise that has been intentionally suppressed.

  The moment of parting melts all the accumulated resistance like snow in the sun. When I see you again, I have to admit, I am overjoyed.

  She smiled and called out from afar, "Uncle."

  The smile is warm, as if all the estrangement had never existed.

  Liu Ying, surrounded by everyone, was slightly stunned for a moment, and then smiled without any worries.

  After parting, I met you several times in my dreams, and I'm still afraid that our meeting is just a dream.

  Actually, reunions are one of my favorite scenes.

  Then let's continue to ask for pink tickets.