Shen Xiling felt rather embarrassed at being caught stealing a kiss, feeling her face grow warm. She didn’t dare look at Qi Ying, only nodded with reddened cheeks while shrinking into his embrace.

He apparently hadn’t noticed her shyness, only asking: “Did you sleep well?”

Shen Xiling nodded again with a red face, then turned to ask him: “What about you?”

He didn’t seem to have fully awakened yet, responding slowly. After a while, he gave a sound of acknowledgment.

This just-awakened state of his made Shen Xiling feel somewhat novel, and she was pleased to see yet another different side of him, causing the love in her heart to overflow even more.

She wanted him to hold her, but considering the injury on his back, she gave up on the idea. She only lifted her head from his embrace to look at him, asking with some concern: “Does the wound still hurt? Has it gotten better at all?”

He gave another sound of acknowledgment, still appearing somewhat languid, as if he would answer whatever was asked, which made Shen Xiling’s eyes curve into crescents with delight.

Ah, how could she like him so much…

She held back, but couldn’t resist. She leaned over and kissed Qi Ying’s cheek, then was immediately startled by her own boldness. Her face flushed red as she scrambled up from the bed in a panic, as if afraid he would laugh at her. She hurriedly got off the bed, speaking with feigned composure as if nothing had happened: “I… I’m hungry. I’m going to prepare some breakfast. Wait for me a moment, and we’ll eat together in a bit.”

Without waiting for Qi Ying’s response, she fled from the inner chamber like a wisp of smoke, disappearing in an instant.

Such haste made Qi Ying, who had come to his senses, laugh despite himself.

He sighed, then unhurriedly sat up on the bed, looking toward the direction where the little girl had escaped. Still feeling the lingering warmth she had left on his cheek, he chuckled helplessly: “Little coward…”

The two shared breakfast together in the small flower hall of Huaijin Courtyard.

Ever since the two had pledged their feelings to each other, Shen Xiling had often spent nights at Huaijin Courtyard. Now she frequently took her meals here as well, rarely returning to Woyue Courtyard. Even Shuipei and the others often took turns serving at Huaijin Courtyard, making this place much livelier.

That morning when they sat down at the table, Shen Xiling noticed that Qi Ying had changed clothes again, presumably because the servants had helped him change his medicine again while she was preparing breakfast.

Shen Xiling bit her chopsticks, glancing at Qi Ying with hesitation, remaining silent for a moment before asking with some uncertainty: “Young master’s injury… how exactly did it happen?”

In yesterday’s panic, she had been focused on his wound and hadn’t had the mental energy to ask about the cause and consequences. Now that she had come to her senses, she couldn’t suppress her desire to ask.

Hearing this, Qi Ying glanced at her, picked up a piece of pine mushroom for her, and answered lightly: “It’s nothing too serious.”

He began with such an understated opening, then proceeded to explain the whole cause and effect in just a few words.

Though his words were calm, they didn’t sound that way to Shen Xiling’s ears.

Although she knew little about court politics, having walked the commercial path for several years, she had some understanding of Great Liang’s political situation.

The Jiangzuo region had always valued aristocratic families. Besides the current three great surnames, there were countless other noble houses. Every year’s spring examinations recorded the sons of scholarly families, with only occasional one or two candidates from humble backgrounds making the list—either through extraordinary ancestral fortune or truly outstanding talent.

Now that Qi Ying had judged papers impartially and so clearly shown his intention to support the common-born scholars, let alone those who had long navigated court politics—even she could detect something unusual.

He… would get into big trouble because of this.

Shen Xiling’s brow furrowed. Before she could think of what to say, she heard a servant hurriedly running over to report something outside. Qing Zhu went out to listen and returned with an unpleasant expression, looking at Qi Ying with some difficulty, then at Shen Xiling, as if hesitating whether to speak in her presence.

With her keen sensitivity, Shen Xiling naturally understood this implication and was about to rise to avoid the awkwardness. But Qi Ying waved his hand, indicating she should sit and continue eating, casually saying to Qing Zhu: “It’s fine, speak.”

Hearing this, Qing Zhu raised his eyebrows, seeming quite surprised, but didn’t dare say much more. He only bowed and said: “Some people have come outside Fenghe Courtyard… saying they want to seek an audience with the young master.”

Shen Xiling was very clever. Though Qing Zhu’s words were euphemistic, she could read between the lines and already understood what had happened: presumably the people outside Fenghe Courtyard weren’t there to “seek an audience” with Qi Ying, but had come aggressively to demand an explanation from him—just like that General Han she had glimpsed through the door crack in Wangshi’s inner room three years ago, they had come to make trouble for Qi Ying.

Her heart clenched tightly.

But Qi Ying showed no reaction, remaining as calm and indifferent as ever, as if he had anticipated everything.

He took another bite of the noodles Shen Xiling had made, not even lifting his head as he said: “Go tell them that I’m recovering from my injuries and it’s inconvenient to receive guests.”

Qing Zhu accepted the order and hurried away.

Shen Xiling’s heart remained suspended, still feeling worried and not wanting any troublesome matters to find Qi Ying again.

Seeing her frowning with a troubled expression, Qi Ying smiled and, after thinking for a moment, said to her: “Yesterday when father learned of this matter, he was furious. My elder brother also disapproves, believing such matters should be pursued gradually and not rushed—what do you think?”

He looked at her with a gentle expression, as if asking casually on a whim.

Hearing this, Shen Xiling was startled but didn’t quite react at first.

He never voluntarily spoke to her about these court political matters, and had never asked for her thoughts on such things. So when she first heard this, she was somewhat dazed and forgot to respond. Qi Ying asked again, and only then did she come to her senses. After thinking, she answered with very determined expression: “The young master would never do anything wrong. It’s them who are wrong.”

She spoke with certainty, appearing very confident, which made Qi Ying raise his eyebrows.

He seemed to find it somewhat amusing, gestured toward the door, and asked her again: “But today many people came outside Fenghe Courtyard, and they all think I was wrong too.”

Shen Xiling didn’t even hesitate for a moment, immediately saying decisively: “Then they’re all wrong.”

Her expression was very serious, without a trace of hesitation or doubt. Everyone in that small flower hall at the time knew she was serious—she truly believed that even if everyone else was wrong, Qi Ying would not be wrong.

Such steadfast faith caused another kind of emotion to surface in Qi Ying’s eyes—difficult to analyze, yet inexplicably tender, and somewhat overwhelming.

He looked away, only acknowledging with a sound, but said nothing else.

Shen Xiling, however, had opened the floodgates of conversation. She pressed her lips together and, seeing that Qing Zhu hadn’t returned for a long time, wondered whether he had gotten lost or been detained by the people outside Fenghe Courtyard’s gate. After thinking, she felt that him getting lost in Fenghe Courtyard was rather unlikely—he had probably been detained—making her even more worried.

Her brow furrowed as she thought, then finally lifted her head to say to Qi Ying: “Young master, please continue your meal. I’ll go out and take a look.”

With that, she stood up and started walking out, looking quite aggressive, which startled Qi Ying.

He quickly grabbed her and asked: “What are you going to do?”

Shen Xiling turned back to look at him, her expression calm and very matter-of-fact as she said: “I’m afraid Qing Zhu can’t handle it alone. I’m going to help him drive those people away.”

Her expression when saying this was too serious, clearly taking on the stance of someone about to get into an argument, and she was obviously such a gentle and delicate person.

Qi Ying found it both amusing and helpless. He pulled her back to sit down, saying: “It’s not your turn to handle this. Eat properly.”

Shen Xiling seemed somewhat unconvinced, and as if eager to prove herself, she spoke faster as she looked at him: “I really can do it. When I used to go out to buy estates, I argued with people too and never lost—if you don’t believe me, ask Shuipei.”

This wasn’t false.

Actually, she was quite capable outside, especially when she had just started doing business. She dealt with all sorts of people, not all of whom were refined chief accountants—there were also many market-minded tenants and clerks. She had been intimidated at first, but gradually developed her skills. Now she could handle them with composure. If it came down to it, she could hold her own better than Qing Zhu. But Qi Ying always treated her like a child and always thought she would be bullied, never quite believing in her abilities.

Shuipei, suddenly called upon, became somewhat nervous, looking back and forth between her young mistress and the young master, not knowing how to respond.

Fortunately, the young master didn’t make things difficult for her and didn’t care how she answered. He only looked at their young mistress with helpless yet faintly doting eyes, repeatedly saying “I understand,” and half-seriously, half-jokingly coaxed: “Alright, next time I’ll let you go—eat first.”

Their young mistress frowned for a while upon hearing this, seeming quite dissatisfied. The young master coaxed her a few more times before she reluctantly picked up her chopsticks.

Shuipei and Fengshang exchanged glances, both secretly covering their mouths to laugh, thinking: what next time? This morning Qing Zhu had just driven people away—who would be so blind as to come calling again? The young master was clearly just humoring their young mistress.

Who would have thought that someone really would come calling that afternoon.

And it was actually the Fourth Prince.

Speaking of this prince, he used to visit Fenghe Courtyard frequently in his early years, mostly for small gatherings with friends. In recent years he came less often, rarely visiting except for the annual flower festival.

His personal visit today was naturally to call on Young Master Qi.

Though the servants had heard from Qing Zhu early on about Fenghe Courtyard’s current policy of declining visitors, the Fourth Prince was not just anyone—his status was so precious that it would be improper to refuse to see him. So they sent someone to the main house to ask for instructions, and before long, the young master came personally to receive him.

The Fourth Prince had come today in casual robes with a relaxed bearing, bringing only two servants who each carried some gifts. Seeing Qi Ying walking toward him from the entrance, he waved and laughed heartily: “Between you and me, why must you come out personally to greet me?”

Soon the two met face to face. Qi Ying’s complexion was somewhat pale, probably from the movement aggravating his back injury, and he had broken out in a faint cold sweat. Seeing this, a dark gleam flashed in Xiao Ziheng’s eyes, though his expression remained unchanged. He only showed concern: “Did you pull at the wound?—Quick, you should go back and rest…”

As he spoke, he half-supported Qi Ying as they entered the gates of Fenghe Courtyard together.

The Fourth Prince’s visit was hard not to contemplate deeply. After all, in the just-concluded spring examinations, Qi Ying had made such decisions favorable to Prince Duan—what the Fourth Prince felt about this was unknowable. His visit today might have been with the intention of questioning Qi Ying, or perhaps merely to test him, but regardless of which it was, their conversation would not be suitable for others to overhear.

After brief consideration, Qi Ying invited the Fourth Prince to move to Wangshi to rest, and after having servants serve tea and fruits, he had them withdraw, leaving only the two men to speak privately.

Sitting in Wangshi, Xiao Ziheng appeared quite amiable, seeming rather concerned about Qi Ying’s difficulty moving: “The Left Chancellor’s hand was rather too heavy. You judged papers impartially for the sake of Jiangzuo’s state and society—where was the need to injure you to this extent?”

Author’s Note: Shen Wenwen facing outsiders: rolls up sleeves ready to fight Shen Wenwen with her beloved: steals a kiss and runs away …For a moment it’s hard to determine whether she’s actually a coward or not