Could it be Lu Dan? When this thought surfaced in Tan Xiaopei's mind, it felt like everything clicked into place.

It wasn't their difference in status that would make Tan Weishi feel that a relationship was impossible, but Huang Wan. Huang Wan was the daughter of Huang Xuping, the Grand Minister of Dongping, and one of Tan Weishi's closest friends. Huang Wan was a few years older than Tan Weishi and a year older than Tan Weixin. Before Huang Wan and Lu Dan's marriage, Huang Wan was considered one of the most outstanding young women in Danyang, knowledgeable in poetry, songs, and even geography and humanities. Because Huang Wan was exceptional in appearance, talent, demeanor, and deportment, Tan Weishi enjoyed spending time with her Huang Wan-jiejie (older sister), something Tan Xiaopei greatly approved of and encouraged.

Before Lu Dan worked for Ye Tao, he was merely another member of Danyang's idle rich, serving as a guard by Tan Weixin's side. Following the usual path, Lu Dan would have been transferred to the Imperial Guards. Then, given his age and experience, he would likely have encountered Dongping's external dynasty wars. Lu Dan's final status would be determined by his performance in the war.

However, everything changed after Lu Dan was tricked by Tan Weixin into becoming Ye Tao's steward. Assisting with many of the Ye Family Workshop's businesses and helping establish the Blood Kirin Army not only allowed Lu Dan to accumulate a large network of contacts but also transformed him into a highly distinctive technical military officer among the younger generation. He possessed solid basic knowledge of understanding, familiarizing himself with, and preparing various equipment in the army, as well as organizing logistics and constructing various facilities. Such officers were precisely what Dongping needed. Compared to warrior-type figures, these officers were more important. This was why Suo Zheng, someone with no background, was able to become a general in just a few years and was highly valued by the military大佬 (dalao – big bosses). Once a war broke out and the situation became critical, these大佬 would definitely sacrifice warrior-type figures like Chi Lei and Zhu Juewen rather than generals like Suo Zheng and Lu Dan. With these generals, even if things were difficult, they would have the ability to reorganize and prepare adequately.

Partly because of Lu Dan's ability, partly because of his close relationship with the increasingly important Ye Tao, and partly because Lu Dan's family was considered a notable clan, Lu Dan experienced a nearly complete turnaround in just a few years. His thoughtfulness and humor also attracted the favor of many young ladies from prominent Danyang families, eventually leading him to marry Huang Wan, a beautiful woman from a prestigious family. Moreover, it was the Grand Minister himself who proposed the marriage, because although humorous, Lu Dan was somewhat slow-witted in matters of the heart. When Huang Xuping sent someone to propose the marriage, Lu Dan's wide-eyed, open-mouthed expression, as if a pie had fallen from the sky, remained a famous anecdote in Danyang.

In this way, things became clear. Princess Xiu, Tan Weishi, might have been attracted to Lu Dan's personality and gotten along well with him, and at one point felt that being with Lu Dan for life would be a good choice. Lu Dan, however, was probably the type who was always easy to get along with but always lacked a certain awareness. In the short span of a few days, Huang Wan became Lu Dan's fiancée, and a few months later, they were married. For Tan Weishi, who was full of youthful romantic feelings, the world seemed to change completely in an instant.

Whether Lu Dan had anything with Tan Weishi was impossible to verify, but based on Lu Dan's personality and consistent behavior, he was likely unaware. Although Tan Weishi was already an influential figure, she was still just a young girl. On one side was her heart's desire, and on the other was one of her closest friends, her mentor and benefactor. The kind princess didn't want to cause any harm to anyone. In this situation, how could the turmoil in her heart be described by a single word of "sorrow?" Moreover, to prevent others from seeing anything, she often visited her "Huang Wan-jiejie." Huang Wan was already several months pregnant, watching others enjoy a happy and fulfilling life, enjoying the life she wanted. What kind of feeling was that? Perhaps it really was only "It doesn't matter if melancholy is a sign of lofty madness."

Thinking of this, Tan Xiaopei sighed and sat down on a soft chair in the increasingly casual Imperial Study. Indeed, he couldn't fulfill his daughter's emotional entanglement, but he didn't want Tan Weishi to remain trapped in her current state of mind for long. What was the best thing to do? Tan Xiaopei had felt more than once that being a father was more challenging than being a ruler.

"Summon Xin'er and Ye Tao to see me," Tan Xiaopei ordered after thinking for a while. He felt it would be more appropriate for Tan Weixin to talk to her younger sister. Summoning Ye Tao was to understand Lu Dan's situation through him, to completely clarify whether anything had happened between Lu Dan and Tan Weishi. Under the current circumstances, although he wanted to finalize Ye Tao's future appointment as soon as possible, he no longer had the heart to do so.

"Your Majesty, Princess and Lord Ye are not currently in Danyang. Should we urgently summon them back?" Li Sishu reminded him.

"Hmm?" Tan Xiaopei frowned and asked, "Where did they run off to?"

Li Sishu reported, "When Your Highness and Lord Ye left Danyang the day before yesterday, they left a schedule. They will first go to Jingdezhen to arrange various affairs for the porcelain workshop and the Ye Family Workshop; then they should be at the Blood Kirin Army camp, listening to opinions on the weapon configuration of the new Blood Kirin Army's close-combat fighting troops… They will only return after these matters are completed. At this moment, Your Highness and Lord Ye are still in Jingdezhen."

Tan Xiaopei's brows furrowed together, appearing somewhat dreadful. Then, his expression softened, and he said, "There's no need to urgently summon them back. Have them come see me as soon as they return. I still have to think carefully about how to end this matter."

After Ye Tao and Tan Weixin returned, Tan Xiaopei had a good talk with both of them. Without any concealment, Tan Xiaopei laid out all the investigations he had conducted these days and his suspicions.

Ye Tao's brows had also been furrowed since he saw the two poems analyzed by those great literary figures. Ye Tao didn't have to be a literature enthusiast to have heard of these two poems. He couldn't believe that there could really be such a coincidence between two time-spaces, and that this coincidence happened to occur on Tan Weishi. Unless… Tan Weishi was also a time-traveler. The problem was that Tan Weishi had been watched by Tan Weixin since she was a child, and he had had a lot of contact with her in the past few years. If Tan Weishi was really a time-traveler, how could she have never shown it and perfectly concealed it from the two of them? Impossible. And the simplest explanation was that Tan Weixin had told Tan Weishi these poems. But why?

"Xin'er, why did you copy those things for Weishi?" Ye Tao asked impatiently in the carriage after leaving the palace.

"How would I know it would create so many problems? Weishi likes poetry. Although she's not very competitive, she has to attend so many chaotic poetry gatherings, she needs something to impress the crowd, right? Copying things isn't just randomly copying; you have to consider whether there are any problems with what you're copying, whether it's appropriate in terms of rhythm, and whether all the allusions have plausible explanations. If not these two poems, what else would be suitable to copy?" Tan Weixin raised an eyebrow and explained somewhat helplessly.

"These… are obviously love poems. Now, while they're rehearsing… damn it, this is really awkward… while they're rehearsing 'The Butterfly Lovers', with the theme of obstructed love, these poems are exposed at the same time. What's going on?" Ye Tao sighed. He felt that everything seemed too coincidental.

Tan Weixin said calmly, "Lu Dan is to be pitied. Originally, he wanted to return to your command."

"Hehe, with the Grand Minister backing him up and his family not lacking influence, isn't it better than suffering and toiling with me?" Ye Tao said with a smile.

Tan Weixin shook her head and said, "That's not necessarily the case. One person time-travels, and even the chickens and dogs rise to heaven. If he hadn't followed you and stayed in the Ye Family Workshop and the Blood Kirin Army for so long, he wouldn't be where he is now. And there's Suo Zheng and a whole bunch of others. The important thing is to learn things that can't be learned elsewhere. Lu Dan isn't too old now, and he has a great future, so he naturally wants to follow you. I'm not as good; I don't have that much energy. Besides Lin Chengzhe, who's doing very well in the officialdom, everyone else is mixing in the business world."

Ye Tao hesitated for a moment and asked, "Has His Majesty really decided to let Weishi live in Yunzhou with us for a while?"

Tan Weixin said, "That's in the event that we fail to persuade her. But basically, that's the way it is. The little girl isn't so easily persuaded. Anyway, no matter what the little girl does, and no matter whether Lu Dan really has something going on, Lu Dan probably won't want to set foot in Yunzhou in the future. According to Father's personality, he'll probably send him to a more distant place, like… Yicheng."

Ye Tao's face twisted, looking troubled. He somewhat believed that Tan Weishi hadn't really fallen in love with anyone but was just rebelling against her father, as Tan Weishi herself had said. And everything else was a coincidence. However, it seemed that Tan Weixin was largely responsible for this coincidence. It was the responsibility of every time-traveler to be a plagiarist. It wasn't surprising for an older sister to copy some poems to embolden her younger sister, except that a certain good man who traveled to the Tang Dynasty copied them in batches, preparing them as a family legacy. But causing such a misunderstanding was not what they wanted to see. But now there was no way to explain such a thing… Words express the heart. Yes, if Tan Weixin confessed that she had actually "written" these poems, the trouble wouldn't be much less than it was now. And at that time, he would undoubtedly be implicated. It wasn't easy to be a plagiarist. Before copying, you must pay attention to the causes and consequences and to the various meanings implied in the poems…

"But it's not a pity, anyway, Lu Dan has nothing to do in the Road and Bridge Department. In the end, wouldn't he be thrown to the workshop to be Qian Shun's assistant… If he's exiled to Yicheng, it's still a good thing to have someone to take care of him. Speaking of which, Governor-General Peng is finally going to be promoted?"

A very complex smile appeared on Tan Weixin's face. In her opinion, Peng Detian's promotion was a very, very small matter. She said with a mysterious meaning, "How do you know you can still stay in the Road and Bridge Department?"

Ye Tao looked at Tan Weixin. Without a doubt, Tan Weixin knew something he didn't.