“What Jiu’er means is, did Feng Qingyin also set out with the army?” Qiao Mu frowned and asked.

“By the timing, the army the Crown Prince is leading should be arriving in the next few days or so.”

Feng Jiu’er drew her gaze back from Jian Yi to look at Qiao Mu, nodding, then shaking her head.

“For Feng Qingyin, a Noble Consort, to follow the Crown Prince out to war — that’s far too unreasonable.”

“Unless…” Feng Jiu’er looked again at Jian Yi, whose face had already changed color. “Unless what? Jian Yi, do you know something?”

Something this far outside the bounds of reason — Nanmeng Rong had done something like it before, but at least he’d had the Crown Prince’s backing, and the whole strength of the Nanmeng clan behind him. What did Feng Qingyin have?

Seeing Jian Yi looking somewhat agitated, Feng Jiu’er felt even more certain that he knew something about the situation.

She let out a faint sigh and said gently, “All right, if it’s really too hard to say, you don’t have to.”

“At least I know Feng Qingyin really has come, whatever excuse she found to do it.”

“Jiu’er.” Jian Yi looked at Feng Jiu’er and called out softly.

“All right, I said I won’t push you, really!” Meeting Jian Yi’s somewhat anxious gaze, Feng Jiu’er nodded earnestly.

“I’m not angry, not disappointed. Everyone has their own privacy — you don’t have to tell me everything.”

Feng Jiu’er’s tone carried a faint heaviness. She wasn’t Jian Yi, and couldn’t fully understand his feelings from his point of view.

As friends, she didn’t want to see Jian Yi hurt.

Letting out a faint sigh, Feng Jiu’er stood up and walked over to stand before Jian Yi.

“I may be your boss, but even a boss has no right to interfere with your private affairs.”

“But I do want to remind you — if you really mean to let go of Feng Qingyin, you should face it bravely, instead of staying like this.”

“The moment her name comes up, your face changes. If you keep going on like this, you’ll never be able to forget her for the rest of your life.”

Comforting someone really wasn’t easy — especially when the one being comforted was someone as straightforward as Hero Jian Yi.

Feng Jiu’er looked at Jian Yi, pressing her lips together slightly, blinking. “Be brave about it, understand?”

“I don’t have feelings for Feng Qingyin.” Jian Yi shook his head.

Feng Jiu’er let the smile fade from her face, her fine moth brows furrowing as she gently patted Jian Yi’s shoulder.

“Fine, I believe you. Qiao Mu and I both believe you — you don’t have feelings for Feng Qingyin, you just don’t want to bring her up, is that it?”

“You’re lying! You don’t believe me at all.” Jian Yi’s voice rose.

Watching him scold her so naturally, without the slightest hint of real anger, Feng Jiu’er genuinely didn’t know what to say next.

She had been lying, true enough — but he had lied too, claiming he had no feelings for Feng Qingyin.

Maybe it wasn’t that he didn’t have feelings — just that he didn’t want to admit it. Feng Jiu’er could understand that much.

Still, with Hero Jian Yi so bluntly telling her she was lying, what else could she say?

Blinking, Feng Jiu’er stood there, at a loss for words.

“Jiu’er, don’t waste so much reasoning on him — this guy’s one-track minded, he won’t understand even if you explain it.” Qiao Mu, unable to stand watching any longer, stood up and walked over.

“I really don’t have feelings for Feng Qingyin.” Jian Yi looked at Feng Jiu’er, his thick brows knitting, his expression turning serious.

Feng Jiu’er had never been able to dismiss him when he was this serious.

Pressing her lips together, Feng Jiu’er asked quietly, “If you don’t have feelings for Feng Qingyin, then why does your face look like this every time her name comes up…”

Feng Jiu’er reached out and brushed the furrow between Jian Yi’s brows.

Seeing Hero Jian Yi like this, even she found it hard to fully believe him.

“That night, I saw Feng Qingyin…” Before Jian Yi could finish, his breathing grew heavier again.

Not just Feng Jiu’er — even Qiao Mu grew anxious watching him like this.

Watching him, Feng Jiu’er even began to wonder whether their dear Hero Jian Yi had seen something he shouldn’t have, leaving some kind of scar from his childhood.

Though that “childhood” notion was a bit of a stretch — the man was, after all, a strikingly handsome grown man.

“Jian Yi, you weren’t taken advantage of by Feng Qingyin, were you?” Qiao Mu looked at Jian Yi with a mix of pity and shock.

He wasn’t her man, but Jian Yi was still such a fine-looking man, and so innocent besides — if he really had been mistreated by Feng Qingyin, it would ache her heart too.

A woman like Feng Qingyin — how could she ever deserve their Jian Yi?

“You’re the one who got taken advantage of!” Jian Yi shot Qiao Mu a glare, then turned his back to the two women.

“That night in the palace, the Crown Prince got drunk in the Little Golden Chrysanthemum Grove, and Feng Qingyin took the chance to… maybe that’s why she ended up with him.”

Getting the words out in one breath, Jian Yi strode out without even looking back.

Qiao Mu and Feng Jiu’er turned together, staring in astonishment at the tent flap falling shut behind him, taking a long moment to process it.

After some time, Qiao Mu turned her head to look at Feng Jiu’er, patting her chest. “Well, at least it wasn’t Jian Yi who got the bad end of it.”

Qiao Mu’s words pulled Feng Jiu’er’s mind back.

That Feng Qingyin could do something like this — no wonder Jian Yi had left her behind.

Only — why did it have to happen in the Little Golden Chrysanthemum Grove?

“This Feng Qingyin really is something. As a Noble Consort, to take advantage of the Crown Prince while he was drunk and force… how outrageous! What kind of person does that? Disgraceful!”

“Qiao Mu, what are you saying?” Feng Jiu’er pressed her lips together and looked up at Qiao Mu.

“Doesn’t Jiu’er think so too? If the Crown Prince actually liked Feng Qingyin, there’d have been no need to involve that old man, the Emperor, at all.”

Though it hadn’t been Jian Yi on the losing end, Qiao Mu still felt a flash of anger.

In her heart, a woman like Feng Qingyin didn’t deserve any man at all.

“So there’s no way the Crown Prince could actually like Feng Qingyin — and on top of that, Feng Qingyin is his own father’s consort. For her to take advantage of the Crown Prince while he was drunk — hmph!”

“Jian Yi said the Crown Prince was drunk at the time?” Feng Jiu’er composed herself, as if she could picture the scene.

No matter how you looked at it, there had never been a future between her and the Crown Prince — yet hearing this news, even though she had no feelings for him, it still didn’t sit easy in her heart.

If Feng Qingyin weren’t a Noble Consort, it would be one thing — but for this woman, already holding that title, to do something like this to him —

For a man who wasn’t even hers, Feng Jiu’er didn’t know why she was thinking about it so much. But why did it have to happen in the Little Golden Chrysanthemum Grove?

“Jiu’er, are you all right?” Qiao Mu looked at Feng Jiu’er, brows knitting, and asked softly.

“I’m fine.” Feng Jiu’er shook her head, letting out a faint sigh. “At least it wasn’t Jian Yi who got the bad end of it.”

Recalling Jian Yi’s expression when Qiao Mu had asked if he’d been mistreated by Feng Qingyin, Feng Jiu’er’s mood finally lifted a little.

She had so much of her own to deal with — what time did she have to worry about other people’s affairs? Perhaps she was simply overthinking it all.

At least Jian Yi’s sour mood hadn’t been because he couldn’t let go of Feng Qingyin — otherwise, this encounter would surely have turned into a real headache.