Muruo couldn’t articulate his feelings toward Tang Si. Sometimes he found this woman extremely annoying, yet other times he found her quite adorable—loyal and righteous. Several times when they had encountered assassins, this woman had risked her life to step forward and help. That kind of magnanimity wasn’t something every woman possessed.

In any case, Tang Si didn’t care about all that. If he wanted to drive her away—no way!

Today, she was absolutely staying here.

“Fine, I won’t bring up past matters. Then just consider that I’m truly frightened, so you can’t drive me away.” Her manner was completely domineering.

Having said that!

She even crawled directly onto Muruo’s bed, pulling the quilt over herself without even taking off her clothes.

Muruo stared dumbfounded. He frowned. “So now you’ve learned to be shameless?”

No response.

“Get up.”

No response.

“If you don’t get up, I’ll throw you out directly.”

No response.

Muruo was at his wit’s end. Looking at that lump of flesh writhing on the bed wrapped in the quilt, both helpless and furious, he strode over and grabbed the quilt, about to yank it forcefully. But that woman gripped it so tightly, the quilt seemed to have become one with her.

“I’ll say it one more time—if you don’t get up, I really will throw you out.”

Soon, a muffled voice came from inside the quilt: “I won’t get up.”

So—

The next moment, Muruo scooped her up along with the quilt and headed straight for the door. Tang Si’s head also emerged from inside the quilt, looking with shock and surprise at the man holding her.

“What are you doing? Put me down.”

“This is for not listening!” Muruo said harshly.

“Put me down,” she said, her body twisting while her mouth shouted.

Muruo ignored her.

Seeing they were about to reach the door, Tang Si, to prevent herself from truly being thrown out, immediately wrapped her arms around his neck, refusing to let go no matter what, hanging on him like a component part.

“Let go.” Muruo was displeased.

“No.”

Their eyes met directly!

Embracing in an extremely ambiguous manner.

They nearly sparked.

In that instant, Muruo’s heart trembled violently. Coming to his senses, he forcefully lifted his wrist and tossed that lump of flesh in his arms onto the ground, like smashing a watermelon.

“Ah!”

A miserable cry!

But fortunately there was still the quilt wrapped around her, so she wasn’t hurt too badly. Otherwise, she might truly have been smashed to pulp like a watermelon.

Muruo brushed off his wrinkled clothes, looking at Tang Si on the ground with disgust.

The woman on the ground gritted her teeth. However much she had liked Muruo before, she now hated him that much. Rubbing her bottom, she scrambled up and shouted loudly at Muruo, “Muruo, I’m not finished with you.”

Unexpectedly, her foot caught on that quilt, and her body lurched heavily forward.

Huh?

That falling figure lunged over. Before Muruo could react, he was already knocked to the ground.

Crash.

Two figures fell together, one on top, one below.

The back of Muruo’s head struck heavily, his face full of pain. Just as he lifted his head, his mouth collided with Tang Si’s mouth.

Their lips pressed together!

In that moment, Tang Si’s eyes widened, her long lashes trembling faintly as she gazed into Muruo’s similarly widened eyes.

Everything around them was quiet!

One!

Two!

Three!

Suddenly—

Tang Si’s hands pressed against that firm chest, pushing hard. Her body rose, separating her lips from Muruo’s. She immediately stood up, her face completely red as she turned her back to the man on the ground.

Muruo lay on the ground motionless, as if someone had struck his pressure point, a pair of round eyes staring at the ceiling.

A long time—

Before he finally reacted!

He got up from the ground, hurriedly wiping his mouth with his sleeve, staring at Tang Si with her back to him, pursing his lips. “Just now…”

“There was no ‘just now.'”

“You…”

“You have to take responsibility for me.” Tang Si turned around, bashfully lifting her chin at him.

“Ah!” Muruo broke out in cold sweat.

“What ‘ah’? Now we’re properly legitimate.” She scooped up the quilt from the ground and headed for the bed, saying as she walked, “We’ve kissed and all—now there’s no way you can drive me away.”

Then she lay down on the bed!

This time, Muruo lost his confidence. He no longer went to pull the quilt wrapped around the woman on the bed. After swallowing hard, he closed the door and silently sat at the table, picking up the book he hadn’t finished reading earlier. However, his mind was completely off the book. His heart felt inexplicably flustered, that calm heart also pounding wildly, and his confused eyes would occasionally glance toward the person on the bed. Yet he also had the feeling of a thief with a guilty conscience, worried about being caught by Tang Si, so he immediately looked away again.

Tang Si, lying on her side on the bed with her back to Muruo, pulled the quilt up to her ears. Her completely red face was buried under the quilt. Those large eyes stared unfocused at the space ahead. She bit her lip, then smiled secretly.

So the two of them remained quietly in the room like this.

Neither spoke again!

On the other side, Ji Yunshu, with her gauze-wrapped palms dangling, found a lantern and handed it to Jingrong.

Jingrong took it and asked, “What’s wrong?”

“I said we were investigating the case.”

“This late at night?”

“Aren’t there ghosts? Since there are ghosts, we should go catch them while no one’s around.”

Jingrong’s brow wrinkled slightly. He still took the lantern, staring at her. “Didn’t you say there were no ghosts? Why are you going to catch ghosts now?”

Ji Yunshu smiled. “Come with me.”

Then she stepped out the door.

The man behind also quickly followed.

One walked ahead carrying the lantern, the other walked behind with hands tucked in sleeves. The light gradually spread, extending along the bluestone pavement all the way to Granny Lin’s room.

Outside, two of Jingrong’s guards stood watch.

Actually, this work should have been done by people from Marquis Kang’s estate, but because everyone was as timid as mice—even those slightly braver didn’t dare come guard a corpse that had died under unclear circumstances—and the estate’s guards weren’t normally permitted to enter the courtyard and always patrolled outside, rarely coming in, this work fell to Jingrong’s men.

Seeing the two arrive, the guards immediately bowed. “Your Highness, Master Ji.”

“Is the body still inside?”

“Yes.”

The two went in.

Fortunately the weather had been cool recently, and the corpse hadn’t emitted a very strong smell of decay.

Ji Yunshu lit the somewhat worn candlestick in the room. The room brightened. She lifted the candlestick and moved closer to the corpse on the ground. The body was still positioned where she had left it earlier, only now covered with a white cloth.

She looked back at Jingrong, her expression meaningful.

That look made Jingrong shiver unexpectedly again.

He quickly asked, “Speak plainly if you have something to say.”