Extra: Shaoqi, Beyond Romance (Part One)

My father was a great hero revered by all under heaven. My mother was gentle, beautiful, and famed throughout the martial world...

I was born into privilege, with both parents alive, doted on endlessly in my childhood. I thought my life would always be so wonderful—until my mother suddenly passed away.

At that age, I was too young to understand what 'passing away' meant. I searched everywhere for my mother, begged my father to bring her back. I wanted my mother!

My father comforted me, stayed by my side, and explained what death meant. He told me that Mother was watching me from the sky; he told me she would never return...

In my memory, that was when Father was at his best to me. But after that...

That was when I met Aunt Mona. I don't know how Aunt Mona appeared in Skyvault Palace, only that she was like my mother. Being with Aunt Mona felt like being with my real mom. Back then, I would sneak out every day just to find her.

Aunt Mona was beautiful and patient. She didn't know who I was, but she still comforted me and kept me company. In those days when I missed my mother the most, it was Aunt Mona who helped me through the worst, who helped me out of my grief over losing my mother...

I liked Aunt Mona very much—just like I liked my mother. I asked her: "Aunt Mona, will you be my mother? My father is a great hero, he'll treat you so, so well. I'll treat you well too. And if I have little brothers or sisters in the future, I'll take care of them too."

From the servants, I learned that Father would marry a new wife. I didn't know what a 'second wife' meant, but they told me it meant a new mother.

Since she would be my new mother, I wanted it to be someone I liked. Otherwise, I wouldn't call that woman 'Mother.' In my heart, the only one who could be my mother—besides my real mother who had died—was Aunt Mona.

Unfortunately, Aunt Mona refused. She said that no matter how great a hero my father was, he was not her true love.

I didn't understand. I only knew that my father was the best, and Aunt Mona was the best woman besides my mother. If I liked someone, surely Father would too; if Aunt Mona liked me, she would surely like my father as well.

Since Aunt Mona wouldn't agree, I went to Father and told him I'd found a new mother.

At that time, Father still cherished me deeply. After all, I was his first child—the only one left to him by the woman he loved most. When he heard what I said, he didn't treat it as childish nonsense. Instead, he seriously asked about Aunt Mona.

Father said that as long as I liked her, even if she came from the humblest background, he would marry her.

I wanted Father to marry Aunt Mona, so I praised her to the skies in front of him. To convince him, I secretly led Father to find Aunt Mona...

That day, Aunt Mona wore a plain blue dress, leaning against a peach tree, her radiant smile dazzling my eyes...

Peach blossoms drifted down as Aunt Mona smiled up at the sky, letting pink petals swirl all around her...

Aunt Mona was truly beautiful—there was no doubt about that. If she hadn't been so beautiful, even the loveliest scene wouldn't have made Father fall for her at first sight.

Father must have been mesmerized. He didn't come out to meet Aunt Mona, but watched her from afar. Even when Aunt Mona left, she never knew Father had seen her.

After Father returned, he was in a state of excitement. He told me he would definitely marry Aunt Mona as my new mother.

Back then, I was just happy—I didn't notice anything unusual about Father, nor did I know that he would soon disguise himself as an ordinary man to test Aunt Mona...

As they spent more time together, Father became more and more infatuated—he was determined to marry no one but Aunt Mona.

Father confessed his identity to Aunt Mona and proposed to her. But Aunt Mona refused—even though she was just a slave girl sent to Skyvault Palace, she still turned down the Palace Master's proposal.

Aunt Mona said it was a mismatch in status—we weren't a good match, and she wasn't worthy of the Skyvault Palace Master.

It was only later that I realized Aunt Mona didn't think she was unworthy of Father—she simply didn't think much of him at all.

I have to admit, Aunt Mona had good judgment. If it weren't for Father's luck in being the Palace Master of Skyvault, with his lovesick, spineless ways—living and dying for a woman, letting himself be led around in circles—how could he ever be worthy of my mother, or Aunt Mona?

I don't know what happened after that. Father and Aunt Mona hid it from me with perfect understanding. All I knew was that Aunt Mona wouldn't marry Father. I was disappointed, but with Aunt Mona's gentle persuasion, I came to accept that she couldn't be my mother.

Since Aunt Mona couldn't be my mother, then her future daughter could be my wife—someone to stay by my side for life...

Aunt Mona was so wonderful—her daughter would surely be wonderful too. Just like my own mother was wonderful, so I turned out well.

That day, Aunt Mona told me she was leaving and wouldn't be able to play with me anymore.

I had always known Aunt Mona would leave, so I wasn't sad. I took off the jade pendant my mother left me and, very solemnly, promised myself that Aunt Mona's future daughter would be my wife.

Aunt Mona couldn't stop laughing, teasing that I was a silly child. What if her daughter turned out to be an ugly little thing?

"Even if Aunt Mona's daughter is an ugly little thing, I'll still like her. As long as she's as gentle as you, Aunt Mona, I'll treat her well all my life." With such a wonderful mother-in-law, even an ordinary-looking wife could be raised into a talented and beautiful lady.

After Aunt Mona left, I had decided on my future wife. I was full of hope for life and began to ask to study, determined to become a well-rounded man, because...

I didn't want to be unworthy of Aunt Mona's daughter.

My days became very busy and fulfilling, until one day, Father happily told me he was going to marry Aunt Mona.

I was puzzled—how could Aunt Mona agree to marry Father? But hearing the news, I was still happy. Even if I lost my future bride, I was happy. But...

Was Father joking with me?

Who was this woman?

Just because she looked like Aunt Mona and knew how to put on an act, people thought she was Aunt Mona. But this woman was nothing like Aunt Mona.

But no one believed me. Father seemed bewitched—he'd do anything for that woman, even abandon me...

I didn't understand. That woman who looked like Aunt Mona was nothing like her. Why wouldn't Father believe me? Why would he even hit me because of her?

That woman—gentle on the surface, but cruel and ruthless underneath—how could she possibly be Aunt Mona?

But...

With a stepmother comes a changed father. Under that woman's hints, Father believed I had improper feelings for Aunt Mona, that I opposed his marriage to her out of jealousy.

Hahaha...

I really wanted to laugh, but even more, I wanted to cry.

That woman accused a child of coveting his stepmother, and my father actually believed her—he truly thought I harbored an illicit love for Aunt Mona.

That man was truly disgusting. Did he think everyone else was as shameless as he was?

I think...

If I didn't share his blood, he would have killed me—killed the son he believed coveted his woman.

But everything he did was no different from killing me. He left me to fend for myself...