Linyue sighed. "As I said, it was already too late. But maybe King and Queen Shu suspected something was wrong in the south, because Queen Shu sent Boyi, her personal bodyguard, from Shulin with two hundred soldiers. They arrived just as Fu Jingtao and General Zimo reached the palace."
She paused to pluck a fruit skewer from the plate. "Boyi came to me and told me to run. He said Shu Wenxu and Fu Jingtao were planning treason."
Song Meiyu gasped. "General Boyi? That Demon King's right-hand man?? He came to save you?"
Linyue bit a grape and said, "I told them to go back."
Song Meiyu nearly dropped her fruit skewer. "What?! Why?! What about you?!"
Even Shu Mingye turned to look at her, a brow lifting like Excuse me, you did what?
Linyue just shrugged. "After I learned how to read and write, the next thing I learned was the secret passage under the palace. My father made me and my brother memorize the path. If anything ever happened, we were supposed to escape through it."
She sipped her tea again, completely unbothered, then added, "Naturally, being the very obedient child that I was, I used that passage to sneak out of the palace all the time."
He Yuying immediately snorted into his cup. It made a weird choking-gurgling sound. "Obedient," he muttered. "Right."
Linyue ignored him. "Shanjun, my personal bodyguard, he was my partner in crime. He followed me everywhere, so of course he knew the way out through the passage. That night, I asked him to escort everyone in my palace and Boyi to escape through it."
"So you stayed behind?" Shen Zhenyu asked, eyes narrowing.
Linyue replied casually. "Of course. No matter how young I was, a princess was still a princess. How could I run and leave my people behind?"
She glanced at the teacup in her hand, then added, "Father always told me not to play with the lives of the innocent. Those traitors wanted me dead. Whether I ran or not, they would come after me. But the others had a chance to live."
She looked up, her tone still flat but firm. "So I stayed. My brother stayed too. But the people—servants, guards, even the cooks—they were innocent. They deserved a way out."
For a second, nobody spoke. He Yuying didn't make a sarcastic comment. Song Meiyu looked like she was trying very hard not to burst into tears again. Shen Zhenyu's frown deepened.
Shu Mingye just looked at Linyue with quiet intensity, like he could see the flickers of firelight behind her words. Palace halls burning, shadows running, and one small, stubborn girl standing her ground.
His eyes narrowed. So that was how Boyi survived. It had bothered him for years. How Boyi, his mother's most loyal shadow, somehow lived through the storm of betrayal in Shulin while everyone else from that time was either dead, missing, or thrown out of power.
Now it made sense. Boyi wasn't in Shulin when the trap was sprung. He had gone to the imperial palace, under his mother's secret orders, and escaped through the passage. When he returned, Shu Wenxu had already claimed the throne and exiled him. Then Boyi went to the north, the place where he was exiled. That was how he could survive the harsh north, because Boyi had been by his side.
Shu Mingye sighed quietly. Somehow, the woman sitting beside him kept saving him in the most unpredictable ways, even when she had no idea she was doing it. He leaned back and gave her a sideways glance.
Then, of course, Song Meiyu burst in with her usual dramatic timing. "Wait, wait, wait… then how did you escape?" she asked, eyes wide. "You just said you stayed behind!"
"I never saw my father and mother again after that night," she said. "My brother sent his people to escape too. Then he ran to find me. After everyone left, only two guards stayed with us. We burned the West Palace, hoping no one would find the secret passage. Or if they did, the others would already be far away."
Song Meiyu looked horrified.
Linyue went on, "Then we ran toward the Main Palace. On the way, I saw General Zimo killing everyone he saw. Maidservants, ministers, children, even the old librarian. He didn't care."
Shen Zhenyu, who had been quiet, frowned. "Is that why you kidnapped him?"
Linyue nodded. "Yes. I was mad just remembering it. He said he came to avenge Lingxu. But the people he killed were all innocent. Including my parents."
Shen Zhenyu muttered, "You're right. He was fooled by Fu Jingtao."
Shu Mingye, who had been sipping his tea slowly, spoke without looking up. "Fooled or not, doesn't matter. He still deserved it. Honestly, you should've poked him more that time."
Linyue smiled. The smile was quiet, satisfied, and slightly dangerous.
Song Meiyu leaned forward. "But how did you escape, Sister Linyue? You said you burned the palace and ran, but then what? You can't just say all that and stop there!"
Linyue blinked like Song Meiyu was being unusually loud (which she was). "I didn't escape," she said. "I never made it to the Main Palace."
The table went quiet again.
He Yuying stopped chewing. Song Meiyu looked like she was about to launch into seventeen questions at once, but something in Linyue's tone made her quiet.
Shu Mingye frowned. Slowly, his hand—already holding hers beneath the table—tightened. He began to weave his fingers into hers gently, one by one. Not pulling her closer. Just holding on.
Linyue didn't look at him. "We were attacked," she said simply. "The guards with us were killed. The fire spread fast. We were young. We couldn't run fast enough. We got trapped."
Shu Mingye wasn't leaning anymore. He sat up straight now, his back stiff and his eyes fixed on Linyue. His heart tightened at her words.
"My brother protected me from the flames," she went on. "I thought that was the end."
"Then someone pulled me away," Linyue said calmly. "That person took me through another secret passage and brought me out."
"Who?" Song Meiyu gasped, leaning so far over the table that her elbow landed in the chili oil. She didn't even notice, "Who saved you??"
Linyue leaned back in her chair. "Let's continue next time. Isn't this too much information already?"
"Whaaat?!" Song Meiyu wailed, clutching her head like her brain had just caught fire. "You can't just stop at the most exciting part! That's illegal storytelling!"
Shen Zhenyu, the only mature adult in a room full of emotionally unstable children, cleared his throat and smoothly changed the topic. "Is that how you recognized me, Linyue?"
He had always suspected. Linyue had looked at him oddly from the beginning, like she knew his secrets. He had never told anyone he was a prince, but she seemed to figure it out somehow.
"Yes," Linyue said. "I saw you at the banquet that time."
Shen Zhenyu raised an eyebrow.
"Oh. I wasn't in the banquet," she clarified. "I just peeked in from a window and stole some pastries. You stood out. Still have the same grumpy eyebrows. I recognized you right away when we met in the east."
Shen Zhenyu actually smiled. A rare sight. Probably once every lunar eclipse. "So the reason you came here…" he started, voice soft.
"To take revenge?" Song Meiyu guessed.
Shu Mingye, who had been silent for a while, finally let out a soft chuckle. "She came because of a promise she made to my mother."
Song Meiyu's eyes shot back to Linyue. "Wait, you said Queen Shu used to play with you! What promise?"
Before Linyue could open her mouth, Shu Mingye picked up his teacup and said with no hesitation, "Marriage."
Linyue turned slowly and gave him a sharp glare. "Not that one. I promised to return the hairpin Queen Shu entrusted to me."
Shu Mingye sipped his tea and chuckled. "But you did accept my mother's proposal to marry me."
Song Meiyu nearly choked on air. "Really?? You've been promised to him since you were little? Then it's fate! Destiny! A royal romance!"
"I was six," Linyue said flatly.
Song Meiyu clutched her chest, her eyes sparkled. "Then what about now? Will you marry him?"