Five years passed in quiet, steady rhythm at the Bai family's new residence.
Days flowed like gentle spring water—calm, fragrant, and nurturing—each one carrying Bai Rouyuan further away from the shadow of her past and deeper into the bright future she was shaping with her own hands.
Under Master Shen Yuelian's Guidance
Master Su Yuelian, a divine physician from Shenglian Ge — the Sacred Lotus Pavilion of the Southern Silk Region became a calm but firm presence in the household.
Each morning, Rouyuan walked with her master along the garden paths as dew glistened on the grass.
"Feel the pulse not with your fingers," Master Su often said,
guiding Rouyuan's wrist gently, "but with your spirit."
Rouyuan listened intently, absorbing every word.
She learned to identify herbs with only a glance,
To control temperature with perfect precision while brewing medicine,
To recognize patterns of sickness through pulse and scent.
Her master would sometimes smile—
not often, but softly, with pride hidden in her eyes.
"You learn quickly, child," Master Su said one morning.
"Your heart is steady. Your mind sharper than most adults."
Rouyuan bowed deeply.
"To heal is my wish."
Su Yuelian tapped her forehead lightly.
"To heal is easy. To save is harder."
"But you… you have the will to do both."
Rouyuan felt warmth bloom in her chest.
Learning Martial Arts from Bai Yunchen
Every afternoon, after lessons with her master,
Rouyuan trained with Bai Yunchen in the back courtyard.
Bai Yunchen was strict, colder than Su Yuelian but patient in his own way.
"Again," he said, gently correcting her stance.
"Your left foot is too light."
Rouyuan wiped sweat from her brow.
"But I'm small…"
"You're small now," Bai Yunchen replied, tapping her forehead.
"But you won't stay that way."
Xiaoya sat on the steps cheering, while Bai Yanyu—quiet and thoughtful—observed techniques,
like he was memorizing strategies instead of movements.
Though her arms trembled, Rouyuan persisted.
"I won't let anyone hurt you again, Yu Ge," she once told Bai Yanyu during training.
Bai Yunchen heard her.
His hand paused mid-motion before he whispered, barely audible:
"No one will touch both of you. Not while I'm here."
The siblings grew close—closer than most noble families ever allowed themselves to be.
Bai Yanyu's Growing Talent
Bai Yanyu, once weak and timid, became an unexpected prodigy under Yunchen's stories of battlefield tactics.
He often sat at the round stone table with scrolls nearly bigger than he was.
"Ge," Bai Yanyu asked one night, "If you flank from the east, but the enemy expects it, what would you do?"
"Create noise from the east," Bai Yunchen answered calmly.
"Strike from the west."
Yanyu's eyes shone like stars.
"Brilliant…"
Soon, even Bai Longyuan noticed.
One evening, Bai Longyuan found Bai Yanyu explaining a three-layer defensive formation using pebbles in the courtyard.
"Yu Er has a strategist's mind," Bai Longyuan murmured.
Rouyuan smiled proudly.
"We all grow differently, Dad."
Her gentle words made Bai Longyuan's stern face soften.
"My children… you all shine on your own way."
Five Years of Peace
The Bai household healed.
Bai Rouyuan's beauty returned slowly, the scar fading with her own herbal medicine until only a faint trace remained—one she kept hidden beneath her soft miansha face veil.
The family grew stronger.
Happier.
United.
Time moved like a quiet river…
Until the river suddenly froze.
The Summons
It was late autumn when the imperial messenger arrived.
The garden was filled with falling red leaves when Bai Longyuan broke the red-lacquered seal.
His brows drew together.
Bai Yunchen, now eighteen, tall as a pine tree, stood beside him silently.
"What is it, Dad?" Rouyuan asked, setting down her herb basket.
Bai Longyuan exhaled deeply.
"The northern borders," he said.
"The neighbouring kingdom stirs again."
"A great war is rising."
Rouyuan felt her heart tighten.
Bai Yanyu dropped his brush.
Xiaoya clutched Rouyuan's sleeve.
Bai Yunchen lowered his gaze, waiting.
Bai Longyuan looked at all of them with steady eyes.
"Me and your brother have been summoned," he said gravely.
"To march with the Marshal of the Northern Frontier Region—Prince Murong Yexuan."
A cold wind swept through the courtyard.
Bai Yunchen bowed his head.
"When do we leave?"
Bai Longyuan's answer felt heavy as stone.
"In three days."
Rouyuan's breath caught.
Her peaceful years were ending.
Slowly, she pulls down her Miànjīn …
and stared at the red seal in her father's hand.
War was coming.
And with it…the beginning of her true destiny.