Three chapters updated monthly
He protected her until the day he died.
Ever since she was little, Shen Xiang'an had always stayed by her side, protecting and doting on her. Everyone said she was going to marry him.
Later, by a twist of fate, she met a young monk. When he spoke to her, his voice was as gentle as Shen Xiang'an's. Shen Xiang'an told her to listen carefully to the monk. But the monk, with prayer beads wrapped around his wrist, was always chattering on and on.
Later still, she stood atop the city wall, reciting the Buddhist words Yuan Zhi often repeated. She thought of the ancient pines, lush and green, at the mountain temple, and of Shen Xiang'an in Linyuan City.
That year, you brought me a whole armful of red beans and told me that in poetry, red beans carried the meaning of longing. Look, you said, every one of the beans in my hands is you.
By the time Shen Xiang'an became a great general, everyone knew that the stern general treated her better than anyone else, in a way no one could match. When she was drunk, she asked him when he could take her back for a visit. She wanted to go home. Shen Xiang'an had never thought of anyone else from the day she was born. He protected her and cherished her all her life.
