Chapter 31

(Last chapter with memories... Three years later after the birth of Crown Prince... Li Yan is twenty five and Shen Nuo is fifteen.)

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Shen Nuo was under a peach blossom tree heavy with pink and white blossoms. He was very tall and slender now, touched with a youthful beauty that none possessed in the Capital. His hair was long and sleeky and his dress was white and charm as usual. He was smiling slightly as he watched pink petals descend amid the soft and gentle winds.

Forth him was an enormous lake with many lotuses and lilies. The morning was cold. Suddenly a person came and stood beside him silently. His robes were golden and that person was extremely tall and majestic.

Shen Nuo had grown up. He did not panic. He was a lot calmer. He did not turn to the side to look at the person. "Your Majesty?" He said in a soft and a pleasant voice.

"Hmm." Li Yan acknowledged him with a low voice. His face was cold than ever. All these three years he had been thinking too much. He messed up everything because he was too wishful. Many of his beloved left him one by one. His parents died. Sister died. Xi Jiu died.

And still he failed to find out their murderer. He did not want to cause any trouble. He was very sad. But he did not want Shen Nuo pulled into the harem and get him harmed too.

So he finally decided. He decided to live the rest of his life without marrying. He swore himself to protect the Crown Prince to ensure the future of the throne oneday. He reluctantly decided to let go of his desires.

"Zhen came here today to retract the Blood Promise." He said grimly in a determined voice.

Shen Nuo didn't say anything. He continued to look at the lake with a slight smile.

Li Yan pursed his thin lips. "Zhen knows he is wrong. He forced you against your will. He came here to ask for forgivings. Zhen knows it isn't enough. So Zhen will do anything that you say. What do you want?"

Shen Nuo's smile broadened. "Fourth brother was right. You're not as devilish as you seem to be."

Li Yan was startled. What was wrong with Shen Nuo? He creased his brows. "As long as my Blood Promise is given to you, you cannot marry anyone in this life. Zhen wants to take it back. You can marry any person that you like. Zhen will promise to hold a grand wedding for you in the palace."

Shen Nuo looked at Li Yan calmly. "Your Majesty. A good gentleman shouldn't take back what he had given. Isn't it inappropriate to do so? That was the first lesson Your Majesty taught me ten years ago."

Li Yan was too muddle headed to realize the meaning behind those words. He only understood Shen Nuo refused him. He drew colder. "I'm doing this for your own good. You are grown up. You must understand what I mean now." He looked at Shen Nuo meaningfully.

But Shen Nuo didn't seem to be taken back even a bit. He faced him strongly and spoke in a gentle voice that was pleasing to the ear. "Your Majesty wants to retract back the Blood Promise that was given to me. But can Your Majesty return back the chastity that I lost to you?"

Li Yan was stunned. He opened his mouth but did not know what to say. It was true. It was he himself who forcefully pulled Shen Nuo into heat for the first time some three years ago. After a long time, he spoke hoarsely. His face still looked cold and freezing. "Zhen asks forgivings."

"They are just words, Your Majesty. They no longer hold weight to me. I don't believe them."

Li Yan however looked irritated. "You must understand, Shen Nuo, you are talented. You're skilled in Martial Arts and lore. It would be a waste if you enter the harem. Zhen will personally enter your name into the state's examination. You'll be given a high post if you are talented."

Shen Nuo laughed softly. "So finally you revealed yourself!"

Li Yan looked at Shen Nuo. "What do you mean?"

"Your Majesty, do you know? When I was just five years old, there appeared a strange person in my room while I was studying. That person was clad in black and was heavily masked. I couldn't see his face."

Suddenly Li Yan's fingertips started shuddering. He pursed his thin lips. He gulped.

Shen Nuo looked at him and smiled. "That person was my illegal master. He was the one who secretly taught me Martial Arts, war strategies, poetry, politics and even chess and painting. Even my parents or brothers never knew. I wonder such been the case, how is Your Majesty suppose to know it?"

Li Yan didn't speak this time. His slightly unfocussed eyes were fixed at a certain spot at the glimmering lake water. They were a bit red at the ends.

"There were numerous times I was bullied inside the Academy. There were many people who wanted me killed. But none of them succeeded." Shen Nuo looked at him. "Of course you know that definitely. Because all these times, it had been you. It was you who taught me everything. It was you who protected me like your shadow. It was you who taught me Martial Arts and taught me how to live. But you never revealed yourself. If I didn't guess it now, I know you would have never told me..."

"Shen Nuo..."

"Three years aback, I clearly told you one thing. What on earth were you that you couldn't say that jade tassel belonged to you?"

Shen Nuo's voice was slightly hoarse. His eyes were red at the ends, adding a different charm to his alluring beauty. His nose tip was a bit red beneath his glassy eyes. "I was waiting all these times hoping you would come and acknowledge me but you never came. You never spoke anything. You always keep everything to yourself and bear them alone."

Li Yan stared at his glossy face with sorrow. Yes. It was he who sneaked into Shen Nuo's room ten years aback for the first time. It was an accident. Those days, he was still a prince. He still remembered it like now. He was heavily masked and Shen Nuo didn't who he was. Little Shen Nuo was studying a bamboo scroll in his room alone.

It was a rainy evening and when Li Yan in disguise entered that room through the window, all wet, little Nuo Nuo stood from the couch, walked towards him with baby legs and offered the stranger his favorite towel to dry his wet head.

Little Nuo Nuo didn't inquire who he was. He only thought that the stranger would catch a cold if he was wet for a long time like this. At the other hand, Li Yan was stunned. He sneaked in here to have a secret glance at Shen Nuo and hurry back. He couldn't find him no matter what. But it rained unexpectedly and he had to take a hide in a empty looking room. Who thought it would be Shen Nuo's room?

He was silent for a while. While he was wiping his head, he talked with Shen Nuo. "What were you doing?"

"Studying." Little Nuo Nuo replied frankly. "But they are a bit hard. So I want to revise them again and again."

"Hard?" Li Yan had asked grimly. He looked at the scroll on the couch. "Bring it here."

Little Nuo Nuo was very cooperative. Li Yan flipped through the bamboo scroll briefly and threw it to the side of the bed. "It looks hard but it's not that hard to understand." He said grimly.

Shen Nuo looked at him with glassy eyes. "Teach me!"

Li Yan's hand that were wiping his wet hair paused subconsciously and shuddered. "What did you say?" He asked in a hoarse voice. In it was utter disbelief. Nuo Nuo was really easy to trust strangers. This was not very good.

"I want you to teach me." Shen Nuo repeated looking at Li Yan genuinely, unaware of the fact that the disguised person who sat on the side of the bed forth him was the Crown Prince, the future Emperor of the state...

Li Yan was silent for a moment. Then he looked at him grimly. "Kowtow!"

Shen Nuo was very obedient. He knelt down on the clean wooden tiles and pressed his forehead upon the cold floor. "Please acknowledge me as your disciple, Shifu. I promise to learn well."

So that day, Li Yan acknowledged him as his personal disciple. He explained the scroll to Shen Nuo with simple light words until Shen Nuo could memorize it.

That day, when Li Yan turned to leave through the window, Shen Nuo stopped him with big glassy eyes. "Shifu! Please give me back my towel. It was given by third brother Shendu and I like it so much."

Li Yan looked at the folded piece of cloth in his hand and then turned to look at Shen Nuo. The little boy's face was anxious. It looked too cute when it was anxious. Li Yan couldn't help but feel like bullying him. He squeezed his baby cheek and spoke grimly. "A good gentleman shouldn't ask back what they had already given. That's my first lesson to you. Understood?"

Shen Nuo's eyes were suddenly moist. But he nodded looking sad at the tall figure that jumped out of the window and disappeared into the night's darkness...

So that day, without any cause or a reason, the masked stranger became little Nuo Nuo's secret master. Nuo Nuo kept the promise and told no one about the stranger that would come to teach him secretly when there was no one.

It was Li Yan in disguise who secretly taught Shen Nuo many things that others even didn't have the right to learn.

Later when Shen Nuo's excellent capabilities were revealed one by one, everyone couldn't help but shake their heads in amazement. The seventh son of General Shen was truly a genius. He was a fast learner that had done much just within a short period of time. Everyone looked at him with envy. But the true person behind this hid and contented himself watching his disciple's delight.

Li Yan still remembered everything that happened between them. He remembered every moment they spent together. He sighed. "Shen Nuo... This thing is serious. If I don't retract the Blood Promise now, you'll have to enter the harem. But I don't want you to."

Shen Nuo looked at him with sorrow in his eyes. "You were my master for many years and I didn't know it until now. But whenever I came to meet you at the palace, you were a completely different person. Why?"

Li Yan opened his mouth but couldn't say anything.

Shen Nuo didn't intend to letting Li Yan go. "When there were many talented kids here at the Capital, you took the risk to visit me by disguising yourself at least thrice a week. Is it just because you wanted to teach me? Or because you missed me?"

Li Yan didn't answer.

"You were the person who gave me the jade tassel. That jade tassel was the gift that your father gave to your mother before he married her. She passed it to you. And you gave it to me. Do you still think that I'm dumb?"

Li Yan gulped. "Don't think too much. Just give back the jade tassel to me and pretend like nothing happened."

Shen Nuo smiled with pain. "Is it that easy to forget? Can you forget it just like that?"

Li Yan was speechless. He looked at Shen Nuo with furrowed brows and couldn't speak a word.

Shen Nuo nodded his head. "Alright! You wanted me to ask you for a wish, right? Anything will be acceptable right?"

"Zhen is the Emperor. There's nothing he cannot do here at Li Yang. What do you want?"

"I want love." Shen Nuo whispered firmly. "I want to share your burdens like mine. I want to be with you for the rest of my life. Your Majesty, can you fulfill my wish?"

Li Yan's heart skipped a beat. He gulped. His fingertips were slightly shuddering beneath the heavy golden sleeves. He did not know what to feel. He loved Shen Nuo very much. But he realized his love can only hurt him. He finally wanted to let go and made up his mind for months and months to come and break up the Blood Promise. But now... "You -"

Shen Nuo took a step closer. "May be I'm too wishful. But I don't care. Once I was too afraid of you. I was frightened by you. But I had also seen your weak side, your warm side, your patience when you taught me. I know you."

He gently raised his hands and brushed away a pink pink petal that had got stuck onto the side of Li Yan's head. "All these times what I wanted to ask you is, Li Yan, why are you late?"

Li Yan's heart stopped beating. He was in a mess. He continued to look at Shen Nuo's eyes that were shining spring pools. They were bright and clear, honest and genuine. Those eyes were slightly moist due to emotions. That little nose was red too and those beautiful lips were gentle and soft.

Li Yan thoroughly suppressed the urge to kiss those lips and pressed his forehead against Shen Nuo's forehead, pulling Shen Nuo into his embrace.

"Nuo Nuo, do you know what you're saying? Hmm? This matter is very important. It would decide the rest of your life. You have everything. You can marry a respectable person whom you love oneday and spend the rest of your life happily with him. But -"

Shen Nuo pressed his fingertips against Li Yan's lips and stopped him from talking. "My heart already belongs to you. Don't worry. Third brother Shendu promised me that he could coax dad to propose to you and arrange a marriage between us. Are you willing?"

Li Yan pressed his thin lips against Shen Nuo's forehead. How can he not be willing? He had adored Shen Nuo since the day he saw him first. This was like a dream. It felt so unreal. He couldn't help but tighten the grasp around Shen Nuo's waist to feel if he was not dreaming.

Shen Nuo smiled and buried his fluffy head by the side of Li Yan's chest with a broad smile and closed eyes. He was very happy.

And not far away, from amid heavy and thick lofty branches of a tree, a pair of shining eyes and a pair of cold eyes watched this. Shen Hao was frantically drooling in envy. He looked at Shendu excitedly. "This is not illegal to watch, right?"

But Shendu didn't say anything. A thousand inexplicable emotions seemed to flash through his eyes. Those eyes were not shining and looked dead. They looked sorrowful. He silently watched from behind the hide of leaves.

Li Yan broke the embrace and looked at Shen Nuo's eyes. Shen Nuo smiled shyly at Li Yan's face for a while. Then he raised himself from his toes, swung his slender arms over Li Yan's shoulders boldly, reached his face and gently locked Li Yan's lips in his.

Li Yan responded immediately and wrapped one of his strong arms around Shen Nuo's waist while from the other, he caressed the back of Shen Nuo's head with full of love... This was the third time they were kissing. But this time it was completely different. This time, the person he was kissing was willing.

Shen Nuo was willing. Li Yan couldn't still believe it. He felt somewhat lost. This was too quick and unexpected. He couldn't help but bite Shen Nuo's lowered lip teasingly. Shen Nuo caught the meaning that he was teased and deepened the kiss.

Once again like it happened some three years ago, their lips entangled and tongues intervined. So under that blossoming peach tree, they kissed each other passionately for a long time.

Shendu pursed his thin and pale lips and left. He didn't say anything. He didn't want to watch it anymore.

Shen Hao: "..."

And the next year, in the third month, with a grand wedding at the Capital, the youngest ger son of Grand Martial Shen Ruoyun was married to Emperor Li Yan...

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(End of memories.....)💕

Ummm, I would like to remind something. In ancient china, normally females often married at the age of fourteen, fifteen or sixteen. While male married at the age of fifteen and above.

Ancient resources have it that the kindest wife of Emperor Taizong Li Shi Ming, Empress Zhangsun married him at the age of fourteen if I remember it rightly. That's a beautiful story and you can read her amazing life story in Wikipedia. Try it. And I'm sure you'd like it.