Yue Qi and Yu Su have disliked each other since their first meeting. They always talk in a confrontational way, trying to irritate each other as much as possible. However, they share an unspoken understanding that they only bicker over trivial matters and never show their animosity in front of Yue Chen.

　　Yu Su is somewhat dazed. Unconsciously, he tightens his grip on the white jade chess piece in his hand. When he comes to his senses, he realizes that he has recalled the past. It has been a long time since he last thought about those memories. Without Yue Chen around, those past events are nothing but painful. Since the familiar Yue Chen hadn't returned, he was no longer willing to step into the Yue Mansion or recall the past. He left secret guards to monitor that alien who had occupied her body.

　　"Your Highness, it's rare to see you lose your focus," Rong Li kneels opposite him, holding a black jade chess piece and gently placing it on the jade - white chessboard. Due to Yu Su's distraction, Rong Li has won one more piece.

　　Yu Su plays chess merely as a pastime when he's bored. He hasn't learned it in a very orthodox way, but after playing with Rong Li many times, his chess skills have improved a lot.

　　"It's because today is the day Yue Chen leaves the palace," Rong Li has been his strategist for several years. There are some things he doesn't need to hide from him. With his intelligence, Rong Li can probably guess the cause and effect. It's not so tiring to talk to a smart person, but it's also not that reassuring.

　　"Is Your Highness so certain that she is your Yue Chen?" Rong Li has never seen the previous Yue Chen. He got to know Yu Su in the northern border. He was deeply impressed by the name that Yu Su only mentioned when drunk. He once had someone investigate this name and found out that it was Yue Chen, the empress of Yu Qian, his imperial nephew. Seeing how deeply Yu Su was in love, Rong Li couldn't understand why, being so infatuated with that woman, he would give up everything in the capital and go to the desolate northern border. With his power at that time, he could have easily obtained the throne.

　　Watching the woman he loved marry someone else and then getting drunk in such a distant northern border really didn't seem like Yu Su's style. It puzzled Rong Li for a long time. His return was also rather inexplicable. Seeing Yue Chen lying on the stone slab in the cold palace was also a bit strange.

　　At that time, the prince asked him to carry a bed out of the inner room of the cold palace. He was really shocked. Just by looking at the face of the person in his arms, he knew she should have been dead for a long time, and there was no way to bring her back to life. But then, to his great surprise, the empress, who had been dead for a long time, actually propped herself up and asked them to take her to see a doctor.

　　Thinking carefully about her words at that time, there were many hidden and hard - to - detect messages. Perhaps these strange points were the real purpose of the prince's trip. Rong Quan guards Yue Chen day and night, and he also knows her news. This Yue Chen is really interesting, quite different from the previous empress.

　　She is very good at making use of everything at her disposal. When facing the concubines' frame - up, she makes a decisive and quick response, restraining the most powerful master in the palace. Then, as the empress of the harem, who can override her? The prince has protected her position as empress, and she acts against the current in the harem. Even the emperor has suffered setbacks at her hands. A mere Jieyu is nothing compared to her.

　　"I know it's her. She has finally come back," Yu Su's voice is full of relief, and his joy is obvious, further proving the importance of Yue Chen in his heart. He had originally thought it was just a hopeless hope. That person, using Yue Chen's body, had completely started a new life, smiling at others with Yue Chen's face and making promises of a lifetime with others using Yue Chen's face. He, Yu Su, was just an ordinary person and couldn't bear such suffering. Before deciding to leave the capital, after a secret meeting with someone, he fled to the northern border.

　　"Miss Yue Chen is really bold. She even dares to deal with the emperor," Rong Li doesn't want to say anything to spoil his good mood, so he continues to talk about the Yue Chen who has "come back" as Yu Su described. The empress belongs to the emperor, but Yue Chen belongs to Yu Su. His way of addressing her is not wrong.

　　Yu Su lowers his head and suddenly remembers some interesting past events, unable to hide the smile on his lips. "She has always been very bold." The Yue Mansion is an old founding hero, and the noble family has been passed down to this day. Marquis Yue is highly regarded by the emperor. Yue Chen, as the only legitimate daughter of the Yue Mansion, is naturally doted on by everyone and no one goes against her will. But Yue Chen is very promising. She has no bad temper, lives freely but is not annoying. She knows how to rely on the power behind her without bullying others.

　　"She is indeed a woman who never allows herself to be wronged," Rong Li knows very well. Yue Chen had always stayed quietly in the Changle Palace. It was the emperor who came to her on his own initiative, trying to play tricks on others but ended up being tricked instead. He had to swallow this humiliation. The things the prince gave her, that young lady used them without hesitation.

　　"Whoever offends her will be immediately retaliated against. She never holds grudges or sulks," His Yue Chen is daring and straightforward. She never harms others behind their backs, nor is she two - faced. That Yue Chen is very different. She speaks in a low voice that's hard to understand, is hesitant when she wants something, and her cautious appearance makes him disgusted. He doesn't want to see her again.

　　"She is truly a straightforward person, which is in line with Rong Quan's description." Rong Quan sends news about Yue Chen every day. When he encounters complicated characters he can't write, he uses pictures instead. The pictures are vivid and lifelike. He didn't realize before that Rong Quan had such talent. He had underestimated him.

　　The words Yue Qi left during their last meeting deeply hurt his heart. He was right. Yue Chen's body was occupied by someone else precisely because of his existence. The assassin in black came to assassinate him, and Yue Chen was implicated.

　　Yu Su closes his eyes, and memories flood into his mind, causing him great pain. A long, winding, and dark alley, the clashing sounds of swords. After all, he was only fifteen at that time. How could his strength compare to that of a well - trained assassin? Struggling but determined, he protected Yue Chen behind him. His shoulders and abdomen were stabbed, and his barely - sustained resistance became weaker and weaker.

　　The assassin seized the opportunity and a fatal long sword came towards him. Yue Chen saw the sharp and dangerous sword, used all her strength to pull him away. The assassin's sword missed, and then he added another strike. Unable to dodge in time, the tip of the sword pierced through her shoulder. Blood gushed out instantly, and her face turned deathly pale. She was extremely weak.

　　Later, the secret guards arrived, but his Yue Chen fell into his arms and passed out...

　　It was precisely because of this that that wandering soul had the opportunity to take over what didn't belong to her.

　　Yu Su's eyes are blood - red, with a hint of moisture. He wakes up from a nightmare in the middle of the night, his heart pounding like thunder. He puts his hand on his forehead, wondering why he has remembered that incident again. Over the years, he has deliberately tried to forget, but he remembers Yue Chen's words before she left.

　　He waited for her in the northern border.

　　He has been waiting for her in the Dayan Dynasty.

　　One year,

　　Two years,

　　...

　　Ten years.

　　His Ayuan has finally come back.