The full moon had shifted westward.

Looking back toward Hangzhou Bay, white waves still towered to the sky, but where they were now, near the outer bay, it was much calmer.

Meihong gently stroked Meng Jianqing’s slightly furrowed brow, whispering, “Do you regret it?”

Meng Jianqing pillowed his head on his arm and gazed thoughtfully at the cabin ceiling. After a while, he said, “I don’t regret it.” Pausing, he added, “What was that fragrance?”

Meihong bit her lip and said softly, “Just the usual incense we use on boats.”

Meng Jianqing smiled, “Don’t take it to heart—I was just thinking that though I’ve seen much of the world, I’ve never encountered anything so exquisite.”

So delicate and lingering, it seemed to penetrate one’s very bones.

Yet perhaps this was merely his imagination. What made him burn wasn’t this clinging incense, but the desire that had long slumbered or been bound within his own body.

Meihong smiled charmingly, lying against his chest with her thick hair carrying a faint fragrance across his face, saying with amusement, “Mixing official business with personal matters like this—Monk Shen might cut off your head.”

Meng Jianqing was slightly surprised. “You call him ‘Monk Shen’?”

Meihong pursed her lips with a smile, “It’s not as if no one knows your Commander Shen used to be a monk. What else would we call him but ‘Monk Shen’?”

Meng Jianqing was silent for a moment, then asked, “What else do you know?”

Feeling his slightly quickened heartbeat, Meihong looked up at him in surprise, “Does this matter to you greatly? Honestly, that’s all we know about Shen Guangli. Oh, and there’s suddenly a young woman by Shen Guangli’s side—must be his daughter, she looks so much like him.”

Meng Jianqing smiled slightly. “Your information network is quite thorough.”

Meihong lay back down and said softly, “Shen Guangli pushing his capable assistant out to die wouldn’t just be to explain things to Xiaoxi Tian and sacrifice a pawn to save the rook, would it? Are there other reasons?”

Meng Jianqing smiled, “I shouldn’t have been too curious about that, Miss Shen, investigating her background, which is to say, Commander Shen’s background.”

Meihong’s brow furrowed, “Do you like her? Does Monk Shen think you’re not worthy, so he wants to eliminate you by various means?”

Meng Jianqing couldn’t tell if the jealousy in her words was real or feigned—perhaps she couldn’t distinguish.

Meng Jianqing said, “Didn’t you also say that Miss Shen looks very much like Commander Shen? Honestly, seeing her is almost like seeing Commander Shen himself. Think about it—which of us would dare provoke her?”

Facing the same face day and night, which constantly made them walk on thin ice and break into cold sweats, would probably give them nightmares.

Meihong hummed softly, “That’s hard to say.”

Though her words were reproachful, her tone was so tender and melodious that it was intoxicating.

In the dark cabin, listening to the sound of waves outside and whispers beside his ear, Meng Jianqing couldn’t help feeling waves of bewilderment.

Ah, if this truly was a dream, he wished to remain intoxicated and never wake.

Meihong suddenly said, “The tide is about to turn.”

If their boat didn’t reach shore in time, it would drift out to sea with the tide until the next high tide.

Yet neither of them seemed to care about spending a day drifting at sea.

Meng Jianqing turned his head, looking at Meihong’s bright eyes in the darkness. “You won’t come with me to Xiaoxi Tian, will you?”

Meihong pouted, “Really spoiling the mood, always bringing up this matter. Monk Shen probably expected I wouldn’t go. Even if you kidnapped me, I’d never say what you want to hear, yet he still sent you—I don’t believe you didn’t think of this beforehand. Why didn’t you refuse? Don’t give me nonsense about ‘being in the martial world, one’s body is not one’s own.’ You have Jiangwu Hall as your powerful backing. Someone as shrewd as Monk Shen wouldn’t easily offend Jiangwu Hall—he’d never cut off your head just for refusing this case.”

Meng Jianqing was silent for a long time before saying, “I just feel that in life, one is like a boat going against the current—if you don’t advance, you retreat. So one must keep moving forward step by step.”

He could not and would not retreat.

Meihong was startled, then said, “No wonder you’re named ‘Jianqing’ but use a blade instead of a sword. Ten years to master the sword, five years the blade—someone like you certainly wouldn’t wait ten years. I’m beginning to understand why you joined the Imperial Guard after graduating from Jiangwu Hall. In terms of official position, you probably can’t match many of your classmates, but in terms of power and influence, probably few among your classmates can match you.”

Meng Jianqing laughed, “You sound rather like our Commander Shen. That’s probably what he’s thinking when he sizes us up.”

Meihong giggled, “Comparing me to your Commander Shen—watch out if Commander Shen finds out!”

Meng Jianqing knew Meihong was trying to figure him out. When she truly understood him completely, he might end up like Limu, unable to escape her grasp, willingly following her demands regardless of cost.

Yet revealing himself was such a pleasant thing.

Having someone who could listen, who could understand the layers of worry in his heart and the desires beating their wings in his chest—how dangerous yet how unspeakably joyful…

Meng Jianqing felt he was playing with fire, such beautiful flames that might soon consume him…

The boat suddenly lurched—probably a wave crest passing beneath.

The tide was beginning to turn.

Meihong said with a sigh, “If I don’t go with you, or don’t listen to you, what will you do?”

That steel-cold, unshakeable conviction wrapped in sweet murmurs pierced like a short blade into one’s heart, yet carried such tempting tenderness.

Meng Jianqing watched her intently. “What would make you agree?”

Meihong smiled charmingly, “If you help me obtain something, I might agree.”