The meat skewer was brought to Zhan Luori’s lips, and she actually ate it.

Hong Ying watched her mistress with unease in her heart. Her mistress was never the sort of person who was greedy for food — anything that did not look presentable, she would absolutely refuse to touch.

Today, she had no idea what had come over her. To have shown such interest in something this unappetizing to look at.

Feng Jiu’er herself was not anxious in the slightest. This particular combination of flavors had been selected by people of the modern world through countless rounds of trial and refinement.

Something chosen with such careful precision — how could it not be good?

That said, she had not been entirely calm this evening. Her gaze kept sweeping around, as though she were looking for an opportunity to leave.

“Something urgent?” Zhan Luori noticed.

“Yes.” Feng Jiu’er had no intention of hiding it. She offered a brief explanation to the group, and once they understood how to carry on with the barbecue, she intended to leave.

Huo Yan and Officer Yan stood to one side keeping watch. Watching Zhan Luori finish her food with an expression of unmistakable wanting-more, neither of them quite knew whether to feel relieved or tense.

That look — was it a sign that she wanted another skewer? The Seventh Princess had such a distinguished constitution — if she had too many of these skewers, would it upset her?

“Officer Huo, could I have a word with you in private?” Feng Jiu’er suddenly got to her feet.

Zhan Luori’s brow gave a faint crease. This girl was trying to leave.

Huo Yan could see that the Seventh Princess was slightly displeased, yet it was also not possible to simply ignore Feng Jiu’er.

“Is there something you cannot say here?” With the Princess still present, leaving at will seemed inappropriate.

Zhan Luori, however, said, “As you please.”

Feng Jiu’er glanced at Huo Yan. Huo Yan had no choice but to say, “Then, Your Highness, this subordinate will take his leave.”

Zhan Luori gave a slight nod. Feng Jiu’er and Huo Yan moved off to one side, and Feng Jiu’er lowered her voice to ask, “When do you think the Ninth Prince will finish dealing with the matters at the Martial Training Tower?”

“Is something the matter?”

“Of course something is the matter.” Would she go looking for the Ninth Prince without a reason?

She had been genuinely careless earlier — after being hunted by Black and White Impermanence, she had completely forgotten about something so important.

Huo Yan hesitated briefly, then said, “His Highness’s affairs are not something I have full knowledge of — it’s hard to say.”

“All right. Officer Huo, my duties here are finished for now. I’m going over to the Martial Training Tower. You and the others carry on.”

Feng Jiu’er clasped her hands in a brief salute and turned to leave.

“But then, the Seventh Princess…” Huo Yan was genuinely helpless. This girl Feng Jiu’er was gone the moment she decided to go — she had not even glanced back.

Did she not know that the Seventh Princess seemed to have taken a particular interest in her? If she left and the Seventh Princess was displeased, what then?

Feng Jiu’er naturally paid no thought to any of this. It had not occurred to her that the Seventh Princess coming here had any particular connection to herself.

However, she had not gone far from the crowd when a flash of a blue-green figure appeared before her, and Zhan Luori’s tall, imposing frame was already standing in her path.

Every time Feng Jiu’er came too close to Zhan Luori, she felt an overwhelming pressure.

Even for a man, that height would have been exceptional — one in a hundred thousand. Close to 190 centimeters, which was no different from Ninth Imperial Uncle.

But the person standing before her was undeniably a young woman. A young woman of 190 centimeters walking beside you — what kind of feeling was that?

If you had never experienced it, there was no imagining it.

“Seventh Princess, is there something you need?” Stepping right into her path like that, so towering and imposing — did she know how alarming that was?

“Where are you going?” Zhan Luori fell into step beside her, and the two of them were actually heading back toward the academy’s rear gate together.

“I…”

“Looking for Ninth Imperial Uncle?” Zhan Luori raised an eyebrow.

Feng Jiu’er’s heart gave a small startled jolt — she let her guard slip a fraction: “I’m just feeling tired and would like to go back and rest. Seventh Princess, where are you headed? I’ll walk you.”

Get her sent on her way sooner, and she could go look for Ninth Imperial Uncle earlier. She really did have something important to discuss with him.

“No. I simply want to walk along with you for a bit. Wherever you go, I’ll keep you company.” Zhan Luori walked beside her, and it was plain she had no intention of leaving.

Feng Jiu’er was troubled. This was going to be difficult — was the Seventh Princess intent on sticking by her side?

She managed a faint smile. “Seventh Princess, is there something I’ve done to offend you? I’ll make my apologies — please, Your Highness, grant me your pardon.”

“How have you offended me?” Zhan Luori raised her brow and looked down at her.

There was no denying it — walking alongside this princess gave not the faintest feeling of being in the company of a young woman.

Bluntly put, it was exactly like walking beside a tall, handsome, and dashing young man.

If Zhan Luori’s looks and bearing were those of a man, she would absolutely be a strikingly beautiful one. But she was genuinely a young woman.

The lineage of the imperial family — who could possibly doubt that? That would be a capital offense.

Most likely it was because Zhan Luori was truly so tall — taller even than a top model — that her presence made anyone walking beside her feel thoroughly overwhelmed.

Feng Jiu’er did not know how to respond to that question. Why had she offended her? Surely only the Seventh Princess herself could know the answer.

“Do you think I’m making things difficult for you?” Zhan Luori’s gaze settled on her face — cool and unreadable, utterly impossible to decipher.

Feng Jiu’er pressed her lips together and said nothing.

Was it not? If it was not, then why was she deliberately keeping by her side?

“I simply find you rather interesting, little one — and I wanted to know more about you.” Zhan Luori looked ahead. Walking like this beside her, she looked genuinely striking.

Feng Jiu’er actually felt a flicker of envy. A young woman who could carry herself with such striking presence, with every movement and gesture carrying the relaxed, refined bearing of a gentleman — how wonderful that must be.

A young woman commanding such a grand and distinguished air truly inspired admiration.

She herself could never possess a temperament like that. The feeling this Seventh Princess gave people was truly one without even a trace of feminine delicacy.

Magnanimous, noble, resolute, composed — and even being just a young woman, walking beside you somehow conveyed a sense of, well, an overwhelming feeling of security. The protective energy was absolutely off the charts.

But right now, walking beside her — the pressure was also absolutely off the charts.

She still needed to find Ninth Imperial Uncle. What was she going to do?

“I can see you have no intention of going back to your room to rest. Word is that the Martial Training Tower is conducting an interrogation of students who were previously detained. Shall we go and have a look together?”

Zhan Luori dropped those words and then took the lead, stepping through the academy’s rear gate and making her way toward the Martial Training Tower.

She knew about this too…

Feng Jiu’er felt a measure of puzzlement in her heart, but quickened her pace and followed after her all the same.

Over at the Martial Training Tower, the interrogation was indeed still ongoing — though it was approaching its conclusion.

Zhan Luori seemed thoroughly familiar with the place. Without announcing her arrival to anyone, she walked straight in — and brought Feng Jiu’er with her.

“Ninth Imperial Uncle, has everything not yet concluded?” From the look of things, the Seventh Princess and the Ninth Prince appeared to be on rather good terms.

“Mm.” Zhan Qingcheng, seated in his chair, gave a nod, but his gaze shifted past Zhan Luori and fell upon Feng Jiu’er, who stood behind her. “Come here.”

But Feng Jiu’er, upon stepping through the door, had swept her eyes across the ring of people standing below — and her gaze settled on Mu Mu.

There were things she wanted to say to him, but in the end she said nothing at all. She was simply too focused on him, and had not even noticed that Ninth Imperial Uncle was calling out to her.