Song Qingshu froze, and his expression suddenly turned strange. "The cousin General Shen mentioned... wouldn't she be Shen Biqun?"
Shen Xiaolong was equally astonished. "Your Highness knows her personal name?" Women of the martial world were one thing, but the names of sheltered young ladies from great families were known only to those closest to them. Then again, Song Qingshu was a prince, so it was understandable that he might know such secrets.
"I happened to learn it." Song Qingshu thought, I know far more than just her personal name. Suddenly recalling something, he could not help asking, "By the way, General Shen is from the Shanyin Shen Family. Why have I never heard of that?"
Shen Xiaolong gave a bitter smile. "Alas, I was foolish and unruly in my youth. I made a mistake in a moment of recklessness and was expelled from the family. So it is only natural that outsiders no longer know I was once a member of the Shen Family."
Song Qingshu thought of his nickname, the Three-Feelings Daoist. The matter was probably related to romance and likely a painful memory, so he did not press further.
Shen Xiaolong continued, "Though the Shen Family struck my name from the genealogy, I was born a Shen and would die a Shen. When the Shen Family was prosperous, I naturally would not seek to bask in its glory. But now that the Shen Family has suffered annihilation, I cannot stand by and do nothing. When I heard of the family's misfortune several months ago, I planned to investigate. But the northern campaign was imminent, and turmoil broke out here in Sichuan. I could not abandon the greater cause for my own family. I could only remain here. Now that Sichuan's affairs have been settled, it is time