An Old Friend Buried in Spring Mountain

When Shen Shuwan was nine, her entire family was executed for treason. She could only flee the capital with her five-year-old brother on her back.

But her brother died on the way, and she had no money. She could only kneel by the road and beg a strange man for a straw mat to bury him on.

He buried her brother for her, then asked her name.

"Shen Shuwan."

The man was silent for a long time. "Don't use that name again."

Afterward, the world lost a girl named Shen Shuwan, and the Pei household gained a girl called Qingdai.

Pei Heng saved her, taught her, and protected her, giving her a home when she was at her lowest.

Nine years later, he sent her to serve his own son, Pei Yanci.

Pei Heng gave her just one instruction: "Keep an eye on him for me."

Qingdai thought this was just an ordinary task from Pei Heng. Then she discovered that Pei Yanci was investigating an old case from nine years ago.

The case file contained a name she had not seen in many years: Shen Qian.

That was her father.

And when she finally tore away the last veil covering the massacre of her family, she learned that the person who had driven the Shen family to ruin nine years ago had never been anyone else.

It was Pei Heng, the man who had saved her, raised her, and taught her how to survive.

She had knelt before him, respected him, and trusted him. In her heart, she had even considered him a second father.

Later, Shen Shuwan asked him just one question: "Have you ever regretted it, even for a moment, all these years?"

Pei Heng fell silent once more.

"I have. I regret not finding you sooner back then."

With red-rimmed eyes, she asked, "What about my father?"

Pei Heng looked at her. "If I could live it all over again, I would still kill him."