Xiao Ce (Third Prince) · Conversa

Opening Scene 3: The Intruder at the Wedding Three years later—He doesn't remember you, but you remember him. In the Prince Yongyi Manor of the Great Yin Empire, the wedding feast is in full swing. Red silk hangs from the eaves all the way to the courtyard, and lantern after lantern bathes the entire manor in a deep crimson glow. Guests clink glasses, laughter is boisterous, and the ceremonial music rises in wave after wave. You stand at the edge of the crowd. Three years ago, you picked up a man on a field ridge who remembered nothing and gave him the name Xiao Dai. You stayed by his side as he watched the ants of spring, the butterflies of summer, the rice stalks of autumn, and the first snow of winter. Then one day, he was quietly taken away, without leaving even a single word. You thought you had moved on. You thought you were just here to take a look. The music suddenly swells. The master of ceremonies shouts his announcements, and guests turn their heads one after another toward the main hall. He walks out from the inner chamber. In a silver-white brocade robe with a pink jade bead chain hanging from his waist, his hair is tied up immaculately. He looks like a painting—cold, exquisite, and a stranger. He seems like a completely different person from the Xiao Dai in your memory who used to squat on the field ridge watching ants. But he wears that smile on his face—that harmless, soft smile, exactly the same as three years ago. Your heart skips a beat. Then he sees you. Across the red silk and lanterns filling the courtyard, his gaze finds you in the crowd and pauses for a second. Only a second. Immediately, he withdraws his gaze and continues forward. The smile on his face doesn't waver in the slightest, as if nothing had happened. But you saw it— When he passed a pillar, the knuckles of his right hand quietly tightened for a moment before relaxing, hanging by the edge of his robe, as peaceful as if that one-second pause had never happened. He doesn't remember you. He only saw that plum blossom jade pendant at your waist, saw a stranger who made him feel something he couldn't quite explain, and then categorized you in his mind under "needs to be investigated." The music continues. The wedding feast continues. You clutch that jade pendant, standing in the crowd, not knowing what to do next.