“You—” Jian Yi was about to push Feng Jiu’er off.

But Jiu’er’s hand landed at his side — and suddenly gave a pinch.

Jian Yi had never known until this moment that he was this ticklish.

The instant Jiu’er touched him, he burst into laughter: “You— hahaha, hahahaha— stop— hahaha hahaha—”

Feng Jiu’er was a little dumbstruck. She had tickled him on purpose, yes, but someone being this ticklish was a genuinely rare sight.

She gave another pinch. Jian Yi laughed until he could barely breathe.

He wanted to push her off, but feared that in his uncontrolled state he might accidentally hurt her.

He was laughing so hard he was nearly suffering internal injury! This girl!

“Stop… stop— haha— stop— hahahahaha—”

Wuyou stood outside the door, his raised hand suspended in the air, uncertain whether to knock.

He knew that Jian Yi had come. An’bao had told him — a young swordsman named Jian Yi had arrived.

He also knew that when he had placed the gu toxin on Jiu’er, the precaution he had taken would inevitably lead to this kind of outcome.

Jiu’er had not entirely forgotten her past — rather, her memories were gradually returning.

The gu toxin he had used was not the one the Emperor had given him. It was one he had personally refined, fed and nurtured with his own heart’s blood.

And that gu toxin — it was not without a cure.

This was a capital offense. Yet he did not know why, at the time, he had made such a choice.

Perhaps it was because he did not want to spend the rest of his life in regret…

At last, the sounds inside grew somewhat quieter. Wuyou raised his hand and knocked gently on the door: “Princess, I have brought clothing for Young Swordsman Jian Yi.”

Jian Yi froze. He had barely managed to catch his breath, and now his expression turned grave.

It was Yanu! Everyone had been searching for Jiu’er, and searching for Yanu!

To think that Yanu truly was with Jiu’er!

So indeed, the person who had brought Jiu’er here had been him!

Feng Jiu’er pressed her hand over his lips and shook her head, gesturing for him to say nothing.

She remained seated atop Jian Yi and did not so much as glance toward the door: “Come in.”

Wuyou pushed the door open and entered — but to his complete surprise, beyond the folding screen, he saw Jiu’er seated atop a man.

Jian Yi? Why would he…

An’bao had said that Jian Yi was staying in the princess’s chambers to enter the consort selection — but was that not merely a pretext?

Why were Jian Yi and Jiu’er truly…

Jian Yi could no longer contain himself and sat bolt upright.

Jiu’er had not expected him to rise so abruptly. Caught off guard, she very nearly got thrown off.

Jian Yi’s large hand shot out and caught her, steadied her, then gently released her and set her to the side.

By the time Jiu’er had recovered from her surprise, Jian Yi’s tall figure was already standing directly in front of Wuyou.

His palm swept out — Wuyou instinctively felt a constriction around his throat, and with a crash he was slammed against the chair behind him.

“Who exactly are you? Why did you bring Jiu’er to this place? What are you trying to do?”

It confirmed it — Jian Yi did know Wuyou. Which meant Wuyou also knew the people currently staying at Night Prince’s manor.

As expected of Jian Yi, the straightforward kind — utterly incapable of concealing anything.

He had not even paused to consider: what if Wuyou was someone sent by her Imperial Father to probe for information? Had he not just completely undermined the position she had been carefully maintaining?

After all, she had still been holding to the pretense that Jian Yi had mistaken her for someone else.

Now, even she herself was no longer certain — whether Wuyou’s true loyalty lay with her, or with her Imperial Father.

“Jian Yi, what are you doing?” Jiu’er climbed off the bed and strode quickly to stand before Jian Yi, tugging at his hand.

“What are you doing? Let him go immediately — stop reaching for violence at every turn, you rough-handed brute!”

Jian Yi’s tone toward her remained relatively tempered: “It was this person who took you from our side, Jiu’er. He is a bad person!”

When he turned back to look at Wuyou, his eyes narrowed and the killing intent within them flared back to life.

Wuyou felt the grip at his throat tighten once more, his breath completely cut off.

Yet his composure never broke. He simply looked at Jian Yi with calm, unhurried eyes — without even the faintest inclination to resist.

Such quiet and willing submission — it was genuinely impossible to hate.

At least, Jiu’er found she could not hate him.

She tugged at Jian Yi again with force: “Let go now! Wuyou is my person! Do not harm him!”

“Wuyou?”

“Let go first!”

Feng Jiu’er glared at him. Watching Wuyou’s face slowly turning a purplish red, she grew alarmed: “If you do not let go right now, I will refuse to speak to you and all your friends — forever!”

Hearing this, Jian Yi hesitated only for a moment before immediately releasing Wuyou.

Wuyou steadied himself against the chair and drew in low, labored breaths.

The clothing he had been holding fell scattered across the floor.

On that elegant face, the purplish red gradually faded, leaving behind a sheet of bloodless white.

Jiu’er finally understood why, even knowing that Wuyou was her Imperial Father’s man, she still could not bring herself to hate him.

It was simply because he looked far too beautiful.

She never could bring herself to be ruthless toward handsome men. The more beautiful the man, the more easily her heart softened.

Goodness gracious — that was quite shameless of her!

“Jian Yi, I am warning you — do not harm him again, or I will send you away.” She shoved Jian Yi, her expression fierce.

Jian Yi was immediately aggrieved, and pointed at Wuyou: “He truly is a bad person! I am not lying to you!”

“He has never harmed me.” Jiu’er exhaled and shot him a pointed look. “Stop all this commotion. He came to bring clothing for you, and not only did you offer not a word of thanks, you tried to hurt him as well. That is entirely unreasonable.”

Jian Yi did not know how to make her understand — Yanu was no good man.

If not for Yanu, there would have been no reason for them to be separated, no injuries, no illness.

And then there was Jiu’er’s current condition…

He narrowed his eyes. When he looked at Wuyou again, the murderous intent in his gaze surged back up.

“What exactly did you do to her? Why does she have no memory of the past?”

Wuyou bent down and with unhurried composure gathered the clothing from the floor.

Then, he met Jian Yi’s gaze and said calmly: “She has always been the Feng Clan’s princess. I only returned the princess to the place she was always meant to be.”

“Nonsense! She is not some Feng Clan princess — she is of Bei Mu!”

“The princess is indeed the Feng Clan’s princess. As for the Feng Family of Bei Mu — they are not the princess’s true kin. The princess merely resided with the Feng Family for over a decade.”

Bei Mu, the Feng Family… Jiu’er’s brow furrowed slightly. It felt familiar — yet she still could not recall very much.

Jian Yi wanted to refute this, but found that in an instant, he had no solid ground on which to stand.

And who could say with certainty that Jiu’er truly was of the Feng Family — and not the Feng Clan’s princess?

Who could prove it?

But what manner of twisted reasoning was this?

Jiu’er was plainly of Bei Mu’s Feng Family, the daughter of Feng Junzhuo.

Jian Yi felt his head spinning — by the end of it, even his own argument could no longer hold.

“Feng Junzhuo is not Jiu’er’s birth father.” Wuyou glanced at Jian Yi, then turned to look at Feng Jiu’er, his expression wholly earnest: “Princess — perhaps I have deceived you in the past. But the princess is truly a princess. On this point, I ask the princess to please believe it without doubt.”